TheWhiteRabbit

I really liked this Northern focused episode. It was definitely a setup episode, but I thought the writing and acting was great. 8/10. Might give it 9 after a rewatch.

I'm really enjoying this season. Seems like there's a lot of love for this episode, but is it weird that I still like the first episode the best? My ratings so far: 9-8-8. It's a little odd for me since Arya is my favorite character and she wasn't in the first episode but has been in the last two. Plus Masie has been doing an awesome job.

Where are these positive forums? I would very much like to visit them.

I don't always agree with your criticisms of the show, but this time I completely agree about Dorne. After being introduced to one of the most amazing characters last year, Dorne should have been given its due with a few extra minutes. Still I gave it an 8 (17 total for the season). No major complaints from me so far.

WOW. I feel terrible for Stannis if that happens. I can totally see Martin doing something like that though, and it appears that's the direction the show is going as well. Kill a child that's a minor supporting character--I think that will be a first for the show.

MAJOR BOOK DEVIATION: Selyse burns Shireen, but almost immediately regrets what she has done. When Stannis returns to the Wall after his victory at Winterfell and with Sansa and Reek in tow, Selyse lies to the king and says the wildings killed the princess. Stannis, mad with grief, blames Jon for not killing the wildlings and plunges a knife through his gut. J/K Hopefully, Sam and Gilly rescue Shireen and "For the Watch" happens exactly as it does in the books with Jon surviving of course.

Maybe I'm thinking of the ADWD scene then, specifically, I thought the "Fire & Blood" speech was given to the sand snakes after they had finished serving the kingsguard knight that brought the Dornish the supposed skull of the mountain and was planning to snatch Myrcella. Swann I believe is the knight's name. Or perhaps I'm jumbling both scenes together. It's been awhile since I last read those books.

If not Danny, what do you think Doran's plans could be?

I'm actually pretty excited for the Dorne storyline. Doran's speech to the Sand Snakes, when he reveals his true plans, is one of my favorite scenes from A Feast For Crows. I bet they save that for EP9 or EP10. I think it will be revealed that the Dornish kingdom is secretly planning to back Danny. Maybe even that Varys is their envoy to her. I'm really excited.

Lol I was thinking more Lady Gaga.

I should have been more specific. I find TV Cersei more complex than her cartoonish book counterpart and the proactive TV Margery more interesting than the harmless book Margery. At least show Margergy is pursuing something, but maybe we can have a scene of her hawking like in the books to make her a more complex character. I can see this doing wonders for her character development. But in seriousness isn't that what all the lemoncakes want? For Sansa to become more of a player than the played? That's a fair argument, but my main point was the people I've spoken with that have viewed the episode did not think the Sand Snakes came off as corny.

From the people I've talked to, proclaiming the Sand Snakes to be "B-movie bad girls" because of their opening scene is entirely unfair and completely misses the mark. How fair is it to draw a conclusion on three characters we have seen for 2 minutes in one TV scene versus their book counterparts which we have been allowed to read and disect over multiple chapters?

I think you're exaggerating a lot of your points. I find Cersei and Margery to be far more complex characters on the show, and I believe Arya (my favorite book character) is written and acted exceptionally. I know it's hard as a book reader to think this way, but the majority of viewers are casual fans. People that know who the main characters are, but can still have trouble keeping track of the vast amounts of secondary characters. I mean the show just brought back someone we haven't seen since the second season, three years later and he looks completely different. I can't even imagine how hard it must be for the casual viewer that doesn't want to spend the time going to Wikipedia every time they see a character they don't recognize. The show is not perfect, but I believe its total sum is more than enough to make up for the few weak links. The show still captures the heart of the book series and IMO is the most compelling and entertaining series on TV currently. As a fan of the books I am more than satisfied with what is being produced and believe a lot of these criticisms from my fellow readers are a little harsh.

If Loras' main purpose is to serve as a plot device to further Cersei's story then I say well done D&D! There's limited minutes people. We can only allow so many book characters to be fleshed out. I can sympathize with some of you thinking one of Loras' previous scenes was a tad offensive, but the fact that one of the above criticisms is that the Unsullied see Loras as the gay character is probably exactly what D&D want. It makes the power-play between Cersei vs. Margery more interesting and shocking IMO. You steal my boy? I'll steal your brother. I love the change and think it's an effective use of the TV medium. As I said before we only have so many minutes with these characters, so better to let the real players play their game and just use more of the secondary characters as the pawns they kind of already are in the books. And yes, you may say Margery is more of a pawn in the books, but she's older and far more interesting in the show. Another change I welcome with open arms, because it makes the void created by the loss of Tywin and Tyrion far less detrimental to the KL politics.

Oh I definitely agree, but it will most certainly backfire.

I think it's obvious LF is brokering a marriage between Sansa and Ramsey. The real question is whether he plans to double cross the Boltons or if this is legit. Whatever LF's plans are I'm sure Ramsey will make them go up in flames and then it will be up to Sansa and/or someone else to save the day.

Pillows are more comfortable than books.

Some have speculated we'll get the entire prophecy later on.

No one really cares. Just hug your precious books. Maybe it will make you feel better.

Loved the opener. Have to watch it again. Probably a 9. Favorites: Loved the tension between Cersei and Jamie. Loved all scenes at the Wall. Mereen was very interesting.

Not everyone likes the LSH zombie revenge. There's plenty of book readers who could care less she wasn't in it. I will judge the show on what they actually produced, and not on what they could have included.

OMG!!! That is such a terrible sign. We're probably looking at 2016-2017 release date for Winds. This is so INFURIATING!

I don't think to vote a 10 is saying the episode was perfect. Even my top 10 movies and tv episodes of all time are not in a word perfect. I vote a 10 if I believe it's one of the best episodes of TV I've seen and/or if it stands out as one of the best episodes of the series.

Everyone that is worried about there being too much to do in the finale needs to chill. The episode is supposed to be 66min. Also, I know a lot of you will just roll your eyes at this statement, but D&D have pretty much said the finale next week is the greatest episode they have ever produced, and knowing what's to come I at least believe them (thrum! ). I brought this up before the season started, but does everyone here still think LS will make an appearance? Or is it next season now?

No Stannis or LS ending. A perfect ending would be a crossbow thrum!