PetyrPunkinhead

Loved it! I've been waiting all season for Sam the Slayer to show up. And I must say, it was a better slaying (contextually) in the TV show than in the book.

Daaaaamn. I woudln't have thought this episode would've been so polarizing in terms of ratings. I loved it. I loved the departures from the book and thought they were all done well and in the spirit of the SOIAF series and remained true to the characters. It seems some people just want a visual adaptation of the novels, but this is it's own beast. It's a highly loyal beast tot he source material, but as a book reader I welcome the type of character moments and surprises this episode had. 10/10

Even though this episode didn't have the epic, action packed ending as last episode, it pretty much hit every major note on every scene pitch perfect for me. 10/10

Yeah, it was an 8.5 - 9.0 for me. A nice blend of new scenes (Pod the Pimp, the wildlings discovering those horses, small counsel musical chairs, and Gimme that sweet thang Stannis) and key moments and character beats from the novels. Although the whole Theon plot, and for some reason Brienne screaming, just didn't sit right with me. Two near rapes in one episode was damned brutal.

That was awful. You're a terrible human being. Now buy me some waffle fries, bitch.

I'm re-watching S2 on Blu-Ray and thought I'd comment on each episode w/ their respective special features as I go. Yes, I know there's a general S2 blu-ray thread, but it's a long and unwieldy beast. I'm wondering what people think about each episode after a second viewing and w/ the added bonus of the commentaries, histories, maps, etc. Again, no new histories. This is disappointing as we could really use one on Valantis especially given the scene near the end of the episode between the King in the North and Talise. The audio commentary w/ the actors that play Jaime Lannister and Catelyn Stark is very entertaining; they're both really funny. They also apparently had a read through with the first six episodes of S3 the day before they did the commentary and in the course of the commentary let loose more than a few near spoilers. If you've wandered into this thread and have not read book 3 yet, I suggest skipping this audio commentary until you've done so.

I just rewatched the episode again and noticed that, too! Such a great little "Easter egg." I'm re-watching S2 on Blu-Ray and thought I'd comment on each episode w/ their respective special features as I go. Yes, I know there's a general S2 blu-ray thread, but it's a long and unwieldy beast. I'm wondering what people think about each episode after a second viewing and w/ the added bonus of the commentaries, histories, maps, etc. Showrunners David and D.B. give their second audio commentary (their first was on S2E1) and compared to their other one it's very disappointing. No comments at all on changes from the novel, it's just an hour of fapping over how beautiful IcelaNd is and ass-kissing all the actors. :mellow:

I'm re-watching S2 on Blu-Ray and thought I'd comment on each episode w/ their respective special features as I go. Yes, I know there's a general S2 blu-ray thread, but it's a long and unwieldy beast. I'm wondering what people think about each episode after a second viewing and w/ the added bonus of the commentaries, histories, maps, etc. No new histories at all, just one's from previous episodes, but the one's narrated by Ygritte on the Night's Watch and Free Folk (wildlings) were so good I watched them again.. The audio commentary on this is very good, too. Jon and Ygritte (Kit and Rose) share some great stories about on and off the set in Iceland. Writer Vanessa Taylor is there as well and she's a bit annoying. Apparently she labored hard in research on several speeches (one by Tywin and the other by a septon) that only ended up being background in their scenes. Also, she was on set in Belfast a lot and seemed to question the director a lot--so I'm sure he'd back me up here in her annoyingness. :P

I'm re-watching S2 on Blu-Ray and thought I'd comment on each episode w/ their respective special features as I go. Yes, I know there's a general S2 blu-ray thread, but it's a long and unwieldy beast. I'm wondering what people think about each episode after a second viewing and w/ the added bonus of the commentaries, histories, maps, etc. No audio commentary on this episode and only one new history on the Night's Watch. But Harrenhal looks fantastic on blu-ray. As do the shots in Iceland, which serve as the land north of The Wall. And I only realized this on as I watched the episode for a third time, but John doesn't discover the hidden cache of dragonglass! Grenn discovers it later in S2E8, but I could swear it was John and Sam that discovered it in the book.

I'm re-watching S2 on Blu-Ray and thought I'd comment on each episode w/ their respective special features as I go. Yes, I know there's a general S2 blu-ray thread, but it's a long and unwieldy beast. I love Davos' telling of how he became the Onion Knight in the histories special feature. Also, the commentary track by Melisandre and Davos is pretty good. There comments aren't all that enlightening, but they both have such great voices that it kept me entertained enough to listen tot he whole track and not just skip forward tot he end. And you know why I wanted to hear their comments on the last scene--the scene. And they don't disappoint. Apparently there was a crew of men off camera working hydraulics to make Melisandre's stomach bubble and writhe. She also comments on how the prosthetic came w/ it's very own massive merkin. There's also a funny anecdote about the first time Liam (the actor that plays Davos) saw Melisandre in her prosthetic stomach and vagina.

I'm re-watching S2 on Blu-Ray and thought I'd comment on each episode w/ their respective special features as I go. Yes, I know there's a general S2 blu-ray thread, but it's a long and unwieldy beast. I'm wondering what people think about each episode after a second viewing and w/ the added bonus of the commentaries, histories, maps, etc. Fantastic commentary on this episode by the writer and director. They apparently had a very collaborative process in crafting the outline of the episode and how it fit into the season. I didn't listen to much of the second commentary track w/ the Stark kids (Sansa, Arya, and Bran) as there was entirely too much annoying giggling going on. The show runners mention in a later commentary that the kids were "entertaining" in this commentary, so I may try to come back and listen to it again in the future.

I'm re-watching S2 on Blu-Ray and thought I'd comment on each episode w/ their respective special features as I go. Yes, I know there's a general S2 blu-ray thread, but it's a long and unwieldy beast. I'm wondering what people think about each episode after a second viewing and w/ the added bonus of the commentaries, histories, maps, etc. The histories in this episode are again great. The episode has a bit less "oomph" for me on the second go-round after having read the books and knowing where Theon ends up this season. I also couldn't get through the commentary on this one. It's w/ the actors that play Theon and his sister Yara. They apparently are friends off screen and it made for a surprisingly tedious commentary track. I ended up turning it off about mid-way through the episode.

So I'm re-watching S2 on Blu-Ray and thought I'd comment on each episode w/ their respective special features as I go. Yes, I know there's a general S2 blu-ray thread, but it's a long and unwieldy beast. I'm wondering what people think about each episode after a second viewing and w/ the added bonus of the commentaries, histories, maps, etc. I'd almost forgotten how good this episode was. Almost. And David & D.B. gave a really enjoyable commentary. These guys really are dedicated to preserving the story experience for fans--so much so that they even discuss later S2 episodes in code just in case someone is listening that hasn't seen all of S2 yet. I really enjoyed the histories and how they coincided w/ specific scenes and characters. They had these on S1, but weren't integrated in to the episodes like this. I like this way much better as it gives re-watching the episodes an element of freshness, waiting for that icon to blink red w/ a new bit of story for you. And also doing the same events from different characters' POVs was a stroke of genius!

I'm in the same boat. :( *edit* OK, not in the same boat anymore. It's working for me now. I made 4 posts in various forums and chopped down my avatar size to 150x150 since my initial post. I'm not sure if either or both had a hand in the photo upload working form my PC this time. I hope that helps.