Karmarni

I've just seen Ladyhawke! And I liked it. The music made me laugh so hard at the beginning, I had a moment of pure bliss in that laughter, only to see it pop up again when the high stepping black horse goes trotting along to the music. Even the knights who chase after the wonderfully played by Rutger Hauer, Captain of the Guards, Navarre, they too step in time to the music. It just KILLED me. The story was thin, but it felt like a fable. As do many of those on this list. And, of course, I definitely saw lots of examples of where comparison to GRRM's stories could be drawn. Romances, GRRM likes the BatB stories, or opposites attract, or a 'look, you'd never have guessed it, but THIS woman likes ME' fan (what's that called?) I have three more on this list to see. Dragonslayer, Dark City and Pan's Labyrnth. Thank you for the list!

Oh, I was looking at Byronic heroes just the other day! I definitely think that Sandor fits this character description. He is an anti-hero, it's practically spelled out from the beginning. When he first tells Sansa about his face, we see her reach out to him empathetically, and fear for him, and so do we in that moment. We begin to see more of the picture of who he is. The telepathy that Ceron mentions above, that seems very Beauty and the Beast to me. They just know, they are connected by a bond that can withstand distances. GRRM is doing this with Sandor when Sansa continues to think upon him. Keeping him alive, keeps her interested and connected to him. I like how both Jane in Brontë's work, and Sansa in GRRM's, both challenge Rochester/Sandor. It does put less emphasis on social distinctions, but it also adds tension and it furthers their relationship. By fighting, they get to know the other even better. They see how they argue and how they overcome arguing. Ceron "irrational and fiery soul" description - how true! And it's interesting that in this Gothic novel, published in 1847, the author has written this non-traditional, but yet traditional, female character. Sansa herself is currently a more traditional character, but I feel that she will make some changes in the forthcoming TWoW. It's utterly amazing to me how many similarities there are between Jane Eyre and Sansa and Sandor. -- "My little friend!" said he, "I wish I were in a quiet island with only you;" -- "Little bird," said he, "I was on the Quiet Island," I can completely see that second sentence uttered by Sandor sometime in the future.

I love this! And this novel. Cannot count how many times I have been stimulated and irritated in love. At the same time. It’s these moments that keep it all interesting.

I like what you’re saying here. I’ve often thought about “whether you will it or no”. I like the strong feelings idea. This was an early moment between them that seems to foreshadow what happened the night of Blackwater. It also begs the question, what about when she wills it? Because the story is progressing, in Sandor’s absence, with Sansa coming to realize that it is the Hound that she is willing to be with. She becomes accustomed to the idea of kissing him since she thinks about it often. She dreams about him, she wonders what happened to him; she obviously cares about him. She prayed for him. She wondered if she should have gone with him. It seems that the story is set up for her to recount these things to him when she sees him again. In classic romances, the two characters spend a chunk of time apart. In the beginning they are unsuitable or dislike each other. The non-POV is the character who is massaging the perpective (or plot) of the POV character. This change is at the heart of the story. The growth that happens, for better or worse, leads to the eventual dénouement showing how and why the POV character needed this growth. And that, in romances, leads to the reconciliation of the two characters and their love recognized by them. Without this massaging in the beginning, and the time apart, the characters, ironically, would not have grown ‘close’.

“Do you remember where the heart is?” Sandor Clegane and Sansa Stark represent the ‘love song’ of A Song of Ice and Fire. Theirs is an enduring relationship that begins from Sansa’s first chapter. Their interactions highlight where the heart is. Do we remember, in such a sprawling story, that there is a heart to it? The songs and stories of future generations are being written by the characters in this generation. And I do believe that Sansa and Sandor will be glorified in a love song. Sansa’s favorite song and story is that of Florian and Jonquil. She liked the kissing stories best, says Bran. Sansa’s narrative is about marriage. From the beginning, to the latest (as of this posting) Alayne I sample The Winds of Winter chapter, it has been marriage as the important plot points for Sansa. Her betrothal to Joffrey brought her south; her forced marriage to Tyrion kept her in King’s Landing to be used by Littlefinger to facilitate killing Joffrey. Once in the clutches of Littlefinger, she is poised to be married by him to Harrold Hardyng. Will she marry him, submit yet again to a husband picked out for her by someone else? I doubt it - that blood and fire stained cloak in her cedar chest says otherwise. So does her singing a song that hopes for a "better day" and a "kinder way." Sansa, like Beauty (wonderfully outlined above by Le Cygne), will make her own choice in marriage. And I have no doubt there will be a third cloak of Sandor Clegane’s.

Oh, yes, yes, a thousand times yes. Worst marginalization of ARYA as the driving force in Jon Snow's death and resurrection - some damn random Wilding boy named Olly. Bloody good riddance. No, they don't. And so there's no confusion among viewers, he's still Ser Gregor. Oh, goody goody. Jaime and Cersei and Gregor, just hangin' out, doin' the rounds at King's Landing. Arya, beaten and bruised and just got her sight back because either she's still lying or Jaqen is. I feel for her. Certainly no respect for her as a person there at the House of Black & White. Ready for her to realize this instead of want to be nobody. ToJ was ho hum. Young Ned could have been a lot better with dialogue delivery. Jon was kind of boring. I wanted more, not just a slap dash, walk off lame ending. They really aren't making any sense with Winterfell and the culling of the Starks and their direwolves. So, regretfully, we have another wolf down on the show. I'm sure it's because they've not put much of a priority on learning how to do CGI direwolves as opposed to CGI dragons. At Winterfell, I would have backed the new Umber over Karstark or Ramsay ANY DAY. But somehow the other two are in charge and Umber gave up his prizes to pip squeak Ramsay. Just doesn't make any sense.

^^ Agree. This "just in time" stuff is easy to spot miles off in the show. Sansa getting Theon's OK was not empowering for the character. That she accepted an unknown woman, one who is carrying a Lannister sword and is with Podrick Payne, Tryion's squire, that should mean something to her. She should wonder about Brienne's allegiance. The Hound wondered - and it led to Arya wondering, rightly so. Brienne's allegiance will be called into question. That's a given for me. And I'm pretty certain she won't be choosing the Stark (or Sansa's) side in the future. To her regret, of course.

Littlefinger IS symbolically Sweetrobin and Sansa’s ‘father.’ And he’s the Lord Protector. Protector. But he’s not Protecting Sweetrobin by giving him sweetsleep and milk of the poppy. And he’s not Protecting Sansa by taking advantage of her blindness to his own advances on her and for pimping her out to Harry. Littlefinger never “courted” Cat. He was raised alongside her and Lysa. Here’s Catelyn: I don’t think it seems like Sansa is “starting to be fond of Harry.” I think it sounds like she’s following the cue cards that Littlefinger gave her. She even repeats Littlefinger’s instructions to herself, “Charm him. Entrance him. Bewitch him.” She also is developing a snarky sense of humor - more than she had and shows signs of enjoying wordplay. Also, Sansa already chose the enemy (Joffrey) over her family. Since then, she has not done much in the way of choosing for herself. She chose not to kneel when she was wed to the monster (Tyrion). She met with and ultimately escaped King’s Landing with the fool (Dontos), but unbeknownst to her, she landed right in the clutches of the ultimate enemy/monster and, perhaps, in the end, the fool (for her). But that’s much later . . . she’s not going to get out of this story without a few more scrapes and bruises. I can say that with complete faith because she does not seem to fully recognize her peril (Littlefinger wants to play come into her castle) yet, so there’s more ‘growth’ experiences yet to come.

Whoa! That's a wild theory. Sansa is misremembering a kiss. The SSM that was quoted spells that out. GRRM says that it will lead to a "more important lapse in memory". And that this misremembered kiss "will eventually mean something." It seems ingrained in her memory. What will it lead to, the more important lapse in memory? Meaning, to me, what else will she treat in the same fashion and will it be connected to the 'kiss' or not? There's not a fantastical thing that happened with an 'open door' that's going to pop up later on to mean something. It's just a way to convey that Sansa attached meaning to this kiss that didn't happen and hung onto that memory. So she does this and we are told she'll do it again. The question is will it be related to this or something separate? Or to put it differently, does the "it" he references in the SSM mean the kiss or her mind's facility? Of course it could be both! Since it is specifically this 'kiss' that is the method the author uses to highlight Sansa's 'misremembering', I'd say that the kiss will be part of the more important mismemory to come. I refuse to honor the idea of a rape of Sansa in AGoT or attaching book meaning to something that happened in the show.

It was atop a cask with other casks in the vicinity. They are preparing for the siege. Could be fuel of some kind. I'm not a medieval warfare expert. But I think what matters is she has it, it's sharp enough to puncture and she'll use it in surprise on Ramsay to escape his clutches. I don't see Sansa actually killing him though. Littlefinger still peddling flesh without the brothel. Olyvar to Olenna. Sweetrobin to Cersei. Sansa to the Boltons. He’s working his Pimp Daddy role. The show tips its hand for the deaths of their set-up characters easily now – Olyvar, Olly, Myranda – all show-created characters that have plot advancing roles who will meet the fate of Ros. Many struggling for power or looking for more are looking for support and friends. Seems like this season is about new alliances being made as old ones are forever broken. Seems Sam is set up to be forced to leave Castle Black. It also seems to me that Gilly will eventually die and Sam will be responsible for little Sam. Bronn and the Sand Snakes – typical tv show fare (with boobs). Nothing truly interesting, except I was happy to hear the end of The Dornishman’s Wife song. I’m a sucker for the inclusion of the songs. Directly quoting the books is awesome too, which, as an adaptation, the show often fails at (begging me to wonder why GRRM thinks this is such a faithful adaptation). Hearing Maester Aemon’s “Egg, I dreamed I was old” was great. Thankfully they did not change it to be something so much better {sarcasm} for the show. Ghost – is he staying to protect Sam and then leaving to be with Jon? Or no Ghost with Jon and therefore no warging? So far, only Bran wargs on the show. Of course, they fail to spend the money on the FX for the direwolves and focus it on the dragons. Ghost must have run away after his teeth baring, as he was nowhere in the moments after that. Sansa calling Tommen a bastard. First I’ve seen that she actually knew he wasn’t a Baratheon. Maybe I missed her receiving the intel? Boy / girl nomenclature – they are just terms for male / female. People use them all the time. I call myself a ‘girl’ sometimes and I’m far removed from childhood.

Honestly, D&D pull rabbits out of hats to make whatever ends meet that they've decided on. Time, plot, character, circumstance, book description or story, none of that matters. Just 'good' tv - according to them. Which it is not to me, to wit, the atrocious Sand Snakes. Since Jon is going to Hardhome to save the realm from potential Wights, it's possible that his plan of saving fArya (show's real Sansa) doesn't come to fruition. It's more likely she gets saved by a conflicted, 'real knight' (barfing), that is stupid tv Brienne. And please save us all from Sansa and Ramsay jr. I guess since time means nothing, if the little bouncing bundle of joy exists, she could have him as early as Ep10.

The Sand Snakes should just kill Ellaria, then each other to get it over with. Cringe-worthy, all of them.

Gave it a 5. Battle was actually boring, despite the hype. Ygritte, too melodramatic, especially the music. Wished for more Ghost. Sorry to see Grenn and Pyp go.

Couldn't agree more. It's becoming so off base. That I can't even figure out a reason for the changes is frustrating. I truly wish that D&D would try to clarify some of them.

I think it was just to build the drama element that he's now hunted.

Ho hum. Liked the chain. Theon's maiming, well, that seems evident to me. Not sure I like it's 'confirmation'. And enough already. He gets screen time that takes away from other story lines. Daenerys scenes good. Bear pit blah. Even within the each story, what transpires didn't seem cohesive. I'm beginning to wonder if I could watch if the show outpaced the books. I'm not so sure now.

She absolutely did!

Jaime's hand - knew it was coming, but still was holding my breath. Agree that The Bear and the Maiden Fair was jarring for that. Like the song, sweet to have that version, but didn't seem right for the moment. Think the show is picking up steam, though the bouncing around does bother me a little. Wish I could put the story lines together. Liked the musical chairs scene and Pod's scene too. Chuckled at both.

Testing!