I must admit I was a bit disappointed with the dragon-theft scene. The tower at the end was clearly intended to be the house of the undying, but I've always imagined the house of the undying to be a one-storey ranch-style affair, probably with a stucco exterior. I mean, it isn't called the tower of the undying, is it? So they turned the house of the undying into the tower of the undying which got me thinking -- what else have they changed in this episode? Did you notice how Littlefinger kept staring at Arya. I don't remember him being into little girls in the books but suddenly that's his thing in the show? It's really unlike him, IMO, but there you go. And then the beheading scene. It was reminiscent of the botched beheading of Mary Queen of Scots or the opening execution in Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence but was a bit unrealistic since there wasn't enough screaming. Ser Rodrick is plenty brave, sure, but after the first sword blow fails to remove his head I would expect him to at least yell or something. But he's a pretty tough old guy. Still, after the second blow failed to remove his head, I expected him at least to say something to somebody about it, or at least to stand up and make another wisecrack at Theon's expense. And it's really this constant lack of unrealism and failure to follow the clear direction of the book that has me quite upset about this episode. Should I blame the producers for the many missteps in this episode: to whit the bad headjob, Littlefinger's pedarasty, and the multi-storeyed warlock hangout? Should I blame the writer? Should I blame the director who is only filming what the writer wrote who is only writing what the producers pay her to write who are only giving the fans what they want -- opportunities for Tyrion to slap Joffrey? I blame Pod.
