Pocketsaviour

When Tyrion gives his "gift" of three prostitutes to the slavers, is the one in the blue outfit the Harpy Prostitute who Varys was putting the threats to last episode? Her hair is very similar and facially she looks very similar to me but the scene is dimly-lit and it's difficult for me to be sure.

When Ramsay was peeling the apple I was like "This would be a lot more threatening if you were better with the knife. You're rubbish at this!" Also I'm pretty sure it was a cooking apple (much bigger than an eating apple... although maybe this was a Westeros Delicious which grows to the size of a Bramley )

I hear ya. This robs us of Aeron's rhythmic line, "No godless man may sit the Seastone Chair." Nice little piece of iambic pentameter. Always reminded me of "A secret now that only fire can tell" in LotR. I'm disappointed we're not getting Aeron, honestly. I know a lot of people find his chapters dull as ditch... err, seawater, but I think they reveal huge amounts about the culture of the Iron Islands.

Not a bad opener apart from the Dorne scenes. Sansa accepting Brienne's sword was great. Jorah and Daario just happening on Dany's ring though. Daario: Sucks you'll never get to bang Dany. I have. Jorah: What's this? Not idly do the leaves of Lorien fall... Less than a day ahead of us. She may yet be alive. Come! Daario: FFS Jorah this is Game of Thrones. You never even auditioned for Lord of the Rings, get over it.

You've got some interesting thoughts there, and it'll be interesting to see where the show goes with it compared to the books. It seems important that Jon doesn't know Bran is alive - because otherwise I can't see him just sitting tight at the Wall; he'd surely want to go and rescue/protect Bran. Perhaps we'll just get a quick couple of lines in S4 with Gilly saying to Sam something like "Remember we promised not to tell Lord Snow that we saw his brother! It's for his own safety!" In the books, all of the Stark children but Sansa have more information about their siblings and parents, through their wolves. Arya sees Nymeria pull Catelyn from the river. Jon dreams of Bran as a tree. Bran sees pretty much everything. Only Sansa, who lost her wolf, is reduced to hearing news from other people around her.

Of course it would be rational and logical for her to take the cash and run, when she knows that she's never going to be openly with Tyrion. But people in love aren't rational and logical - look how many people waste their years waiting for their lover to leave their spouse and kids. Their heads may know it will never happen, but the heart is treacherous and full of hope. On a completely different note - I wish the writers had gone down a different path with Robb. I was re-reading Bran's 2nd or 3rd chapter in AGOT this morning, which ends with Robb talking to Bran in bed, telling him that they'll go to the Wall and visit Jon, and it will be an adventure, and then he starts crying. I wish they'd been able to illustrate Robb's love of his family better, which was the motivation behind so many of his decisions.

Maester Aemon tells Sam (I think? haven't got my books with me, I'm at work) that dragons can change sex, so potentially all three of Dany's clutch could lay eggs. I don't think it's ever been mentioned how many eggs would be in a typical laying.

I'm a bit sad that people seem unable to accept that a sex worker can experience human emotions. It's far from uncommon for sex workers to wind up in relationships with former clients. TV-Shae is completely different to Book-Shae. I hated Book Shae; she was shallow, two-faced and cold. TV-Shae is a completely different person who has developed a deep and genuine attachment to Tyrion, and I don't find it unbelievable at all that she would turn down a sack of cash to stay with him. She has shown since the season 2 finale that she's moved the relationship from transactional to emotional. Whereas Book-Shae made it clear that she didn't give a toss that Tyrion was marrying Sansa, TV-Shae became jealous and insecure - because she loves Tyrion. In the books, I found Tyrion's attachment to Shae deeply irritating - Tyrion is a clever man, so why would he waste himself on a woman who was always, quite clearly, in it for the money? On the show, the relationship makes much more sense. So where does this leave Shae's storyline? I can think of several ways in which they can still have Tyrion murder Shae, and seeing as Varys has made it clear he wants Shae gone, it would make sense for him to be involved. Suppose he plants Shae in Tywin's bed, telling her that Tyrion wants a secret tryst with her? Then Tyrion arrives and assumes she's betrayed him, so strangles her. This would bring in the chain as well, because she could easily have decided to wear it for Tyrion. This would be my preferred approach, because show-Tyrion does need to show the darkness inside him. If he then finds out that Shae didn't actually betray him, then it will be Tysha all over again, sending him even further on that downward spiral. Alternatively, Tywin kills her, or has her killed, making good on his threat to hang "the next whore I find in your bed", or perhaps as a punishment for not cooperating with Tyrion's trial. This would then prompt Tyrion to kill Tywin (extra impetus on top of the reveal about Tysha.) I certainly don't think she'll survive season 4, and in many ways I think the show will be the poorer for it. I find her attractive, and her acting, for me, is fine.

Thank you, I will be more than happy to continue ignoring your opinions.