brinson2000

9/10

Much, much better than the first episode. For all those of you causing an uproar over the Tyrion/Shae scene; where the hell were you on the episode one discussion? Bronn's scene with the stupid whore was just as long, had no dialogue, and showed no character development, yet the scene was barely complained about on the board for episode one. I think you people were just looking for something to complain about in this episode because it was actually really good. Even the Tyrion/Shae scene served a purpose to show Shae's possibility for jealously giving her motive for her actions in events later to come.

Loved the Orell scene even though it was very short giving a visual and verbal explanation for warging.

The Reeds introduction was outstanding and I love the two characters. I think at this point in the show situations have already been put into place where they cannot follow the storyline in the book (ie- the Reeds never came to Winterfell and met Bran there) so the show has to come up with their own scenarios for how to introduce characters and this was a GREAT introduction. I guess they are going to let Osha stay along with Bran the rest of the way instead of going with Rickon which I was disappointed in. But I would imagine Natalia Tena (Osha) is one of the higher paid actors and they need to give her screen time to justify using her as Osha so Rickon had to go it alone.

The Cateyln scene I didn't find nearly as bad as most people on here are saying. Yes her talking about John Snow was out of the ordinary but the acting/emotion porttrayed by Michelle Fairley is really what captured my attention. There is a progression starting in her character towards a much more dark/downtrodden/pissed off Cat as opposed to the quieter/more solemn Cat from the first two seasons. She is starting to show more anger and resentment than she ever has. My point being that while watching this scene and not getting too overconcerned with her dialogue, the whole time all I could think was I was watching Lady Stoneheart incarnate.

Theon's scenes- Now this is where the show can be better than the books. It gives us a visual for Theon's torture scenes that the books could only explain as having been past events. It allows us to see the emotions and horror Theon goes through to become the character he will eventually be. The sneaking in of Ramsay was also excellent and sets up an awesome future scene for Theon and his "Bitches"

Sansa/Lady Olena= 10/10 nuff said

Can't do that. They have a T&A quota to fill every season and there was no other opportunity in this episode.

Touche sir...touche

Take away the completely unnecesary Bronn scene with the dumb prostitue and then you have time to correctly tell Dany's tale or even maybe included the actual Battle at the Fist...this also goes for Rob's terrible scene at Harrenhal or Sansa on the docks

One more gripe and I'm done....how the hell can u cast Mance Rayder taller than Tormund Giantsbane?? I always invisioned Mance as being in his younger thirties and not that large in height or physique....but much more stealthlike and intelligent with great combat ability....this Mance in the show seems old, tired, downtroden and like he could die of old age at any point....bad casting in my opinion

Can anyone answer if the scene where that little girl with the blue lips was in the book? I really can't remember but I can't recall that happening in the book.. Anyone else think the unsullied were a little bit "meh" as well....? And the first time you hear of a giant in the book is when John is out riding and he see's a whole bunch riding mammoths? I thought that would of been a really amazing thing to capture on the show.

The scene as a whole is fairly close to the book, but the significant difference is that Dany gets a box from a Sorrowful Man, instead of the warlock tricking her.

I don't see any problems with the Unsullied and I think they were introduced effectively. I liked the giant as well and thought he was very well done.

Ahh and it takes place in Qarth..not Astapor...and the character is Arsten Whitebeard at the time u weren't supposed to know it's Selmy, and it explains how Dany gets a ship to Astapor because Selmy and Strong Belwas (also excluded and I'm extremely disappointed as I stated before) were sent by Illyrio (spelling?)....and Selmy uses a staff to knock the manticore (which did look cool in the show) out of Dany's hand, which I think the staff Selmy carried was a huge part of his character for most of ASOS. All in all they screwed this bigtime.

I felt that the exclusion of having the scene in Qarth took away from the scene in Astapor because it removed any and all background information of the city. Having Sir Jorah briefly describe the city on the ship wasn't enough. With the exclusion of the introduction in Qarth the Astapor scene semed extremely rushed. Even though the removing of the Unsullied's nipple was a scene I had hoped they would include it didn't convey the same emotion on screen as in the book because of the way the whole scene felt rushed.

6/10

The scene with Tywin/Tyrion was on point as well as Margery's Flea Bottom scne and thats about it for this episode....

The Sansa/Littlefinger scene completely takes all the suspense out of Sansa's eventual escape from King's Landing, seems like getting a girl that is willing to get naked on camera was more important than having Donto's be here savior...

Rob Stark's taking over Harrenhal and finding Qyburn is one of the biggest disasters of this episode and made absolutely no sense....why not just have him at Riverun and create the books plotline at Harrenhal...which brings me to another point, what is the shows obsession with completely screwing all parts of the books dealing with Harrenhal? It has been completely ass-backward from the time Arya stepped foot in the castle until the most recent episode. It isn't a complex storyline that takes place, yet they have completely changed the books account of Harrenhal at every turn in the show. The scenes in the books that take place in Harrenhal have grave implications in the overall plot and I am surprised that they would choose to completely change them in the show. If anyone would like me to elaborate further on this please ask....

My biggest dissapointment came from the Barristan Selmy scene, his hidding as Whitebeard and eventual uncovering was one of my favorite parts of ASOS, with the proper thought and makeup the crew could have easily created a character that the audience (those that haven;t read the books) would not have recognized and been just as surprised as I was reading the story. I mean how do they explain Dany magically getting a ship to take her to a land that hadn't even been discussed in season 2 (Astapor). With that said another travesty was done with the exclusion of Strong Belwas...hands down he is one of my favorite characters all the way through ADWD, his one on one combat with the warrior from Yunkai was one of my favorite scenes from any of the books and I was looking forward to seeing it in the show, I would assume this scene (if portrayed at all) will be given to Daario (who I can't stand) and will help to build his character. I guess finding an actual person (that is massively overweight but extremely athletic at the same time) to play the character must have been too daunting a task for the shows staff.

Overall I was extremely disappointed with this episode and felt as if the crew took the easy road to telling the story that GRRM spent years of his life creating and putting his heart and soul in to. I get that it's an "adaptation" of the book, but there is a reason they are so popular. They create imagery and characters that the fans become invested in and if the show cannot portray that same emotion then I personally believe it falls short of its goal.