Hound Dog

It was a pretty good episode, especially based on some of the other letdowns of this season. Yes, Dany and the crowdsurfing was a bit corny, but it wasn't so bad that it ruined anything for me. I'm rather shocked by the many "No Lady Stoneheart!?!" comments. Like others have said, and I fully agree, it would have been utterly lame to resurrect her just one episode after she gets her throat slashed open. While the sequence everyone imagined (her eyes snapping open just before the end credits) is a cool thing to imagine, there's no reason it can't happen next season, when it'd be truer to the book's timeline. Let that shit sink in. All the non-book readers would've just scoffed at a quick resurrection. It'd be hard to take future deaths seriously. I only hope that scene with Arya and the Frey stabbing isn't a replacement for her fine work in the inn where Polliver and the Tickler are. The show makes Sandor Clegane seem like a massive idiot. I'm disappointed in his character. The guy playing Tywin has never not nailed a scene. Goodness me. Anyway. I thought it was a well done episode. Great buildup for next season!

Well worth the wait. Fantastic! So glad the wedding/feast scenes weren't rushed. 10. Even Bran's scenes this week were great! So long, Rickon... kid's not a bad actor!

Great intro :)

A little from column A, a little from column B. :-)

Hi! Finally introducing myself :) I was a longtime lurker on these boards (pretty much sticking to the theories threads), and then finally decided to register this past March, as work has been sllllooooow and I thought I'd like to take part in some discussions. Love, love, love the books. Currently on my third reread of the series (right now am rereading ACOK). Not so much a fan of the show, but I watch it anyway. Sigh. Though after the PW I may very well stop.

Uh huh. A little overacted in my opinion. Sometimes I get the feeling when I'm watching Tyrion this season that Peter Dinklage knows how popular his character is, and the writers know it too (hence making him soo perfect), and so he takes some "comical" liberties with his scenes. Don't get me wrong, he's a fantastic actor, but this season I find him to be quite nauseating. Particularly so in the scene you mention, and taking it along into the bedroom.

Ja, the scene of the RW is going to be a celebration in my house. I wish I could say I will care when it happens, because in the book I remember exclaiming my surprise out loud with a shout! It won't be that great of a surprise, I don't think. In TV things have to be more obvious, as in everything happens for a reason (minus the sex scenes, in this case). So for example, when Bran/Rickon/Osha/Hodor came upon the miller's boys, my friend (non-book reader) said right away that the dead burned bodies were those two boys, not Bran and Rickon. In the book, I'd believed for many chapters that Bran was dead! So now it's quite obvious, with the leeches, what will happen. Something. Though a friend did have to ask me: "Who the hell is Balon Greyjoy?" :) And then when I told him, he said: "Ah. So those three are all going to die then?"

Fantastic!

Ja, as she is always shown writing letters, as is Tywin. Good hunch.

Now that's not fair, you assume way too much. I read the books long ago and have myself under 100 posts. Only reason I'm here now is because it gives me something to do at work, which has been terribly slow lately. And for people who are new to these boards but have read all five books, does that make them less able to understand/appreciate/love the books than you do? That's like saying someone who has a thousand plus posts likes the books more than you do because you're still only in the 600s. Ridiculous. Certain people spend way more time on the internet than others.

The writers have such great source material to work from... and I heard that this was the season they couldn't wait to do when they started this project. I agree with you, this season has been incredibly disappointing. So much cringing and eye rolling. The only reason I watch it is because it's something "new" to access while waiting for the next book to come out. The Theon scenes have just become pathetic and redundant. So boring. We get it, we get it. If you can leave out characters like Jon and Cersei and Dany for an entire episode, then please, you can leave out Theon getting bloody tortured! Drives me nuts that they have to remind us over and over. Arya's storyline has been very rushed. I feel they toss her in here and there: "Hey, remember her? She's still kicking." Meh is all I can say about that. I do feel that Jaime and Brienne click really well, and I enjoy their scenes quite a bit. Dany's scenes have all been great. I feel like her story is the one staying most true to her book story, if that's fair to say. In this season I've just loved her. The writers view Jon Snow like everyone else in Westeros views the Nights Watch.... as something ridiculous and not to take seriously. Since the first season I've despised show-Jon. Stannis has become a weirdo and Sansa' still a naive idiot who's not developing well at all. I hate what a complete p-word they've made Edmure Tully out to be, and what a surly bullying jackass the Blackfish is. In the books I really liked both of these two, but not in the show. When the RW takes place I'm going to feel relieved. That's how unlikable some show characters have become to me :(

Couldn't agree more. Every single scene across the Narrow Sea has been fantastic, in my opinion. Sometimes in the books I didn't enjoy them quite as much as all the chapters in Westeros, but I love the scenes in the show. Well acted, well written, great sets, great plot movement. And so on.

How come Ygritte didn't know what fainting means, but she knew what silk is? I thought the episode was pretty good... plot building. It was well done enough for what it was. The bear scene was an utter disappointment though. I remember when I'd first read that scene in the book, how afterwards I'd vividly described it to one of my friends. But tomorrow at work there's no way I'll be talking about this scene at the watercooler. When I saw it was 9:54 and that scene still hadn't happened I had a bad feeling I'd be disappointed. I bet all my non-reader friends are going to ask who the hell grabbed Arya in the woods. But then again, one of my non-reader friends once asked me why the Hound was afraid of fire... he'd never noticed the scars before. Yikes. Still, I liked Arya this episode, even if it was very rushed. Her scenes often disappointment me, tonight not as much. Drogon gets all the screen time.

I agreed with pretty much all of your post, just didn't want to quote it all or comment on everything. The Jon/Ygritte climb scene: When he shouted "Take my hand!!!" (shudder) all I could think about was Rocky in that terrible movie Cliffhanger. I don't even know if that was a line in that movie, but gods was it awful, and so was that cheesy moment. Joffrey killing Ros: exactly. Everyone knows he's a little asshole. Everyone knows he's evil. You don't need to remind people by having him casually murdering whores. Reaching. The torture scenes: Agree that leaving it to the imagination is much scarier than actually seeing it. Enough is enough. That scene was way too long. And I do not like it how playful and cute Ramsay is acting. In the books I despised him every time he was even mentioned... hated him way more than I ever hated Joffrey... When Theon was trying to escape I was so bloody nervous for him in the books because Ramsay is so cruel and no-nonsense evil. This guy's like a little toy doll who likes playing games and hurting you for getting the wrong answer. Still mean, but I'm not scared of him. I wish they kept true to the books on this and just let Theon appear as Reek, a broken soul. People would've been like "WTF!" Ah well. Sometimes I don't know why I watch the show because it drives me so nuts, but then I remember that it's still GoT and it's something "new" while waiting for the next book.

Perhaps that was a little harsh. Oh well... that's what disappointment will do to you. Some episodes are great, don't get me wrong! Anyway, so you wouldn't agree that the show's been dumbed down quite a bit? I know what you mean, though. My non-reader friends absolutely love the scenes between LF and Varys. Me personally, and as a reader, I don't like them all that much. I mean, the writers spend so much time on shit scenes that don't even happen in the books, so why can't they have used that time instead to have LF or Varys interacting with a main character? Why have these long intricate scenes with bloody Ros, may she burn in seven hells, plotting with them, when they could've so easily had them had them interacting with real characters instead? That's where my disappointment comes in, thus resulting in my "harshness". You don't need to throw it in the faces of viewers that LF and Varys have secrets and are crafty and sneaky.... the majority of people aren't that stupid and could figure it out on their own that these two guys have a little more going on in their motives than anyone knows. At least that's how I feel about it. :-/

Ahh, yes! Didn't know who this actor by his name at first, so I had to Google Image him first.. Littlefinger. I don't like him as Littlefinger either, but for me, I think it's more the depiction of him that bothers me more than the actor himself. The scenes between LF and Varys bother me quite a bit because every single one is the same: flirty and hostile and a flowery song of nah-nah, I know more than you do! What would've been wrong with having Varys and LF interact with and manipulate characters directly to their faces, the way they do in the books? They would be so much more effective that way, in my opinion. Though I read somewhere yesterday in one of these threads that someone said the general public is stupid and TV needs to be "dumbed down" for them and I couldn't agree more with that. How unfortunate. Two characters whose mystery and intrigue don't really come off the screen for me nearly as much as they did in the books. You also said Kit sucks something fierce. Yuuuuuup.

Well, Mel in the books was wrong about Arya, so maybe this is just her being wrong in the show as well... I bloody well hope so. Ugh. I just want to forget all about this episode for so many reasons.

Ha! One of the made-up scenes I actually enjoyed, and it wasn't even really a scene. Just a wonderful happenstance.

Bleeeeccchh. What a disappointment!

I get this entirely. Too bad, because when Ygritte gets to Castle Black what happens is going to feel pretty forced, much like most of Jon's scenes. She's pretty sassy, but Jon is just so bluuuugh. Not very likable in the show.

My boyfriend never read the books and he rolled his eyes at that scene. After the episodes, I always tell him how the show did or didn't deviate from the books, and this time I said there was one thing that really bothered me, but before I could say what he said, "The Jon scene in the cave?" I'd meant to say the stuff with Loras. So yeah, out-of-the-blue for sure, at least on my end of things. I'm not so pleased with how they're handling Jon in the show (I know I'm not the only one who feels this way). On another note, my boyfriend thinks of Jon Snow as being rather useless and insignificant, and I always gasp and say that in the books he's a great character, and quite important! So it goes.

Ha, ha. I second that completely. This line made me laugh out loud.

Great episode, loved all of it. My only minor moment of disappointment was that the Hound didn't sob "like a little baby" at the end of the fight, and instead seemed amused (at Arya's angry rage). That was one moment in the books where I felt terribly sorry for him, something like pity, and I'm sorry it wasn't conveyed in the show. But that was in the beginning--- the rest of the episode was so well done that I forgot about that until now!

Nice.

Dany's scenes were awesome, as was Beric/Clegane! Also so pleased to see Jaime/Brienne developing their relationship. No Cat (save for Bran's dream) or Robb, and no Shae or Jeyne Wester--- Talisa (??), was also quite nice. Fantastic episode!