madprofessah

I think he was leaving the rings for his little spiders. Also, did people think that Varys had already started to make a move against Dany, by potentially poisoning her food? Or was the fact that he was told by the little girl "[Dany] hasn't eaten anything for days" merely information? If so, why did he tell the little girl that rick and reward are commensurate?

Ask Gwendoline Christie's agent! There's no real good reason that Brienne couldn't have been back at Winterfell for Lady Mormont's stiirring speech on behalf of Jon Snow (give that girl an Emmy now!)

Word! I think everyone has their own definition of verisimilitude or suspension of disbelief. For some, since dragons are not real in our world they have their own rules of how they should interact with "reality," but since wooden stags ARE real in our world we should be able to predict how they would interact with reality.

This!! If Rickon was smarter I really think he (maybe) could have survived Ramsay's little game. Either zig zag or turn around and look to see where the arrow is coming from. (I bet Ramsay would have had the whole archery section shoot him down then). But I was also really annoyed at Jon falling for all of Ramsay's traps. I don't know how I feel about Sansa. I know people are mad at her, but honestly I think she did the right thing. She knew Ramsay would have a trap for Jon and would use his entire army to do so. However, I expected them to have some kind of secret solution for how to get into Winterfell when the walls are down. If Wun Wun hadn't sacrificed himself wouldn't we be faced with a siege at this point? Did anyone see LF with the Knights of the Vale? I didn't... They were basically toast and would have all died (when the music started and Jon was being trampled I almost fainted because I thought Jon was going to be dead also!) Love, love, love that it was Sansa who watched Ramsay finally die, and that it was the dogs that did it. Where the f*** is Ghost?

I think that Arya probably runs into the Theater troupe. I really hope that the whole ambush is a set up to kill the Waif. To me, it was immediately obvious that the kindly old woman approaching Arya was the Waif with a new face, why wouldn't Arya have been suspicious as well? I'm intrigued by the "note" that Margaery passed on to the Queen of Thorns. It's just a picture of the flower on the crest of House Tyrell, right? What's its significance? Is it evidence that Margaery still has House Tyrell on her mind? Why not have a note with actual words on it instead of an easily misinterpreted sketch?I am glad that we got confirmation quickly that Margaery is not a religious zealot. Does anyone think that Tommen is faking his zeal?

Many questions.... In Bran's Flashback/FlashForward how is he seeing things where a Weirwood is not present? can he "greensee" any moment any where? Also, does anyone else totally NOT believe Margaery is a devout little SevenHead now? She is so smart, I'm pretty sure she is playing the High Sparrow (and Tommen) in order to get her ass out of there. Once she has been able to get Loras freed it will be on like Donkey Kong! Hmmmm,you know why the last two episodes have been so enjoyable? NO Ramsay Bolton! I am also psyched that A Girl did the right thing and became Arya again!

Why do people think that Sansa has feelings for Littlefinger? Isn't it obvious that she is just playing the role of the lovestruck girl to survive? I loved the inclusion of so much information about Rhaegar and Lyanna. When I read the books I completely missed the clues about the parentage of Jon Snow. It does appear to me that D&D are going to get more explicit about releasing this information on the show, probably by the end of this season.

Who the heck was that dude? Has we seen him before? One aspect of S3E09's aftermath is that basically now the only people at The Wall the audience knows or cares about are Lord Jon Snow, Samwell Tarly, Gilly, Little Sam, Dolorous Edd, Aemon Targaryen (and maybe the little kid who killed Ygritte). Janos Slyn, Allister and Tormund are also still at Castle Black as well but do we really care about them? I thought the episode was good, not great. In the books, Jon is my favorite character (and then Arya) but in the show it is probably Tyrion followed by Brienne/Arya. Stannis I really don't care about one way or the other.

Agreed! It's hard to believe there's only three episodes left and we have so many big moments left from ASOS to get through: 1) Death of Tywin by Tyrion; Shae's ultimate betrayal and timely end! 2) Escape of Tyrion with an assist from Varys 3) Oberyn losing the Trial By Combat with the Mountain, but Mountain succumbing as well (am I remembering this right from the books that both of them die??) 4) unCat! 5) Attack on the Wall / Stannis arrival / Stannis temps Jon with Winterfell / Jon elected Lord Commander of NightWatch Anything I missed? How do you think D&D will change things from the Books? (Note none of these pivotal events involve Dany at all, so I suspect some of her ADWD story will show up before the end of this season. Also, will they give us Bran's 3-eyed crow?)

Hear, hear! For me, as well, by far the best parts of Book 4 and Book 5 were the *sob* few Arya chapters, especially as Dany's went rapidly downhill and Tyrion's meandered. As for the episode itself, I agree with everyone who said that the Dreadfort scene was ridiculous. Ramsay is in a swordfight shirtless and doesn't get a scratch on him? (He has scratches from the rough sex with Myranda beforehand, methinks.) Ridonculously bad. Then it just turns into farce when the Iron Born run away from dogs! Sheesh. But Peter Dinklage tore up the scenery in the trial scene, I'm still rooting for Charles Dance to get an Emmy. I don't think he has had a bad scene in the show, EVER. The look on Jaime's face when Tywin says quickly "Done!" is PRICELESS.

Interesting stuff! I QUITE liked this episode. I was on the edge of my seat wondering if Bran and Jon's paths were going to cross. (After the reveal in S4E04 who knows who far B&B will deviate from the books!) Did anyone notice Cersei say she has been Queen for 19 years? That's a heck of a long time! And also remember Joffrey saying that his "uncle Jaime" is a washed-up 40-year old? Well, Jaime and Cersei are twins so Cersei is also 40. But I thought Cersei was a teen bride? There's some numbers that do not sem to be adding up there. Also, what was up with Ser Jorah saying that they had been fighting "Joffrey's wars fo years" in Westeros? How long, exactly was King Joffrey's reign? And whats up with crowning King Tommen when that has yet to officially happen in the books? I, myself, am looking forward to seeing the rise to power of the High Septon and Cersei being hoist on her own petard. Charles Dance needs an Emmy! That is all.

Wait, wha...? Brienne is dead? I forgot that part. I have only read all the books once. The Brotherhood without Banners catches her and Pod I think I remember.... But I don't remember Brienne being toast. Is that gonna happen this season?

It's even worse than you think. NO TYWIN!! (And No Arya!)

WTF was going on with Littlefinger's accent? It's funny that you mention Batman because I caught a bit of The Dark Knight Rises on HBO earlier in the day and, honestly, the speech patter is pretty similar. I swear Aiden Gillen has had a different accent in every single season. But whatever he was doing on the boat (trying to whisper or whatever) was simply not working. My husband (who is Unsullied) said, "Yeah, the director should have just not accepted that take of the scene." Any episode without Varys is a weaker episode, in my book.

Bronn always describes himself as a "sell-sword." It's obvious that a mercenary will sell his "loyalty" to the highest bidder. Tywin Lannister is the richest manin the Seven Kingdoms. Surely it was only a matter of time before Bronn sold out Tyrion to Tywin? The only question for me is how soon will we learn Shae's fate (our really, how soon in the season will Tyrion learn Shae's fate and thus learn how Bronn has deserted him.)

Which is something that D&D did not include in S3E10. To me one of the most salient parts of the show is not only the horrible things that befall the members of the Stark family, but also how the knowledge of what happens to each Stark family member is communicated to the others. By "Stark family" I am including Theon and Jon, BTW. That's one reason the scene with Arya seeing Robb's body with Grey Wind's head is so strong, as is the scene with Sam and Bran. I find it truly bizarre that we didn't really get a reaction shot from Sansa on learning about the Red Wedding, we just saw Tyrion reacting to his wife's reaction. Maybe in the show Jon will have more information about the whereabouts of Bran (and Rickon) than he did in the books. (I forget whether Sam tells Jon that he met Bran in the books (AFFC), but I think he does.) ON THE SHOW Arya: visual confirmation of death of her brother, father, and aural confirmation of her mother's death. Knows nothing about status of Brandon and Rickon. (Or Theon or Jon). [Actually Arya might have heard something about Theon when she was serving Tywin, no?] Sansa: saw Eddard die; has heard that Robb, Catelyn, Brandon and Rickon are dead. Knows nothing about Theon, thinks Jon is alive at the Wall. Jon: Thinks Arya and Sansa are in Kings Landing. Knows nothing about Brandon or Rickon. Knows Eddard is dead. Has no info on Catelyn or Robb. (Does he know Theon is a traitor?) Theon: Knows Brandon and Rickon are alive. Knows nothing about Catelyn or Robb or Sansa or Arya. Thinks Jon is alive at The Wall. Is now Reek so is he still a Stark family member? Brandon: knows Jon is alive (via Sam); knows Rickon is alive. Knows Eddard is dead. No info about Arya, Sansa,Robb or Catelyn. Knows Theon betrayed family but doesn't know he is now Reek. Rickon: Knows Brandon is alive and Theon is a traitor. Knows Eddard is dead. No info about Sansa, Catelyn, Robb, Arya or Jon. Keeping track of who knows what about what happened to who is one of the interesting aspects of the books to me, as "news" can obviously influence the decisions that characters make and channge the development of the story. How the show will deviate from and depict the flow of information between the characters is what I am looking forward to.

Completely agree with this. One of the only things that kept me reading the books was following Lady Stoneheart and hoping for her revenge. When I first saw the title of S3E10 was "Mhysa" and it was quickly noted that it means mother (in Valyrian, I think) my assumption was that it was referring to the Mother of Dragons, Daenerys Stormborn. However, similar to the case with the title of S3E08, "Second Sons," I think that the title of the episode has multiple meaning. Besides, Dany, the other mother they are referring to will probably be Catelyn Stark (and maybe Cersei Lannister?) making her appearance as Lady Stoneheart. I'd bet money it's the last shot of Season 3. If it is, I hope they do more with LS in subsequent than is done in the books so far.

But if Michelle Fairley isn't playing Lady Stoneheart how will the Unsullied know that the character is actually Catelyn Stark? (Although I could see that as a very cool reveal sometime in Season 4 with a guest appearance by Fairley.) I think it is imperative that Lady Stoneheart be part of the show, which I think they could improve on the books' treatment of her. One of the reasons I kept on reading the books after the devastating blow of the Red Wedding was knowing that Catelyn was still around in some form. I think there are a lot of readers (and now, many MANY more show watchers) who are continuing with the story in the hopes of seeing just how the Starks are avenged or at the very least how the Lannisters (and now the Freys) get their comeuppance. From the books we know that some bad things have happened to the Lannisters (Jaime's hand, Purple Wedding, Tyrion's revenge, Cersei's trials) but none of those have been due to actions by Starks or their bannermen. And none of them directly in response to the Red Wedding. (I have only read the books once so I may have missed something in AFOC or ADWD.) I know that ASOIAF is too complex to have "good guys" and "bad guys" but for me my favorite characters are Jon Snow and Arya because if their connections to the Starks, Bran (because his abilities are cool!) and Tyrion because he's the smartest character. Dany used to be #1 on the list but after ADWD she's probably #5 on my list. It's interesting to see how D&D are going to depict these characters and whether (or how much) they are going to alter the central DNA or themes of the story. They could probably still maintain the main ideas of GRRM's version of ASOIAF without Lady Stoneheart, but it would be a significant diminution of the emotional power of the series as a whole, in my mind.

And this is significant why? Is that where they left Hot Pie? Or is it where Brienne runs into Gendry later? Can someone more familiar with the books let me know?

I'd bet money that "Mhysa" refers to Dany. After all, she is the Mother of Dragons! Anyway, I think the Red Wedding was a 10, despite all the changes that they made to the books. I was actually very pleased with all the other important action they were able to get in, all without going to King's Landing at all. Sad that there's no Jaime/Brienne for two weeks in a row, though. Hopeful that they show up in S3E10. I'd be fine if no Theon appears, but I think I saw a peek of Reek in the preview. I wonder if they are going to do unCat? I hope so, Michelle Fairey tore up the scenery tonight. I think GRRM has ******* up the character in the books but I think D&D could make it very compelling on screen. The Arya-Hound interaction is INCREDIBLE. I love how he is like a giant compared to her and she's just fearless. I had completely forgotten Rickon separates from Brandon. So its Hodor/Brandon & Meera/Jojen who go far into the North. Don't the run into Sam at some point? It's been a bit since I read the books so its a but fuzzy. I do remember Coldhands being helpful on their journey, however and that they wouldn't survive without his presence. I saw a glimpse of Yara in the preview..I wonder how they are going to change the Iron Islands storyline??

Thanks so much for doing this! I see that someone else has gone ahead and done Season 3 episodes and through 8 it is averaging 8.05 (just slightly above Season 2) but well below Season 1. There is almost no way that Season 3 could end up averaging better than Season 1 at this point, but it looks like it will end up higher than Season 2. Here are those Season 3 averages so far (I haven't figured out multiquote yet) What's interesting about this data is that even though Season 2 is the lowest, it has the highest rated episode of all time (9.5 for Blackwater, unsurprisingly). From the description of S3E09 I don't think "The Rains of Castermere" is going to approach that level of uniformly positive fan response. Someone early posted about the possibility that Season 4 may actually out-do Season 3 and I think it is a distinct possibility. Another thing that I notice about Season 3 ratings is that they often gibe with how I rate the episodes, also! To me it was clear that S3E03, S3E04, S3E05 and S3E08 are the best episodes of the season with S3E04 ("And Now His Watch Is Ended") being the very best episode of Season 3 so far(although I would probably rate S3E03 "Walk of Punishment" ahead of S3E05 "Kissed by Fire"). I also really liked S3E06 ("The Climb") mainly for one of the best scenes of the series (for me), the dialogue between Lords Varys and Baelish discussing "the realm" at the end. ( I most certainly have rated it higher than the first two episodes.) But there's no question S3E06 ("The Bear and the Miaiden Fair") is simply disappointingly bad. I'm hoping very much that S3E09 is a 10-worthy episode!!

Hmmmm, that's a tough one. In Season 3 we have had 3 great episodes (S3E03, S3E04, S3E05) which I would probably rate as 10 and 2 very good episodes (S3E06 and S3E08) which I would rate as 9s. I suspect that the last two episodes will be at least 9s, if not both 10s. That would mean half of Season 3 would have been rated 10. Where are the average ratings at ASOIAF for all the episodes and seasons? Anyone do the math yet? I do think it is possible that Season 4 could be the best ever. I do know that one of the most satisfying moments in my reading of the books was the line "It turns out that Tywin Lannister did not indeed shit gold" (or words to that effect). The Purple Wedding is pretty satisfying too. The stuff at the Vale is sorta diffuse, but my memory is not that great--I have only read the books once so I can only really remember the big events right now.

I was wondering about this... I thought it was pretty bizarre that they had Sansa say she was 14 since the actress playing her doesn't remotely look 14 and it would truly skeeve the majority of non-perv viewers. Even 16 is pretty young to be bedded. How old is Show Margaery and Show Cersei?

LOLs. So true, so true. I have to agree with people who say that S3E07 (The Bear and the Maiden Fair) is the worst episode of the season, although it is tied with S3E02 (Dar Wings, Dark Words) for that record. The problem is that not enough happens. It's true that a lot of the plot develops through people speaking and information being transmitted between people and different ways, but still! I actually thought the best dialogue was given to Jon when he explains to Ygritte why "they" can't win. I was sorta bummed out by the Tywin-Joffrey scene--I thought there would be more sparks. It looks like that was just a preview for a full-on Tywin-Joffrey (or is it Tyrion-Joffrey) slapfest in S3E08. Is Talisa a spy? Possibly. It does seem odd how many letters she is writing. My (non-book reading) husband asked "Is she from the same place that Shae is from?" I think the answer is, yes, right? Aren't they both supposed to be from Volantis but one is a whore and one is a lady? It was nice to see Robb's butt :drool: Best scene of the episode (of course) goes to Khaleesi and the dragons (they are looking amazing!!) I have really no more to say about Theon/Reek. I really think the entire character could be eliminated without losing too much dramatic power of the story. The center of the story is the game of thrones, in what was does Reek/Theon contribute to whom will be sitting on the Iron Throne at the end of Book 7 (season 9?).

Ouch! That is wrong in so many ways!