Daenerys Must Die

6. Stannis/Shireen scene salvaged it for me. Faith Militant being portrayed like a gang of skinheads and the cartoonish Sand Snakes were pretty bad. Jaime/Bronn's leather jackets are still distracting.

Voted 7. About on par with last week for me. While I think I might enjoy the deviations to Sansa's storyline (based on what we've deduced from the season trailers etc.) it currently feels like Brienne and Pod are just being shoe-horned into it due to not really having much else to do. It was great to have Uncle Kevan back and sitting on the small council.. for like 5 minutes anyway before he left... Episode definitely could've used a 2nd scene in Dorne, Dialogue between Varys/Tyrion was solid even if I'm grumpy about the direction they took with his storyline. Maester wars between Qyburn & Pycelle will always be fun. Jaime's hipster leather jacket feels out of place.. but it's awesome and I want one.. I'm so torn on this..

9/10 for me... thoroughly enjoyed it although my initial reaction after the cliffhanger was a bit of disappointment .. Some episodes you find yourself waiting for one moment, and when the moment doesn't come/or doesn't deliver, there's a sense of letdown as opposed to reflecting on what was good about it.

Yeah the reasoning is probably correct, but I think in that respect the show made a mistake - even my mom knows Cat (and she rarely remembers anyones name).. just the other day she texted me asking "isn't that Cat from Game of Thrones??" while watching the new 24..

Enjoyed it quite a bit - obviously not "edge of your seat" stuff.. but sitting back to take in a pretty well-written, overall well-acted episode was nice - especially with the added visuals of the Vale. Craster's seemed a proper way to force some excitement/action into an otherwise 'build-up' type of episode so I didn't mind it despite it feeling a little unnatural with all of the convergences (repeat of the Queenscrow pretty much.. with Bran warging hodor.. Jon fighting and they narrowly miss each other - which I'm glad they did of course) The sword/knife fight between Jon/Karl was really well choreographed although I've never been big on "Spartacus (Starz)" types of over-the-top deaths like that; I know most people are so I have no real complaints about how it went down. 7.5/10 (rounded up) Ep.1 - 8 Ep 2- 7 (Boltons 10) Ep 3 - 7 Ep 4 - 9 Ep 5 - 8

8.. on par with the last few weeks and pacing was good, felt it ramping up to the ending bits.. Tyrion/Pod 2nd half of Arya/Sandor Night's Watch stuff (Sam/Gilly felt like it dragged along but what can ya do) Tywin/Tommen conversation - very Socrates'esque as a friend of mine pointed out. Mereen - just the scope of it felt very grand compared to seasons past and I enjoyed that despite my not being the biggest fan of that story Edit; How could I forget Dontos/Sansa/LF - seems we'll get more into the 'necklace' next week. All highlights for me.. Will save the cons for nitpicking thread..

Another 8 for me - the bookends stood out most to me in Roose/Ramsay's interactions and the execution of the actual meat & potatoes of the wedding.. the in between was touch and go. Stannis stuff was as I expected.. I understand why they stuck the sacrifice into this episode but I'm not sure that angle is overly important or even sticks with the average viewer.. The episode felt a lot better upon viewing it a second time - similar to the Red Weddding it's one of those things where you're anticipating a moment at the very end so I didn't immerse myself in the rest of the episode as much as usual in my initial view. Also forgot the mention - Bran's scene - really loved it especially the set of the weirwood which was beautiful.. I'm guessing it's safe to assume the dragon he saw over KL was in the past not in the future (not to say it won't happen in the future) but it's meant to be ambiguous.

You and me both, man :cheers:

50 men taking Dreadfort may not sound all that realistic, but given the amount of men Theon captured Winterfell with it's not surprising that Yara finds it to be a possibility, however she'll be pretty regretful when she finds out the war is over and the Leech Lord has returned home with all his men from Harrenhal. However Balon dying may delay her trip - not really sure where they're going with this storyline but I am intrigued by it.

No you pretty much hit the nail on the head in regards to the final scene, however as you can probably tell I'm a huge Dany fan. I'd suggest a re-watch sometime.. there were some parts of the episode that really dragged it but there were also some really well done scenes so I feel like my initial rating of a 6 was a bit harsh. In reality my expectations got the best of me (Lady Stoneheart) - a few weeks ago I really didn't have high expectations for this episode since it directly followed 'Rains' and I knew that would be hard to follow up - in the end I was right and I just take it at face value and tried to just enjoy the story lines. They could certainly do a revival early next season since in reality only about 3 weeks will have passed in Westeros time between now and S4E1 but I kind of doubt that will be the case - the only reason I wanted it is because with TV it's just kind of hard to fill the holes as to how and why Catelyn is somehow alive without delving into and relying on really cheesy dialogue but I suppose that's what they'll do - hoping for the best though..

I gave it a 7.. All in all it was a pretty well-written episode but it seems like some of the dialogues went on with out accomplishing much.. Arya was great. The Ramsay reveal was very well done and I really liked the Pyke scene (could this be what occupies the Bolton's next season? Would be a cool storyline) Joffrey/Tywin great as usual. I enjoyed how they handled the events at Dragonstone - they got a lot accomplished very fast but it was done concisely so even my unsullied friends could follow. Cersei/Tyrion convo was kinda meh.. they've had this conversation before and I though it would at LEAST have her mention Joffrey offering Loras a place in the Kingsguard to spite Tywin (since she started out by saying she wouldn't be marrying him yet didn't explain that at all) Jaime's return was hella ambiguous.. It should've been left until next season imo. And the ending... the only thing that could've made that more cheesy is if One DIrection was playing when Dany started crowdsurfing - even my friends who are super casual and love Daenerys thought it was kind of a dull ending. Good television and a nice episode but it could've easily been about 7-9 minutes shorter. A big plus was they gave the book readers a lot of shouts which was cool.

Yeah 'Hodoring' made me laugh.. also Lord Walder's "I'm Mary" ... "Fine".. Daario Naharis insisting he's the best whistler in the land is probably what gave this episode that extra push it needed.. not sure what I'd have given it without that.

Trolls I'd assume - every episode gets some 1 votes which I never can take as seriously.. and if they are then I don't see why they'd bother watching the show. I gave it a 9 initially but ultimately I couldn't resist the urge to bump it up to a 10 due to the Twitter reactions & YouTube reaction videos.. I can nitpick plenty of things but all-in-all I was just completely lost in the moment which doesn't happen often to me watching a television show (Breaking Bad, The Wire come to mind which writing wise are a bit better but this story in itself is more suitable to my tastes) I thought I would cry but I didn't - My heart started racing as soon as the doors to the great hall slammed shut which was such an eerie moment.. I wasn't sure I could handle it again. That on top of Roose's exchange of glances with Catelyn were absolutely fantastic.. a few more of those kinds of moments would have been nice but again I'm not complaining. Michelle Fairley was brilliant and Talisa's death was a lot more disturbing to me than I thought it would be (and I did, as did many, correctly assume it would be an attack on the womb)

I wonder how many non-reader were expecting something to happen to Joffrey last night - the immediate cut from the burning leeches to Joffrey sitting at the wedding reception immediately made me think of that - it also kind of eases the mind about Robb next week (warning signs that we don't heed) since nothing came of Joff/Tyrion's confrontation. I thought that was a cool scene and HBO get to toss some sex in (don't mind - I'm a big Mel fan in that respect)

Thought this was a really well constructed episode - the scenes had a lot of room to breath and the writing was pretty good. The Titan's Bastard looked like he would be better suited for Spartacus than GoT but he served his purpose - I found myself really liking Daario (not sure that's a good or bad thing since I didn't like him in the book) but on screen he comes off a bit more likable imo.. I actually pictured Daario in my head to be more like Mero (just not as vulgar I guess) which is why I hated him but as the 'play it cool pretty-boy' he's not so bad. Seems like Coldhands could make a good final scene of the season to me - the ravens were a bit of foreshadowing for him which was cool and Sam slaying the Other was awesome .. loved how all you could see was the Obsidian dagger with the ice around it just as I imagined when reading it (but Sam didn't pick up the dagger before he left - I can't remember whether or not it's mentioned in the book whether or does or not) Edit: Gave it an 8 (last week was 7, highest rated were 9's (4 & 5). I don't give 10's really)

Gave it a 7 but I thought it was about on par with last week in personal enjoyment (last week's was a 6 for me).. Hearing a Tormund "Har Har" and a bit more in depth Jon Snow development was one thing I really enjoyed. I've re-watched the bear pit scene and I agree with the consensus but on the other hand I understand that they're working with Bart the Bear and they can't really keep him on set for 17-hours to get the thing perfect (I also imagine he's quite expensive) so it's understandable.. Jaime's "sorry about the sapphires" certainly redeemed it a bit. As much as I've enjoyed Iwan's Ramsay portrayal and Alfie's acting I do think the scene was just too long tonight - the girls interaction with him could've been simplified however, his reluctance at first (and then caving) made me immediately think of Reek thinking everything is a trap and everyone that talks to him is doing so because Ramsay is playing a game with him - it plays into the development but again, it was just too long. I'm glad they faded out before any gratuitous violence occurred because that has gotten old now that we've seen what 'Boy' enjoys to do. Osha's story was meh but I think it will lead to her and Rickon splitting off from the group (perhaps they'll get to The Wall before they do that) but it's obviously clear now she isn't going any further. So anyway, it's good television and sometimes lurking the forums here all week get's my expectations a bit too high each week.. it wasn't a bad episode but I can understand why some aren't thrilled with it. my ratings this season ep1(8) ep2(5) ep3(6) ep4(9) ep5(10) ep6(6) ep7(7)

Solid 7 for me - most issues I have were already mentioned. I think what nailed it for me was Littlefingers monologue/voice-over.. the themes of that were very deep (as well as something I connect with).. he's very nihilistic in a sense. Even though this is written for the show it fits in with the general dynamic of why he's so interested in the Eyrie. Again at the end it jumps a bit but it worked well enough with the voice-over. The One True King killing Ros wasn't my favorite but I'm glad she's in the dirt.

It's not directly in the books no - I'd imagine GRRM had some input on this because the entire writing staff (including Martin) was very hush about Theon in this season.. I have my theories on why they added it and I'm enjoying it so far.. sadly it's going to be getting much worse for poor Alfie but he seemed really excited to be able to act out these scenes from his interviews. Oh and as this is the book spoilers thread I guess it's no secret as to "who saved Theon".. I don't want to spoil it for you but it's obviously someone you do not want to call "bastard" lest you want an arrow down your freakin gullet :P

I always picture this scene in my head for some reason and always wanted them to do it .. sadly it's always very comical in my head i.e a 10-second clip of Balon stumbling drunkenly across the rope bridge between castles - gust of wind comes and he goes flying over.. I'd have to imagine it would be hard to completely eliminate the Greyjoy's if they plan on doing a 5th season.