Mr. Sven

I feel like a lot of people assume that people who complain about the changes assume they're doing so because they're book purists but really nobody expects the show to remain completely faithful to the books. Sometimes the changes just don't work though and the details of the changes matter a lot. Even if they get to the same place as each other it doesn't mean that there the same, one version may simply be better than the other. The show basically recycles all sorts of hollywood tropes while the books try and subvert some of these tropes. One version essentially glamorizes violence and death while the other deplores it.

After realizing that the raven is Max Von Sydow I've changed my mind and am giving the episode a 3

Gave it a 1. The show is just so predictable and boring at this point.

5/10 I never like battle sequences in tv and this was no exception. Nothing really egregious for me this episode, well maybe Emilia Clarke's acting, but nothing that really stood out as great for me.

3/10 Pros I liked some of the high sparrow scenes, his actor really nails it. Jorah getting rejected made me laugh. Also Tyene Sand is hot. Cons Sam and Gilly scene was cringeworthy. Also why is Ghost still here? Tyrion and Jorah was pretty bad. Seriously that guy just took Tyrion kicking him? Even though Tyene Sand is hot that scene was still bad and her nudity served no purpose. I don't think that Stannis will go through with it but really this is the best way you can make him likable refusing to kill his daughter? The flayed woman scene was pretty bad especially since it looked really fake. Personally I do think Sansa is a better actress than Arya though I doubt many people here agree with me. I know I had a lot more but at the moment I can't recall it

I don't see how it can work if they combine those two characters.

I don't think anyone thought the books were masterpieces. We all just liked the story of them. I also don't think people have a problem with changes, everyone know that there needs to be some changes for this to work for tv. The problem is that the last few changes they've made haven't been all that good, at least thats what I think. I remember liking some of the changes they made in prior seasons, like with Arya in season 2.

The actress for the child of the forest is actually how I pictured the waif in Braavos

Yeah, I don't actually mind the shots of the wall to be honest. I just don't care for cgi at all, I know I'm in the minority there. I do try to be more lenient with tv shows though.

I thought this was the worst episode of the season. I ended up giving it a one, but I'll probably end up raising it a couple points later, since even though I very strongly disliked the episode there are a quite a few worse shows out there that are more deserving of a one. Anyway, I absolutely hate cgi, I found the Bran scenes to be quite tedious since it was mostly cgi. I've never seen the appeal, it doesn't look real at all it just looks ridiculous. As for Bran's actual story I was ok with them killing off Jojen since I think he's probably dead in the books too, and he's not particularly important at this point. I wondering what they're going to do with him next season since they don't have a ton more to work with. I figure they'll go into Blood Raven's history, which I like, but I don't think the show writers can write particularly well so I'm worried about that. I'm also worried that the writers may get ahead of the books for this storyline. I was fine with them changing the story to have Brienne and the Hound fight, but I didn't like the actual scene. The reason being is that I hate the rapid cuts that happened every two seconds. Rapid cutting does not equal dramatic tension. It just takes away from the realism of a scene. How can you suspend your disbelief when every second there's a cut? I mean I know that the director's can't pull a Bela Tarr and have every shot be a really long take, but they could at least lengthen the shots a tiny bit. I watched True Detective for the first time after the episode and thought that they could do what they did. They did do a long take in an earlier episode, I forget which one but it was the opening shot when the wildlings attack Molestown, so hopefully they move more in that direction. As for Stannis's scene apart from what I mentioned above I don't have too many complaints, at least relating to this episode. I don't like how the show's portrayed him, but I'm hopeful we'll get to see him in a different light soon enough. Anyway what angered me the most about this episode was Tyrion's scene. I mean he didn't get angry at Jamie, he killed Shae in self defense? Normally I don't really mind the whitewashing of characters, since this is tv after and they need to make the characters more likeable, but this greatly upset me. Tyrion's whole thing is that nobody but Tysha loved him, who hasn't been brought up in years(?). Having Shae try and kill him does play into that thought, but having him not get into a fight with Jamie takes away from it. What better way was there for them to show Tyrion's transformation into a much darker person than by having him kill Shae in cold blood? Anyway I just feel like this whole thing was critical to Tyrion's emotional state in the next book, so the change really does bother me. Also when I read the book I had gotten the feeling that Varys had wanted Tyrion to go and kill his father, did anyone else get that feeling or was I totally off on that? It wasn't really a big deal for me that they left out Lady Stoneheart. I figure we'll get to see her early next year anyway, maybe through Arya's accidental warging! Also, it's quite possible that they had wanted to film a scene with her but there may have been some sort of scheduling conflict we don't know about. Does anyone know if that was the case? Of course, I would have preferred it this season as not only was the perfect cliffhanger but I think it would have had more of an emotional impact as the final shot of the season. The farther we get from the Red Wedding the less impact the scene will have. Anyway since I've forgotten most of the other stuff I intended to write about I'll mention one more quick thing. I've disliked a lot of other episodes this season, but this episode, unlike many of the others, lacked some sort of redeeming scene or an interesting shot (the weirdwood tree doesn't count), which is why I, at least for the moment, have it rated a one. This whole season has been disappointing, in retrospect the episodes I've actually liked really only had one or two scenes that elevated the episode, while the rest was mediocre at best. I really hope that next season they turn it around, but I don't have a ton of hope in that regard. Edit: Sorry to everyone who takes the time to read through my poorly written rant and all the errors in it.

he said he was followed and he assumed it was varys

Earlier in the episode Tywin says to bring Shae to his tower before the wedding

I can't really explain why I feel this way but there was just something about it that kept me from really liking the episode