Rashtibram

Sorry for not recognizing the difference between looking feminine and looking like a female. And your problem with the writing, so far as I understand it, was that nobody in the room assumed he was there for goat money. He had the bones in his arms; they were even wrapped in a cloth like a baby. He was also crying as he spoke. Would you assume he was holding a goat? In any case, this is nitpicking at its finest. Who cares whether or not anybody assumed they were goat's bones, beyond it being a deviation from the novels? How does that hurt the scene in any way? If you're this diligent in looking for flaws, almost any scene will fall apart.

Yeah, I was surprisingly touched. Brilliantly done. To each his own.

Wow…it's posts like these that make me want to run away from this forum and never look back. The scene disappointed you because the actor looked too feminine?

I'm not entirely sure what you're blaming D&D for. Is it the deviations from the source material you perceive to be unnecessary? Or is this still about marketing and theme parks?

He doesn't agree. You were making out that D&D were the "bad guys" in the situation because they market the show and come into a lot of money as a result of it. sj4iy said, quite rightly, that issues of licensing and marketing are entirely out of D&D's hands. Also, I worry about anybody who seems to value the 'Star Wars' prequels over GoT.

False. Objectively. You should probably stop watching the show at this point if this is your expectation. An adaptation, by definition, is going to change things to better suit the needs of a different medium. The fact that the show alters lines or inconsequential details doesn't mean it's not an adaptation. Inventing scenes or minor subplots that eventually tie back into the source material doesn't mean it's not an adaptation, either. The fact is that literally every major book event (in a plot sense) has been covered by the show with a comparatively high degree of fidelity. The same cannot be said for STIK and other such "inspired by" works.

Cutting characters, inventing material and changing lines does not equate to negating the label of "adaptation." This comparison is ridiculous. Also, can you please explain to me how the bolded examples are major deviations in any sense?

Of course it was a foolish decision, and one made in the heat of the moment. Tyrion wasn't going through a rational thought process, weighing the pros and cons of both scenarios, when he made the decision to go to the Tower of the Hand; he was thinking "f*ck this asshole, this is my last chance to confront him once and for all!" We don't know what exactly he would have done if Shae hadn't been in the bed, but that's something that's left up to the viewer's interpretation (as is the exact nature of the relationship between Tywin and Shae). As someone has said, this makes less sense than the book's version of events, and I bitterly regret the exclusion of Tysha (in fact, in an adaptational sense this might be my least favorite episode of the series), but that does not equate to "it doesn't make sense at all in show canon." If there was no source material to compare the scene to, nobody would be questioning it. No Unsullied seemed to have a problem with it.

Yeah, well… Honestly, stop it with that. I'm fine with critiquing, but just stating categorically that the show/writers are bad isn't going anywhere.

The technicalities of how he got there are so minor and inconsequential that you can't really criticize it (most likely, he remembered it from the map that Varys gave him in 'Blackwater,' or he explored the trapdoor at some point during his time as Hand of the King). This is the definition of nitpicking. His motivation is a murkier question, but it's not "illogical." He's not thinking straight – he's been in a cell contemplating his own death for several days now, and he knows Tywin has the power to stop it. Everyone saying "oh, it's not Tywin's fault that Tyrion's getting executed, he has no reason to be angry with him" is failing to understand the mentality of a man who's just been sentenced to death by his own father. It's perfectly understandable that he would make the impulsive decision to follow a nearby passageway he knows leads to Tywin's chambers. ETA: Also, adaptations aren't fan-fiction. That's ridiculous. The story of ASOIAF is as much theirs as it is GRRM's right now. You can disagree with the changes (I disagree with a whole lot of them, especially the ones in this episode) but this labeling is just getting ludicrous.

I gave this episode an eight, my highest rating since 'The Rains of Castamere' (and right now, I can't decide which I like better). Absolutely brilliant on all accounts. I have a number of niggling adaptational queries and nitpicks (most of them involving King's Landing relationships going forward) but those can wait, and they didn't stop me from appreciating what was, to my mind, easily the best episode of the season. First off, Stannis to the rescue…I still maintain that the sequence would have carried so much more weight at the end of episode nine, for what it's worth, but I thought they handled it well under the circumstances (and, for the record, we have our first real long shot of a large army in the entire show, so that's something). Oh, and Stan-Stans: 'Warrior of Light' is not "villain music." It's ridiculously epic. Also, Mance and Jon's parlay was probably the best Wall-related dialogue scene of the season. Loving the toasts. Jaime/Cersei/Tywin wasn't really anything special, but none of it bothered me and the acting, as usual, was top-notch. Bonus points for setting up UnGregor next season as well (though if we get him and not LS I might riot). Daenerys was the first real highlight of the episode. Great acting from Emilia Clarke for a change, the dragons looked convincing, and the emotions were vivid. The post-battle Wall scenes were also excellent, most notably the interaction between Jon and Tormund. Great dialogue. The skeleton-fight was probably my only issue with the episode, and that's just because it looked a little bit ludicrous (especially when the kid started throwing fireballs at them). Honestly, were normal wights too difficult to create? And the entire rest of the episode was probably the best 20 minutes of television I've seen this year. Arya's goodbye to the Hound might surpass Oberyn and Tyrion from 4x07 as the best scene of the season, and wow…even without Tysha, I'm blown away by Tyrion's escape sequence. And finally, the last scene of the season made me forget all about Lady Stoneheart.

Yeah, they drag; but great dialogues and character moments are just as interesting (for me) as game-changing events. AFFC is one of my favorites.

Dull and boring? It focused too much on characters nobody really cares much about, yes, but this complaint sounds a whole lot like "WAAAAHHHH WHEN'S THE BATTLE GOING TO HAPPEN!" And that's just dumb.

I think the major problem people are dancing around here in the more negative reviews is perfectly underlined by what the book reader critic for the AV Club had to say about the episode. I found it absolutely spectacular from a production standpoint, and I'm a sucker for big battles (so I really enjoyed it), but I can completely see where he's coming from. I think he really captures the issue that held it back from fully matching the quality of 'Blackwater,' and it's even more frustrating when you realize this problem could have been entirely avoided by stretching the episode out a little longer and including the Mance parlay and the Stannis charge. It was still the best episode of the season from my perspective, but it could have been the best episode ever, and that qualifies as a disappointment in my book.

Well, elite slave armies like the Ottoman janissaries and the Safavid qizilbash were pretty effective for the most part; but the lack of testosterone is a major plot hole that doesn't make much sense. Suspension of disbelief, I guess.

Oh, sati…I actually have legitimate sympathy for fans like her on this occasion, as they were waiting for so long for Stannis to get his "Dawn of the Rohirrim" moment, and now it's going to be stuck into the first 15 minutes of the finale (in all likelihood).

I gave this one an 8. Absolutely fantastic from both a production and narrative standpoint, but it could have easily pulled a nine had the producers not chosen to hold off on Stannis' arrival. As it was, it was quite brilliant for the most part, from Sam cursing to Giants Riding Mammoths to Grenn's last stand to Edd holding the Wall to Jon vs. Styr…the list goes on. While I would have liked to have seen more wide shots of the 100,000 men who were supposedly just out of sight within the trees, I understand the budgetary restrictions (here's to hoping we at least get a decent shot of Stannis' cavalry next week :cheers:) and it didn't unduly bother me as the Wildlings' tactics in not displaying the full army made sense. I also loved the added nod to the "cost of revenge" theme of the season in Olly being the one to dispatch Ygritte. This is my first 8 since 'The Rains of Castamere' and one of three episodes in the entire series to have pulled a rating higher than seven. Needless to say, I enjoyed it :D

Can somebody please explain to me the Wildlings' tactics (budgetary reasons exlcuded)? Why was Mance sending small groups of 15 people at a time to climb the Wall/breach the gate? Wouldn't it be a lot simpler and more effective to send his entire force at once?

Ridiculous. How is this indicated? The scene looks like it'll be exactly like the one from the books.

Wow. Has anyone actually watched the preview for 'The Children?' Absolutely epic. I have no doubt the Stannis moment will be amazing.

I mean, when you really consider it I suppose this makes the most sense. There's supposed to be a respite from the battle while Jon is sent out to parlay with Mance. Then the horsemen arrive. It was like this in the books as well. I'll reserve judgement till I've watched it, but if STANNIS! STANNIS! STANNIS! is one of the last scenes of the episode I think it could be spectacular.

Wait, WTF? How did it end?

No sign of him yet? Has day broken?

Oh, thank goodness. I was worried they'd left out Stannis.

Yeah, and have we seen the Jon/Sam pic from this ep that's in daylight?