Rashtibram

This was a pretty excellent episode on the whole, especially when you consider that it's a season premiere (arguably the most difficult to write and direct). It's already noticeable that the absence of Robb/Cat and the merging of the Jaime/Brienne and King's Landing arcs is a huge advantage for the showrunners, and the concise nature of the episode (almost exclusively focusing on the various KL relationships and Dany) really helped to give it a sense of momentum and pacing which last season's 'Valar Dohaeris' lacked. A couple of frustrating – albeit minor – flaws kept it from surpassing season 2's 'The North Remembers' (still, IMO, the best premiere so far) but I can honestly say that this episode succeeded in meeting my high expectations in spectacular style, and next week looks even better. Edited to add a couple of specifics. I pretty much loved all of the King's Landing scenes: the wordless, artfully directed cold opening, the nice bit of fan-service in the White Book scene, everything Sansa (whose characterization looks to be right back on track with the books), Jaime struggling to find himself with Brienne and Cersei…the list goes on. On my first viewing, Oberyn's introduction seemed quite cheesy and over the top, and there are still certain aspects of the scene that I question, but upon a second re-watch it definitely holds up. I think I was a bit jaded by my prior knowledge of the character, but as an introduction I'd say it worked, and it certainly did its job in the memorability department. Anyway, his subsequent interaction with Tyrion had me nearly jumping out of my seat in a wave of fanboy craze, so there's something. With regards to Dany: the sequence with the dragons was excellent – the special effects team outdoes themselves once again – but Daario's recasting created a jarring and disconcerting atmosphere, as they seem to have changed his personality as well as his physical appearance (from strong and poetic to generically masculine). All of Dany's scenes on their own were quite good, but this blaring inconsistency just took me out of the world whenever Daario was on-screen. The tavern brawl was, IMO, one of the best sequences the show has done to date; while I'm still not sure about the adaptation choice (having the Hound injured in a different way, presumably to extend the popular relationship between him and Arya), the writing, acting and directing were all superb and on the whole brilliantly pulled off a scene which could easily have seemed redundant (as we already saw a glimpse of Arya's brutality in 3x10, and otherwise the only legitimate plot development was her recovery of Needle). Pretty much every detail of the scene deserves a mention in the "Positive Nitpick" thread, and that's saying something. Arguably the weakest aspect of the episode was the arc at the Wall. I was slightly indifferent to the Jon scene; it mostly just seemed like a bit of a let down after the implications of his material in last season's finale, and I was undoubtedly left with a couple of nagging questions (did Sam ever tell Jon that he met his brother at the Nightfort? And why was Maester Aemon just able to effortlessly override Thorne, who is apparently acting Lord Commander in the show?), but on the whole it wasn't enough to be a real detriment to the episode. The Thenns, on the other hand…I guess there wasn't really anything bad about their introduction, per se, but the cartoonish reveal that they were cannibals wasn't handled well to say the least, and there were times when it felt like they had gotten lost on their way to do battle with Leonidas and the 300 Spartans. Overall, though, despite my quibbles, I really did love this episode. I debated my rating for quite some time; after holding it at a seven for a while in a rush of initial "It's finally here!" excitement, I eventually decided against speaking such high praise so early in the season – especially when said season has so many spectacular episodes/events to look forward to – and gave it a "solid" six (which is actually a good score for me: I haven't given out a ten yet, and 'Blackwater' is the only episode so far to have pulled a nine). So… 6/10 'Two Swords' falls 18th out of 31 on my list of best-to-worst GOT episodes. (Sidenote: my friend gets her first cameo as one of Margaery Tyrell's cousins! She's the one the camera focuses on when Olenna tells them to go speak to the jewelers of King's Landing).

Notice that GRRM didn't say anything about Pod actually surviving; he merely confirmed that Brienne swore her sword to UnCat in order to save Podrick. What I think will happen: UnCat will play a mean trick somehow and make Jaime fight a trial by combat vs. Brienne. Brienne will let Jaime kill her, and Jaime, mad with grief, kills UnCat, and then goes to KL to strangle Cersei and dies in the process. (Nothing new, I know, but this just seems to be a likely theory)

I'm sorry if this has been heavily discussed earlier (I haven't read all twenty pages of this thread, seeing as it started in 2011, and I'm also not aware if this girl has come up already earlier in the story), but what about Teora (the girl from Ghost Hill who had the dragon dreams)? She seems somewhat psychic to the point of Dany's dragon-dreams and Stark warging. I'm just wondering what the general consensus about her is.

If I were you I wouldn't claim to know anything, but I've always agreed that Dany is the good guy of the story. Ever since the end of book one I've kind of had the thought in my mind that the real Song of Ice and Fire is about Bran (Ice) and Dany (Fire). Jon Snow and fAegon are just distractions in my opinion. However, based on the latter half of ASOS and all of ADWD, I kind of think it's implied that Daenerys has inherited a bit of the "taint" of the Targaryens.

So we have the Battle of Meereen now. I wonder if they'll sneak it into season 5 for the episode 9 climax?

By the way, sorry if this isn't helpful, but do you know how to reply to posts? You just hit the quote button. Putting it in quotation marks doesn't indicate a reply.

If Tyrion doesn't kill Shae I will stop watching the show. That's a critical defining moment for his character.

I really, really don't get what people are complaining about. Yes, the 'Mhysa' scene was cheesy and had uncomfortable racial undertones which I didn't notice when I read that scene in the books, but everything else was great! Arya's killing was brilliant, everything KL especially the council meeting, Dragonstone, Bran and Sam, all brilliantly executed. LS would have put the perfect finish on the episode, but you can't have everything. I only had a few gripes, one of which being that the scene between Roose and Walder felt a bit like the two cliché laughing villains, but again, that's a nitpick. As for Coldhands, Bran has about four or five more chapters to span what will likely be 2 or more seasons, so they can easily introduce Coldhands in an interesting way to add some action to his story.

Don't worry, I'm almost positive we'll get that next season. That scene was most likely the equivalent of her killing the guard at Harrenhal (which they decided to cut out to make Jaqen look more awesome).

Everyone's saying this, and I can't imagine why. Sure, Stannis has been a little bit blackwashed (I don't think that's a term, but whatever), but his book counterpart is not likable either! Honestly, he's my least favorite character in both mediums.

Winter is Coming.

Everything was great, except for Daenerys. I can't help but feel they should have moved her storyline forward: her episode 7 scene in episode 6 (replacing Theon), then the second sons part in episode 7 (would have made the episode a lot better), and then the battle in episode 8. in this episode her scenes felt rushed, particularly the last scene, and it didn't nearly do the battle justice. also, seeing the 3 fighting styles was cool, but otherwise what was the point of that scene? they just kept getting attacked by guards. would have been better if it had shown them fighting some guards near the main gate, and then opening it for the army. Besides that, though, a fantastic episode. the two big things, the RW and Queenscrown were both nailed in my opinion, and rickon and osha leaving bran was really sad (art parkinson wow!). I also loved arya's bits, though something felt a bit off; i feel like maisie was given some very clunky lines, and only her acting saved the scene from sounding cheesy (I'm thinking especially her line with 'I know a killer').

No it isn't.

I'm not 'uncomfortable' with it, I think sex and nudity is fine on screen. The complaints about sex typically aren't about how inappropriate the sex was, they're about how you shouldn't just fill a show with sex that doesn't serve the plot. If a sex scene is completely unnecessary, I would prefer it to be replaced by something that actually advances the plot or comes from the books.

I gave it a five, but then I'm very critical with ratings. For me, a seven is really good. So... 1. Robb and Talisa -Talisa is pregnant? This, for me, means she's going to die at the Red Wedding. At least, I hope she does, we already know she's there, and her escaping would be annoying as it would take away from the feeling of total devastation. -Robb... no. The show has somehow found a way to ruin his amazing character. In seasons 1 and 2 he was awesome, Robb fan all the way, but this season I don't feel any of the respect for him I did last season. He needs another battle before the RW, one that brings back the old KITN feeling, but I suppose that's the point as he is in a period of steady decline and they need to show that. 2. Sansa and Marge didn't really bother me other than the fact that it felt a bit like filler. 3. Good parts: Tyrion. His scene with Bronn made me laugh, and I don't understand all the Shae haters. I love Shae, and it made me sad to see her turning her back on Tyrion. 4. Theon... just ugh. Gratuitous torture-sex is not GOT style and they need to stop. I don't mind the occasional torture scene to show what's happening to him, but this scene took it over the top. The naked girls were completely unnecessary and Ramsay couldn't redeem the scene this time with his good acting. 5. Mel and Gendry. The epic music wasn't necessary and they made too much of a deal out of him learning about his father. It just felt forced 6. Daenerys: I liked her scenes, and they were some of the better parts of the episode, but I feel like they could have had the Titan's Bastard in this episode, because the Yunkish slaver wasn't really exciting enough. 7. Bear Pit: best part of the episode. It was really well done considering what they had available, though I don't think it will remain as iconic a moment as it was in the books. I felt like I was watching real GOT again, though, so it was more than satisfying. A better ending, however, would have been Jaime pushing Locke into the pit. Overall, it was disappointing, and their lack of material is really becoming apparent. This episode had a few good moments, but really can't earn anything over a five. Next episode looks amazing though!

his character doesn't appear in ASOS, all you see is the aftermath of his torture a few books later. sorry if that's considered a spoiler.

8/10. Very solid, with a very dramatic denouement which was not altogether expected. What I loved was the way all those conversations were one shade more subtle, each one going a bit deeper into the game of thrones: starting with jon talking to ygritte, then arya with mel, beric, thoros etc., then roose with jaime and brienne, then tywin and olenna, and then tyrion and cersei, and finally the true masters, varys and LF. True, there wasn't a lot of action, but it was a good build up episode which did well in setting up future events. Ironically what I liked least about the episode was the actual climbing. tv is consistently unrealistic about two things: one is cold, and the other is how much weight rope can hold (seriously, that rope should have broken long ago). the final shot was a bit cheesy, though very beautiful, and ramsay + theon was just disgusting and creepy, but those were really the only downsides. everyone is complaining about how much they're changing from the books, but i haven't noticed that at all (aside from the obvious mel/gendry change). much more faithful than season 2 in my opinion, i loved how robb's conversation with the freys was taken almost word for word from the book.

Thanks for showing me! I guess she will go to the cave, but...

That doesn't happen in the books, and Gendry is supposed to survive to meet brienne in book 4, and i certainly hope he'll continue to survive. if they do that, i think it would be an unnecessary deviation and i wouldn't welcome it. better to just invent one of robert's other bastards (edric storm) cause they can't just completely change gendry's story arc. also, if you're wondering who arya shot an arrow at in the preview to 'the climb', that wasn't melisandre, that was the hound. (sorry i had a long argument with somebody about this)

The Red Wedding, it was confirmed a while ago, will be in episode nine. You can guess from the title: 'The Rains of Castamere'

I think it's due to production issues; it's difficult and expensive to shoot in iceland. i imagine his story will become more elaborated on once they're south of the wall and in northern ireland again.

But I think it's a mixture. He's saying that, but also implying something else i feel.

Not sure about that. Where do you think Melisandre went to get 'King's blood?'

Great episode. I know some people last week were complaining that the show focused too much on big game-changers, without enough character development, and this episode was the perfect answer to those complaints. We got the action of Sandor vs. Beric and the Karstark betrayal and execution, but the rest of the episode was pretty much all character development. The bathtub scene was done perfectly and really enhance Jaime and Brienne's relationship, we saw some great Robb build up and his plan to attack Casterly Rock will help to shock readers when it never happens, and the debut of shireen and selyse was very eerie but worked well. And whose eyes didn't tear up with Arya and Gendry's scene? On the whole, the only thing this episode was missing was a big cliffhanger ending, which would have excited viewers after all that talking :) But I kind of liked the symbolic shot of the lion, tyrion and cersei at the end. One of the best episodes this season, second behind last week's I would say. Oh and btw, Jon and Ygritte... :bowdown:

I don't think the purple wedding will be in this season. From what I can tell: ep. 5: beric vs hound, jon + ygritte sex scene, robb executing karstark, maybe end with beric coming back to life ep. 6: littlefinger gives his 'climb' speech to somebody, and tormund and others scale the wall ep. 7: bear pit scene, jaime saves brienne, dany exiles jorah ep. 8: imp wedding, sansa and tyrion scenes, dany meets daario and the Second Sons ep. 9: red wedding: probably will take up all of the episode, just like blackwater took up its episode ep.10: dany conquers yunkai, and debatably the season will end with UnCat coming back to life.