gotgrrrl

Gave it a 4. LOVED Shireen but I could watch her all day long. She's so sweet. Stannis was okay too but the rest, ugh. The Jon and Mel scene was completely unnecessary and cringe-worthy. Same for the Sand Snakes. They didn't do much for me in the books and even less so here. Ellaria is just weird. Liked her last season, hate her now. Crazy Faith Militant was way over the top. Did anything even remotely similar to their eliminating drinking and invading brothels happen in the books? That was so clunky. And that it was Cercei's idea to arm them also didn't make a lot of sense. Her plan is to arm a bunch of religious zealots in order to get rid of Loras, to get back at Marg, what? Makes my head spin. Don't get me started on the Littlefinger's bizarre plan. Sure, leave Sansa alone with Ramsay. Don't ask around about his "activities". Nothing bad's gonna happen. And Barristan! I really liked his role in the books and now it looks like that's not gonna happen...

Giving it a 6. I didn't have huge expectations going in as I'm not a fan of the whole Wall storyline and since that was all the episode was about I had fairly low expectations but I WAS super excited to see Stannis arrive and then...no Stannis this episode [note: I'm not a Stannis fanatic or anything, I just really like it when he arrived at the Wall in the book. I was not expecting it]. I thought the way Slynt was portrayed was weird -- cartoonish even. Poor writing of the character. Yes, he's an a-hole but to deny seeing mammoths and giants and then go hiding was just silly. I also didn't think the Sam/Gilly scenes were necessary. Getting to be annoying like Tyrion and Shae. Same dialog over and over again. And was Gilly really about to just sneak past the Wildling group, carrying a baby? Really? I did like the mammoths and giants - glad they were included. Makes North of the wall more interesting. I also liked seeing Maester Aemon -- had to wonder who the girl was.

Yep, that was my reading of it too. In fact, Arya is looking at the Hound most of the time she's laughing. She's laughing at him and his failed attempts to ransom her. I thought the scene was hilarious. One of my favorites. Poor Hound, can't catch a break.

Great analysis of the scene. Thanks! I like the very subtle way they are setting up Tyrion's escape. I also think that unsullied will view it as Tyrion's final "good-bye" scene.

So if I break my rating down by "scenes" I get.... Ramsay/Yara/Theon -- 3, would have been a 1 if not for Reek. Dany in Meereen/Goat Scene -- 8 -- I liked it, good foreshadowing of bad things to come with the goat bones and although Hizdahr was not as I imagined, I liked how the scene showed the negative repercussions of Dany's form of "justice". Stannis and the Iron Bank -- 6 -- interesting to see inside the Iron Bank but the rationale to fund Stannis made no sense whatsoever. The Salladhor Saan hot tub scene really annoyed me. The joke was too long, didn't get the punch line and just seemed like another excuse of nudity. Stannis is of course nowhere to be found. Pre-trial scenes -- 6--. Small councils scene was fine, setting up Dany as a threat even though I didn't get the feeling that they see the dragons as something to worry about (baby dragons), more about her Unsullied and Sellswords. Didn't get the Oberyn and Varys discussion as it seemed to suggest that Varys is angling for the Iron Throne which isn't (wasn't) the case. Oh well. Trial -- 9-- pretty awesome but followed the book so no real surprises. I liked how Oberyn actually questions some of the testimony (e.g., what debt did Tyrion want to pay back?). They seem to really emphasize Sansa's role in the poisoning with Shea's testimony and finding the necklace. I suppose that makes her position even more precarious. So, final score is a 6.5 (okay I'll give it a 7).

I thought the same thing. How exactly was Locke going to escape with Bran considering he can't walk and has to be carried around by Hodor? And if Locke were to go missing, wouldn't that raise suspicions among Jon and Co? What exactly was Locke's plan? To drag Bran all the way back to Bolton? And if we assume that Locke also kills Hodor, Jojen and Meera, wouldn't their bodies be found the Jon and Co.? The whole thing makes no sense to me.

I gave this episode an 8/10 -- seems like even so-so episodes have something that redeems it for me. Last week it was Ser Pounce, this week Arya's water dancing and mention of Syrio Forel! My daughter fences and although she can't watch the show for obvious reasons, I do pick out scenes of Arya's sword-skills for inspiration that she can watch. This week was just amazing. I think the Hound's dismissal of water dancing is going to come back to bite him (at least I hope so, I was not happy when he smacked Arya). I wasn't crazy about Cercei's portrayal. I get that she's trying to sway the judges but I think she'd be acting a bit more unhinged -- she was too calm and "normal". Dany's scene was just meh. I liked that one of Craster's wives/daughters got a chance to stab Karl (in retribution for the abuse) and essentially save Jon. Ya gotta just love Tommen

I gave it a 9/10. The episode would have gotten a lower score but for Ser Pounce! I loved the way they handled Marg/Tommen. Because neither has a POV in the books, it was nice to see how Marg was able to work on Tommen. I think it will make for an interesting triangle (Marg-Tommen-Cercei). I also really like the actor playing Tommen. Wasn't keen on Dany's taking down the Masters in Mareen -- it felt very rushed. We see one Master being attacked and then it's over, really? Not sure how I feel about Bran's arc -- being captured at Crasters just seemed strange and I really didn't like how they just mention that Jon knows that Bran is alive. What? Seems like that is kind of big news to have delivered off-screen. I also thought that Locke just hanging around when Jon and Sam were discussing Bran's whereabouts was a bit lazy. The WW reveal was surprising. Happy to see more about them and their relationship with Craster's sons. Sad to see Olenna go. Hope she makes her way back to KL but I don't think she's in any rush to do so. Probably a good idea to get out of town given that she's just killed the King. Finally, why was Olenna messing with Marg's necklace during their scene? What is it about that necklace?