Ser Hippie

One of the best hours of TV I've ever seen. Incredibly gripping, which is even more impressive given that I already knew what would happen.

Did Sandor cut a man in half there?

Well, that wildfire explosion was pretty awesome. Money well spent, jesus.

And quicker!

Bronn leading his men in song (Rains of Castamere), encore!

It's not a contradiction, at all, unless you take Ygritte's words extremely literally. If Ygritte had said "They won't question you or ask you questions, they're just going to kill you", that's contradictory. Qhorin asks "Tell me true. If your people captured me, would they hold me prisoner". Ygritte's response how the wildlings' emotions might affect the manner of Qhorin's death, not that they'd kill him immediately afterwards. To touch on Qhorin's specific language - they're not planning on holding him prisoner for any lengthy period of time, which is what Qhorin means (because he just talked about how they don't have the supplies or men to hold Ygritte). The wildlings will still kill Qhorin quickly if they feel kind and painfully if they don't. Do you really think Ygritte needed to say "Well, after they interrogate you since you're a senior officer in the Night's Watch and presumably know what the Watch is planning" first?

Rattleshirt specifically says that Qhorin will know more (about what the Watch is doing) than Jon when Ygritte and her band arrive. He's being kept alive for a reason. Mance has no reason to keep Qhorin alive afterwards. HE keeps Jon alive in the books because Jon convinces him that he'd want to actually join the Wildlings, not to be merciful or kind. I don't know why you'd expect Mance to keep Qhorin alive if he made it that far in the show (and he won't, of course, anyway).

How is it not true? First of all, Ygritte actually does answer two of his questions (revealing the Wildlings are massed there in great numbers). After she then refuses to answer a couple more questions, Qhorin asks if the wildlings would take him prisoner. Ygritte doesn't say yes or no directly, she just gives the line about taking his head off if they were feeling kind and kill him slow otherwise. How does "take him prisoner, torture him for information, then kill him (presumably painfully)" not fit until the killing him slow? I don't see why taking Qhorin prisoner makes people think they were going to be merciful, I'm pretty sure they were going to grind whatever information they could out of him, then brutally kill him. Thinking Ygritte meant literally "they'll kill you quickly right that instant" or "they'll slowly kill you immediately after that instant" is too reading that scene too literally.

Yes, but I'm talking about what they did, practically speaking, to betray Robb. They (Sybelle and Rolph) obviously were working against him but in terms of story progression their key act was Sybelle feeding the contraceptives to Jeyne. In the books, Rolph appears in order to have Greywind react poorly to him and be sent away. Sybelle is a background character that doesn't do much (that we know of) until one scene in AFFC. Ruining the RW plotting would mean altering the Freys/Boltons/Tywin, losing the Westerlings doesn't really matter with regards to the Red Wedding. I certainly don't agree with The RW was Frey's idea; he goes to Tywin for (lack of a better term) "moral support". Similarly, it's Bolton's idea to betray Robb, Tywin's role is to hammer out the details. Robb is dead for many reasons, but Sybelle and Rolph are extremely minor players at best. Rolph and Sybelle are definitely opportunists and (to most readers) villains, but they're not really that important in general outside of removing the possibility of Robb having an heir. The Frey, Bolton and Karstark betrayals are a lot more serious and relevant to "painting a bull's eye" on Robb. Sybelle and Rolph betray Robb to cover their own asses - well Sybelle to protect her family too (the pardons)- and make a small profit (Castamere is famous but also a ruin the Westerlings can't afford). Sybelle, at least, certainly wouldn't have sent Raynald along if she had actually understood what the plan was. From Tywin's PoV there's absolutely no need to involve either of Sybelle or Rolph in his plot as they're not necessary to it.

It's pretty easy to explain, really, even ignoring the possibility Ygritte was wrong. She says that if they were feeling merciful they'd kill the Halfhand quickly, if not (trails off). Rattleshirt specifically mentions they're going to find out what Halfhand knows, which presumably doesn't involve pleasant treatment - the "or else" implied in Ygritte's statement.

The Westerlings had nothing to do with the RW or plotting it, it's explicitly noted in the text because Sybelle Westerling is furious about it (since it got Raynald killed). The Red Wedding was a Bolton/Frey/Tywin plot; the Westerling betrayal was Sybelle feeding Jeyne the contraceptive. We do lose that subplot but it was only relevant in one scene in AFFC.

Seeing as we didn't see anything beyond them approaching the gate, perhaps letting the story play out would be a good idea. As for Karstark's line that has you upset, I'm 99% sure it was intended to show how distraught he is over his sons' deaths, not that he is actually a follower of the Seven.

I suggest you read the description of Episode 10 closely.

I liked it overall but within the framework of the season I think the pacing/scene organization of the past couple of episodes (particularly with Tywin/Robb and the military situation and Stannis' advance on KL) have been a little off. Still, I enjoyed it.

Oona Chaplin, Charlie's granddaughter