CaptainTheo

So much this. Also saving her from Lysa, and liberating Winterfell. I felt really sorry for him and that Sandra and Arya had become evil. And he was a much more interesting character than either of them. I felt like it was Arya, not LF, who was causing all the trouble in Winterfell this season. (1) Commits genocide against the Freys, (2) Irrationally keeps verbally attacking Sandra (this starts before she reads the note she wrote), (3) Espionage, (4) Steals the letter from Petyr's room, and (5) kills LF before Sandra pronounces sentence. The only possible accusation against LF this season is that he planted a note for Arya to find, which he can claim (and basically does claim) that he obtained from Wolkan in order to protect Sandra's reputation and was stolen by Arya - it was well-hidden, after all. Yet Arya gets away with all this, in fact Sandra suddenly becomes nice to her in the finale, in spite of it. Not that I thought Arya should have been executed (except perhaps for her crimes against House Frey, which were not common knowledge, though Bran could have told people about that, too). But I definitely didn't think LF should have been executed. He killed nowhere near as many people as Arya did. Just compare him with Jorah, whose punishment was banishment, and Tyrion, who was given the option of taking the black and a trial by combat. Ned also was supposed to have been allowed to take the black. Even Cersei was allowed a walk of penance. LF was killed on the spot with no options.

I am being extremely generous and giving it a 5; my initial reaction was to give it a 1. I actually really enjoyed the first two-thirds of the episode, with the gathering at the Dragonpit allowing the reunion between a lot of characters and some interesting stuff happened. Then it all went to pieces. + Euron pretending to flee when really he had an alternative plan was cool. + Cersei pretending to acquiesce then really not doing so was in-character. Good to see Jaime leave her at last. Although, it was a bit odd that she didn't have Gregor kill Tyrion, given how willing she was to murder people at the end of last season, including family members who weren't even her enemy. + Jon being overly loyal and honest and honourable thus causing trouble is also in character. + Glad the supposed spoiler about Cersei losing her baby wasn't true. ----- By far the worst bit was my favourite character Littlefinger out of nowhere being put on trial and in a Kangaroo Court being murdered by Sandra who he had saved at least twice and done his best to help her and give good advice. All his crimes, revealed by Bran ex machina, were years in the past. (I thought even making him take the black would be too harsh.) This whole scene was sickening. Please someone kill Sandra off early next season! Preferably Arya too. I was prepared to reduce the mark for this episode by 5 just because of this. - Sandra and Arya having been at odds all their lives, especially in the previous few episodes, magically turn into BFFs. - Theon implausibly wins a fight against a tough Ironborn fighter and this act makes the rest of the Ironborn instantly and simultaneously change their minds and go and rescue Yara who is conveniently apparently still alive. I guess violence really is the answer to everything. - Jon's real name is Aegon? Doesn't Rheagar already have a son of that name? And remember these are writers who renamed other characters in earlier seasons simply to avoid duplicating names. - Just a minor nitpick, but Rheagar, who's supposed to be ridiculously handsome (even Cersei considers him outshining Jaime by a mile), looked suspiciously like Viserys. - Jon/Dany, ugh! And I'm not referring at all to them being unknowingly aunt and nephew. Having gone on and on about honour early in the episode, Jon then immediately dishonours himself and risks fathering a bastard (the very thing he said he would never do in season #1) by sleeping with a highborn outside of marriage. This scene came out of nowhere, there was no build-up, just wham, bam, Terrible. Dany has already shown a propensity to sleep around; does she know she's sleeping with a corpse? - Apparently Viserion can now breathe ice. How ice can destroy the Wall instead of making it even more frozen is beyond me.

I gave it a 3 - easily the worst episode yet this season, and worst episode to date. The only other episodes I gave a 3 were Battle of the Bastards, and Sons of the Harpy; the latter initially a 5 until it turned out that Barristan was magically dead next episode. There were only two bits I thought were kind-of cool: (1) Arya being suitably creepy with her faces, and (2) The Night King resurrecting the dead dragon as his steed. Otherwise: - Everything else Arya made no sense, I thought she acted like a complete moron in this episode, which she started doing in the previous episode. I thought Sandra explained herself perfectly well about being forced to write the letter yet Arya could not let it go and refused to listen. I don't buy the theory that Arya was only pretending this, to fool Littlefinger, because (1) Arya does not know much about LF at this stage, and (2) It's not like anyone's overhearing what Arya is saying. Also (3) Arya started behaving like this towards her sister before she ever saw the letter. I'm quite prepared to believe that it's (4) Arya was killed by the Waif offscreen in the episode 'No One' and this is really the Waif wearing Arya's face. - The Winterfell scenes felt like filler. Littlefinger (and Bran) continues to hardly be shown at all, in favour of those boring Stark sisters. Why did Sandra send Brienne away? I thought LF was advising her to keep her close as protection from Arya. Apparently it was so Brienne couldn't protect Arya from Sandra. - Unlike most episodes, I didn't find the dialogue in the Wight Hunt very interesting at all. The whole thing came across as pretty bland. - It is again blatantly obvious how all the important characters have thick plot armour, especially Jon. Of the ten who went on the expedition, the three extras are killed off plus Thoros, probably the least important named character there. - Dany travelling thousand miles in a few minutes with her dragons is a tad implausible. - For the second time, Benjen ex machina. The writers decide that they won't need him again so they have him killed off this time, even though he could easily have escaped too. There's no suspense when you know that Jon is going to be miraculously rescued again because he's the hero.

6. While there was more interesting stuff, there were far too many plot holes for my liking. + Jorah is finally welcomed back into Dany's service. + Loved the reveal that Littlefinger knew what Arya was up to, though I'm not sure what he plans to achieve by increasing the enmity between the Stark girls. + Tyrion and Varys rightly question Dany's pyromania. + Gendry returns, at last. + Cersei being pregnant again offers interesting possibilities, one being another Joffrey. Maggy the Frog's prophecy is now even less accurate. - Jaime's plot armour is nearly as thick as Arya's was last season. Having been miraculously saved twice last episode by Dickon and Bronn, Bronn not only manages to pull him out of the water (which has somehow gotten much deeper) - pretty amazing given his plate armour - but also manages to carry him about a kilometre downstream underwater without being detected by Dany and Drogon and their army. Also Tyrion magically knows Jaime survived. - Dany having been advised to be different from Aerys and Cersei, and saying she will be, ends up behaving exactly like both of them by burning people alive. Also sorry to see Dickon and Randyl go. This looks very contrived as a means to make Sam first in line for Horn Hill. - Why on earth would Dany, or anyone for that matter (other than fellow villain Euron) want to align with Cersei? - Implausible stuff about Bronn getting in touch with Tyrion, Tyrion getting in and out of King's Landing without being captured, and Cersei somehow finding out all this and not doing anything. - Jaime and Tyrion's reunion fell flat. - Why didn't Jon stop off at Winterfell? - Arya wanting to commit mass beheadings and getting angry at Sandra for... I'm not exactly sure what. Having a nice bed? Not wanting to murder people? - The bit about Rheagar annulling his marriage was very much out of focus and implausible, as marriages can normally only be annulled if not consummated. - The Maesters at the Citadel weren't being very smart. I don't blame Sam for leaving.

8. Either this or "The Door" is my favourite episode of seasons 5-7. No other one comes close (though I haven't seen the last two episodes of this season yet). + This battle scene I actually liked, unlike the ones in "Hardhome" and "The Batte of the Bastards". Bronn and Dickon acquitted themselves well. This battle is the main reason I gave it such a high mark. - Confused as to what's going on in Winterfell. I'm guessing that Littlefinger gave the dagger to Bran in an attempt to curry favour with him. I'm not sure why Arya needs it, as she already has Needle; shouldn't Bran return it to LF if he doesn't want it? - Sandra continues to be sickeningly sceptical - again, the exact opposite of the character she replaced (Sansa) in seasons 1-3. - Arya almost besting Brienne in a swordfight is extremely implausible. The only person she had training with was Syrio way back in season #1, and was easily disarmed in seasons #3 and #4 by Thoros and the Hound respectively. - Time-wasting with those guards being reluctant to let Arya in. - Pretty implausible how the Dothraki magically appeared at Highgarden having previously been at Dragonstone.

Another 7. Compared to seasons 1-4, this season, while enjoyable so far, is lacking truly enthralling moments. Dany/Jon met, but I didn't find their meeting especially interesting. Jaime/Olenna was a good scene but I'm really sad to see Olenna go. + Euron's triumphant parade. + Cersei's torture of Faullaria and Tyene. If the victims were anyone else I'd be horrified, but this pair deserved it. What's most annoying is that the person who avenges the murder of Doran is Cersei, who is now unchallenged as the worst person in Westeros. + Bran is appropriately weird having become the three-eyed raven. + Melisandre admitting to her grievous mistakes. - The Lannisters taking Highgarden is completely implausible. The Tyrell armies should have been much stronger than the Lannisters as they hadn't been depleted, and people from the Reach are good fighters. Also it's a castle and it would realistically need to be beseiged instead of magically capitulating. - Euron's fleet magically teleporting from one side of Westeros (King's Landing) to the other (Casterly Rock) is implausible. - Dany is being really arrogant and entitled, as usual. - My favourite character, Littlefinger, is hardly getting to do anything at all this season. At least this time Sandra appeared to be listening to his useful advice. Hopefully he'll get to do more later in the season. He's never been rewarded for taking back Winterfell from the Boltons. Mind you, Bran might know that he betrayed Ned and if Sandra finds out she is liable to banish him (as Dany did Jorah). Hell, Sandra might even opt for a larger punishment, ie imprisoning him or making him join the Night's Watch (as Cersei planned to do with Ned), both of which IMO are a tad harsh. - Sam's curing of Jorah's greyscale seems too much of a miracle cure, a convenient plot device.

I give this one a mark of 7, an improvement on the premiere. The scenes were a bit more interesting and there were only two scenes that I really didn't like. + RIP Obara and Nymeria, getting exactly what they deserved. Go Euron! He unintentionally avenged Prince Trystane. + The war council at Dragonstone at the start of the episode, with the Queen of Thorns present. + Hot Pie turns up again! Arya was weirdly detached in this scene. + Randyl Tarly was portrayed in a more favourable light than last season. But did he really believe Cersei's BS about the Sept blowing up by accident? - Jon's inexplicable rudeness towards Littlefinger, the guy who saved them. Even if he doesn't like him, he should have at least been diplomatic to a powerful lord like LF. Not that it was very smart of LF to declare his love for Sandra. - The Grey Worm/Missandei scene. There was no build-up to this and it went on for too long. - Dany dragging Viserys' name through the dirt, the same brother who looked after her for 16 years. - Sandra somehow thinks she knows Cersei better than LF does, even though LF had been at King's Landing for years, and Sansa/Cersei didn't even interact in seasons 3 and 4. - Again, the Citadel was pretty yuck. - Davos should already told Jon that Dragonstone was full of dragonglass, because he's with Davos who spent lots of time there. - A disappointing lack of support for Jon's decision to visit Dragonstone.

A bit late to the party here - only started watching this season last weekend. But I'll review each episode. I gave this one a 6. It seemed a bit scattered and had a similar problem to premieres of other seasons, in trying to cram every character into the episode, rather than actual story development. At least it didn't have a completely terrible scene like the previous premiere (Faullaria and the Sand Fakes "avenging" Oberyn and Elia by murdering the rest of their family). The production and music was really good in all episodes I've seen so far. + Jon Snow acquitted himself well as King in the North, making what I thought were good decisions and appropriately shooting down Sandra. + Arya's scene with the Lannister soldiers was nice, showing that not all Lannisters are bad (a bit like at the end of season #2, showing that not all Starks are good) and showing traces of humanity from Arya. + Euron is ok as a new villain, I guess. At least he's funny. + The Hound and the Brotherhood scene was ok with Sandor trying to right one of his wrongs. + As bad as the scene was, it was nice to see a cameo by David Bradley (Walder Frey). Which brings me to... - Arya commits genocide against House Frey. This is implausible for one (how could she arrange to have all that wine poisoned, and get as tall as and speak like Walder) and it is impossible that all the Frey men could have been involved in the Red Wedding. This is extremely hypocritical of her (two wrongs don't make a right) and establishes as a villain rather than an anti-hero(ine). Also, it's overkill; she already avenged the Red Wedding at the end of last season. This was overkill and none of the victims were on her hit list. - Everything done by Sandra. She insisted that the sons be held responsible for the sins of the fathers, even though they're kids, and argued with Jon both in private and in front of everyone. Worst of all, she expressed admiration for the worst person in Westeros (Cersei) who was also her tormentor. And she was rude to Littlefinger when it sounded like he was trying to help her. Whatever happened to Sansa who was one of my favourite characters in seasons 2-4? Sandra is pretty-much the opposite of the character she "replaced". - Add Harold Karstark to the list of characters who magically died offscreen. - Cersei's BS about Tommen betraying her when it was the other way around. - Jaime inexplicably forgiving Cersei for all her atrocities with the Sept explosion and the deaths of Kevan/Lancel not even mentioned. - The scene at the end arriving on Dragonstone, while dramatic, dragged a bit and pales in comparison to a similar one in season #1 episode #1 when King Robert's entourage arrives at Winterfell. - Sam's scenes at the Citadel. I had no idea until I read the recap that the guy who came out of the wall was Jorah.

3. Likely my least favourite GoT episode ever (the only other possibility being Sons of the Harpy, where Barristan was killed off). Admittedly, I don't like watching battles, and yet Blackwater was my favourite episode ever because it was spectacular and featured scenes away from the battle. The problem with this one is that it was completely predictable - it was blatantly obvious that Littlefinger would appear to save the day, and that Ramsay would be defeated. In contrast to earlier seasons, this show has become Hollywood where the 'good guys' usually seem to win. The battle itself was boring, and both Jon and Fansa behaved like idiots. Jon recklessly charged into battle and Fansa never told him that the Vale armies were on the way, otherwise thousands of soldiers and Wun Wun would not have died, and quite possibly Rickon as well. (What was the point of bringing Rickon back just to kill him off? They pulled this stunt with several characters this season.) Finally Fansa turned into the complete opposite of her book character when she brutally and sadistically executed Ramsay, behaving exactly like him. This was also stupid as he would have made a valuable prisoner. I don't get the love for this and 'Hardhome' at all. Oh, and where was Ghost? The only other scenes were in Meereen, which were similarly boring. I totally don't understand how Dany said that they'd only kill one of the three leaders and Grey Worm, without any warnings or instructions from Dany, killed two of them instead. It cements my image of Dany as a ruthless tyrant, and not a 'good' person, who locks people in basements, breaks deals, slaughters hundreds of innocents, orders mass crucification and randomly feeds nobles to dragons.

Very late I know, but I'll give this one a 7. That still makes it better than most episodes of the season ('the door' was my favourite). I found it entertaining when I watched it first, but there is too much that does not make sense. The title of this episode would have been PERFECT if, as was the original plan, GRRM had released the book of that name at the same time. Ironically I always thought that the worst-case release date would be June 2016. King's Landing - Very dramatic. I used to like Cersei and she was often sympathetic this season, but this act turns her into the worse person in Westeros (previously Faullaria), committing an act that Jaime stopped the Mad King from doing by killing him. Aside from the High Sparrow, most of the named characters she actually murdered were allies (especially Pycelle and Kevan, it makes no sense her doing what Varys did in the book), and some of them were relatives. Not to mention she directly caused the death of her one remaining child. And how can she be crowned queen? She has no claim and has just blown up the sept. Where are the Tyrell armies? It was also weird to see Margery and Loras get killed because their storylines seemed to be going somewhere, and Mace never really got to do anything at all. I'll miss the High Sparrow, he was the only new character from this and last season that I actually liked. I don't blame him for not realising the danger - how was he to know about the wildfire? I'll also miss Margaery. Loras the character was assassinated in every possible way, especially compared to the books. Bran - pretty underwhelming really. My friend who hasn't read the books did not realise Rhaegar was Jon's father. He thought that the father was Robert. Dorne - Olenna was entertaining as usual and really put the Sand Fakes in their place, but it should have been Doran she was negotiating with. The Twins - the Jaime/Walder banter was alright. Arya tasking out Walder and his kids was the worst part of the episode, as there was no explanation as to how she suddenly teleported here from Braavos or how she magically overwhelmed the guards and killed Walder's sons - and when did Arya learned to cook? This bit was way too rushed. Also it's weird how Arya transforms in this episode from a nice girl who won't kill people she's assigned to kill into a vicious assassin who murders people who aren't even on her hit list (as with Rorge in season 4). Sam/Gilly in Oldtown - yawn. Winterfell - one of the better scenes, though the King in the North seems like deja vu, and unlike Rob, Jon has done nothing to earn it (neither should he be in the line of succession) other than make one blunder after another throughout the season. I would have liked to see more of Littlefinger, he's one of my favourite characters. Dany - a bit anticlimactic how she just dumps Daario. At least she's made it to Westeros. And 3 out of the 6 seasons have now ended with her - can't the showrunners give someone else a turn?

4. I can only conclude I saw a different episode from everyone else. The worst episode I've seen yet except when Barristan was killed off. The Battle of Hardholme was a bore to me and took up half the episode. What was particularly stupid was Dany banishing Jorah again and Tormund killing Rattleshirt without anyone retaliating just because he called him a few names. I did like some of the early scenes.

6. I liked it a little better than the previous 2 episodes (I reduced my vote for episode #4 from a 5 to a 3 when it was revealed that Barristan was dead.) I didn't hate any of the book deviations this time (the continued Grey Worm/Missandei romance was the worst of them). It seemed a little lacking all in all. I really missed King's Landing and to a lesser extent, Dorne. I did like the Tyrion/Jorah scene once Drogon and the Stone Men turned up. In general I find Winterfell interesting. The scenes felt slightly off, my favourite of those being the last one between Roose and Ramsay - again it probably helped that like the Stone Men scene, it was largely from the books.

5. This was less entertaining than the last episode, and some things didn't make sense. Why does Cersei wish to arm the Faith Militant? Why arrest Loras? Why do the Sand Snakes murder the guy who helped them out? Why did he sell Jaime out in the first place? Why is Ellaria wanting to kill little girls when Oberyn specifically told Cersei that they don't do that in Dorne. Tommen and Bronn were good, Tyrion was ok. I liked the scene between Stannis and Shireen. My least favourite was the Sand Snakes scene. It would be even lower if I thought either of Grey Worm or (especially) Barristan were actually deceased. EDIT: Changed to a 3 when I discovered that Barristan was dead (very mysterious given Grey Worm stopping his throat from being slit).

I gave it a 5. I found it more entertaining than the first two episodes (which I gave a 6) but I utterly loathed the two huge changes: (I) Tommen and Margaery consummating their marriage (he was portrayed as an innocent 12-year-old last season), and this really screws up the plot and (II) betrothing Sansa to Ramsay, WTF? Also I found Tyrion's and Arya's scenes (except for Jorah) generally bland.

7. Biggest letdown ever, as with so many 'wow' moments in the source material I thought it had the potential to be the best episode in the series. Worst bit was killing off yet another character who isn't dead in the books (Jojen). Next worst was the absence of a Tysha reveal, even though she'd regularly been mentioned in the first three seasons. As a result, Tyrion's double murder seemed underwhelming and lacking in motive.

7/10. Maybe my least favourite episode this season. Tyrion's scenes were great especially with Oberyn. Disappointed that Gregor's return was brief. Hot Pie's return was welcome. Didn't like Dany/Daario scene (too rushed) or the first Hound/Arya scene (aren't Biter/Rorge supposed to turn up later?). Eyrie chapter was my favourite in the books, on TV not bad but it felt a bit short/rushed.