dbunting

1 hour ago, Steelegrave said:

Or maybe we just want to commiserate with others of like mind on the destruction of something we once loved. Why do you take personal offense at our opinions?  What harm do they do you?

 

Does it have flaws?  Huge gaping flaws that Ramsey's dogs fall into.  

 

I don't take personal offense. I just can't comprehend why people who hate something so much continue to do it. I find it humorous now because the comments are so predictable.

And BTW, I have read the books, and the short stories and have the companion app and the Giant world book, and have read every released chapter from TWOW numerous times so I am not a Johnny come lately who doesn't appreciate the source material.

I just think it's funny how the books are thought of as perfect and should never be altered. This is an adaptation, by definition it will be different.

4 hours ago, Rhollo said:

- Very underwhelming ToJ scene. Even the costumes showed a lack of effort. Plain grey/black KG armor ? They looked like ordinary Targ soldiers.

 

I missed something, when did we see Targaryen soldiers in the show?

3 hours ago, Direwight said:

So am I getting this right...

Sam's father was so disgusted by him that he threatened to kill him if he doesn't take the black but just stays home. Now, Sam is going to go back with a wildling girl and her child, who no doubt everyone will assume is Sam's, and drop them off at his dad's place to be kept safe while he goes to Oldtown to study to become a maester? Like, that's actually what his plan is?

Sams father didn't want Sam to inherit Horn Hill because he was not "Lord" material. Not good at fighting, horse riding etc. Since Sam was the older son he was to inherit it, so his father wanted him out of the way. Gilley and the baby will be a shock but I don't see it being a big deal, plus I see Sam standing up to his father and gaining his respect when he does meet him.

Man this is getting to be great. Based on most of these ratings and rants I should be able to come here on a Monday soon without the site crashing all day long from all of the traffic. I mean, all of you who hate every scene and the drivel and horrible adaptation and want to claw your eyes out, eventually I assume you will just stop watching and then the traffic here will clear up!

You can predict 90% of the comments in advance. Last week, OMG all they are doing is beating Arya, the book was so much better because they were training her, this week it shows more of the training, and OMG, that was too quick or she should be more hurt.

TOJ, anyone with common sense knew that no matter how they did this scene they would have most of the people hating it. Not because the scene is great, but because people have built up that scene in their heads to god like standards and there was no way to live up to it.

I look forward to all the people leaving this part of the site soon! Reminds me of all the Howard Stern movie, the scene where the ratings come in. People who hated it tuned in longer than fans, just to see what happened next. Just like the people here who bitch about 90% of a show they say they hate, but keep watching.

Does it have flaws, hell yes, but so did the books and every other thing in the history of the world.

Good episode and a lot of things moving around at once.

Positives - Arya and her training was more obvious this week. Last time it seemed more like a beating than training, this week it should have been more obvious to everyone that she is being trained. Would have been a badass moment if she had answered the Waif when asked about her list.

Winterfell - moving along and I believe the GNC taking shape. Umber wouldn't kneel or swear allegiance so that later on he isn't breaking his word. Loved him calling out the Boltons and Karstarks to their faces. Seems like he brought Osha and Rickon there as part of the trick, hated seeing Shaggy dog dead, hopefully it's some type of trick, of he died another way and they just used it to their advantage.

Kingslanding - wasn't bad, nice to see that Cersei and her posse can't just get their way. Nice little nod to when Tyrion pulled his chair to the end of the table when Jaime did it for Cersei. Olenna reminding Cersei she is not in power and not the queen was a little sweet for me.

Sam - nice little update to let us see that they aren't just wasting their time on the boat, Sam is smart enough that he knows Gilly needs to learn to read and understand more so she can fit in at Horn Hill.

The Wall - would have been a more powerful scene had Jon walked out to the balcony for the reveal to everyone instead of what seemed to be an announced arrival, but that's nit picking. Mel referencing the Prince that was promised. He killed the boy (Olly) and now the man is born? Nice touch at the end, wear it, or burn it, I don't care, my watch has ended. 

Tower of Joy - really liked this. It was as good as could be expected, people were going to tear it apart unless it was exactly like the books, and even then people would have criticized them for just copying GRRM. Thought the fight looked good and they portrayed Dayne as the badass he was in the books.

Negatives - Mereen, or the other Dorne as I think of it. This story line just shows how deep of a hole GRRM dug himself.

Dany - Not a big surprise other than the whole, your best outcome is living here with us. Any chance Jorah dies saving her and giving her freedom? Maybe in duel with Khal Pono? Or does Drogon show up and save her again, and rally the Dothraki people to her side for the war to come?

Solid 7.

Arya - people still bitching about her scenes? Last week they were bitching because the Waif just seemed to be beating her instead of training her, this week you see you were wrong and get more of her training, she gets her sight back and people still bitch?

Dany - Yeah, still boring, can't argue with this, but to me her scenes almost always have been. I think it's the actress, she just seems so stiff.

Sam - About as expected, seemed a little rushed for Gilly to be reading but with nothing to do except learn from Sam on the boat I can see that happening. Also now that she understands more about the world she accepts going to Horn Hill and not staying with Sam.

Kinglanding - yeah, creepy guy giving kids candy to do things for him...Nice to see Cersei and company not getting their way. Sparrow/Tommen, not entirely bad. I mean the kid shows that he is not the psycho his brother was and he recognizes that his mother lies.

Winterfell - Is this the GNC beginning? Loved the Umber tearing up Karstark and Roose Bolton! Your father was a cunt! I will not be kneeling to anyone. But then it got ruined for me with Shaggydog, hopefully that was a trick of some type, or maybe he died defending Rickon and they decided to use it to fool Ramsey.

TOJ - I think this was done very well. No matter what they did 50% of the people would bitch and another 25% would scream bloody murder. It definitely showed Dayne as being the best swordsman around, he was surrounded by four and still would have won if he had killed Reed instead of wounding him. Nice nod to the books with Ned looking back when Bran calls out to him.

The Wall - Yeah I feel like it would have been better if Jon had walked out to the courtyard and that was where they all saw him first, but it's a small detail. Another nod to the books with Mel wondering about TPTWP, as you saw Davos shut her down immediately. As to the hangings, weren't those the only four who stabbed him and that's why he only killed them? No one else took part or needed to die as a result. Jon dropped the mic and walked off stage, "my watch has ended"

Solid 7.

Arya - people still bitching about her scenes? Last week they were bitching because the Waif just seemed to be beating her instead of training her, this week you see you were wrong and get more of her training, she gets her sight back and people still bitch?

Dany - Yeah, still boring, can't argue with this, but to me her scenes almost always have been. I think it's the actress, she just seems so stiff.

Sam - About as expected, seemed a little rushed for Gilly to be reading but with nothing to do except learn from Sam on the boat I can see that happening. Also now that she understands more about the world she accepts going to Horn Hill and not staying with Sam.

Kinglanding - yeah, creepy guy giving kids candy to do things for him...Nice to see Cersei and company not getting their way. Sparrow/Tommen, not entirely bad. I mean the kid shows that he is not the psycho his brother was and he recognizes that his mother lies.

Winterfell - Is this the GNC beginning? Loved the Umber tearing up Karstark and Roose Bolton! Your father was a cunt! I will not be kneeling to anyone. But then it got ruined for me with Shaggydog, hopefully that was a trick of some type, or maybe he died defending Rickon and they decided to use it to fool Ramsey.

TOJ - I think this was done very well. No matter what they did 50% of the people would bitch and another 25% would scream bloody murder. It definitely showed Dayne as being the best swordsman around, he was surrounded by four and still would have won if he had killed Reed instead of wounding him. Nice nod to the books with Ned looking back when Bran calls out to him.

The Wall - Yeah I feel like it would have been better if Jon had walked out to the courtyard and that was where they all saw him first, but it's a small detail. Another nod to the books with Mel wondering about TPTWP, as you saw Davos shut her down immediately. As to the hangings, weren't those the only four who stabbed him and that's why he only killed them? No one else took part or needed to die as a result. Jon dropped the mic and walked off stage, "my watch has ended"

I think people get misunderstood sometimes. I understand criticism for flaws, that's normal and healthy. I don't understand criticizing from a viewpoint that starts out from a perspective of I don't like this show. Because when it starts from not liking it, then of course you will hate all of it.

The part a lot of people don't understand is, if you hate something, why on earth do you keep watching it? I don't like poking myself in the eye, so guess what, I don't do it. I don't do it repeatedly and then bitch and moan on ophthalmology forums about eye pain!

I watched a show called under the dome. I liked the premise and the first season was somewhat interesting. After that it lost me. Did I find a forum about it, continue to watch it in misery and then tear it apart on the forum? No, I stopped watching something that wasn't entertaining to me and moved on with my free time.

21 minutes ago, RattleSnake said:

Janos Slynt was decapitated by Jon last season.

Ahh crap..memory fails me!!!

34 minutes ago, Talking Hodor said:

Finding out Hodor's real name is Wallace(?), but he used to talk - 7. Ok, I know why they didn't go with his real book name, Walder, but had they picked a better name, I'd have given that reveal a 10.

Hodor explaining to Bran where to find Meera - 10.  Seriously, it almost looked like he was messing around on his smartphone and couldn't be bothered to elaborate.

Wino ridiculing Cersei - 1.

...getting his face smashed in by Gregor - 10.

Iron Islands - 5

Tyrion with the dragons - 9. To all detractors - YOU try saying something witty when you're clenching your sphincter tighter than a dragon's jaws wrapped around a sheep.

Jaime and the High Sparrow having a religious pissing contest - 10.

Tommen joining the dark side - 8

Arya tricking the gullible Jaqen that she finally thinks she's no one - 4. Dude, where's the cat she's supposed to be warging? Now THAT's some trickery!

Free folk purging the Night's Watch of corruption - 7. It was very gratifying, but it would have been better if they'd squished Alliser Thorne.

Ramsay committing atrocities - 8. I liked the stabbing scene because I was wondering for a moment which character stabbed which. For a split second I thought they mutually double-crossed/stabbed each other FTW. Didn't like the kennel scene, but it's not exactly out of character for Ramsay.

Finally finding out that Jon Snow's gonna make it - 9,000. Woohoo!

It all averages out to a solid 10.

Umm... math much? lol...yes I am kidding

BTW, what happened to Janos Slynt? Will they reintroduce him soon so new Jon can have his block moment and let everyone know the boy is dead and the man is born?

13 hours ago, Greg B said:

I hope the confrontation between the Night's Watch and the wildlings goes as well in Winds and isn't just a slaughter. The plot points at the Wall, frankly, just hang together much better in the show than in Dance's butchered ending. The looming conflict between Ramsay and Jon is set up way more satisfyingly this way than with the ridiculous Pink Letter and Shieldhall speech. I think the writers did a pretty good job of untangling that mess --

Careful with your hopes here. There still is a chance for a pink letter.

A: Sansa does go to the wall and meets up with Jon and Theon does go to Winterfell and tells Ramsey where she is. That would set up the whole bastard, return my wife to me letter.

B: The gift that someone presents Ramsey next week is Rickon. Ramsey knows Sansa was heading to the wall so he still sends the letter to Jon, threatening Rickon.
Result of A or B is the same, Jon leaves the wall and takes the wildlings to Winterfell for the battle in Ep 09. My assumption is that Sansa will show up at this same time with the Knights of the Vale and help defeat the Boltons.

Good episode.

Kings landing, just enough there to keep us up to date. Jaime and the Sparrow meeting was good, and yes Jaime could have killed him easily, to suggest otherwise is just silly. Jaime has been training for a long time now and the Sparrow has never trained and basically said he would offer no resistance.

Best Dorne scene ever!

Sansa and CO., yeah, I also think Theon is going back to Ramsey. He is like a battered person who thinks they have no place left to go. This could also be key in that he could be there for the attack and let the northern forces in the gates. Speaking of the Boltons, ehh who cares, Roose got what he had coming to him. Walda and the baby of course didn't deserve it but the plot must move forward.

Arya still getting along in her training. Wish they had gotten a cat involved though. I don't like how her warging has been left out.

Bran, I felt like the person who told Ned to give him another whack was the master of arms that Theon killed, he was just younger. I thought Robert and Ned met at when fostering. Good to see the Tower of Joy scene is next week, so do we get the whole answer to Jons parents next week? The same week he is revealed to be alive is he also confirmed to be a Prince? Also, did they confirm Bran will be a dragon rider? The 3 eyed raven told Bran he would fly some day. I assumed as a crow or raven while warging, I never thought Bran was going to leave the cave but they said this episode he will be leaving.

Mereen, I don't see in any way how this means Tyrion is partial Targaryen. He drinks and he knows things, this is what he does. He knows from history that dragons are intelligent and know who is the enemy and who is not. After all what good would they be in combat if they didn't? Unless I missed it there hasn't been the slightest clue in the show that he is anything but a Lannister.

The wall. Davos first, his devotion and asking Mel to bring Jon back is odd, they could have handled this better, like a scene last season where Mel talks to Davos and Stannis about what she saw with The Brotherhood. People saying they don't understand why the brothers laid down their arms? I am not surprised at all. A lot of them were loyal to Jon and feel he was murdered. The majority have never been honorable before so this is an easy excuse to lay down their arms while vastly outnumbered and unprepared, and oh yeah don't forget WunWun bitch slapping that guy.

I gave it a solid 8.

Kings Landing was ok, Jaime flexing up on the high sparrow only to realize he can't win was nice.

Arya, are they just going to skip over her being a warg entirely? It sure looks like Bran will be the only one. Jon may get to a little now since he has been revived.

Sansa and Co. Little background catch up I guess, and yes I think Theon is going back to Ramsey.

Boltons, no surprise here, as soon as you saw the knife strapped to Ramseys' back you knew it was over for Roose. Yeah maybe it was a bit rushed, but we all know there are a ton of characters and some need to be killed off to make room for others.

Dorne, best Dorne scenes ever!

Greyjoy reunion, well, a lot of us thought Balon was murdered, in this version we know it was. A lot of fans were pissed about the kingsmoot being cut, well, here we go.

Bran, nice to see some visions and finally see Lyanna. Really liked next weeks preview with the Tower of Joy, will the other big reveal happen finally? It's also nice to see that Bran isn't just hooked into the trees, that he is still interacting with Hodor(Willas), and Meera. Also, that was a huge reveal, that Bran will be leaving the caves. I had thought he would be there forever. So, dragon riding is still a possibility/probability.

Jon, well most of us believed he was coming back so now let's just see what happens as a result of it. 

So I do have one lingering thought. Why did they take Jons body and barricade themselves in a room? I can understand wanting revenge or justice or whatever, but why lock yourself in a room with the dead body? Wouldn't you gather your forces(if you even have any) and stay under the radar? This part of it doesn't make sense to me. It's not like they know he will be brought back to life and need to preserve his body, as far as they know he is done for.

Add to that the fact that Thorne gives two shits about them. It's over, Jon is dead, at some point they come out and bury/burn his body and we move on. Making the threats against them does nothing but make Thorne look worse in the brothers eyes and screams of power hungry mutiny instead of doing right by the watch.

1 hour ago, Sand11751 said:

Yes, this. I'd love an explanation for the theory of Melisandre as Shiera and Bloodraven's child, especially with the recollection of her childhood she shared with Gendry (poor Gendry). 

Yeah, reminds me of the book forums where new people throw out these wild "theories" with no evidence or merit. I have to admit I have had some dumb ones of my own though. I thought Benjen was Jons dad for a while, so I guess I should remember to be nice about theories!

2 hours ago, hallam said:

I don't think men who have just murdered their commanders are likely to stand on niceties such as guest right. But it might have been intended to make Davos think that was the situation.

 

But you are looking at what they did as murder, they don't see it that way and neither do a lot of the other brothers. They see that they are actually upholding the Nights Watch and protecting it. They saw Jon as a traitor who sold them out to their enemy, the wildlings. They looked at the act as being done to prevent more harm. So if they believed in guest rites they would still believe in it and hold themselves to their laws and such.

50 minutes ago, Talking Hodor said:

 

Melisandre's traumatically ancient tetas seem to confirm one good theory - that she's the daughter of Sheira Seastar and the Three-Eyed-Crow Brynden Rivers. Her oldness seems to make sense with that.

 

Where does this come from, I have seen this a few times now? Shiera has Targaryen hair, Bloodraven has Targaryen hair, Mel is a red head. I have seen no mention of Shiera ever having a child and since she was so sought after and chased, someone would have absolutely mentioned it. 

Mel has been mentioned before to be much older than is known, 100-200 years old. Also, she was a slave as a child, she remembers her child hood. IIRC there is absolutely no mention of her being anything other than what she is.

1 hour ago, Talking Hodor said:

Let's see how well anyone remembers some rarely used oath after a months-long Ramsay rape fest, a giant leap into a snowbank that had to be 20 feet deep in order to break their falls uninjured, a hopeless trudge through rough terrain and a freakin' ice river, not to mention the epic battle swirling around them.  Besides, that oath was more the sort of thing an adult lord/lady would quote to a protector, not something a child would need to use much.

More so than that, why would Sansa even know this oath? These oaths are typically taken of men, not women. Her only knowledge of this would be witnessing others swear it to her father.

7 hours ago, Holymoly said:

Plus, one look at her eyebrows would have told them the carpet doesn't match the curtains.

That has always bugged me! I know it shouldn't but damn if you make her a blonde then make it match. Same with Cersei but less noticeable.

2 hours ago, Fisch said:

The issue is not characters dying in the show that didn't die in the books. The show handled the death of Pyp and Grenn, and of Robb's wife, and others, extremely well IMO. And I frankly could've done without Dorne, or at least without most of it, in AFfC.

The issue is that the Dornish plot in the show is poorly written, something even many non-book readers felt after last season. The Sand Snakes' revenge plot is nonsensical given the man they're trying to avenge, the Snakes themselves are overly sexualized and gimmicky (with terrible dialogue to boot), the timeline of their story (and where characters are geographically at certain points in that timeline) is sloppy even if this plot were self-contained and clashes badly with the timeline of all the other plots in the show, the Lord Paramount of the most independent of the Seven Kingdoms is rendered an ignorant fool with little resemblance to his book counterpart (and GRRM has asked characters who similarly stray from the source to be renamed in the past), and to top it all off, this plot has seen horrible fight choreography and inconsistent (at best) acting.

No one disagrees about Dorne, it sucks big hairy balls! I didn't care for it in the books either.

14 hours ago, DarkSister1001 said:

Not "butt hurt", disappointed.  I would say him putting his weapon at Jaime's throat and saying "it would have been a great contest if Jaime was still whole" sets Areo up as being an excellent fighter.  And isn't this the place to air those likes and dislikes? 

Well plenty of people think they are great fighters, until you fight them so no, what he did was just be cocky. Connor McGregor thought Nate Diaz would be an easy fight, until he got his ass kicked. 

And yes it is a place to air issues but damn, realistic expectations should be used and understand that not everyone will make it. I have seen people ranting before because Walder Freys court jester wasn't in the show, and I mean ranting and raving. 

I can't believe so many people get butt hurt over characters dying. OMG Areo is dead, killed by a girl no less!!! Funny, last time I read the books the Sand Snakes were fearsome and known killers. So a guard unexpectedly got killed by one, big deal.

This is the television adaptation, in this adaptation Areo was never built up to be anything special and he died exactly like that, nothing special, killed by the people we have been shown are special at killing.

If you want to have expansive details on every person, every place, every piece of food, read the books. You cannot expect to get that kind of depth or detail in a tv series from 1000 page books, just can't do it. It has taken GRRM years and years just to write one book, in tv you don't have that luxury.

1 hour ago, Holymoly said:

Let's be honest GRRM's writing isn't exactly of the highest quality either. The first book was damn good and could have been left at that. The ideas are good but the entire story creaks beneath the weight of the number of characters being described. I've been reading the books for the last few years purely in order to get to the end. The TV series is enjoyable spectacle but is no great art form let's not kid ourselves.

See I tend to agree with you. The first three books are much better. Then it seems like he realized how big of a world he created and each needed to be included in the books and it became overwhelming. To me the whole Dorne plot line could have been left out. I mean, in the first couple books it is barely mentioned and those are the better books. I think he got himself in trouble writing wise and Mereen and Dorne are the result of it. Those two areas were the worst for me in the books, that and Briennes wandering adventures. The show can't even make it better, they possibly could have cut the entire thing too but didn't, cuz , you know, bad pussy had to be spoken!

I love the show and don't mind that others don't, I will still watch it, twice per week since I re watch on Mondays. I gave it a 7, would've been 6.5 if able to. Had Dorne not existed it would be 8 or so.

2 hours ago, Protector of Stokeworth said:

I think the grass showed where the horde was and where Dany had stood. That's how they could find it so easily.

Think you are missing my point. If you are in Mereen and just see a dragon fly off in a general north direction, and you are on horseback, not flying, what are the odds you will track it without seeing it again? You couldn't see anything for miles around when Dany was on top of that hill, nothing and yet they are able to get to her spot.

I thought it was a decent opening episode, gave it a 7, 6.5 would have been closer to my thoughts.

I liked a lot of what was happening at the wall. I think Davos jumping to avenge Jon seemed a little quick but I can overlook that. Will have to search for images of the blood pool since it sounds like it may have a dragon image in it.

The hunt for Sansa and Theon was a little clunky especially with the dogs disappearing during the fight.

Melisandre's glamour reveal was unexpected. Now that they have shown it you have to wonder where it's leading.

Arya, pretty much as with the books except it's the waif instead of the KOM

Dorne, well, if the show had an ignore feature Dorne would be on it.

Cersei and Jaime, strange seeing both of them humbled. Last we saw them Cersei was looking down on Jaime and now she is right there with him.

Dany, pretty much makes sense. She is supposed to be in Vas Dothrak as a widow, so them taking her there makes works. Works to get her another chunk of her army since they will follow her once Drogon shows up and she mounts him.

Little disappointed in not seeing Bran, again, but I expect we will see a lot of him next episode and some Sam as well.