Chebyshov

Well that episode was awesome.

QFT.

Also, can we take a moment to appreciate Hot Pie's bread sculpting abilities?

So I'm confused who's ear Gwendolyn was talking about biting off this season...guess it'll be a random Frey and then we meet LS?

Also, Shireen's going to be sacrificed, right? I had this hunch from the books but that scene almost confirmed it for me :(

Was there a little smile that Tyrion gave to Tywin at the end? ;) I wonder how many non-readers think that Jaime will fight for Tyrion at trial. Was thinking how interesting it would be for Cersei and Tywin if Jamie would want to fight for Tyrion. Because if I remember correctly in the books Oberyn first offered to be Tyrion's champion and after that Tyrion demanded trial by combat. Now it will obviously be reversed, maybe also because people will now think about Jamie being the champion. Hyphoteticaly speaking, could Jamie fight for Tyrion as a kingsguard or are there some laws prohibiting him from that? Since the kingsguard are the voice of the king.

The Unsullied seem to assume it will be Bronn again. I think Tyrion would be hesitant to choose a man who's learning to swing a sword. But you're right; the order of Oberyn offering is switched in the show.

And yet again another variant of the Rains of Castamere will be playing. Can they introduce the Dornishman's wife or something just so it's clear that Westeros has more than 2 songs?

Thank you. Looks like we're not getting Last of the Giants but I was hoping for Dornishman's wife this season with Oberyn. I thought that would be good end credit music after the Viper vs. The Mountain, but seems a bit late to be introduced.

In the books, Dany started paying for livestock eaten by the dragons and then a bunch of people start claiming that the dragons ate their livestock. It seemed likely that some of those people were lying, but Dany didn't know who so she kept paying out. Given that backdrop, it wasn't clear if Drogon had really killed a child or if the farmer was lying to get the payout. I assumed the show wouldn't have time to set up that uncertainty, but it is neat that they made time for it.

I'm assuming the scene from this episode is set-up to having a bunch of people demanding payment, and it's going to culminate with a dead child. Dany needs a reason to lock up the dragons.

Tywin's letter will cause the rift between Danny and Jorah and she'll banish him. Standard move on Tywin's part, breaking alliances. Danny hasn't read her Sun Tzu The Art of War, so she will fall into his trap.

I'm betting you're right about this

Did they cut Kevan? Cause if Tywin where to die without a heir, power of Casterly Rock goes to Kevan and not lancel(as jaime said) right?

Kevan was in S1, so I doubt it. I think they just name-dropped Lancel so that Tyrion can tell Jaime Cersei and Lancel slept together.

What is going to happen with the "little birds" getting into Mereen? Does that mean the poisoning probably wasn't Hizdahr? Also not sure why people are worried about the goat thing...that dragon is obviously going to snatch up a child at some point. They just wanted to set the repayment for goats as a standards.

I'll submit my own on Aegon's Identity: http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/109569-aegon-vis-identity-compiling-the-evidence/

This presents all options for who Aegon VI really is (so it includes the ones listed under "true identities"), explains a few others, and provides in-depth textual evidence for all.

Actually they're still on the second High Septon, the one who Tyrion appointed in the books after the first one got eaten, not the one who imprisons Cersei. All the have to do is have Cersei get all paranoid and have the High Septon smothered, just like in the books. Then the next on can be the High Sparrow.

Agreed, and I think it would work well. They're definitely setting it up. They've been really, really upping the mentions of the Seven recently.

The true light.

Oh agreed. Brandon seems like a giant bro to me. My point was I'm not sure anyone used "cruel" to describe him before, but Lysa is batshit and others didn't exactly think highly of him.

Handsome and arrogant, we've heard. Cruel only because he beat up poor wittle wittlefinga.

True. Also I suppose Lady Dustin didn't paint him in the best light.

Oh hey, did anyone bring up that "handsome, arrogant, cruel Uncle Brandon" line yet? I know Lysa is nuts, but interesting insight into how some viewed him at least.

i actually thought the opposite :laugh:

i felt Margery was extremely suspicious of Cersei's sudden attempts at bonding...so to test her new resolve, she throws the sister comment back at her face to see if Cersei is genuine or faking it...if you notice, Margery seemed to be trying to read Cersei's face when she said that..

going by Cersei's pulling a stannis (jaw-clench) and margery's smile at the end, im guessing margery figured it out that she was being played...but will watch that scene again tonight to check!

This exactly. Especially given: http://rockpaperwatch.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/cersei-margaery-strangle.gif

In the book, Arya's whole story is finding different people that she thinks she can learn from and emulate, only to realize that she doesn't want to be them at all. The BWB, the Hound, and presumably the Kindly Man next.

The show can't do that with Arya's thoughts, but it's getting the same idea across through action. The BWB appeared to be the most noble organization in the world, but they turned Gendry over to Melisandre, and now Beric and Thoros are on her list. The Hound's code sounded like a way to be honorable without being bound to society's ridiculous rules, but then he robbed a farmer with the flimsiest of justification, and now he's on her list.

:agree: Except that the Hound was on her list ever since Mycah.

Also, they really need to burn time with Ayra before she gets on the ship. Her AFFC/ADWD material is thin. I don't mind her being paired with Sandor for that...they play well off of each other.

I always thought grrm made a big deal out of Sansa's virginity in the books. He makes mention of Margaery loving riding, then at some point in the books Cersei thinks on how there is no way to prove Margaery is not a virgin because she loves riding so much. On the other hand we hear about how much Sansa hates riding about a thousand times in the books. I thought it was interesting that it was pointed out so often. It made me think that something is going to come up in the future regarding Sansa's virginity.

Or maybe he just likes writing about how much people like and hate riding horses. lol.

Yeah, her maidenhead will likely be a plot point...probably next book

my least favorite epi; I hate the way Cersei is played, she always seems whitewashed. She's a crazy, aggressive, manipulative you know what, I love to hate in the books, she is so boring here.

I know. I wish we could have seen manipulative Cersei like, try and get in good with the judges for Tyrion's upcoming trial and maybe even promise them things she abhors in an attempt to secure their votes.

A trueborn niece would be way harder to produce out of thin air than a bastard. There are records kept of the genealogies of noble houses; "Alayne", if she were trueborn, would be expected to be listed in stuff like that.

She could still be a Stone. I'm sure LF will clarify these details with Sansa in a later episode. For the purposes of the gate, saying that she was his niece and giving a first name was sufficient.

Previews for next week showed Tywin & Company talking about Dany setting up shop as queen. Ser Jorah is still sending reports back to Kings Landing, I take it? Dany will find out around episode 9 or so, and that's when she'll banish him...

From whom though? I'm so confused how that plot will play out.

Ya I thought it was pretty obvious what she was doing, and she wasn't just being "nice". She was in full game mode. Marg and Tywin's WTF faces seemed to go towards that too.

And Oberyn was just pensive and poetic, lol. He'll be sorely missed.

She was diabolical, but while her father lived she wasn't full of schemes and plots (nobody cared about her). After Tywin's death, however, she becomes uncontrolled.

Exactly. She also gets more drunk once Tywin dies, which helps deteriorate things a bit more.

The only thing I liked about that episode was the mention of the Sand Snakes. And some of that Lysa and Petyr stuff was fun. The rest of it had so many problems.

Makes me hopeful we may get a good amount of them cast for next season. I assumed they would probably conflate a few, but at least leaves the doors open for all of them if they want

I hope people understood that is what "nice" Cersei was all about - working the judges -- Mace's daughter, Tywin, Oberyn.

Thank you.

I gotta say I feel bad for Hodor. I wish they could have escaped without Bran warging Hodor. Hodor with Locke's blood on his hand made me very sad for Hodor. That really was a violation of Hodor as a person, and it was so different from Bran accidentally warging him to calm him down at Queenscrown. :(

Yeah it reminds me of how it's described in the books where Hodor "curls up and hides" in a corner of his brain when Bran enters

theyre saving the bran scenes with the bastard targ and greenseers for next season i bet. should be quite elaborate i hope.

BR was cast though

i am a bit weirded out by Sansa saying "i am a virgin". Shouldn't it be " i am a maiden"?

I noticed that too, but I think because in our society we don't necessarily use the term "maiden" to mean that, it was for our clarity. I bet they won't call it a "maidenhead" either

Yup. We really need to start a thread for the show spoiling the books, because this shit is getting out of control...in the best possible way as far as I'm concerned, but still.

...Also, maybe I'm desensitized, but what was the super-gory, disturbing death this episode the Director of Photography said they had to keep toning down? Locke's?

Yeah, I think we were all bracing ourselves for it next season, and then this season started smacking us in the face with stuff. I don't mind myself, but it is interesting they're starting down that path so early. I'm taking this to mean that TWOW definitely won't be published before S5