Natalie Underfoot

The wedding and Frey Pies Blackfish escaping sons of the harpy Brienne and Pod if that doesn't happen in this next episode There really hasn't been anything other than minor clashes for most of this season outside of the battle on the wall and I think people overall are more interested in the game play and the interpersonal dynamics and 4 & 5 were filled with that. I mean, we have the rise of the sparrows to flesh out, Stannis and the conflict at the wall with Melisandre and Jon and whatever Shireen's purpose will be. Plus Mance infiltrating Winterfell and Yara (Asha) getting caught and reunited with Theon. There is just so much that I think may have read as boring in the books but given the quality of the cast can be just perfect. I mean, just Tyrion talking about people gets rave reviews so I don't think we need serious action to satisfy people.

God she has his number

What I like about the Sans change is that she knew how important her name was and she isn't going to let Littlefinger hide her

Suicide? Weak

Man they are flying through all these stories

I love this just cause I'm glad to see some of Danys surrounding cast be fleshed out and I enjoy both actors

So much for some theories the madam would be val Also the redemption of ygritte begins

She sent him to Yunkai

Starting it now. At least I'll get a heads up for the moment

After that small council I made a comment about "time for another letter" and my husband, who is Unsullied, was confused. I explained that Oberyn is keeping his brother informed and that there's some new info that he needs to know. Also, he probably wanted to clear up that he wasn't the one to poison the king. There could seriuosly be a whole Tumblr dedicated to Oberyn's letters to Dorne. "King poisoned, wasn't me" "Targ heir is a girl now, is Quentyn still available" "Dragons be big" "Varys=not into boys"

Really enjoyed this episode. Nothing to say about the trial scene that hasn't been said other than the dynamics were great. The scheming and plotting between Tywin and Jamie and Jamie and Tyrion and meanwhile Cersei just sitting there until the trial of combat moment and just slight facial expression of satisfaction. Glad to see Dany being unsure. Emilia is a good actress but they've been riding the Dany Triumphant train for a whole season now and I"m glad to see it come to a halt. Last episode we had her acknowleding she should have listend to Jorah's council and now, with her look at Barristan after her realization about crucifying the masters and how she should have listened to him. Will make the betrayal even more difficult as I think we're going to start seeing her lean on them more. I also like the my fleshed out Hizdar, his character always felt rushed in the book. Oberyn my heart is already breaking for you. Tremendous acting by Alfie in the Reek scene. It was filler but I didn't mind it because I find all of these characters more captivating than random Nights Watch assholes. Also, expecting Moat Cailin to be Episode 8 or 10 with the news of Balon's death coming and maybe that's why Victarion leaves? I"m thinking we will have way more Greyjoy next season along with Dorne. I also liked the DAvos, STannis scene. I remember in the book feeling like part of the issue with Stannis was that he was broken on the Blackwater and Davos had to keep trying to rile him, while Mel kept trying to use her magic to seduce him. We saw him kinda being carried on by Mel's plan but not being happy about it and now we get a rousing speech of loyalty from Davos just in time for Episode 9: How Stannis Got His Groove Back

I feel like it has to end with Asha seeing what Theon has become and calling it off and fleeing. Then we can move forward with the Greyjoy plot and the Ramsey/Winterfell plot. I don't remember in the books. Does Asha know Theon is alive or do they assume him did? Also, again, not killing Balon yet mean no Kingmoot. I wonder at this point if they're planning on just waiting to kill him towards the end of the season: Kind of a Stannis ascent ending: beating the Wildlings, maybe having the back of the bank and the final "fake" king dying. Then next season we're looking at the Greyjoys and Dorne being more prevalent while Kingslanding starts to take a backseat.

It does when combined with the fact that although she was acting nice she totally felt threatened by Sansa. That was her reminder to him, also why she had the Septon there. She is crazy but she gets her shit locked down.

I felt like this episode was classic Cersei: giving away the horse to achieve what you want in the moment. Constantly thinking she's the smartest one in the room and not realizing that Marg was so on to her with the "sister or mother" comment. Cersei's problem has always been that what she wants to accomplish is always too tied to emotions and it makes her act desperate. Things just get worse after Tywin dies because at least she trusts him. Loved that the girl Karl was abusing was the one to put the knife in his back. Not surprised all the women were basically like "everything with a dick needs to pack it on up and get out of our site." Didn't care about the Jon Arryn reveal and loved the look on Sansa's face when she heard about marrying Sweet Robin. I kinda like Sansa knowing the score with Lyssa right away, will be interesting to see how she moves forward the next few episodes. Arya and the Hound, filler but I love them. Craster's Keep was wrapped us as best as they could but felt it was more about needing to give Jon a "leadership" moment outside of the wall since Thorne is still around (the butterfly effect GRRM talked about). Also, with Locke eliminated sticking by my theory that Bowen Marsh will be comign in next season for Eastwatch by the Sea. My theory is that's where Stannis lands before moving inland

I honestly think the thing that I was most annoyed with in this episode was all the time dedicated to North of the Wall and how the slave revolt in Mereen was a blip. I feel like one of the big things in the book is that while Dany moves triumphant from city to city she is still leaving devestation and violence (whether it's righteous or not) in her wake. I was looking for some good on Tarantino style revenge violence, not just one guy getting rushed in an Alley. You could have cut out a lot of the the Karl is the best fighter, fuck them til their dead, taunt the thirsty direwolf stuff and really start making Danys story bigger. I'm glad they kept the crucifiction piece and it wasn't too glossed over but I'm ready to return to a semblance of depth with Dany's story. Especially since, without being captivated by her POV, we can really explore what the siege was like and why it's going to be so hard for her to rule. Love anything with Brienne. Enjoyed the Littlefinger-Sansa dynamic and the segue to QoT-Marg. Glad to see they are going to keep the war between Marg and Cersei over Tommen alive and I hope they throw a little more Tywin in to keep it interesting. Liked Locke being at the wall, adds a different air of animosity.

That's fine, show stuff that has purpose, show something that tells us something new. I'm sorry but there are entire threads on this board complaining about characters being cut or characters aged up and at least those meet narrative purposes yet for some reason the vitrol aimed at the people who would prefer we not waste precious screen time on something that people already know happens pretty consistently in this world is pretty weird. No time for coldhands, plenty of time for boobs

I'm really annoyed with this constant response to the valid criticism that the show seems to use rape scenes for sensation. No one here has said " those NW men woldn't rape" They just are annoyed with having to see it on the screen. We saw a guy drinking from Mormont's school while a bruised and battered woman sat next to him. Was anyone at all confused by what these guys were doing? What that ten seconds of "rape them til they're dead" and boobs flapping necessary to the plot? Also, apparently men being raped is something that occurs in this world but for some reason we only see it threatened...wonder why? People can legitimately be annoyed by the fact that with other things that are cut there always seems to be enough time for the rape scenes so maybe for once one of you guys can stop acting like these people are too stupid to understand the world and give a cognizant argument why that scene added something we didn't already know and understand about the show for once?

Exactly, There was not flip, like in the book, that indicated the Cersei was definitely on-board. Obviously the writers did not attend the session about lack of a no not equaling consent. Also, I just feel the scene is going to change how everyone views their actions after this and I will burn everything to the ground if this somehow becomes what people frame as the trigger for Cersei's complete collapse into paranoid revenge mode.

Loves, hates and thoughts: Love: Anything with Tywin, Lena's acting while he was berating Joff and slowly taking Tommen away. Arya and the Hound of course, including the way they were eating the stew Shireen Daario and the nice recap of how Danys feels about her different companions. Plus the Valyrian Jon Snow and all the posturing at the Night's Watch. If we're going to have Thorne there we still need to establish snow's leadership somehow. Tyrion and Pod Dislikes: The Jamie-Cersei scene. It was supposed to one of grief and desperation after both of their worlds have been ripped apart. It was gross and horrible and painful and sad. This felt weird to me especially since we had the scenes earlier where it was very clear she had been rebuffing him. I believe the writers when they say they didn't think it was rape but still it seemed a weird way to present it. I viewed it as Jamie trying to comfort Cersei in an albeit inappropriate way, and her resisting mildly before consenting. I just don't think it was well shot at the very least. Littlefinger: he's always been a slimy character but the way he's acting now is just over the top. So either this is his natural behavior which I really don't want to see. My original hypothesis was that he was struggling to keep his accent under control while whispering but that seems much more fanwanky than true. Again, the dynamic between little finger and Sansa has been protector/mentor, not creepy uncle squirreling you away in the night. He is teaching her about navigating the realm when you are not strong or brave. That's the lesson of killing Dontos. It just felt weird, but again, I blame it on weird choices of both actor and director. Thoughts: Still like this Daario way better than old Daario and stand by my projected character merge The Hound breaking his "code" don't think he did. He didn't steal from the brotherhood because they weren't "dead men". like he viewed this man and his daughter. Also, I feel like it's a reminder, as someone said earlier, the world is hard even without Joffrey and just cause he's dead doesn't mean people are better.

I'm just going with what I was given and since that's not a scene that goes in the book I don't feel like there's anything wrong with wondering what it is, sure it could be edited out of context, but even if it is, obviously they want to imply that that's the conversation that happened. . I never said Olenna confessed her crime, at most she said it's not the worst thing that Joff died. I'm addressing the fact that Marg seems to be upset that it went down and that doesn't sit with my belief that she knew so I'm giving two possible explanations why she might be reacting like that.

I'm having such a hard time figuring out what their angle is with ShowShae. In the book, I read her as aware of her place, maybe willing to push the envelope a bit but overall just a person who knew her place and cared about Tyrion as she would a rich guy who obviously takes care of her. I liked the ending of the book because I felt it was a dark turn for Tyrion as there was ambiguity as to why she may have betrayed him. Just knowing in my head that she might have been forced by Tywin made the death darker for me and it that the moment was just rage with Tyrion. I feel like with ShowShae everyone's going to immediately assume she betrayed him due to anger which takes some of that ambiguity away and makes the killing more about tortured Tyrion rather than wrathful, vengeful Tyrion. I don't know how much of that is the writing, how much of that is the characters and how much of that is the fact that Dinklage has such charisma and vulnerability that you instinctively want to believe the best. I know that people who just watch the show hate Shae for the same reason they dislike Sansa. They view her as being stupid and not appreciating her situation. I believe Marg had to be in on it but maybe is having some doubts now that she realizes that Cersei is Queen Regent again, or she's just doing with QofT told her in the first episode. Being careful of what you say, even around me. I believe that Varys may want to help Shae if for no reason other than they are both foreigners. I also think that Varys is invested in keeping the Lannisters in power for as long as possible as he views them as the best people to have as the reigning king/queen with Danys comes to town. The Tyrell's would probably be adored and that would mean no one would be as willing to jump into a war with a supposed lost prince. Let the Lannisters destroy the country with their madness and vengeance and people will flock to Aegon's side when he comes.

I feel like since in the book we didn't know who did it but we knew for a fact Tyrian didn't we are going to get a bit of the reverse. We will know the Tyrell's were involved so that the viewers still get to experience Tyrion being falsely accused. I really feel like the biggest twist is LF involvement anyway. As far as why Sansa, I just always assumed it was a way to assure that she was completely broken away from Lannister hands. She represents the North to all the main family players. The Tyrell's will never get her in their family but if they can get her away from King's Landing in a way that will prevent any sort of reconciliation that's good enough. Plus, by making Sansa an accessory she's automatically involved and it forces her hand in to joining the cause against the Lannister's. I don't know that they expected Tyrion to be accused, my guess was that it was supposed to look like Sansa did it all along and the best way to make her as willing a participant after the fact as possible was to actually have her have a hand in it. Plus, spies everywhere, I'm sure Varys had people watching all the Tyrel's plus any of Cersei's henchmen.

Overall a really good episode. Our HBOGO feed went out at like 40 minutes into the episode and my unsullied Husband grabbed his phone and I practically yelled at him to drop it cause I knew he was just going on twitter. I felt like there was good reason for Brienne not to talk to Sansa, she paid her respect to the married couple and just bolted out of there. Until Cersei, on her rampage of verbal terror got to her. I don't mind her and Jamie being at KL earlier and I do wish we had more Jamie expression but they seemed to intent on showing the damage to Joffrey's face that I feel both him and Cersei got cheated out of having better reactions. I feel like they rushed through that part just to have her hurry up and accuse Tyrion. My dad and husband are both Unsullied and they both think it was the pie and my dad has the killer as the Tyrell family and my husband just knows it's not Tyrion and even wondered if it was Tywin as he finds him tragic but competent. I mentioned some of the deviations in the Stannis storyline and my husband seems to feel it comes across pretty clear that Stannis is not a believer but that he feels that if her magic works than he'll deal with it. As far as whether or not Penny exists. Since a big part in the book was that her brother was killed and she attack Tyrion my guess is that if they cut that out they may not eliminate the Penny character as much as introduce her in another way. Although I feel that if Shae does just end up going where whores go they may just eliminate Penny all together and play up Tyrion and Jorah. I do feel that mostly the whole point of Penny's character was to re-humanize Tyrion after her leaves Kings Landing. To be honest. I think I'd much prefer a Tyrion-Jorah match-up if Jorah is less melancholy and more angry and determined in the show.