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Description of the last episode says that the NW gets help from an unexpected source. So he gets to the Wall then.

I even mentioned to my husband that he did get much better since the last attempt. Also, Brienne knows that Arya's alive. Wonder how that might come into play for Lady Stoneheart.

Also, the scene between Oberyn and Tyrion was a masterpiece of storytelling. Absolutely beautiful the way he talks about Tyrion as a baby. Perfectly done.

Bet both Sansa and LF lie and say Lysa fell.

Jeez, it was just one change of a line, can't believe people are upset. Hell of a scene...hell of an episode.

The only thing I look forward to in the Theon/Ramsay storyline is Manderly...I can't wait for him to appear finally.

Yes, I am aware and I find it abhorrent with everything we know today...but most slavery happens in places of poverty and ignorance. And I don't. I don't expect people who lived hundreds or thousands of years ago in medieval societies where might makes right to know or care much about 'human rights'. It's ludicrous to expect them to be enlightened and then judge them based on that. I grew up in the South...i'm very aware of the horrors and atrocities that happened to those of color, and in my ancestry I have both slave owners and slaves, as well as people who fought on both sides of the Civil War. Knowing the history very thoroughly, I know that most slaves were treated like property and degraded. But you can't assert that EVERY PERSON in the ENTIRE HISTORY OF THE WORLD who ever owned a slave was a terrible and cruel person. Most people are products of their times, just as we are. I'm sure 100 years from now, people will look back on us and try to paint us with the brush of 'ignorant savages', but that's not fair nor just. All Dany had to do was inquire as to who was actually responsible for crucifying the children. That's ALL she had to do to be justified in her actions. She didn't. If she wants to punish the slave masters for any crimes they committed, then she should have given them trials. Instead, she enacted vengeance against the advice of the men who know more than she does about these matters, and ended up making a mistake that costs her much in the long run.

Oh god, by that definition, everyone through history who doesn't share our values today was a cruel human being. It's ridiculous to make judgments like that without taking anything else into account. I've read "Beloved", by the way. I've read quite a few books about the horrors of slavery as well as segregation- I'm not saying it was okay. But I'm not going to say that everyone who ever owned a slave was a 'cruel and terrible' human being, because that's in no way true. Slavery has been used by every culture in the world at one point or another as an economic tool - it's no different in Essos.

Agreed. Wrong. Most 'slave masters' are products of their time and environment. That doesn't make them bad people. You can be a good man and a slave master. Actually, you would hope that slaves had good men as masters over bad men. But basically, all nobility owned slaves, therefore making them slave masters. It's basically condemning people for being born rich. Slavery is a terrible institution, but you can't make sweeping statements about any group, no matter who they are or what they do. Hopefully.

8/10. The last half was brilliant, the first half seemed disjointed. Also, no Starks.

Play the game quietly until the time is right.

There's no such reason to assume anything like that. The show didn't do anything 'badly'...they made it just a little more morally ambiguous (it was still a bad decision in the book). It was never fair nor just to pick out 163 people and crucify them as a 'lesson' without doing at least SOME investigation. Even in the book, having a 'vote' doesn't mean that the people who were responsible were the ones who got crucified. The show can't tell us what's in Dany's mind, including her second thoughts when she sees them, so they've given us a situation where we can see her having second thoughts. Dany made a mistake and the show did a great job of highlighting it.

Exactly my point. She doesn't know whether he did or he didn't, and now she never will. But she has made powerful enemies because of it and it will trouble her rule.

Because all slave-owners were terrible people who would crucify children, right? I doubt he was lying, and it's sort of ridiculous to call him that just to absolve Dany of making a mistake she shouldn't have made. If she has the time to sit on the throne and see over 200 people, she should have made the time to judge the Masters fairly. But instead she let emotions take control of her and she acted out of vengeance, and it is going to cost her dearly.

I've never been so excited.

We don't see her go home yet, though. We just see her leave. We've yet to see what she does now.

1. Goat. 2. Probably. 3. I think he has a pretty good idea of who Cersei will call as her champion. Most people do, really.

Damn, that was incredibly awesome. Can't wait for some Viper-Mountain action.

It was pretty obvious that Coldhands was never going to appear since they replaced everything that Coldhands did by other means (Sam knew how to go under the Wall from a book, and Jon went after the mutineers). Stoneheart is completely different as she is important in the future story...Coldhands apparently is not. Jojen had a vision about how he will 'end (i.e. he will burn)- you didn't actually think that was a real flame, did you? The exposition wasn't clumsy, the acting was bad. And we don't need 'visuals' to understand what they mean by 'Every place you liberated is going to hell'. It makes sense without seeing it. She's his captive, but is in the position of needing his help to survive- it's not a buddy-buddy relationship. We shall see.

He did. And watching the fight, you can see how the closed quarters were hindering his movements. He'd run into something and it would delay his swing. It looked very realistic and had less to do with Jon's ability and more to do with the fact that his opponent was faster and better equipped for an inside fight than Jon was- Valyrian steel or not. Even in the books, Jon gets bested by Mance with a two-handed broadsword in the training yard. He's a very good fighter, but he's not the greatest fighter ever, and neither the books nor the show ever made it out that he was. This isn't like LotR where Aragorn could kill 50 people, no matter the conditions.

Why would they care about keeping the show behind the books when they have the rights to the story? They aren't on GRRM's schedule, nor should they be. They aren't padding the story to make it last longer, they are moving things around and adding in bits to make sure that all of the characters get the necessary screen time and don't end up disappearing for an entire season.

Yeah, I think a lot of people underestimate how much someone who hasn't read the books can 'understand' the show. I didn't read the books until after the first season of the show, and I wasn't lost when watching it. Some people may not follow it well, but many do- whether they've read the books or not.

Same here...was so, so looking forward to that fight all week long and it didn't disappoint at all. I liked that they made it realistic in that Jon had trouble using his sword inside close quarters. And finally a woman gets revenge. Just loved it.

Actually, it makes me wonder if BR had a hand in freeing Ghost, because the ravens started to caw and suddenly the door is open and Ghost is gone.

You're right, I'm sure they haven't thought it through at all. That's why they put in the part with Hodor looking upset and shaking when he saw the blood on his hands. Sheesh, give these guys a break and just wait to see how everything plays out before acting as if they don't know what they are doing, because they know better than any of us.