PhoenixFlame

:cool4: Lena killed it in this episode too. Her "all out of fucks" takedown of Pycelle, lashing out at Margaery Diana, shoving Jaime away from Joffrey... They could've directed it to have her screaming, but I think that would be a too on-the-nose mirroring of the RW. Also, Cersei lashes out a lot, but she's rarely loud about it. The main time I recall is her screaming at Tyrion when Myrcella was getting shipped off.

Erm, Brienne's love for Jaime is canon. She thinks it when Stoneheart's hanging her. She can do something for honor but still feel love for someone. Oh, I love Natalie Dormer's little expressions, like her "contempt to delight" expression when the pie comes.

My bad, I rewatched it and just noticed the tail. The screech is mixed into the crow caws so I got confused. I guess it's D&D being "We SWEAR she'll eventually get to Westeros!!!" Ehehe, when he smiled at Walda, my first thought was "he's like a handsome shark!" Yeah, I think on screen the shifting contradictions in his looks/dialogue are more interesting than "I'm a brutish nutcase muahahahaha." Not that he isn't an evil nutcase, it just comes across on the surface with more nuance. If he's to be one of the next major villains, he needs to at least be entertaining. YESSUM! Her quiet torment during the dwarf show broke my heart. But that's totally when she showed the steel in her spine. In the context of the show's continuity, I liked her handing the cup to Tyrion. It's not about "warming up to him" at all, just her innate desire for being decent, much like she told Dontos "Anyone else would've done the same." The random dwarf show moment that was gold was the tentacles bursting out of the Balon dwarf.

Whups, my bad, I just noticed the tail. The screeching was mixed in with crow caws so I didn't hear it.

Ramsay's "Why doesn't Daddy love me??!" face after Roose stepped away from him. It was almost saddening but, well, obviously the son is a shadow of the father. I did like that shot of Jaime shoving past people to get to Joffrey--and yelling "Joffrey" instead of "Your Grace." Oh oh, shadow over King's Landing. It was a crow, not a dragon. On my big TV the wings looked more feathery than membraned. The POV of a Bloodraven crow flying overhead? So many amazing little details! Joffrey laughing so hard he spits out his wine, while Margaery glances over with disgust. Tyrion glaring at Tommen's laughter at the dwarves, and the kid immediately shutting up. Oh, the Martells! I loved Oberyn in the audience during the wedding ceremony. Then, his sick burn. It looked like Tywin was almost amused at Oberyn swatting back at Cersei after she insulted his paramour and engaging in some Olennaesque Snark-to-Snark combat...until Oberyn took it up a notch and proved he wasn't just there for the appetizers. Tywin's obsessed with legacy, but he runs circles around so many characters I think his show version is a little pleased when someone can snark right back, a la Arya. Within reason of course. Was it just me or did the blood drain from Brienne's face as Cersei continued to stare at her silently? Then you have Jaime glancing over at them and probably thinking "OMG every fantasy I ever wanted!!!"

On a sadder note, oh my god poor baby kraken Theon. Reek. My heart was in pain. His face when Ramsay revealed Robb's death...I think his silent staring was less "imma gonna cut this fucker's throat" and more his "I should've died with him" monologue. I love how Roose was so soft and calm but so obviously pissed at how Ramsay handled things. Ramsay and Locke bro-ing out was funny. Also, given his slightly less brutish characterization on the show, I don't mind Ramsay having a female playmate. His tone when complimenting her shooting reminded me of Lestat's when he was fooling around with the hooker, if a tad more sincere. She's still just a toy to him. At most a Build-a-Bear.

Ahaha, I love her "WTF...hiiii" face. I love her voice! I hope since she's no longer sneaking with Roose that now she'll wear some pink. Why Jaime uses Bronn as a sparring partner despite the fact he can talk? Tyrion vouched for him. Jaime trusts his bro. I loved Tyrion dumping a bit of wine out in response to Jaime's fumbling. Loras was on FIIIIIRE! His sick burn to Jaime was twenty kinds of epic. Then his eyeflirting with Oberyn. PLEASE OH PLEASE.

Boom, stone missing! It was to show he killed a pigeon cutting it open.

Hmm...crackpot theory! Jaime bumped into Fake Arya when he arrived back at King's Landing. He knows where she's going and he warned Brienne so she wouldn't go after her. The original BWB have familiarity with Arya, especially Gendry. Cat's end-all-be-all berserk button was her kids. Stoneheart knows about the Bolton betrayal. Mayhaps Jaime convinces them Arya's at Winterfell, the wife of the Bastard of Bolton ("we've been trying to get north but I had to end the Riverrun siege without harming a Tully!). Stoneheart hacks and sputters something that means "saddle up" to the BWB. Jaime and Brienne are still her prisoners but now they have a trip north to make a break for it. Or Ilyn Payne just dives in and saves the day.

Ehee, adorable Edmure. Though in context of the rest of the scene it reminds me a bit of Interview with the Vampire when they're dragging Louis and Claudia through the catacombs.

I think the choice regarding Sansa kneeling was handled fine. She had to notice Joffers taking away the stool. She was subtle about not meekly falling in line--as in, Tyrion had to ask her. But there's a difference between showing some passive defiance and being cruel. She was smart enough to look a little "Oh, me? Sorry didn't realize." It reminded me of the musical Elisabeth; the title character gets what she wants by cold-shouldering her husband until he talks to her as an equal and compromises on certain things. I liked a S1 callback -- Tyrion tells her he'll never hurt her. That's what Joff said. No duh she doesn't trust him. It dovetailed nicely into her "What if I never want you?" She wasn't being callous, she was challenging him, as in "Will you actually keep your word?" Sure she doesn't want to boff him, but I thought it was more nuanced than that. LOL I need to get a GIF of Tywin's expression when she walks down the aisle. The going-to-hell part of me was captioning it "Damn, I shouldn't have given her to Tyrion." I loved Arya and the Hound's scene. The Hound sounded so adorable. "Where do you think I'm taking you?" That was twenty kinds of cute. I wonder if we're going to get Burrito Arya, when he wraps her up to keep her from escaping. Oh, and Stranger was perfectly cast physique wise. He's not a heavy destrier type at all. Davos reading a children's book was so cute too. And they did their scene sooo well. I loved the way he delivered "You could've come to me yesterday or tomorrow, this is why you came today."

I really liked the episode; I was really curious how they were going to work Littlefinger's monologue in. Also, though it was more for the audience to notice, I loved how Sansa seeing his ship sailing away made it almost seem like he was punishing her for turning him down.

Oh oh, one detail I loved. You can see the family resemblance between Roose and Ramsay. When Roose was trolling Jaime about his sister...House Trollton is alive and well.

Shush up dudes, finally the girls get thrown a bone with those two handsome fellows hooking up. Agreed -- the bath scene was phenomenal. I loved how Jaime's voice grew hoarser as he got more emotional and lightheaded. I don't think Brienne's backside was a body double -- the armor just makes her look a lot thicker. She's quite thin. Oh, and the Sansa and Littlefinger scene -- I love how they're laying the groundwork. Something about that scene was just...soo....creeeeepy. Since LF was the one who communicated the plot to Tywin, I totally bet he was doing a little "muahahaha, Sansa is still mine!" after he left the room. I need to ask some non bookreaders if they thought that scene was skeazy. "Petyr." Last random detail I loved was Stannis' look of terrified surprise when Shireen threw herself at him.

It's possible Oberyn doesn't appear until after the wedding. However, he needs to be in a few episodes before the duel so we can actually care about him. The scene would lose a lot if it's a guy we've barely seen trading blows with the Mountain. Bronn was pretty much established with his Egan duel, as before he was just a competent sellsword, but that's more like a badass introduction. Oberyn ain't got that option.

Awesome episode! A few favorite moments: - Ramsay's hyena smile. There was foreshadowing when he seemed to eyeroll when he was fiddling with the gate. - Sansa looking like she was about to burst into tears; Margaery being so sweet and funny. She's like walking Prozac if she wants to make you happy. - Joffrey acting like a lovesick puppy. His look of devotion when she spoke about severity, then his slightly worried expression when they first walked out to greet the people. If he didn't like her so much he would've been pissed they were saying Margaery, but it seemed to me he was more "holy crap, she's right!" Not that he's softening up as a person; he'd clearly view "giving the people love" as just a form of manipulation for the stupid peasants. - Varys flirting with Olenna. Goodness they were cute. Varys' little glance at his nethers when she talked about the nonexistent meeting the decrepit. :laugh: - Jaime's opening scene made me sad. I get very :unsure: when proud characters get broken down. I don't think Brienne was being sexist; I think she was just trying to say something that would piss him off. - Arya's red eyes. Not tears of grief, but rather eyes getting watery with a super strong emotion. - The whole final scene, of course.

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It was not smart, but Locke was operating off two things. One, Jaime will always be a valuable prisoner, one-handed or not. It is not like a ransom would be refused or drastically lowered because of his maiming. Two, he reaaally hates Jaime, and got carried away. What he probably does not realize is that Roose does not like flashy displays of sadism. Oh, related to that. As awful as it was to hear Brienne screaming, I love that you kept hearing the men shriek in pain. Even as overpowered as she was, she was still kicking ass. They would have worn her down if Jaime had not intervened, but I bet a few dudes went to bed with bruised junk. I have no problem with the Stannis scene. He is at rock bottom and depressed. The only thing he has going for him is Melisandre. I think they are emphasizing what a low place he is in so his eventual Big Damn Heroes moment is more spectacular.

"Hey bro, move that horse head a few inches to the left." "WATCH IT, you&undefined¿ll snap the ears off!" Haha, I jest, it was cool if a little funny. I think we needed a somewhat lighter episode (with appropriate mood whiplash) to counter a lot of the shittiness that&undefined¿s about to go down. The laugh before the storm... It did make me "WTF?" that Theon got "maced" with only the wind knocked out of him, but I think he just dived off a second before. If you land funny when falling off a horse, you will get all the air knocked out of you. Leading to scared moms thinking you&undefined¿ve broken your back or something until you can gasp out "Fine!"

Awesome moments: - Varys sticking his tongue in his cheek (Tyrion sorta snickers) / musical chairs - The Hound bopping his head / Gendry clapping Hot Pie's shoulder / that sweet direwolf pastry...he was totally getting a tiny crush - BEAR AND MAIDEN FAIR!!! - I know some people didn't like Stannis/Mel scene, but one thing I liked was him pressing his cheek to her head. Much better than kissing. - "You little BASTARD" = I melted in squees. Oh, and Theon had a gorgeous horse. I was scared they were going to cripple it. - Robb acting like a king and not a child. Fuck yeah. - Pod saying "um...things." - Lord Twat-beard XD - Brienne taunting Jaime in her own way. Later, her expressions watching Locke and Jaime--she was looking half miffed, half scared. I think she could sense some bad shit was going down. - JAIME. Poor dear heart. He did a great job with that split-second "wtf?" then the pain hitting home. Glokta described this a lot in Abercrombie's books. Random note. ARGH, total dissonance for me! I knoooow the "Boy" is actually an evil little psycho, but when he walks out with his bow, HOT DAMN Iwan! :drool: :drool: :drool: Please give him something evil to do so I'm not crushing! Oh, I will say this too -- it was really cool to see his change from when he let Theon go (subservient, servanty) to when he appeared in the forest (much more self-assured. He did look sinister up to "come my lord"). I really like the idea that he tricks Theon into making the keep surrender. Talk about an "oh fuck!" moment for Theon!

THIS. Thank you, sir. I adore the books but I understand the nitty gritty of what goes into a TV show. I'm not saying that because it takes a fuckton of work that viewers should "settle." Not at all. Sometimes I just think book readers get a little trigger happy. For people who've never read the books, the producers are building a bigass story, and it has to be more compact than the books. I apologize if I sound like I'm snarling at book readers--I'm not. I'm not keen on everything in the show. I just don't think changes are something to jump at until we've seen the bigger picture. Reeds, for instance. They work much better this season than they would have last season. Personally, I think compacting Gendry with Storm is a marvelous idea. The actor who plays Gendry is good and it'll ensure he has more to do. I don't think Gendry learning his lineage makes a big difference. That's just me though. ^_^

I think Sandor partly feels more toned down because he has that lovely voice. It's growly, but it's not really harsh. Plus, he doesn't seem as angry. Brutal yes, but largely in the context of Blackwater and saving Sansa from rape. He's also not as mocking toward Sansa--comes across as a more resigned and gruff. That said, it didn't feel out of character for him to call Arya "the Stark bitch," especially since she's a "wolf." I love the actor (dat height!) I just wish he had more screen time. ...I wish Sansa sang for him during Blackwater, but that's my silly fangirl talking. Goodness, I miss those 20+ Sandor Clegane threads.

Yeah, half of Arya's current (non-Jaquen) deadliness is dudes not expecting the little pup has a sword. I cannot wait for some fiery swordplay.

Deception! Lannister dudes think they're mercs or something and get their necks hacked before they realize. I'm teasing, but I dunno, maybe.

Jeez, I think butchery is an overstatement. Last season people bitched about the Reeds being cut, but omg, here they are. D&D know how the story ends. Theon should damn well be in season 3. You can't cut a major character for two seasons. He's a POV character, not frickin Faith from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Plus, if Ramsay's identity is exposed, it'll be an awesome WTF moment when viewers realize his daddy's Good Stupid King Robb's second in command. Actually, scratch that, Ramsay's game is going to be awesome all by itself. We can get flashbacks and internal monologue about how Theon goes from conflicted lordling to broken wretch in the book but that's not possible on screen. We can SEE it and it'll be super powerful. Rains is the Westerosi equivalent to "California Girls"? You might hate it, but goddamn it stays in your head. Re: the Shae scene, I didn't read jealousy as much as protectiveness toward Sansa. A dash of jealousy, but not much.