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How would you rate episode 401?


Ran
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How would you rate episode 401?  

705 members have voted

  1. 1. What's your rating from 1-10, with 10 being the highest/best

    • 1
      3
    • 2
      1
    • 3
      3
    • 4
      10
    • 5
      12
    • 6
      28
    • 7
      104
    • 8
      240
    • 9
      203
    • 10
      101


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8/10. Very good, not perfect. Better than last season's premiere for sure.



Loved Oberyn's introduction and his scene with Tyrion. I approve strongly of the direction they've taken with this iconic character. I can't wait to see what he gets into next, which I believe is the point.



The Arya/Hound stuff was fantastic. The decision to have her take direct revenge on Polliver (rather than the book's focus on the Tickler's torture litany) was a great change for television. Also, "What the fuck's a Lommy?" might be the funniest line ever uttered on the show. :lol:



Sansa/Dontos was rushed and confusing, but that's to be expected seeing how Dontos hasn't spoken a line in nearly two full seasons. Interesting that D&D at first eliminated the character and then decided to bring him back, once they figured out Sansa's story doesn't work all that well without him.



Jon's stuff at the Wall was very good. Three cheers for the return of Alliser Thorne and Janos Slynt!



New Daario is gonna have to grow on me. I wasn't impressed at all.

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A strong 9 from me.



I dont see much room for improvement except the scene between Jamie and his Father. Should have been much more powerful IMHO. Almost didnt recognize Jamie with his new haircut, doesnt fit well but that has little to do with the show.



I was worried about the actor they chose for the Red Viper but he seems to fit well. Tall, slim and fast makes him very snakelike. Doesnt really look like a great warrior though so wondering about him in a big one on one.



Do the Thenns look like the descendants of Xerxes from The 300 to anyone else?


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7.5. This is my first time watching having read all the books and it makes a big difference to my position as a viewer. I definitely agree the exposition could've been a lot more subtle for its purposes, though it did a great recap job. Some character moments were quite stiff like Sansa/Dontos + Tywin/Jaime. Wall stuff was good but the way they presented the Thenns was soo heavy-handed. It kinda takes away from Jon's tolerant relations with the wildings, would've been more precise to scrap the 'evil' aspect for a menacing feeling to the in-group tensions. However really nice highlights with callbacks to Arthur Dayne, Rhaegar&Elia, Dunk and even a blue rose appearance. Oberyn, Arya and the Hound had awesome dynamics as well!

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Gave it a 9. Probably should have been more like an 8, but I'm still in the after-glow of getting our show back.



I started to feel like the introduction of the Red Viper was a bit rushed, and I missed the elegance of he and Tyrion's verbal jousting while riding into the city. This version of Oberyn seems more full-throtle and less subtle...



...then, I realize that the P.W. is next week!! OK, I'm in. Sex and Blood, baby.



The Hound's character arc fits right in with Tyrion, Dany, and Jaime. As soon as he starts doing things because they are right, or shows the slightest bit of moral character, bad things will happen to him.



While the mash-up of the Thens merged with other wildling tribes was somewhat offputing to a reader, this treatment did make them way more menacing. Plus, the show (I think) does a little better job of confirming just how rare it is to get all the "Free Folk" to cooperate in anything and what a job Mance has done (and how skeptical everyone that is not Jon is about the impending attack).



Love Margaey's "string of sparrow heads" comment. :cool4:


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Pointless?

Here's what the pointless brothel scene accomplished:

1. Intro to the red viper and Ellaria and their unique relationship

2. Showed oberyn's voracious sexual appetites.

3. Showed oberyn's hair trigger temper and loathing for lannisters

4. Showed oberyn's fighting prowess

But yeah other than that it was pointless and a disgraceful mangling of the holy source material.

All this for what the brothel scene accomplished in terms of character introduction. I also wonder if there is one more aspect to it that will play out. I am guessing the blade through the Lannister's hand was poisoned, and we will learn next episode that the soldier died. They can't really go into Oberyn's backstory as a poisoner (VIPER!) without introducing history and characters that the show watcher will find confusing. This will do it quickly and efficiently. I mean, they HAVE to make him suspected of poisoning, no?

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8/10



Genius: Pedro Pascal, Tywin melting down the Stark symbols, dragons


Great: Oberyn stabbing random Lannister, Ellaria/Oberyn, Arthur Dayne and Rhaegar/Elia mention


Funny: Margaery's necklace comment, Joff's statue, "What the fuck's a Lommy?", Bronn/Oberyn exchange, Jon's comment on Janos Slynt, Aemon's King's Landing comment


Lame: tavern fight scene, Brienne/Tyrells scene


Disappointment: new Daario Naharis (they can't get it right)


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Well that would piss me off.

Wildling attack at the Wall? The Night's Watch needs my help? Might as well take a detour to Braavos.

Though I suppose it would give him more screen time, which might actually be a bad thing, given D&D's track record.

Ya most people were speculating they would be using it as a plot device since he deals with those people in ADWD

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A solid 8.


I didn't expect the premiere episode to be this good.



The melting of Ice was a terrific scene. You could see Tywin gloating.



Oberyn's intro was awesome. We learned he's a dangerous badass in minutes.



Dany's dragons seem really dangerous.



The seeds of conflict between Tyrion and Shae are beginning to grow well.



Joffrey continues to be a little shit by mocking Jaime.



The Thenns' intro was scary enough. You could feel the dangerous air surrounding them.



But the best scene was the last - Arya's.


The fight at the inn was amazing.


And the way she proceeded to stab Polliver through the Neck while mocking him as he remembered - DAMN!

Edited by Waylin Stark
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First of all, the nits should be addressed so they can be got out the way as soon as possible. . I'm not keen on the way the Thenns and the natives of Skagos were shoved together. On with the positives:

.

Nit **2 Ice river clans

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I voted 8. I thought it was a great episode for one main reason: They've successfully tied together so many old arcs and histories since season 1 so that the story as a whole seems complete, and moving on logically from the aftermath of all the crap that happened in the first three seasons. It's as if after 3 years the characters have reunited, and we revisit the stories from when they initially left off at the beginning of the war. We had:



- Tywin sees Jaime since he fled the capital after fighting Ned and awards him with a reforged version of the sword with which he fought. Only Jaime isn't quite the same man.


- Brienne meets with Margaery to discuss Renly's death after fleeing out of fear of being accused, some possible relationship there.


- Jon is back at Castle Black after 2 years, perspective changed, but the wall is more or less the same, so there'll be some friction there as well as an upcoming battle.


- Arya gets revenge against Polliver and retrieves the blade Jon gives her in Episode 1/2, literally and symbolically arming herself for the future.


- Sansa reunites with Dontos, the man she saves in S02E01, who looks to play some role in her misery in KL.


- Many mentions of Stannis Baratheon's siege and defeat.



It just seems that the story has now reset, and we're moving into the new act, but they did a great job of bringing everything together to remind the audience of how all the characters tie in together, and to show the aftermath of all the events we previously watched. It's a wonderful setup episode, and I'm really looking forward to the upcoming episodes.


Edited by DarkAndFullOfTurnips
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I gave 9/10 because in my opinion ot was the best premiere since the first season and as many it was a great feeling to have the series back.



The only parts that I didn't like much were the ones with Jannie, because it kinds of out of place, but I get that since they brought him back earlier they would have to do something about it. Apart from that loved most of the scenes and mainly loved many of the lines in the episode, specially the Hound ones in the end.



The last scene with Aria was awesome and I have to say that for a moment her happy face during her revenge gave me the creeps.


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There was an awful lots of exposition...every single moment except Arya's fight in fact. Every single character felt the need to say, "Hey, here's what happened to me in season two" except for Oberyn (who wasn't saying that and had a lovely delivery). I felt bored. New confrontations Olenna-Margaery, Brienne-Jaime-Sansa and Brienne-Margaery had potential, but they all fell flat. Jaime shrugs off his debt to Sansa and Brienne has no good answer...in the current circumstances she could walk up to Sansa and vow to protect her or ask if she wants to escape. The necklace scene was pointless (except for the apt line about dead sparrows) and who honestly still cares about Renly? Okay, Brienne, but the Brienne-Loras confrontation from the book was more interesting because they both cared. Margaery doesn't. And the White Book had far less point than in the books, though Joff shows he's a jerk to everyone. All right, King's Landing characters got their cameos and showed off the relationships, but nothing moved forwards. Maybe a 4


Edited by Valerie Estelle Frankel
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8.5 so I rounded it up to 9 since it was the premier.



I think it has been the best premier, even better than the pilot. The pacing was good and not too busy and complex.



The opening linked back to Season 3, setting the ground with the Starks being defeated and the Lannisters at their strongest....adding irony to their fall this Season. Karma is a bitch! :devil: I also loved how they played on this with details of the RW still being brought up (Sansa mentioning what they did with her mothers body....I smell the LS plot line), the Riverlands a mess and that ridiculous Joffrey/slain wolf statue. Jon's reaction to Robb's death could have been better though....his brother was brutally murdered...not just his rival.



Oberyn's introduction clearly made him a dangerous and interesting character to keep an eye on.



Also, no wrong can be done in showing the Dragons have got bigger and more deadly. The Unsullied love dragons!



Ending the episode with the best scene (Arya and the Hound) really sealed the quality of the episode. All in all, I was really impressed!

Edited by ~DarkHorse~
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