How would you rate episode 410?

[JagLover]

Rated it as a 9

Some great, great scenes but did feel disjointed and I am not entirely clear still why Brienne & The Hound fought to the death over who takes care of Arya.

I think really they haven't got enough time for what they are trying to achieve each season.

[Davrum]

I am not entirely clear still why Brienne & The Hound fought to the death over who takes care of Arya.

It's quite simple. The Hound thought Brienne was a Lannister scout. Brienne thought The Hound was The Hound.

[VeganAlien]

I rated it a 7 - it was good, though like a lot of people I didn't like lack of LSH and the changes to Tyrion's storyline. That fight between The Hound and Brienne was unexpected, but very intense and enjoyable, and I liked the temporary moment of bonding between Brienne and Arya before it all went to The Seven Hells. LOL!

I think as a season, this year was fantastic and is one of my favourite since season 1, but the finale was a little "meh" for me, most likely because I was expecting LSH during or after the credits (as per the rumours) and it didn't happen, so when it ended, I was like, "THAT'S IT? WHERE THE HELL IS SHE?!" LOL! I was still reeling since the Mountain/Viper fight though - kind of a hard episode to outdo. ;) I guess after you see a head explode like a watermelon dropped from a high rise, nothing else compares. LOL! ;)

Edited June 18, 2014 by VeganAlien

[Miodrag]

Incredibly well said.

Thank you.

Well said! Great gods - is this still going on, folks? Miodrag has summed up my thoughts perfectly here. I don't make any apologies for loving the show PURELY from an entertainment point of view - and that is how I vote. I'm sorry that I don't apply intellectual critiques to a fantasy TV show that is rollicking fun most of the time for me. ASoIaF is one beast; GOT is a totally separate one. I don't apply literary critiques to the books either. I'm just in it unashamedly for the fun - and the gorgeous production values, and Cersei's frocks ;)

I'm not ashamed to admit any of this - I'm being as honest as I can be. (And Miodrag - I bet I'm even older than you ;))

Now I can understand fans of both shows and books getting passionate about their beloveds, but really - does it matter what other people vote? If you love the show, who gives a flying fuck what the '1 voters' think? If you hate the show, why care about the '10 voters'? It sounds arrogant to say 'other people's opinions don't matter to me' - and in general I'm not that kind of person, but when we're talking about a TV show..... Who cares? So many people loved 'Rome' - I've studied Roman history for 30 years plus, under- and post-grad, and I lasted 3 episodes because it butchered the history as far as I was concerned. But people loved it - good for them. Live and let live. If they found it entertaining, who the hell am I to tell them otherwise?

So that is why I've picked out Miodrag's post to quote here. He and I couldn't be further apart in how we view the show, and yet I fully endorse his point here. Debating certain scenes/plot lines/characters etc. in book or show can be instructive and illuminating. But fighting each other because someone votes 1 and others vote 10? Ack - I confess, it's beyond me...

And tank you as well. Perhaps it is an age thing then, though I do know quite a few very young posters here (say, 18 to 25 years old) that are very passionate in discussions, but never insulting or infuriating or aggressive. But yeah, you're spot on, it's impossible to have any sort of discussion, regardless of opinions, if people start blaming other people for different opinions.

By the way, see how cool we are: we're talking about our age as if it's a good thing not to be young any more!

[kevinbgwrites]

I gave it a 7. It is the first episode where I really feel reading the books ruined it for me. Even so I acknowledge it as technically the best finale, perhaps with the exception of 1's and is undeniably WAY better than last season's finale.

The Stannis and Mance scenes were pretty well done in a short amount of time. The only complaint I have is the lack of the chant in some form(complain #1 stemming from reading the books).

I like the Cersei scenes, primarily the first two. I've always viewed Tywin as a tragic character, despite him being an awful person, and thought Tywin learning about his children's incest drives this theme home.

Mountain not suffering is a weird decision since all they needed to do is show him being drugged heavily after screaming for a minute. This is a complaint unlike most of mine, in that its worse for those who haven't read the books since we know what he was going through. Like the chant this is a minor exclusion. Really like Qyburn, his actor makes him far more distinct than in the books.

Bran's stuff was off for me. The fight in the books was more of a mad struggle towards the tree while far too many undead to ever hope to fight off swarmed them. I don't mind Jojen's death- at all actually- except for how it was done. It was shot weirdly, and the way he was stabbed was very unimpactful and looked lazy as hell. Him being blown up also didn't make ANY sense. If the fear is that later on he will be reanimated then why not just blow up one of the already animated skeletons that are coming at you instead, or just get in the tree since you know they can't follow. They should have stuck with the massive number of undead coming from all sides, and had Jojen be claimed that way instead, being dragged into the swarm. Heck, if they are deadset on blowing him up at least then this is a better reason, with him being an unintended casualty of firebomb meant for the undead. These are both book reading complaint #2 and general complaints about the scenes problems.

Bloodraven I didn't hate, however in the scene preceding him the line "the power that moves them is powerless here" is just terrible and totally amateur stuff, Likewise BR not having one eye but referencing one eye is equally amateur. As for the much anticipated "but you will fly" line, which is arguably one of Bran's most memorable book moments- it fell way short of what I was expecting instead of being a goosebump inducing scene. Book complaint #3, and particularly one that wouldn't have bugged me had I not read the books.

Dany's scenes have been equivalently awful as Jon's in season 2 this season so it was refreshing to see pretty decent scenes from her that didn't overstay their welcome. I am also proud of D and D for finally keeping her far away from the ending scene for once.

Brienne, hound and Arya I'm split on. I don't care that it didn't happen in the books, but it just seems too contrived that we get yet another meeting of main characters on what looks to be open terrain no less and that the hound and Brienne end up fighting rather than discussing things. If Brienne at least had some reason to suspect Arya was being held hostage I could see it... but as is. ugh. The good news is that the start and circumstances was(almost) the only bad part. The fight itself was very good and extremely intense, and certainly a suitable "death" for the hound. The follow up scene with Arya was absolutely excellent with the exception of the hound suddenly being in a good place with Brienne despite fighting to the death. I think the justification they used was that it was better to gamble on going with her than being guaranteed to die traveling alone, but this was expressed terribly(and perhaps I'm misremembering them justifying it at all).

Tyrion's scenes were a mixture of being watered down by book expectations and poor decision making. The release was very hasty and almost came across as saying "lol you actually thought Tyrion had a chance of dying?" to those who didn't know what was coming, as if there was never any danger and Oberyn's death and all the build up was therefore pointless. And of course expecting a dramatic goodbye and getting a hug and kiss instead was very off-putting. But more importantly than its effect on Jamie/Tyrion's relationship(which I don't mind) is the effect it had on the following scene- seeing as his decision to confront Tywin should only come from momentary insanity/extreme anger because of the fact it could easily have been marching to his death. He seemed like he was, and should have just been happy to have been set free. Instead the average viewer's reaction would be "Wait does he think Jamie betrayed him?" "Where is he going?" "Huh, how'd he know there was a hidden path to the hand's tower?"

It was inconsistent with TV Shae to go for the knife to kill Tyrion. Why did they even bother changing her if this was the direction they were going? And because of the lack of reasonable motive for going after Tywin, the confrontation with him fell flat.

As for the concluding scene, it was fine but.... No Stoneheart was a massive disappointment and the fourth thing that reading the book caused. With all the in-show hints pointing to her coming(see bran's season 2 vision, all the cat references, inclusion of Beric, having Brienne with Pod and alive etc. etc.) it was the perfect time to reveal her. If they start next season with her, I will probably be able to forgive this, but it seems as if she is cut based off certain interviews, so I am even more bitter about this.

All in all a good episode, watered down significantly for me by having read the books. If they start with SH next season it'll gain half a point for me in retrospect, but otherwise I honestly hope they just totally abandon the source material so I can just divorce the two in my mind, even though they've already done most the big moments.

[Tolsimir]

Gave it a generous 4/10. After the part at the wall ended I couldn't stop facepalming.

Biggest flaw of the episode was definitely Tyrion's part. Parting with Jaime on good terms his first reaction should have been something like; ''I am so lucky I am alive, I need to get out of here''. Maybe he would try to find Shae if they truly loved eachother, like the show made it appear. Since they cut the actual reason why Tyrion wanted to see Tywin there was absolutely no reason for Tyrion to climb the ladder. He had no idea Shae was there and what would he possibly do with Tywin? He just wanted to have a chat or what? ''Hey daddy I'm gonna go now OK?''

But of course, he still goes up the ladder. And here we see the biggest flaw of the series. The writers are writing the characters to appeal to the audience, and then they still make them do the things they do in the books even if it's inconcistent with their show characterization. So Shae and Tyrion love eachother, OK. Then why Shae tries to stab him? She did not love him? Then why is Tyrion sorry for killing her? And why would he be insulted when Tywin calls Shae a whore? When I realized that the most important scene in the episode should not have happened with the way the show presented things, I wanted to give it a 2/10. But I thouroghly enjoyed the Stannis scene, so I gave it a 4.

[Fevre River Warrior]

Wow, fans on this board are really nitpicky.

I loved this season, love this show, and can't wait for next year. As I posted before I gave this episode a 10. What other TV show gets the scrutiny this one does? If you picked each episode of each TV show you watch apart as so many do with this show nothing would hold up. I absolutlely loved the ending with the fantastic music and Arya off to her Braavos adventure.

This is excellent television, and that is just what it is. Television. Taking a very complex set of books (all of which I have read three times) and making it into Television. D&D and HBO have done a tremendous job.

Can't wait for season 5.

[Kasakka]

Tyrion's story line has been radically changed. And killing Shae seemed more like self defense rather than killing her in blind fury like he did in the books. The events at the wall were well made. I liked every scene there. Charles Dance and Peter Dinklage absolutely nailed their roles this season and especially this episode. Emilia Clarke finally made an effort and the Mereen scenes this episode were my favorite all season. The duel between Brienne and the Hound was gruesome but good. The Tywin-Cersei scene felt a bit forced,stiff and unnecessary. Fairly good episode but nothing specially well done. I can't hide my disappointment with the season finale, should have been better. But nevertheless I gave it a solid 8.

Edited June 18, 2014 by Diablotion

[Yelloweyedemon]

4/10

Sorry, maybe I gave it too much...

Unnesessary deviations from the books...

Too short scene north of the wall,

brienne vs hound ? where did they saw that?

Bran's story was a low-budget mess... skeletons, no make-up whatsoever on either Leaf or 3 eyed crow, lack of cgi except for unnesessary skeletons.. Jojen's death?! A children of the forest throwing fireballs like shes a WoW fire mage...

The last scene was the weakest ending ever... Seriously in an episode where we have Dany chain her dragons, Tyrion killing Shae and Tywin, Bran finally meet the 3 eyed crow, we get Arya leaving for Bravos on the last scene?!

And last but not least.. no Lady Stoneheart...

[ellstaysia]

6/10

I feel like the most used word in this thread also sums up how I felt as well... very underwhelmed from a book readers point of view. the scene that struck me most was actually dany chaining up her dragons. the way viserion & rhaegal cried out upon watching her leave broke my heart.
the dilogue was awful, rushed & poorly scripted as usual except jon & mance's talk.

why didn't I feel anything when some of the most important character developments happened in this episode? tywin's death was boring... & tyrion is not nearly as vengeful as I want him to be.
sad that arya & the hound have finally parted ways as I always loved their pairing & back & forth.

I really didn't think bran & co would make it to bloodraven already. that totally caught me off guard. where is bran going to be next season? it's a total bummer that coldhands was nixed & they continue to add worthless, stalling filler scenes here & ther.e the showrunners don't really have their priorities straight.
it's so weird how the show has caught up to some characters' stories... next season will be very strange...
that being said, I loved seeing the children of the forest, but kind of sighed when leaf (assuming that's her) plainly stated "the first men called us the children" but I get that show watchers need reminding. it didn't feel like they built up enough mystery around the children & their apparent exiction. I personally think they are among the coolest most interesting aspects of the show & like many worthy things in ASOIAF have been diluted or pushed aside for silly KL-centric scenes.
they better not skip or take shortcuts with the iron islands/meereen & especially dorne storylines next season. I am curious how showwatchers will adapt as those places & people haven't been seen much & will need to be a major focus.

also UGH, I really wanted to see the mountain suffer & scream & rot away.

[kevinbgwrites]

Wow, fans on this board are really nitpicky.

I loved this season, love this show, and can't wait for next year. As I posted before I gave this episode a 10. What other TV show gets the scrutiny this one does? If you picked each episode of each TV show you watch apart as so many do with this show nothing would hold up. I absolutlely loved the ending with the fantastic music and Arya off to her Braavos adventure.

This is excellent television, and that is just what it is. Television. Taking a very complex set of books (all of which I have read three times) and making it into Television. D&D and HBO have done a tremendous job.

Can't wait for season 5.

I agree some are being excessively harsh, but I don't see how my complaints, other than the ones I acknowledged as nitpicks, are nitpicking and not pretty serious problems with the show.

[Caerl Targaryen]

Or having it be 163 children, and not just 50 men.

Um, what? It's 163 children that were crucified by the slavers in the book as well. Unless you're referring to a different 163 children... Edited June 18, 2014 by Caerl Targaryen

[Metopheles]

Um, what? It's 163 children that were crucified by the slavers in the book as well. Unless you're referring to a different 163 children...

If you read my post, you would know that I pointed out that I liked that they kept that detail and did not change it to just 50 grown men.

[Castellan_Of_Harrenhal]

A good season finale, although slightly disappointing due to the hype going into it (This was the ONLY episode submitted in the writing category for this year's Emmy nominations).

I thought the scenes North of the wall were well done, although the Jon/Mance confrontation and Stannis intervention really should have ended episode 9. The chaos of the wildling raids versus the calculated assault by Stannis and co. would have made for a nicer contrast had they been shown in the same episode. The scenes following were equally great-- many hints at future storylines (Melisandre's fiery gaze at Jon; and what exactly is she planning on doing with Shireen?), and a much deserved final scene between Jon and Ygritte that provided a much better sense of closure than "The Watcher's on the Wall" did.

As with the majority of KL scenes this season, I thought the ones at the beginning of this episode were incredibly satisfying. The Qyburn scene was a huge tease, but I'm interested to see how graphically they'll portray his Frankenstein-esque experiment next season. And having Cersei admit her incestuous acts with Jaime to Tywin--which does not happen in the books--was a great addition, and one that I thought was almost more effective in bringing down the Lannister patriarch than the crossbow used by Tyrion later in the episode. At first I thought the Lannister sibling sex scene was misplaced in this episode, but I think that when Jaime's decision to save Tyrion at the episode's end are considered, the two scenes together do a great job of showing that, despite still desiring her sexually, Jaime has grown leaps and bounds from the man who threw Bran out a window to protect his sister and their love.

I found the Daenerys scenes to be much more bearable than most this season, and actually thought they were rather tragic upon a second viewing. The decisions to allow voluntary servitude and to imprison her own dragons, along with the increasing turmoil in cities she had previously liberated, brings into question her title as "Breaker of Chains." Overall though, I was really underwhelmed by Dany's storyline this season, and hope we see her doing a lot more next season, other than sitting on her throne and occasionally standing up. I expect we'll see much more of the city of Meereen and further explore its culture (although I'm a bit disappointed by D&D's interpretation of Slaver's Bay, the cities lack the far-east, flamboyant feel created by Martin); and can I get a Strong Belwas up in here or what?

The episode's best scene, by far, was the encounter between the Brienne/Pod and Arya/The Hound. It perfectly packed several themes of the series and novels--moral ambiguity, misguided loyalty, and visceral brutality--into a thought-provoking and heart-wrenching 5 minutes of television. Loved everything about it--the dialogue between Brienne and Arya, the hand-to-hand-to-rock-to-ear-ripping combat, and the Hound's pleas of mercy to a stone-faced Arya. I think I loved it even more because it was so unexpected, and yet it made perfect sense to have these characters cross paths. The writers did a great job with reconstructing Brienne's story from the books, allowing her to interact with more of the series' major characters (e.g. Cersei, Margaery, and of course Hot Pie); but her meeting with Arya and the Hound takes the cake.

Despite all of the action, I think Bran's scenes resonated the least with me. I was glad to finally see the Green-seeing gang have some action, but the skeletons were poorly animated and I think will only serve to confuse audiences (are they wights, or something totally different?). I don't think Martin would approve. I wasn't too shocked by Jojen's death--I'm actually surprised more minor characters haven't been killed off to make room for future major character additions (cough Strong Belwas cough cough). And while I approve of the child of the forest, I was completely underwhelmed by the Three-eyed raven; I understand that a weirwood root growing through an eye socket might be a bit much to ask for, but Martin's eerie descriptions deserved a much better interpretation.

I don't have much to say about the long-awaited Tyrion scene with Shae and Tywin, probably because it just wasn't one of my favorite scenes in the books either. Although I will say I was disappointed that show-Shae met the same fate as book-Shae, despite the two characters being radically different from one another. Or maybe deep down they were more alike than most believe, and show-Shae was merely better at feigning love for Tyrion than book-Shae? Or maybe her abandonment by Tyrion ultimately led her to the same fate as her book counterpart? I'm interested to hear what others have to say about this.

One consolation from D&D's interpretation: we'll never have to hear Peter Dinklage utter the phrase "where do whores go?"

As with season 3, the final scene was lackluster; but no cliffhanger is better than a cliffhanger that didn't involve Lady Stoneheart. My hope is that they're able to bring back Fairley for a more extended role in season 5. But so much time has passed since the Red Wedding (both within the show and in real time), and without a single mention of Lady Stoneheart, or at least a new leader of the BwB in the Riverlands, I'm starting to wonder if she'll be joining Strong Belwas in the Excluded Characters Club.

Overall there were some great scenes (Brienne/Pod/Arya/Hound definitely one of the top ten best ever) , but definitely not the episode it was built up to be, nor the best episode of the season. 8/10

[~DarkHorse~]

I gave it a 7. It is the first episode where I really feel reading the books ruined it for me. Even so I acknowledge it as technically the best finale, perhaps with the exception of 1's and is undeniably WAY better than last season's finale.

The Stannis and Mance scenes were pretty well done in a short amount of time. The only complaint I have is the lack of the chant in some form(complain #1 stemming from reading the books).

I like the Cersei scenes, primarily the first two. I've always viewed Tywin as a tragic character, despite him being an awful person, and thought Tywin learning about his children's incest drives this theme home.

Mountain not suffering is a weird decision since all they needed to do is show him being drugged heavily after screaming for a minute. This is a complaint unlike most of mine, in that its worse for those who haven't read the books since we know what he was going through. Like the chant this is a minor exclusion. Really like Qyburn, his actor makes him far more distinct than in the books.

Bran's stuff was off for me. The fight in the books was more of a mad struggle towards the tree while far too many undead to ever hope to fight off swarmed them. I don't mind Jojen's death- at all actually- except for how it was done. It was shot weirdly, and the way he was stabbed was very unimpactful and looked lazy as hell. Him being blown up also didn't make ANY sense. If the fear is that later on he will be reanimated then why not just blow up one of the already animated skeletons that are coming at you instead, or just get in the tree since you know they can't follow. They should have stuck with the massive number of undead coming from all sides, and had Jojen be claimed that way instead, being dragged into the swarm. Heck, if they are deadset on blowing him up at least then this is a better reason, with him being an unintended casualty of firebomb meant for the undead. These are both book reading complaint #2 and general complaints about the scenes problems.

Bloodraven I didn't hate, however in the scene preceding him the line "the power that moves them is powerless here" is just terrible and totally amateur stuff, Likewise BR not having one eye but referencing one eye is equally amateur. As for the much anticipated "but you will fly" line, which is arguably one of Bran's most memorable book moments- it fell way short of what I was expecting instead of being a goosebump inducing scene. Book complaint #3, and particularly one that wouldn't have bugged me had I not read the books.

Dany's scenes have been equivalently awful as Jon's in season 2 this season so it was refreshing to see pretty decent scenes from her that didn't overstay their welcome. I am also proud of D and D for finally keeping her far away from the ending scene for once.

Brienne, hound and Arya I'm split on. I don't care that it didn't happen in the books, but it just seems too contrived that we get yet another meeting of main characters on what looks to be open terrain no less and that the hound and Brienne end up fighting rather than discussing things. If Brienne at least had some reason to suspect Arya was being held hostage I could see it... but as is. ugh. The good news is that the start and circumstances was(almost) the only bad part. The fight itself was very good and extremely intense, and certainly a suitable "death" for the hound. The follow up scene with Arya was absolutely excellent with the exception of the hound suddenly being in a good place with Brienne despite fighting to the death. I think the justification they used was that it was better to gamble on going with her than being guaranteed to die traveling alone, but this was expressed terribly(and perhaps I'm misremembering them justifying it at all).

Tyrion's scenes were a mixture of being watered down by book expectations and poor decision making. The release was very hasty and almost came across as saying "lol you actually thought Tyrion had a chance of dying?" to those who didn't know what was coming, as if there was never any danger and Oberyn's death and all the build up was therefore pointless. And of course expecting a dramatic goodbye and getting a hug and kiss instead was very off-putting. But more importantly than its effect on Jamie/Tyrion's relationship(which I don't mind) is the effect it had on the following scene- seeing as his decision to confront Tywin should only come from momentary insanity/extreme anger because of the fact it could easily have been marching to his death. He seemed like he was, and should have just been happy to have been set free. Instead the average viewer's reaction would be "Wait does he think Jamie betrayed him?" "Where is he going?" "Huh, how'd he know there was a hidden path to the hand's tower?"

It was inconsistent with TV Shae to go for the knife to kill Tyrion. Why did they even bother changing her if this was the direction they were going? And because of the lack of reasonable motive for going after Tywin, the confrontation with him fell flat.

As for the concluding scene, it was fine but.... No Stoneheart was a massive disappointment and the fourth thing that reading the book caused. With all the in-show hints pointing to her coming(see bran's season 2 vision, all the cat references, inclusion of Beric, having Brienne with Pod and alive etc. etc.) it was the perfect time to reveal her. If they start next season with her, I will probably be able to forgive this, but it seems as if she is cut based off certain interviews, so I am even more bitter about this.

All in all a good episode, watered down significantly for me by having read the books. If they start with SH next season it'll gain half a point for me in retrospect, but otherwise I honestly hope they just totally abandon the source material so I can just divorce the two in my mind, even though they've already done most the big moments.

Excellent Review! You have basically highlighted all the issues I had with the episode.

[HazelPhoenixFire]

I'm pretty damn disappointed with this season.

This should have been the season to end all seasons. This episode does not deserve a nomination for anything.

Everything was rushed. Stannis scene sucked, most of the stuff was made up, so what is there to even talk about?

Dumb dumb dumb.

Arya & the Hound are just allowed to leave the Vale? Bullshit. Such stupid writing.

Tyrion was given the chance to all-out murder Shae, but the writers decide she's the one to instigate violence. Fuck.

As for the child of the forest... There are some who call me... Tim?

Most everything fell flat this episode. Definitely was not the best. Blackwater was wayyyyyyy better than this junk.

Agree, I'm not really sure why they keep adding near misses to the show (Arya and Sansa, Jon and Bran at Craster's), the first one I understood and it was painful because neither Bran nor John could get to one another, the others have been silly. It kind of reminds me of a soap opera, and it really detracts from the story. I also agree that the pacing was way off this season, most of the scene additions were oddly chosen and the dialogue just isn't as solid as it has been. I'm not sure what happened but I really hope they can correct it for next season. :(

[templar7]

Perfect in every way- hands down the best ever!

Agreed! Perfect 10

[templar7]

8/10

I thought it was good for the most part. I got chills from the shots of Melisandre and Jon staring through the funeral pyre at one another.

On the negative side, I don't really get why they left out Jaime's explanation of what really happened with Tysha, the fireball-shooting children of the forest were a bit much, and personally I didn't really buy Brienne defeating The Hound.

IMO. Brienne made Jame Lannister look a fool, the hound should be a walk in the park. I loved that scene. I hated the way he just whimpered out in the book, at least he went down swinging.

[lori_in_ca]

Of course book readers are bound to be disappointed, GRRM gave the characters so much depth and invented such rich diaglogue and complex story lines, there was no way to capture it all. But even judged only on its own merits, the series suffered from many bad decisions by D & D.

Why were some of the most important scenes rushed (Tyrion and Jaime in the black cells, Arya on the dock pleading for passage on the Titan's daughter, Shae artfully pretending not be surprised by Tyrion's appearance at Tywin's bed chamber, Tyrion's buiding rage prior to Tywin's death) while scenes that lent little to the story (smashing beetles anyone?) dragged on and on? Why another scene of Jaime and Cercei having sex on an uncomfortable surface? I mean we get it already, D & D while aiming for shock value is ending up boring us by turning this into cliche. Yet the books include a VERY passionate love affair between Dany and Daario, that relationship could have really quickened a few pulses but was alluded to and then forgotten. Would anyone object to seeing those two go at it?

The pacing in these last few episodes (and the whole season actually) was really off. GRRM gave the characters such rich dialogue, which gave them complexity, and this made us care about them. Why turn Arya into a numb robot when the book offered us a feisty little loudmouth? If anything should have been changed why not cut out the Pod character, he adds nothing at all to the story at this point, the man who saved Tyrion is now just a hapless loser who can't do anything right. Give us less Pod, and more of the characters we care about.

I know I am griping, but I think that if we book fans didn't love ASOFAI so much the disappointment wouldn't be so great, but there has been so much amazing potential, book readers know how great this series could have been just by sticking a little closer to the original work.

LOVE the opening credits, LOVE the CGI, LOVE the acting, LOVE the photography, and LOVE those dragons!!! Still hoping for a great season 5.

[kevinbgwrites]

Excellent Review! You have basically highlighted all the issues I had with the episode.

Thanks, I think its a pretty exhaustive list of issues both big and small.