[Book Spoilers] EP501 Discussion

[HouseHarrison]

Best advice I can give is either to use your ignore preference button (which can be found through your profile), or learn to recognise certain names of posters who post the same thing after every episode, year after year...and then scroll past them. No need for giving them attention. ;)

I'd also be preferable to just avoid threads about book parallels to the show, if you don't want to hear it.

[roxWolfox]

You're in the book spoiler thread, you fucking asshats. Go to the show thread if you don't wanna see book parallels being drawn up.

Pardon me?

Maybe you should read their posts again in the context that they were writing about. They weren't making comments on being a book reader, just about being a fanatical book purist.

Mind your manners, Ser/Lady.

[Arrow of the Morning]

Ya the scene felt like they cut before it was done and we will be going back to it. It is tough not knowing what the hell is going on with some of these plots that are completely off the rail. Feel like an unsullied.

May be they will show more parts of the flashback

[Shadiou]

Well, I'll be sad not to see further Mance developments, but I agree that we probably won't.

I'm just really confused about where Sansa's story could be headed. Isn't a big stumbling block to any new marriages her current marriage to Tyrion?

[Lord Freddy Blackfyre]

How will I explain how are the books are better then?!

I am the Watcher in the Dark for the terror of D&D

Remember we not talking Shakespeare, Dostoiewski or Garcia Marquez, some books are better that some seasons and some seasons are way better than the books and judging from all the crap that are in the four and fith books this season of GoT will be better than the writed material.

[JonInVa]

Well, not that it matters what I think but I give the episode a 5.

Maggy and Cersie decent, but left a most important prophecy.

Missandie seems more concerned about whether unsullied actually can get it on, then the danger Grey Worm is in.

Could have done without the extended guy on guy Loras/Olyvar but understand it's relevant to his upcoming story. Yeah, we didn't know he was gay, duh. But of course HBO wants to setup the Sparrows as Medieval Tea Partiers {read Christians}. So whatever. I only watch HBO for this show anyway.

Liked Dany's walk into the darkness to her dragons. Sufficiently nerve wracking. Was just waiting for the flame to light up in her face. Drogon is going to be even more wicked.

Tyrion ruled as usual, as did Varys.

Mance and Jon was great although his willingness to die was hard to understand. I mean, if Stannis needed him to bend the knee to get the wildings, then how does he expect to get them when he burnt their leader? To kill him means he really didn't need him, I would think. I kept looking to Mel's necklace to see if her ruby was missing, but nope. So Mance is done.

I like Stannis as a character and love Davos. The Wall was clearly best area for the episode.

LF and Sansa bit of filler. Have to wait for episode 2.

Brienne and Pod. Not much happening but to show her depression at not accomplishing anything she set out to do.

Next week looks like it will get better and hopefully keep doing so as the get past recapping and move the story onward.

[Dez]

Thought it was a decent episode. The slowness was expected and I think there was some good stuff in there, especially in how they framed Mance's demise and Jon's choice to put him out of his misery.

The only thing I really thought was off was the Jaime/Cersei scene. First off, Jaime talking about how all their enemies outside are going to try to divide them, is something even show Jaime shouldn't care much about. The last time they were in the sept together, Jaime didn't seem to care if anyone was to walk in them fucking, much less political considerations regarding the welfare of house Lannister.

Then there's Cersei's lack of any substantial reaction to the knowledge that Jaime sprang Tyrion, something that I think is not a reaction even the milder show version of Cersei would have, considering the last time in they were together in the sept she was telling Jaime to kill Tyrion in his cell.

It looks too much like the writers framing a conflict just so that it fits with the rest of their story boards. Freeing Tyrion put Cersei in enough conflict with Jaime to make him want to or her to send him off to Dorne, but not enough for her to want his head off immediately which would be the more realistic option.

[juanml82]

I was really wondering how they were going to fit most of two fat novels into one season. Apparently it's by cutting out most of the good stuff. Oh well. Still better than The Hobbit.

Do you mean good stuff like Penny, Tyrion's insanely long travelogue, a Deux-ex-pretender, the Mereenese Knot up to and including characters with unpronounceable names, Quentyn Martell, a huge amount of cartoon villain/slavers, etc, etc?

Let D&D cut the fat. No HtH to strecht Sansa's storyline, no Yunkai attacking Mereen as the Sons of the Harpy are enough, no Penny, no more hidden Targaryens, etc.

This season will be better than the books (as long as they include an analogue to the Manderly court scene)

[Grail King]

Was that the first flashback seen we've seen in GoT? So: glamour or no? No "little brother" or just later in another flashback? Grey worm story line is the new Shae hate. Dinklage killed it. Also, Varys spilled his entire plate of beans, in like 13 seconds. Sweet robin, hilarious. Any ideas on where LF and Sansa are heading? Got nothing.

In the carrige, Sansa noted LF told Royce they were going to the fingers, then she noted they went west instead where LF replied he's taking her where Cersei can't get her.

Trailers and Sansa's talk in this episode says Winterfell to me.

[John Doe]

You're in the book spoiler thread, you fucking asshats. Go to the show thread if you don't wanna see book parallels being drawn up.

Agreed.

[Ser Creighton]

Yeah it didn't make much sense. I guess I've just gotten used to that on this show cause I really enjoyed the scene. Mostly because of Ciaran Hinds :D shame the writing for his character was shoddy throughout the show, great actor.

I have zero problem with the his acting ability, it is apperant in his work. But that was a poorly written scene in my opinion. In the books and on the show Mance had an arc. What was it? He was trying to save Wildling lives from the real threat. That goes completly against that in that scene.

And there was a simple solution to killing him off. He does not bend the knee? Wanna bet, he bends his knees, not bending them does nothing for his people. Have him bend the knee, then send him on mission Val, for several episodes. He is off set, whatever problem existed you don;t have to deal with him. Then he returns hey Hardhome needs our help, and send him to Hardhome with Jon. Let him die there trying to do what he started out doing, trying to save Wildlings. Makes sense for his story, not hard to do, and he gets a death and arc that makes sense. I am not even a big Mance fan or anything, but I do like things to make some sense. I am no writer but that seems to make sense for his story arc.

[John Doe]

Also lol at D&D saying they wouldn't introduce Tyha because it would need flashbacks and then starting season 5 with a flashback.

[Allison of Tarth]

Overall, not a bad episode. Curious to see where the Brienne/Pod storyline is going given the lack of LSH. Some cringeworthy/on-the-nose dialogue. I liked Emilia Clarke's performance in the Daario scene.

Maggy the Frog looked way too young and goth, and the cheesy maniacal laughter? Really?

[moonraker]

It is understandable that the show would start taking it's own direction. They could not keep up with the abundance of new characters. My only concern is that certain people who are left out of the show have had their book fate inevitably sealed, even though it is still up in the air as far as the book itself goes. Would be a real shame to ruin certain book characters in that way.

[ToTheWolves]

I thought lancel and too be honest kevan would be cut this season. Have to admit seeing the both of them really boosted this episode for me. I think this season I'll finally be able to watch the show without comparing it to the books so much.

[Allison of Tarth]

Also lol at D&D saying they wouldn't introduce Tyha because it would need flashbacks and then starting season 5 with a flashback.

Yeah it's frustrating that they decided they needed a flashback now, but skipped so much other prophecy/backstory in past seasons.

[Ser Michael P]

Also lol at D&D saying they wouldn't introduce Tyha because it would need flashbacks and then starting season 5 with a flashback.

One of them told ew that it isn't "technically" a flashback, beginning of the season, nothing to flash back from and all.

[John Doe]

They easily could have introduced Tysha back when Tyrion was in his coma after the Battle of the Blackwater.

[hallam]

The Mance scene is deliberately playing with the folk who have book knowledge. GRRM is rather too happy with resurrecting characters. D&D have avoided the undead characters. So is he dead or not?

The prophecy scene is not foreshadowing. It is explaining why Cersei is acting as she does to Margery. I think we will see the rest of the scene when Tyrion reappears in Westeros. But that is likely to take some time. Showing both now would only confuse matters.

[Tyrion Lannister]

They easily could have introduced Tysha back when Tyrion was in his coma after the Battle of the Blackwater.

Didn't they introduce Tysha, or at least her story, back in Season 1 when Tyrion was with Bronn and Shae before the "battle?" It's been a long time since I've seen Season 1, but I definitely seem to remember that happening.