How would you rate episode 503?

[Rrrrrrrreal High Sparrow]

8/10

I was honestly afraid for a minute that Arya was going to throw Needle in the water. Then I cried like a baby when she hid it. tHoBaW was gorgeous and spooky. Love the shot of all the different god statues. "The North Remembers" killed me as well. I really really want to see some good come out of this Sansa/Bolton/LF stuff. I'm anticipating some greatness from Reek.

I am actually glad that Edd did no block fetching. I don't think it would have had the same effect at all, based on the show so far, and I like that the version of that scene from the books can stay "as is" in my mind. The scene was still played out wonderfully. Both Jon and Janos were great. Plus dat Stannis nod.

I felt so weird when Marg and Tommen appeared on screen all post coitus. He is still a beet-outlawing little sweetheart in my mind. But they did a good job, and I have accepted grown up Tommen. The Cersei/Marg scene was good and bad. I get what they're doing, but it rubbed me the wrong way.

Brienne and Pod have been so boring. At least they were a little better this episode.

[DRS]

First off I have taken the time to read almost every post before. While I do not agree with most, All have been well thought out and enjoyable.

I will have to go with Six of Ten. I am no longer comparing the show to the book.

The Wall was great,

No Queen of bad mistakes was pleasant.

Sansa and Littlefinger story in Winterfell will make of break the show in my opinion. I can only guess that they incorporate Manderlys story along with some of the other missing plot lines to create the direction. For all of my initial dissatisfaction, this could be a very entertaining story line, once they get beyond the contrived beginning.

The Imp was limp. Cant wait for all of the players to interact.

The House of Black and White. Good watch for the most part..but even if I had never picked up a book, I would expect that the garb of those who reside within would not be made of camo..

All in all, far better that the first two episodes, still waiting for the big, in your face, world reaction episode..usually two or three and 9, so lets see...

[sj4iy]

The Cersei "whitewash" has to do, I think, with the fact that they make the High Sparrow seem much more benign and controllable, so it won't seem as much her fault when it turns around to bite her. They have consistently made efforts to mitigate Cersei's bad decisions on the show, up to and including giving the worst of that behavior to other actors. I think the writers value "relatability" a lot higher than GRRM does.

The Margaery scene wasn't a whitewash at all, although her affected demeanor wasn't really fitting the book Cersei, but then that's a refrain we've been repeating for five years now. Going in to see how Margaery acts, and letting her think she's "won" the war now that she has Tommen wrapped around her finger, is perfectly fitting Cersei's MO in the novels as well.

I utterly disagree. Cersei will clearly be the one to blame when things go wrong later on, because she's letting her contempt for Margaery take over any common sense she may have once had. No one is going to say "Oh, poor Cersei- the High Sparrow seemed so nice when she approached him, so it's not her fault." There is nothing 'whitewashed' about Cersei- the show has simply changed her motivations somewhat, but she's still desperate to retain power and making bad decisions. No one is going to give her a free pass on that when it comes to bite her in the ass later on simply because the show hasn't made her into a raving lunatic like the books did.

Edited April 27, 2015 by sj4iy

[HexMachina]

6/10. On par with last week, no as good as E1. Will edit to add more thoughts later

[Ser Osis]

7/10

I liked seeing Slynt get what he deserved, but I thought the SFX were poorly done. I get that Lord Janos is a softie, but Longclaw went through his neck like it was melted butter and the exposed neck wasn't convincing to me.

I also didn't like the fact that Varys and Tyrion rode all the way to Volantis. Yes, I understand the need to conserve screen time, but it's pretty well known that there is no road between Pentos and Volantis. I felt they could have spared a scene where Tyrion finally gets out of his "prison", only to be quickly ushered into another, waterborne one.

They could have done it without Lemore, Rolly or the Cons easily enough.

And WTF with the ravens? Do those things have Warp drive in Westeros? LF's letter from Cersei gets there before he does. even though it had to stop at the Vale first?

Still, despite the flaws, I liked this Ep better than 1 and 2.

[Ser Osis]

BTW, I see some complaints that Marg and Tommen's consummation screws up Cersei's "Virginity" plot, but I as I remember it, the charge against Margaery was Adultery, which could certainly still be leveled.

Cersei could still promise Osney gold, or a lordship or something to confess to having "relations" with Marg. (Do they have Kettleblacks in the series? :unsure: )

Not sure if they're going to proceed down this road, or shift it entirely onto the Knight of Flowers, but by no means is it no longer viable.

[Just Maid]

I gave it a 9. The Wall is again my favourite story arc, and Kit is killing it as Lord Commander Snow.

[Jack Bauer 24]

Edit.

Edited April 28, 2015 by Jack Bauer 24

[Eve]

The first two episodes I rated 5. This one a six. Jon Snow....Kit Harrington, great job!

I am so puzzled by any 10 ratings though...are people not expecting much in coming episodes?

[Pashernate Reader]

I was prepared to give this episode a 7. Nothing is really impressing me about this season so far, but at least this episode was a tad more focused than the last two. But I just couldn't stand that scene in Volantis, and no, it's not just because it's so different (read polar opposite) of what happened in the book. Everything's suddenly so different from the book at this point that it's rarely worth commenting on.

Why can't Tyrion "rise to the occasion?" Is it because subconsciously he wants nothing to do with whores after Shae's betrayal? Is it because subconsciously he wants to be faithful to the memory of the woman he so recently and personally strangled to death? Is it because he drank too much wine? Maybe I just couldn't make sense of it because I was so blisteringly outraged by the casual misogyny of all these women so seemingly pleased about their life of impressed sexual slavery that they actually sit around moping when nobody wants to rape them. Heck, they'll literally try to drag you off even if you're obviously broke if you spare them a compliment, consequences be damned.

I gave this episode a 6 and I was holding my nose doing it.

Edited April 28, 2015 by Pashernate Reader

[JagLover]

So much was right with this episode from the Wall to Arya to Kings landing. But I only voted an 8 as I find the Sansa plotline just too jarring (well acted, but jarring)

[Aslerys]

7

It was good but I wasn't really felling it... :dunno:

[The Onion Sleight]

There were things that annoyed me immensely and made me mad (mostly Cersei/Marg and LF/Sansa), but when I look at my list of things I loved:

- The Wall continues to be awesome, and remains the strongest and best location/storyline this season so far

- Just EVERTHING with any person at the Wall, Stannis/Jon (I can't describe how much I love them together and their dynamics, Stephen/Kit have a great chemistry with each other), Jon/Davos, everything that happened with Jon/Alliser/Slynt/aso. pre-beheading...

- ... the beheading itself! I really don't care that we got "Olly, bring me my sword" instead of "Edd, fetch me a block", it was done very, very well, IMO, a really memorable scene.

I loved to hear the "Pay the Iron Price" music (the show's unofficial beheadings-theme), Jon with Longclaw looked indeed like Ned with Ice, the subtle nod the approval, nice mirroring with other infamous beheadings - Awesome!

(A pity we didn't get a moment of "this isn't right", where he changes his mind from "Hang him!" to "I'll behead him!", but besides this, really good)

- FINALLY THE BOLTONS + REEK AGAIN!

- FINALLY WINTERFELL AGAIN!

- Roose owning everybody around him, his talk with Ramsay, putting LF on this right place, generally The Roose being The Boss.

- Hearing Michael McElhatton's voice

- Alfie Allen nailing completely his scenes, without even having dialogue, but just his expressions, body language, aso. He will always be my favourite cast on the show!

- Show!Brienne finally sounded again for once like Book!Brienne when she told her backstory with Renly.

- Sansa's Death Stare to Roose

- Arya hiding Needle was really emotional and beautifully acted by Maisie, much kudos! The music in this scene was stunning, too.

- The almost only person in KL who doesn't disappoint me (sorry, I know it's the Postive Nigpicking thread), who I enjoy the most and who's just as strangely-awesome and creepy as he should be: Qyburn.

- Qyburn qyburning around, doing qybueno things; scene with FrankenMountain (oh, so wonderfully creepy...)

- Jonathan Pryce already makes an excellent High Sparrow and is really nailing the role!

- Although the High Septon got the most ridiculous brothel scenes the show's ever done, everybody's reaction to (Mace's, Pycelle's, aso.) was funny.

- Volantis looked great! Red priestesses! Tattoos!

- The ending with Jorah kipnapping Tyrion.

- Ramin Djawadi's work

Then I have to say I really enjoyed the episode, give it -again- an 8!

[thekindlywaif]

Im biased, but 9.5/10.

Heres my bias(es):

Background...read books...twice...2nd go round in following order:

CoK, SoS, Feast/Dance, GoT

Character favorites:

Povs: Arya

Bran/Tyrion

Jon/Dany/Jamie

Non-Povs

Varys/Littlefinger/BrownBen

Anyway...tonights episode included perhaps my favorite chapter!!!

Arya's first visions of HoB&W-home of the PanDeity...Arya's story and insights into the world across the sea are fascinating...

what does it mean to be no-one? the HighSparrow has one approach, a la Jesus himself...and the KindlyWaif has quite another, a la JackKevorkian=DrDeath...

We at the Home of the Many-Faced god offer one thing and one thing only...salvation in exchange for everything...

Give up everything in exchange for a drink when you require it...or give up everything now to become no-one and give the gift to those deserving of it, rather than those in need of it (since it will always be available at the fountain in sideways8faced Gods house!)

Tyrions storylines portrayal in the annual weekly time delayed movies has angered me greatly in '15

Where is Gryff???

Note:

I subscribe to a 'why would he lie' philosophy on mrBabyEgg that Varys swapped before the Mountain could hulk smash his head against the wall!

Cevasse games between YoungGriff and Tyrion are so illuminating as to the kind of manipulatory/butterfly effect Tyrion has on the World of RedTemps&BlueTemps.

Where is the lost Knight of GriffinsRoost? Where is the leadin to the GoldenCompanys10K?

Onto some more positive things on Dinklages scenes...did you see the former slave priestess see his shadow in the fire and peer into his soul while he drank on the stoop talking to Varys before hitting up the brothel?

The God of Fire is magnificent, but perhaps just as deadly as the sideways8faces serving ClearDeathJuice. Seeing Tyrion (and Varys too, randomly) get exposed to this religion, so differently than Arya (with Thoros from Myr, himself and his resurrection(s) of theLightningLord) and the998th LCoftheNW through Mel=theRedWitch.

Onto Jon assuming the mantle of eldestStark by denying his starkhood! Jon dished out Weirwood Justice for breaking a vow...he used a ValyrianSteel dragonfire forged blade similar to Ice to do this...hed watched Neddard do this with Bran and Robb to a former brother whi he never served with for desertion...Robb did this using Ice to a KarStark, family for mistreating an enemy PoW...Jon rejected something hed desired since before he could remember, only to step up and do what he then learned to be better for the greater good...the good of all RealmS! In this graphic scene mr998 murdered a man who betrayed his fosterFatherNed (i also believe R+L->J@TowerofJoy). This fearful man who chose death over his vow, who hid while Alliser&Jon defended the NightColoredCastle...Used his position and CloakofGold and sold out to LittleFinger, betraying Ned...and thus securing tenuous position for his heirs and earning the scorn of one soontobe and now former HandoftheKing, theImp himself! What did this scorn net him? Exile to this frozen world where his fear finally spelled his end!

Note how Jon really has ZeroKnowledge of the betrayal the man he executed committed against his father...the only link between these events separated by vast amounts of space and time...Tyrion!

[kefln]

I gave it a 7.

It was another builder episode which is to be expected for #3 of the season.

Everything in KL seemed rushed. Which is understandable, there is a lot to get through given the story that they are trying to tell.

The wedding was a big step down from Joffreys. It was basically “here you go, they are married”. Really enjoyed the scenes with Margaery. Her manipulation of both Tommen and Cersei are clear signs of her confidence in the waning power of House Lannister and the Queen mother in general.

While it did make Cersei more sympathetic, it also increased the tension that she’s under. Her paranoia levels are set to increase and it will be interesting to watch her trying to hold onto the position of “Hand”, while having so little control elsewhere.

Arya’s scenes were interesting, yet they felt a little flat to me. While Jaqen is great, I just feel that his on screen presence interferes with her general sense of being lost in a strange place and not understanding whats going on. Its good that they are taking it slow, but I hope it doesn’t start to drag.

Tyrion and Varys together are brilliant. Dinklage nails his lines in every imaginable way. While Hill manages to get everything said with a single look. Volantis itself was very good, but again rushed. Day one, they happened upon someone talking about Dany then they happened upon Ser Jorah.

The Wall was intriguing. Great scenes between Jon, Stannis and Davos. Like the way the tension built as Jon was giving out the assignments. Interesting that Stannis mentioned that Jon was as unbending as Ned and that it got him killed. Followed closely with the beheading, which was sufficiently shocking to watch, and a nod to the first season and Ned executes a nights watchman.

[dbunting]

I gave it a 7, but could have gone to an 8 pretty easily.

Sansa, at least she chose to do this. I just hope she doesn't get raped or tortured. I don't see how she could mentally recover from that, especially if Theon is included like he is in the books.

Tyrion, mentioned the stone men, so is this forshadowing or just a shout out? Got kidnapped and never killed the woman in the whore house, so he is still likable.

Jon, man.... I was so ready for him to say it and instead the line goes to Ollie, get me my sword. I would have given the episode a higher rating had the block been called for.

Kinda liked the walk of shame the High Septon had to take as a precurser for things to come.

[GarthGreenhand]

A solid 8 for me. Like many, I'm treating the show as its own entity separate from the books. I feel that each episode this season has gotten better for one reason: PACING! In Episodes 501 & 502, each scene was way too fast. I realize there was a lot to cover - but what suffers are the emotional moments that we were used to seeing in Season 1 & 2.

I felt for Arya...I felt for Brienne...and I felt for Sansa. Taking time to savor the emotional moments are helping me (re)connect with the characters.

[Trillian]

An 8 from me.

As a premise, I have to say that I am treating books and TV shows like two completely separate works, not indulging in thorough comparisons and simply judging each episode by how much I enjoyed performances/dialogues/storylines (to be honest, I didn't even mind D&D dropping a couple of characters and storylines - fAegon and Quentyn - that I thought were a bit dull in the books). Anyway, I found this episode the best of the season so far.

I appreciated Arya's storyline, Maisie did a great job on that, and the Needle moment did it for me. Jaqen/nonJaqen is pulling off Kindly Man decently enough, and I am quite happy to have Wlaschina back on the show.

I liked Janos' execution, plus all the Wall's scenes, I am normally not a great fan of Harington, but I have to say that the Jon-Stannis-Davos team is NAILING it (and that nod is all I ever wanted).

I was pretty neutral towards the wedding arc, and the marriage being consummated doesn't bother me much. Good first impression of the High Sparrow, I think the character has been cast quite well, and I like that he's not strongly dislikable from the outset, and that he isn't portrayed like a fanatic stereotype like somebody else was saying somewhere in this forum.

Like how Volantis was represented, and again, didn't mind much the variations from the book in the brothel scene (although I wouldn't mind a tad less of Tyrion whitewashing). Pretty happy with Varys being there as the two do make an entertaining pair.

Brienne's little speech was good as it gives a bit of depth to her character, depth that at times has been forgotten in the last season or so. Her offering to teaching Pod how to be a knight including sword training reminded me vaguely of Book!Jaime training with Ilyn Payne in the Riverlands.

About Sansa's arc, I'm witholding judgement for now, as there's a lot of potential of going both ways. The North Remembers lady gave me the chills for a second, and I loved Sansa's glare in meeting Roose before shifting to her courteous self. If I hadn't read the books first I reckon I would be quite happy with the current storyline, although it's hard at time not to worry. That said, I am not sure I would have wanted the show to follow Book!Sansa storyline chapter by chapter because it wouldn't have made great television.

[Dr. Qyburn]

I gave it an 8. If they had put in, "Edd, fetch me a block" instead of "Olly, fetch my sword" (seriously, wtf was that?), I would have given it a 9 maybe a 10.

Likes:

The wall scenes were good. (This show is slowly turning me into a Stanstan.)

Marg & Cersei were great. Really loved seeing more Qyburn and the High Sparrow was fucking amaaazing!

Dislikes:

Another brothel scene! Why!!!! I hope the sparrows burn it to the ground. But *sigh* this GOT, so one can only hope.

[Talking Hodor]

So, as self-respecting Stark fan, I simply can't overlook "Fetch me a block"... And apparently, Ramsay was on the loose all over North and LF knows nothing... Heavens...

5/10

"Fetch me a block" was more than made up for by Janos Slynt getting in touch with his inner bitch shortly before parting company with his head.