[Poll] How would you rate episode 505

[RhaenysBee]

This was one very well crafted episode. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Halfway through I was tempted to rate it 10, but there were a couple things to nitpick on the whole and the end slowed down a little as well, so it's 9 for now and we'll see if they can top it.

First and foremost, I wasn't bored. There was tension, there was humor, there was action - all the things I've been missing from GoT. And as long as there's tension and humor and action, they'll get away with about anything in my book. Also, the build-up for the upcoming episodes was first class. Jon's... near future, Oldtown, the North plotline. I can only praise the structure of the episode.

Content-wise, the Boltons stole the episode. I was literally laughing out loud. I'm still somewhat ashamed to admit that I ADORE show-Ramsay, who has little to do with book-Ramsay to be sure, but Iwan Rheon is so freaking killing it, it's impossible to not love him. Since Bronn and Tyrion broke up, only Ramsay get get me craking up with laughter. And Roose. God, nobody trolls like Roose. All the Bolton scenes were so perfect. And Sophie and Alfie were overly perfect too. I think their characters' reaction to being reunited was well written and they did an awesome job acting it out. What else... Naughty children and dragon dinner scene was great as well. Though the Unsullied spears forcing the noblemen forward reminded me of that stupid scene in Mazerunner when they pushed a kid out into the maze and I think the Mazerunner is a lame movie (and book) so I had mixed feelings about that. But otherwise, the scene worked out and it WAS previously built up. Besides, people got what they wanted, Daenerys is officially having "mad queen" moments now. Yes, the Wall scenes were great too, they were build up for the most part, but I didn't find them boring. Stannis's decision to march felt just a tiny bit rushed, but then, he's been doing nothing at the Wall for far too long so it was high time to get his ass south. The scene with Shireen/Davos/Selyse was five star along with the Shireen/Gilly/Sam goodbye. My attention sort of floated past the Sam/Stannis scene because I was busy social media'ing about how much I love Ramsay ( :blush:). What else what else...? Well Tyrion bores me to death, there's no helping that. Or there is, because Valyria made him worth watching, even thought they talked far too much about it. I was half hoping Drogon would have more action there, but it was a beautiful shot, his flying above the city. The stonemen thing reminded of me of LOTR. Part Frodo in Dagorlad, part that extended scene in Hobbit when Thrain attacks Gandalf in Dol Guldur. And of course Jorah had to get the grey scale, it wouldn't do to infect precious Tyrion :rolleyes: Daenerys's decision to marry Hizdhar was somewhat rushed too. BUT what I liked about that scene was the face Hizdhar made. I hope everybody's satisfied, now that a man is being forced into an arranged marriage by a woman too :rolleyes:

That's all. I loved it.

Edited May 11, 2015 by RhaenysBalerion

[King Tyrion I]

10/10

Awesome as hell.

- Dany and the masters of the city
- Jorah and Tyrion (especially the talk about Valyria)
- Jon and Tormund
- Sam and Stannis
- the Bolton's dinner table (every second)
- Sansa and Theon (pardon, Reek)
- Myranda and Ramsay
- Ramsay and Reek ("I forgive you." That was just so brilliant.)
- Aemon and Jon
- Brienne finally taking action
- Davos and Shireen (I love every single scene with these two.)

Okay:

- Missandei and Grey Worm

[ladyinblack]

Ramsay was very entertaining - am hyped for Bolton's vs Stannis in a way the books never made me.

Also, loved the scene with Dany feeding people to her dragons, even if the CG human body looked shoddy.

But man, it is so different to the books now - they have totally diverged.

LOL they do love to do a slow pan in on the burning bodies shots, don't they & between Mel & the growing dragons they'll get lots of practice♨

[BearQueen87]

What's so essential about the Green Grace that you'd be shocked if she was cut? We're talking about a series which has cut far more significant characters and arcs already. She's a minor character.

She's the Harpy--the mastermind behind the unrest in Meereen.

[BearQueen87]

I thought of you after that reveal. :(

Seriously, the week after we lose Barristan, you give Jorah greyscale? Dany isn't going to have anyone left.

I'm just sitting here going, "not in the books...not in the books...not in the books..." I'll just keep telling myself that for the next 5 episodes....(and potentially the rest of the TV series)

[Fez]

Despite my 9/10 rating, something that does give me pause is that even though I've generally liked all the individuals episodes this season (I think my ratings are 7, 7, 8, 9, 9), something about the season as a whole seems off. I know its usually a very deliberate show in its pacing, but this season feels especially slow. We're already halfway through the season and only Sansa really feels like she's done much yet (and that's mostly a function of being one of the few characters in multiple geographic locations thus far; Jamie has too, but he's barely been in the season so far). Even if the battle for Winterfell and Dany announcing its time to head to Westeros both occur this season, and I think they will, I think the big events immediately prior to those things should have been stretched out more and this early season table-setting been compressed more.

[MoIaF]

She's the Harpy--the mastermind behind the unrest in Meereen.

I think that the woman pretending to be a prostitute will turn out to be the Harpy. She's been involved in two very gruesome attacks against Dany's people.

[Balerion's Whiskers]

I gave it a 9

First of all, I'm not comparing it to the books...I quit doing that some time ago. I'm treating this as sanctioned fan fiction.

Acting was great...loved the Bolton Family Dinner!

The Wall was wonderful

Tyrion finally gets to see a dragon! He's waited all his life and never dreamed it would actually happen.

Combining Valyria and the Sorrows didn't really bother me although, I would have enjoyed seeing the sea boil a bit.

No Kings Landing and no Dorne this week was a bonus.

I understand why there's no Arya this week...she's just about run out of material too.

All in all, it was a good episode...I don't really care what they do in Mereen as long as Dany takes her ride at the end. I'm going to miss Ser Grandfather though.

[ummester]

LOL they do love to do a slow pan in on the burning bodies shots, don't they & between Mel & the growing dragons they'll get lots of practice♨

yea, when they fire suit an actor its ok though, because the flames move right.

The dragon scene started like that - it was after, when the body was on the ground, just before the dragons pulled it in two halves. I just watched it again - the body pretty much disappears. It's weird, it just turns into blood - but after, the dragons are eating 2 halves of solid body. The T-rexes in Jurrasic Park pull bodies apart in a more satisfying manner, and that's a kids show :D

[lakin1013]

8.

Loved when Aemon T said something about the only Targaryen alive and in walks ....Jon Snow. I do not know why the show does not just put a crawl at the bottom of the screen that says something like: Heads Up, Viewers. Hint coming your way!

Although it appears that most posters really like how the Boltons are being portrayed, I think the writers need to be very careful not to let these psychopaths slip into caricature. I too missed the opportunity for the --" don't make me rue raping your mother" line. Sometimes I think the writers must ignore some of the best lines on purpose, maybe something like narrative envy.

Writers must be in love with their GWorm/M showmance. It is boring and pointless.

Poor Jorah.

[dbunting]

Another solid episode, gave it an 8 again.

Liked the focus on the North the last couple shows, you can see it's now set up to not be in the next episode much. Stannis and co. left and Jon heading to Hardhome. Really different taking Mel with him to Winterfell since many assume she is helpful after the caesering of Jon.

Setting it up for Sansa to escape, Theon and Brienne will help.

Poor Jorah set up for grey scale instead of being branded and a slave.

Dany feeding her babies was ok, just wish they had showed more of her reasoning behind marriage proposal.

Missande and Grey worm...fast forward material.

[Weeping Sore]

9/10 - Too much Myranda, but otherwise top-notch.

Dragons were very convincing. Michael McElhatton is such a treasure as Roose Bolton. Stannis/The Wall/Hardhome plot set up nicely. A lot of exposition gotten through in a non-clunky way. The Valyria/Sorrows mash-up looked great, evocative, well-paced. Dany picks her bride.

I've been enjoying this season unfold; I like the surprises (though some have been better than others).

[Cyvasse Khal]

6/10. It was just so-so, bordering on dull for 50mins, saved by a strong ending. Score is kept low more by omissions rather than what was shown.

Pros

- Tyrion/Jorah. Really beautifully shot sequence through Old Valyria. Drogon flying over looked spectacular. Stone Men ambush was exciting. Fairly logical change to give Jorah the greyscale in lieu of JonCon. Interested to see where they go with that.

- Dany. I really kinda love the fact that the day after Barristan kicks the bucket, Dany's decision making just goes all over the place. They've always kept up this notion that without good council, Dany really is pretty clueless.

- The Wall. As it has been all season, amongst the strongest scenes of the episode.

Cons

- 2 weeks in a row without arguably the show's most popular character in Arya. That seems like poor judgement in storytelling considering the source material should have presented a lot of Arya this season.

- No Dorne either. 5 episodes in and essentially 2 scenes of the Martell's or Sand's. Way to hype up this storyline.

- Tormund. We've all really lost out on the larger than life, hilarious, jolly giant type character from the books. That's no knock on the actor, but we need bookTormund so much at The Wall.

- Winterfell. Everything just kind of annoyed me through most of these scenes. Why would Sansa blindly follow a strangers orders to go down to the end of a dark kennel alone?

- Grey Worm/Missandei. It's all been said here before.

[aFeastForDragons]

Boring slow episode full of potholes and pointless scenes. 3/10

Again how in the world did George give these clowns the go ahead to make his series. He must be fuming at the latest season but its his fault.

[Dolorous Gabe]

I actually liked this episode overall, ignoring some of the nonsensical plot lines. Bryan Cogman really should be writing every episode as his dialogue and crafting of individual scenes is far superior to the other writers and it's not his fault the showrunnners are choosing plot changes without enough consideration of cause & effect, motivation and character arcs.

[vividox]

Going back and forth on a lot of things in this one. Ended up going with a 7/10.

Dany feeding her dragons with nobles seemed pretty dark, which I was ambivalent on, but going from that to "let's re-open the fighting pits and BTW I'm going to marry you" seemed like way too big of a short cut / flip-flop for my liking. At the same time, it makes sense that she's flip-flopping right after her best council dies. I'm so back and forth on this one.

Wall stuff was pretty good. Winterfell stuff was pretty good, but I don't see how the Bolton's have any trust in Sansa whatsoever with her putting off the FU vibes. Really liked the Jorah and Tyrion stuff, and liked that they worked the stone men stuff back into. Ser Jorah Connington. Lolz.

Ah, oh yeah, and 50 Shades of Grey Worm. Blech.

Edited May 11, 2015 by vividox

[A Redeemed Hound]

Gave it a 6. One of the better episodes of the season, which is not saying much. Nothing so far has been higher than a 6 and most have been a 4 or lower for me. But I seem to have higher standards than some. As a show, it's fine. I am okay with the massive changes from the books only because I am just happy I can watch something related to the books I love until the next book arrives, which will hopefully be this coming winter.

Ser Jorah has many hats to wear. He is basically taking the place of at least 3 people from the books.

The stone men were just was okay. The dragon scene was great but the reason it happened was simply stupid. The Wall was fine. Not sure what is going to happen now that Mel and Davos are going with Stannis. No search for Rickon? No Mel to advise Snow? Will Snow send people to Oldtown now? Winterfell was good. No clue where Sansa's story is heading but I'm cool with it for now.

So many balls have been dropped this season. Even worse than Season 2. Hope the second half picks up the pace. Can't believe we are already halfway done with the season. No reason why HBO could not give it 15 episodes. Even 12 would make a huge difference.

Edited May 11, 2015 by A Redeemed Hound

[Roose is Azor Ahai]

A 9.

Pros and cons
+ Roose
+ Michael McElhatton
+ Roose trolling Ramsay
+ The Bolton dinner scene
+ "Kill the boy and let the man be born."
+ Stannis
+ Stone Men attack
+ The music that played during the fight, I knew it would sound similar to He is Lost, which played last season when Bran & co were ambushed by wights
+ Iain Glen's performance
+ Ramsay's talk with Myranda
+ Ramsay & Reek scene
+ Roose
+ Davos
+ Dany feeding her dragons with master meat, about time she does something stupid because of her feelings

Cons
- Barry is dead
- Grey Worm survived
- Grey Worm & Missandei scene
- Brienne. Why can't she realize Sansa won't be anymore safe alone with her in the wilderness than she is in her home
- Brienne & Pod scene in general, except the old man
- Selyse & Shireen going with Stannis, what is this? And Mel too
- Everyone knew that Tyrion would survive so why did they have to have a few seconds screen of black?
- Reek being more of a servant than Reek

[Roose is Azor Ahai]

No reason why HBO could not give it 15 episodes. Even 12 would make a huge difference.

Not enough time. Could everyone stop with this. While D&D have their faults, they simply don't have enough time to do more than 10 episodes per season.

Edited May 11, 2015 by Roose is Azor Ahai

[Ser Creighton]

I'm just sitting here going, "not in the books...not in the books...not in the books..." I'll just keep telling myself that for the next 5 episodes....(and potentially the rest of the TV series)

Just wondering how the slavers not going to notice the Grey Scale on his wrist when they put him in chains. Hope they pull a Victarion with him, though no Red Priest in sight so? I guess we know how the plauge comes to Meereen, and which plague it will be.

Just remember it's not the books. I thought about you too when I saw that.