poll How would you rate episode 601?

[Argonath Diver]

Everything Dornish was dreadful. Other than Tyene being a stalwart addition to the "Completely Unnecessary Breast Reveals of Game of Thrones" calendar, it seems that the entire subplot is a waste of camera time. I'm mostly salty that Areo, one of my favorite minor characters in the books, went out to a little dagger - I am imagining that it had crazy instant-kill poison to justify that scene a little. I'll be very curious to see how GRRM handles Doran's death. I expect it'll have a bit more gravitas than this silly execution.

I liked the bad Valyrian line, despite the scene not making a lick of sense (the Imp wants to blend in? huh?). Also liked Dany trying to stay strong, rolling her eyes at the Dothraki insults, while also showing a bit of fear and confusion. Those little scenes where she still conveys a bit of self-doubt make her scenes of strength that much better. 

I had remembered that line from years ago when van Houten said that Melisandre is more than 100 years old. Forgot it, now it's back in interest again. It'll be interesting to see if they go into any kind of magickal details regarding hers and Bloodraven's age-defying. 

I wonder if Mel will re-awaken Jon next episode, or if they'll drag it out more. Presumably Thoros was pulling Beric back from the abyss just after he keeps dying. But, as stated earlier in the thread, Jon's been a bloodless popsickle for a good day or two.

6/10, and only that high because of my tempered excitement for watching All New Stuff for the first time. Next week I will be cranky unless we get at least two or three really strong scenes.

[Capt. Zemblanity]

Terrible. I have one more week of complimentary HBO. I will not be paying for it. Glad I didn't jump the gun and renew. Eh. 

[RUSSELL BELL]

I thought it was alright, gave it an 8. Solid, didn't like the Dorne bits, but I think they effectively ended Dorne thankfully. Was hoping to see more of the Euron Greyjoy stuff though. 

[RattleSnake]

I gave it a 7 but that's because I chose to ignore everything related to Dorne.

I liked the scenes at the Wall. Davos was great. Seeing Ghost was also a plus.

There were some touching moments with Sansa and Theon. The appearance of Brienne and Pod to save them was not a surprise to me. I was  not bothered that Sansa did not know what to do at first when Brienne offered her sword. Show Sansa has been through a lot lately: going back to WF, getting raped and mentally tortured, running away through a cold environment and so on. I liked how the vow between Brienne and Sansa mirrored that of Catelyn and Brienne. All in all it was a pleasant scene for me, although I have to wonder where Ramsay's dogs vanished.

I have mixed feelings about Ramsay. The whole compassion moment seemed out of place, but the 'feed her to the dogs' fits with his character.

Jamie and Cersei were boring to me, though I liked Cersei's talk about her mother and imagining her corpse decaying.

Arya's fight scenes were decent, but they did not bring much to the story.

Tyrion and Varys wondering without guards through a city where harpies might struck at any moment is a questionable move. They are both great actors and their scene could have been better.

Jorah and Daario were predictable. 

I liked Dany and the Dothraki. Yes, I , like many others, wondered how nobody recognized her. How many khals who married an almost white haired woman do they know? I imagine that words spread around...as you know...she's been in Vaes Dothrak and we know many khalasars frequent that place.

Melisandre's true form reveal was not surprising to me and other book readers. However, it was my favorite scene from the episode and I think it showed how overwhelmed she was by everything that has happened and how old and powerless she feels. Seeing an old naked woman was not terrifying to me, but I've seen many people disgusted by the whole scene. I still think there is a plot whole somewhere in season 4 when Mel is bathing and had no ruby around her neck, yet still appears to be young and beautiful to Selyse and the viewers.

Dorne was bad. Really really bad. So the logic is: avenge Elia and Oberyn by killing their brother and nephew. I am sorry. I don't understand it. It's not about me hating the show, because I actually try to enjoy it and I wake up at 4 am to watch it. As far as I know Ellaria SAND and the SANDsnakes are bastards. How can they rule Dorne if they are not  legitimatized?

There are many plotholes throughout the seasons and as the story progresses they sure do come back to bite D+D's asses. 

 

 

[RhaenysBee]

I was a bit too excited about this episode and so the expectations were quite high. The episode did not quite reach up to them, but no major complaints, it was a solid start, I rated it 7/10. 

Ser Davos is such a good guy. Ghost made me miss my doggy, and it's nice to see that Jon wasn't the only one with brains. Hoping that Edd doesn't take too long to get the wildlings. Thorne is a good character. I don't like him as a person after all the nastiness in the previous seasons, but there is nothing wrong with standing up for what you believe in, taking responsibility and having a plan of your own. What bothered me a little was the complete lack of dialogue for the first couple minutes, it seemed too long for me as someone who was not emotionally shaken by Jon Snow's (not)death. 

Ramsay mourning Myranda was somewhat off, but feeding her to the dogs made up for it. Roose was hilarious as he kept trolling him. 

Theon and Sansa were definitely one of the highlights of the episode, great acting, tension, fight, emotions. What bugged me was Brienne... I eventually remembered that they have met in KL at Joff's wedding, but I kinda missed the Hi, I'm Brienne, Hi, I'm Sansa part. A rewatch would have been in order. It was nice to see Theon holding a sword and putting Sansa first, it was about the first time ever he acted like a man. 

KL was quite nice, it was heartbreaking to see Cersei running to greet Myrcella only to find out she died. The Jaime Cersei exchange was okay. I am not a huge fan of Lena Headey's Cersei. The character she delivers is a sour, brooding, rock hard woman who is always tense and never lets anything out. This is partly boring, partly unrealistic. The ideal Cersei to me would be what Aslaug has been in Vikings Season 4, in terms of both character and acting. Margaery was great, Natalie Dormer is awesome. 

Dorne... Well that escalated quickly. While it was some Game of Thrones worthy shocker, I'm kinda disappointed because Doran's death means his Targaryen supporting master plan is off the table too. And Ellaria seems to have taken over the overly confident bad decision maker role from Cersei. Trystane's death was plain disgusting and a spit on what Oberyn stood for, also the last nail in the coffin of the Dornish story. Four mad murderous bitches you can't tell apart won't be able to carry a storyline. 

How did Varys get to Meereen? Again, a rewatch would have been in order. Tyrion was alright. The preacher person should get a Nobel Peace prize. Burning the fleet was quite unnecessary given that Daenerys isn't even in the city and she hasn't showed a sign of willingness to sail anywhere since season 4 (maybe 3?). But this was one thing I can absolutely see happening in the books too, as it is exactly the kind of shit Grrm would do to delay the story. 

Jorah and Daario seem like a promising duo, and it was quite interesting to see how unconditionally they both trust Daenerys's success. Finding that ring in the middle of the grass could have been much more realistic with only a bit of extra effort. Aragorn found the elven cloak badge in the grass too, but he was looking for it. Jorah wasn't looking for clues, the ring just waved to him from the grass. 

Dothraki. I'm glad to see these guys back, such a throwback feeling in the best sense of the word. One thing though, I'm all for reuse and recycle, but I'm sure $10M per episode covers a new Dothraki hair/beard style. Everybody looks either like Drogo or Rakharo. Now, there is only one Drogo and no random new khal can ever replace him, so stop being a copy cat. But they were hilarious. The blood riders, the wives, Moro, that was good dialogue. What is funny about the scene is that Moro believes her without any further questions that she was Drogo's wife. Now, Moro=/=Jhaqo it would seem, so he doesn't know her, and if he doesn't know her, why would he believe that? We'll see what happens. Emilia was great. 

Arya was a bit repetitive, but it's nice to see both Sophie and Maisie grow into their acting after the awkward teenage years when their acting borderline sucked. 

I loved the Melisandre scene, it was beautiful, meaningful, powerful. Absolutely great ending. 

Overall, I'm quite satisfied with the pacing and the structure of the episode, there were bits and bobs I disliked and of course Dorne was quite a fiasco, but I enjoyed it a lot and can't wait for more. 

Footnote: I really hoped for a closure about Stannis. Off screen death is no death, especially on Game of Thrones where sometimes even on screen death isn't death either. Is he surely 100% finished? 

Evil Footnote: I wonder how many of those 49 people voted 1 just to hate on the show... Not that it's any of my business. 

 

 

[Lautrec]

3 hours ago, Fat Pink Master said:

Oh, shut up, intern #2.

Very nice and well mannered. My point still stands.

[JonSnowed]

13 minutes ago, RhaeBee said:

13 minutes ago, RhaeBee said:

I was a bit too excited about this episode and so the expectations were quite high. The episode did not quite reach up to them, but no major complaints, it was a solid start, I rated it 7/10. 

Ser Davos is such a good guy. Ghost made me miss my doggy, and it's nice to see that Jon wasn't the only one with brains. Hoping that Edd doesn't take too long to get the wildlings. Thorne is a good character. I don't like him as a person after all the nastiness in the previous seasons, but there is nothing wrong with standing up for what you believe in, taking responsibility and having a plan of your own. What bothered me a little was the complete lack of dialogue for the first couple minutes, it seemed too long for me as someone who was not emotionally shaken by Jon Snow's (not)death. 

Ramsay mourning Myranda was somewhat off, but feeding her to the dogs made up for it. Roose was hilarious as he kept trolling him. 

Theon and Sansa were definitely one of the highlights of the episode, great acting, tension, fight, emotions. What bugged me was Brienne... I eventually remembered that they have met in KL at Joff's wedding, but I kinda missed the Hi, I'm Brienne, Hi, I'm Sansa part. A rewatch would have been in order. It was nice to see Theon holding a sword and putting Sansa first, it was about the first time ever he acted like a man. 

KL was quite nice, it was heartbreaking to see Cersei running to greet Myrcella only to find out she died. The Jaime Cersei exchange was okay. I am not a huge fan of Lena Headey's Cersei. The character she delivers is a sour, brooding, rock hard woman who is always tense and never lets anything out. This is partly boring, partly unrealistic. The ideal Cersei to me would be what Aslaug has been in Vikings Season 4, in terms of both character and acting. Margaery was great, Natalie Dormer is awesome. 

Dorne... Well that escalated quickly. While it was some Game of Thrones worthy shocker, I'm kinda disappointed because Doran's death means his Targaryen supporting master plan is off the table too. And Ellaria seems to have taken over the overly confident bad decision maker role from Cersei. Trystane's death was plain disgusting and a spit on what Oberyn stood for, also the last nail in the coffin of the Dornish story. Four mad murderous bitches you can't tell apart won't be able to carry a storyline. 

How did Varys get to Meereen? Again, a rewatch would have been in order. Tyrion was alright. The preacher person should get a Nobel Peace prize. Burning the fleet was quite unnecessary given that Daenerys isn't even in the city and she hasn't showed a sign of willingness to sail anywhere since season 4 (maybe 3?). But this was one thing I can absolutely see happening in the books too, as it is exactly the kind of shit Grrm would do to delay the story. 

Jorah and Daario seem like a promising duo, and it was quite interesting to see how unconditionally they both trust Daenerys's success. Finding that ring in the middle of the grass could have been much more realistic with only a bit of extra effort. Aragorn found the elven cloak badge in the grass too, but he was looking for it. Jorah wasn't looking for clues, the ring just waved to him from the grass. 

Dothraki. I'm glad to see these guys back, such a throwback feeling in the best sense of the word. One thing though, I'm all for reuse and recycle, but I'm sure $10M per episode covers a new Dothraki hair/beard style. Everybody looks either like Drogo or Rakharo. Now, there is only one Drogo and no random new khal can ever replace him, so stop being a copy cat. But they were hilarious. The blood riders, the wives, Moro, that was good dialogue. What is funny about the scene is that Moro believes her without any further questions that she was Drogo's wife. Now, Moro=/=Jhaqo it would seem, so he doesn't know her, and if he doesn't know her, why would he believe that? We'll see what happens. Emilia was great. 

Arya was a bit repetitive, but it's nice to see both Sophie and Maisie grow into their acting after the awkward teenage years when their acting borderline sucked. 

I loved the Melisandre scene, it was beautiful, meaningful, powerful. Absolutely great ending. 

Overall, I'm quite satisfied with the pacing and the structure of the episode, there were bits and bobs I disliked and of course Dorne was quite a fiasco, but I enjoyed it a lot and can't wait for more. 

Footnote: I really hoped for a closure about Stannis. Off screen death is no death, especially on Game of Thrones where sometimes even on screen death isn't death either. Is he surely 100% finished? 

Evil Footnote: I wonder how many of those 49 people voted 1 just to hate on the show... Not that it's any of my business. 

 

 

I was a bit too excited about this episode and so the expectations were quite high. The episode did not quite reach up to them, but no major complaints, it was a solid start, I rated it 7/10. 

Ser Davos is such a good guy. Ghost made me miss my doggy, and it's nice to see that Jon wasn't the only one with brains. Hoping that Edd doesn't take too long to get the wildlings. Thorne is a good character. I don't like him as a person after all the nastiness in the previous seasons, but there is nothing wrong with standing up for what you believe in, taking responsibility and having a plan of your own. What bothered me a little was the complete lack of dialogue for the first couple minutes, it seemed too long for me as someone who was not emotionally shaken by Jon Snow's (not)death. 

Ramsay mourning Myranda was somewhat off, but feeding her to the dogs made up for it. Roose was hilarious as he kept trolling him. 

Theon and Sansa were definitely one of the highlights of the episode, great acting, tension, fight, emotions. What bugged me was Brienne... I eventually remembered that they have met in KL at Joff's wedding, but I kinda missed the Hi, I'm Brienne, Hi, I'm Sansa part. A rewatch would have been in order. It was nice to see Theon holding a sword and putting Sansa first, it was about the first time ever he acted like a man. 

KL was quite nice, it was heartbreaking to see Cersei running to greet Myrcella only to find out she died. The Jaime Cersei exchange was okay. I am not a huge fan of Lena Headey's Cersei. The character she delivers is a sour, brooding, rock hard woman who is always tense and never lets anything out. This is partly boring, partly unrealistic. The ideal Cersei to me would be what Aslaug has been in Vikings Season 4, in terms of both character and acting. Margaery was great, Natalie Dormer is awesome. 

Dorne... Well that escalated quickly. While it was some Game of Thrones worthy shocker, I'm kinda disappointed because Doran's death means his Targaryen supporting master plan is off the table too. And Ellaria seems to have taken over the overly confident bad decision maker role from Cersei. Trystane's death was plain disgusting and a spit on what Oberyn stood for, also the last nail in the coffin of the Dornish story. Four mad murderous bitches you can't tell apart won't be able to carry a storyline. 

How did Varys get to Meereen? Again, a rewatch would have been in order. Tyrion was alright. The preacher person should get a Nobel Peace prize. Burning the fleet was quite unnecessary given that Daenerys isn't even in the city and she hasn't showed a sign of willingness to sail anywhere since season 4 (maybe 3?). But this was one thing I can absolutely see happening in the books too, as it is exactly the kind of shit Grrm would do to delay the story. 

Jorah and Daario seem like a promising duo, and it was quite interesting to see how unconditionally they both trust Daenerys's success. Finding that ring in the middle of the grass could have been much more realistic with only a bit of extra effort. Aragorn found the elven cloak badge in the grass too, but he was looking for it. Jorah wasn't looking for clues, the ring just waved to him from the grass. 

Dothraki. I'm glad to see these guys back, such a throwback feeling in the best sense of the word. One thing though, I'm all for reuse and recycle, but I'm sure $10M per episode covers a new Dothraki hair/beard style. Everybody looks either like Drogo or Rakharo. Now, there is only one Drogo and no random new khal can ever replace him, so stop being a copy cat. But they were hilarious. The blood riders, the wives, Moro, that was good dialogue. What is funny about the scene is that Moro believes her without any further questions that she was Drogo's wife. Now, Moro=/=Jhaqo it would seem, so he doesn't know her, and if he doesn't know her, why would he believe that? We'll see what happens. Emilia was great. 

Arya was a bit repetitive, but it's nice to see both Sophie and Maisie grow into their acting after the awkward teenage years when their acting borderline sucked. 

I loved the Melisandre scene, it was beautiful, meaningful, powerful. Absolutely great ending. 

Overall, I'm quite satisfied with the pacing and the structure of the episode, there were bits and bobs I disliked and of course Dorne was quite a fiasco, but I enjoyed it a lot and can't wait for more. 

Footnote: I really hoped for a closure about Stannis. Off screen death is no death, especially on Game of Thrones where sometimes even on screen death isn't death either. Is he surely 100% finished? 

Evil Footnote: I wonder how many of those 49 people voted 1 just to hate on the show... Not that it's any of my business. 

 

 

Exactly it's clear trolling and likely they are doing it just out of blind hatred because it's spoiling the books in their eyes.  If people are genuinely unable to provide a balanced view why don't they just say nothing and stick to other sub-sections.  This site used to be great, sure there was some criticism but now it's becoming a ghost town where only trolls dwell with a few odd exceptions.

As an aside a lot press and reviews are describing the red women as potentially the best of any opening episode so far, hardly reflective of 20% of viewers thinking it deserves 1 out of 10.

 

[Gustavo Fringed Sleeves]

20 minutes ago, Lautrec said:

Very nice and well mannered. My point still stands.

Oh, I didn't feel like going on a tengent about such a difficult concept to grasp as an average.

And you're such a classy guy, calling others ignorant out of the blue.

You're a sad intern.

Edited April 25, 2016 by Fat Pink Master

[Lautrec]

7 minutes ago, Fat Pink Master said:

Oh, I didn't feel like going on a tengent about such a difficult concept to grasp as an average.

And you're such a classy guy, calling others ignorant out of the blue.

You're a sad troll, intern.

51 people voted 1/10, 14 did 10/10. Those numbers don't even each other out in any way. You didn't go off on a tangent because there isn't one to go off on.

It's called a joke.

Thanks, I give my best. Gotta earn that sweet HBO money somehow. But I would appreciate it if you kept my #2 internship a secret because I get 5% docked off my future pay each time my cover is blown.

[Kelsey094]

Great scenes: The Wall (although I was expecting more action), Winterfell and KL. My heart broke for Cersei.

Good/okay scenes: Braavos, Mereen and Dany. They weren't bad scenes, but not as great as the above. Braavos was kinda short.

Bad scenes: I didn't think Dorne could go any more downhill. I was wrong.

7/10.

[RhaenysBee]

50 minutes ago, JonSnowed said:

Exactly it's clear trolling and likely they are doing it just out of blind hatred because it's spoiling the books in their eyes.  If people are genuinely unable to provide a balanced view why don't they just say nothing and stick to other sub-sections.  This site used to be great, sure there was some criticism but now it's becoming a ghost town where only trolls dwell with a few odd exceptions.

As an aside a lot press and reviews are describing the red women as potentially the best of any opening episode so far, hardly reflective of 20% of viewers thinking it deserves 1 out of 10.

 

At the end of the day everybody gets to do whatever they please, and it might as well be just in my head and those people might as well have genuinely disliked the episode so much on its own account. Criticism is always in order. But recently there have been some massive double standards around which trigger my reverse psychology and I sometimes find myself hating on the books (which is just as bad). Bottomline, there's not much joy in discussion when it all comes down to whatever the show does it sucks, whatever the book does it's genius. 

Yeah I agree it was up there among the best season starts of the series. 

[dooog]

Not a great start to the season. I would give it a 5/10

Dorne was complete garbage, really dreadful stuff. Didn't care for Arya's bit part, she appears to be the show's new designated torturee and her arc feels a little stale, why even bother feature her this episode if it's just a minute of her getting hit with a stick? put it in a different episode where she has an extra scene or 2 instead of having her as an Also Ran.

I didn't have that much of a problem with the Sansa / Brienne scene. They need to move Sansa into place and Brienne needed something to keep her existence relevant. They were also meeting their quota for action & violence I suppose

Tyrion's bit wasn't great and the actor looks thoroughly bored. Jaime and Cersei's part was fine.

However! I did enjoy The Wall this week and for those scenes with Allister and Davos I don't see how anyone can justify rating the episode at 1/10, a 1 means it would ALL have to be terrible.

[Ser Yorick Ampersand]

It was kinda boring. No real tension or emotions going on.

Spoiler

Aero Hotah dying with a 1inch pointed stick to the back? Are you kidding me? Look at the size of that guy! It was a very cheap death and not a bit realistic. Trystane's death had horrible acting... the Sandsnakes never seem to make the episodes better in my opinion.

Jaime and Cersei was rushed.

Mel and Davos are best buddies now?

They really milked that last scene when there was no need to. I didnt need to look at her old va-jay-jay... Jeeezzz...

Never thought Tyrion and Varys could be boring - but they dun it. Gg D&D.

No Sam Tarly. No Bran. No Bloodraven.

It felt like a setup episode and nothing more.

Very uneventfull episode.

I gave it a 5.

[MrsStocksey]

7 for me....solid set up.

Liked the Wall stuff, Sansa and Brienne, Dany and Arya (particularly with the Titan in the background)

Not a huge fan of Jamie and Cersie, I can't see him pulling away from her which disappoints me

Glad Dorne is almost finished, kill the rest of them and be done with it...the show got them all wrong!

[Hol Horse]

Le Good

+ Davos and the Wall

+ Brothaki

+ Mel reveal (muh theory was right)

+ Jorah/FakeDaario

Le Bad

- Everything/anything Dorne-related

- Super Soldier Brienne

- 1 Shot, perfect backstab on a supposed badass

- Bolton soldiers. Leave backs open, choose to go 1v1 instead of swarming their opponents, have shields but don't use them, and take forever to finish off an enemy

Le Meh

+/- Everything else

[Lord Wraith]

A 3 and I am being generous.

[Daemon I Blackfyre]

I voted 5. Most of the points were scored by the ending, Liam Cunningham, Carice Van Houten and the scenes at The Wall. Also by Moro and his Brothraki. Dorne was a DISASTER of biblical proportions and a true insult to anyone involved. I'm so sorry for Alexander Siddig.

[Nymeria-of-Royne]

I gave it a 7/10 because I enjoyed most of it.  *SPOILERS* to follow (if that's necessary)  I feel like anything "revealed" is probably something I knew about anyway, such as Melissandre, that was obvious, I knew that was going to happen as soon as she started, "Mirror mirror on the wall..." and started touching the ruby necklace, duh.  Of COURSE Jon Snow is going to be resurrected.  I knew that when I read it in the books and Mel is there at the Wall in the books, so THAT seems obvious to me.  I was PISSED at first about What they have done with the Dornish Master Plan, but then again, FINE. Let them just do a stupid thing like they did and leave it alone. I love Dorne in the books, it's fine that they should make so they don't have to write about it anymore.  D&D are SO much more in their own minds then they are. Well, actually, in the non book community they're loved.  OK let them be.  IDC  I will say, I wasn't expecting Brienne to save Sansa, but when she did, I realized, OF COURSE she's gonna, and that scene did indeed rock my feels!!

[Dragon in the North]

I gave it an 8, as my only complaint was Dorne. I don't understand why they would kill off the two most interesting characters in that storyline. Hell, I'll even take Trystane over the Sand Snakes and was actually rooting for him to win. I never had a problem with Ellaria taking over for Arianne until now. If they were going to go with the coup plot, I could accept the Dornishmen rebelling against Doran for another Martell, not a bastard who has no legitimate claim to Dorne. That said, all the other storylines were solid and I'm looking forward to the rest of the season.

 

Off topic: Can people chill and allow other posters to vote however they like? It's not like the numbers on this forum are a representation of what the entire fandom thinks, it's just for fun.

[three-eyed monkey]

I gave it a 3. The writing on the show is just utter nonsense. It's more like a nod to GRRM's time on the twilight zone than it is an adaptation of his novels. On a positive note, I'm pretty confident that TWoW will not be spoiled this season as the show bears little resemblance to the books. Going their own way was the best call D&D ever made. Thanks guys.

Oh, I wanna say something about the teleporting sand snakes and how the scene cruelly exposed Trystane as an absolute idiot who would have brought misery to his people if ever he had come to rule... but the words just aren't coming.