[Poll] How would you rate episode 603?

[The hairy bear]

A 2 for me. Perhaps it's not among the worse episodes, but for me it has been one of the most disappointing ones. The aftermath of Jon's return, the Tower of Joy flashback, the return of Rickon and Osha, Jon abandoning the Watch... it had many big things with potential for great scenes, and it was a huge letdown.

And I completely agree with the poster saying that Tyrion's scene when he was bored and had nothing to do seems a commentary on the purposelessness of his story at this point. I'm starting to wonder if Dinklage has negotiated in his contract the obligation of including him in every episode. The scene was a complete waste of time that could have been used in giving some more depth to the important scenes that were handwaved with a couple of weak lines.

3 hours ago, Aerys Blackfyre said:

I really do not get the votes below the 6... I mean, c'mon guys! even if they messed up something, there were a lot of awesome things in the episode 

I fail to see what, unless you are referring to top notch acting, music and production values. And a somehow cool fight choreography. It's not what I look for in a show.

 

 

[JonSnow4President]

Wow wow wow wow.  

You know, f*** leaving adaptation out of my damn score this episode.  To clarify, 10/10 is legendary on my scale (only Blackwater would receive that rating), while 5/10 is average (I'm always mystified at people giving something that was "quite a dull episode" a 7.

The Wall - 6/10

So, to be nice, I'll say the good first.  This was good Kit. Like, holy shit.  We also finally get Jon Snow showing his lighter side in the brief moment with Ned, and f***ing smiling. As a large Jon fan, this has been one of my longstanding gripes with the show. That's all I got.  I cannot begin to say how massively annoyed I am with them removing the warging from everyone but Bran.  And even though I wouldn't call myself religious by any stretch, the "nothing is nothing" makes me want to punch their smug faces.  Their writing makes me think of the types of assholes that act superior because they don't believe in a flying spaghetti monster, and D&D have reinforced this comparison at every turn remotely involving religion or the afterlife.  Given the show "tastefully" cutting away for Stannis Daughter-burners death, I'm a little put off that they don't do the same for the 13ish year old driven to his actions by his parents being killed and threatened to be eaten in front of him.  I only hate Olly with a passion because of the hamfisted use of him in every goddamn wall scene, and Jon only caring about Olly.  Last words?  Not Ghost, who he has a spiritual connection with.  Not Arya, his special sister.  Not traitor, not something related to the watch or honor.  Not "the cold." Not blessed silence.  Olly.  His first thoughts after coming back?  Olly.  The one that seems to haunt him?  Olly.  THANK GOD Olly is gone.  Jon at least looks each man into the eyes before he forces the mechanism of hanging himself, so I'm not upset with the actual method of execution.  But how is it just okay that he kept his office solely to execute these men?  How is that trying to do the right thing?  And his brothers are just going to be totally okay while he walks off?  I get why he has a great argument for why he should (although this would then void his power to execute Thorn & Co).  But not addressed at all, for the sake of the dramatic walk out.

Dorne - 1/10.  

That's right, I'm rating Dorne.  A bastard paramour and kinslaying bastards are now the rulers of Dorne.  Those Dornish are so f***ing crazy.

Mereen - 1/10

Wow, no cock jokes.  We have progress.  I'm giving Varys a pass for not really having time to set up an adequate spy network, because he's Varys, I have no idea how much time has actually passed (the 2 days of the wall or the months Cersei refers to? But Varys not hurting kids, the people he mutilates so they can't spill his secrets?  Okay, that's a joke! (And holy shit, Qyburn doesn't seem like a PSA for not taking candy from strangers at all).  All of this just so we know Astapor, Yunkai, and Volantis are bankrolling the harpies?  I don't think Tyrion's "conversation" scene needs anything at all.  "I get drunk and know things" is an early favorite for most meta line of the season.

Kings Landing - 2/10

Yup, Qyburn is totally missing his white van.  Yeah, no one cares that Qyburn has literally made a zombie into a Kingsguard.  Yup, completely remove the pursuit of lost honor concept you established in season 3, let alone the books, for Jaime.  And we have all the cool kids smirking at the social outcasts and moving to a different lunch table because they can't kick them out of their table with the teacher standing there.  AND THE TYRELLS ARE JUST NOW STARTING TO ACT ABOUT THEIR ENTIRE NEXT GENERATION BEING TAKEN CAPTIVE.  Just now.  After months of timeline in Kings Landing (this for sure is certain).  And it wouldn't be complete without a FART JOKE. They are making fat jokes in "the best show on TV." The only redeeming value here I think is Jonathan Pryce completely controlling the situation through sheer dialogue, even if most of the dialogue was a nonsensical shout out to Mother's day. Sure is nice to see Tommen care so much about his Queen too.  

Somewhere in the middle of the Narrow Sea - 4/10

Sam Oathbreaker doesn't care (really) about the watch.  He only cares about his wife and his son (after all, he's the father now).  At least he's not planning on retaking his brithright at Horn Hill, and is still at least planning on earning his chain and heading back to Wall. I know we really needed to catch up with these guys, but it feels like this could have been done so much better with them arriving in Oldtown and then realizing Gilly couldn't stay for some reason (say, low income neighborhoods are scary or something). Overall just a resounding meh.

The House of Black and White - 3/10

I was a little forgiving of Arya in episodes 1 and 2 story because I thought they wanted to show progression without going the montage route.  Well, I was wrong.  (Que "You're gonna need a montage" from South Park).  We at least see her training with poisons (although I don't think my shownly friend realized that was what was going on because it's one unexplained, no dialogue scene.  The list is as inconsistent as ever.  The waif seems strangely focused on the Hound (I wonder why? *sarcasm*).  She gets hit for saying Jon Snow is her brother, a man she has always thought of as her brother rather than half brother (in other words, not lying when she says this).  And then all of a sudden, she succeeds in being no one with the poison healing her? Or am I just supposed to take that as Jaqen lying to her?

Vaes Dothrak - 1/10

Vaes Dothrak has experienced severe desertification since season 1.  Where there used to be gardens in the market area, there is now desert.  Where the Dhos Khaleen were respected spiritual leaders who were obeyed within Vaes Dothrak, they now must wait on all the men to get together to decide Dany's fate.  Where the Dothraki would literally kill each other if they met in the field, they now get together in conference to decide who gets to rape and pillage what.  At least Dany is learning so much humility from her time as a prisoner.  Look at how many fewer (see Stannis, I can use it properly) titles she is spouting now! 

Winterfell - 0/10 This isn't even worth a damn one. Umbers have been loyal to the Starks this whole time, but rather than raise the other loyal Northern houses to install Rickon as King/Lord of the North, who they could influence since they have effectively raised him, they just keep him safe for a few years, suppress any rumors of a direwolf there, and now join with the Bolton's because Wildlings are bad, mmkay. Despite the fact that they've been living with a wildling for years.  Despite the fact that the Wildlings are settled in the Gift, and we have no knowledge of them encroaching on Bolton lands.  Undisciplined fighters, women, and children, mind you, who at best number at a couple hundred based on the shot where Thorne lets them in.  Umber must have a garrison of like 20 people. Sansa rape joke from Ramsey, pedophile joke from SwearJon Umber, who is totally fine with Kinslaying. The complete shitting on Ned: No "the North Remembers", No "the North will never forget," no actual actions showing "know King but the King in the North, whose name is Stark," no signs of "Ned's little girl."  And for a show with the biggest budget on TV, how the hell does that pathetic excuse of a prop ever end up on set? 

The past - 0/10

Holy hell.  Holy holy hell.  I've been dreading this.  I thought based on spoilers that surely these events can't be true. The dual wielding is silly, but that doesn't ruin this scene for me.  The smug Ned doesn't fit, but I can understand that being hindsight influencing Ned's memory as shown in the dream.  To me, aside from the characters involved, the ToJ must have one basic exchange of dialogue to be the ToJ scene.  It doesn't have to be the same series as the books, or even contain the same words, or the same events.  But the scene must establish that 1) the Kingsguard are not protecting the Targaryen family by being at this tower, and 2) an utter commitment to their Kingsguard vows, complete with the affirmation that they hold themselves to be upholding these vows. Where is my sister doesn't bother me.  I wish you luck in the wars to come doesn't bother me. Ned's smug attitude instead of the sad one doesn't even bother me, since they're showing this as reality (I think divorcing this from Ned in season 1 is a huge mistake). But they completely and utterly fail to capture the essence of that scene. Without that, the scene has no purpose besides an action sequence involving one of the biggest badassess in the story.

[tormund's beard]

33 minutes ago, JonSnow4President said:

wall of text

they used all the prop money on areo's awesome axe of awesomness that was never used.

[tormund's beard]

also did we even saw dawn in this episode ??? does dawn exists on the tv verse? if we saw dawn i can't remember and a i should remember is a fucking white sword.

also no need for windmilling if you want ser arthur seem like the superlative badass that he is you just need to make him kill 6 men with sword and shield of just a sword.

[Channel4s-JonSnow]

Its a 6/10 for me.

Not a good episode on the whole, not close to last weeks quality at all. Something about it felt quite off. I understand that there are times in the show where there is the need to slow down and take a breather and establish some nice character moments, and this was one of those times. Unfortunately those scenes which should have been great were not particularly well written, and often more than awkward to watch.

Tyrion's scene especially was .. not right. It was just too lighthearted and bouncy, played for the comedy element but wasn't funny. I dont like that Tyrion who is just making funny comments without much of a bite in them. Doesn't fit. 

Sam's scene should have been a nice moment too, but it wasn't. It was pretty flat.

Also the dialogue was very expositional this week, more so than usual, I have to admit that. I'm sure there is a better way of introducing characters then simply shouting out their names on screen.. BRAN! And a lot of swearing! I know its full of dirty Northerners but you can do better. 



.. Other than that I liked a lot of things.

- Jon and CB was great. Seeing those hints that he's not the man he used to be, that he looks quite haunted, but not comically so, really effective. Especially the way he hanged Thorne and co. Really liked that he experienced nothing when he was dead, although it puts the nail in the coffin of him being a warg. 

- TOJ scene was actually pretty great, apart from its introduction. I for one care not a single shit for how many swords someone carries, and so the fight was really enjoyable. There was something eerie and unreal about the Tower too. 

- Good to have Varys be a threatening bastard again. Don't like nice Varys.

- I actually enjoyed Ramsey this week, thought that was a surprisingly good scene. 



 

[HellasLEAF]

7.5 for me.

Solid episode with a lot to like.

For me, Jon Snow and Bran are the two most fascinating characters and we got a healthy heap of excellent scenes with them.

The fight scene at the TOJ was also riveting.  

[Northernmonkey]

8 for me. Best episode of the season so far because it didn't have any weak bits. Even Arya's scenes were quite well done for once. Dany and Sam's scenes were a bit boring but they needed to be done for plot reasons and they kept it brief.

The Wall - Absolutely brilliant. Loved the hanging scene and Jon leaving was quite an emotional end.

Tower of Joy - Pretty good. Very close to how I imagined it. Some people might think the two swords were a bit silly but I don't really care about that.

Meereen - Tyrion and Varys as brilliant as ever. 

Kings Landing - I love UnGregor and great to see Qyburn and Olenna again, but maybe we've had enough "character A goes to see the high sparrow" scenes. 

Winterfell - Great scene. Quite an entrance for the new Lord Umber.

[Darkstream]

DP

Edited May 9, 2016 by Darkstream

[Darkstream]

1 hour ago, johndance said:

Please. Do us all a favor and end watching the show like you claim. This trolling drivel you're posting here makes these threads unbearable. Doesn't matter to me as you're going onto the ignore users list for me so I'm not subjected to this anymore. For the sake of everyone else though, please end your watch then and go away. 

Here you go again, calling anyone who disagrees with your absurd opinion a troll . If ever I've seen a blacker kettle... 

Oh, and I'm sure everyone is so heartbroken that you keep threatening to add us to your ignore list. How will we ever go on.  Stop making pointless threats for the effect, and please, just add me to your ignore list already. 

Edited May 9, 2016 by Darkstream

[HellasLEAF]

completely forgot the small council scene.  I really loved it and how they didn't just bow to them.  F U Cerci lol.

 

Changing my vote to 8/10.  

[MrsStocksey]

I think I watched a different episode to some people on here...I gave it a 9.

i thoroughly enjoyed everything at CB, I was glad Jon seemed weak after his resurrection. I loved the little moment with Tormund, a call back to their meeting at Castle Black in the book. The little moment of humour with Edd and Davos giving his words of wisdom. Now go kill Ramsey please! I'm wondering if a Pink Letter type thing might be used to tell Jon they have Rickon.

Tower of Joy was really fun, excellent sword work which was really entertaining to watch, I couldn't care less how many swords he 'should' have, I thought it looked cool!  I just wished we'd got to see the rest of the scene with Lyanna but I can wait.

loved the Small Council getting up and walking away from Cersei and Jamie, made me chuckle. More Queen of Thorns is always welcome.

Arya getting to be bad arse was good to see, bit of a cheesey training montage but a quick way to pack in the information we need to move her character forward. 

Sam and Gilly were sweet, I've always hoped that theirs is the actual love story that will survive the long winter.

Dany's scene was a bit of a filler for her but I liked that she has no power at the moment, it will make her come back all the sweeter.

All in all I was entertained, as was my unsullied husband and we look forward to next week.

 

[StepStark]

I'm going to honor this episode with a 10 if someone explains to me just this one logical fallacy:

Why didn't the Lannisters give Tommen to the Boltons already? It seems to be the tradition in that world, to give your best asset to the Boltons. Last year Littlefinger gave them Sansa, now Umbers are giving them Rickon (and Osha, for some mysterious reason). What are the Lannisters waiting for? Where are their manners?

In the meantime, I gave the episode a solid 3. I expected even worse episode, so I'm generous. Varys' scene saved it. It was decent, which is rare enough for this show.

[dannyk65]

2/10.  That was one big pile of shit.

[RhaenysBee]

It was a little boring from time to time, but the good scenes made up for it. I would put it somewhere between 6 and 7, but I'm generous and extremely grateful for every little step we take to progress in the story. That's something I haven't experienced in 5 years, so 7/10. 

Wall: Jon failed to sell me his return. There was no  , no  , no , no nothing. I kinda liked his reunion with Edd and Tormund though. 

Sea: Sam and Gilly were mildly funny, but rather boring. Of course this was a necessary appearance to introduce Hornhill and Oldtown. That baby should be 3 years old at least though. 

Meereen: Tyrion trying to have a conversation was also mildly funny, but rather boring. Varys and this random woman was completely wtf. Who the F is she? How did they find her? What's with the harpies then? How will they get back at Astapor and Yunkaii? May I suggest using the dragons? That scene was so random. 

KL: the little birds are really cute. I was slightly worried that the sweets may have been poisoned, but they seemed to be fine and Cersei seems to be in need of them. Nice to see Qyburn around. 

There is still a small council functioning in King's Landing? I wouldn't have thought. Where was Kevan all this time? Good to see Mace, so what's with the crown debt? Good to see Olenna too. I assume this storyline hasn't yet caught up with the end of adwd yet and the Tyrell-Lannister alliance is yet to be broken for good. I also assume they introduced the little birds in order to prepare Kevan's end, which was nice. Everybody shits their pants from FrankenGregor, I can't wait to see him smashing the high sparrow's head like a melon. If we are at the high sparrow, his scene with Tommen was quite unnecessary. We don't need anybody to narrate Cersei's character (or Tywin's), nor do we need further proof that Tommen has is a complete idiot without any balls. 

What I did like about KL was Jaime who totally slayed whatever he did this episode and how the small council scene tied in with a previous small council scene when Tyrion and Cersei pulled chairs to sit at the table with Tywin. 

What else was there...? 

Vaes Dothrak: it wasn't too action or tension packed, but the dialogue was on point. Daenerys did everything Daenerys does (list her titles and threaten with revenge) as usual, and it didn't work as usual. That's kinda what Daenerys has been doing for the past 4books/5seasons. But, sooner or later the time is bound to come when she finally realizes that diplomacy and words are no use in westeros/Essos/anywhere and embrace her Targaryen side and burn the shit out of everybody. What the high priestess said to her was absolutely beautiful and on point. 

Winterfell: I like this Umber person. He has an attitude. The scene was a tad bit too long, but the dialogue had good parts. Rickon was the gift, how predictable. Ramsay actually knows that Rickon exists though? Wait, anybody actually knows Rickon exists? Well isn't that unfortunate? If this isn't a trick or a plot, it's very very very poorly done (where and how did they come by Osha and Rickon? How did they kill a grown direwolf? Why are they giving them to Ramsay? What was their problem with Roose?). But I'm still inclined to think it's a trick, because Rickon didn't seem too agitated over Shaggy Dog's head being tossed around or maybe it's just Art Parkinson being a horrible actor. That wouldn't be a surprise either. 

Wall2: oh yes, Jon passed the sentence and swung the sword like a boss. Nicely done. Edd has the watch, that happened too. But where the fuck is he going now??????? 

And now the quality part: 

Bravos was flawless. Great editing, good acting, great use of the scene. A beautifully embedded subtle reminder that Rickon exists,  that there was a Hound left to die and Arya even got her eye back so nobody could complain that the scene was a filler. I really loved  that scene. 

ToJ, zoooooomg, that was great. Arthur Dayne was flawless. The best actor and the best character portrayal for a two minute scene. Young Ned actor was not very good, he was like a little bitch brat. But oh my god, Arthur Dayne's death was mindblowing. And we even heard Lyanna scream. I loved that Arthur Dayne was double wielding, it made him the ultimate swordsman. 

[Nymeria-of-Royne]

8 hours ago, Aerys Blackfyre said:

I really do not get the votes below the 6... I mean, c'mon guys! even if they messed up something, there were a lot of awesome things in the episode 

yeah, no.  David & Dan are terrible writers and they're working off of everything the production has done except their own 9lack of) talent.  Everything done by the tons of creative people working on this show is what sustains it.  The myriad of Talent from Production Design to costumes to DP to lighting to Actors.  The writing is clearly a hack job of the books and it's SO incredibly Awkward it's not even laughable anymore.

[Gaping Aenys]

3 hours ago, JonSnow4President said:

. . .

Mereen - 1/10

Wow, no cock jokes.  We have progress.  

The obligatory cock joke was moved to The Wall.  But at least it's in character for Tormund to talk about his own member, if not the members of others.

[Dragon in the North]

3 hours ago, JonSnow4President said:

Somewhere in the middle of the Narrow Sea - 4/10

Sam Oathbreaker doesn't care (really) about the watch.  He only cares about his wife and his son (after all, he's the father now).  At least he's not planning on retaking his brithright at Horn Hill, and is still at least planning on earning his chain and heading back to Wall. I know we really needed to catch up with these guys, but it feels like this could have been done so much better with them arriving in Oldtown and then realizing Gilly couldn't stay for some reason (say, low income neighborhoods are scary or something). Overall just a resounding meh.

Oathbreaker? His lord commander gave him permission to go to the Citadel to become a maester, thus strengthening the Watch. He's no more of an oathbreaker than Yoren.

[ummester]

1 hour ago, StepStark said:

Why didn't the Lannisters give Tommen to the Boltons already? It seems to be the tradition in that world, to give your best asset to the Boltons. Last year Littlefinger gave them Sansa, now Umbers are giving them Rickon (and Osha, for some mysterious reason). What are the Lannisters waiting for? Where are their manners?

I think you are going to have to give the show 10/10 - because I can explain it. The Lannisters are snowed into the south, otherwise they would have given Ramsay Tommen by now.

[Gaping Aenys]

If anyone can attempt to explain to me how the content of what the High Sparrow told Tommen was supposed to mollify Tommen in any way, I would appreciate it.  I've watched that scene twice and I'm still scratching my head.  It seems that the High Sparrow seeks to establish that Cersei loves Tommen, but I don't see how this makes the High Sparrow's case for Cersei's treatment at all.

[ummester]

1 minute ago, Gaping Aenys said:

If anyone can attempt to explain to me how the content of what the High Sparrow told Tommen was supposed to mollify Tommen in any way, I would appreciate it.  I've watched that scene twice and I'm still scratching my head.  It seems that the High Sparrow seeks to establish that Cersei loves Tommen, but I don't see how this makes the High Sparrow's case for Cersei's treatment at all.

Abridged the HS tells Tommen that everything human about Cersie is impure and corrupt and that her only good point (loving her children) comes from the Gods. Because the HS aims to get Cersie closer to the Gods, he will make all aspects of her better.

Tommen has no mind of his own and is being led astray by everyone, his wife, his mother, the HS. He will end up dying wondering WTF he did wrong