[Poll] How would you rate episode 605?

[Hol Horse]

Finally an episode that isn't filled with cringey and facepalm-worthy moments. This one was actually entertaining. It wasn't perfect, of course; the Kingsmoot was lame - awful Euron casting/writing, Summer's death was meaningless and no doubt only happened in order to lower the show's CGI cost, and while the last sequence of events was cool, it also felt rushed. I'm cool with not getting all the answers, actually learning new stuff and being surprised for once is pretty neat. However, if Bloodraven knew about the NK's plan and what he was capable of, why not warn Bran not to go all Greenseer on his own. You'd think he'd warn Bran about the NK's touch, considering it's basically the deciding factor of whether or not your cave gets sacked. If he had at least warned him, and Bran still disregarded him, then it'd make a bit more sense. As it stands it wasn't bad, but everything happened rather conveniently in the NK's favor.

Also diggin' their style of time-travel. I was confused as shit at first, but after reading some of the other threads explaining it, the one-timeline theory (or is it fact at this point?) sheds a good amount of light on it. A great ending scene; I knew there had to be something special about "Hodor", but I can't say I ever expected something like this. The way they did the scene was pretty damn solid. I'm glad they gave Hodor such an epic death, but I'm still not convinced that Bran/Meera's escape will be realistic/believable and without deus ex machina. Better be a damn good reason why the WW and the undead don't catch them.

Overall, it's probably my favorite episode since "Hardhome." Really hope the rest of the season continues on like this, and not like the previous episodes (or most of Season 5).

The episode avoids a 'certified wank' seal, and instead gets a surprising 8/10.

 

[rocksniffer]

i gave it a 9...losing only one point for the fucked up kingsmoot and two eyed euron...so long crow's EYE...

but the hodor story and the shock of summer biting the bullet made up for it...and also the confirmation of a theory i have long supported... the children made the original others to fight men ...

[draft0]

Loved the play--one of the best scenes in the whole series IMO--and Bran's escape. Really a strong episode across the board.

I hate everything related to Littlefinger. They have turned the man into a complete buffoon. Nothing but Joffrey with a mustache at this point.

[GeorgeIAF]

9/10 . Loved it, emotional rollercoaster.

But pissed about Summer dying, the Kingsmoot could have been a bit better.

[ground_control]

If I gave every other episode I gave a '1' to a '10', a '1' still wouldn't be low enough to accurately distance this episode from them.  But if there was such a number, it would be pronounced 'Hodor'.

Edited May 23, 2016 by ground_control

[CrypticWeirwood]

2 hours ago, Daniel Tarly said:

Only people who have never read the books or are casual watchers would like this episode. Or people who are such fanboys they are blind.

 

The Bran Stark Plot now rivals the Dornish plot for stupidity.

There's a big difference.

Dorne the showrunners created out of thin air.

Bran's story they got from Martin. See this week's Inside the Episode.

So you can't complain about the people making the show doing what Martin said to do this time.

Whether you complain about Martin doing it is something else altogether.

[CrypticWeirwood]

30 minutes ago, Cz-99 said:

 I'm glad they gave Hodor such an epic death, but I'm still not convinced that Bran/Meera's escape will be realistic/believable and without deus ex machina. Better be a damn good reason why the WW and the undead don't catch them.

Listen to the epic swelling music during Hodor's Last Stand: it was the Stark theme.

As for how Bran and Meera finally escape, there's a shot in one of the trailers of them receiving unexpected help.

[Darkstream]

2 hours ago, tormund's beard said:

 

FUCKING LITTLE FINGER AND HIS TELEPORTER (ugh i can't make sense of this guy knowing how large the 7 kingdoms are it breaks my suspession of disbelief all immersion i've been building just dissapears with that kind of thing.) he didn't need to be there, just send a letter and be done with it.

 

I was thinking along the same lines as this, but then I remembered that plausibility gets thrown out the Hodor when the d's want to emotionally manipulate their audience. 

[Darkstream]

On 5/23/2016 at 8:58 PM, Daniel Tarly said:

Only people who have never read the books or are casual watchers would like this episode. Or people who are such fanboys they are blind.

 

The Bran Stark Plot now rivals the Dornish plot for stupidity.

Agreed.

And the new Red Priestess reminds me of one of the Sand Fakes.

Edited May 27, 2016 by Darkstream
add bold for clarity

[Ser Blake]

Outside of the strange/boring casting and portrayal of Euron Greyjoy and the continued character assassinations of Varys and Jaime, I am really loving how this season is proceeding.  All of the Stark children's storylines are being handled superbly thus far in Season 6, and it is wonderful to have them back as the heart and soul of the show.  

In my opinion Hodor's death will go down as one of the most emotional of the entire show.  I was spoiled by the leaks earlier today, and yet my eyes still welled up a bit when watching those final moments.  I'm a sucker for sad powerful music and that definetly did it.  

Here's to hoping that Bryan Cogman can keep the ball rolling in these next two episodes, and maybe, if we are lucky, transform Larry back into Jaime. God I miss Jaime.

 

Edited May 23, 2016 by Ser Blake

[Jiriki]

10 out of 10.

The play, and Arya's reaction to the cheap imitation of her life story, was very well done. You could feel her pain when "Ned" came out on stage.

The Tree scenes and Castle Black were excellent. I love Sansa and Jon's scenes together.

The White Walkers scared the crap out of me. The revelations about the Children and Hodor were mysteries for which I had waited patiently for more than a decade. And Hodor... I was teary-eyed at the end.

[Darkstream]

2 hours ago, lancerman said:

I read the books. Almost all my friends read the books. Multiple times. Everyone loved this episode.

It's only the people who have insane unrealistic expectations that hate this episode. This so far has easily been one of the best episodes of television this year. That's not hyperbole either.

well the poster did mention a third alternative, not that there's any thing wrong with that.

Agreed, I think hyperbole would be an understatement.

Edited May 23, 2016 by Darkstream

[Xcorpyo001]

Gave it a 9/10. Would have been an 10 if not for the Kingsmooth(a little underwhelming, especially the part about Euron using his cock to get Dany), and the Sansa scenes. It’s season 6 and LF is still playing her like she is the 11 girl from season 1. Well, after she started plotting against her family and start seeing Jon as a bastard again, I guess it would be more accurate to say book 1 version of Sansa.

 

[Howdyphillip]

2 hours ago, Daniel Tarly said:

Only people who have never read the books or are casual watchers would like this episode. Or people who are such fanboys they are blind.

 

The Bran Stark Plot now rivals the Dornish plot for stupidity.

Just an FYI... 

I know a lot of decades long readers like myself who absolutely loved this episode. As a matter of fact, that seems to be the general consensus. A bunch of us discussed Emmies and Hugos. 

Feel free to hold your own opinion though, but I'd like to be left out of it. 

[Darkstream]

2 hours ago, darksellsword said:

This episode was fantastic , I criticize this show a lot it has had some major flaws, this episode had some crappy moments, Littlefinger teleporting again, a bunch of seemingly intelligent people sitting around a table thinking Ramsey would wait around long enough for Brienne to ride all the way to the Riverlands, Leaf is apparently thousands of years old hmm I dunno how I feel about that.. Every scene was entertaining and progressed the plot, the acting was superb. The kingsmoot could've been done better but the acting and intensity was spot on , Sansa and Brienne making littlefinger squirm was a really good scene. The scene with Jorah and Dany was one of their best in the entire series very heart breaking.I loved the scene were Jaqen and Arya are walking through the hall of faces and he was explaining where the first faceless man came from, I feel that scene and Sansa confronting littlefinger were the strongest in terms of dialogue.The mummers play was perfect , the wart covered cock was a bit gratuitous but who cares in the greater scheme of things.The great revelation that the children of the forest created the nights king that scene was well done the CGI and cinematography were on point. Bran is now the key to the wights being able to breakthrough barriers put up by the children of the forest that is interesting and a huge plot development, I laughed when leaf died holding the  pine cone hand grenade it is such a cliched action movie moment,  last but not least poor Hodor and Summer , a moments silence please....I gave this episode a 10 , it was very enjoyable, everyone that voted 10 HOLD THE DOOR!! don't let those 1/10 voters get through

   Clever, even though I'm stuck on the other side of the Hodor.

[Bran the Shipper]

8/10

I liked this episode much better than the rest this season, but it still had some flaws. 

Sansa's conversation with Littlefinger was odd and too long.  Littlefinger's ability to teleport is ridiculous.  I liked Sansa sewing Jon a cloak and herself a new dress, though now I kind of see her like Mrs. Weasley from Harry Potter ready to make everyone matching sweaters.

The play's scene just went on and on, and it was more cringe worthy than funny, but that was probably what they were going for.

Dany and Jorah's scene was sweet but it's always a little silly whenever someone commands someone not to die.

The red priestess from Volantis is scary, I would not have wanted to be Varys in that room.

Bran's scenes have become the saving grace of this show for me.  Though I'm worried about how long vision-trapped Bran and Meera can survive on their own.  But sadly Bran's arc also contained the scene which drops this episode at least one point.  They killed Summer.  I was always worried about Summer's longevity but to kill him like that with no fanfare whatsoever.  It is unacceptable.  At least Hodor got the send off he deserved but Summer had a blink and you missed it death.  And saddest part is that it likely only went down that way because of the cgi budget.

[Dragonglass Order]

9/10

Amazing ending, but some of the rest of the episode wasn't quite worthy of a 10. I'll save my 10s for later in the season.

[JagLover]

Tricky one this.

On a purely intellectual level the Kings Moot was botched and the Arya scenes dragged.

However some of the other scenes were so amazing I went for a 10, nothing can be perfect but you can still give  a 10.

Very few films and TV show scenes have made me properly cry and the ending managed it here. I had tears streaming down by face as I watched Hodor trying to hold that door against a legion of the undead.

This is the medium on which this story will be finished and episodes like this one give me hope that it will do it justice.

Hold the door Hodor. 

 

Edited May 23, 2016 by JagLover

[Darkstream]

2 hours ago, mykeuva said:

Considering it sounds like a substantial part of Bran's story is straight from GRRM, sounds like you're going to be really disappointed in the final books.

Considering you believe that, sounds like you haven't read the books yourself. Plot points don't equal a story,

[athmystikal]

8/10

I hated Kingsmoot and the Wall scenes. But the last 20 minutes were good TV. But I must admit I am quite confused about the Hodor paradox. But I am happy that we get an explanation about the origins of White Walkers (Sounds a lot like the Reapers who turned against their creators in Mass Effect (video game)).