[Poll] How would you rate episode 609?

[Commander Jon Snow]

10/10

One of the best episodes of the series. Both Mereen and the North were amazing today. This was straight up cinematic. It's not TV. It's HBO

[goomba]

this episode was only good for one reason though tbh.. pure entertainment value, which is almost the only thing this show has going for it now.

there isn't even any consistant entertainment value in the show anymore, and this episode was just a "yay moment" and nothing more.

although i generously rated the episode an 8, this episode also highlighted a very important issue that without alot of cgi this episode woulda probly been shit, and the show itself would also be too  

 

[Ser Quork]

I gave it a four.  Those points are for the technical aspects, like cinematography, CGI, music, scenery, editing, etc.

The writing, however, is just beyond redemption.

 

 

 

[xjlxking]

27 minutes ago, JEORDHl said:

This is one of the more laughable posts I've read in a while [wipes tears of mirth] Thanks.

 

And it's followed up by this one, a lesson on statistical terminology in regard to a subjective experience. By your logic, if statistics is your area of expertise, I'd suggest you bow before the opinion of people educated, experienced and/or knowledgeable in crafting complex characters in conflict for compelling story.

The highest rating I've given this show in the last two seasons was an 8, for S5's Hardhome. The rest have ranged from 3 to 6 with the very rare 7. 

  

Honestly, I couldn't care less what you rated the episodes. Regardless, my statement was not meant for you. A 3-6 are a lot closer to an average than a 1. 

whatever your subjective experience is, if you rated every episodes 1-3 and take pride in it, you are an outliner. No, I do not have a major in statistics but I know how it works. Even websites like IMDB use similar method. They will list all votes but the math does exclude specific outliners.

 

[RhaenysBee]

 Camera work, editing, directing: 13 Writing: 6 Acting: 8 

Meereen: 9,5 North: 7,5 

Final score: 9/10 

The director and the editor need an award right now. 

I am convinced I would have written a better script. Yes, that's obnoxious, but I dont care. Everything about the battle and its aftermath was a cliché. I mean if it wasn't for the director, the editor and Iwan Rheon, the North would have been lost. Let's see.

Meereen: 

strong writing with a couple rocky bits here and there. Tyrion and Daenerys's dialogue was okay, the  negotiation with the masters was pretty good, I liked the dialogue and of course, Drogon is my sweetheart. Good to see that Daenerys can finally control the dragons and she uses them. And the Dothraki are back, oh man, finally the show is being as epic as it's supposed to be. Tyrion was amazing too. The problem area was the dragon attack... Do you need all free dragons and multiple rounds of fire spitting to bring down ONE ship? Will the rest of the ships not shoot at your dragons in the meantime? The dragons should be much much MUCH bigger. In my mind, one shot of dragon fire should be enough to take out at least three (if not more) ships at a time. If taking out one ship is teamwork for three dragons, how the heck did they bring down Harrenhal? I'm expecting them to be fucking massive by the time Daenerys lands in Westeros. And I think Emilia is overdoing Daenerys's self confidence and I think the director should tone it down a little. Then the Greyjoys which was surprisingly pleasant  I fucking hate the Greyjoys but this was good stuff. I loved Yara and I loved the bad fathers left the world worse than they found but we will leave it better than we found. Loved how Daenerys shook hands with her. I have a feeling that they will try to fuck her over though, because I don't see Yara turning the ironborn from reaping and pillaging, and I don't see her turning from that either. Meereen was really good. 

The North: 

There was not one moment when I didn't want to bitch slap Sansa. Jon was a disgrace as a leader, a strategist and a person. But at least we can't complain about the lack of change in his character. Kit was not as bad as usually, he was almost good a couple times. Davos was cute. Tormund was amazing and the Kristofer delivered the best acting after Iwan and Peter. Wun Wun had a beautiful death, that was the only good part about the north script. It was just too beautiful. The rest of the plot was pretty damn predictable, but bowdown to the editor who still managed to inject tension into the scenes. After the riders of Rohan, Eomer, Gandalf and the Eaglas arrived poor editor didn't really get a chance to shine anymore because they started talking again. In fact the north was mostly okay when everybody shut up and fought and let the editor shine. The problem was not necessarily even talking, because Ramsay was instanely good and Tormund and Davos's little exchange was great. The problem was mostly Sansa and Jon opening their mouths. Did I hear Rickon and crypts? Seven save us all... 

The Visuals with Captial V:

Just how much more beautiful could ANYTHING have been? Just the first ten seconds were drop dead amazing shots with amazing editing. Dragon CGI, beautiful. Riding through the men, beautiful shots. Ramsay and the rope, beautiful shots. Jon riding/Rickon running/Ramsay shooting, amazing cutting, so much tension. Death and the dying, insanely beautiful shots, so horrible, so powerful, so moving. The Dothraki charge was insane too. And the Knights of the Vale riding into the shield wall. Bowdown to all the stunt riders. That shit was not easy. And so the aesthetic orgasm saved the episode. 

Is there anything else to mention...? Yes. See I have dogs too. My dogs eat too. And they don't bark when they eat. Because it's quite difficult with their months full and occupied. They growl at each other when they share food and you can hear the sound of chewing and ripping, but they never barking. Dogs don't bark while they are eating. 

[JGP]

4 minutes ago, xjlxking said:

Honestly, I couldn't care less what you rated the episodes. Regardless, my statement was not meant for you. A 3-6 are a lot closer to an average than a 1. 

whatever your subjective experience is, if you rated every episodes 1-3 and take pride in it, you are an outliner. No, I do not have a major in statistics but I know how it works. Even websites like IMDB use similar method. They will list all votes but the math does exclude specific outliners.

 

Hahaha...

[BadPussy]

I gave it a 5.

The Good -

Each of these points were earned based on the technical details and little nuances found during the episode.

- The battle of WF was crude but pretty glorious. I really liked how the camera followed Jon through out the whole thing. It felt like I was in the battle the entire time.

- There were alot of neat nuances that I enjoyed in this episode - 

        - Conversation between Jon and Ramsey before the battle. I really like how they zoomed on Lady Mormonts face and really see the disgust she has for Ramsey, someone she was meeting for the first time.

        - Davos scene at the pyre. A little stupid yes, (How did the doll survive the fire?) beautiful nonetheless.

        - Tyrions banter with Theon. Really good to see memories brought up back when the show was expertly crafted.

        - Grey Worm finally gets to do something.

         - Wun Wuns epic stand. I always liked him in both book/show.

         - Dany not acting like a total worthless idiot. Although her dialogue and delivery were atrocious again. 

         - Each Davos scene during the battle. Very funny. 

- The Bad

- The writing. Especially the Mereen scenes. The banter between Yara and Dany was awful. Who the hell writes this girl power crap? And why is it in almost every episode? Can we have some realism please?

- Ramsey actions. Shooting arrows at Rickon and not Jon? Okay. Shooting arrows at Wun Wun and not Jon? Okay. Not realizing there's a Vale army at the Moat? Okay. I get that they can't cram every little plot detail, but come the fuck on. Have some consistency please and stop trying to write scenes because they sound "cool."

- Battle of Mereen was diappointing and felt very disjointed. But, I blame that on the budget.

- Sansa not giving one shit about Rickon....literally. It's pretty funny.

- Pretty much Sansa as a whole has sucked this entire season. Screaming at Jon - "You need to listen to me!" Uhh no bitch, he doesn't. Now go sit in the corner and wait for your next Maybelline commercial.

- The awful dialogue. It's getting worse and worse as the seasons go on. I think D and D are getting quite bored with the show and they are rushing to the end. 

- Deep conversations that never seem to make sense or go anywhere. The one between Jon and Melisandre was one of the worst. Then you have the High Septon prattling about the 7 where he says the same thing over and over with different flavor texts, Ian McShanes ramblings, Tyrions bad jokes and strategic abilities, etc. Listen D and D/writers - You are not better writers than Martin. If anything, you should be trying to shoehorn as much dialogue from the books as possible because you fools can't write. 

Over all, this season started off on a good note and I enjoyed it for the most part, but it just seems that the creators are trying to be done with the show as soon as possible with as little logic as possible. 

Edited June 20, 2016 by BadPussy
Grammar

[Gargarax]

2/10

It was one of the worst episodes of the series. The battle was ... expensive ... and that's all. Nothing made sense in terms of tactics. Luckily, Jon will never be harmed by his own stupidity, because he's got the world's best plot armour. Luckily, the show writers will never be harmed for their complete lack of skill either, because they've got an audience who will rate their spectacle episodes 10/10. 

The only thing worse than the battle at WF was Mereen. All Dany ever does is give the world's worst plot twist speeches and go "Dracarys!". She's been doing that stuff for four seasons now. I wonder why they don't use the shots from earlier seasons again. Would save money, and nobody would mind, I guess.

The scene in the battle where the camera rested on Jon was well done and gets my 1 point. The rest looked like stuff that didn't make it into the final cut of Braveheart and The Return of the King. I was intensly bored and wanted to fast forward. I enjoyed previous episodes because they had value as parody. This was just awful.

[Lyanna<3Rhaegar]

2 hours ago, Darkstream said:

Well the problem with this argument is that Got is an adaption of my favorite story of all time. If I didn't have a strong emotional connection to the source material, I wouldn't still watch it. In your analogy, broccoli would be my favorite food, it's just that d$d are terrible chefs, and keep ruining something that I do love.

So basically broccoli is your favorite food, you know you don't like the way D&D prepare it but continue to go to their restaurant & order Broccoli. 

 

Still doesn't really make sense to me I guess but to each his own. 

(Not saying you inparticular but the people that consistently give the show >3 rating) 

[DesertRose]

10 for me! 

Looking back, I think other than the battles themselves, which were awesome, my favorite moments were:

-Grey Worm one-handed slicing the two master's necks, buh bye. 

-Jon grabbing the shield and walking right into Ramsay's arrows like a boss. Then also beating the shit out of him with his bare fists.  I thought Jon looked like a beast and Ramsay looked like he was going to piss his breeches. Ramsay's death was everything I could have asked for.  

I did miss ghost though, but glad he's not dead.

[lakin1013]

Still deciding on a score BUT for those who complain about Kit's acting -- There was a scene where Ramsay orders his calvary to charge and Jon is standing there alone, facing this.  If you watch his face closely, there is a clear set of reasonable emotions:
1. Amazement.  He is still a young man who has never seen anything quite like this.  Hardhome was chaotic and disorderly, this is strategic and purposeful.  He is amazed.

2. Resolute.  He realizes he is going to die where he is standing.  Nothing will change that fact and his face registers that this moment is where he ends.

3. Resignation.  He raises his sword and moves forward.  He will fight to the death, to the last minute. His face shows his commitment to the fight. 

It reminded me of the series of emotions that ranged across Natalie Dormer's face when she was standing on the steps at the Sept and Jaime comes riding up.  I think he did a really good job communicating to us, while using no words. Good acting.

Edited June 20, 2016 by lakin1013

[ErasmusF]

Props to HBO for vastly improving the dragon scenes from last season. Yeah, it still looks a little stupid with Dany on Drogon's back, but at least it looks 2016 bad and not 1994 bad. 

[Mrslannistark]

 

After first viewing I gave it an 8. Loved Meereen scenes, wasn't completely satisfied with BotB. Why didn't Sansa speak up sooner or at all??? Seemed a little childish and pouty to withhold information about the Vale army just because she wasn't included or asked. As if Jon had any idea of the communication between her and Littlefinger...BOO.

2nd viewing reactions:

Meereen catapults took me back to the books! . Tyrion asks, do we have a plan? Duh, DRAGONS. Loved Tyrions "alternate approach" Dragon scenes were just awesome; however, how does Drogon know when to fly in? I can see why people may have given it a 10 just for the dragon love. Just one shot of Daario? Grey Worm proves he's a badass. Love Danaerys in Dothraki garb. 10/10 for first 11 minutes!

Ugh, Jon lets psycho Ramsey taunt him and I like that Sansa knows what's going to happen to Rickon. Why didn't Jon consider asking the Vale for aid on his own? Why didn't Sansa tell him? I feel that D&D just love leaving us hanging with many questions after each episode. By the way, I really enjoyed seeing Sophie Turner's acting chops in the scene with Kit Harington in the tent, and Iwan Rheon is just too good at sociopath.

Again, great acting by Tormund and Davos actors. Two of my faves. I was expecting Davos to find the stag, no surprise there. Miss Mance. "Jon Snow is not a king"-- YET, Tormund, not YET.

Melisandre "I have no power..." Hmm.

Theon and Yara sure got to Meereen quickly, but I admit I liked the scene.

So we get to the BotB half way into the episode...who are the flayed bodies and why are they on fire? And Jon, Jon, Jon...all heart and honor but he knows nothing, and that's because he's SO YOUNG and inexperienced. Around 38 minutes the battle begins thanks to Jon. He knows he's about to die and it's awful, I nearly cried, but he's going to die fighting. And that takes balls. He really has the makings of a future king. I see him on the Iron Throne.

Great tension building and suspense. Movie quality battle scene. And then they're surrounded and all hope is lost. I thought Jon was going to die. I thought Tormund was going to die. But the Vale comes to rescue AT THE VERY LAST MINUTE. Ramsey runs like a little girl and is fool enough to think he still has Winterfell? Dumbass.  Why doesn't Jon kill him??? Why doesn't Sansa kill him??? Ramsey doesn't get flayed? Where is GHOST? I would have been much more satisfied if Sansa or Jon or Ghost had killed him. Who unlocked the dogs? It just really irks me, the things they leave off screen! They showed Sansa's smile 3 times, it bothered me. Once would have been enough. 

Was anyone else hoping the Umbers to switch sides?

Updated rating 9/10. Great acting, great action and battle scenes but still left too many questions and no Ghost.

[johndance]

10/10. Might have been one of the greatest hours in TV history. The battle at Winterfell was spectacular. The directing, the editing, and the choreography were amazing. The acting was top notch. Kit has cemented himself as world class. The writing was fantastic as well. Bravo to D&D here. I'll be shocked if this episode doesn't win emmys in several categories. We can only hope and pray that TWOW is written close to as good as this season has been but mainly this episode. I can't imagine how any battle in TWOW will come close to being written this well. Hopefully GRRM is somehow able to muster up some of how he wrote in the 90's to try to do this episode justice. 

[Lot Seven]

Can't help it, am a sucker for girlpower.... And slightly in love with Sansa. Thought the battle was filmed extremely well, the charges were amazing... The episode had me cheering! (especially for Wun Wun, why can't I demolish a door like that?)

[Faereth]

9/10 for me. Visually this episode was stupendous both the scenes at Meereen and Winterfell. 

I thought the battle was brutal, I thought how they filmed it was excellent it really showed you the craziness of the heat of battle and just how much luck you need to survive. 

I got so annoyed at Sansa for not telling Jon, it was a huge gamble on her part (which luckily paid off that they got there in time) but I think it fitted in to how little she trusts people now so I'm not going to dock marks for that.

 

Only bit I didn't like was that they didn't show Yara and Theon getting to Meereen. I think there was just some clumsy editing there.

Otherwise it was very good, although I am so upset about Rickon, why didn't he run in zig zags?! 

[xjlxking]

29 minutes ago, ErasmusF said:

Props to HBO for vastly improving the dragon scenes from last season. Yeah, it still looks a little stupid with Dany on Drogon's back, but at least it looks 2016 bad and not 1994 bad. 

Yeah, they clearly aren't the best cgi dragons in media but I'm quite surprised how well they look for a tv show. Sure this tv show has a budget slightly higher than 1 million per episode but accounting for all the actors, the set, and costumes, they still can get the CGI that good.

 

ive seen movies with bigger much budget have terrible cgi dragons/creatures 

 

[adamr]

No matter quality, this episode finally felt like justice for Starks all the way since Ned's, Catelyn's and Robb's death. I've waited for this so long that I don't care about anything else and give it a 10

[Gargarax]

3 minutes ago, xjlxking said:

Yeah, if you rate it a 1 every episode, you hate the show.

Stop watching! Seriously, a 1 means the show is as bad as it can get. It can not get worse (relatively speaking). Why continue to watch something that is so bad ?

Eh ... to what were you even replying? Even people who rate it 1/10 have a right to watch it - hate-watching is fun too, you know? One of my reasons to keep watching is that finding all the plotholes is a great game and that there are loads of really good essays on the web who analyse what the show is doing badly. That alone is worth a watch. You can absolutely learn from the show how NOT to tell a story, so it even has educatonal values.  No really, stop the "Stop watching" routine, it's just silly and disrespectful.

[legba11]

On modified season 5/6 scale this was a nice solid 7.  The spectacle was as big as anything you'll ever see on television.  I've just accepted that we are now watching a paint by numbers soap opera which trades any sense, flow and character development for spectacle and shock.