[Poll] How would you rate episode 801?

[Daemon the Leaner]

I'd rank it 7.

As many, I actually expected it to be much worse. But it turned out to be a decent starter of the season. The stakes are fairly set up, and the reunions between characters are funny, sometimes relevant at best.

I'd have expected a bit more quality of acting in that Jon /Sam talk though.

[Anthony Pirtle]

I gave it an 8. It was better than most of last season, even if nothing much happened except people arriving in Winterfell. The How To Train Your Dragons scene was the only one that didn't really work for me. 

[Nerevanin]

7/10
Nothing special or spectacular, almost no move forward in the plot but also no obvious plot holes (excluding Jon doesn't care about what happened to LF).

[Ser Gareth]

3 minutes ago, Nerevanin said:

7/10
Nothing special or spectacular, almost no move forward in the plot but also no obvious plot holes (excluding Jon doesn't care about what happened to LF).

One of the reasons the books have lost it is due to GRRM's insistence on showing as many little details on page as possible.  If the show had done that, it would have been cancelled early on.

Days, weeks, months can pass on the show between scenes (and chapters in the books).  There has to be some assumptions that many obvious things are simply discussed or advised off screen.   The viewer has already seen what has happened first hand.  We don't then need characters recapping every event in later episodes unless there is an obvious pay off, e.g. Dany telling Sam she executed his family!

[Nerevanin]

1 minute ago, Ser Gareth said:

One of the reasons the books have lost it is due to GRRM's insistence on showing as many little details on page as possible.  If the show had done that, it would have been cancelled early on.

Days, weeks, months can pass on the show between scenes (and chapters in the books).  There has to be some assumptions that many obvious things are simply discussed or advised off screen.   The viewer has already seen what has happened first hand.  We don't then need characters recapping every event in later episodes unless there is an obvious pay off, e.g. Dany telling Sam she executed his family!

Overall I agree with you but I would imagine that the death of an important character, especially as the character had hands in Ned's dead, would deserve a line or two. It reminds me of how Sansa killed Ramsay - she killed him and no one cared. Telling Jon about LF's execution wouldn't really be without any pay off either imo, as for example Jon would realize that Sansa is much harder and colder than he thinks and he would realize what happened with Arya (instead he asks her if she ever used Needle).

[Ser Gareth]

1 minute ago, Nerevanin said:

Overall I agree with you but I would imagine that the death of an important character, especially as the character had hands in Ned's dead, would deserve a line or two. It reminds me of how Sansa killed Ramsay - she killed him and no one cared. Telling Jon about LF's execution wouldn't really be without any pay off either imo, as for example Jon would realize that Sansa is much harder and colder than he thinks and he would realize what happened with Arya (instead he asks her if she ever used Needle).

That's at the reunion.  I'm not sure how much time has passed by the end of the episode versus that reunion.  I'd be disappointed if he found it in E02 what happened.  My assumption is he would have been told off screen between the reunion and the end of the episode.

[Mladen]

People speak... People don't listen...

KL was dragging and pointless. I see we are back to sexposition and cheap sex jokes.

The entire Yara rescue was, well, underwhelming.

Arya/Jon reunion and the RLJ TRUTH were anticlimactic.

Overall... Nothin gspecial 6/10.

[Butterwell]

1 hour ago, Anthony Pirtle said:

I gave it an 8. It was better than most of last season, even if nothing much happened except people arriving in Winterfell. The How To Train Your Dragons scene was the only one that didn't really work for me. 

A friend said it reminded them of Harry Potter. I thought the cgi was a bit off in the scene.

8 seems a fair rating. As per the preview for the next episode looks like more Sansa/Dany drama, everyone will be bunkering down in their respective camps. I’ll remember my popcorn next time.

[legba11]

Very positive on this one, 9, but on the non-modified scale that came in with S5, so this 9 is much lower than an early 9.

 

Than even seemed to minimized the amount they asked of Harrington and Clarke, hopefully that continues.  There are some good actors left, let them carry it.

 

I loved the new credits!

I'm relieved that they intend Dany to be a villain.  For several seasons I thought they had no idea what a sociopath that had written her to be and we were supposed to be rooting for her.  Dumb and Dumber's comments after shows seemed to indicate that.  In the opening sequence, it became quite clear they know she is a villain and having her embrace it.  She might as well have been twirling her mustache when her dragons terrorized the people.

The dragon CGI looks good, other than when they sit on them.  It looks like a amusement park auto created video when they ride them.

[Wagshell]

7

 

About as good as you can expect when there's so much setting up to fit in. Yara's rescue was rushed and not too believable, Jon's revelation fell a bit flat, Euron is just cheap and doesn't have the charisma he needs. I loved the awkwardness of Dany and Sam and I'm glad they didn't sidestep it. I liked how the Night King's progress and sense of purpose was shown without him needing to appear. As usual, Tyrion was captivating when onscreen. I loved the scene with an exasperated Bronn not getting to enjoy the simple pleasures he asks for and his interplay with an inscrutable Qyburn.

[MagicPen]

A good 9, it was a intro episode and they did setup the characters and reunions well. Could have been done a bit better, but i feel that would have required the episode to be longer by at least some 15 minutes.

[Talking Hodor]

5 hours ago, House Cambodia said:

Uh oh. I suspect when the NK overruns Winterfell, he will reanimate the dead Starks as wights. Horrible when the Stark kids see their brother. Will Ghost come up against his zombie brother too?

By the way, was Ned's body returned to Winterfell, or just his head .....?

I heavily doubt that the NK is going to overrun Winterfell. My money's on that being a feint while he zombifies all of King's Landing. However, wherever he attacks, I'm really hoping to see Zombie Hodor in action, maybe carrying a legless wight in a basket on his back. That would be freakin' sweet.

[Guest]

It was fine to reintroduce characters, but there was some awful acting and writing. First the good, the ending two scenes were well thought out although Kit Harrington cant act which kinda ruined the crypt scene. The idea of Jaime seeing Bran in the wheelchair was good, and tied the seasons together - good writing for once.

As for the bad, it goes on and on. The idea that you can hire unknown actors off the street to handle difficult material is proven wrong again as the acting here was awful. The story was also pretty weak, seems a simple idea to bring everyone to Winterfell AND the timing is all wrong. If the wall fell days or weeks ago the NK army would already be here. D and D cant tell a complex story.

Next, the Theon saves the world story was so incredibly badly done. He takes over a ship with two swings of a sword, arrows and a ax was just dumb. Iron islanders are fighters.

Bran is still the weird, stiff dude. How is this acting?

Gendry and Arya are fine, but that scene was painful where they "flirt." Poorly written and badly acted.

Did you buy ANY Stark reunion scene? They all seemed stiff. Maybe they kill each other later so they were meant to be less than me meeting my family for emotion, but I just think they were badly done and they were meant to be emotional, but weren't.

I could go on, but no scene was actually great, a few were good. The better were Euron and Cersei, two actual actors. I am torn whether Arya is being played well, she might be but kinda depends on how dark her story gets. Is her lack of emotion intended?

4/10

 

Edited April 15, 2019 by Guest

[Guest]

16 minutes ago, Talking Hodor said:

I heavily doubt that the NK is going to overrun Winterfell. My money's on that being a feint while he zombifies all of King's Landing. However, wherever he attacks, I'm really hoping to see Zombie Hodor in action, maybe carrying a legless wight in a basket on his back. That would be freakin' sweet.

Can a wight army be quielty moved across the whole map? Maybe in the show, but not in real life or the books where an attmempt at reality matters.

[Dragon in the North]

Gave it a 9! It’s tied for my favorite season premiere with Two Swords. The only thing I didn’t like was how easy Yara’s rescue went. My highlights:

New opening credits 

Jon and Dany arriving at Winterfell 

Lyanna Mormont 

Jon and Arya

Sansa and Tyrion 

Arya and the Hound 

Arya and Gendry 

Jon dragon riding 

Sam finding out about his father and brother 

Jon finding out about his parentage

Last Hearth

The Jaime/Bran stare down 

[Mr Smith]

Gave it a 7. Tricky episode to rate in truth, not sure whether the slow pace was a good thing or bad, but hopefully establishing some relationships here will allow the rest of the season to breathe a little.

What I liked:

 - Tension between parties. I'm not to into the norther lords outright criticising Jon for giving up his crown, but the tension regarding Daenerys works.

 - Sam breaking the truth to Jon after learning Dany killed his family. This really worked. I sort of wish they had set up that they weren't planning on telling him prior to this, and then Sam changed his mind after he learned about his family, as this would have given the scene a lot more weight. But I like that Sam has an ulterior motive for delivering the information, and the scene itself works really well, and perfect to be delivered in the crypts.

 - Jamie and Bran. Perfect, and very well acted by Nicolaj.

 - The Last Hearth. Great horror moment with Ned Umber turning into a wight, made even better by the fire symbol.

What I wasn't wild about:

 - Jon riding Rhaegal for the first time. I felt they misplaced the tone here. The scene was far too comedic given that the audience is aware of the significance of this, and I think it cheapened the moment a bit.

 - Jon and Arya reunion. It wasn't outright bad, but felt underdone. It was really a waste not to have the Stark music swell as they embraced.

 - Continuing to make Tyrion look like a fool. I know this is really a season 7 problem, but drawing attention to Tyrion's ridiculous assumption that Cersei would actually come north only increases the sense that he simply isn't the character he used to be. It's really sad to see a character that was once the life-blood of the show become such a hollow imitation.

[Ser Graymax]

A 7, wanted to give it an 8 but just couldnt.

About what I expected, maybe a little better.

Just not all that ramped up for this season, was hoping this episode would get the juices flowing but not quite.  Let down by most of the reunions and expected a little more from The Hound.  Isnt he reformed?

Thought Bran had super powers by now but he just sits stonefaced as ever.  Jamie really didnt know he was there?

Lady Mormont mouths off again.  Going to be quite formidable if she lives to get older. 

Surprised the killed off the young Lord but this is GOT.

Now Jon knows about his relationship to Dany.  The scene where he tells her should be some kind of turning point.  We will see.  The dragons "liking" him should have been some kind of clue.

[House Cambodia]

1 hour ago, Talking Hodor said:

I heavily doubt that the NK is going to overrun Winterfell. My money's on that being a feint while he zombifies all of King's Landing. However, wherever he attacks, I'm really hoping to see Zombie Hodor in action, maybe carrying a legless wight in a basket on his back. That would be freakin' sweet.

You're sick. I like it!

[House Cambodia]

Just finished. A 7 for me. Opening episodes rarely move the story much; it did as would be expected. Roll on next week.

[ummester]

1 hour ago, Talking Hodor said:

 I'm really hoping to see Zombie Hodor in action, maybe carrying a legless wight in a basket on his back. That would be freakin' sweet.

Good call - I hope zombie Hodor can still Hodor also - but in a screechy way. We have never heard a screechy HODOR!

I gave the episode 7. Was yea, ok. Not good, not bad. Mostly predictable.

Happy that the NK is still leaving messages - means there is still some depth to whatever he wants. I read a not quite spoiler that the NK patterns and messages come together for a really cool reveal - man I hope there is some truth to that.