How would you rate episode 201?

[Stark 4 ever]

greywind is AWESOME loved the jaime/robb scene.

loved a few changes as well such as stannis getting neds letter

[deleted01]

Not many problems with it, overall it was pretty damn epic.

My thoughts, surprisingly coherent after the excitement of that episode:

Too much Ros. We get it, you train the whores, I don't need pretty much a repeat of that scene from season 1. GTFO.

That Cersei and LF scene was cringe-worthy, for me. It was utterly out of character for LF, and it didn't really fit Cersei either. Her bitch-slapping Joffrey made up for it though.

Killing the baby was awful. Fucking Janos Slynt <_<

Gendry's eyeliner made me laugh. Very much looking forward to Arya's storyline.

Tyrion simply owns. Excellent scenes between him and Cersei, Peter Dinklage wins again.

Robb's scene with Jaime wasn't AS good as I expected, but Grey Wind looked pretty awesome.

I LOVED Bran's wolf dream. That was immense.

I'm sure there's more but I'm in a rush. Damn episode making me late :lol:

[Tywin's bastard]

I give it an 8. It was very well done but it's a typical starter episode where lots of things need to be set but there's little room to develop it. The actor ensemble continues to be very strong, the cinematography is very nice and the effects are of surprisingly high quality, given that there were some really difficult ones and this is TV. I'm happy with my own performance as a viewer as well, since lack of immersion is always at least 50% on yourself, although way too few people take any responsibility.

The only really odd thing about this is how people that don't like the show, and complain about it for reasons that everyone understands will keep on going, will keep watching and keep complaining. If one doesn't even trust his own opinions enough to act on them, how does one expect anyone else to care about it?

[Stallion That Mounts Texas]

I can go no higher than a 7. The exposition can be forgiven (budget/time constraints) but some of the character choices cannot.

1. The choice of lena Heady as Cersei has never grown on me and making her into a sympathetic figure instead of the bitch she is, really irks me. Viva Bianca from Spartacus Vengeance would have been perfect.

2. I always pictured Cat as still being a great beauty.

3. Little Finger would never openly threaten Cersei nor would Cersei allow him to remain alive if he had.

4. Terrible choice for the Red Woman. I hope her acting can distract me from her plain looks.

5. Stannis is just not hard enough. This man is supposed to be made of iron and ice. I hope this will improve.

6. No Riverrun, Lord Hoster or Edmure? Wow!

Despite these minor complaints, the actors for Tyrion, Joff, Jon and Robb (especially Tryion and Joff) are driving the show for me. The scene with Robb and Jaime was also noteworthy.

Edited April 2, 2012 by Stallion That Mounts Texas

[Little Miss Sunshine]

I gave it a steady 7. Good episode with a few bad points.

Littlefinger/Cersei scene was completely out-of-character for LF. He'd never defy anyone so openly.

Some scenes felt too rushed.

Cressen's story could be better handled.

On the good points side, an huge bow down from my part to Carice van Houten, I really liked her as Melisandre. CGI wolfes were awesome. And (i cannot repeat this too many times) for the last scene with the bastards! Perfect image/score coordination!

[Ygritte's fur]

Exactly my point. Didn't we have one fake whore training scene in last season? And enough with Ros already. Let the story speak for itself. If people are watching Season 2 it's not just for the titty scenes.

(null)

[Dr. Pepper]

Exactly my point. Didn't we have one fake whore training scene in last season? And enough with Ros already. Let the story speak for itself. If people are watching Season 2 it's not just for the titty scenes.

(null)

I think the Ros scene in this episode gave a pretty clear indication that Ros will have a hand in training the

fake arya

[boojam]

A structural observation.

Everything looked perfect and all the actors, seem to have gotten better from last season, and odd thing to say, and we have not seen all of them again yet.

I had known Stephen Dillane , Liam Cunningham , and even Carice van Houten from their former work, I knew they would be good. (Seems what has been said that van Houten was instructed to underplay Melisandre, it's ok, but a scenery chewing Mel would been ok with me.)

With all the new people and places this almost became a gold plated CliffsNotes... and we still have Renly's camp and Pyke to go!

Seemly the only elaboration scenes were Cersei, which is ok by me.

I kept looking at the running time, and thinking , O my!, that went by fast!.

Seems we are back to the old problem of just how successful does the series have to be for HBO to pony up 12 episodes?

As I have noted if ROME could pull off 12 episodes , uh well, ... have times changed that fast? Maybe so.

Or spread each novel (combo novels) over two 10 episodes each.

I give the first episode a 10 for production values, costuming and cinematography alone! Just amazing for television.

Notes:

(1) Dany's Dothraki seems to my ear to be almost perfect by now... but... just like last season why does she or others almost always lapse into the common tongue to finish dialog? (There is a context for it, but all the time?)

O well that's just a nit.

(2) I did not see one slip in the CGI, getting to see the dire wolves for more than a microsecond was amazing.

I am glad they did not hype them. Having been to the La Brea Tar Pits museum lately, dire wolf are not has big as small pony , but they do have more mass to them and more fearsome heads, nice touch last night.

Man, they really bore down on the Drogon CGI work, methinks the VFX people are in love with the dragons. Can't wait to see the rest.

(3)A TV critic in an instant review last night noted one shot that really riveted me.

It's so short.

I don't know if it was D&D's idea or Alan Taylor's.

The quick close up of the Gold Cloak showing disgust in the last sequence, that little piece of artistic imagery is what sets this show apart.

Edited April 2, 2012 by boojam

[duncanthemedium]

Gave it a 7 because well...I read the book again yesterday (all day it took me) and the episode so can't live up to my imagination... but that is true for all adaptations, and as far as they go, this one was pretty near excellent. Some thoughts:

1. Did anybody notice how much Dontos' sigil looks like the american flag? Not a knight, a fool...appropriate :cool4: though I dont know if its the same in the books too..

2. Carice Van Houten is absolutely gorgeous in real life. And she looked great, mesmerising in the pre-season stills. Not so much in the episode though...lighting is a factor i think. Overall though, the scene with Pylos was just absolutely horrendous. And Stannis does not seem to be half as pig-headed and iron-fisted as I imagined him to be.

3. Loved the LF-Cersei scene. Loved rogue Gleeson. Would enjoy his death even as I mourn the actor's departure when Joff hits the bucket.

4. Maisie Williams and Alfie Allen should have had more airtime. Dany too. This is where I felt too much time was spent on the Ros scene as well as the slow scenes at Dragonstone...

5. Peter Dinklage is a god. nuf sed. And Shae a vile but gorgeous little goddess in turn...

6. Perfect casting for Janos Slynt. He did his job well.

7. Loved the new version of Grey Wind...can't wait to see Ghost!

8. The Bran actor is simply awesome in this episode.

9. If the khalasaar is not in Vaes Toloros (I know I misspelled that one), where will Rakharo n company return to? Also, why was Jhoqo's name changed but Rakharo and Aggo's not? (Woulda loved siting sweet Irri, and soon to be dead Jhiqui...in the process of dying..)

10. Lastly, I think this is going to be the tenor of the show from now on. There will be episodes like this, simply because of the expansion of geographic scale, where we only get bits of our favorite characters. Especially when we move south next week and Renly's folk come into the action, and when Dany reaches Qarth. We must, as fans, find a way to deal with it and know that even though not all of our facorite book scenes will make it to the screen, that many still do and that too so excellently is a blessing I wouldn't wanna forego. Onwards GoT!!!

[Jaime -im not so bad- L]

the complaints listed so far in this thread are trivial, so much nitpicking.

Ros scenes dont matter, this is the only thing they could do without, although they needed someone in the brothel, a POV to show the baby die.

The cersei/ Littlefinger scene was not from the book, not a big deal, i think it was the nicest way for littlefinger to tell cersei to go fuck herself, and then for cersei to fuck him right back.

Joffery is the best acted by far.

Robb/Jaime scene was awesome.

ever stop to think the pace was slow because the book was slow.

and Craster's keep, was down sized to save money, also they didnt make him hideous for the same reason they didnt make tyrion, people dont want to see it. it would make non-book readers say fuck looking at that for an hour.

maybe i have watched one to many christopher nolan films, because i thought the pace was fine, with this many characters if u dont jump around alot people will have to wait a week to see what most characters are up to, i for one find it hard enough to wait an hour let alone a week for anything.

[Ygritte's fur]

That's interesting.

Still, I was so so looking forward to a ratcheting up of the scary factor north of the Wall. The opener to the first season was pretty darn scary--but Craster's has more horror than that scene. The book Craster's Keep is more on the level of a Texas Chainsaw massacre level of dread/revulsion than the slightly shocking episode of Frontline we got.

Yes, I also thought te creepy dude in the previews might be Craster. Book Craster has a droopy face and is a big hulking man. Why does a minor chaacter matter? While he himself isn't central to the story that level of horror, dread of what lies North of the Wall most certainly is.

At the very least, the horror North of the Wall is a stronger plot driver than whatever Ros and her boobs will be up to. I mean, really, what does it matter if the absurd Ros (who in my mind embodies trying to sex up a story that doesnt need sexing up) does the spoiler thing mentioned above? So I think it was a weird .

Even in terms of developing a commercial audience, you'd think HBO would want to grab fans of Walking Dead and the American Horror whatever show. (The new functionality of this app has become horrendous, btw, since I last used this board so I apologize for typos.) And people LOVE to be scared so I don't buy they didn't want him to be too scary. And we didnt need naked girls digging carrots from the mud: a simple "He smells of the cold" would've helped draw the connection to the Others.

Further thoughts: thought LF scene was weird. I see why they wanted to set it up but it seemed like the actor, who is generally pretty perfect, suddenly developed a speech impediment: distracting.

Cersei: I think Lena is great. (As is the rest of the casting. I commented on the casting many times last night. Most of the actors have done a great job of changing with the plot.) As I said above her scene with Tyrion has me really excited for their head-butting this season.

I think the Joff scene people are objecting to is there to show how thoroughly Joff has gotten out of control. You could see the look in her face like: oh my god what a monster I have created! And she show she isn't a one dimensional character. There is a lot in the book to show her inner self that we obv can't get into on TV.

Psyched for Arya scenes. Just hoping the abject horror of Harrenhal doesn't go the of un scary TV Craster's Keep!

Also loved the wolf scenes, especially Bran's. Awesome. So psyched for this plot line.

(null)

Edited April 2, 2012 by Ygritte's fur

[WinterWarrior]

I gave it a 10. I loved the episode and feel more confident now that they will stick with the Theon story and that we will see the Reeds. I liked the way Robb was stronger and the direwolves were portrayed. I like how they showed Bran's point of view when he was in Summer. I was wondering how they were going to do that. And the computer generated Grey Wind was great. An I absolutely love Tyrion. He is the best.

I actually hated Cersei and Joffrey more than I already do, which I did not think was possible. I despise them both!!!! Yes, Craster was too clean, I was expecting someone who looked more like the way Balon Greyjoy looks in the trailers for future episodes.

Edited April 2, 2012 by WinterWarrior

[TC_Chaos]

I voted 9 for this episode. I think it is a hard transition for the show to introduce new characters to the audience as the story is opening up. I know as the audience might run of patience because they want to see the story continuing right away after season 1. I like how this episode they focused on Stannis' introduction only and not put in Renly and his crew or the Greyjoys.

Next episode will be introduction for the Greyjoy and Renly & crew, I am sure. My initial reaction when I was reading book 2 was that the first 200 pages were a big ass introduction to the book. The comet and everyone's perception of it was pure genius to kick start the book.

I'm glad to see they're staying very faithful to the book's dialogues while adding more of their own. I find that as a fan who read the books, sometimes the dialogues are just too predictable because I know them. So, when with the creators' dialogues, sometimes, its just a little refreshing for fans who are too familiar with the books.

[Tacye]

Jack Gleeson was brilliant and Peter Dinklage continues to shine.

Melisandre was miscast. I winced every time that woman opened her mouth. The actor playing Craster looked far too clean-cut.

Ros again. Why? Almost didn't recognize her with clothes on.

The actress playing Catelyn has the most beautiful eyes. Not pleased to see a lot of her ideas coming out of Robb's mouth, though. But I guess that fits in with what they were doing with her last season.

Davos was excellent, and Stannis seemed to work out okay. Not how I pictured either one of them, but they'll do.

LOL, Joffrey redecorating the Throne Room.

Cersei/Littlefinger scene was forced and badly-written. Did like the Tyrion/Cersei scene, though.

Credits continue to impress. Also liked the burning statues and the final scene as the Night's Watch recruits make their way up the Kingsroad.

But too many flat scenes. I'm giving this a 5.

[Greyjoy67]

Few responses to criticisms ...

Do we really need another jousting scene? Yeah, I know they're cool, but HBO probs feel they've done that. They wanna show different stuff.

Also, Melisandre plain? She's hot! Some of you would have them cast an alien with red eyes or something. There's not a lot they could have done to make her more ... Mel looking.

The Joffrey-Cersei scene made sense. How on earth would Joffrey not have heard the rumours. It'd be out of character for him to say nothing.

Craster looked too clean, sure, but my Gosh we're nitpicking. His performance was fine. Get a grip.

Oh, and we're not getting Riverrun this season. It's been long established, get over it. I hope we do next season, but it's not as essential as some of you make out. People confuse essential with what would be nice. We probably need to see Edmure at least eventually, but it's only episode 1, simmer down!

The show is being called Game of Thrones - we need scenes between Littlefinger and Cersei considering the paths their characters will take. Both are more conniving in subtle, unspoken ways in the book, but the audience needs to understand their motivations etc. That scene was a way of doing so.

I myself criticised the Ros scene, but at least it wasn't entirely pointless, and ended with the Slynt/Herod-esue sequence which was done very well.

[Ran]

The scene was a bad way of doing so. It was heavy handed and clumsy. Or so I say. I wouldn't have minded so much if it was well-written, but it was like taking a 2x4 to the head - BIG THEME HERE in blinking, neon lights -- and not too much else. It's a bane to adaptation when material is dumbed down.

Edited April 2, 2012 by Ran

[TC_Chaos]

Not many problems with it, overall it was pretty damn epic.

My thoughts, surprisingly coherent after the excitement of that episode:

Too much Ros. We get it, you train the whores, I don't need pretty much a repeat of that scene from season 1. GTFO.

That Cersei and LF scene was cringe-worthy, for me. It was utterly out of character for LF, and it didn't really fit Cersei either. Her bitch-slapping Joffrey made up for it though.

Killing the baby was awful. Fucking Janos Slynt <_<

Gendry's eyeliner made me laugh. Very much looking forward to Arya's storyline.

Tyrion simply owns. Excellent scenes between him and Cersei, Peter Dinklage wins again.

Robb's scene with Jaime wasn't AS good as I expected, but Grey Wind looked pretty awesome.

I LOVED Bran's wolf dream. That was immense.

I'm sure there's more but I'm in a rush. Damn episode making me late :lol:

I was surprised to see that whore chick Ros back on the show. I can speak for every man on this forum that she is becoming somewhat of a favorite. I do wonder if she is going to be a reoccurring character.

Also, they're making Janos Slynt way more evil than in the books. I love it!

Edited April 2, 2012 by TC_Chaos

[The Anti-Targ]

A solid start, 7/10 I figure I've got to give the season room to get better. A pity they didn't start with the prologue from the book, but I can understand why they reaquainted the audience with the central, surviving, characters from the past season.

I did like hearing Sandor's line backing up Sansa with the whole bad luck to kill someone on your name day.

As usual the best dialogue is the stuff taken straight from the book.

[Little Miss Sunshine]

Also, they're making Janos Slynt way more evil than in the books. I love it!

It's too early to say it with 100% accuracy, but I think he's being portrayed as less pompous and self-entitled and more mean-like, cold-natured guy.

[Princess of the Night]

Around 5-6. Not really bad, but not yhe best episode ever..

I don't like Melisandre either. Actress doesn't seem to be the right one for the role..