How would you rate episode 205?

[Eira Seren]

The whole Qarth storyline in the books isn't terribly gripping anyway, so I don't mind them taking some liberties with it. As long as I get the House of the Undying burning, I couldn't care less.

I suppose it's mostly stuff like "Boo hoo, Xaro isn't effete and they changed his reason for marrying Dany" or "Waah, the Spice Kings ISN'T IN THE BOOK!!"

i don't mind most of the changes to this part of the story this week. a big improvement overall on the dialogue from last week, and visually quite striking. these first scenes seemed a little slow, and the whole episode seemed to finally take off after about 15 minutes. still think it might help if we had less recap and preview for other shows at the beginning, would give us a few more minutes with the episode.

i give it 7 or 8. thought Renly's death went pretty well, if a bit underwhelming, but I think that came from Brienne's reaction more than anything. her "no!" was perfect. kindof expected her to do it with her sword in hand though, wouldn't that have been instinct (after all, she's a knight and wtf? he's dead and stannis or something weird just killed him? where is it? behind me? you? where'd it go?). jon and mormont's relationship seems to be somewhat strained of late. not certain i credit joff and cersei with being smart enough to find out about wildfire, though in terms of its lack of subtlety as a battle strategy, the glove certainly fits. perhaps they want to set up a connection between necromancers and cersei early on. margaery's outfit reminds me of alice in wonderland. i wonder if it supposed to be like the queen of hearts, or a chesspiece (in which case the question would be queen or pawn)? was glad to catch a break from ros.

the moment when arya looks at tywin and says, "anyone can die" is 100%

(spoiler alert) the worry about jojen and meera. . . i share that concern, mainly because i don't think it will be believable for bran to find his way north or figure out what to do with the wolf dreams on his own. and depending on what your pet theories are concerning bran, snow, and the reeds, they are characters who seem to have a pretty serious part to play, and may be some of the only credible sources the series provides for certain important information. i could see osha taking their place for part of it, but THEY KNOW things, possibly even answers to things that the Stark children will need. (some of whom were promised answers in the first season that have yet to be delivered.) for osha to entirely take over their characters won't work for me, because of who they are and where they come from. this would change the integrity of the characters and story a little too much (the difference between an adaptation and 'inspired by', as described by Tadco26).

looking forward to ygritte.

[rmholt]

I gave it a 7.

The good: I'm really liking the actress playing Brienne - she's not what I picture when I read the books, but she does a very good job of capturing the power, purity and naivety of the character. The scenes with Arya and Tywin, which never took place in the book, were quite good mostly due to the talent of Charles Dance and Maisie Williams. The Tyrion/Bronn scenes were good as usual. The scenes of the Night's Watch north of the wall were spectacular to look at - great, snow-covered desolation and harsh mountain peaks as far as the eye can see. And the best thing about the episode: no 10 minute detour from the actual story for another episode in The Erotic Adventures of Ros.

The bad: The actress playing Asha/Yara is still unconvincing - when she told Theon her crew would wait for a year if she told them to...yeah, not buying it. I still have no idea what Littlefinger is doing in Renly's encampment and why he's spending so much time doing it. How can the Master of Coin and professional whoremonger deliver on his promise to open the city gates for Renly? ... And Littlefinger's exchanges with the Tyrells - instead of a master of deception and misdirection, he comes across as a master of the plain wrong and the bleeding obvious.

How is Joffrey able to make defensive plans on his own? If he has the power to order the defense of King's Landing, he has the power to dispose of Tyrion right now.

I am hoping Little finger is doing what was behind the scenes in the book - arranging the Tyrell - Lannister hookup and G-d knows what else.

IIRC Beyond the Wall was done in Iceland or some other frozen waste.

Joffrey has his Regent to help.

He cant kill Tyrion without becoming a kinslayer. Also he probably has a healthy fear of Tywin who appointed Tyrion

acting Hand. Plus Bronn would gut him for a nickel.

Asha is terrible at delivering her lines. but the loyalty of her crew was prominent in the books

Before I am totally oppositional I did like the lack of naked debauchery.

Brienne is FANTASTIC - she prepared for this and it shows.

Marie

[rmholt]

Agreed, Quaithe looked cooler then what I'd concieved in my head.

I had imagined her wooden mask much less impressive so pleased.

[dansnow]

Wow amazing episode, this is what I've been waiting for all season. 10.

[footballcoach]

I gave it an 8. Easily one of the top 3 episodes of this series. Thankfully, no stupid T&A filler scenes. It's been so overdone lately that it was good to see a departure from that formula for the show and a renewed focus on story-relevant scenes. Overall because of the above this episode blended very well for the most part.

Last scene with Dany was kinda lame, but the Pyat Pree more than made up for this. Hope they give the Warlocks some good airtime as the show needs some creep factor right now.

The Renly scene was good, but could have been a bit better. It seemed odd how they all just stood there and watched the shadow crawl across the floor.

Arya and Jaqen scene was awesome. I expected Jaqen to be a bit uglier, but I can live with it. He's one of my favorite characters in the books so I had him pre-visualized maybe too much.

Charles Dance...His screen presence is amazing!

Overall, this is the kind of Game of Thrones episode I pay HBO to see. I'm hoping they are learning that the story is so beloved by many fans that they will eventually alienate those people from viewership if they don't do a better job of using their allotted episode time to try and tell the story as best they can. There's plenty of nudity, sex, and depravity to show in scenes that come directly from the books when the time comes to do that. It is a better series when those elements play a more minor role as they do in the books.

Edited April 30, 2012 by footballcoach

[Oberyn King]

Cons: Dagmer, Qhorin and Renlys' death

Pros: Arya, Tywin, Tyrion, Bran, Brienne, Davos and the fist.

Overall: 8

[Planetary]

I gave the first 4 episodes somewhere between an 8-10, and this one I gave a 6. If you compare it your regular television show, however, it's like a 9.5. It seems like a lot of people loved it, but I was left disappointed. I have this feeling that they're going to keep deviating more and more from the book to a point where it's almost like a different story. I know True Blood did that, and I'd hate to see that here. Sometimes they change such small things, and I don't see a purpose to it.

I'm glad to have a show at all and don't mean to sound like a huge complainer, but I get kind of sad when I know I'll never get to see a scene that I've had in my head for years and years and was so excited to see when the show was announced. The Tickler and Arya at the inn, for example. But I'll try to keep faith in D&D and believe they'll stay as true to the story as they can. It's so difficult to turn these books into a television adaptation. I just have to realize that it can never be the same as the books...it's the show version! And a great one.

The acting is amazing though, it really is. Perfect.

What Allan Ball and HBO did was elevate True Blood from a poorly-written book series with some great ideas to an amazing show that vacillates between visual poetry and trashy, guilty pleasure. The deviations on True Blood are almost always for the better.

The deviations here are less stylistic, and more to do with the incredible task of diluting a huge volume down to 10 hours of TV. For the most part, they're doing a fantastic job. For instance, while Arya goes on quote a bit longer before she's captured in the books, does that really add much to the narrative? It was a smart decision to compact that sequence.

I don't think HBO has the artistic license to seriously deviate from the books, and I don't think the ASOIAF fanbase would be as forgiving as Charlain Harris fans. LIke you noted, it can never be the same as in the books. For me, the books and the TV show both have their strengths.

[Envie]

I also added a point simply for getting to see Gendry sweaty and shirtless, swinging a sword. Call me a girly eye-candy whore, whatever! (and we've certainly seen enough of Ros's snatch to more than make up for any weakness I may have for Gendry's body haha)

I absolutely loved love LOVED the tense moment where Tywin stared at Arya and she stared back after delivering her best line of the season so far. A little girl and an old man can out-act and out goosebump everyone (except maybe Tyrion) in one scene and NO T&A necessary - phew! Jaqen is being played well. I wasn't sure about his looks at first, but his personality and style as grown on me.

I really enjoyed Bran's 'management' and remarks about defending the bannermen's families. Shows he's definitely a Stark even so young.

The Renly assassination scene was fairly well done. I don't understand why they decided to change it from the book however... where Renly was still wearing his armor and the shadow slit his throat through his metal gorget, which seemed like such an important clue to those investigating it...how could Brienne have done it that way? The way they made it seemed much more likely she could have stabbed him with her sword. Oh well. I wasn't disappointed with it that much.

I like the Qarth stuff ok, its suitably 'exotic' enough. And I enjoyed the exchange between Dany and Daxos with his marriage proposal - it was well done. I wasn't really fond of the Dothraki men arguing over the statue, whatever. I especially liked Pyat Pree and he's as creepy looking as I had hoped he would be.

Brienne and Cat's oath scene was well done as well.

I gave it a 9!

[deleted01]

I don't know what to think of them changing Jojen's greendreams over to Bran. I'm not sure how that will work out, but I must say my initial reaction was "What the actual fuck?!".

Qarth was disappointing. I was happy to see Qaithe though, despite the changes. Pyat Pree was so creepy!

Loved all of Arya's scenes, though the one with Tywin was a bit weird. Does he know who she is? I hope he doesn't, that would change quite a lot I think. Anyway, I don't much care that the Tickler died now instead of later, I'm sure we'll see Arya kicking some arse at some point in the future. Jaqen is amazing, and half-naked Gendry? Sorry, but us ladies have had nothing so far, so this episode was a treat!

I really like TV-Cat, so her scenes with Brienne were enjoyable for me. I definitely felt Renly's death was underwhelming though, such a shame. But I guess the aftermath is what's more important.

Tyrion owns, as usual. That man is simply a genius. I can't say much more on him - he's just perfect.

Trying to separate the books from the TV show is tough, because I keep catching myself nitpicking and I don't want to do that, I want to enjoy the show. I just hope they don't deviate too much, like Dexter and True Blood have done.

[ARYa_Nym]

Jaqen was hot to me in the books so I like him in the show.

"But Jaqen H'ghar still smiled. His garb was still ragged and filthy, but he found time to wash and brush his hair. It streamed down across his shoulders, red and white and shiny, and Arya heard the girls giggling to each other in admiration."

I liked the Arya and Dany scenes. The Qarth wardrobe is beautiful btw.

I didn't really like the Renly death scene or the aftermath except for Margaery's reaction.

It was pretty good overall.

[Isy]

Gendry shirtless. Took it from 8 to 9.

Took it from 9 to 10 for me :) Was the best episode of the season for me. I found all the book to screen changes worked for me today, including character based changes. Quaithe was only one who really didn't fit with my image, but it was acceptable..

[The Anti-Targ]

Best of season so far.

Don't really mind any of the changes, and only sad that we have no Reeds. Quite happy for Loras not to blame Brienne, it's a sub-plot that goes no where in the book, and actually shows Loras has some smarts. Brienne left because she thought she'd get the chop, and her loyalty was to Renly, not Tyrell, Baratheon or anyone else. So she's pledged fealty to Cat and that's as far as it needs to go.

Only thing that irked me was Dany with her handmaidens, they were altogether too familiar, but it was a small thing.

I swear, the best episodes are the ones with the least T&A because that leaves space and time for real narrative and drama. I don't necessarily want GoT to become PG, but I'll trade explicit sex scenes for quality drama any day of the week.

8/10 a big improvement on Ep4 and very hopeful for the rest of the season.

Edited April 30, 2012 by The Anti-Targ

[The Monkey]

I voted 7, but in retrospect maybe it deserves an 8.

The negatives:

The scenery in Qarth was flawless, but the narrative just wasn't smooth. The Renly death scene and its aftermath was a bit underwhelming. I missed Loras killing the rainbow guard, as that action said so much about his character. I'm bummed that The Tickler died so early, as now they have changed one of my favourite scene in all the books, where Arya stabs him in book 3, while screaming out his questions.

The positives:

Tyrion is a champ as always. Arya/Tywin and Arya/Jaq'en were amazing. Great acting! Brienne is awesome. Don't mind the changes in Bran's storyline. The Fist of the First Men is terrific, fucking amazing location they found in Iceland. No Ros or Shae! :D No tits at all this episode, think it's a series first.

[The Meeraculous Third Reed]

Pretty good. Generally good acting all round, but mega kudos to Maisie Williams. Also I like the fleshing out of Margaery at this early stage.

I don't mind the Halfhand being short, and I understand the need to flesh out Qarth a bit, so I'll let these minor things slide.

A few minor gripes- Asha. This character could not be more of a fail.

Dagmer- Only because to me he is Finchy from The Office.

No Reeds :(. Though I have read somewhere they will enter in season 3.

A solid 8.

[Queen of Winter]

sooooo....margarey's "dress?"

It's probably a Highgarden version of a ladies sideless surcoat. (I don't care for the interpretation :ack: ).

Edited April 30, 2012 by Queen of Winter

[hulyen]

Best episode so far. Not as "boring" as the first episodes of season 2.

I'm bummed that The Tickler died so early, as now they have changed one of my favourite scene in all the books, where Arya stabs him in book 3, while screaming out his questions.

Just realized this! That's one of my favorite Arya book scenes as well! I hope they'll make up for it by adding a new scene or something to show Arya's badass killing.

[bikie]

my favorite episode of the year so far, but I do echo the "underwhelmed" sentiment with regards to renly's death. it seemed rushed and not nearly the "event" it should have been. I liked how it was handled in the book with the shadow and the people in attendance much better.

the scenes with arya were amazing, just amazing... tyrion was on top of his game as usual and I loved the scenes with jon...

the only true letdown was qarth. I just did not find any of it interesting at all, save for the amazing cgi with the dragon.

[hoelk]

Awesome except for the crappy CGI Shadow... i really wished they would have done it with a bit more style

[Mr. E]

I am hoping Little finger is doing what was behind the scenes in the book - arranging the Tyrell - Lannister hookup and G-d knows what else.

I'm almost as positive of this as I can be without being intimately involved in the show, and I'm surprised that people haven't caught onto the fact that this is where the narrative is heading; the writer's have managed to get Littlefinger to Bitterbridge while allowing LF to deliver Ned's bones and have a scene with Cat--masterful writing, TBH.

Gave this one a ten. Best of this season, loved everything about it. A little surprise to me was the final scene in Qarth where Jorah's love becomes more apparent and Dany finally catches onto his feelings for her...but then again I'm a sap for romance so...

[TheEvilKing]

Gave it an 8. Really solid episode without anything super epic.

Good bits:

- Everything involving Arya. Tywin and Jaqen are superb. It was also Maisie's best performance this season, I enjoyed her reminiscing about Syrio.

- The Winterfell scenes were good.

- The Night's Watch scenes were also very strong.

- Tyrion's scenes were, as always, gold. Another strong performance from Lena Headey. Glad they gave Bronn a bit more to do than spout one-liners. We're starting the build up to the Blackwater, folks!

- Stannis was amazing this episode. I wasn't sure about him at first, but he's getting better and better.

- I liked the scene with LF and the Tyrells.

Not so good bits:

- I was looking forward to Quaithe but her appearance here was a little underwhelming.

- The Cat/Brienne scene seemed a bit awkward.

- Dagmer. This guy isn't a badass reaver.