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How would you rate episode 207?


Ran
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How would you rate episode 207?  

422 members have voted

  1. 1. What's your rating from 1-10, with 10 being the highest/best

    • 1
      5
    • 2
      8
    • 3
      8
    • 4
      7
    • 5
      16
    • 6
      23
    • 7
      55
    • 8
      112
    • 9
      121
    • 10
      67


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i liked this episode. a lot actually, but there were some things that bothered me. some less important than others.

the first and foremost was the handling of the search for bran et al and the showing of the burned kids -- not one person i know who hasn't read the books thinks its bran and rickon -- and if you look on twitter, 85% (ok that's a guess) of the nonbook readers there dont either. it was just so damn obvious -- and why?? in the books i was shocked, and as another poster did, i had to skip ahead to find another bran chapter to be able to keep going. there were small inklings -- the thought theon has that people are so stupid while looking at the -- but it was very subtle.

i don't see why they couldnt have made it as subtle here -- did bran and rickon have to stop by the farm and talk about the orphans? couldn't they have just been shown own the road...then cut to theon at the farm and the walnuts? hell if they wanted some conversation re: not being able to go to a neighbors, they couldve had them talk on the road about how they cant stop anywhere b/c theon's hounds will track them. and am i the only one disappointed by the fact that they dont hide in the crypts? my only thought was that maybe they turned back around and went to the crypts -- and the timing is just shown differently, but that makes no sense since they'd meet each other on the road. my only other thought is that this is how they find the reeds -- who will harbor them and because the live in the marshes or whatever its called, no one can track them there.

either way, i thought that big reveal was super obvious, and was disappointed to find out that most non-book readers did too. such a waste of a great chance for one of the better book cliff hangers. *shakes head*

otherwise, i did like it -- i even liked the pyat pree multiplies himself and takes out everyone forcing dany to go to the hotu. makes logical sense in the storyline that she'll go there and burn the place down and the warlocks will be hating on her after she leaves.

the jaime scenes were great, but i thought the kinslaying, while shocking and awesome in that way -- though it was obv he was a dead man as he inched closer to jaime -- was a bit absurd. if they had to go to the extreme of physicality instead of conspiracy to pretend he's dead, he couldve said, i'm going to have to bloody you up a bit to make this real -- make sure you scream etc. he's impulsive sure and thinks cleos is an idiot in the books, but i dunno, as much as i'm not a jaime fan in the books anyway regardless of his redemption (same goes for theon i couldnt bring myself to feel sorry for him except to the extent that no sentient being should be treated that way) - but the whole scene was contrived

and as much as i'm liking ygritte, i think those scenes are also illogical. where the fuck is ghost? it's not like they show how ghost cant come with him b/c he is climbing the skirling pass or whatever -- they're just wandering the tundra. ghost just takes off for days or weeks but isn't physically unable to come to jon? seriously? hunting for a few days is one thing, but just not following jon at all for no reason other than "direwolves are wild"? no they're not -- not where the starks are concerned, dammit! i like that they cgi'd the dw, but at the same time, it has made them even less a part of the story than last year - when at least they attempted to have the dw attack and defend - here, they're just eye candy. bummer. that said, i am enjoying the show quite a bit, and do like being surprised and after each episode i'm pretty happy, so i gave it an 8

Edited by summer_stark
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Ahhhhhhhhhh a big footnote to my original post.

A huge potential mark decrease now hangs over the release of the Kingslayer. If he is released prior to the news of Bran and Rickon's death, then this is a fatal error. It is the reason as to why Catelyn frees him. To provide any other reason is farcical. If this occurs, episode and series take a massive blow.

Not sure I agree with that. The show set things up so that Jaime will not survive the night without Catelyn's intervention. Catelyn knows (or at least is convinced) that if Jaime dies then her daughters die. As I see it there are 2 ways to keep Jaime alive: cut off his sword hand to try to appease Karstark, or at least delay Jaime's execution until Robb returns. Or send jaime back to KL getting his guarantee that the girls will be returned.

Either decision is internally consistent with the TV version of the story, and it's an empowered decision from Catelyn, as opposed to her doing it on the say-so of Littlefinger. So it works for me.

I'm thinking Catelyn might take Jaime's hand. With the way things are working in Harrenhal I'm not sure how they're going to work in the capture of Brienne and Jaime and the hand being removed via saddistic sellsword. They set up the imminent removal of Jaime's hand quite well with Jaime saying that he'd be nothing if he couldn't be a warrior.

Catelyn knows that Jaime knows that Catelyn can't kill Jaime, so Jaime thinks she can't hurt him at all. Also knowing that Jaime would prefer death to total and permanent disability we know that Catelyn can give Jaime a fate worse than death.

I would prefer Cat to remove Jaime's hand, but aiding his escape at this point is OK by me. Though I'd prefer the escape to happen in EP 10.

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Clearly this show has something for everyone.

I think you've hit the nail on the head there. I was even chatting to my daughter post show about my beef with Qarth (she is a huge book and show fan together, and was the one who got me into this). In her opinion the Qarth scenes are meant to be totally unbelievable/surreal in a way, to emphasise the alien nature of this really strange place - and that viewers will want to 'get Dany out of there' asap. I'd never thought of it that way, but if that is the case - that the producers have gone for this deliberately, then they deserve more credit than I've given them. Either way - I'm just waiting for the HOTU to save the Qarth storyline totally.

And FWIW I STILL think Doreah MUST be involved in getting those dragons away. The scene where she could obviously handle Drogon without him batting an eyelid was put in for a reason. I think he would have seriously burned XXD's or Pyat's fingers - whether they knew 'Dracarys' or not :D

And Anti-Targ - very insightful post regarding Cat taking Jaime's hand.

Edited by Drogon's Personal Trainer
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I have got mixed feelings. At some points I said `Yeah, this is amazing. It gives me the same feelings watching it as I read the books` And at some stages I just felt a huge disappointment.

Jaime`s character was ruined for me when he killed Cleos (Alton). By the way, they should have at least made an effort to show Riverrun. Tywin would have never let a servant so close to himself. I couldn`t believe they found only two hounds in the kennels`of Winterfell and the Krakens were such good riders. They should have found a thatched roofed mill where they `caught` Bran and Rickon. And hey, where are the Reeds? Ygritte still has whitened teeth and her hair conditioned beyond the wall. I suppose Ghost went hunting too long. The whole story in Qarth starts to get a little bit confusing. I just can`t see the end of it. Am I the only one who sees these things? Or I presume I just had too high expectations about the show.

The good things: Harrenhall was pretty amazing. The costumes are just beautiful, especially the ones in Qarth. Charles Dance is brilliant. Rose Leslie said `You know nothing, Jon Snow`in the sexiest way ever. The soundtrack is still bang on.

Looking forward to watch episode 8.

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I gave it a 6, the lowest this season. I generally felt that the episode was slow and probably a set up for the last three episodes. Ironically, the story that worked the least was the bran/rickon/theon chase while it was the most faithful to the books. I think they gave too much foreshadowing information about the orphans and the walnut clue wasn't really obvious. On top of that, the bodies looked really fake. All of which point to the fact that the bodies weren't bran and rickon. I've read several posters whose nonreading friends didn't buy it at all and my nonreading GF reacted the same. I don't know how they could have make it seem more believable though. The series shows so many brutal deaths explicitly, and any offscreen death immediately raises suspicion.

I like what they did to Quarth. Now, Dany has some real stakes at play and her burning HotU makes sense. Pyat pree and XXD are true threats to her.

I'm sort of neutral towards Jaime's scenes. I guess his long absence has made me forget about him a little. The fact that he tried and failed to escape was in the books but I think it's wise of D&D to have it have immediate repurcussions (cat freeing him). The story is a lot tighter this way. Sidenote: I wonder if we'll see the boat chase this season. That felt very cinematic when I read it.

Jon's story was meh, but I didn't care much for it in the books either. The focus is so much on the wildlings/ygritte, you'd almost forget about the others and wights. It's a shame because they were the very first thing introduced in the books and in the show.

Robb's love affair is really slow... People see this relationship coming from miles away. They need to move beyond the flirtatious pleasantries and get into some physical stuff (not sex per se). Either that or show some sort of twist (like she is actually a spy or something)

Anyway, did not like the episode that much. It has nothing to do with changes but with pacing.

Rant out

Yeah, the Robb romance is just completely messed up. Granted I understand that either way he will make a stupid mistake for a king who is pledged to another to keep a strong alliance, but in the books it was so much more sudden and impulsive. He stormed the Crag, then found out his brothers were killed and Winterfell lost, then Jeyne Westerling (daughter of a Lannister bannerman...adding more depth and complication to the story) "comforts" him eventually leading to them having sex. Then Robb does what he believes is honorable and marries her, completely disregarding other consequences such as pissing off his bannermen. We are getting a little of that from the show (mostly due to Jaime's escape and killing of Karstark's son)...I don't know why Karstark really cares that Robb is with this "foreign bitch"...would make more sense if a Frey had said that. Anyways, these writers just mucking up the story. Love the show for the action, the intrigue, the incredible costuming, design, etc, but feel they are really doing too much when they have this excellent material that maybe needs TINY tweaks to fit on screen...but not these big sweeping changes.

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This time - only 5. It wasn't a good episode at all. It's starting to look as if Dagmer is going to turn being Ramsey in the last episode. A lot of unnecessary stuffing just to add shock value. The warlocks in Qarth are going all ninja and Xaro is in liege with them - WTF?! Shae is helping Sansa (Shae never cared for anyone but herself!)? Lord Tywin is getting all sensible and nostalgic and Jaime is killing some filler Lannister character just to add the episode a bit gore... And let's not forget the idiotic bones and rocks Yiggrit conversation with Jon. Are we still watching here an ASOIAF adaptation based on GRRM's book ACOK? It looks more like some second hand semi-medieval fiction for horny teenage nerds.

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All right, so this is fantasy and as such Im looking at the HBO series now as the one existing in an alternate dimention from the one in the book al la "Fringe". Maybe this view will help some of you people who are having problems with the changes. LOL

An 8 from me for Theons performance and the Tywin and Arya scenes.

Like Tyrion ALMOST comforting his sister even though she doesnt deserve an iota of pity. Glad they stopped him from actually doing it.

Jon and Ygritte, meh.

I wish they would end Danys storyline right here in the House of the Undying but I know even HBO wouldnt go that far afield.

Shae helping Sansa???? More like she really didnt like that other Maid and saw a chance to confront her.

Cliffhanger/Question of the week: Who is going to take Jaimies hand?

Edited by Ser Graymax
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Good episode, 8/10

The Winterfell scenes were great, the ending was sufficiently powerful. I wonder if non-readers will be fooled by Bran and Rickon's supposed deaths. The Harrenhall scenes were great as always, glad that Tywin is showing some ability to see through Arya's lies. I like the humanization of Cersei, great acting from Lena Headey.

Two points off for the drawn out scenes beyond the Wall (although I do love the actress playing Ygritte), and the seemingly omnipotence of Pyat Pree.

As usual I check in with my non-book brother. He is not fooled in the least based on Bran's orphan comments when they get to the farm. I really wished they would have made this more believable.

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As usual I check in with my non-book brother. He is not fooled in the least based on Bran's orphan comments when they get to the farm. I really wished they would have made this more believable.

I've rewatched a couple of times and this remains my major beef with the episode. The ending scene, which had the potential to shock the unread viewer completely numb, lacks punch because it's obvious that the two burned kids aren't Bran and Rickon. Leaving that one line of dialogue out would have made a world of difference.

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Not sure I agree with that. The show set things up so that Jaime will not survive the night without Catelyn's intervention. Catelyn knows (or at least is convinced) that if Jaime dies then her daughters die. As I see it there are 2 ways to keep Jaime alive: cut off his sword hand to try to appease Karstark, or at least delay Jaime's execution until Robb returns. Or send jaime back to KL getting his guarantee that the girls will be returned.

Either decision is internally consistent with the TV version of the story, and it's an empowered decision from Catelyn, as opposed to her doing it on the say-so of Littlefinger. So it works for me.

I'm thinking Catelyn might take Jaime's hand. With the way things are working in Harrenhal I'm not sure how they're going to work in the capture of Brienne and Jaime and the hand being removed via saddistic sellsword. They set up the imminent removal of Jaime's hand quite well with Jaime saying that he'd be nothing if he couldn't be a warrior.

Catelyn knows that Jaime knows that Catelyn can't kill Jaime, so Jaime thinks she can't hurt him at all. Also knowing that Jaime would prefer death to total and permanent disability we know that Catelyn can give Jaime a fate worse than death.

I would prefer Cat to remove Jaime's hand, but aiding his escape at this point is OK by me. Though I'd prefer the escape to happen in EP 10.

Come on, Jaime can't lose his hand before his duel with Brienne. If they are gonna cut it off in the next episode, why didn't they have Brienne fight him during his failed escape? That duel was one of the things I looked forward most to seeing on screen, and I won't forgive them if they cut it. It's not like a one-on-one duel is gonna create a huge hole in the budget.

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I've rewatched a couple of times and this remains my major beef with the episode. The ending scene, which had the potential to shock the unread viewer completely numb, lacks punch because it's obvious that the two burned kids aren't Bran and Rickon. Leaving that one line of dialogue out would have made a world of difference.

I just dont get what is the problem with the viewer knowing the boys weren't Bran and Rickon. The scene was designed for the viewer to figure it out. This follows the book as Ramsey was carrying outfits and a wolf pin and nobody reading the book thought the boys at the mill were B and R even as they were being killed.

The people who were supposed to be fooled were the people still at Winterfell and that happened - except Maester Luwin wasnt left with enough evidence to figure out the truth.

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