How would you rate episode 209?

[7V3N]

Ok, I have not seen it mentioned enough. Props to Jack Gleeson. The guy has done a hell of a job with Joffrey. He needs some sort of award.

Edited May 28, 2012 by The Shadow Fox

[DonnaG99]

Fantastic! Must be watched several times to catch all the intricate details.

[Jamie Lannister]

Ok, I have not seen it mentioned enough. Props to Jack Gleeson. The guy has done a hell of a job with Joffrey. He needs some sort of award.

I actually felt a little sympathy for him here. He came off as genuinely scared witless, and even his most loyal defender tells him to go fuck himself...

[Dru]

Easiest and first 10 I've given out this season. Best episode out of both seasons and may be the best hour of television I have ever watched!!!! Just finished my 3rd watch through. The build up to the battle was AMAZING!!! Me and my wife agree that it felt like the build up to Helms Deep in The Two Towers. All I can say is WOW!!! Wish GRRM was writing every episode though I would rather he finish the books. Great, great GREAT!!!

[miguel sanchez]

That kicked raw ass!

So many of those scenes were fuckin' perfect. The actors fuckin' nailed those classic lines from the book. Bronn and the gold cloaks singing the rains of castamere, an awesome inclusion. The wildfire explosion: off the fuckin' chain!! The violence! The Hound, Stannis, Bronn, all extremely badass! Oh and that whole scene with Cersei and Sansa was really fantastic and true to the book, like I thought Lena Headey was a fairly good Cersei but now it's elevated to a damn near perfect Cersei. The hound walking out was great, as was Joffrey being a little puss and better still was Tyrion getting his moment as the hero, great battle speach. And then he gets to kill some guys! I loved it when Tyrion kills guys when I was reading. And then you fuckin' have Tywin riding in at the end and Cersei's little story to Tommen and, ahem, 'medicine', Tyrion gettin' hacked and Pod saving him... ahh man whole ending was brilliant. I loved Stannis having to be dragged away from the battle yelling "stand and fight damn you!", it's so Stannis, dude is nothing if not determined.

Gave it a fuckin' 10. Fuckin' aye. I've given one 9 and two 8s but this is my first fuckin' perfect 10!

[pleonasm]

My first impression was that this was really impressive. The hour flew by. Not perfect, by any means, but very well done. There was a couple of really outstanding moments. Even Joffrey (and Lancel) was written with a more nuanced hand tonight. I loved what happened with Davros and his son. Truly tragic.

A couple of minor quibbles.

Other than for dumbing for the audience, I don't know why they didn't show more of the King's Landing fleet moored in the bay. It would have taken the Wildfire explosion (which was awesome) to a whole new level of awesomeness.

I wasn't sold on the Sansa and the Hound scene. Given the direction they went with the scene, I wish they had made the Hound 'stinking drunk' at this point. So Sansa's motivation to not go with him would make more sense.

A scene or two of Stannis commmanding would have been helpful. Yes - Ass kicking Stannis is cool, but he was leading an army, and we kinda lost that with his rushing ahead at every opportunity.

Other than Tyrion's, the slice and dice CGI shots of decapitating soldiers were silly and did take u out of the moment.

That said, this was so much better than the last three episodes and easily one of the most rewatchable episodes in the series history.

A solid 9.

[Greywolf2375]

Good episode, But, I just do not see how everyone is rating it so high. The battle of Blackwater wasn't anything like the book and was dumbed down and cheesy. I love the show, But the battle was terrible. With CGI nowadays, no excuse for not following the book more closely. I think it looked like a B movie battle actually. Dark and cheaply made. My opinion.

My guess as to why many people are rating it highly is because the acting & dialogue was the best this series has seen. The battle - as fun as it was to watch - was completely made secondary to the characters - which is exactly how GRRM wrote the books. Yes, the books had the creeping snakes of flame and hundreds of ships....and the show didn't. But it did have CGI that made - as Triskele pointed out - the 6th highest grossing film of all time, RotK, looks like I made the graphics with crayola crayons. Everyone is different, everyone has their opinion, but try watching this one again for the people, not the explosions and maybe you'll see it in a different light.

[Mooncat]

Easily the best episode of Game of Thrones so far. The buildup from the last episode was slow, but this definitively made up for the waiting. Despite the lack of 'Renly ghost' and chain, I thought the battle was brilliant.

The acting was even better. Sophie Turner was fantastic. I couldn't stop shouting that Joffrey was such a little shit; Jack Gleeson is doing so much right.

The Hound still creeps me out, and I still don't care about Davos.

10/10, without a doubt. Seriously. There was finally an actual battle!

[Greywolf2375]

Regarding Hollywoodizing Stannis and other major characters in any movie/show, it's the fact that they rarely given them helmets. Stannis could have had his head crushed.

But this episode: 10 10 10 10 10, 10 on everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seen this a few times - take Blackhawk Down. The producers decided they had to put names on each characters helmets to make sure the audience could identify the characters easily. Same thing here - is it unrealistic, sure, but with the number of people not being able to identify that it was a Kingsguard - Moore - that nicked off Tyrions cheek I think it was the right choice for them to have some characters go without helms.

Course it would have been bad ass if they did have the Hound with his dog helmet on. As long as it didn't bounce around like it was made of aluminum foil.

[Greywolf2375]

I wonder how anyone willfully gave this episodes the 6s and the 7s I spot up there...

Hmmm... so a 10 would be the televisation of the Second Coming? Or would Jesus' visual effects and make up or whatever maybe even get that down to a 9??

:dunno:

Or they have a different opinion than you and had different expectations for it. If you enjoyed it, why let what someone else thought of it bug you?

[legba11]

Normally I rate after a second viewing. No point to here. I just wish they had an option 11.

[KnightsOfDany]

Too bad there is no option over 10, who voted a 3 I'll have there head on a pike, jk everyone is entitled to an opinion i guess

[Flou]

Easily the best episode this season.

[EgoistMusketeer]

That was K-razy !

[saucyjak]

Some people are just ridiculous. They forget to even film a battle ship scene you need to get a huge water tank, tons of CGI, and expert stuntmen. To pull off what we even saw was a minor miracle. Not to mention saucyjak seems to enjoy picking fights.

Ive posted on this forum 4 times. The only other post is in literature reccomendations. Why do you say I enjoy picking fights? Many times on a forum thread such as this, many wouldn't bother to post agnist the vast majority because of responses such as yours.

As many people that are rating this Ten, They are ALL saying, basically, that the episode could not be better or improved upon. I enjoyed the episode, I never would of read ASOIF if not for seeing this excellent series. I guess My knowledge of the cost of CGI is lacking, That doesn't mean Im gonna jump on the fanboy wagon and say how awesome the battle was when it could not even come close to what is described in the book. Yes the Green fire was quite nice, But the actual fighting was pretty lame IMHO. The fact that they changed the batlle ALOT more then just leaving out the chain, also did not impress. Somone has to counter the "Awesome Awesome 10, 10 ,10 comments, with some reality. I would rate the episode a 9, without the battle, and a 6 with the battle. MHO, that is if Im allowed one without being accused of picking a fight, which I am not, nor am I trolling,

[BoldAsYouPlease]

Wait... the Red wedding is going to be next season? I thought it was in the second half of the third book?

Actually the Red Wedding sort of ended the first half of ASoS. If they indeed split ASoS into two seasons then the Red Wedding episode definitely needs to be the finale of next season - hopefully Martin will script it. It'd be a phenomenal, devastating conclusion to the season.

Edited May 28, 2012 by BoldAsYouPlease

[jarl the climber]

I rated the episode a nine, I tend to like that they focus more time on developing the story than on action sequences. They did the best they could with the budget they had. Shifting between the battle and Cersei/Sansa kind of hurt the pace a little. Did Ser Illyn Payne deliberately let Sansa go, knowing Cersei wanted her murdered if the city fell? It was never clear in the book but it seems like he might have a heart after all.

[JonF311]

Overall an excellent episode, and I gave it a 10.

Some minor quibbles:

- The Tyrion-leading-the-charge scene did feel rushed as others noticed.

- The wildfire special effects were awesome, though as others noted the book left the impression the fire filled the entire river and was more critical to Stannis' defeat.

- At some point the series should have established how Sandor came by his own burn scars; the scene where he turns tail would have been

more comprehensible to those who haven't read the books.

- Yes, we have to have a naked whore. Good grief, will the gratuitous T&A never end?

Some quibbles with other comments:

- Yes, a single "ghost ship" coming out of the mist is suspicious-- but what are Davos et al supposed to do? Stannis' fleet does not consist of hydroplanes. There's no "Reverse engines!" possible.

- Ancient and medieval leaders often did lead at the vanguard in the pre-firearms days. Armor and skill were to protect them. Yes, sometimes they came to grief but them were the breaks. Leading from the rear was very poorly thought of. But Stannis does need a helmet. Why not give him a very obvious one, something stag-like with some hint of the Lord of Light?

- The Cersei scenes, IMO, were quite properly balanced with the battle scenes. It brought home the creeping fear women would endure shut up in a castle with no idea how things were going-- and knowing what their own fate would be if the city fell.

- Yes, Cersei is mean to Sansa-- she genuinely does think the girl is stupid. But (IMO) she's not just being a sadist, unlike Joffrey. On some level she's also trying to toughen Sansa up, knowing all too well what the girl is heading for if she marries Joff. There's a touch-- just a touch-- of womanly comraderie in her bitchiness.

A couple more comments:

- Lena Headley deserves an Emmy for this season. She has created a believable human Cersei, with all her nastiness intact, yet a woman we can alsounderstand, something Martin in the books has badly failed to do. Even knowing that she would not poison Tommen at the end, I believed she might do it. And note where she goes to die: to the Iron Throne she could not actually make her own. There's also a creepy note of unconscious prohecy in her drunken words and the parable she tells Tommen: has she in fact written Joffrey off bit can't admit it to herself?

- I had a fleeting flash of sympathy for Joffrey during his indecision whether to obey his mother's summons or stay at the battle. it lasted about .8 seconds, but it was real while it was there.

- Uh-oh. Cersei smells something fishy about Shae.

- Good grief, even Lancel was good tonight instead of being a total simpering idiot! Yes, he ran back to Cersei after getting a flesh wound, but then stood up to her.

- Go Podrick!

[saucyjak]

My guess as to why many people are rating it highly is because the acting & dialogue was the best this series has seen. The battle - as fun as it was to watch - was completely made secondary to the characters - which is exactly how GRRM wrote the books. Yes, the books had the creeping snakes of flame and hundreds of ships....and the show didn't. But it did have CGI that made - as Triskele pointed out - the 6th highest grossing film of all time, RotK, looks like I made the graphics with crayola crayons. Everyone is different, everyone has their opinion, but try watching this one again for the people, not the explosions and maybe you'll see it in a different light.

I agree, Masterfully done episode, when considering the dialogue and acting. The characters are what makes this series so wonderful. The epicness of the battle of Blackwater was lost. I just do not see whay everyone is giving it a 10, Unless its a "10 considering the lack of funds they had for the battle scenes" regardless, I loved the episode, just trying to bring things down to earth a bit. Inject a little reality

[Bambi]

OMG, i jizzed in my pants when the wildfire banged. :D

2 little dislikes: the sudden cuts when tyrion freed the mud gate - it was totally out of blue to me. The other minor dislike: too much of Cersei, i love him playing but a lot of her lines didn't add anything new to her character imo, those screentimes could've been spent on other things - maybe an explenation why is Loras there. I'm pretty sure it will be included in the final episode anyway.