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How would you rate episode 209?


Ran
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How would you rate episode 209?  

783 members have voted

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

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7/10. One of the better episodes. Some good, some bad. I thought Cersei, Sansa and Joffrey were all really good as usual. The explosion of the wildfire was really, really well done. The rest of the battle scene had some comical stuff thrown in, IMO, like the top of the guy's head getting chopped off.

Minor gripe, but even with the budget constraints, would it have been too hard to throw in some far away or overhead shots to show more of the boats and Stannis' army? I think it would've just added a nice "epicness" to the battle, which has been missing throughout the show.

Wasn't a fan of the Sansa/Hound scene. Book version, way better. It's actually one of my favorite parts of the book. I did like the Cersei/Sansa scene, though.

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I loved this episode, but of course I love the series anyway. What's a bit annoying to me is..ok I might be entering troll territory here ..but: I am so sure if we were told this episode was written by someone who isn't GRRM, A LOT of people, -including Elio and Linda - would find so many things to bash. So many DOWNS and not so many TOPS. I can see how this board would be filled with "Cersei would NEVER say that!" "Varys giving a map to Tyrion lol, why do they think they are better writers than GRRM!" "Sandor and Bronn scene was SO WRONG!"...

My point is..all these people who are now saying "this is how you adapt" are annoying the seven hells out of me. All episodes have this much diversions from the books, or had managed to keep the spirit of books to this degree overall. This episode was not so different than others in terns of adaptation or diversion from books.

So very true.

The battle-based adjustments are understandable for the most part. The chain (and what it would take to make the chain awesome) is beyond prohibitively expensive; Stannis as fighter seems like a level of interest thing likely dictated by the fact that random Baratheon soldiers attacking is kind of boring.

But I'm curious to hear why the Hound was made to be nicer, and the interaction with Sansa less sexualized (at least from his POV) than in the books. Is it merely uncomfortable because Sophie is 16? Did they think the Hound would come across as completely awful? I'm not complaining; I always find the (usually very good) reasons interesting.

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I loved this episode, but of course I love the series anyway. What's a bit annoying to me is..ok I might be entering troll territory here ..but: I am so sure if we were told this episode was written by someone who isn't GRRM, A LOT of people, -including Elio and Linda - would find so many things to bash. So many DOWNS and not so many TOPS. I can see how this board would be filled with "Cersei would NEVER say that!" "Varys giving a map to Tyrion lol, why do they think they are better writers than GRRM!" "Sandor and Bronn scene was SO WRONG!"...

My point is..all these people who are now saying "this is how you adapt" are annoying the seven hells out of me. All episodes have this much diversions from the books, or had managed to keep the spirit of books to this degree overall. This episode was not so different than others in terns of adaptation or diversion from books.

I disagree. The difference between this and the last 3 episodes isn't semantics. Beyond the technical achievements of this episode, it was also superior on a number of levels of keeping to the spirit of the book while changing the details. I'm in a camp that isn't particulary troubled if they a take a different route to get from a A to B (i.e. removing the chain and creating a Wildfire bomb), because the end result still demonstrates Tyrion's ingenuity.

Its a fundamentally different issue when Catelyn releases Jamie prior to learning of the deaths of Bran and Rickon. One is driven by absolute desperation and loss and the other by a contrived and far less dramatically satisfying rationale of Karstark's men getting drunk and deciding to kill Jamie.

Its apples and oranges.

Anyways, I'm still pleasantly suprised with the end result of Blackwater and is has tentatively restored my confidence they can get this show back on track in Season 3.

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Couple of quick thoughts:

I don't think Lena Headey was nominated for an Emmy by HBO, and I know Blackwater was not submitted (I think, because either it wasn't completely done OR because they didn't want spoilers out there).

But both are a shame. I think Lena has outperformed everyone this year -- Dinklage, Dance, Maisie, even Alfie, who has been #2 -- as the script has given her more to do. I've never thought of her as a great (or poor) actress, but she's really been fantastic this year and I wonder if my prior impression was lack of great roles (I haven't seen her in a ton).

And while this episode wasn't perfect, or even my favorite of the series (Baelor, for me), it was done very well, and it was something never before done on tv.

But, please, stop complaining about scale. Complain about pace, characters, whatever. Not scale. Season one had a lot of scenes that lacked it; the tourney, the hunt, etc. Most of that was budget. When you look at this season, the melee, Stannis' fleet, Blackwater... understand that the scale you want and remember from the books may only be really possible with the type of money they aren't going to spend. Complaining does no good. 99% of networks and producers wouldn't have even ATTEMPTED to show the battle. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

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Only a 10 from me, guys - sorry ;) (But that's because Ran won't let us vote to 20!)

Nothing more to be said. Awesome, awesome episode. Even Shae could do no wrong for me tonight.

My only complaint has nothing to do with the show. Spare a thought for us here in the UK where the bloody stupid, bollocking, sodding, effin' cretinous commentators on Sky Atlantic talked all over the closing credits and The Rains of Castamere!! Bastards!

Phew - it's going to take some time to come down from this episode. I'd better go and plunge into a cold shower or something.

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Did you miss the Hand's Tourney from season one, where Littlefinger explains it to Sansa?

I remember the story from the book, but no I don't recall this in the tourney scene last season Just Littlefinger making some witicisms about Renly and Loras (and showing some creepy interest in Sansa), Gregor cutting his horse's head off, and Robert being drunk. Apparently it was one of those quickie things that if you blinked you missed it.

Also, I grasp the budgetary limits and I was NOT disappointed with the wildfire as displayed-- I am still giving the episode a 10.

As for Tyron at the gate, I had a sense of "Huh? That's all they had to do? Tip over a boat and cut a couple limbs off?"

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I just watched it in the UK and will give it a 10- . The - being for the ending being too sudden for my liking (tywin riding in...."yup, we've won"...... Credits)

Apart from that it was of course perfect.

What did completely spoiled it for me however, is the fact that SKY Atlantic (basically HBO for the UK) put 4(!) advert blocks in. It completely took away the pace and didn't get the chance to get fully immersed in it.

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Absolutely brilliant episode.

I give it a 9. I think you can only give a 10 if you couldn't possibly improve on anything and as great as this episode was it wasn't 100% perfect. This was after all the most exciting part of CoK to draw from and bring to tv screens so there was some room for improvement but not much.

People here complaining about Stannis being first up the ladder is a bit silly. It was an blatant way of GRRM showing how he and Joffrey are polar opposites... one king hiding behind his mum's skirts while the other is battered and bloody and doesn't even want to retreat even when the day is lost.

And nitpicking on the fact that Stannis wasn't wearing a helmet is even more ridiculous - it's tv for christs sake, the battle is at night and the guy in question is merely a secondary character in a show which has an absolutely massive cast, you have to make the show accessible for those who haven't read the books.

I must say of all 19 episodes so far this was the one I was most looking forward to while at the same time half-dreading in case they screwed it up. It was quality, a strong 9/10.

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It's a 10, yeah it's a 10!!!

That was freakin' awesome! One of the best things I have ever seen on TV (and on screen generally). Loved every single minute of it and the script was amazing.

The voting scale must be increased. 10 is just not enough anymore ;)

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Great episode. I gave it a 9 only because I thought the chains might have added another "cruncher" to the wildfire explosion. But very well adapted indeed overall. Sansa showed a little spine (at last) and Joffrey's cravenness came through nicely.

This episode just saved the season for me.

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Ok, I read five pages straight of comments. Agree with most and strongly disagree with others. As for my personal opinion, this episode extremely ROCKED!!

It's been a while since I concluded that, unlike the first season, which clearly seemed to have been made more like a close adaptation of the novel, with many parts even strictly resembling the actual scenes as described in the book, this season sets off its own path, and is as much a complement to the original work as it is an adaptation of it. We see characters and events much more developed and/or interpreted from different angles. In the book, Stannis is rather absent from this battle, merely mentioned. Even later, his leading the siege is referenced only vaguely. In here, we see part of what he did (And we can take it for cannon. Martin himself wrote this, after all).

Those who judge too harshly should actually be opening themselves to the perspectives of events already related in the books, because most of the times, we only have one, two at best. This battle probably has the most POVs involved in any scene of the books, with Davos, Sansa and Tyrion all providing feedback to what's going on, but that's a rare case (The only one I can remember).

To those who actually believe this was a cheap battle scene... well... you should either stop watching the series or start taking it for what it is: a TV show, with limited budget (With which they've been doing seriously HELL OF A JOB, particularly in this episode). Odd, that readers of fantasy have such a hard time opening their minds to interpretations. Purism in fiction is... rather antithesis, I think.

I absolutely loved this episode, and have loved the season ever since I decided to play by its rules and not the books'. I encourage all who still have trouble with the series, to do the same. D.R.

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It was a pity the chain was left out, but I was awed by the wildfire explosion scenes.

And I have to say I found it a bit of a stretch to believe that Stannis was first up the ladder with no protection on his head when defenders are throwing rocks and raining arrows down from the battlements. I get that it's tv and the main characters have to be recognisable but surely there is a compromise somewhere which is a bit closer to what might really happen in such a situation. It doesn't have to be a full face helm. Same goes for the hound, wouldn't his helm make him very recognisable anyway?

That said I think the second half of this 2nd season has been much stronger than the first half, and Blackwater continued the improving trend. Overall I thought they did a good job with the budget they had available and I enjoyed the episode a lot. 9/10.

Oh and the Rains of Castamere song was cool too. Shame the Sky continuity announcer in the UK decided to spoil the atmosphere of the closing credits version by speaking over it.

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