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How would you rate episode 210?


Ran
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How would you rate episode 210?  

931 members have voted

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

    • 1
      18
    • 2
      14
    • 3
      24
    • 4
      32
    • 5
      49
    • 6
      72
    • 7
      115
    • 8
      199
    • 9
      238
    • 10
      165


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GRRM liked foreshadowing events with omens. I sadly think that the title 'valar morghulis' is such an omen. The quality of the episode suggested that the main creative force behind the series - Benioff and Weiss are out of their depth by far. First season was easy because the book was shorter, less descriptive and had fever pov characters in fewer locations. It was easier to adapt then because all you needed to do is simply translate the book page by page into a script. With CoK they had to do some creative work and it is clear they failed miserably. They completely lost story arcs relating to the Others (plenty of subtle hints in the novels) and the coming of age for many of the primary pov characters. They completely butchered the nature of the world - they shades of grey rather than black and white. Catelyn was greyed properly in season 2 by Jamie (finally). Robb turns out to be stupid not tragic with his marriage. Sansa wasn't naive and childish and confronted with harsh reality not known from songs and tales but just... well... bland...and boring. Bran is nothing special in season 2... and why? Dany is terrible... it is actually painful to watch. I often skip her scenes when watching again... The show turns out to be predictable and full of cliches everywhere the writers have a say.

And there is political correctness which annoys the hell out of me in sf and fantasy settings It took a chunk of a amazing realism which Martin put into his world.Arranged marriages are rarely seen for what they really were as if the mere concept was offending. To even things out all whores are saints - so we get a lot of Shae and Ros and other saintly prostitutes.Ygritte turns out to be just a dumb horny b*tch from your regular high school and not the feisty free-minded woman who believes that Jon Snow "stole" her as it was her people's custom. And who by the way was a bastard... born out of wedlock - huge problem south of the wall, no problem up north. But apparently he chose the Watch because black was always his color.

He just looks good in it.

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But my main reason is why they were there in the first place. Can anyone honestly tell me why they are there in the first place??? I can manage some stupid nonsensical magic because of the dragons... but why those clowns????

What the heck? Do you not know what happened at the Fist of the First Men?

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9. I tried my best to repress my memory of the books, and saw this for what it is: fantastic TV. I too watched season 1 before powering through all the books, and thought it was the greatest thing to ever come on TV. The books are just so intricately woven and have so many nuggets that can side track you from the main story, not to mention piles and piles of witty dialogue. The show just can't cram all that in, especially in just 10 episodes. I wonder how much it would cost to expand the season to maybe 12 or even 13 episodes, just to get in some crucial details of the story.

All in all, I'll keep watching the show, especially since Martin will take the next 50 or so years writing TWoW

Edited by Part time king
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9/10

Great stuff. Didn't mind the HOTU changes, as most non-book readers are completely clueless to the backstory, and it is unreasonable that they would have the faintest idea who Rhaegar is (hell, most of them don't even seem to know that Ser Jorah is Lord Commander Joer's son). The three-headed dragon seems pretty important, but it's not unrealistic that they could squeeze it in at some later point. Besides, by the Dany has any relevance to the rest of the story the show will probably be cancelled anyway. That Dany stayed in Essos so long was GRRM's biggest mistake.

I have a few gripes however:

Why didn't Luwin tell Bran & co that it was the northmen who burned down Winterfell? Such an easy thing to do, and would have saved a lot of confusion.

Why didn't Arya kill anyone? Might seem like a small point to most, but as Arya is by far my favourite character, I think it's the biggest flaw of the season.

Why doesn't the White Walker kill Sam when he's sitting there like a dumbass?

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Really the only thing that stopped this from being a ten was the house of the undying, but let's be honest, they've fucked Dany up so much this season, was anyone expecting anything less? I even liked her walking out of the Throne room to the other side of the wall, considering that's where her real war will be, but the way she was chained and killed Pyat Pree was just...I'm convinced D&D are part of the crew that hate Dany and are trying as hard as they can to make the T.V. folk do the same.

I haven't read the books, but I plan to start them this summer. I will say that Dany is my least favorite character and her story line is by far the least interesting to me. As a non-reader I think HBO spent too many precious minutes in the final episode on her. Her meanderings through the house of the undying were very boring and seemed pointless in moving the story forward. But I'm sure it's essential in the books. I really have to say I do not much care what happens to her! Yet I have a feeling that she and her dragons will play a very important role in dealing with the white walkers someday...? So why is HBO making her story line so bland?

Otherwise, I give it an 8.

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What the heck? Do you not know what happened at the Fist of the First Men?

That was sarcasm. A tv show is governed by different rules than the books but it doesn't mean that it can stop making sense. For example HOTU visions should obviously be different for clarity's sake but who they are now unintelligible and Drogo.. that was waste of time.What she was told and shown in the HOTU moves the next two books forward and not backwards. Similarly the Others have an intricate backstory in the books and in the show they are random monsters that look like blue crap. BLUE CRAP. Good art in a tv show is not about flashy cgi unless you are 7 and watch Transformers. Also If there is no sensible mythology regarding whitewalkers in the show - and there ISNT so far. The second season is much more fun to watch if you read the books mostly because spotting characters and events from the book is so much fun. But it is much weaker as a whole and on its own. Being a fan of the series does not mean you need to put 5 of 5stars everywhere like some fanbois.

But perhaps you would also like to give 9/10 to this steaming piece of marketing crap that was known as Lost seasons 3 to 6? In this case I would ask whether you might have charged Kings Landing with Stannis without helmets.

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Gave it a 7, mainly because the Houses of the Undying stuff was poorly done. I understand that the visions, which were confusingly cryptic in the books, would be incomprehensible on TV (to non-readers), but they should have included the prophecies. In the book Dany (OK, Drogon) does not kill Pyat Pree with dragonfire, but rather incinerates the eponymous "Undying Ones". And Xaro....

Another nit to pick: the White Walkers looked a little too grade B horror movie cliché for my liking-- as if they had borrowed the make-up artist from the old Thriller video.

Minor quibble: non-readers may be confused as to why Sansa did not go with the Hound last week, since it certainly seemed like she was considering it.

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I'm fine with most of what transpired throughout this season save Jon and Dany. I really hope they start acting more like the characters that Martin wrote and less like idiots.And more ghost dammit!!! There I'm done. :thumbsup:

P.S. I rated this episode an 8.

Edited by Sword of the Late Night
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The season did not end on a high note for me. Too many unsatisfactory tying off of plot threads.

Robb / Talissa - ill conceived modification of the story to start wilth and ended with a pathetic wimper. I think a lot of people will be thinking Robb more or less earned his fate, albeit no one ever deserves that sort of fate. I think this will have people reacting very differently to how they reacted in the book. I just hope they find some way to convincingly contrive Talissa as being a reasonably good strategic match. In aSoS Jeyne Westerling is not bad as a strategic match, not as good as marrying a Frey, but still marrying into a Western noble family has its uses vis-a-vis the conflict with the Lannisters. Marrying Talissa has no such utility. And they way it was handled with the one scene with Cat was very very weak.

Not at all happy with how Jon and Qhorin came to fight. Having an actual pre-determined conspiracy between the two, I think, is an important part of the story. Again a conclusion to a plot thread which took the story in a strange direction, purely to get more screen time between Ygritte and Jon.

More than happy with how things ended in Winterfell. Just enough show and tell.

Dany, again the ending was the logical conclusion to taking the story in a less than satisfactory direction. Fine with Doreah dying, given she's dead in the books, but now Dany has no handmaidens. I guess that leaves Dany with young...her name escapes me just now... from Astapor as her sole handmaiden. I guess that's fine as far as it goes. I suppose killing off the whole 13 leaves Dany suitably positioned to be able to leave Qarth at her leisure, rather than having to escape at short notice. But then again if XXD and Pyat Pree hadn't colluded she could have burnt down the HotU and still been able to leave in a leisurely manner. No doubt the 13 12 would have paid her a sufficient sum, and given her a ship to have her be on her way. Anyway, kinda so-so about her situation right now. Great to see the wee dragons in action though.

Poor old Tyrion, it's all down hill from here. As far as it goes the scenes in KL went well. The gloating of Maester Pycell was good. Not sure what to make of Varys-Ros. But I like every scene with Varys, so kind of mixed feelings there.

I knew the 3 blows of the horn would come this ep. But somehow attacking in broad daylight didn't quite work for me. Still was a reasonably ominous ending. Fugly White Walkers, but for me, not shit my pants scary.

Arya's ending was fine. Having Jaqen do his thing worked, it's just a shame Tom won't be back with us in future seasons, he did a fantastic job.

So, I toyed with a 6/10, but decided it wasn't the weakest ep of the sason so I gave it a 7.

So on balance Robb and Jon being let downs in particular (Robb especially being weak TV irrespective of the books) with a few other little gripes prevented me from giving it a better score.

Edited by The Anti-Targ
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10/10. Every scene was great. Sure no visions in the House of the Undying but the showrunners will probably save those revelations for later in the series so a average viewer who hasn't read the books doesnt get shit on by so much information it becomes confusing. I liked how they showed the Others and how slowly they are moving towards the fist of the first men. When reading the books I always wondered why arent the Others attacking yet before the dragons are full grown. Now it makes sense to me because when you are controling a undead army moving through snow its like watching a snail from start to finish on a football field.

Alfie Allen needs a emmy for his performance. And Im really hoping they left the ending with him so vague because they plan on expanding his story line so he isnt just gone for next season. Theon vs The Horn-Blower EPIC!

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5/10 for me.

Forgetting that the books exist, the show still seemed confused and incoherent.

After all the worry about the Others, they turn out to be fairly harmless - Sam encounters one and you wonder why he bothered to hide. The Other's skin is pretty chapped, but you have to expect that when you lead a parade in a snow-storm with no shirt.

Isn't the newly anointed Lord of Harrenhal, that master of subtle intrigue, even a little concerned about the consequences of walking out in the middle of an official court function to go and chat with the king's freshly abandoned fiancee in front of the entire court? Did Cersei, Varys, even Joffrey really not notice?

How does Tyrion talk so loudly and effortlesly the second he wakes up with a raw, red, stitched up slash through his face? Doesn't it hurt? For that matter, Maester Luwin's fatal wound apparently didn't stop him from moving a considerable distance away from where he was speared and talking at length in a dramatic stage voice to Bran and Osha - since he seemed in a talkative mood couldn't he have at least told them and us who burned down the castle?

And Xaro, king of Qarth - do they not believe in security guards in Qarth? Daenerys came to Qarth with a pitifully small following and proceeded to lose more in the city - how is she now able to ransack the halls of Qarth's ruler? Is everyone in the city asleep?

As for TV Robb - in a world in which arranged marriages are the norm, he forswears himself and shames the one ally who can block his route home not as a matter of personal honor (as book Robb did), but as an act of "I'ma do me" childishness worthy of Jersey Shore.

And then there's the return of Ros the Prostitute, now Varys' partner. Blah.

Last week's episode wasn't just good - it was truly exciting TV. This week's episode wasn't just bad, it was silly.

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OK, even though the HoTU, a huge plot point, was reduced to little more than a weak action scene, I can understand some of the rationale. Mystical scenes that try to portray through imagery aspects of a complex narrative have already been proven to be a dud concept (see 80s Dune).

But WTF were they doing with the attack of the Others? I remember that part of the book being actually pretty scary from a character perspective and built for TV Hordes of white walkers attacking at night have been replaced with a bunch of CGI wights trudging through the frozen wastes? What an idiotic replacement, they didn't even have to spend much money to film that scene. All they needed was a bunch of blue eyes running through the darkness and guys in black being cut to pieces. What a waste of a scene.

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I gave it a solid 9. I was trying to do a straight re-watch of the second season before this episode but only got up through episode 5 before the last episode started. I thought they did a really good job tying up things but then leaving the viewer wondering what will happen in season 3. I was completely happy with the House of the Undying and Dany's arc in Qarth ending. Much more emotional for me than in the book. The book left me a bit confused. I enjoyed the ending and I got creeped out by the White Walkers. Bring on Sam the Slayer!

I think the season turned out quite well. I've been thinking about this over the past few days as the season is coming to a close. I've read all the books and while I don't necessarily get some of the changes, I like the fact that there have been added scenes not just this season but season 1 as well. The show needs to do that for a variety of reasons. 1) As an adaption from print media to a visual media, things that work great in a book and make sense for that format, usually do not translate well on a screen, and vice versa. 2) There are lots of things in the books that happen off-screen (or should it be off-page?) that we, as the reader, can only speculate on. The average TV viewer will more than likely want to see that, so some liberties have to be taken. 3) It would be pretty damn boring if the series was word-for-word with the books. I have an imagination and am completely happy visualizing things in my head. If the series was identical to the book I'd have zero interest in watching it. So, to try and entice the book reader or potential book reader, you need to add or even change things. I'm fine with that as long as the OVERALL integrity of the story remains in tact.So far, I think the shows writers and producers (GRRM being one of them) have remained true to the structure of the story.

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