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How would you rate episode 301?


Ran
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How would you rate episode 301?  

795 members have voted

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

    • 1
      4
    • 2
      3
    • 3
      3
    • 4
      17
    • 5
      27
    • 6
      77
    • 7
      185
    • 8
      302
    • 9
      130
    • 10
      45


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5/10. Highly summarised, rushed, lack of depth and edited for the MTV generation. Even the nudity was gratuitous and entirely unnecessary for the scene and I'm all for a bit of naked flesh. The production and CGI is improved although some of the backdrops are still laughable. Add all this to the fact that GRRM is probably never going to finish the series as he really doesn't have a clue where he's going with it anymore and I'm thoroughly disillusioned. Seriously, who begins a book by saying I'm going to make this into "x" volumes but doesn't have a clue what he's working towards in the final book. Good story, poor storyteller. The first book should have been an end to it as it's all been a bit downhill since then and the tv series is just cashing in and giving employment to the entirety of the British acting profession.

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5/10. Highly summarised, rushed, lack of depth and edited for the MTV generation. Even the nudity was gratuitous and entirely unnecessary for the scene and I'm all for a bit of naked flesh. The production and CGI is improved although some of the backdrops are still laughable. Add all this to the fact that GRRM is probably never going to finish the series as he really doesn't have a clue where he's going with it anymore and I'm thoroughly disillusioned. Seriously, who begins a book by saying I'm going to make this into "x" volumes but doesn't have a clue what he's working towards in the final book. Good story, poor storyteller. The first book should have been an end to it as it's all been a bit downhill since then and the tv series is just cashing in and giving employment to the entirety of the British acting profession.

If you think that only the first book was any good, why do you even bother posting on this forum?

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For the record:

Averaging out the total votes, the 456 voters give it a 7.64 of 10. By comparison, last year's opener was at 7.56. Normalizing a bit by taking off the top and bottom 5%, it climbs to 7.69

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I think it deserves a 7/10.

Most of it was pretty decent, and there was that outstanding scene between Tywin and Tyrion which was lifted in great part from the books. This is easily one of my favourite scenes from the show actually, it was handled splendidly. Dany's story is the other highlight, it looks to be a distinct improvement on last year's (I really like her in that blue dress too) and Astapor was pretty well done all things told.

The rest was fine although some of the lines and the delivery had me creasing on occasion. Littlefinger's 'lovely day for it' just cemented his status as a joke (for me) and there was something weird about Loras' 'Marge does a lot of charity work.' Minor points ...

However, the resolution to the last season's cliffhanger was very poor and bordered on the nonsensical. It was basically a cheap retconning of the original season 2 scene with some added spice by dint of the fact Mormont chewing out Sam made no sense.

The scene between Davos and Salla was very good and the actual Stannis-Mel-Davos scene was pretty well done and acted, so I enjoyed it, but I agree it did a disservice to the Stannis of the books.

Edited by Bran the Cute
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For the record:

Averaging out the total votes, the 456 voters give it a 7.64 of 10. By comparison, last year's opener was at 7.56. Normalizing a bit by taking off the top and bottom 5%, it climbs to 7.69

Nice, what would you rate this episode?

Funny when I read this treat that the one is complaining that it's rushed and the other is complaining that it's too slow paced. found that funny. Personally I found the pacing wonderful. (only thing they could have better left Robb for episode 2, and gave Jon 1 more scene imo). And most people I know that didn't read the books were, huh is the episode over? They thought that they were only at the half of the episode ^^

ps. don't forget that this isn't an avarage show, where the first episode is going to blow on screen. They are building up to something big, so the first 2 episodes needs to be set-ups for later on. (In season 5 and 6 probably the first 3 episode, more characters so more deviding).

Edited by kevin1989
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4/10. If there were 10 scenes, I may have liked 4. Loved Tywin and Tyrion. Loved Astapor (minus the immediate selmy reveal).

Liked the Margery scenes.

Very much disliked Harranhal. There was no explanation to anything. Rushed and added nothing to the episode. Everything north of the wall. Opening scene was meh. Sam was surrounded by wights and ww's last time we saw him now this happens? Jon Snow continues to be a ruined plotline to me.

Lf and sansa was so lame. People have 1000s of spies in their employ and he just takes her to a dock? They could have done something a bit more creative. Please please please kill Ros!!!

Margery was good wasnt all that impressed with their dinner conversation.

Davos and Stannis, dont even get me started on Davos and his feeble attempt to kill Mel.

I really dont like D&D's interpertations of Cersei, Jon, Stannis, and Davos at all.

Edited by Mulled Wino
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Stannis imprisoning Davos seems to be in character IMO. He must already be pissed at Davos for convincing him to leave Mel behind. And judging by the fact that he's only been seeking Mel's counsel, it seems that he trusts her the most on Dragonstone. And the vision he sees in the flames in 2x10 also confirms this. So if a man he trusted tried to kill the only person who has been counseling him, it doesn't seem out of character for him to imprison Davos. Also, the non-reader doesn't know how long Stan intends to keep him in the dungeons.

Also, Stan didn't seem too happy about imprisoning Davos. He even looked a little sad. And I'm sure most of the non-readers will start warming up to him as the seasons progress.

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Stannis imprisoning Davos seems to be in character IMO. He must already be pissed at Davos for convincing him to leave Mel behind. And judging by the fact that he's only been seeking Mel's counsel, it seems that he trusts her the most on Dragonstone. And the vision he sees in the flames in 2x10 also confirms this. So if a man he trusted tried to kill the only person who has been counseling him, it doesn't seem out of character for him to imprison Davos. Also, the non-reader doesn't know how long Stan intends to keep him in the dungeons.

Also, Stan didn't seem too happy about imprisoning Davos. He even looked a little sad. And I'm sure most of the non-readers will start warming up to him as the seasons progress.

Because Davos wasnt there, so how was he to procure counsel from him? It was out of character for all 3 characters. Mel knows danger to herself, Stannis never lost respect for Davos, and Davos doesnt act rashly.

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Because Davos wasnt there, so how was he to procure counsel from him? It was out of character for all 3 characters. Mel knows danger to herself, Stannis never lost respect for Davos, and Davos doesnt act rashly.

Melisandre seems to have expected the attack, given her quick reaction to Davos grabbing his blade. They can easily attribute it to her seeing it in her flames in the next episode. There's no evidence in the scene that Stannis lost respect for Davos. And in the books, Davos' plan to kill Mel can be seen as rash. And given that he was still possibly delirious, exhausted, and that Mel was goading him over the death of his son, his enraged reaction seems perfectly normal.

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Melisandre seems to have expected the attack, given her quick reaction to Davos grabbing his blade. They can easily attribute it to her seeing it in her flames in the next episode. There's no evidence in the scene that Stannis lost respect for Davos. And in the books, Davos' plan to kill Mel can be seen as rash. And given that he was still possibly delirious, exhausted, and that Mel was goading him over the death of his son, his enraged reaction seems perfectly normal.

Yeah, I agree with you here. Davos' plan to kill Melisandre was always a bit rash and always a bit out of character. He has just been rescued from an island in the middle of the sea. He is delirious and has had a 'vision' (in the novels).

I actually thought that the scene came across as Melisandre goading Davos to attack her. She was probably aware of his plans in the flames and used it to her advantage. Melisandre just used this as an opportunity to extend her influence over the king. Van Houten totally nailed it too.

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7/10.

The King's Landing scenes were mostly good, apart from the Bronn scenes and the Tyrion/Cersei scene. Dany's storyline was definitely a highlight - I loved the Barristan reveal too. Sadly I thought the Jon scene was really boring, even though it should have been exciting considering that we've been waiting to see Mance Rayder since season one. Hopefully the rest of the Jon scenes feature Ygritte.

But the cold open was just a mess. I'm so disappointed. I'm not even upset about the lack of a battle; I just didn't think the show properly managed to convey the sense of dread, hopelessness and fear that we saw in Sam's first chapter.

And I don't even want to think about the Robb scene. Honestly, Robb was far worse than Joffrey in this episode.

ETA: I think the episode also felt a little empty without the Arya and Jaime scenes (my sister who hasn't read the books thought exactly the same), although I think not including them was probably a good idea.

Edited by PatrickStormborn
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Can anyone answer if the scene where that little girl with the blue lips was in the book? I really can't remember but I can't recall that happening in the book.. Anyone else think the unsullied were a little bit "meh" as well....? And the first time you hear of a giant in the book is when John is out riding and he see's a whole bunch riding mammoths? I thought that would of been a really amazing thing to capture on the show.

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7

I thought we'd get at least something from the battle on the fist of the first men, instead just the aftermath.

I always thought they should make it 12 episodes with a double premier and double finale, and this made me think it even more. Nothing really happened, no Ayra, no Bran, no Jamie. But then what can you do with 55 mins? Looking forward to next weeks though.

EDIT: Forgot about the giants, them and the dragons looked awesome

Edited by Serr Parker
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I gave it a 7/10 because some parts were weaker, and also because I want to give myself some space before I get to the 10/10s. :P

I really enjoyed it, though. Most of all loved the Dany scenes, and I totally burst into tears when Ros speaks about how the bells rang from dawn to evening at Winterfell when Sansa was born. It kinda reminded me of Ned and his love for the kids. :)

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EDIT: Pessimistic, cynical post ahead from a butthurt hardcore book fan who is also borderline OCD and a perfectionist. So... you've been warned.

Samwell stuff: Yawn. Giving what they HAD for material, they really dropped the ball by skipping over something so exciting. I wanted to see a wight bear take down like ten men.

Jon Snow: Man is Ygritte obnoxious. Mance Rayder is definitely NOT what I pictured in my head, nor is Tormund, but oh well. Decent enough scene, but felt kind of yawnfestish as well. And Jon's reasoning was pretty bullshit.

Sansa: Ugh, just ugh. The girl who plays Sansa is a great actress, as evident from the first season, but I swear in the second season and apparently now D&D just spoonfeed her uselessness. At least in the books she was interesting in King's Landing. Also, major lol @ Ros and Shae. Seriously, what are the people behind this show thinking? I also got to love Littlefinger spilling his ideas and whatnot to Sansa this early on, ruining any ambiguity as to what he's planning. Especially since the readers don't actually LEARN LF is working to remove Sansa from KL until after the Purple Wedding.

Robb/Catelyn: Yawnfest. This is why Weasel Soup and the correct Roose Bolton should have happened.

Bronn stuff: HURRAY TITS AND FILLER

Tyrion stuff: Pretty solid. Peter and Lena and Charles Dance are all great and the scenes were pretty cool. Although, I wish the Tyrion/Tywin scene was actually longer and gave more time for the situation/conversation to SINK in.

Marg/Joff: Kind of pointless scenes, especially since the show has already established Marg as a schemer and not the kind hearted 17 year old she is in the books.

Dany: Necessary scenes, but still kind of lacking any real spark. Also, Barristan Selmy's reintroduction was shit.

Davos: I thought Davos's return was pretty terrible. Him on the rock was mih, could've been done slightly more dramatically. Then with Sallador San, is he really leaving the plot now this early? Kind of makes me wonder why the show bothered introducing him in the first place. (although, to be fair, he is supposed to have a major role in TWoW so maybe it'll make his return even more stunning) The guy who plays Davos is a great actor when Davos is being Stannis's straightman. When it comes to showing serious emotion like fear(when Mel was giving birth to the shadow baby) or batshit rage(wanting to kill Mel) he kind of sucks.

The ACTOR who plays Stannis, however, did an excellent excellent job at showing Stannis in his deep depression. He redeems the rest of the Davos scenes.

I think that covers it all. At least there was no Bran scenes. Likely going to watch the Red Wedding related episodes later on in the season, but that's it. This show is so garbage post-season one. I was HOPING that season two was just a major hiccup that I could forgive, despite it being my favorite book they botched, as long as they had corrected themselves with season 3. I don't see that happening with this first episode.

Edited by The Mountain That Posts
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Can anyone answer if the scene where that little girl with the blue lips was in the book? I really can't remember but I can't recall that happening in the book.. Anyone else think the unsullied were a little bit "meh" as well....? And the first time you hear of a giant in the book is when John is out riding and he see's a whole bunch riding mammoths? I thought that would of been a really amazing thing to capture on the show.

The scene as a whole is fairly close to the book, but the significant difference is that Dany gets a box from a Sorrowful Man, instead of the warlock tricking her.

I don't see any problems with the Unsullied and I think they were introduced effectively. I liked the giant as well and thought he was very well done.

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4/10. If there were 10 scenes, I may have liked 4. Loved Tywin and Tyrion. Loved Astapor (minus the immediate selmy reveal).

Liked the Margery scenes.

Very much disliked Harranhal. There was no explanation to anything. Rushed and added nothing to the episode. Everything north of the wall. Opening scene was meh. Sam was surrounded by wights and ww's last time we saw him now this happens? Jon Snow continues to be a ruined plotline to me.

Lf and sansa was so lame. People have 1000s of spies in their employ and he just takes her to a dock? They could have done something a bit more creative. Please please please kill Ros!!!

Margery was good wasnt all that impressed with their dinner conversation.

Davos and Stannis, dont even get me started on Davos and his feeble attempt to kill Mel.

I really dont like D&D's interpertations of Cersei, Jon, Stannis, and Davos at all.

Davos had just been stranded on a desert island, and was clearly weakened. Mel can also predict that he was going to do it, she was probably prepared, just as she was prepared in the books when she sent Axel to capture Davos.

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Must say I was disappointed. Some suspicious editing going on throughout, and Barristen's intro sequence was poorly done. The manticore scene was rushed; no logical explanation of how the knife-wielding Barristen got free of Mormont after he'd grabbed him, just in the nick of time as Dani was idly gazing at the OBVIOUSLY DEADLY manticore like the witless fool she seems to be being portrayed as in this series.

The guy who plays Ser Davos was superb IMO and near rescued the episode, as were the performances from Tyrion and Tywin's characters. Marg giving to charity was a total ham, cheese and corn-fest. King's Landing felt like it was missing out on half of the decent characters from the book. Although I half expected that from this series in general.

Baically it's so far from the books now that I can't really compare any more so I won't, but as a series on its own I feel that as an opening episode this didn't feel right.

The northmen, Catelyn etc always well done and the Harrenhal scene was nicely thought-out IMO. Jon, Mance et al – great. Not sure about the Qyburn twist yet... might be a clever time-saver later on, dunno.

Endless re-use of the same two "whore" characters (Petyr and Tyrion's pets, basically) becoming utterly ridiculous at this point. In fact it became ridiculous in season 2. Shae I can understand more as she's going to have bigger parts to play.

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