[BOOK SPOILERS] “If you think this has a happy ending, you haven’t been paying attention.”

[King in the North Carolina]

Best TV series ever? No way.

I believe with this season GOT can fairly be part of the debate for the title of Best Ever, but it'd be a bit early to crown the show. There have been programs that maintained a high level of quality for five years or longer. I do think the show is superb right now, but there will be ample opportunity for the wheels to come off in the next few years. Hope they can keep it up!

[Pinkie Baelish]

I believe with this season GOT can fairly be part of the debate for the title of Best Ever, but it'd be a bit early to crown the show. There have been programs that maintained a high level of quality for five years or longer. I do think the show is superb right now, but there will be ample opportunity for the wheels to come off in the next few years. Hope they can keep it up!

I love the show, but it's not on the same level as the all-time greats. And I doubt it ever will be, given that season 5 will probably experience a decline in quality which might worsen. There simply isn't enough time for the show to have characters and plotlines as fleshed out as their book counterparts, or have the same levels of depth that shows like The Wire and Breaking Bad have. I don't think it will ever be top-tier status or the gold standard, when looking at the all-time great tv shows, but it can probably be in the second highest level.

[liefde]

Does anyone else find it a bit weird that the heir of one of the Great Houses, who would presumably know most of the other House's sigils and words, can't seem to figure out that his captor, who is flaying him on a cross, is a Bolton? He's going through all of the Northern lords, except for the one whose words are "our blades are sharp/a flayed man holds no secrets"?

It's pretty annoying.

[Lord_Ravenstone]

Theon's starved, dehydrated and being tortured.

I'd cut him some slack. But I know where you're coming from. It's a teensy annoying.

[Weeping Sore]

Does anyone else find it a bit weird that the heir of one of the Great Houses, who would presumably know most of the other House's sigils and words, can't seem to figure out that his captor, who is flaying him on a cross, is a Bolton? He's going through all of the Northern lords, except for the one whose words are "our blades are sharp/a flayed man holds no secrets"?

It's pretty annoying.

Bran would know. I don't think Theon paid too much attention to his lessons with Maester Luwin.

[FattyPeon]

He's guessing northern castles and he doesn't think to guess the one with "dread" in the title.

[bobbybuilderton]

He's guessing northern castles and he doesn't think to guess the one with "dread" in the title.

I think he would have gotten there eventually. He was throwing out random guesses and Boy pretended he was right. But then Boy went back to torturing him before he could finish guessing. Now that he's been flayed a bit I think he will get it soon.

[Weeping Sore]

I think he would have gotten there eventually. He was throwing out random guesses and Boy pretended he was right. But then Boy went back to torturing him before he could finish guessing. Now that he's been flayed a bit I think he will get it soon.

I think we are going get two more Ramsay/ Theon scenes this season and then about a 4-6 episode gap before we see Reek. I think the arc still requires we see him in a shockingly new physical/ psychological condition after a sense of time passing.

[drstrangelove]

Bran would know. I don't think Theon paid too much attention to his lessons with Maester Luwin.

Agree with Lief. He would know the sigil. Did any one enjoy the part where he guesses umber. I thought his reaction to that was great.

[Mammothsbane]

Does anyone else find it a bit weird that the heir of one of the Great Houses, who would presumably know most of the other House's sigils and words, can't seem to figure out that his captor, who is flaying him on a cross, is a Bolton? He's going through all of the Northern lords, except for the one whose words are "our blades are sharp/a flayed man holds no secrets"?

It's pretty annoying.

You're right. It doesn't make much sense, but they want to line the reveal up with the Red Wedding (I'd assume).

Plot >>> common sense

Agree with Lief. He would know the sigil. Did any one enjoy the part where he guesses umber. I thought his reaction to that was great.

"LOL Do I look like a fucking Umber to you?!"

and when Theon guesses Deepwood Motte

"LOL terrible guess!"

I was skeptical at the actor choice for Ramsay, but he is doing a great job. That scene was my favorite..... *runs and hides*

[Dove]

It's frustrating as hell as a viewer, but to me it made more sense that Theon didn't guess correctly. As mentioned, he's not going to be the sharpest flaying knife in the drawer when he's dehydrated/starving/sleep-deprived/slung up on a cross/being tortured.

I was skeptical at the actor choice for Ramsay, but he is doing a great job.

I wasn't entirely sold on Iwan Rheon at first either, but I've come around. Clearly he can do the creepiness and sick sense of humor/"fun" very well, so now I'm just awaiting the temper and genuine menace.

Hopefully they do go into his 'extracurricular activities' sometime soon, not because of some weird ~~ooh i can't wait to see what totally wicked thing Ramsay will do next~~ kind of thing but because that aspect of his character is important to establish him as different from Joffrey's brand of cowardly villainy. Reading about him and his "girls" caused such an immediately, intensely strong reaction of disgust and it'd be great if they could replicate that for TV audiences.

[Weeping Sore]

Agree with Lief. He would know the sigil. Did any one enjoy the part where he guesses umber. I thought his reaction to that was great.

Maybe the sigils have been around so long, you stop thinking about what they mean, kind of like corporate logos.

Say someone kidnapped you and tied you up to this circular thing and was about to shoot an arrow at you and said "you win if you guess which major retailer I work for"

"K-mart?"

"Terrible guess!"

"Wal-Mart?"

"Do I look like I fucking work at Wal-mart?"

Meanwhile, the audience is screaming "Target! Target, you idiot! Wake up!"

[Dove]

Say someone kidnapped you and tied you up to this circular thing and was about to shoot an arrow at you and said "you win if you guess which major retailer I work for"

"K-mart?"

"Terrible guess!"

"Wal-Mart?"

"Do I look like I fucking work at Wal-mart?"

Meanwhile, the audience is screaming "Target! Target, you idiot! Wake up!"

how uncanny, this happens literally every time I go to Target.

[iheartseverus]

Maybe the sigils have been around so long, you stop thinking about what they mean, kind of like corporate logos.

Say someone kidnapped you and tied you up to this circular thing and was about to shoot an arrow at you and said "you win if you guess which major retailer I work for"

"K-mart?"

"Terrible guess!"

"Wal-Mart?"

"Do I look like I fucking work at Wal-mart?"

Meanwhile, the audience is screaming "Target! Target, you idiot! Wake up!"

Hilarious!!

:laugh:

[bobbybuilderton]

Maybe the sigils have been around so long, you stop thinking about what they mean, kind of like corporate logos.

Say someone kidnapped you and tied you up to this circular thing and was about to shoot an arrow at you and said "you win if you guess which major retailer I work for"

"K-mart?"

"Terrible guess!"

"Wal-Mart?"

"Do I look like I fucking work at Wal-mart?"

Meanwhile, the audience is screaming "Target! Target, you idiot! Wake up!"

Do I look like an Umber is a reference to them all being gigantic burly son's o' bitches. It's similar to guessing that a crannogman is a Mormont. Boy is clearly pretty small. Obviously these trends are not universal, but they do exist.

[Weeping Sore]

Do I look like an Umber is a reference to them all being gigantic burly son's o' bitches. It's similar to guessing that a crannogman is a Mormont. Boy is clearly pretty small. Obviously these trends are not universal, but they do exist.

It is a bad guess. Would he take more offense at Manderley?

[White As Snow]

I really hope they work Reek in there somehow. Maybe have Ramsay deliver a chilling monologue to Theon about how he had a "friend" named Reek who died, about how disgusting he was, etc. End it with Ramsay saying he "misses" Reek and wants him back.

[I'll pay the iron price]

It is a bad guess. Would he take more offense at Manderley?

I dunno.

Isnt House Manderley the most powerful northern house after the Starks?

[Minsc]

Bran would know. I don't think Theon paid too much attention to his lessons with Maester Luwin.

Shouldn't have Luwin's lessons for Theon be more on teaching him the sigils and words of the Houses of the Iron Islands, seeing how Theon is not bound to rule in the North but the Isles before the war?

[Weeping Sore]

Theon: The only right answer is this-

"My first guess was the noble house of Bolton, but I had heard that Lord Bolton's trueborn son had died tragically. I know now that this was a lie. My Lord, by your noble countenance and manner, you can only be whom the gods have destined to be heir to the Dreadfort."