[book spoilers]What your non-reader friends/family thought and their predictions.

[shiola]

Me and my brother (nonreader) haven't seen the episode yet, but he sent me this text yesterday.

"GoT prediction: Jaime death revealed tonight but happened last week when he collapsed in the tub with Blondie. Realistically it would make sense since that random collapse doesn't seem like something where he'd survive and I don't get what the purpose would be in him collapsing if he doesn't die. And I could see him knowing he's about to die from hunger/fatigue/having been tortured, so he went to Blondie to tell his whole story to one person before dying, maybe in the hopes it'd get to the Starks.

Thematically, like I said I don't get why include him collapsing and then he suddenly lives? It's like how Ned Stark ~almost~ having been executed would just be weird. And like Ned, this feels like a good place for Jaime to die, I think he has done all he can do as a character, clearly that reveal is where he peaks. And having him die right after revealing all of that is a good "Nooo!" moment a la Snape.

Plus such a big deal was made out of "i need to get you back ALIVE by lady stark's orders" and whoops didn't happen. Makes another plot point."

[Sullen]

IMO they needed to play that scene for comedy. It makes them insisting on the marriage being so soon seem harmless. You're kind of thinking "who are these jokers? Those wacky Freys." and then the wedding comes...

I agree, it was really well done.

IIRC from Merrett's Epilogue, Lothar is supposed to be a genial guy. I thought he was pretty well portrayed, the casting is amazing.

I'm not certain if Lothar's limp is supposed to be played for comedy, but my sister snickered as he wobbled out of the room.

[Eric Xayavong]

That boy is working for the lannisters, extracting what they can from Theon, learning the truth about the boys. But then he questioned himself because he wasn't blonde. I threw in a "well I don't know why Theon is assuming he is high born, he could just be working for them" just to throw him off and continue with his prediction.

[Mendoza]

My brother really thought there should have been a big confronation at the top of the Wall when Jon made it up there.

[Winterfellian]

On my front they are starting to loose interest in the show. They thought that last night's episode was really bad. I wouldn't be surprised in they stopped watching it before RW

[Young Nan]

I got "Arya is totally gonna be a faceless man" because of Melisandre's comment about her eyes.

Also, total confusion about Boy. "Ohhhh, so he's one of those dudes that are mad at robb because he cut that guy's head off, rite? Ok wait, so he's not a Karstark? huh?"

"oh, they're gonna kill Ygritte rite now aren't they? I hope they don't kill ygritte. Is she a redhead in real life?"

"Robb's a dumbass. Those dudes are totally setting him up. He's gonna die, huh?"

[Donaldys I Trumpagar]

My wife the non-reader is still confused about the whole Ramsay/Theon plotline -- strictly speaking, we all are because the viewer isn't actually told who Ramsay is or where Theon is. She assumes Theon is in the North (but wouldn't Theon know that -- how could it actually be a secret where he is since he has been outside the keep?) but has no idea who Ramsay is.

In fact, the whole Ramsay/Theon plotline is so vague, even if it were definitively established by, for example, having Ramsay say, "I'm Ramsay, bastard of Lord Roose Bolton!" she would be slow to make the connection: "What bastard? Oh that's right -- there was that brief line by Lord Bolton in Season 2!"

The viewer shouldn't be needing to do "homework" to watch the show for it to be sensible, i.e., read the books, search the Westeros wiki, etc.

Also, Theon's torture is getting a bit much.

[bobbybuilderton]

There are lots of unsullied reactions on youtube if you want a good laugh occasionally

[Donaldys I Trumpagar]

"Robb's a dumbass. Those dudes are totally setting him up. He's gonna die, huh?"

Yes, my wife the unsulled clued in on this too -- her response was: "So Robb's going to meet with these people [Freys] who are going to be mad at him?"

[Kaitscralt]

Me and my brother (nonreader) haven't seen the episode yet, but he sent me this text yesterday.

"GoT prediction: Jaime death revealed tonight but happened last week when he collapsed in the tub with Blondie. Realistically it would make sense since that random collapse doesn't seem like something where he'd survive and I don't get what the purpose would be in him collapsing if he doesn't die. And I could see him knowing he's about to die from hunger/fatigue/having been tortured, so he went to Blondie to tell his whole story to one person before dying, maybe in the hopes it'd get to the Starks.

Thematically, like I said I don't get why include him collapsing and then he suddenly lives? It's like how Ned Stark ~almost~ having been executed would just be weird. And like Ned, this feels like a good place for Jaime to die, I think he has done all he can do as a character, clearly that reveal is where he peaks. And having him die right after revealing all of that is a good "Nooo!" moment a la Snape.

Plus such a big deal was made out of "i need to get you back ALIVE by lady stark's orders" and whoops didn't happen. Makes another plot point."

Did he not watch the next episode preview last week and see Jaime alive?

[FlipFantastic]

Non reader co-workers of mine dont get the Ramsay/Theon scenes, they also dont really get who the Bolton's are in general. I understand that, because they are a small house, mentioned maybe only 4 or 5 times, and Roose just looks too normal to be memorable. They dont even know the Bolton's are Robb's men. The whole Bolton business has been treated very very poorly, i think.

[The Killer Snark]

Agreed! The whole Ramsay/Reek thing, bizarrely excluded in the series, should have been established in season 2. It also made no sense in relation to the novels that the Ironborn would turn on Theon because they didn't want to prolong the fight at Winterfell.

[Joyful Union]

On my front they are starting to loose interest in the show. They thought that last night's episode was really bad. I wouldn't be surprised in they stopped watching it before RW

Yeah, sure.

[TheDarkOne]

The 3 people I watch with who are unspoiled all believe that Robb will be killed very soon. 2 think he will be ambushed at the wedding, the other thinks they will poison him at the wedding.

I think most book readers, including myself earlier this year, completely over estimated the effect of the RW on the viewer. People might be somewhat surprised at the how in his death, but i don't know anyone who doesn't see it coming.

The 3 who haven't read the books are also losing interest in the show rapidly. One of them said they only watch because they love Roose. She thinks he's really hot.

[Peptalk]

Well, you seem to have given this a creepy yet enlightening amount of thought. :stunned:

Um, no, not really. I noticed that plenty people think it is so obvious he is a Bolton! on the forum and thought this interesting as I didn't even pick up on the x that can be linked to House Bolton until people here started mentioning it everywhere. As for the interpretation of the x as a device, heh, I do realize it might sound like that, but honestly;

I just considered the position for a second and thought for another about how a torturer might want to work with his/her victim. Since they are looking to cause physical pain, I figured they want easy access to all body parts - so... spreading the body evenly seems a logical choice.

The insight that it does support the back came to me while I was writing the comment, and I thought well, yes, I'm sure that helps in some manner and added it. So, no... hehe.

[WhatIsDeadMayNeverLive]

My sister just said that Edmure is going to marry an ugly girl with no teeth and that Robb will live for a while and do nothing. :laugh:

[shiola]

Did he not watch the next episode preview last week and see Jaime alive?

He doesn't watch previews, no.

[Oakenfist]

Non reader co-workers of mine dont get the Ramsay/Theon scenes, they also dont really get who the Bolton's are in general. I understand that, because they are a small house, mentioned maybe only 4 or 5 times, and Roose just looks too normal to be memorable. They dont even know the Bolton's are Robb's men. The whole Bolton business has been treated very very poorly, i think.

I disagree. Lets be honest some people need to be spoonfed every detail in the show because they don't pay attention to dialogue. HBO shows aren't designed for those people. I've read a few show watcher opinions who seem to follow the story just fine.

[Colonel Green]

Yeah, the Bolton stuff has been handled fine. If people just aren't paying attention, there's nothing to be done for them.

[Morvran]

I am actually surprised people are not guessing that the Boy is a Bolton. The Bolton Banner with a man in a X cross (the position Theon is in) has been flown everywhere this season.

I think most non-readers don't even understand the whole concept of sigils, let alone follow any but the main ones (wolf, lion, stag). My girlfriend for instance had confirm with me that Little finger was in the boat b/c "that bird means nothing to me". On top of that, Roose Bolton is really such a tertiary character so far.

My girlfriend loathes the Jon Snow scenes, BUT she's become smitten with Jon and Ygritte and finally declared that she loves them together. (I tried not to grin).

She thinks it's possible that Robb is going to be forced to take a second wife or that Edmure will muck things up and Robb will have to take Casterly Rock on his own.

She had zero reaction to Roz being killed. Like, not even a flinch. She didn't care one bit. I think that speaks volumes about that character.