How would you rate episode 309?

[TheEvilKing]

Fucking brutal. 10/10

[mystikherb]

I needed a bit to fully evaluate my opinion on this episode. I'm sure anyone on this post is totally okay with seeing everything, it didn't say "spoilers" in the title and I'm going to go very in depth so I'm putting the spoiler tag anyway. It can't hurt to be careful.

I'm going to give my opinion on this episode piece by piece.

Jon:

Okay, so this big scene with Jon turned out more or less how I thought it would. To be honest, it was neither really a hit or miss for me. The acting was great, and it essentially went the way it needed to move his plot along. To be honest, I was a bit more focused on Bran's part in all of this anyway. That basically sums up my opinion on this.

Bran:

Awesome, totally awesome. I was so honestly surprised that they showed Bran warg into Hodor... surprised in the best kind of way. I had feared that they would over look that. But no, it was done very well, and I've been waiting AGES to see Bran warg while conscious on screen. It was everything I wanted it to be, and it served that part of the story well. Plus, there was an awesome scene where they made the decision to separate Osha and Rickon from the game. That was very well acted (kudos to the kid playing Rickon), and I think they chose the right time to have this moment; very emotional and effective.

Sam:

Okay, as fine a job as the actors are doing at playing Sam and Gilly, I was very much hoping to see Coldhands, and with Sam knowing about Nightfort and such, I'm thinking they might skip him now and have Sam appear to Bran on his own. I'm actually starting to get pretty scared that they may overlook Coldhands altogether. That's probably my biggest disappointment with the episode, to be honest. However, I could show them going two different routes with this:

1). Sam pops up on Bran and has already met Coldhands (off screen) and reveals to Bran that someone needs to see him. They then reveal Coldhands in one of the last (possibly the last) scene of the finale.

2). They delay Coldhands until late next season to stretch out Bran's story a bit, since he has very little source material left.

That's all for that.

Daenerys:

I did love her scenes, and I have to admit I'm kinda digging TV Daario (although the bit with him walking up after they took Yunkai was a bit cheesy). The fight scenes in this part were awesome, and I loved seeing Jorah, Grey Worm, and Daario fight together; they all proved to be pretty badass. The only thing is that I was kind of hoping to see more of the battle, instead of just hearing they won... and I was expecting the battle to go on into the finale... that leaves a good bit of room open for the last episode (although they need it with so many characters to catch up with).

Arya:

Getting closer to the money-maker of this episode, so let me say that I did enjoy Arya's part in this. I'll be 100% honest with myself, I was expecting them to make her part more of a tear-jerker, but it definitely served it's part. I loved how she saw Grey Wind go down, that definitely had it's emotion. I'm also kind of relieved they didn't do the "Arya death fake out". I think it just would have detracted from the RW and would not have been convincing on screen at all. Can't wait to see how Maisie takes this role from here on out.

Robb/Catelyn:

Okay, otherwise I have only positive things to say, so I'll get the one negative out of the way first. I was definitely hoping to see Cat's hysteria at the end there. I wish they had done it, but I was so caught up in the scene I didn't even notice at first. I'm going to go on now about what I loved. I loooooooved the ominous door closing with the "Rains" starting- that was just as effective and more than I was hoping it would be. Still get goosebumps from that. I also like how they handled Talisa... stabbing her stomach was the most gruesome and tragic way to start this shit. That look on Roose's face when Cat sees the chain mail... so damn disturbing and ominous, he nailed it in this scene. The way Robb crawled to Talisa's body, the way the music stopped... Robb's last moan, "Mother..." That was all perfect. I could go on and on about all of it, but there was definitely one thing that stood out to me, the most effective element that made it all so damn powerful: That would be Michelle Fairley's portrayal as Cat in her final moments. I could feel her pain and desperation as she was calling to Robb to save himself... That second "Please!!!" tore a whole in me. And when Robb died... that cry she gave... if her acting before that punched a whole in me, her last cry of pain, torment, and anguish simply killed me inside. Her scream was resonating inside me well after she stopped and her throat was slit.

So all in all, while few things were not what I expected I was very satisfied with the episode and feel that it did do justice to the book. As far as the RW goes, of course the book was more effective. Of course the book was more tragic, you were in Cat's head for all of that. Still, brutally awesome episode.

I'll give it a ten. I could be nit-picky and go for 9.5 but at that point (along with comparing it to everything else on tv) I might as well just admit it was basically a 10 for me. Can't wait for the finale.

Edited June 3, 2013 by mystikherb

[YourMomsBox]

Talissa's death was the worst of all in my opinion. It was a nasty shock for us book readers because it never went down that way. Throw in the fact that they stabbed her three times in the belly, it was truly awful even if I never really cared for that character. Damn it I was pretty much sucked in to Edmure's happiness over Roslin. I was half-wishing it just ended with that.

Of course it is a ten. We knew it was going to be an awesome episode or else it would be a huge disappointment.

[ZeroTheCat]

10. Perfect. 10. Heartbroken. Next week doesn't look to be any better on that front...

[Jon Black]

It was an 8 for me until the warging.

Then, warging happened,

Then, Jon left Ygritte. (What a d-bag!, that shocked me!)

It was a 9.

The red wedding catapulted out of scale.

I felt as if they didn't make him look like a d*ck. They had Jon running as a means to survive (thus leaving it a bit ambiguous). Ygritte was in no danger.

[The Stark of Winterfell]

It was so hard to watch, but it was executed perfectly. 10.

[The Scabbard Of the Morning]

8 out of 10. It had it's moments but the atmosphere was not there.

[Jon Black]

I had to give it at least a 4 or 5 because they finally left out King's Landing, Tyrion, Sansa, Cersei, etc.

They just needed to give that whole 'crew' and arc a rest for once. It's a big series with plenty more to cover (now matter how much I like Tyrion and Co.).

[templar7]

Heartbreaking. Lady Talisa's death was horrifying, perhaps the cruelest death in the series yet. The only complaint I can make is regarding Greywind. In the book the dire wolf wend down swinging. To see him shot down like a fish in a barrel was dissapointing. Having said that, The episode left me reeling, just like the book. Well done!!

[VladofWallachia]

10!

I was a little afraid there that they would kill off the Blackfish, but thankfully the call of nature saved him. The wedding was just perfect. Grey Wind's death was just so brutal. Didn't even have the chance to fight back...

Talissa's death clearly shoots down the whole Switcharoo theory from the books, unfortunately.

Robb's death was spot on, even though I am kinda sad that they made Roose do the dirty deed. In the book he wouldn't have dirtied his hands like that. Just re-read the RW and I completely missed that. I thought it was just some Bolton man. Apologies for the confusion.

Cat's reaction at the end and her death were spot on. You can see the instant her heart broke (aka turned to stone).

The stuff in Yunkai... meh-ish but still good. The Jon stuff... a little disappointed that Ygritte didn't get a shot off, but still it was also good.

Bran... The departure of Rickon was just beautiful. That shot in which they went off into the night with that sky in front of them...

Hmm...Maybe I should have given it a 9... Eh, too late...

Edited June 3, 2013 by VladofWallachia

[A Bear covered in Fluff]

This is an 8 for me, after a long of consideration. They failed at capturing the atmosphere, which is the thing that really sets this scene apart. That Catelyn chapter is full of dread from start to finish, but they actively went against it and took what, to me, seemed like the easy way out: hide what you're going to do until the last minute, to heighten the shock value. Shock is easy, as any number of shlock horror films will reveal. Controlling the atmosphere, unsettling people in subtle ways, that's hard.

I felt it did. Every word out of Walder frey's mouth made me cringe. He made everyone very uncomfortable. He mocked the bread and salt ceremony and mocked the king and edmure with the girls. Although Cat didnt feel as much uneasiness, she did feel uncomfortable in several scenes.

But then again you've probably seen the episode more than once so i may have just transferred my own interpretation of the situation onto cat.

Either way I thought the episode as a whole was amazing, all the way up to the ending. they did do some things i felt that were interesting. One being the long pause for dramatic effect, capturing Cat's shock. The pause before she was then cut and falls. and the delay in fade to black after she hits the floor. It was like i was waiting for something more but it never came. The greatest thing for me was the credits with no music. the silence was deafening. I voted a 10 but im more 9.75.

I havent seen much talk about Yunkai but OMG the trio of fighters with their different styles blew my mind! I LOVE LOVE LOVE greyworm! So totally what i pictured, perhaps even made it more apparent the fighting style of the unsullied phalanx formation. It was like watching 300 without the crazy dramatic sfx.

I cried during the parting of the brothers and was anxious with Hodor. I didnt really cry during the ending. I LOVED the expression on Walder's face. "I can get another one" I had a visceral response to Talisa's stabbing. several stabbings to the belly was crazy. I think better than mormont's axe in the gut. And the end with arya and greywind was so sad.

Speaking of Arya, her fear and anxiousness while the hound was being slow was totally called for. I mean I felt that way when i was reading her chapter perhaps not as much excitement with the fires in the tents and the hound knocking her out with an ax, but it was good.

Sam explaining the nightfort and Bran explaining the gift = Priceless! <3

Gilly "You're a Wizard" TOTALLY MADE HIS AND MY DAY. Omg! <3

[Sun]

Good ep. So painful. Gave it a 8. Lost a point for tired Dany scenes, and another for not allowing RW time to breath, time for the foreboding to build. That one scene between Roose and Catelyn was not enough. THey needed to allow the dread to build. Dany should have been left out of this ep.

Edited to add:

Daario is nearly as annoying in the show as he is in the books.

Edited June 3, 2013 by Sun

[templar7]

if they show the head swap next week they have to show the kiss of life too... they HAVE TO!

Good call

[Tirilei]

I gave it a 3. It was disappointing. Not the way it was filmed, but the way the plot went. Arya almost reaching her mother and brother, almost reaching Rob's wolf, but not getting to them. Jon being right outside of where Bran and Rickon were, without seeing them. All those "almosts." Just sad, disappointing, unsatisfying. I guess I'm glad I never read the books. The storyline just isn't all that it's said to be.

Plus, this episode was switching back and forth between locations every couple of minutes. And that Dario Naharis guy with his few little scratches to his girly face was just laughable. The best part were the scenes with Edmure and Roslyn looking at each other.

Edited June 3, 2013 by Tirilei

[Marakh]

A fucking masterpiece is what this was. It's too bad the season ends next week. I pity the viewers who are going into depression mode for a full calendar year.

At least we still had a couple more hundred pages after this in ASOS.

[Marakh]

I gave it a 3. It was disappointing. Not the way it was filmed, but the way the plot went. Arya almost reaching her mother and brother, almost reaching Rob's wolf, but not getting to them. Jon being right outside of where Bran and Rickon were, without seeing them. All those "almosts." Just sad, disappointing, unsatisfying. I guess I'm glad I never read the books. The storyline just isn't all that it's said to be.

Plus, this episode was switching back and forth between locations every couple of minutes. And that Dario Naharis guy with his few little scratches to his girly face was just laughable. The best part were the scenes with Edmure and Roslyn looking at each other.

said by who exactly?

[TheEvilKing]

Robb's death was spot on, even though I am kinda sad that they made Roose do the dirty deed. In the book he wouldn't have dirtied his hands like that.

Just curious, which books did you read?

[Blue eyes Crowlack]

So George squashed the Robb' s heir(son) theory for good! Sorry jeyne.

[mystikherb]

Robb's death was spot on, even though I am kinda sad that they made Roose do the dirty deed. In the book he wouldn't have dirtied his hands like that.

Umm... Do I gotta state the obvious here? Nah, I'm sure you'll be hearing back about this a good bit... but maybe you should give the RW chapter another read through... pay attention to the details ;]

[templar7]

I love the darkness and unpredictability to the books and the show. I you want cookie cutter plots and happy endings, try a Disney movie!