How would you rate episode 309?

[Cas Stark]

I gave an 8, 8 is the highest I've rated any episode this season, and it was one of the best episodes. For what they chose to portray about the RW, they did a good job, but it wasn't what it could have been and they cluttered up the episode with Sam and Gilly and Dany's stories which was unnecessary.

[Gillio]

Heh my ad is for wedding planners!!! :rofl: :lol:

[darksellsword]

I thought this episode was superb second only to episode four. I do have to say that if i hadnt of known what was going to happen at the wedding im sure

it would of been my favourite episode this season. I watched with a sinking feeling in my stomach the entire time which tells me D&D were doing the story justice.

if i can just give my response to a few nitpickers. Talisa would almost definitely be the focus of the freys anger and it was very realistic that they would stab her so many times in the stomach assuming theyve heard rumors of her pregnancy. Other posters have complained of Robbs lack of emotion suggesting that he should of cried but i dont think that would fit with the Stark family upbringing . I know Robb has cried in the past when Eddard was killed , but in the books and on screen there was a definite rite of passage for Robb from boy to Lord to commander and eventually becoming King. Everyone reacts differently while in shock.Catelyns utter despair and vacant expression was more than enough to express the tragedy that had unfolded. I feel that if they had of included the clawing at her face it would of over loaded the Tv viewers with too much of the supernatural in one episode with the earlier warging scene.

The acting in this episode was excellent. I am in the minority by saying i really enjoyed the queenscrown scene and had no issues with its dialogue.

I was disappointed at seeing greywind uncerermoniously being put down in his pen. I had suspected the story of greywind killing dozens of freys before finally being subdued was a myth or boast told by Robbs enemies to make the whole dastardly deed seem more daring on their part.

needless to say i gave it a 10/10 :) cant wait for next weeks episode

[-Ghost-]

I think the best part was Bran telling Hodor to quit his Hodoring.

[Daenerys Must Die]

Yeah 'Hodoring' made me laugh.. also Lord Walder's "I'm Mary" ... "Fine"..

Daario Naharis insisting he's the best whistler in the land is probably what gave this episode that extra push it needed.. not sure what I'd have given it without that.

Edited June 4, 2013 by Daenerys Must Die

[Blind Beth the Cat Lady]

Obviously there were a lot of changes from book to screen in this episode. I gave it a nine, but the point deducted was not for the RW.

I think the RW worked perfectly in terms of achieving what it was trying achieve as a scene in a TV show. There were several things from the book, including Cat clawing her face, that I was really not looking forward to. I was afraid the scene would be played for cringe-worthy shock-and-gore horror value, and while it was shocking, I think D&D were trying hard to play it for its tragic emotional value and purposely avoiding certain "horror story" elements. I really approve of this, personally. Also, I think having the terrible, booming music would have run a serious risk of telegraphing too clearly what was about to happen. In the book it just came across as Freys being petty, but since it's episode 9 the audience knows SOMETHING is going to happen (whereas in the book it's just there in the middle, as if it's going to be a stepping stone to a later development) and I think that using the vague-sense-of-dread-inducing elements that a lot of people are disappointed were left out would have very possibly given too much of the game away up front.

In conclusion, I give the RW itself a 10/10.

However, I had a problem with the Arya-Hound interaction. I think their dynamic in this episode and last episode has been a bit too equal and buddy-ish. We don't get a sense than Arya is in one whit of danger from The Hound, which is quite different from the book. Book Arya wouldn't have talked back to the Hound so much, and Book Hound wouldn't have put up with it if she'd tried. A lot of Arya's character development stems from the fact that she spends so much time being powerless, at Harrenhall, with the Brotherhood, and also with the Hound. And a lot of the Hound's character during this part of the story is him being a total loose cannon. Arya hates him, but she's forced to tread lightly around him. In the show they talk a lot of smack to each other, but mostly it feels like they're just reluctant road buddies who get on each other's nerves rather than a very vulnerable captive and her drunken, murder-y, short-tempered captor.

As for Dany's bit...I don't blame anyone for this and didn't deduct any points or anything, but I feel like we're getting to the point where her storyline is going to suffer from not having the funds to make huge set pieces every episode. Everything that happened with her this episode would fit on a sound stage, whereas in the book we frequently get descriptions of Danny looking out over sweeping vistas or up at huge walls and pyramids. We haven't even gotten a look at more than a handfull of Unsullied at one time since they marched out of Astapor. Again, I understand that's how it has to be because it's a TV show and not Lord of the Rings, but the fact that they talk about all these huge armies and cities and then we only see like five people and a few hundred square feet of space at once makes it feel a little surreal and claustrophobic.

[QueenBeyondtheWeb]

I don't see how it could have the same emotional punch since you already knew what was going to happen. I personally loved the episode, 10/10.

It wasn't the fact that I knew, it was the fact that it was shown less from Cat's perspective of losing all her children and all the North being wiped out and more from Rob and Talisa and baby to be's perspective which was good and shocking but for ME lacked the emotional impact (and since it didn't happen in the books it isn't bc I knew it was coming)

[QueenBeyondtheWeb]

I don't see how it could have the same emotional punch since you already knew what was going to happen. I personally loved the episode, 10/10.

It wasn't the fact that I knew, it was the fact that it was shown less from Cat's perspective of losing all her children and all the North being wiped out and more from Rob and Talisa and baby to be's perspective which was good and shocking but for ME lacked the emotional impact (and since it didn't happen in the books it isn't bc I knew it was coming)

[Abaddon]

Not the absolute best-adapted hour of the series so far, but still well done and the original content is so strong I can't help but give it a 10/10 (my only perfect rating of the season).

I think pointing to D&D saying this is the moment they hoped to reach and then nitpicking the hell out of it (my opinion) is pretty silly. As if we should consider it a failure because they were as blown away by the scene as we were. But, to each their own.

[Rabid Grunt]

but some of us like to critically engage with what we watch and not just blindly accept everything

Has it ever occurred to you that if you didnt try to pick apart (incorrectly, in most cases) every single tiny detail of the show, you would enjoy it much more? Just a thought.

It just it seems to me that you enjoy moaning about the show more than you do watching it. Which is, lets be honest, somewhat of a sad outlook on anything.

OT:

10. Not a single bad scene, although some odd editing.

[Archmaester]

Absolute 10 for me, a masterpiece.

I honestly wasn't expecting it to be so damn powerful and tense having already read the books, but it really was stunning. Not bothered by any of the nitpicks that some have pointed out really, except maybe I would have liked Grey Wind to kick some ass before biting it.

I personally loved the Yunkai and particularly Queenscrown stuff, it actually made Bran's arc relevant for the first time this season.

But this episode will be remembered for one thing only and I can't stress how much I loved it, the sense of dread building up was fantastic and the payoff was brutal. Can't wait to get more Roose in the future, and can't wait to see the aftermath next episode... it's not even finished yet!

All in all, one of my favourite episodes of any TV show ever.

[Shebara]

As a wild thought, maybe that's because you knew it was going to happen? Almost every professional critic has said what a wonderful job they did of creating suspense.

Well Ser, I am very pleased that it did please you and that many people here enjoyed it...but please don t call my critic non professional because it did not please me...we are free folks who think as we like :drunk:

[DireW0lf]

Gave it a 10. LOVED IT. Everything was gripping in this episode and I think they handled the RW really well, especially since there was a lot of doubt with the way Robb's storyline had been handled. Loved the Jon and Bran scenes. I do wish they had Robb being protected by his bodyguards with the table being thrown over him for protection and Grey Wind taking a few down with him before he died. But very minor points that I'm really not all that fussed about. I'm just looking forward to what next episode will bring!

[Former Lord of Winterfell]

Has it ever occurred to you that if you didnt try to pick apart (incorrectly, in most cases) every single tiny detail of the show, you would enjoy it much more? Just a thought.

It just it seems to me that you enjoy moaning about the show more than you do watching it. Which is, lets be honest, somewhat of a sad outlook on anything.

All the bitching in the world isn't going to change the content of an episode already shown, nor the content of what is going to be filmed moving forward. I suppose if some people get enjoyment out of focusing on the negatives, that's their prerogative. Doesn't make much sense to me since the entire purpose of watching something in the first place is because you want it to be enjoyable.

That's not to say criticism doesn't have its place, and you'd expect the folks who run the website to approach it from that perspective because they aren't just fans. But for the rest of us...I personally watch it as a fan seeking enjoyment rather than a critic looking for flaws.

Edited June 4, 2013 by Former Lord of Winterfell

[PatrickStormborn]

I watch the show for mind-dumbing enjoyment at this point (which it should NOT be, but that's another point entirely).

But this thread is about rating the episode. It's directly asking for an analysis. And when the show is analysed, it begins to fall apart.

[Rabid Grunt]

And when the show is analysed, it begins to fall apart.

So does every work of art, ever, if you try hard enough. The books are not exempt from this (in fact, I would go so far to say the latter ones could, if one wished to do so, be torn to shreds far easier than the show). However, they key, in my opinion, is to focus on the good rather than the bad. Of course constructive criticism has it merits, but if criticism is all you can bring to the table, then why should anyone pay attention to it?

Life is far too short to get worked up over a fictional character in a fictional show maybe or maybe not getting drunk in a 30 second scene that had little to no bearing on the plot whatsoever.

[Former Lord of Winterfell]

I watch the show for mind-dumbing enjoyment at this point (which it should NOT be, but that's another point entirely).

But this thread is about rating the episode. It's directly asking for an analysis. And when the show is analysed, it begins to fall apart.

Actually, a rating and an analysis are not the same thing. You can rate something as to how enjoyable it is without analying it for flaws. But I don't want to sound as if it is wrong to analyze the show critically, because it's not.

I'll just say that I feel sort of badly for folks who spend so much more effort discussing the things they didn't like rather than the things they did, because it seems to me as if they might not be enjoying it very much.

[PatrickStormborn]

So does every work of art, ever, if you try hard enough. The books are not exempt from this (in fact, I would go so far to say the latter ones could, if one wished to do so, be torn to shreds far easier than the show). However, they key, in my opinion, is to focus on the good rather than the bad. Of course constructive criticism has it merits, but if criticism is all you can bring to the table, then why should anyone pay attention to it?

Life is far too short to get worked up over a fictional character in a fictional show maybe or maybe not getting drunk in a 30 second scene that had little to no bearing on the plot whatsoever.

There are only so many times I can praise the cast, soundtrack, etc. before it just begins to sound empty.

I really don't care if you choose to pay attention to my criticism. If I was writing for others to read, I'd write a semi-professional review. Instead I list problems I've found from the adaptation process. If you have a problem with that and want to enjoy the show without thinking about its problems, the solution is simple: don't read my posts.

The last two books have problems, and anyone who has read my posts in the General forum would realise that I have been very critical of them (although I actually think they contain more interesting moments than the first two books).

[Rabid Grunt]

Instead I list problems I've found from the adaptation process.

I'm sorry, but that must be the most fruitless and depressing hobby imaginable. How does that give you any satisfaction whatsoever?

[Nymeria...gloves..]

You really don't see how this shows Barristan is drunk??? :bs: He looks like he's just got home from the local pub.

Drunk Barristan is dope. Blackfish ran out on the wedding (not to piss) but because his buddy Barristan text him about a better party at the Dragon Tent.