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Roose Bolton in TRoC (book spoilers)


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When like 10 men are set to fire tons of arrows down at the wedding guests, I would run the fuck out of there too. Those Freys don't look like expert marksmen, I'm not having some ass put a bolt through my eye for standing around like an ass.

I only really picked up on this the second watch though. My first watch, I was like oh shit he's running for a weapon and about to skewer Robb, but then when I saw it again he was getting the fuck out of dodge, and he only returns once all the shit is over and someone needs to finish Robb.

Although the manner in which he did kill him was definitely odd. I expected more of a shrug and earnest look, like "Sorry kid, but what do you expect? I'm not going down with you. Oh by the way Jaime says what's up."

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He certainly bolted out of the way quickly. You could even say he got his bolt on... Alright, terrible puns aside.

It's all about the direction. While I agree he was bailing away from the oncoming crossbow fire, him running in that certain direction helped the flow of the scene.

> He runs to his right, drawing the audiences eyes to Talisa/Lame Lothar

> Talisa is stabbed from behind

> cut to Robb's reaction and him getting hit by bolts

> cut to army's reaction/general slaughter.

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I've been a HUGE fan of Roose's performances... up until last night.

The smug smile he had on his face when Cat saw his armor was totally off. I never really got the impression that Roose enjoyed his betrayal. It was simply practical from his position to turn his cloak. Also, his ninja entrance to deliver the final blow came out of left field, and his delivery of his line seemed angry, instead of the calm, calculated I expected.

In the book he comes out of left field as well as he excuses himself to go to the privy beofe all hell breaks loose.....I don't think he was supposed to enjoy his betrayal....after all it was simply buisness for Roose and he really had nothing to hide once they closed the doors and started to play rains of castemere.....he was a bit flakey in bolting out after he got slapped though.....but I guess there was no way for him to make his grand re entrance with the killing blow

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When like 10 men are set to fire tons of arrows down at the wedding guests, I would run the fuck out of there too. Those Freys don't look like expert marksmen, I'm not having some ass put a bolt through my eye for standing around like an ass.

I only really picked up on this the second watch though. My first watch, I was like oh shit he's running for a weapon and about to skewer Robb, but then when I saw it again he was getting the fuck out of dodge, and he only returns once all the shit is over and someone needs to finish Robb.

Although the manner in which he did kill him was definitely odd. I expected more of a shrug and earnest look, like "Sorry kid, but what do you expect? I'm not going down with you. Oh by the way Jaime says what's up."

Great observation...he totally knew they were gonna pelt Robb with crossbows and ran the hell out of there as soon as he got slapped.....good catch

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In the book he comes out of left field as well as he excuses himself to go to the privy beofe all hell breaks loose.....I don't think he was supposed to enjoy his betrayal....after all it was simply buisness for Roose and he really had nothing to hide once they closed the doors and started to play rains of castemere.....he was a bit flakey in bolting out after he got slapped though.....but I guess there was no way for him to make his grand re entrance with the killing blow

True. Maybe I'm remembering incorrectly but I thought Roose walked slowly across the room away from Cat (so she only sees the pink cloak) and stabs him. In the show, he like Faceless Man/ninja's right in front of Robb and kinda yelled/angrily said "The Lannisters send their regards" versus how he kind of whispered it calmly in the books.

I just thought it worked better with the later description that he never really feels anything. The leeches sucked the life from him, and he just emotionless. It made him a much creepier "villain"

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I don't think a completely emotionless ice cold killer would be as effective onscreen. The choice to give him more smirking and humor (and a sexy voice) was a good one. If anyone watches Supernatural, remember Death? He is very cold, but has just enough snark to make him engaging.

The slap was awesomely hilarious. Cat slapped the shit out of him!

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I don't think a completely emotionless ice cold killer would be as effective onscreen. The choice to give him more smirking and humor (and a sexy voice) was a good one. If anyone watches Supernatural, remember Death? He is very cold, but has just enough snark to make him engaging.

The slap was awesomely hilarious. Cat slapped the shit out of him!

I don't think a completely emotionless ice cold killer would be as effective onscreen. The choice to give him more smirking and humor (and a sexy voice) was a good one. If anyone watches Supernatural, remember Death? He is very cold, but has just enough snark to make him engaging.

The slap was awesomely hilarious. Cat slapped the shit out of him!

Death was awesome in Supernatural, probably my 2nd favorite character after Lucifer (who also had a snarky side)

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I also enjoyed the look he gave Catelyn. I won't watch it again for a while but my first impression wasn't a smirk.. more of a "c'est la vie".

Roose Bolton is my favourite villain in the whole series. In the show, Tywin gives him a run for the money, but that's because Charles Dance is leagues better than the rather straightforward Tywin of the books. My feelings towards him were initially intrigue, then intense hatred after the Red Wedding, and then finally a genuine affection. I hope he puts Ramsey in his place.

Roose's character was so brilliantly "fleshed" out by GRRM. In my opinion he's one of only three characters who continue to have good character arcs up to date in the series, the other two being Theon and Barristan. The number of characters who had great arcs in the first three books, and then get stuck in the mud or take steps backward are too numerous to count.

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Roose is an enigmatic character. Why does he taunt Cat? Maybe that's how he gets his kicks? We already know he's borderline sociopathic. Or maybe its his way of giving Cat a chance to react just for the sake of seeing her reaction.

I don't have a problem with it. He's the same creep in the books, and that's what makes him an interesting character.

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It was a sick game with Catelyn, OP. Despite many people's mistaken view of him as a pragmatic robot, Roose is very cruel. His cruelty is just more refined and subtle than his son's. He is cold as ice, but that does not mean he doesn't have amusements or sense of humor. The Roose Bolton many readers seem to envision would not have stepped into the hall and stabbed Robb. He did that both for its symbolic value and because it amused him to give Jaime's regards. I am a huge Roose fan and I did not find his subtle mindfucking of Catelyn out of character at all.

And he "scurried away" because he didn't want to be hit by crossbows, people :dunce:

The swiftness with which he dispatched Robb fit into the scene in general - it was all very fast.

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The way he ran was sort of badly staged, imo, which made it look a bit goofy, but seriously - he knows what's coming and he's not going to get caught in the crossfire.

He seemed perfectly in-character to me too, even if he broadcasted his enjoyment with a grin it's not like he's full-on Ramsay style cackling with glee. Roose is cold but he's always had a super droll and dry sense of humor and I think they've been doing a great job of showing it in little ways.

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Continue to be impressed by McElhatton's performance, but I didn't really like him scuttling off like a rat after Cat struck him. What's more, his reactions to Cat in their last scene together were bizarre; he neither seemed to hide nor care about Cat finding his little secret out. His eyes even dropped right down to his extended arm, as if to say, "Look what I have under my sleeve." He seemed utterly unconcerned and aloof. What was he expecting?

Still, a great portrayal. His killer blow was... well, killer.

He's a sadist. To take an analogy from Melisandre the previous episode, he was flirting with the lamb and then showing her the knife....

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Continue to be impressed by McElhatton's performance, but I didn't really like him scuttling off like a rat after Cat struck him. What's more, his reactions to Cat in their last scene together were bizarre; he neither seemed to hide nor care about Cat finding his little secret out. His eyes even dropped right down to his extended arm, as if to say, "Look what I have under my sleeve." He seemed utterly unconcerned and aloof. What was he expecting?

Still, a great portrayal. His killer blow was... well, killer.

I loved that look on his face. It was all "haha guess what I'm totally going to betray you right now and there's nothing you can do about it because I am the master Rooseman".

Besides, they've already hinted at his sadistic streak with the whole "your sister.....is alive and well line". I enjoyed it, apart from his scurrying out of the room and the way he killed Robb.

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