Game of Thrones [SPOILERS]

[Threash]

Thinking about Jon's future arc, I like that they found an excuse to have him do something with a bunch of NW guys before the thing that happens and then the thing Sam does.

And protecting his secret that he has no guys on the Wall feels important. Plus his own experience suggests captured crows get interrogated about this shit.

Except the only thing keeping Mance from rolling over the wall in the book was the fact that his troops were ill-disciplined. The most he could do is send them in the general direction of castle black and hope for the best. His best fighters were the scouts, who he kept as scouts for obvious reasons and they were "suppose" to hit castle black while everyone was relaxing all cool in the yard. TV show advance party seems to be content bringing attention to themselves raiding villages around Castle Black...something that would have easily forced the hand of several northern houses to react to immediately. While book advance party actually tried to do their job.

The scouts are attacking the areas controlled by the nightswatch specifically to draw them out and not have to attack their castle.

[Merusk]

I don't think you'd want Tywin in charge of the defenses. The guy does not think about the long game in the biggest sense. He thinks about how he and his house come out ahead in the next step. He'd make a great executive at Goldman-Sachs but not a great leader of the nation. If the White Walkers were closing on King's Landing, my assumption would be that he would be checking to see what of his house's wealth was mobile and would be preparing to ship across the Narrow Sea.

Yeah Tywin's not the guy you want in a crisis. He'll sell the country down the river so he can start over with his family on the other side of the seas.

The Lannister you want in a crisis is probably Tyrion.

No probably about it.  Kings Landing is still in Lannister hands entirely because of Tyrion's preparations of the defenses and reinforcement of the city watch with whomever he could consript.  Had it been only dad in charge they wouldn't have been able to hold out until they were rescued by the reinforcements.

[Paelos]

Yes, that was my thought process as well. Given what we saw at Blackwater, the Dwarf takes the day.

[MediumHigh]

Thinking about Jon's future arc, I like that they found an excuse to have him do something with a bunch of NW guys before the thing that happens and then the thing Sam does.

And protecting his secret that he has no guys on the Wall feels important. Plus his own experience suggests captured crows get interrogated about this shit.

Except the only thing keeping Mance from rolling over the wall in the book was the fact that his troops were ill-disciplined. The most he could do is send them in the general direction of castle black and hope for the best. His best fighters were the scouts, who he kept as scouts for obvious reasons and they were "suppose" to hit castle black while everyone was relaxing all cool in the yard. TV show advance party seems to be content bringing attention to themselves raiding villages around Castle Black...something that would have easily forced the hand of several northern houses to react to immediately. While book advance party actually tried to do their job.

The scouts are attacking the areas controlled by the nightswatch specifically to draw them out and not have to attack their castle.

l

TV show advance party seems to be content bringing attention to themselves raiding villages around Castle Black...something that would have easily forced the hand of several northern houses to react to immediately. While book advance party actually tried to do their job.

The Northern houses are a bit fucked at the moment, what with Winterfell being burned down and all, the Greyjoy's occupying Deepwood Motte, and most of the Northern Lords having just fought on the losing side of a war.

Except even the most despot, crapsack, half starving northern house HATES the wildlings to the point of irrational racial rage of white cleansing. They wouldn't under no circumstances tolerate a significant number of wildings raiding south of the wall.

[eldaec]

I don't think you'd want Tywin in charge of the defenses. The guy does not think about the long game in the biggest sense. He thinks about how he and his house come out ahead in the next step. He'd make a great executive at Goldman-Sachs but not a great leader of the nation. If the White Walkers were closing on King's Landing, my assumption would be that he would be checking to see what of his house's wealth was mobile and would be preparing to ship across the Narrow Sea.

Yeah Tywin's not the guy you want in a crisis. He'll sell the country down the river so he can start over with his family on the other side of the seas.

The Lannister you want in a crisis is probably Tyrion.

No probably about it.  Kings Landing is still in Lannister hands entirely because of Tyrion's preparations of the defenses and reinforcement of the city watch with whomever he could consript.  Had it been only dad in charge they wouldn't have been able to hold out until they were rescued by the reinforcements.

Also Tyrion has plot armour. If Tywin fucks up he's dead.

The guy you really want is Varys.

[Chimpy]

The whole Locke joining the Night's Watch and volunteering to go past the wall with Jon Snow seems like a "Bolton wants to find the supposedly dead Stark boys" addition to the plot line which I honestly don't remember from the books. Of course, the whole Reek storyline happens way later in the books than where events are now in the show so maybe I am confused by the order of things.

[jgsugden]

I think this is the first sign that they're preparing to move away from the novels more.  I'm betting that they've realized that they'll wrap up the show before GMR wraps up the books, and as a result, they can't have the show follow the books entirely... so they're starting to break away and write their own tale (with GMMR involved).  I'm sure the novels will continue to inspire the show, but I think we'll get farther and farther from the novels as we go.

[Khaldun]

I think we're seeing what they want to do with the Boltons and Reek, yeah. Though I can't imagine what would get Ramsay to go north of the Wall to find Bran--he may want to impress dear old Dad but not that much. Maybe Bran and Co. are going to come back south of the Wall for a while before he goes and does his thing.

[MediumHigh]

Or in other words these filler arcs are filler.

[Strazos]

Also, Craster sucked - good thing he's dead.

[Khaldun]

Oh. Apparently the credits showed that the White Walker with the horns was the Night's King before they took the credit off after people started to react.

This is somewhat notable if you've read the books.

[Cheddar]

Oh. Apparently the credits showed that the White Walker with the horns was the Night's King before they took the credit off after people started to react.

This is somewhat notable if you've read the books.

wow.

[Phildo]

And I wouldn't have even noticed if some assholes on the internet hadn't made such a big deal about it.

In fact, even after they did, I still had no idea until it was just spelled out for me.

[Speedy Cerviche]

I think this is the first sign that they're preparing to move away from the novels more.  I'm betting that they've realized that they'll wrap up the show before GMR wraps up the books, and as a result, they can't have the show follow the books entirely... so they're starting to break away and write their own tale (with GMMR involved).  I'm sure the novels will continue to inspire the show, but I think we'll get farther and farther from the novels as we go.

The show at this point has become more important than the books, a massive worldwide hit, and I am guessing GRRM is perfectly happy with that. I am also going to guess GRRM probably enjoys collaborating on the show, bringing his work to life with a big budget and so many talented people, more than slogging away by himself at 900 page volumes in his office, that he isn't even all that great at writing.

[MahrinSkel]

Oh. Apparently the credits showed that the White Walker with the horns was the Night's King before they took the credit off after people started to react.

This is somewhat notable if you've read the books.

Yeah, I would have figured Coldhands for the Night King.  Either I was completely wrong, or they are really going in a substantially different direction now.  The fact that the passage through Nightfort and Coldhands were cut completely would argue for the latter.

--Dave

[Lantyssa]

Nah, I'm betting Coldhands is Benjen.

[Threash]

Coldhands was obviously Benjen, and it wasn't the credits it was some episode synopsis that named that guy the night's king.

[Severian]

A minor change, but an improvement over the books for how Pod was handled. Instead of a major coincidence dictating how his someone-to-talk-at character moved from one sympathetic POV character to another, his appointment to Brienne made perfect sense and created a satisfying emotional handoff between his final scene with Tyrion, Tyrion's with Jaime, and Jaime's with Brienne. All of three of which were excellent work from all actors involved. Maybe it's a little too neat and clean for this universe, but replacing a coincidence isn't much of a loss.

Also, now I know why Tommen is noticeably older this season than in the past one, and the books. From kittens to, well, you know. 
The opportunity of having Natalie Dormer flirt with someone is not one you want to pass up.

[K9]

I also liked how they're handling Pod.

[Threash]

I don't remember a coincidence, i remember Pod seeking out Brienne because he was pissed Tyrion bailed without him and he figured he would find him with Sansa.

[HaemishM]

I like a lot of what they are doing that is different from the books. They are clearly padding this season a little bit, perhaps bringing some stories forward so they can wrap the whole show up in a season 6 or 7. Jon going to Craster's makes sense for a number of reasons and Bran being there gives him something to do. Having Pod leave King's Landing with Brienne was a good way to keep him involved without what felt like a huge coincidence from the books.

[schild]

Yay another total shit episode.

[Severian]

I don't remember a coincidence, i remember Pod seeking out Brienne because he was pissed Tyrion bailed without him and he figured he would find him with Sansa.

Consulting the wiki, I see that's true, but it's funny how I forgot the details and just remember that it felt really farfetched. Apparently Pod hears from Sansa's former maid about Brienne's secret quest, is able to track her down as she is travelling on the roads without much of a clear itenerary, and then the famously solitary and independent Brienne takes him along.

The TV version is big improvement.

[MediumHigh]

I don't remember a coincidence, i remember Pod seeking out Brienne because he was pissed Tyrion bailed without him and he figured he would find him with Sansa.

Consulting the wiki, I see that's true, but it's funny how I forgot the details and just remember that it felt really farfetched. Apparently Pod hears from Sansa's former maid about Brienne's secret quest, is able to track her down as she is travelling on the roads without much of a clear itenerary, and then the famously solitary and independent Brienne takes him along.

The TV version is big improvement.

We kinda added that to her character. She isn't solitary, she just don't like douchebags and since that's every knight in westeros (even the gay ones) she tends to work alone. Granted cause she is a chic and from the least war'ring place in westeros she'd spends most of her time training anyway. She isn't exactly a seasoned warrior who goes out and slaughters folk solo. Hence why she is borderline naive and very honorable.

[eldaec]

She isn't antisocial, she has had solitary imposed upon her. She has no reason to shoo off Podrick, who is not a knight or a shithead and is unlikely to do the 'hurr hurr you is a girl' routine.

Also, maybe she heard the rumours from littlefinger's house.

[Cyrrex]

Also, maybe she heard the rumours from littlefinger's house.

I love that they put that into the show.  I laugh every time Pod is onscreen.

[kaid]

I don't remember a coincidence, i remember Pod seeking out Brienne because he was pissed Tyrion bailed without him and he figured he would find him with Sansa.

Consulting the wiki, I see that's true, but it's funny how I forgot the details and just remember that it felt really farfetched. Apparently Pod hears from Sansa's former maid about Brienne's secret quest, is able to track her down as she is travelling on the roads without much of a clear itenerary, and then the famously solitary and independent Brienne takes him along.

The TV version is big improvement.

We kinda added that to her character. She isn't solitary, she just don't like douchebags and since that's every knight in westeros (even the gay ones) she tends to work alone. Granted cause she is a chic and from the least war'ring place in westeros she'd spends most of her time training anyway. She isn't exactly a seasoned warrior who goes out and slaughters folk solo. Hence why she is borderline naive and very honorable.

Also I think with pods immediate response to one of her questions with a sir will probably help the two of them as pod clearly accepts her as a knight first and while he may be a bit bumbling he is a good squire and seemed competent at that job with tyrion.

[Tannhauser]

I refuse to have any emotional attachment to any character now after the Red Wedding.

There were a couple of good scenes, but this was another episode of treading water.

[Paelos]

That's pretty much how books 4-5 go. A couple of good scenes with a lot of treading water.

[WayAbvPar]

That's pretty much how books 4-5 go. A couple of good scenes with a lot of treading water.

Although they might just skip that entire section of Dance. Not like anything plot-advancing happened.

[Merusk]

Hm.. except that whole..

[eldaec]

I'll happily sit through an hour of treading water each week if it is Hound/Arya quality treading water.

[Lantyssa]

Hm.. except that whole..

[Samwise]

I'll happily sit through an hour of treading water each week if it is Hound/Arya quality treading water.

Srsly.

I don't care about the overarching world plot nearly as much as I do about the characters.  The bantering/sidequest stuff is only "treading water" if you're just waiting for the next big plot thing and/or fight scene to happen.

[Khaldun]

Sure. But the particular treading water we're talking about is