Game of Thrones [SPOILERS]

[MediumHigh]

[Cheddar]

Dany learns (hopefully) what her house means.  Cersei leans on her house for conception of her reality. 

Conception, lol.

[eldaec]

 

[Chimpy]

[Threash]

[Merusk]

Yeah they're locked up in the city's catacombs.

[Chimpy]

[Merusk]

[Chimpy]

[Tannhauser]

[Threash]

Valyria.

[Samwise]

Lots of little things I liked in that episode, but no satisfying conclusions to anything.  Hrmph.

Was anyone else surprised to find out that Ramsay has a girlfriend?  I'd just assumed that he was sort of asexual and got all his jollies from torturing people, the same way Joffrey beat and killed his whores because he wasn't interested in doing anything conventionally sexual with them.

Tyrion and Ser Friendzone boating through Valyria was just delightful; I wish that scene had lasted longer before being interrupted.  Between the ruins and the poetry I nearly had a Tolkiengasm.

Aemon getting the news from Mereen about Dany was great.  Stannis being all "keep up the good work, nerd" to Sam was also great.  I'm going to be sad when all that shit inevitably goes off the rails, like everything must.

More Arya plz goddammit.

[Chimpy]

Uhm....creepy bastard was schtumphing that chick in earlier episodes. 

[Samwise]

She seemed like she was mainly a torture instrument before, though.  I vaguely remember her but didn't even keep track of her name because she didn't seem like an actual character.  The affection(ish?) between them this episode was surprising.

[jgsugden]

She was one of two 'friends' of Ramsey before he had her kill the other friend in the woods.  She has been around since Theon was captured.   I don't think he loves her, he just enjoys bringing the cruel out of her.

[Viin]

She was one of two 'friends' of Ramsey before he had her kill the other friend in the woods. 

Did I miss an episode? When did this happen?

[HaemishM]

Back before Theon lost little Theon. 

[Merusk]

So Ser grandad is dead. I really think this means we lose what I said before, but I suppose we'll see. 

Quite a few things set-up for the future, but now is when we're starting to see the biggest deviations from the books. It's getting exciting to watch and learn rather than watching for memorable scenes.

[Samwise]

No need to spoiler this since it's pure speculation: I don't think Sansa's going to singlehandedly kill both the Boltons, even through direct manipulation.  At best she might pull a Leia and gank one of them while they're distracted by what appears to be a more significant threat.  My guess is her main contribution will be getting  word of Stannis's attack and lighting the signal in the Broken Tower to rally the loyalists at the crucial moment.

[Tebonas]

Since in the past she was the one invoking the Stark curse on others I am fully prepared that she will light the fire at the exactly wrong time and get the loyalists killed.

[eldaec]

So Ser grandad is dead. I really think this means we lose what I said before, but I suppose we'll see. 

Quite a few things set-up for the future, but now is when we're starting to see the biggest deviations from the books. It's getting exciting to watch and learn rather than watching for memorable scenes.

You are probably right - though friendzone and Tyrion could stand in.

[MediumHigh]

I hate say it but having Dany come up with the dumb plan doesn't make it less dumb, just turns her into a flaming idiot.

[eldaec]

I hate say it but having Dany come up with the dumb plan doesn't make it less dumb, just turns her into a flaming idiot.

This line is a pretty good review of the first half of the season.

People are mostly doing things that make no sense because the appropriate person to do it is either not available, or because the writers want the familiar characters to be driving events.

Cersei reinventing the faith militant, Jamie choosing to leave KL, Ellaria plotting, Varys overcome with concern for the realm, littlefinger is leaving his most valuble asset with the boltons before presumably riding to KL to steal soneone else's lines.

Characters serve the plot even in the books. But at least it was well hidden before this season.

[Threash]

Jon Snow: if we don't save the wildlings they are all going to die
Random nightwatchman: good, less for us to fight!
Stannis: *mumbled* fewer

That was fucking perfect.

[Lantyssa]

Cersei didn't have quite as much of a hand with the Faith in the books, but the critical one of allowing them to have a military order again was there.  They're just setting it up so her fall is entirely of her own doing.

I preferred the books subtlety in that characters are all somewhere between being responsible for where they are and being completely swept up in events beyond their control.  It's hard to get that across in a TV show though.

[Khaldun]

I hate say it but having Dany come up with the dumb plan doesn't make it less dumb, just turns her into a flaming idiot.

Cersei reinventing the faith militant, Jamie choosing to leave KL, Ellaria plotting, Varys overcome with concern for the realm, littlefinger is leaving his most valuble asset with the boltons before presumably riding to KL to steal soneone else's lines.

Characters serve the plot even in the books. But at least it was well hidden before this season.

Cersei is just as arrogant in the books re: the Sparrows as here, and gives the permission for them to arm. Varys arguably is overcome with concern for the realm in the books too--that's one interpretation of what he does in the fifth book esp. at the end. Littlefinger, well, let's see what happens--since he and Sansa are unambiguously beyond what's in the books, who knows what he would have done. And of course this implies in any event that you think False Arya is preferable for some reason and less plot-driven as well, which strikes me as debatable, because who gives a shit about False Arya, really, except for that horrible little wedding night thing, which I could do without thank you very much.

Jamie doesn't do fucking squat in the books at this point except wander into a couple of sieges. You prefer that? Brienne could have spent a season wandering aimlessly rather than getting into a fight with the Hound. Better?

I cannot even imagine why anyone would want a faithful filming of Book 4 and 5.

[HaemishM]

I cannot even imagine why anyone would want a faithful filming of Book 4 and 5.

I'm pretty sure no one wants that. They just think that some of the characters doing the things that other characters did in the book don't make much sense.

[eldaec]

Jon Snow: if we don't save the wildlings they are all going to die
Random nightwatchman: good, less for us to fight!
Stannis: *mumbled* fewer

That was fucking perfect.

This is exactly why Stannis is the one true king.

[Threash]

Jamie doesn't do fucking squat in the books at this point except wander into a couple of sieges. You prefer that? Brienne could have spent a season wandering aimlessly rather than getting into a fight with the Hound. Better?

I cannot even imagine why anyone would want a faithful filming of Book 4 and 5.

Wtf, yes? Jamie's trip through the Riverlands is some of the best stuff in any of the books.

[Khaldun]

I'm gonna assume you are kidding.

[MediumHigh]

Jaime maturing as a character and a leader beats some suicide mission to Dorne.

[Khaldun]

What, him disinterestedly fucking around with a siege in Riverlands is maturing? Martin is so palapably bored with Jaime in that book that I suppose that might be a suggestion that he's "matured" into not mattering altogether--or that he's just cooling his heels in the books until he's needed again for plot purposes.

[Rendakor]

I liked Jaime in the Riverlands too; I'm not really interested in Dorne because of how awful and side-story-ish it felt in the books. Jaime and Bronn could be a good team, but I'd rather see them romping around somewhere that matters than pissing about in the southern land of heat and irrelevance.

[eldaec]

I get why they cut it, but yeah, Jamie was fine in the Riverlands.

The problem isn't the broad plot changes, it is that Jamie's character bears no resemblance to Jamie at the end of last season. It isn't that he needed growth in the riverlands, it is that he has apparently thrown all the previous growth out of the window. Not entirely sure if in his case the writers are just trying to show characters we are supposed to relate to taking positive action, or if the writers are just thinking we want to see Jamie go through the exact same character development all over again.

I'm not entirely convinced by the new Hardhome plot at the wall, but it has the massive advantage of building on Jon's character as portrayed so far.

[Merusk]

I imagine it also lets us