Game of Thrones [SPOILERS]

[MahrinSkel]

I wouldn't regard Ned lying to his kids as oathbreaking - I'm not even convinced that happened. But the whole usurping the king thing probably does count.

The Mad King? Yeah, a lot of this can be seen as a delayed 'No, fuck you' from the gods for the oathbreaking surrounding the last Targaryens (including that of Aerys). One thing that has never been more than hinted at was how Rhaegar, supposedly one of the most honorable men in the 7 Kingdoms, triggered off a war with most of the other 'most honorable men' of the 7 Kingdoms.

IOW, we've been touring through the wreckage of a series of events that the living participants didn't want to talk about, and now most of them are dead (Jaime and Varys being the only major exceptions, and Jaime didn't really know what was going on). Brandon's visions seem like they are straight exposition trying to tie those threads together.

--Dave

[Speedy Cerviche]

Considering how much more depth we have in the books on the situation of the northern houses and what will likely happen there, concerning the Umber thing:
 

[Threash]

Considering how much more depth we have in the books on the situation of the northern houses and what will likely happen there, concerning the Umber thing:
 

[MahrinSkel]

--Dave

[Hoax]

Ok first of all the Tower of Joy scene sucked. Just awful. Ofc Howland did something tricky, he's a Reed/Cannogman, disappointing really he wasn't using a spear or poison or threw sand in his eyes. The dual wielding to signify that Dayne is a big deal instead of The Most Famous Magical Sword and just being choreographed well was lame as all hell. Was there a good reason to only use 2 Kingsguard instead of 3?

Also like much of these first 3 eps it felt so rushed. Like you could tell they wanted us to think it was badass but instead it felt like we had other places we needed to be. I guess in no small part because 3-Eyed Raven (who is such a letdown looks wise btw) literally told us we needed to be somewhere else.

[Viin]

They shoulda upped the game in that scene.

[Teleku]

Considering how much more depth we have in the books on the situation of the northern houses and what will likely happen there, concerning the Umber thing:
 

In the books, Great Jon is still alive (taken captive at the Red Wedding though), and Small Jon was killed at the Red Wedding.  So rather than try to re-introduce a character from the first season nobody remembers (apparently Great Jon was suppose to be in the second season also, but the actor had a conflicting schedule.  So they gave his scenes to others), I can see them saying Small Jon is lord now and just running with that.

[MrHat]

I always forget how much F13 hates fun.

That fight scene at ToJ was awesome until the greatest fighter that ever lived barely wounded a guy with a stab through the chest and then said guy is able to stand up and stab him in the neck and presumably live a full life.  Cliffhangers suck but it's a TV show and we've all been on a cliffhanger from the books for like 20 fucking years.

I'm of the opinion that the Smalljon gift isn't a ploy and instead we're going to get a few fingers/dicks sent off to Castle Black trying to incite a fight.  I don't think  is long for this world.

Someone on Reddit/ASOIAF went through and pulled all mentions of "words on the wind" in the books.  Seemed significant
On a fantasy note, 50 points to Arya for MONTAGE.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLuSfFLA_98

[Tebonas]

I don't think if this is a ploy by Smalljon, if it was why deliver Osha to Ramsey as well? Regardless, the Direwolfs really need to unionize. We are down to two now (or three if you count rumors about Nymeria). Thats not a safe working environment! 

[Khaldun]

I really really hope they don't let Bran change history. That could be super-annoying.

[Merusk]

Rickon has to die so Sansa can take Winterfell. Male heirs get priority in Westeros. Bran is never returning to the realm of men so he's a non-issue.

[Teleku]

Going to be really god damn stupid if that's how it goes.  I don't see Rickon being killed in the books, and it would be silly for them to do it here.

Then again, there is the ominous flayed/burning person in the trailer, so could very well be Rickon.  Bleh.

[Slayerik]

As a non-book reader and not having a clue who the Knight of the Morning (Mourning?) was, I was at least handed a 'this guy is a major badass' with the dual wielding...and , well, to take on 7 guys you better have something up your sleeve. And I guess if you are the worlds greatest swordsman, why not double up?? lol

I thought it was a fun fight in a season that's been pretty slow in that regard.

[HaemishM]

I didn't have a problem with the dual-wielding sword badass, though at one point during the fight, I was thinking "that second sword would probably be more useful if it was a shield." But in terms of visual effects, it did the job illustrating his badassery than just saying it. After all, not many actors can actually pull off really great feats of swordsmanship on a TV budget and timeframe, especially not for a scene that's barely two minutes long if that.

[K9]

It was definitely a step up from the fight scenes in Dorne. 

Dammit they were awful

[MediumHigh]

I forgave the scene for being tv writer "but for the tv audience!!" Usual half assed attempts at following cannon on a budget. I turned off my nitpicks because i honestly thought the show writers wont copout and actually complete the fucking scene. But they didnt, they'll tease the rest of the tower of joy scene for an entire fucking season and watch us clap at the "twist".


So yeah the fight itself can be criticized for being too lazy to follow the book when the show writers want to pad their run time.

[Khaldun]

This show could use a few more genuinely great start-to-finish mano-a-mano fight scenes. So far in that category it's Oberyn v. the Mountain and the Hound v. Brienne, I think. Some good ensemble pieces here and there too but I am not recollecting another great duel.

I really hope that if they do the "short seventh and eighth season" plan, they completely drop the "here's five minutes in this location, here's five minutes in this location" etc. structure. It's never been a good thing for the show and it's really outstayed its welcome at this point.

[Teleku]

To be fair, now that they've past the books and can do their own thing, you can see they are painfully trying to push all the characters together into a few concentrated locations.

[Setanta]

To be honest, Oberon and the Mountain stood out for combat but Ned vs Jamie was the best one that actually took the plot somewhere. It showed just who both characters were and triggered the narrative. Brienne vs Hound did this this to a lesser extent and O vs M took us to Dorne which was a dud plot element.

Personally I'd like to see a flashback to Rhaegar and Robert at the Trident.

[eldaec]

Two spring to mind:

Hound vs Dondarrion.
Bronn vs some random guy in Tyrion's S1 trial.

Both have a lot more personal threat, and much more personality and thematic content in the choreography.

Tyrion's second trial was a fun scene, but it was dancing, not fighting.

[Chimpy]

My big question with the weird "sword fight in the desert" scene was more "where the fuck is Ice?".

Ned Stark carried that damn thing everywhere in S1, the thing was a massive 2 handed broadsword made of unbreakable uber-steel, yet he fought in that scene with a regular longsword.

Just seemed off.

Of course, whatever, it is bad television. They don't even show bewbs anymore :(

[MahrinSkel]

My big question with the weird "sword fight in the desert" scene was more "where the fuck is Ice?".

Ned Stark carried that damn thing everywhere in S1, the thing was a massive 2 handed broadsword made of unbreakable uber-steel, yet he fought in that scene with a regular longsword.

Just seemed off.

Of course, whatever, it is bad television. They don't even show bewbs anymore :(

Rickard Stark (his father) probably had it with him when he was killed by the Mad King. He may not have gotten Ice back until later.

--Dave

[K9]

Also, Ice is what, the best part of a metre and a half long? No way you'd actually spar with that, this isn't Dark Souls.

On an unrelated note, I tried to work out all the narratives currently in the show and I think there's 14. I've tried to group them by likely merges over the course of this season, and this assumes certain things, such as Littlefinger rapidly moving to Winterfell. However, this still leaves eight distinct plot threads. I can't see how they're going to weave Sam and Gilly back into the main plot. I guess Bran will probably merge with the plot in the North at some point, albeit indirectly; and they might get Euron to Mereen by the end of the season by some special TV travel magic. That still leaves Dorne, which could collide with the Kings landing plots, and Arya, which has no clear path to anywhere at this point. This assumes that we don't get a whole bunch of new plotlines, such as the Brotherhood Without Banners, or currently merged plotlines splitting as characters go different ways.

1 - Dany and the Dothraki
2 - Jorah and Daario
3 - Mereen (Tyrion, Varys et al)
---
4 - Bran
---
5 - Castle Black (Jon+Wildlings+Mel+Davos)
6 - Sansa + Brienne
7 - Littlefinger
8 - Ramsay + Rickon/Osha
---
9 - Arya
---
10 - Dorne
---
11 - Cersei+Jamie+Tommen
12 - Margaery and Loras
---
13 - Iron Islands (now with added Theon)
---
14 - Sam and Gilly
---

[calapine]

What do you (F13) think of Tommen?

Just from the acting alone (without  book- or metaknowledge or trying to guess writers intent) it's really painful how easy to manipulate he is.  He is moved by the last person that spoke, whether it's Tywin, Cersei or High Cocksucker

[Chimpy]

He is being played pretty much exactly as the character is written in the books (only a bit older as he was like 10 or 12 when he took the throne in the books.)

He was always sheltered and needed attention. People like that are almost always easily manipulated.

[MediumHigh]

Tommen I kinda just ignore ever scene he is in. They aged him up so he can have sex with Queen Margy (the TITS), and so that her capture has "some" emotional weight (the FEELS) to him. He completely forgets about her now that mamma dearest is back. No point of aging a character when he still acts like he is 10 years old.

[Khaldun]

It's credible enough. It's kind of painful to watch, but in a legitimate way. I am guessing he gets pretty brutally fucked over soon enough.

[Rendakor]

He dies before Cersei, according to her prophecy.

[Speedy Cerviche]

Theon

[eldaec]

My big question with the weird "sword fight in the desert" scene was more "where the fuck is Ice?".

Ned Stark carried that damn thing everywhere in S1, the thing was a massive 2 handed broadsword made of unbreakable uber-steel, yet he fought in that scene with a regular longsword.

Just seemed off.

Of course, whatever, it is bad television. They don't even show bewbs anymore :(

Rickard Stark (his father) probably had it with him when he was killed by the Mad King. He may not have gotten Ice back until later.

--Dave

Sean Bean Stark didn't fight with Ice either,  I don't think the books were definitive either way. Ice only being used for ceremonial purposes (and head chopping) seems reasonable and in keeping with Ned's character.

[K9]

This season needs more Ser Pounce

[Khaldun]

Would be amusing to see the High Sparrow get a cat to the face.

[eldaec]

Theon

Oh shit, you're right, this sounds terrible.

Just thinking about it reinforces how anyone much this show is missing the travelling scenes now that we're covering a book chapter more or less every 4 minutes.

And after thinking about that, now I'm thinking about how they are going to cover the kingsmoot in 6 minutes tops. Le sigh.

[Threash]

Theon

The fact that he is not there is actually a plot point in the books though.  As in the reason the entire thing was invalid.

[IainC]

It's credible enough. It's kind of painful to watch, but in a legitimate way. I am guessing he gets pretty brutally fucked over soon enough.