NOTE: I’ll open a SPOILER thread at the bottom of this post’s comments section. Please contain all “upcoming on GoT” talk to there. If you mention something that hasn’t happened on the show yet outside of said thread, you’ll be banned. The only way to be unbanned: giving me all your dragons. No dragons, no dice.
The (kind of) king is dead. I was surprised that last week’s episode didn’t end with Smoke Demon stabbing Renly like he was one of Robert's bastards. I wish it had because some drive was lost by the killing time beginning “The Ghost of Harrenhal.” TV shows are built (and rely) on momentum, and Davos leading Melisandre to, and then watching her give birth in, that dank crypt was a great scene. Suspense was high, the mystery unknown. But having it a week later, after reading so many recaps (hi!) and throwing out so many theories and having to amp yourself up again, took away some of the importance of Renly’s murder.
That’s not to say watching a just-birthed demon kill a man, followed by Don’t-Call-Her Lady Brienne going absolutely ape sh*t on Renly’s soldiers, wasn’t good. It was, because “Game of Thrones,” in case you hadn’t heard, is a very, very good show. But, for the first time this season, I felt like: this could have been better. (Them’s the breaks when you have 28 different stories happening at once.) Or maybe I’m just pissed that Renly’s not around anymore. He had my vote. Elsewhere, Arya’s awesome, Tyrion’s planning something explosive (MUCH more on that later), and Dany should always wear pretty blue dresses.
- Seriously, Brienne went mental. She was also good with her sword.
- Meanwhile, Margaery continues to rock the ice cream cone dress look. I like it. (I also want to spell her name as Magary every time, and now I’m imagining a conversation between her and Sex Cannon. Make it happen, KSK.)
- Feels like this season is going to boil down to Lannisters and their Wildfire (courtesy of the Pyromancers) vs. Stannis’s forces. Was that a crappy pun? Perhaps. Will it be awesome, if true? YES. Also: never piss on Wildfire.
- Heh, “Demon Monkey.” A fitting nickname, considering that King’s Landing walking scene reminded me of Aladdin.
- Speaking of: for saving Jaqen H'ghar’s life, Arya is allowed three wishes, and by wishes, I mean she can instruct H’ghar to kill three people. The first victim: the Tickler. He won’t be tickling anyone where he’s going.
- Judging by Tumblr, females reacted to Gendry taking his shirt off the way males did Alison Brie’s sexy Santa dance.
- Theon, the captain of the aptly named Sea Bitch, has something big in mind for his former home, Winterfell.
- Dany’s scenes were some of my favorites. It’s nice having her out of the desert, and able to converse with people who aren’t Jorah and her handmaidens. Not that they aren’t interesting, but there wasn’t any conflict in the Red Waste, other than, “Will they get out alive?” The stuff in Qarth is much better,
- Doesn’t Duck Sauce (or Daxos, for you traditionalists) look like a fat Idris Elba?
- Pyat Pree shouldn’t be allowed within 100 feet of women and children.
- Cat gets little mention in these recaps, but she’s been amazing this season.
- Attractive Women of "Game of Thrones" Power Rankings, Episode 5: #5. Cersei, #4. Osha, #3. Irri, #2. Margaery, #1. Daenerys
RIP. (Via)
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More like Game of BORING, amirite? (Via)
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Happy birthday Josh K.
“Oh? What did I get?”
You got a Tonks.
For anyone who’s still checking out this thread, here are some casting rumors for season three: [winteriscoming.net]
Spoilers, obvs.
Oded Fehr is a name being bandied about as ideal for a certain Prince of Dorne but I think a better fit would be Adrien Brody. HIs fight at the end of Predators is a solid rehearsal for one of ASOS’s main set pieces.
Another random thought: They change Osha’s name to Yara to avoid confusion with Asha, but they leave Bran and Bronne alone?
I can’t tell what they’re trying to do with the ages of the younger characters. I personally feel that if GRRM had taken the age of everyone under 20 and added 2 to it, the whole story would be much less creepy without losing anything.
The show doesn’t make mention of their ages at all, I think, so they all seem more to me now as I kind of envisioned them in the books. The exceptions to that are Gendry and Jon Snow, who both appear to be 27-30, which is WAY too damn old.
We also need a badass power ranking.
5. baby dragons
4. Pyromancer
3. Brienne
2. shadow baby
1. Jaqen
I feel like I need to shoehorn Bronn in here somewhere, even if he didn’t do anything. He just exudes badassery.
Badass Power Ranking is a must. *i think you nailed list, minor change in mine*
5. Pyromancer (how sick would that title look on a business card)
4. baby dragon (aka McRib)
3. Brienne (went just HAM on those clowns)
2. Tywin (they way he talked to his cousin and war counsel, just plain boss)
1. Jaqen (does a man need a reason *eats pear)
Bronn of House of Badass just didnt get screen time and The Hound cya on list next week hopefully
5. Shadow baby
4. Qhorin Halfhand
3. Jaqen
2. Brienne
1. Tywin
Baby dragons do not belong anywhere near this list. At this stage they’d be lucky to give Ser Pounce a fight.
Baby dragons rule and you drool. so there.
Who was the Night Watch guy that Mormont sent to Kings Landing after getting into a tussle with Jon Snow? It wasn’t Yoren was it?
Alliser Thorne. He was the master at arms that trained the new recruits.
thanks. I refused to believe that Yoren and Jon could be at odds. WTF evern happened to Alliser? Shouldn’t he be at Kings Landing by now?
I’m so glad the decided to keep Doreah around as she was dead by this point in the book. That girl is gorgeous and her body is awwwwwwwwwwwwww yeahhhhh!
Vegas must have made a killing on their Over/Under 5.5 boobs in episode.
I think I said this last week, but I think I am going to have to repeat it until someone else agrees with me. Asha/Yara reminds me so much of a younger version of Russell Crowe, and I can’t take her seriously (this is not meant to be a terribly flattering comparison).
Yeah I think Droopy Dog would pass for the Spaniard.
I like her. She has smirked her way into my heart.
Plus, hin this episode she was all grubby and sailor-like, and she made my pants happy.
Doreah really needs to keep a place in the Top 5. Osha has no place there.
And can I adopt the Stark children? They are bad ass.
The kids on this show are so fucking great, it just shows you how piss-poor the HARRY POTTER kids were (and remained) as actors.
What’s the name of the girl with Dany in the banner pic, helping her feed the dragon? Was that Irri or Osha? Because she is some kind of AJ Lee attractive. Yowzers!
It’s Doreah, played by Roxanne McKee. I’m guessing that you’re late to the party and missed the scene where Doreah taught Daenerys about the cowgirl position?
I thought that was Irri.
Is it racist to say that all hot Dothraki chicks look alike?
Racist? No. Nerdy? Yes.
Technically Doreah isn’t a Dothraki chick.
Pyat Pree looked like Billy Corgan.
By way of Courtney Love.
Does Joss Whedon know that guy escaped from that Buffy episode ‘Hush’?
I kept waiting for him to say “Dean-a-ling-a-ling!”
And, how effed up is it that as screwed up as the Lannisters are as a family, Tywin and Tyrion seem to be the two most noble men in the land? This side of Winterfell anyway.
As much as I love Tyrion, it would be cool to see Tywin actually take over as the Hand. He would dong-stomp Joffrey with a quickness.
Tyrion yes. Tywin… I don’t think Noble is a word I would use for him. Ruthless Cunt fits a li’l better I’d say.
Tywin’s got ice water for blood. He’s not a sadist (unlike half the other characters in this show) but he will wipe out entire ethnic groups if he thought it was the pragmatic thing to do.
Tywin is ruthless, and made a play for power, but put an end to the senseless torture of their prisoners, treats Arya well and seems to have respect for his adversaries on the battlefield. And he’d probably get rid of Joffrey if he could for killing Ned and starting this war.
Agreed about Tywin. He’s fighting for what he believes in, but he’s not cruel about it.
Also he didn’t start this war. As far as he is concerned Cat did when she kidnapped Tyrion. Tywin’s just determined to finish it at all costs if need be.
Eggs Zachary,
Tywin isn’t cruel, just very very… practical.
Keep in mind that Tywin has unleashed Gregor Clegane to wreak havoc on the realm…repeatedly. Defending Tywin as “noble” is like saying “that guy that sicced his pitbull on a group of schoolchildren even though he knew the animal would eat their faces…he’s actually a pretty decent guy.”
Not to say that Tywin isn’t a total badass, or that I don’t love his character. But he ain’t nice.
MINOR SPOILERS
Charles Dance is awesome as Tywin, but Tywin pisses me off because of what he does to ICE. That shit was so disrespectful.
Yeah, you can’t give a free rape/murder pass to your pet monster and still be a “good” man
I just want to say that GoT is routinely getting bitch slapped by Mad Men in the sexiness department this season. Time to up your game HBO!
Next Week, on Game of Thrones: everyone gets a BJ from someone’s mom.
:dancingbanana:
I hope the dragons get awesome kick-ass names like the Direwolves did. I vote for “Hellfire”, “Redwing” and “Carol”
I vote for Grey Wing, Madame, and Shaggydrag.
i vote for Zippo, Heater and McRib
changing one of my votes to McRib.
T-boz, Chili, and McRib.
howzabout Char, Broiled, and McRib
Names of Dragons
****Semi-spoilerish idk***…..
Names are:
Drogon(black one), Viseral(green one) think i spelled it right, and Rhaegal(white one). Named after her brothers and her moon and stars.
Dude… “semi”?
Wow those are some lame-ass names for dragons (referring to the spoilers).
Moishe, Hershel and Shlomo
I’m not so upset at grizzled’s spoiler but, 4 asterisks on one side and 3 on the other?? WTF? Followed by a 5-dotted ellipsis? Not cool dude. NOT COOL.
Drogon is named after her dead husband Drogo, Viserion is named for her dead brother Viserys (Golden crown guy) and Rhaegal is named after her other brother Rhaegal.
I forget if Rhaegal has been mentioned in the show, but he’s a pretty important figure in the history between the Targaryens and Starks/Baratheons.
Rhaegar. He’s been mentioned by name at least once (by Jorah — “Your brother Rhaegar was the last Dragon; Viserys is less than the shadow of a snake.”), and Robert also referred to him once or twice when talking about Lyanna Stark (“In my dreams, I kill him every night.”).
Ah yeah, damn. Mind was stuck on the dragon i guess.
This season is good, but would be better if something happened. Seems like every week we get to the verge of something interesting then the payoff is a big letdown. Followed by more build up and nothing much happening. Don’t say Renly getting killed was a big deal either. Did anyone really think he was going to win or do anything of importance?
As a major player with an army, while I felt it unlikely he’d win he certainly had the power to shift things.
I did, for exactly the same reasons as Homo Erectus did.
Am I the only one who finds himself throwing up the middle finger every time the Theon scenes are on? Fucking Iron Islanders.
Yeah, i mean showing him getting emasculated once or twice is fine but every freaking time they show him. sheesh. we get it. they don’t like him or are going to listen to him.
Many fucks were not given in that dialogue.
I don’t care whether he’s getting emasculated or not — the guy’s a turd, as are the rest of his people. They should be wildfired, one and all.
Agreed JJ Junior Shabz. The iron motherfuckers are the absolute worse. In all honesty, Lannisters >>>>>>> Greyjoys. And I’m not even counting Tyrion as a Lannister in my equation. That’s how much I hate them.
yeah, they need to “reap” some fucking soap and toothbrushes, or just pay the Iron Price for it.
The iron price would be when they go to Walmart and stab everyone inside in the face. Twice.
It is ironic that they spend all their time on the ocean, but none of them have been able to brave a goddamn bathtub.
We do not soap!
Well played ser
Yeah get those filthy buggers some Iron Spring or something.
LMAO at this whole section, btw.
Doreah on the Power Rankings or get the fuck out
[vigorously nods head* in agreement]
*not quite as vigorously as Julia Ormond, but close.
ahhh nice one Zack. tweet of the night from my brother in law. “Megan’s mom is mining for Sterling’s Gold!”
Yeah… Osha over Doreah is crime.
Agreed. Does anyone really want to do it froggy style with Osha? I’d rather get it on with Theon’s sister Droopy Dog.
I can’t get enough of Osha’s slight head tilt when she’s talking. She’s like an adorable dog. An adorable, sexy dog.
Maybe it would help if they would quit dressing her in the latest burlap chic.
@Nussy couldn’t have said it better myself
Osha is attractive, and I like her huge eyes, but… she’s no Doreah.
And despite all the other great scenes, my favorite this time was Tywin and Arya discussing killing. I half wonder if he doesn’t already know who she is.
Agreed about Tywin and Arya. She is awesome.
It’s one of the more impressive first acting role performances I’ve ever seen.
That stare-down after she says “anyone can be killed” is my all-time favorite Arya moment, and hot damn it’s going to take something quite special to dethrone it.
Tywin is such a boss. I know hes supposed to be a bad guy, but I loved how he told his cousin to fuck off. That and the scene with Arya was nicely added by the writers of the show.
Yeah, I wasn’t that excited for the Arya as a cupholder development, but after last night you can see the definite character development possibilities.
Arya with two remaining death wishes is the shit. I wish she had saved twenty dudes in the wagon cage. Jaquen is like the world’s creepiest genie, but you better believe I’m going to put a lot of thought into the three people I would pick. Not characters on the show–real life.
Yup, that was an awesome scene. Actually I loved every scene Arya had this week. The Tywin scene, the H’ghar scene, the Gendry scene… all totally awesome. All very cool relationships.
Her exchange with Tywin was amazing. Give her the Golden Globe and the Emmy and everything. So. Good.
That wee girl can hold a close-up like a seasoned pro.
Fucking brilliant.
I have no problem with the way they did the birth of the shadow demons last ep and the killing this ep. It gave a high point at the end of one episode and a high point at the beginning of the next.
Demon Monkey. I’m guessing he’s going to throw this back at them later somehow.
Rocknrolla=Duck Sauce+Idris Elba
Behind Duck Sauce’s vault is a SUV he watches movies in all the time.
I was thinking he had a Chick-Fil-A back there…
i like to think its the Tupac Hologram playing “Qarthaforina Love” on a loop.
I wish Dany would’ve taken Daxos up on his offer for half of everything, only to have him open his vault to reveal a single glazed donut.
thought the same thing
Tyrion’s “schemes and plotting are the same thing” had me laughing more than it should have.
Great line i think most people missed.
I lol’d.
More Bronn, every time he talks i feel like i get just a little more swag.
*I also spotted Jon’s Direwolf “Ghost” at The Fist, felt like a wheres Waldo moment.
Bronn is the Roger Sterling of Westeros.
Mel you totally read my mind. He’s given all the good lines.
The additional Bron exposures is one of the biggest improvements from the book to the screen. The producers knew they had a winner there.
I don’t care if its innapropriate but I totally want Arya and Gendry to get together, they’re so cute!
She was totally checking him out.
I support future Arya/Gendry.
Jaquen was a total badass, I love that character
Even though he reminds me way too much of the brother from “Weeds,” I agree.
I was thinking Hugo Weaving. But yeah, badass character. Pretty much everyone in Arya’s “circle” is really cool right now.
Even Hot Pie had his cool moment, starring down The Mountain…..it ended quickly after pissing his pants….But, as Billy Madison says, “You ain’t cool unless you pee your pants”
He’s my favorite minor character in the whole series.
The dragons looked FANTASTIC this episode. Huge props to the CGI people.
When the dragon cocked its head to the side lookin’ all sweet it reminded me on the dilophosaur from Jurassic Park before it went mental on Newman.
Agreed. The direwolves still aren’t great, though.
No wonder you’re extinct
I’m pretty sure they have Andy Serkis doing the motion capture for the baby dragons. Genius!
Jaqen should have his own spinoff. The look he gave after killing the Tickler was perfect. I kind of love him.
Well, I suppose it would have been a short series is Renly’s and Robb Stark’s armies dominated everyone else and coexisted peacefully.
And I couldn’t tell, but did the smoke demon look like Stannis?
If, not is. Derp.
In that book, Davos notices that the shadow looks like Stannis’ silhouette when he see’s it. And Brianne see’s the same thing on the show. Survey sez – looked like Stannis.
I was wondering about the demon too. Looked like the right height, but I can’t watch in HD, so I couldn’t make out any details other than that.
It should look like Stannis, after all, he IS the father.
I didn’t even notice when the recast Margaery. I guess keeping the wardrobe made it less obvious:
[i50.tinypic.com]
Submit that here – [westeroscommunitycollege.tumblr.com] – It is awesome.
Will do. Didn’t know there was a Community/GoT mashup site. That’s awesome.
+1
Thanks for posting this recap so I could ogle a GIF of shirtless Gentry on another site.
How about a slo-mo? Swooooon.
yeah, my wife made a really strange sound during that scene, *sigh…stupid bastard son built of steel. i have a house and a truck! suck on that Gendry
It seems I can no longer view slide shows at the office (stupid, stupid firewall) so Mel, you are now my hero for posting the Gendry GIF in the comments.
Bless you, sweet sweet Mel.
Mrs. JfJ made an audible noise. Siiiiigh.
Rankings are good except maybe slide Doreah in the #5 spot.
Anyone else want a pet dragon now? I know i do. seared ribeyes for everyone!
#teamhandmaids
It was a coin toss between Irri and Doreah. I’d let either one of them play with my dragon…never mind.
I still don’t get why Robb, Cersei, Joffrey and Sansa get no time while Littlefinger is in every fucking episode.
And we haven’t seen Jamie since episode one.
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER THREAD
Have at it, you monsters.
Kinda hard for them to leave the Reeds out? You at least need Jojen. Unless they rewrite it so Osha and Hodor take Bran north. Guess that really doesn’t diminish the story that much.
@One More Round – They could do that, but what of Rickon?
I’ve been worried about how the show would portray Brienne, since she’s so withdrawn and we usually only know her feelings through internal monolog. And that conflict between being a super badass and super sensitive is what makes her so interesting.
I’m still a little worried for later, but last night, they did a great job of expressing a lot with little dialog.
Did I hear Jaqen H’ghar say that Arya stole three deaths from the Red God? Are they changing his religion? I’m curious how that will change her story later in the series.
@IAD — probably the same thing that happens in the book: nothing
And I’d hate to see the Reeds get cut, but more Osha would be cool.
hate that The Tickler was picked by Arya, i enjoyed reading the scene in Storm of Swords of her personally killing him..stabbing him over and over repeating the questions he asked.
*she just makes horrible decisions on her 3 names, but i guess she is just a kid.
I’m sticking with you finding out later that Rickon has been on a murdering spree.
@JesusChrysler Yeah I heard a lot people going ape shit about that but I don’t remember what he said. According to westeros.org he actually does say the Red God in the book.
I think leaving Jojen and Meera means the group won’t split up like in the books. It would be pretty easy to change the Rickon/Osha storyline.
@Queefer – true, although I have a feeling he’ll be back around in some capacity. The problem I’d have with it, is that Osha talking to Bran about his warging/green-seeing just sounds like she’s regurgitating old wive’s tales (the Old Nan role), whereas with the Reed’s they were describing it first-hand.
@One More I suspect it’s to keep things simpler for non-readers. They already have 4 religions in Westeros to keep up with, let’s not add more confusion until the time gets closer.
Really like Xaro, Jaqen, Brienne, Renly’s death and Brienne going mental, Littlefinger little smirk when Margeary says she wants to be THE queen (nicely sets the plot of LF working with Olenna Redwyne), Davos and Stannis’ scene, The Halfhand, the exchanges between Sam & Dolorous Edd, the Tyrion and Bronn scenes, a lot to like in that episode!
However, Quaithe looks really weird, and not at all how her mask is described in the books, also as she is from Asshai and some more or less obvious ties to R’hllor, I’d expect her to wear more red.
Really don’t like Jaqen referring to what is in the books as the many face god, or god of death, as the “Red God”, it’s super confusing with the Lord of Light for people who haven’t read the books, and the two have nothing in common as they are two very different religion.
Also don’t like that Arya asked for The Tickler to be killed, as she normally kills him herself later in one of her most memorable book scenes (stabbing him repeatedly yelling “Is the gold in the village?!”), and wouldn’t it have been more natural for her to ask for Tywin’s death after the previous scene?
I’m really not of fan of the change in this plot. Even if the scene between Arya and Tywin WAS great, it really messes up some great moments that are supposed to come in the books. And I think it could have been done more faithfully withouth taking much more airtime.
But let’s not nitpick, it was again a great episode. Next one should be nice too and the last that sets up things before shit really goes down in the last 4 episodes! Can’t wait for Jaime’s escape, Jon Vs Qhorin, Blackwater, Hous of the Undying, and maybe Fist of the First Men will even close out this season!
Maybe they’ll run into the Reeds when they flee Winterfell? If they really are splitting book 3 into two seasons, that’d give them more time to properly introduce them. Assuming that Bran and co. don’t leave until the end of this season, of course.
Oh and yeah, it also seems like the Reeds are out. It could be done without them, expect we don’t get the nice background story of Howland Reed, Lyanna and Ned, which I get for a TV show. But also, someone needs to take Rickon out to Skagos… who will do that if Osha and Hodor take Bran North ?
Yeah, I’m not quite sure why Osha hedged on telling Bran the full story, but I can’t imagine the Reeds are going to make the cut at this point. They’re not on the IMDB cast list, either
There have been a lot of changes from the books this season — understandable given the massive scale of the story in the novels (i.e., the 4th novel doesn’t even involve the majority of the primary characters from the first 3 books) — but this was the first episode of the series to date where my initial reaction upon viewing was disappointment. As a fan of the novels, I can acknowledge that the show can’t accommodate the slow burn on some of the stories and the massive cast of characters the same way, but it still feels like some of the changes are random. I guess I have to get better at treating the books and the show as separate entities and evaluating the show on its own merits, but that doesn’t mean it’s an easy thing to do.
Random thoughts:
- the execution of Renly’s death overall to me was a huge FAIL — his death itself in the book (a cold wind blowing in the tent and his shadow coming alive to cut his throat) was much better than the shadow monster just kind of appearing and stabbing him, and it’s also hard to fathom why they’ve changed Brienne and Loras’ reactions and actions in the immediate aftermath of Renly’s death
- we’re in the middle of the season and they haven’t yet alluded to Tyrion getting every smith in King’s Landing working on a massive iron chain. If they’re omitting that then we’re truly screwed as far as getting a halfway decent translation to screen of the Battle of Blackwater Bay
- where the hell are the Reeds?!? The frog people play a pretty significant part in Bran’s and Rickon’s story, writing them out wouldn’t make much sense in the context of those story arcs
- looks like they’re omitting the storyline of Ser Cortnay Penrose and Storm’s End, as well as the related story of Edric Storm — another bummer
- changing Margaery’s character and story is one thing, but the changes in Dany’s story are also getting a bit out of hand. I humbly await the assembly of her eunuch army to rectify things
- finally, not having Doreah on the attractive women power rankings: INEXCUSABLE
If the Reeds don’t make it on the show, that would kinda blow. I imagined them being just goofy/creepy and seeing how they made Pyat Pree look like the monster from my dreams the Reeds would have made for good TV.
I am worried about the previews for next weeks episode. it looks like they re-wrote the Jon-Qhorin storyline. The preview shows Qhorin about to execute Ygritte and Jon coming up behind Qhorin. I guess the end result is the same because the Wildlings think Jon is a defector. I personally think its better the way the book does it.
I sort of liked how they did Quaithe’s mask. And I was happy to see her, because I was afraid she might be cut after Dany’s arrival at Qarth changed.
Also, Pyat Pree is creepy as hell and I can’t wait for the House of the Undying.
@miamidiesel
For real bro, the Renly death was a fail. There was no build up to it and he got stabbed in the back by a pansy shadow. I was hoping for some more tension built up before his throat gets slit to reveal a blood waterfall.
They still have time to write this in for the next episode, but is Jeor going to bring up the wedding gift that Dany has to give Xaro? It’d be kinda stupid if Dany just goes “meh” on Xaro’s marriage proposal for a reason to back out instead of her finding out the sneaky underhanded way Xaro wants to get a dragon.
@miamidiesel Doesn’t Renly get cleaved in half. I thought the sword from the shadow raised up and cut down between his neck and shoulder literally splitting him in half. I totally wanted to see that ala that movie Ironclad.
I love this thread so much. It’s tough recapping this show when you know what’s coming up. Like, Blackwater Bay and Theon’s grand plan, for instance. I JUST WANT TO BLAB. So, thank you, you guys.
@ JoshK yeah definitely. Buddy at work watches the show but hasn’t read the books and is always like “Just tell me what happens” I’m giddy as a schoolgirl to tell him what happens down the road and see him say “What the f*ck?”
One other gripe — where the fuck is Dagmer’s scar? I don’t like the fact that they (again) have given a character a name from the book but otherwise have made the character completely different than the book. On Theon’s story generally, I thought that they set his character up in season 1 to be more like he is in the books (i.e., the scene with Ros when he tells her about who he is and wants to be). I think the way they’re changing his character on the TV show will actually make his brief rise and subsequent hard fall resonate less. Guess we’ll see.
Also, I’m finally starting to see where the book purists are coming from when they complain about all of the added sex on the show. It’s kind of hard to accept that the showrunners want to add scenes like Littlefinger talking about what a schemer he is while two whores fingerbang or Margaery going topless and outing Renly/Loras when they’re omitting great scenes from the books like Stannis taking Storm’s End. Just another reason that reinforces internalizing the treatment of the books and the show as separate entities to be evaluated independently.
@One More Round: I thought Renly’s death was as hee moy remembered it, i.e., his throat getting cut followed by a blood waterfall, not Renly getting cleaved in half
The Jon-Qhorin arc is one of my faves in the books. I can tell they’re cutting it short. In the book when Qhorin tells Jon he must not flinch or back down from whatever they ask and then reciting the words of the Night’s Watch together one last time absolutely chilled me to the bone.
I see mass exodus of viewers after the Red Wedding. It’s one thing to behead the guy on all the promos in season one. It’s quite another thing to kill his son and sew his pet wolf’s head on his body.
Also, I see a lawsuit from PETFA.
I dont think you need the Reeds because Osha can fill that role and Rickon doesn’t matter in the slightest. Blackfish is an annoying omission because he’s crucial to the later events.
I think the Reeds are done for. And not so much because of Osha, but rather, because of Bran himself. They’ve already given a lot of Jojen’s story to Bran (probably because he’s older on the show than he is in the books, and considering, by the time they get to season 5 or 6, he’ll 16 or 17 years old), so there isn’t much of a need for him anymore.
Consider, Jojen was the one who dreamt of the “sea coming to Winterfell” in the books. But on the show it’s Bran. He’s having green dreams AND wolf dreams. Similarly, he seems to have a much keener grasp of his abilities than he did in the books. And, given the fact he’s asking Osha about the “Three-Eyed Raven” (rather than “Three-Eyed Crow”, which kind of annoyed me), and she seems to know what he’s talking about, I’d say the Reeds are kaput.
Their only saving grace will be Bran’s long journey north. He’s going to have to meet someone along the way, or else there won’t be a whole lot going on with him, until he finally meets Bloodraven in season 16, or whenever the hell that eventually happens.
Yeah the whole killing the tickler via Arya’s wish is the first thing HBO has done that has really ticked me off. The scene where she guts him screaming his interrogation mantra is one of my fav in the whole series and something I was really looking forward to seeing. Screw you HBO!
I hope that they are just holding off with the Reeds until Season 3, as they already introduced a bunch of new characters this season and want to keep it as simple as they possibly can. In COK Martin introduces a lot of really important characters in the second half of the book that they will probably save for season 3 (Reek/Ramsay, the Tulleys, the Reeds).
I just hope they don’t replace the Reeds with Osha, because as awesome as Osha is the Reeds are much more interesting.
A great many secondary characters are being left out because they’re not directly playing the game of thrones. There’s no way all the book content is going to cram into a twelve hour season so get used to being disappointed.
Oh, and the guy playing Hodor is absolutely killing it! Hodor!
I’d have to make the case that Ramsay is far more vital to the storyline than the Reeds are. And I’ve heard rumors that Robb will send Roose to liberate Winterfell, rather than Ramsay (which would have a domino-effect on the story lines of Jaime, and Theon, and Robb himself, to name a few).
In the book, Ramsay burns Winterfell, and Roose stays in the south, eventually taking Harrenhal from Tywin (which is pivotal – it leads to the Red Wedding, and Jaime’s severed hand/release from captivity – so I don’t see how they can possibly leave that out).
The Reeds’ roles can be delegated to other characters (namely Bran, Osha, and Maester Luwin), but the whole dynamic between Roose and Ramsay has a pretty major impact on the story over all.
So, if Robb really does send Roose back up north some time during the next few episodes, then I’ll be pissed. But I really don’t give a shit about the Reeds, in all honesty (unless Bloodraven really did feed Jojen to Bran in ADwD, in which case, HOLY SHIT!).
WHAT? How could they even consider cutting Ramsay from the storyline? He is the most horrifying monster in a world of horrifying monsters! Also like Dingus said this will completely fuck up the storyline of like… everyone but Dany
Seriously what the hell is going on with Rickon? It’s like he’s turning feral. Like Shaggydog is inhabiting him rather than vice versa. Wouldn’t surpise me if they rework Bran’s escape from Winterfell and sacrifice Rickon.
I hope to all that is holy that we get Ser Barristan back by the end of this season. If I do recall he saves Dany from an assassin in Quarth. Barristan the Bold Bad-Ass and his staff. And Strong belwas too.
I see there’s much fuss being made about the lack of the Reeds. I must confess that I skipped many a Bran chapter so I couldn’t give a fuck.
The Iron Islands: I’m not getting a Viking vibe from these guys at all. They should be like the guys from The Thirteenth Warrior and I thought the Sea Bitch was supposed to be a longship? I did like the naval camo the crew were wearing though.
I liked the change with Loras refusing to believe Brienne was responsible for Renly’s death although it would have been better to see him go beserk on the guards he thought had failed to protect his king, but there was never even a mention of the Rainbow Guard, so it wasn’t to be.
Daenerys looked fantastic. Pyat Pree looked like Dean Pelton. Stannis looked like he actually has an army. Jaqen, Arya, Tywin and something-for-the-ladies shirtless Gendry could rule Westeros if they all got together; love spending time with them.
No Melisandre. Was she on maternity leave? I do like the Stannis/Davos dynamic but I hated that Davos convinced Stannis to leave Melisandre behind for the battle to come.
also wasn’t dany supposed to have a titty out when she pt on the dress?
Yes! I was expecting a plethora of single boobs by all ladies in Qathiforina
@Chris I read an interview with Emelia Clarke before the season where she addressed the fashion choices. The thought was that it would distract the viewer too much. She’s probably right.
The Reeds are cut. They’re not cast.
What they’re doing with Arya is confusing and a little more than a slight change. It’s important to remember that one little change like that ripples and reverberates throughout the rest of the story and that means they have to make additional changes to account for that. Removing The Tickler at this point in the story means he’s not around later to shape the odds for the fight that results in The Hound’s death.
They haven’t yet mentioned Tyrion’s chain – if they remove that entirely then a lot of Tyrion’s feelings about what he did to protect King’s Landing and other characters’ responses don’t make any sense.
Putting Arya in close proximity to Tywin really does mess things up. The way it is in the books, you have to remember that she’s a child and so the names she gives Jaqen are so obviously the wrong names, but you understand why. She uses them for payback for the most part. They put this girl who gets exposed as a northerner right next to Tywin Lanniser, then have the exchange where she warns him “Anyone can die” (which btw, $100 says they use as the translation for ‘valar morgulis’). Then Jaqen offers her three deaths – anyone she wants dead is dead. How can you justify this girl not killing the patriarch of the family that’s posing the biggest threat to her brother’s army?
The Reeds: They’re obviously setting Osha up to be Bran’s guide through the world of warging, giving Bran the dreams from which they’ll get the idea where they’re going.
Arya: They can have her stab Polliver screaming “Carry him he says” and devolving just to “carry him” as she yells louder and loses control. They can also have her wake up run to Jagen and give Tywin’s name to have him reply “it may take a year since he left this morning”
Fuck every single Iron Islander
I just got around to viewing this last night. There’s an uproar about Jaqen mentioning that Arya stole deaths from “the red god.” He says this in the books, so it isn’t inconsistent in transliteration. Nor is it inconsistent within the story: as a [presumed] Faceless Man, he serves the Many-faced God. The Faceless Men believe that all religions and gods ultimately deal with Death, Him of Many Faces. If we assume that Jaqen referred to R’hllor when he said “the red god,” then he’s probably just alluding to the fire from which Arya helped rescue them. R’hllor is the god of fire, and thus burning deaths would be “his.” In that instance, R’hllor is simply the red face of Death. Jaqen is from (or at least has lived in) Essos where R’hllor worship is common, so he might just be speaking in familiar vernacular.
wow, you nailed it Myth. ty
Where the hell are the reeds?
Considering Bran had Jojen’s green dream… I’m afraid they’ve been eliminated.
I’ll bet they show up later, can’t really have the story without them. Someone needs to run off with Rickon.
I just read elsewhere that a several characters have been pushed to season 3, I hope that includes the reeds, or at least an amalgam of the 2 of them.
They need the Reeds. I was expecting them this week but looks like they’re being left out or pushed til next season. Like someone mentioned above Rickon and Osha take off together and go to what Davos figures to be where people dine on human flesh(Skagos). I love the show but I believe the books absolutely destroy the show in the awesomness scale. I tell all who watch the show to man up and read the books cus they are top notch
I definitely understand if it was done for budget reasons, but I do find the complete omission of the Tullys a strange one. Edmure is a very compelling character if you ask me.
@Leapin Lizards. The omission of Blackfish troubles me as well. He’s basically Robb’s #1 war advisor/counselor.
I think the Tulleys are being saved for Season Three as their part in ACOK isn’t that important to the story, however in ASOS they play a much bigger role that is important to the story.
Put me down as another hoping the Reeds pop up at the start of Season 3
Ehh, there’s probably no time for the Reeds. Giving Bran the dreams and recruiting another loyal Stark follower to take Rickon solves the problem. Perhaps not killing the Maester.
OBLIGATORY COMMENT ABOUT HOW MUCH I LOVE BRIENNE.
That scene with her and Cat in the woods was fantastic.
Also fantastic? Dany’s dress and the Qarth wardrobe in general. Well done, GoT costum designers.
I’m so glad that Dany finally had a chance to clean up. It’s so refreshing to want to have sex with her again.
Yeah that party scene really showed the “grandeur” of Qarth. Agreed. Didn’t you think they’re making Dany seem kind of childish and naive though?
It gives me hope for a Cersei/Lady Taena strap on scene that the book sorely missed but I’m dead sure HBO will throw in there because Bewbs.
Those sweet, creamy little titties were just there under that sheer cloth.
Great costuming.
I love my dead gay son!