Game of Thrones

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Dram does not watch Game of Thrones...

Anyway, funny you should say that -- right before I clicked on GD, I had just set the whole first season to download. I hear the first few episodes are a little confusing, but after that it gets awesome.

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I feel sorry for anyone who didnt know about game of thrones until it became an (overrated) tv show.

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FINALLY starting the series tonight.

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the show

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OKAY SO I just started Season 1 tonight (tried to last night but shit came up). Brock & I sat through the first half of the episodes (literally just spent six hours straight marathoning it, yay for not going to work with any sleep at all) and HOLY FUCK

THE GOLDEN CROWN WAS INTENSE AS FUCK AND NOW I LIKE DAENYRS SO MUCH MORE, AS WELL AS DROGO

.

I can't help but feel the sidetrack with Lady Stark's sister and the whole dwarf imprisonment thing was a bit of a boring sidetrack, but oh well

Also they keep mentioning dragons oh fuck yes please tell me there's dragons at some point. Also I know this is all fantasy-medieval-epic and shit but I'm guessing it's not quite Lord of the Rings where there's goblins and creatures and magick being used right

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During one of the episodes, Brock & I paused to note that the logo had four animal heads poking out. We figured the wolf's head was Stark and the dragon's head was the blonde-haired-barbarian-people, and the stag's head/lion's head were answered quickly.

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Favorite scene so far is when Littlefinger and Varys have their confrontation in the throne room. Littlefinger is one of my favorite characters so far. I generally dislike the entire house of Stark except for Eddard. They make for such boring characters.

Conversely, everyone in the Royal Family is full of so much vibrance that I can't help but love them (even if it is love to hate them). I cheered out loud when the King backhanded the Queen in Eddard's recovery chamber.

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The gay knight is way too fruity.

Also fuck off Ned rules

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"she's a little girl who wants to be a knight or some shit" how subversive

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Eddard is just the perfect straight man to play off of everyone else's total deceitfulness and backstabbingness. He's the ONLY honorable character which appeals to me and makes him stand out in a sea of conniving assholes.

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As I was telling Faraday earlier, I have a few predictions for the rest of S1:

- Eddard Stark is put on trial for treason at some point (I'm imagining this being the big climax at the very end of the season, finale material)
- The current king is murdered (possibly pinned on Eddard)
- Dany has her son but they don't cross the Narrow Sea until next season (6 episodes isn't enough time to make that happen)
- The White Walkers attack The Wall
- One of the Stark boys will die (c'mon, something super tragic has to happen to the Starks again to continue building the Lannisters as the archvillains)
- They're totally building up a huge sword battle between Joffrey and Arya but I'm not convinced it'll happen this season

The one I'm most convinced about is either the king dying or Ned being put on trial. The king's character is this wallowing sad sack of pity and depravity which leaves very little room for growth (what, is he suddenly gonna become Mister Smiles?) so the only thing that makes sense is his death, not to mention the ramifications for the rest of the characters if he dies. And with how Ned's luck has been going, him being put on trial for treason at the end of the season makes a fuckload of sense given the fact that he has too many people conspiring against him.

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oh yeah, I like Jorah

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We finished 8.5 last night... I fell asleep sometime during the 9th one due to lol sleeping pills.

I do think it took it up quite a few notches... I thought the end of Episode 7 was the weakest of the season by far, but that's just because it felt boring.

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That finale was such a blue ball

WARNING S1 SPOILERS AHEAD AND I'M NOT CENSORING IT


#1 - So Eddard Stark is dead. Did not see that coming. Also BOOOO HISSSSS Sean Bean is the man, how could they just waste him like that

#2 - I hate Jaime soooo much and not just from a "he's a despicable character" standpoint, but a "he's an uninteresting annoying character" standpoint. I hope they just off him and spare us.

#3 - I applaud the ending to the Drogo storyline... his death was appropriate and made me like Dany's story even more... and the MOTHERFUCKING DRAGONBABIES? Yes. Yes. yes. yessssssssssssss

#4 - Arya continued to not impress since she's basically Mulan now *yawn*

#5 - The way I see it, Robb/gay dude/Joffrey all are gonna be battling it out for the throne next season... no more Starks will die after they killed the lead fucking character. I don't think Dany has any interest in the throne, but she'll likely unleash dragonrage on the land, but probably not until S3

#6 - I like the midget a lot more now... I think he's the only Lannister with any good in his heart, despite being such a twat

I think the general thing about this show is that the Starks are all honorable people and are thus forced into the protagonists slot, whereas the Lannisters are the natural antagonists due to their socially unacceptable ways and generally cutthroatbitchiness. I really wish the first season had shown us more of the White Walkers since I felt like it was a really slow pointless buildup, but we'll see with S2

Now to forget about this until next summer since I don't want it ruining my mind

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You can't deny that Eddard Stark was pushed as the "lead" character for most of the first season. Not only did the stories all connect back to him in some way, but they got a huge name to play that role. I'm shocked he was beheaded. When the finale started I kept expecting them to show the body/decapitated head and have it not be him but a double or something... but it never happened. Fuckin' hell. I loved Ned, thought he was a great character, and he had such a tragic end (giving up his honor and being beheaded).

Littlefinger and the Spider continue to make me smirk in every scene they have together. Their chemistry is perfect.

Also, despite hating Sansa the vast majority of S1, I think being forced to be Joffrey's Queen while secretly hating him and wanting him dead is going to only do wonders for the character.

Oh, and the two youngest Stark boys have some weird connection with animals. That's all I've gotten from them. Bran is crippled so they have to make him interesting somehow, and Faraday did tell me there was SOME magic in this show.

Compare Joffrey to Jaime -- both of them are meant to be despicable characters who the audience hates, but Joffrey is way more fleshed out and rounded whereas Jaime is just...boring.

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But I completely buy him being this "odious little swine". It just feels natural. From the moment Joffrey was introduced, he just irradiated douchefuck. Jaime's character feels like they're trying too hard with him.

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As I was telling Faraday earlier, I have a few predictions for the rest of S1:

- Eddard Stark is put on trial for treason at some point (I'm imagining this being the big climax at the very end of the season, finale material)
- The current king is murdered (possibly pinned on Eddard)
- Dany has her son but they don't cross the Narrow Sea until next season (6 episodes isn't enough time to make that happen)
- The White Walkers attack The Wall
- One of the Stark boys will die (c'mon, something super tragic has to happen to the Starks again to continue building the Lannisters as the archvillains)
- They're totally building up a huge sword battle between Joffrey and Arya but I'm not convinced it'll happen this season

Okay... +1 for Ned being put on trial, +1 for the current king dying, +.5 for the third (son died, didn't cross narrow sea), +.5 for the fourth (White Walkers semi-kinda attacked the wall), +.5 (it wasn't a Stark SON but it was a Stark that died). 3.5/5 isn't bad

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Yeah, they must've skimmed it, because I thought she was running around the streets for maybe a day or two.

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Saw that earlier today. Literal lol'd

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Yessssssssss

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A little bit of that was unclear since I have not read the books, but I enjoyed it all the same.

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I could watch a show just about Tyrion. He's so fucking good. By far my favorite Lannister. I love the way he just marches into King's Landing and Cersei can do NOTHING about it. Joffrey's way too hateable, I seriously got a LOT of joy out of watching this for a full ten minutes.

Also OMGOMGOMGDRAGONSYAY.

Also GODDAMN I still love Littlefinger. The power play between him and Cersei might've been my favorite scene in the whole episode.

I'm thoroughly disinterested by the Jon Snow/Robb Stark storylines, though. Like, I almost fell asleep during the scene where they're staying at King Incest's place. And I'm sure Robb will get more interesting, but right now the only fascinating thing about him are his interactions with Jamie Lannister.

Want more Renly, by the way.

Oh and as a final note: I thought they brought Stannis into the story in a really weird way. There's no buildup at all, it's just BAM weird religious ritual then BAM oh hey I'm Stannis. I was confused for the first half of that scene, wondering if I'm supposed to know who this is and who all the others are, wondering if I'm supposed to know where Stannis has BEEN the whole time, etc.

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Then that gives me hope. I just really hope this shit with him being a Stewardbitch and them trekking through the North doesn't keep the same boring pace from this episode. Like, I know a lot of it was setup, but at least it was interesting setup everywhere else.

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Sansa has nothing going for her past "omg im being forced into a situation against my will oh nooooo help me brave knights"

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Also GODDAMN I still love Littlefinger. The power play between him and Cersei might've been my favorite scene in the whole episode.

no it was a really bad scene and littlefinger looked like a tool

I liked it because he finally got outplayed by Cersei

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Man, this last episode was fucking great! Every single scene completely NAILED IT.

- Arya and TheBastardBoy (I don't know his name) was great. Glad to finally get some forward progress with Arya, glad to finally get a little humanization of that boy, and also pleasantly surprised to see they dropped the "ARYA IS REALLY A CHICK" bomb this early in the season. Prediction: TBB figures out he's the son of Robert, lays claim to the throne, Arya winds up as some queen or Captain of the Watch or something. BTW, who was it that told Ned about that kid in S1?

- Tyrion shaking things up in King's Landing never gets old. Cersei is still a huge cunt. Lack of Joffrey in the episode was odd.

- Who the fuck are the Greyjoys? I got creeped out by the incesty vibes, and I think they made Theon a really unlikable character in this episode, and I didn't really have a problem with him before now. Felt out of place.

- FINALLY SOME FUCKING INTERESTING SHIT HAPPENING WITH JON SNOW & THE WHITE WALKERS. I'm assuming Daddy Incest keeps the White Walkers away by sacrificing his sons, or something like that.

- GEE I WONDER WHAT THE IMAGERY IN THE 'STANNIS FUCKS FIRECROTCH' SCENE MEANS?

- Littlefinger went from being sympathetic to really cruel and evil to morally ambiguous all in the same scene. Love him.

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Obviously not.

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Dude, the crossbow part was badass.

Also Tyrion/spider scene was amazing

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fucking a

Tans has mentioned the initials "RW" and now I'm freaking out because I wanna know what it means but I'm scared to Google it

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MUST...NOT...HIGHLIGHT...

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it sounds really disturbing with the way people mention it ._.

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Okay, staying far away from it. But holy shit this is going to drive me crazy

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#1 - sex scene w/ Joffrey wasn't needed. but damn.
#2 - THE HELL WAS THAT THING
#3 - god i <3 little finger

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Seriously

What was that thing

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Um. Ok. The fuck?

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Didn't like the Qarth scene, loved the rest. Joffrey is a sociopath and I love to hate him. Agree with all the quotes that people have liked so far.

Qarth scene was fantastic, IMO. Showed the new culture really well, and how Dany is going to have to change her approach.

The way Dany handled herself during that scene made me like her a lot less, just by her doing one stupid thing.

She won't show her dragons because...

reasons

. Probably trust issues, but holy fuck woman, your people are starving and about to die, and what's-his-face JUST TOLD YOU about the garden of bones. It's like she lost any intelligence she had and just went ME DANY. ME WANT WATER. YOU GIVE DANY WATER OR DANY SMASH YOU.

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oh my god the scene with Arya & Littlefinger was so tense I pretty much didn't breathe the entire time

I would've LOVED for Littlefinger to recognize her but then again I like how things are going now omgomgomg

also couldn't care less about the Jon Snow story *yawn*

Theon is a detestable douchebag, can't stand him, hope he dies soon.

Finding the rest of the Starks boring. Catelyn, Sansa, Bran, Robb, all of them. I hope some of them get more interesting soon or I might just give up on them altogether. Arya's the only interesting character at the moment... though... I do want Robb to fuck up Theon's face, so maybe that'll happen.

I really miss Ned Stark right about now :'(

Tyrion's weird boner for Sansa is just getting creepy now. But him losing his absolute shit on Joffrey made me actually throw my hands up and cheer

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I think he's pretty disappointed with his children. Jaime is an idiot who is dull and never learned to read. Cersei is a manipulative bitch who doesn't understand her place in the world. Oh, let's not forget the incest. Tyrion is smart and clever, but he's an imp and incredibly not handsome. All of them dishonor the Lannister name, which is what Tywin holds dear. Arya, unlike those three, is smart, clever, well-behaved, understands her place in the kingdom, and on top of it all, is actually good-looking. Arya is the child Tywin wishes he had.

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wat

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Can someone tell me how much of ASOS is bleeding into S2? Like, what parts of this season have been ACOK, and what parts have been ASOS?

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I felt quite sympathetic towards him

no

Cersei was hitting it out of the fucking ballpark last night, as was Tyrion. And Sansa actually made me NOT hate the character for once.

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so I just read this theory about GoT on reddit:

My absolute favorite one is the Game of Thrones fan theories about Jon Snow. While in the books (don't watch the show, but I would assume there too) it's believed by everyone that he's Eddard Stark's son by some unknown woman, the fan theory states that he's actually the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen (Rhaegar's abduction of Lyanna sparked the overthrow of the Targaryens). That means that he's Daenerys's cousin, an acceptable spouse for her in Targaryen terms, and possibly the legitimate heir to the Iron Throne. It is SUCH a cool plot possibility.

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absolutely zero

just a cool idea especially with the title being "A Song of Ice and Fire"

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I'm GUESSING "The Spoiler" is "RW"? Is that the one "event" everyone keeps talking about? Or are there multiple?

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Alfie Allen is shit.

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Hey guys, when Dany was walking through the house of the undying, and she walked into the pseudo/dream throne room - what was it covered in? What was on the throne? Say it outloud to yourself.

well no shit.

we yelled that out while we were watching

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Jon looks nothing like a turncloak, did you forget everything that was said in episode 8?

Uh? It was given very little build up, it'd not surprise me if a few people misunderstand it and think he's actually gone over. a 1-liner 2 episodes ago? not THAT MUCH

they DID make it a point to show that one line of dialogue in the "previously..." snippet, so... i mean...

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littlefinger dance party was fucking great

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Just made Ythan watch the entirety of Season 1 in under 24 hours.

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like twenty minutes into episode one before Joffrey even speaks:

Ythan - "That kid is a little shit."

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OH LOOK LITTLEFINGER AVATAR I FUCKING TOLD YOU BRO

I TOLD YOU ABOUT LITTLEFINGER

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That looks interesting. Trying to read the rules now. Is it hard to learn? (I'm aware it's full but etc)

It is dead simple in practice but difficult to explain. Basically...

1. Resolve Event Cards (From turn two on)
2. Place Order Tokens
3. Reveal Order Tokens and player with Raven may swap or scout wildling card
4. Resolve Raids -> Resolve Marches -> Resolve Consolidate Powers

That's it. Learning what each order token does and how it works is the complicated part. If you wanna read the rulebook, I linked it in the thread.

It's seriously my favorite board game ever.

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Oh baby

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Game of Thrones Ascent is live on FB and it's awesome

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Tyrion seems to be shoehorned in every week just to keep the illusion that this show has a lead actor.

That being said, this week's episode ruled. The Brienne/Jaime stuff with the Grandma Tyrell stuff was fun as hell, and Margery is slowly becoming one of the more intriguing characters on the show.

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I still don't get who the fuck has Theon or why

like I thought he was taken by more Greyjoy men but no they're torturing him? and his sister has to rescue him? what the hell is going on

Queen of Thorns is a badass bitch and I hope she sticks around for awhile. After that scene was over I shouted "NEW FAVORITE CHARACTER" and Ythan just went OH YOU THINK YOU LIKE HER NOW, JUST YOU WAIT, SHE'S AWESOME so I'm really excited for what's in store. I hope she takes Sansa under her wing, as I'd much rather have Sansa end up allied with Tyrell over Littlefinger (who is an awesome character but such a despicable little shit). Also, after hating Sansa for S1/S2, I think this is the first scene I've ever really understood her or empathized with her, and I

really really really really

hope the Tyrells are trustworthy as I sincerely love all of them so far (even Loras). The Tyrells kind of came out of nowhere but they're clearly a force to be reckoned with (and now I understand why they're a main house in the GoT board game).

Speaking of which (and I don't mind someone spoiling this for me), WHEN THE FUCK WILL WE FINALLY GET TO SEE DORNE? Martell is a main house in the GoT board game and there are so many goddamn references to Dorne in the show so far that I keep thinking they'll show up this week or that week but now it's just a cocktease and my friends who have read the books love the Dorne stuff so I wanna see them, how long must I wait?

I got a little bit of an erection during the Margery/Joffrey crossbow scene, only because I had this faint hope in the back of my mind that she would SHOOT THE LITTLE FUCKER IN THE GODDAMN FACE but she didn't, oh well, Margarey is still one of the more interesting characters on the show.

The Arya/Hound stuff seemed dumb. I mean, I get that both of those characters are fan favorites (and I haven't rewatched the first two seasons in a long time so maybe I'm just too distant from them) but the coincidence of Arya leaving the pub right when the Hound shows up and reveals her identity seemed a little trite.

Also no Daenyrs this week wtf, I want her to be back in Westeros so damn bad

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Eh? I thought the Greyjoy men were the ones who sacked Winterfell

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So...Roose Bolton et al are no longer allied with the Starks?

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I've decided I'm going to edit together scenes from the last episode with the Seinfeld slap bass and laugh track in the background. Did I just watch Game of Thrones, or an hour long sitcom set in a fantasy world?

Tyrion is too short to pick up the chair so it scrapes across the floor! Ahahahaha!

Boy, that Jaime and Brienne sure are an

odd couple

!

Oooooh Dany is putting the boys in their place. You go girl!

Now let's spend way too much screen time on Tyrion in a brothel, then Tyrion setting up his squire with a three-way, then the squire returning and being

soo good at the sex

that he got laid for free! Bron and Tyrion even want to take notes, hahahahahahaha!

And to send you all off for the evening, here's an ending credits song that you'd usually hear at the end of Weeds.

Ugh. Spare me...I hope this was just a one-off thing and not a case of the show becoming more popular which leads to them having to play things for laughs/more broad. I already feel like they try to shove Tyrion into every episode even when he has nothing to do, now let's not start making this too bad.

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Sure. But it was still played for laughs, and I hate the idea of the majority of things in this episode being played for laughs. I love Peter Dinklage, and I love Tyrion's character, but I can't stand how "popular" he's gotten, so they feel the need to jam him into every episode, even when it's not particularly relevant or needed.

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aww u guyz

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Keep telling us what you think will happen next Reck.

But seriously, I'm pretty sure you expect to get most things wrong by now, and you continue to post it, which makes me feel you're being a good sport and I genuinely appreciate it.

Heh, I like speculation! Plus, I understand from your perspective...when I watched all of Lost, then got my friends to watch through, I

loved

hearing their theories and predictions even though they knew they were most likely wrong. It's fun for both parties

Speaking of which... totally fucking called that Olenna Tyrell would try to hook up Sansa with Loras. I didn't expect the Spider to be the one to do it, but I knew it was coming (not sure if I called it here or just IRL). Still not sure how to get a read on Margaery. I still think that the Tyrells as a whole are the most fascinating part of this season, and seeing her get Joffrey to go outside to greet the people against Cersei's wishes was just brilliant. Her whole conversation with Sansa...

I WANT TO BELIEVE

that she's being genuine, but Margaery knows Loras is a cocksmoker, so she's being quite less than genuine.

Jaime is growing on me, quickly. I'm starting to see why everyone who has read the books loves him. His interactions with Brienne are awesome, and I thought I'd just love the day I saw Jaime getting what was coming to him, but now it makes me sad. Touche.

Oh and can I just say

fuck yes Dany

holy shit that scene made me wet myself (ok not really) but holy shitfuck that was badass. Last week all I predicted was "Oh, the dragon will obviously fly back to her" but NOPE it burned bitches alive, that was really awesome. About time we got to see the dragons do their shit. Now, for endless seasons of Dany not getting to Westeros! Huzzah! I really worry that they can find a way to make her feel relevant at all, because it's already getting strained, and I don't see her getting across the sea anytime soon.

In "things I don't give a fuck about" news this week: Fatty McFatFat rescuing incest baby and his pre-teen mother, anything involving the Knight's Watch, Bran having ANOTHER CRAZY DREAM OMFG WUT, Tyrion's squire's massive cock, etc.

In "things that make this the best episode of the season so far" news: Varus gave his backstory and got some pretty badass revenge plan going, Varus was in the episode at all (about to usurp Littlefinger in my heart), the Queen of Thorns being the goddamned Queen of Thorns, Dany's mass murdering dragon fire killing rampage, the whole cave shit with the Hound and Arya (that can only end in badassery), Jaime having a heart, Brienne being Brienne, a scene in which I didn't want to immediately curbstomp Joffrey, and Tywin Lannister: Man of Little Words

this episode ruled

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LorasxTheon plz

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Where's my naked Jon Snow & Robb Stark, cmon now.

also this is cool:

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I took Theon being saved then turned back in as a way for that guy that helped him escape to escalate his standing with the Boltons.

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do you have a link to where they said this. I have my doubts it'll go down like this due to the money coming in from agot. book 6 will be out before they get to the winds of winter anyway and I could see them reaching some sort of deal to wait like 18 months between the seasons or something. it's basically hbo's most profitable show atm and still going strong.

they also just got the rights to the Tales of Dunk and Egg, which could allow some material to kill time on... could also see a season dedicated to Robert's Rebellion in the meantime.

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Okay

Mel showing up at the brothers was expected and I'd imagine Gendry is needed for his royal blood which probably means goodbye Gendry

Does anyone even remember why Jon and the other wildlings were climbing the wall in the first place?

Orell is such a cunt

could watch an entire show just about Olena Tyrrell.

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I mean they are basically telling you who it is by showing Theon on the crucifix then cutting to Jaime and Brienne sitting in front of banners with the Bolton sigil on them.

Do I need to spoiler predictions here just in case I'm right?

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Yeah they specifically make it a point to let us know his bastard is heading to Winterfell, and they update us again just to be like, "Yeah, still no word from him" and I mean Theon is being FLAYED on a crucifix. If they're trying to be subtle they're doing a terrible job

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Sam fucking sucks and I keep praying for his death every week.

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Also did the Ros death just not do anything for anyone else?

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Spoiler: Theon Predictions

I'm assuming this torture thing with Theon is just gonna keep going and keep going and keep going. I mean, they just removed his finger, and that seemed like just the start. I don't see anyone suddenly showing up to rescue him, either. Which means we'll probably see Theon lose more and more body parts before this is all over...

Spoiler: Edmure Tully

He's going to marry Walder Frey's daughter (one of them) right? Wasn't Robb supposed to do the same thing? I don't honestly think Frey is a very

forgiving

person, so I don't quite see why they're believing his deal. I have a feeling the Tully/Frey wedding is probably a big setup, possibly between Frey/Lannister? Tywin

has

suddenly stopped caring about Robb so much, but I have a hard time judging the passage of time on this show, so I don't know if it's enough time for him to have formed a plan with Walder Frey.

Spoiler: Sansa Stark

Lol marrying Tyrion. No way she's getting out of that.

Spoiler: Jon Snow

Well, look at that, Jon Snow is happy and in a relationship. That can't last very long... RIP Ygritte.

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I'm saving you a headache... Just stop watching Dexter after season 4

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These are all predictions. Don't tell me if I'm right

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Is he not so ruthlessly ambitious in the books?

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The more I talk to people the more I hate Robb Stark.

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I need that thread far and away because I keep wanting to click it but I KNOW I CAN RESIST.

Fuck it, after this season, I'm just gonna power through the books. I can't hold out anymore.

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He's such an idiot. He's a boy yes, but he's not ready to lead or rule anything

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Okay I can understand that, I think I just like him so much though because he reminds me of Ned.

To be fair though, he has won every single battle so far, and actually has good leadership and his bannermen actually respect him. Executing Karstark was, however, a retarded move I agree, and probably cost him the war.

I think one of the biggest shifts in perspective I've had about this show through extensive talks into the wee hours of the night and rewatching old episodes/scenes is that being a "good guy" in this show, like Ned, or Robb, coincidentally also makes you a complete idiot.

The "noble", "moral" thing to do is usually the dumbest, because this universe with these characters doesn't operate by the laws of morality. It is entirely a land all about politics and power, and as the saying goes, "When you play the game of thrones, you live or you die." I mean, honestly, it's fine if you're

not

going to play at all. If the Starks had stayed north and refused Robert's request for Ned to become Hand of the King, then fine, they can stay up there and be as noble and righteous as they want. But the second Ned agreed to it, they got pulled into a spiderweb where everyone was ready to end them, they knew it, and they just plugged their ears and tried to play along.

What all of this means is that I end up

hating

the so-called "good guys" because they're just SO DUMB! Back when I was watching S1, I didn't get the scope of the show in its entirety, so of course I was rooting for Ned and the Starks. But now, at this point, looking back... Ned kind of got what was coming to him. He didn't play the game...and as much as he wanted there to just not be one, there was, and he refused to play by the rules (ironically). Similarly, Robb was chosen to lead an uprising against King Joffrey after Ned's death. He could've refused and stayed north, which might not be the "noble" thing to do, but it would've kept him out of the game. Instead, he chose to engage in this war, which in turn fucked over his sisters by trapping them in King's Landing, fucked over his brother's by leaving them alone in Winterfell... etc.

What's worse is that after engaging in this role of "King of the North", he has made so many fucking idiotic decisions that I can't even see how they're even

subjectively

a good idea. First, he trusts Theon to go home to his father to ask for troops... sure, maybe you thought you could trust this Greyjoy who you knew your whole life, but THAT should've been a learning experience. Nope -- let me go ask Walder Frey for help, agree to marry his daughter, then fall in love and say "fuck it" and marry her instead. Now we need troops again? Hey, let me ask the Freys again, and this time I'll just ship off my dear uncle Edmure to make up for my mistakes! That'll solve everything! Oh, and

why

do we need troops? Because I executed a Karstark for killing Lannister prisoners, which caused them all to leave.

In these situations, Robb was clearly choosing the "righteous" path/decision, but he was also choosing the dumb one. Be righteous and all goody-two-shoes when you're not playing the most dangerous game of your life.

[xRECKONERx]

actually has good leadership and his bannermen actually respect him

This is NOT the vibe I get from the show. I get the vibe that ever since he married the other chick and went back on his promise with Frey, his men began questioning his leadership.

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I'm told I should be excited about tonight because it's called "The Bear and the Maiden Fair".

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i'm also not sure ned "got what was coming to him". does being naive mean you deserve to die?

In our world, being righteous and honorable has value. Whereas in this world, it's clearly established through history (mad king's murder, jon arryn's murder) that "righteousness" doesn't exactly work

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oh my god why

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- Tywin/Joffrey scene stole the night for me. This old, accomplished gentlemen was having to balance his absolute disgust for his grandson with his respect for the Throne. "We could arrange to have you carried" was the perfect blend of snark and respect. Love any scene Charles Dance is in anyway, but this one knocked it out of the park (and I think it's the first Tywin/Joffrey interaction?).

- Margaery makes a good point: if you

have

to be married to a Lannister, Tyrion is the best one. He's kind, handsome in an impish sort of way, rich, and apparently pretty good with those tiny fingers. Sansa doesn't seem convinced. I think this week confirms for me that Margaery isn't just being manipulative or "playing the game", she's actually genuine underneath as well.

- More Wildlings walking. Jesus. I don't think anything has actually happened there in weeks but we keep seeing more and more of it. It's rather boring, though I really like the chemistry between Kit Harrington & whoever-the-fuck-plays-Ygritte, so there's that. But I somehow don't see Orell putting up with Jon/Ygritte being all lovey dovey for too much longer... but I don't think he'd

kill

Ygritte, right? And certainly the show wouldn't off Jon Snow? C'mon, now...

- Wow, Emilia Clarke just keeps knocking it out of the ballpark, acting-wise. Story-wise... I literally groaned when she asked how many slaves were in the city. Suddenly, she has become the Game of Thrones version of Abe Lincoln... free the slaves in Astapor! Oh, this little city has slaves and will conveniently sidetrack us from our main quest of getting the fuck to Westeros... FREE ALL THE SLAVES! YEAH! At least the CGI work on the dragons has gotten much, much better. And I'm not sure how much time is supposed to be passing, but those motherfuckers are noticeably bigger every time I see them.

- So, uh, Arya got snatched up by the Hound, eh? Alright, I guess.

- Talisa is preggers? Well, that certainly raises the stakes, as she's carrying the heir to Winterfell inside her. But I know from watching enough movies and TV shows...when they start showing us scenes for the sole purpose of establishing empathy for the character(s), there's bad juju in the future. Also, yay, Richard Madden's ass! That, my friends, was gender-equal television. Also cocks?

- I agree with Faraday, the bear scene was really weird (i would actually call it bad). I never felt like Brienne's life was in jeopardy, and I actually thought, "If she dies to a bear I am gonna be so fucking mad" because it was kinda campy and lame. Jaime jumping into the pit actually made me laugh out loud, it was just super cheesy and ugh I didn't like the scene at all.

- I'm so fucking over seeing fucking Theon get fucking tortured every fucking week. SERIOUSLY? WE FUCKING GET IT, MOVE ON NOW, OR DON'T SHOW HIM FOR A FEW WEEKS. I mean he lost his goddamned package in this past episode. It's past the point of doing anything interested and is instead just painful and miserable torture porn for five minutes a week. Maybe this would be more interesting if I hadn't already figured out who the torturer actually is, but they've made it pretty obvious (plus Nuwen/Ythan confirmed it for me) so yeah.

- No Queen of Thorns makes me a sad panda, I love Diana Rigg.

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Cersei was amazing this episode.

Thought Peter Dinklage hammed it up a bit much.

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Ugh. I just wandered into a random, non-GoT related thread on Reddit and saw a spoiler for GoT. I'm not sure if it's right or not or anything but now it's driving me crazy.

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It's a spoiler about a character I don't care about (Daario), but I hope it isn't true.

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Ythan asked me earlier, I told him, and he just said "you have nothing to worry about", I'm assuming you guys can discuss it in the other thread.

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I'm done.

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This is just misery porn now. Welcome to The Walking Dead syndrome.

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I think the biggest thing I'm taking from the Red Wedding is an absolute confirmation of how this world works. Ned losing his head was fucked, but easily attributed to Joffrey being a little shit.

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oh my god this is excellent

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how meh

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I think I'm firmly planted in the Tyrell camp now. Growing Strong.

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Like Loras. Love Margaery. Would have Olenna's babies.

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Got ~200 pages into Clash of Kings today and no Dany yet?

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also I've decided Arya shall be my beacon of hope and happiness and if a single bad thing happens to her I'm going to find GRRM and gut him like a pig

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I meant from showwatcher POV

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I did think Yoren was going to rape her when he pulled her alone into the forest after she beat the fuck out of Hot Pie

[xRECKONERx]

Oh, by the way, started reading the books. I'm halfway through A Clash of Kings now.

Spoiler: Book 2

I find it really interesting that Tyrion sent Doran Martell and invitation to sit on the small council. My old roommate and I were discussing things heavily and trying to decide how to integrate the Martells into the story naturally, but now it seems really obvious having read that bit. The question is... will Tywin, as the new Hand, honor Tyrion's promise? I'm tempted to think

not

, since they basically only did it to stop the Martells from allying with House Tyrell... but then again, if I'm remembering right, they

did

ship off one of their children to Dorne to marry a prince or something, so it might cause some unwanted backlash if they don't hold up their end of the deal.

Also, Arya's story is WAY different in the books... I thought it was a huge deal for her to kill that guy in the TV show in S3E10, but here in the books, she's knocking people off of walls and chopping off fingers like it's nobody's business.

Dany's story, too... I can see why they cut out some of the needless stuff, but it's seriously a whole different beast.

[xRECKONERx]

i deleted this a long time ago wtf tigers

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Finished ACOK today and got 500 pages into ASOS.

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Jeyne Westerling is just like not a character in the books, holy shit. She's a plot device with tits.

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hhahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

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Ellaria Sand:

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It really does. As soon as I saw her photo pop up in my news feed with the words "Game of Thrones" attached to it, I immediately knew. Ellaria didn't make a huge impact on me in the books but I'd imagine with casting like this they'll cook up some better stuff for her.

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She was good on Rome.

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Coldhands isn't going to be in the series, like I'm 90% sure

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Mmmm, Theon.

The men from Game of Thrones are so yummy.

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OH MAN THAT WAS DELICIOUS.

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SHIT YES.

they made me coil back in horror at

JOFFREY'S FUCKING DEATH

. That takes some seriously good writing and direction.

Also did anyone else catch the shot that revealed the culprit?

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Also,

Spoiler: Whodunnit Spoiler

Sansa's necklace is definitely the poison instead of the hairnet.

[xRECKONERx]

have you learned nothing

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in non king's landing stuff I thought the other scenes were really strong too, theon/ramsay in particular when shaving was GOOD. bran's heart tree stuff was alo pretty good. very good episode overall, yeah.

Yeah... although I've gotta admit I dunno if I'm feeling the Boltons. I mean they make for good TV but good god the torture porn is at a fever pitch and IDK that I can handle it anymore (seriously the whole opening "hunt" was way too much)

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what

[xRECKONERx]

For some reason, I really liked Tyrion saying "it's only wine" and spilling it. He does put things into perspective so well.

Peter Dinklage is always great but he really fucking killed it this episode. The looks he shot towards Joff & Tommen during the wedding scene were perfection. Also, I was really impressed by Sophie Turner this episode. I've always felt she played Sansa a little "dry" without much beneath the surface, but she nailed it this week.

Ooooh, by the way (ASOS book spoilers):

Was Margaery involved in the murder in the books? I don't recall her being involved, I just recall it being LF/Olenna/Dontos, but you can pretty specifically see Margaery set Joffrey's goblet in front of Olenna in the show which means she was probably involved?

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Ooooh, by the way (ASOS book spoilers):

Was Margaery involved in the murder in the books? I don't recall her being involved, I just recall it being LF/Olenna/Dontos, but you can pretty specifically see Margaery set Joffrey's goblet in front of Olenna in the show which means she was probably involved?

(ASOS+)

I don't know that it's been officially said outright in the book "Okay, this is whodunnit, and here's how," I think we've just inferred quite a lot from what Littlefinger and others said. I'd have to reread the scene in the book but I don't recall Margaery being stated as having touched the cup but not sure on that.

I would be surprised if

she had no idea, though. In the book and in the show even more she is portrayed as someone cunning. She is essentially a more savvy version of Cersei, someone who is able to work the system to get what she wants rather than someone who is vainly trying to break down that system.

Oh aye, she's definitely aware of exactly what's happening, I'm just saying that I don't know if she actually acted. But now I'm probably gonna go reread the scene.

Are you sure? Because in the previews for next week

she's talking to Olenna and seems genuinely upset about Joff's death, not the reaction of someone who knew it was coming IMO

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Yeah that was definitely rape but I don't think it really matters if the director says he didn't think it was rape because it clearly was?

[xRECKONERx]

Eh, Todd VanDerWerff's take on the change:

Spoiler:

The more I thought about this, however, the more I kept coming back to the single biggest change between the books and the show, one that was basically impossible for the show to maintain: the point-of-view structure. By the very nature of how film and television work, the camera is usually going to serve as an objective observer, even if a story is told from the point-of-view of a particular character. There’s simply no way to get as deep into a character’s psychology as you can in a well-written novel with well-crafted characters. Martin is also capable of hiding twists in plain sight in prose in a way that the show simply cannot, as we’ve seen with Barristan’s arrival at Dany’s side, something that’s kept hidden in the books but can’t here simply because it would be impossible to keep the identity of an actor secret for that long. By limiting himself to particular points of view, Martin is able to control the flow of information; by sitting outside of those points of view, Benioff and Weiss are necessarily forced to manipulate the story in different directions.

All of which is build-up to pointing out that in the book, the reunion between Cersei and Jaime is seen from Jaime’s point of view. And once we consider that, those moments when Cersei has questions of propriety in the middle of their love making can take on a more sinister tone. What if we’re being kept from the true horror of what Jaime’s doing because we’re inside his head? (I think there’s evidence for this in later books, too, but that will necessarily have to wait for the spoilers section.) This may be me trying too hard to cling to dim hopes that Benioff and Weiss haven’t scuttled one of the books’ best, most complicated characters in favor of a shocking moment, that they’re, indeed, offering up an interpretation backed by the text. But I almost feel like I need to, because without that idea, we’re left with the thought that Benioff and Weiss turn to sexual assault of women a lot as a device to move the story forward. I’ll leave it there, because Sonia’s covered that ground wonderfully in her article, but it’s certainly something that gives me pause and makes me wonder what the two are trying to convey with what seems like a major change from the books.]

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In non-rape news:

- Charles Dance just fucking kills every scene he's in. Unbelievable.
- OH MY GOD. OBERYN MARTELL. APOSIUFJPA983JFP98JASP9F8IJAP9JF JESUS CHRIST HE'S SO FUCKING HOT.
- The scene with Podrick & Tyrion almost made me cry :'(
- The feel of Meereen and the whole last Dany scene hit the nail on the fucking head

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I rarely get flustered because of someone's attractiveness but my god Oberyn has the whole package. That accent, that swagger, that commanding personality...

oh my gooood

.

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www.arrestedwesteros.com

oh my god you guys

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It's twice with Oberyn alone. Making me angry.

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Did I actually say that? That quote doesn't go to the right post...

P.edi: I think it'd be a little hard to

have Daario take a shit towards Meereen and also be Dany's schoolgirl crush. It worked with Belwas because there was no need to have him be "appealing" to Dany.

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Yeah Littlefinger is kinda... he's only good when playing off of Varus or Tyrion, I think. In that scene with Sansa, the accent was cringeworthy.

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what have i found

http://www.danbarham.com/dinklage/

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Wow, thanks for the link on GRRM's viewpoint.

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http://www.vulture.com/2014/04/pedro-pa ... rview.html

oh dear lord

For any of your upcoming nude scenes, do you show it all? Because we've been asking for more male nudity on the show.


Nobody asked me to hide anything. I was all in. When does Game of Thrones ever fail you in terms of like not going all the way with something? They give you candy from both sides. I'd insist upon it!

if i had ovaries they'd be going nuts right now

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Holy shit, wtf are you guys talking about. If you want to see cocks go watch some hardcore porn? I swear that's easier.

[xRECKONERx]

For my own sake of mind, I'm going to assume you cannot see the joke. Because I really hope you're not making a fuss about male nudity in this show, absta. Did the idea of seeing naked women bother you too?

All i'm saying is that, if you're watching game of thrones for the nudity, you're doing it wrong. If it was a joke then fine, my bad for missing that.

Also, being bothered by something is all subconscious i.e. you don't chose what you're bothered by. So it doesn't make you a better person if you aren't bothered by the nudity. Personally i'm not bothered by any of the nudity.

People can watch it for the nudity.

I'm more talking about the fact that we get tits and vag and female nudity every goddamn episode and the amount of male nudity is, I think, 2-3 times the entire show for a brief moment? It's very unbalanced. If they're going to toss in some eye candy for the straight fellas and lady lovers, throw in some eye candy for the gays and girls as well!

[xRECKONERx]

Just watch Oz, it's a really good tv show based in a male prison. It's also made by HBO.

I don't want to watch a show because it has male nudity. There's enough male nudity on

Looking

for me, plus an entire internet of pornography, plus I have a pretty cute fiance to ogle.

It's about the fact that watching a show with the ratio of female:male nudity compared to the ratio of female:male characters makes me uncomfortable. I'm not complaining about the lack of female nudity in Looking or Oz, because those are shows with an all male cast. Game of Thrones seems to hire a pretty even number of men and women as principal cast, but then only makes the women strip down nude. I'm excited to see more nudity on the male side because, well obviously because I'm gay, but more than that, because I think there's a serious disparity in the show between showing males and females.

I mean, fuck, even in goddamn sex scenes with both men and women, it's always the women who are trotted out like prized strippers while the men get to conceal themselves.

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Why is it more socially just.

chamber you're not actually this thick are you

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cocks are ugly and breasts are not

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cocks are ugly and breasts are not

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Holy shit. What. What the fuck? WHAT?

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Uh. Did they not just spoil Winds of Winter

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Yeah, the Bran stuff is all new... everything for, like, the last 20-30 minutes was off the rails from book territory.

So... regarding The Winds of Winter...

The White Walkers aren't mindless, they're intelligent, and they have a power structure/hierarchy. The Night's King is real and he's turning Craster's babies into White Walkers (

not wights

, which is the biggest point). This shoots down the sacrificial babies theory and the babyfood theory. It also means that White Walkers are actually just converted humans? So... are The White Walkers just The First Men?

[xRECKONERx]

I thought last night's episode flowed really well, which is unusual for the show. More often than not, these "the noose tightens" filler episodes feel disjointed and can sometimes come with a case of whiplash, but I thought last night's avoided that for the most part.

We had a pretty lengthy sequence with Dany taking Mereen (and by the way, I loved the Grey Worm/Missandei scene), which was self-contained. I also thought that they did a good job in lieu of a big battle to just show one instance of the slaves revolting. Interesting way to avoid blowing millions of dollars on a needless battle sequence.

Once we arrive in Westeros, everything just flows really well. Littlefinger plays a game with Sansa (As an side, it's REALLY cool to see the seeds being planted of Sansa learning to play the game from a master player) and tells her how he poisoned Joffrey. "Oh, I did it for my new friends, so we could GROW STRONG..." and then we cut to Olenna/Margaery having almost the same conversation. D&D did not want to leave any ambiguity for the show watchers -- Olenna, Littlefinger, and Dontos worked together to kill Joffrey. "Oh, but it could've been Tyrion, grandma", "NO IT COULDN'T MARGAERY JESUS CHRIST TRUST ME"... aaand cut to Jaime/Bronn talking about Tyrion, which then leads to Jaime and Tyrion talking in his cell, which leads to Jaime/Cersei discussing Tyrion and having their confrontation, which leads to Jaime/Brienne having their shopping spree, which leads to PODRICK FUCKIN PAYNE going off with Brienne. Whew, that's a lot of stuff in King's Landing, but everything felt driven by the same kind of narrative thread so it didn't feel as whiplashy.

Also holy shit, can I just say I

hate

the WHO WILL GO ON THIS EPIC QUEST trope where instead of doing something rational, the volunteer goes, "Okay, I could raise my hand or shout out that I'm in... nah, I know, I'll STAND UP SLOWLY AND DRAMATICALLY AND SILENTLY TO SHOW MY SUPPORT!" That whole scene at the Wall was gross. Kit Harrington has gotten better but he is still kind of boring to watch, and he's not exactly surrounded by compelling characters or actors. Please god, let *BOOK 3 SPOILER*

Stannis the Mannis arrive sooner rather than later to inject some flavor into that whole situation up there

.

Up north, we get MOAR RAPE! Hooray! And that whole Bran/Jojen/Meera thing is just... well, it's better than aimlessly wandering doing nothing for two seasons. But it's a weird choice to have them get captured, especially since if Jon & the Night's Watch are heading up there, it seems rather inevitable that they'd be heading for a Jon/Bran reunion. Because if they did all of this weird shit to get Bran captured by the mutineers AND coincidentally time it with Jon's foray to Craster's only to go, "Haha, man we almost had you fooled, huh?" it's going to feel pretty cheap and shitty.

And that whole last scene... it's confirmed by HBO that the guy in the very last shot is actually

The Night's King

. So uh. Yeah.

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Interesting comments Reck. I mostly agree with you.

The Wall scenes did not bother me as much as they did you, but Bran' scenes bothered me much more than they did you. Would it not be better to just use Bran sparingly instead of forcing him into every episode, or even every other episode, by means of a plot that I am pretty confident will not deepen any character? Instead of having him wander or get caught up with the Keep, just do not have him as often. Problem solved.

We've been gradually used to Bran's aging because they keep him so fresh/in the front of our minds. We don't notice him as much.

If they just had him drop out and disappear for long stretches of episodes then the aging would be more jarring; not to mention, unlike in books, this is a TV show where you can't jerk the audience around. There has to be consistency. Someone not showing up for an episode or two is fine; someone not showing up for like an entire season is not.

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I thought, at this point in the plot, Bran would've already met up with Coldhands? Like I'm pretty sure people who work on the show said they're not doing Coldhands.

I understand

why

they did the "AND MY AXE!" bit but it was seriously overdramatic. Play that scene differently... have Acting Commander Fucktwit taunt Jon and say he can have his little suicide mission but he can't force anyone to go, have it be ripe with "You can't pull this off" undertones, then have the next shot be his disappointed smug face as Jon and a small band ride out from Castle Black. The way it was done was so cliche.

Also yeah, Ghost is basically just a convenient plot device that the writers forget about until they need a convenient plot device.

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also SER POUNCE

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What, absta?

[xRECKONERx]

why was cogman working with the cat

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Oh, just figured that Michelle MacLaren would've been more likely to work directly with the animals than the writer.

[xRECKONERx]

The book cannon is the book cannon. Show cannon is show cannon.

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lol absta stop crying, Jesus

[xRECKONERx]

Even though all of the Craster's Keep stuff was glorified filler, it still felt REALLY satisfying to me. Game of Thrones is a series that revels in the grey area between good and evil. Sometimes, it can get really draining to watch and you just need a quick pick-me-up of vengeance and justice to keep you going. The Craster's Keep stuff was all really contrived, but DAMN if it wasn't satisfying. Watching Hodor straight up break Locke's neck was fantastic; watching the Night's Watch show up and start slaughtering people was cathartic; watching Jon Snow plunge a SWORD THROUGH THAT ASSHOLE'S FUCKING MOUTH was fist-pumpingly good; watching fatass get mauled by Ghost was a sweet, sweet cap to the events. YES, I know it was all relatively pointless, but I was cheering and clapping through all of it just because they had built up the hatred for these guys so well. (Nobody fucks with my Hodor; NOBODY!)

The rest of the stuff was all rather okay, I guess. I especially liked the Lysa/Sansa/Littlefinger/Robin stuff at the Vale, as I've always been fascinated by the geography of that area. I really like how they dropped the bomb this episode that LF convinced Lysa to poison Jon Arryn and then write Cat to blame the Lannisters. I thought they would hold off on that little tidbit, so it was refreshing to see them drop it so soon instead of play it up for awhile.

Arya/Hound and Podrick/Brienne are such excellent pairings that it doesn't matter WHAT they're doing, I'm going to love their scenes. Podrick is so fucking adorable, too, so that helps.

No Tyrion, no Jaime, no problem! The episode was pretty great for featuring the characters we don't usually see a lot and I like that it seemed to flow pretty well. Cersei's scenes trying to manipulate the judges were great (Margaery's scene was acted perfectly by both Lena Headey and Natalie Dormer). I think they're misusing Oberyn a bit, though... like, every scene so far he's doing one of two things: making sex eyes at someone, or complaining about his dead sister. We get it. You don't have to remind us literally every episode, because it starts to sound like a broken record.

[xRECKONERx]

Emmy, please.

[xRECKONERx]

I would watch one thousand episodes of Law & Order: Westeros.

This might've been the best episode of the season so far. I feel like it was tight and every scene packed a punch. I cannot complain about any of it.

Dany's storyline is finally seeing some character growth!

Yara finally did something and we got to see a new dynamic in the Reek/Ramsay relationship!

Peter Dinklage won ten Emmys!

[xRECKONERx]

EBWOP: oh, and Mycroft/Davos was a fantastic scene and finally brought a great Stannis moment this season, as I've felt his whole storyline has been severely lacking. Probably won't hear from him again until E9.

[xRECKONERx]

The ironborn

running from puppies

was the only lame part.

Like, I understand that it is rational, but it both didn't make sense that they would be able to get away, and it seemed out of character that

puppies

would make them run away given what we know about them.

The dogs are also much more "ferocious" and terrifying in the books I feel versus just being dogs in the TV show (kind of how the first season was like OMG DIREWOLVES and the representation didn't really do them justice).

[xRECKONERx]

THEY HAD ONE JOB

[xRECKONERx]

The positives this week:
- Arya: "What's your name?" Rorge: "Rorge." Arya: "Thank you." *stabs*
- Gendry & Brienne are still awesome, and this week we get a Hot Pie cameo! He sure knows a LOT about pies.
- Daario drops trou. Jorah is like, "Dany stop being a stupid bitch" and she goes "ok"
- Arya & The Hound have a weird bonding moment that actually kind of worked
- Littlefinger & Sansa's scene in the courtyard was actually touching before it got creepy! I didn't even notice his accent!
- Oberyn. More Tyrion Emmy reeltape material. Gorgeous.

The negatives this week:
- Oh, is that a "rule of thirds" storytelling trope I see in the three visitors to Tyrion's cell? Yawn.
- "Nothing is just nothing" has to be one of the worst written, and most poorly delivered lines in the history of the show. That's like something I would've written for my middle school creative writing class.
- Melisandre's whole scene was just... gratuitous and rather pointless. I did like the soft reveal of "lol I use magic tricks to fool idiots into believing this religious stuff" but other than that it SUCKED.
- Everything. About. The Wall. Sucks. Ass. Holy shit. Kit Harrington broods! Alister is an asshole! Sam is fat! More at 11!
- The snowcastle scene felt REALLY rushed and I didn't buy the switch from "Let's make a castle together!" to YOU RUINED IT *SLAP*
- "Only Cat". One job. You had one job to nail that scene. WHY THE FUCK would you go with, "Your sister" instead? IT WAS LITERALLY LAID UP FOR YOU.


This episode was super fucking uneven despite all the crazy shit that happened.

[xRECKONERx]

I have no clue how that was a perfect episode in your eyes, but more power to ya.

[xRECKONERx]

- "Nothing is just nothing" has to be one of the worst written, and most poorly delivered lines in the history of the show. That's like something I would've written for my middle school creative writing class.

To be fair, Arya is an adolescent, over-confident snot with no oratory training or writing experience. It makes perfect sense that when she wants to drop some massive truth bomb, she goes for nonsensical clichés.

giving bad writing context within a story doesn't make it stop being bad writing

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Also the VP of Tits & Ass at HBO apparently was watching the episode and saw Daario's ass for two seconds and hit the fucking PANIC BUTTON because good lord that Melisandre scene was gratuitous

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If there is an episode to complain about lack of male nudity, this is it. It was quite scene relevant and actually jarring to me when they didn't go there, pulling me out of the scene.

I'm assuming you mean the Dany/Daario scene?

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Spoiler: book spoiler kind of

Welp that's more inadvertent book spoilers I've run into... -_- I literally had no idea he has anything to do with the wall shit, I just wanna see him because he's my favorite... sigh

You're the one who said it, we all assumed you knew.

On that note, I was not a huge fan of last night's episode.

Visually and technically, it was masterful. But there was a heartbeat missing from the episode. With "Blackwater", we had great characters involved and every character arc got a big moment (Stannis, Davos, Tyrion, Podrick, Tywin, Joffrey, Sansa, Cersei, The Hound) for plenty of major characters. That, combined with the spectacle of it all and the climax of several different intersecting story arcs, made the episode fantastic.

"Watchers on the Wall" was perhaps more visually impressive than Blackwater, but it lacked any grounding emotional core to make it an engaging/worthwhile episode of television. Jon Snow is perhaps the most boring of the series' major characters and his narrative thrust this season has been, "look emo and brooding because wildlings are coming" and his weird not-quite-a-beef with Alister. Ygritte has been basically tangential at best for a season or more now, so expecting her relationship with Jon Snow to carry any weight is ambitious at best. One of the main pushes in this episode is watching it cut between Ygritte & Jon, wondering when they'll run into each other, and when they do it's really not as powerful as they thought it was with that cinematography and sad music. Sam is also not exactly the strongest character and the Sam/Gilly shit is just obnoxious at this point. I did not feel a thing when he put Gilly away and said, "Oh I'll return because I'll keep my promise because I'm a man!"

Really, that's what this episode kept trying to do... have various characters wonder what it means to be a man. But that question isn't really novel and it's certainly not a thread that can keep the episode together. "Watchers on the Wall" was a supermodel with dead eyes; sure, it's nearly perfect on a superficial level and it's quite sexy, visually... but there's no real heartbeat underneath to make me want to stay invested.

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That's too mainstream. We need more people on Team Cersei.

Or like, any of the Greyjoys.

Cersei Lannister is my fucking spirit animal. I long to drink red wine as gracefully as she does

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That's too mainstream. We need more people on Team Cersei.

Or like, any of the Greyjoys.

Cersei Lannister is my fucking spirit animal. I long to drink red wine as gracefully as she does

Rofl. Also you are equally heartless and cold

RUDE AS FUCK

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Holy shit. Very mad.

Idgaf if you know who shows up next year, they missed the mark

CotF was great

Stannis was great

Jon is still boring

And Tyrion was very rushed. And so much was cut.

Though Briound ruled

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So why didn't Arya kill the hound?

Was she too attached to him or was he deserving of that fate?

My interpretation:

I love how cold Arya was towards the Hound. Not just in leaving him to die, but that clearly her friendliness to him was feigned to a great extent. Whereas the way the Hound spoke up for Arya, even after there was no chance of him getting paid for her, implied that he had genuine protective feelings towards her.

It's interesting, really, in the opposite stories being told with Arya & The Hound. Through their friendship, The Hound gained some sense of humanity and loyalty... whereas Arya lost hers. Despite all they had been through, Arya was a vindictive little bitch, and left him to die a slow, painful death. In the end, The Hound was another name on her list.

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Is this the kind of show that you can just jump into after skimming various episode synopses on the fan wiki? Because I think I just accidentally skimmed the fan wiki.

No. No you cannot.

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This was really well done.

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Okay, so, Telltale's Game of Thrones game just came out. Episode 1 is "Iron from Ice". I just finished it.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. PLEASE GO PLAY IT. YOU WON'T REGRET IT.

Spoiler:

So, this is definitely Game of Thrones. The killing of Rodrick and Gregor at the start was supposed to mirror the deaths of Robb and Ned. It worked wonderfully. They start you off at the Red Wedding, and when they show The Twins, you immediately start thinking, "Oh fucking shit, fuck me..." and when they start showing the Freys holding their weapons, you start to panic, "Fuck fuck fuck, we have to get out of here, I KNOW WHAT IS COMING!"

The decision to start the story at the Twins was just fucking perfect. It's the most gutwrenching moment in the series, and the killing of the patriarch and the son of House Forrester parallel what we've come to expect from Westeros. It let you know, from the start, where we stood and what was happening. It worked.

My only concern is that they seem to be mirroring House Stark a bit too much. I mean, you can basically draw a direct comparison between everyone:

Gregor = Ned: House Patriarch, noble, loyal, honorable. Loved by all.
Elissa = Catelyn: Wife to the patriarch, forced to try and step up when her husband is murdered.
Rodrik = Robb: Great solider/warrior, the next in line to lead his house, offed in a betrayal at the Red Wedding.
Mira = Sansa: Timid girl in King's Landing, away from the family, living in proximity to the Royal Family. Meant to be a window to the politics.
Talia = Arya: Youngest daughter, strong-willed, wiser than lets on.
Ethan = Bran: Young boy forced into Lordhood when father/brother die. Unsure how to proceed, must balance being kind and merciful with having a strong hand. Advised by a maester.
Ryon = Rickon: Youngest boy, scared, crybaby, naive.

I mean, everything lines up so perfectly, it ALMOST feels lazy. But there's enough separating the characters, there, to make it feel okay. It even lines up with Gerad being the "son but not quite a son" who is sent to the Wall. The only wildcard in the family is Asher.

I did enjoy what happens with the storytelling, here. It's interesting, as a player, to have this vast knowledge of what is going on elsewhere in the world and having that influence your decisions.

Gerad's segments felt the weakest in this episode... he's there to setup the story, kill some Boltons, watch his family die, then be all sad and dejected and get sent to the Wall. I don't feel like I ever had to make a tough decision with him. "WILL YOU TELL THE SECRET THAT LORD FORRESTER TOLD YOU TO ONLY TELL YOUR UNCLE? OR WILL YOU TELL THE SECRET?" was about as 'dynamic' as the decisions got. Didn't feel that high-stakes, and perhaps his story will be expanded in future episodes, but for now, he's basically filler. I mean, what was the point of the whole scene where he spies on Ramsay at the campfire flaying the guy? I just sat there and didn't touch anything and let the scene play out. Pretty pointless.

But the other two segments were so great! Mira's segments in King's Landing were absolutely spot on. The whole time I was playing as her, I felt very tense. Even though the setting was perhaps the most peaceful, talking to Sersei, Margaery, and Sera was the most intense I felt the whole game. Do I take a strong hand with Cersei so she'll know not to fuck with me, or do I appease her? Can I ask this favor of Margaery, or will it hurt my standing with her? Is Sera trustworthy and a real friend, or is she one of Cersei's little birds that tattles on everything Margaery does? The conversations in those moments made me think. I actually paused the game and smoked a cigarette while I waited to make my decision a couple of times. The politics, the two-facedness, everything felt exactly how it should be in King's Landing.

Meanwhile, Ethan's segments felt heavy. The decisions there were very difficult, as I tried to decide what kind of ruler I wanted to be. Was I merciful? Was I harsh? Did I support brute force, cunning wit, or financial savvy? Would I let my mother undermine me, or would I take a strong hand with her? These felt like classic Game of Thrones dynamics and more importantly, Ethan felt much like Clementine did in The Walking Dead... a young child that would grow up how you let them grow up. It all seemed perfect. I took pride in not letting Ramsay push me around, even as things got grim, and I pondered how Ethan would work with a garrison of White--OH MY FUCKING GOD DID RAMSAY JUST FUCKING STAB THE MAIN CHARACTER, A CHILD, IN THE FUCKING NECK?

FUCK YOU TELLTALE GAMES. FUCK. YOU.

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Moral of the Story: I am not fit to do anything in the world of ASOIAF and House Forrester will be in ruins by the end of my playthrough.

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Spoiler: Episode One Stuff

So, Reck, first off fix your shit Gared is the guy that feels the weakest and goes to the wall. I think we'll get to see him later and if he becomes a Rangers and becomes empowered he'll have more pressing decisions (AND OH MY GOD A MECHANIC WILL ASSIST IN STORYTELLING!). That's my hope, anyway. Otherwise he's a narrative device and that's lame.

I think the Ramsay scene is just to set up Ramsay as heartless, so that the final scene has weight/danger.

You've summed up exactly how I felt at the end too. The whole lead up, feeling excited about how to run my community, wondering how best to make my name as a Lord. Then...you know...he fuckin' bleeds out. Woop Woop.

Does a good thing having the wildcard in Asher set up to return. If he comes back, he'll get the Lordship (if I predict correctly) then we can see some awesome shit.

Yeah, fixed the name in my spoilers.

Supposedly, this series starts near the end of Season 3 in the show, and will wrap up events up to the very beginning of Season 5 and play nicely into the show's timeline. I'd imagine that Season 2 (which is coming out at the end of 2015/early 2016) will parallel Season 5/a bit beyond.

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I haven't watched Season 4 yet so I should probably get on it.

Is it worth reading the books?

Definitely watch Season 4 before the next episode of the game comes out as it might start getting into spoiler territory. This episode basically ended with the end of S3, so anything from henceforth risks spoiling you.

I'll tell you this much... I've read 4/5 books and I'm working my way through the 5th right now. They're good. But I think seeing the show first spoiled me as I now can't separate the two.

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Heh.

That was my thing. I played TWD/TWAU and generally made decisions on the fly. But with this game, I found myself pausing to go outside and talk to someone and explain my situation and talk through what I think the positives/negatives are.

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I know . THATS HOW STRESSFUL IT WAS

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Yeah. I mean, it helps going into conversations, say, with Cersei, and knowing, "Oh fuck, she's ruthless, can't trust her," and having to play it out with that knowledge as a viewer. Same way that I felt relieved when talking to Tyrion, because I know he's a good guy/trustworthy fellow from the show.

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Looks like next episode...

Spoiler:

We get to see Jon Snow. Meaning that Gerad actually makes it to the Wall, yay! I wonder if he'll run into the guy I banished to the Wall in the previous episode?

Drama between Duncan/Royland over who gets to lead House Forrester after Ethan's death. Weird. I don't know who will be the POV character, there? TTG has NEVER dropped us into the POV of a character we've already met before, I hope they don't start now.

I have a feeling Mira will start going down a much more Sansa-esque route. Wheeling and dealing in the Capital. I can't wait.

Seriously WHO THE FUCK is our POV character back at Ironwrath? It can't be anyone we've met before, but we're seeing first-hand glimpses into the Elissa/Talia conversation in the Great Hall.

And, looks like the Uncle gets to Essos and is traveling with Asher. If it's anything like the books, this means Asher is never coming home. Dany has to show up at some point, right? So, don't be surprised if they dick around in Essos for awhile.

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Thoughts on the episode shortly but

Spoiler: Nitpick

Walking Dead dropped us into Clementine's POV a season after meeting her.

Technically, yes. But you already kind of helped craft her character via Lee's actions S1

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I wish I had, faraday, re: 3047

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If I were to buy GoT, do I get the next episodes for free as they come out? Or is that the price for just that episode?

You get the next episode free if you buy the bulk package ($25, I think). Or, you can pay $5 in installments for each individual episode.

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OMG WHAT

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Ep2 choked me up, man. Shit.

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First three episode synopsis/summaries are released!

It's weird not knowing what the hell is going on...

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and one actor, because he felt it was important they know where they're headed, which has caused tons of speculation among my friend group

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yeah first 3 eps leaked

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yeah that quote was great

that episode was a REALLY strong premiere

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book reader and show reader are two separate things now.

time to accept it

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yeah...i mean they openly said "this season is going past the books, be ready" so im ready

IE

Mance dying is just WHAT....

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yeah im watching them normally

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it's not a circlejerk? It's "this quality is objectively better than that quality so we prefer it"

It's not HD at the least. My roommate looked at it and turned it off and said he'd rather wait for the higher rez versions to air

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IE

Mance dying is just WHAT....

Spoiler: book spoilers and possible show spoilers

I thought he faked died in the books too... didn't melisandre switch him with rattleshirt image/body, and fake his death? which I mean it's exactly why the show kept flashing over that guy with the beard and stuff (cant even remember if that's rattleshirt or not but they probably made the body switch with him)

it's not, it's Tormund

idk that would be a weird swap? i think it's more likely that

Tormund will just fill the role Mance was going to fill

because

we didn't see any signs of a glamor

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also yeah EW has an article confirming he left the show, so....

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what the fucking shit

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yeah we're very much so in strange territory. jesus

JACQUEN (SP?) IS THE KINDLY BLACK MAN? WTF

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i always assumed he couldn't be the kindly man because of pate