Game of Thrones on HBO

[SteveMax58]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

That was a very disturbing way to end an episode.

I've been pretty much tired of Ramsay Bolton since before he cut off Theon's cock. We get it. He's crazy. He's evil. He's cruel. He loves to torment and torture pretty much everyone. I've seen more than enough of that. The rest is really just unnecessary piling on.

I agree with this. My wife & I were just stunned in more ways than 1 at the end of that episode.

Not spoilering below as the comments are on the aired TV show (which I think is the loose demarcation we're all working with for spoilers), but don't read if you havent watched yet.

Not only was the torture-porn seemingly unnecessary (which I later found out was not even the Sansa story really), as we already knew Ramsey to be a special kind of evil beyond words and Theon to be a tormented & broken man...but it seemed like a bizarre character setback for Sansa after seeming to have turned the corner from just a victim into a determined & unafraid woman.

So rather than have Sansa "own her womanhood" (as it seemed she was building towards in her scenes with Littlefinger, and her bathtub scene earlier in the episode with whats her name) and use the situation to try & manipulate Ramsey into furthering her agenda...she seemingly falls back into being a naive & helpless victim in things. I guess I was expecting her to move into more of a seductress role who knows precisely what she's doing (perhaps a less crazy version of Melisandre), which even though it may not work on a psychopath like Ramsey, it would have been an interesting character transformation with Sansa using the "tools" she has, just as Arya & Jon Snow continue to do.

[Landshark44]

Originally Posted by Edward64

But it may be setting Theon/Reek up to rebel and save Sansa?

last night would have been a good time for him to step up...


i forget the book scene that parallels it. could someone spoiler it or PM me. thx

[ISiddiqui]

Its on the Song of Ice and Fire thread, IIRC.

[Coffee Warlord]

Putting aside Sansa for a moment.

They have screwed the damn pooch on Dorne thus far. Last night was the worst. There's been some 'convenient timing' bits previously, but c'mon....Jaime/Bronn and the Sand Snakes go for Myrcella at EXACTLY the same time?

Not to mention...how the hell did Jaime/Bronn get into what's basically the Royal Palace?

[ISiddiqui]

They just went to the left when entering the gates...

Or, Dorne has the worst guards ever.

[Atocep]

Last night was easily the worst episode of the series so far. The entire Dorne plot looks like low budget, bad TV.

Jamie/Bronn stroll into the water gardens like it's a public place? If Jamie can go toe to toe with one sand snake then Bronn should have been able to kill all of them rather easily. Myrcella is a typical TV teenage girl rather than a character from GRRM.

The Loras plot is terrible as well. The guy responsible for helping him change into and out of armor knows he has a birthmark on his leg? Shocking...

[stevew]

I was hoping that they'd immediately kill the Sand Snakes after teasing them all tgrought the period between seasons. There's too many loose threads going on in the show and really nothing is happening at the same time.

Maybe we'll get some comeuppance on the Boltons this year, but at the same time I can see this awful storyline dragging on 2-3 more seasons.

[bhlloy]

Have to agree, by far the worst episode I can remember. This is heading slowly down the road of a paint by numbers TV show rather than an awesome adaption of some really well thought out books.

[Arles]

Originally Posted by Atocep

The Loras plot is terrible as well. The guy responsible for helping him change into and out of armor knows he has a birthmark on his leg? Shocking...

I'm glad someone mentioned this. That made no sense. We also never really got the motivation for this "witness" to come forward. I'm guessing if they are locking up/beating the High Septon and the Queen's brother, they wouldn't have too hard of a time imprisoning this boy toy for doing exactly what they are stalwartly against. So, what's in it for him? If he was captured, why not just deny and everyone gets set free? Atleast tell us that he was caught in the act with some other royal member and got a full pardon to testify. Speaking of pardons, if a King can legitimize a bastard and pardon Jorah for selling people into slavery - I'm guessing he can write a pardon to get the queen out of "religious prison" on a trumped up charge in his own city?

The whole "religious trial" thing was a little ridiculous as well. This High Sparrow goes from "Mother Theresa" - helping poor people without wearing shoes to being more powerful than the king in a few episodes? I get that Tommen is a kid, but I'm thinking he would have had some kind of adviser capable of being a bad ass. No one in the King's guard would have said "Hey, dude without sandals, you aren't starting a trial in your church attic with the King and the Queen at your mercy. Ain't happenin"?

[Logan]

Why did the High Sparrow resemble a homeless person in this episode?

[ISiddiqui]

Well that's what he looked like in the previous episodes as well.

Are you thinking the previous High Septon?

[Ryno]

They lingered on Bronn's cut longer than I'm comfortable with. There's speculation of a poisoned dagger on reddit. If he dies because of one of those ridiculous Sand Snakes, I may be done.

Pretty funny that Cersei thinks she won that round. Tywin was not wrong about her thinking she's smarter than she is.

Mr. Eko!

I wonder how one becomes a cock merchant.

Does Stannis not have enough men to take King's Landing? It seems completely leaderless and vulnerable now.

No comment on the ending other than I didn't think there was anything left to see that would turn my stomach.

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

Putting aside Sansa for a moment.

They have screwed the damn pooch on Dorne thus far. Last night was the worst. There's been some 'convenient timing' bits previously, but c'mon....Jaime/Bronn and the Sand Snakes go for Myrcella at EXACTLY the same time?

Not to mention...how the hell did Jaime/Bronn get into what's basically the Royal Palace?

What's funny is this is exactly how I thought the Dorne plot was in the books. The same as Arya's, boring and dull

[RainMaker]

Sadly, the show is just boring now. None of the storylines are particularly interesting. Nothing major is really happening. And some of the stuff they had put time into over the years seem to have been forgotten.

It felt like a few major events would happen each season in the past that everyone would be talking about the next day. Now we're halfway through the season and I feel like nothing has really happened at all.

Spoiler

Also, they really couldn't have fit in a Lady Stoneheart storyline into the season? I know people have said it's not a favorite from the books but at least something would actually be happening. What was the point of introducing the Brotherhood without Banners years ago if they were to never be seen again?

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Sadly, the show is just boring now. None of the storylines are particularly interesting. Nothing major is really happening. And some of the stuff they had put time into over the years seem to have been forgotten.

I guess you could argue they're certainly capturing the spirit of the later books then.

[NobodyHere]

Also not surprisingly it seems that the ratings have peaked for the show.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by Arles

I get that Tommen is a kid, but I'm thinking he would have had some kind of adviser capable of being a bad ass. No one in the King's guard would have said "Hey, dude without sandals, you aren't starting a trial in your church attic with the King and the Queen at your mercy. Ain't happenin"?

They've made it abundantly clear that Cersei is whittling the small council away to nothing. And we all know how Cersei feels about the Tyrells.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Also, while I agree that the Water Gardens scene was a little too TV-cliche/suspension of disbelief heavy (I'm really not sure what to make of the Jaime & Bronn in Dorne thing at all), I'd say there's plenty going on in the show right now that is interesting. The quick rise of the High Sparrow to prominence, the Tyrell house under siege in King's Landing, Olenna Tyrell back in King's Landing, Stannis marching on Winterfell, Jon going north of the wall with a bunch of Wildlings to gather more Wildlings.

Obviously we're mostly doing set-up stuff at the moment, but there's plenty to keep you interested.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Arles

The whole "religious trial" thing was a little ridiculous as well. This High Sparrow goes from "Mother Theresa" - helping poor people without wearing shoes to being more powerful than the king in a few episodes? I get that Tommen is a kid, but I'm thinking he would have had some kind of adviser capable of being a bad ass. No one in the King's guard would have said "Hey, dude without sandals, you aren't starting a trial in your church attic with the King and the Queen at your mercy. Ain't happenin"?

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

They've made it abundantly clear that Cersei is whittling the small council away to nothing. And we all know how Cersei feels about the Tyrells.

Cersei is directly responsible for the rise of the High Sparrow in both the books and the show, but in the books, she at least had a fucking reason. In the show her actions are abundantly reckless by comparison, like using a nuke to swat a fly.

As far as Cersei whittling away the small council, that's another area where the age difference between Book!Tommen and Show!Tommen gets awkward.

Spoiler

In the books, he's young enough that Cersei is his regent and her actions show that she thinks of Tommen as the king, not the King. Yes, the capitalization matters. She's removing threats to her rule.

I'm at a loss for her motivations in the show. I can see her attack on House Tyrell as trying to remove competition in the "dominate Tommen" category, but he's not so young that her rule can supplant his, if he has a backbone at all.

And maybe that's how they're playing this.

Spoiler

Instead of his age being a convenient avenue for Cersei to make her power play, Tommen's just going to be spineless enough for Cersei to be the power behind the throne.

Since I'm discussing differences in her motivation in the two realms. I've used spoiler tags on the book bits that have any specificity. May not be necessary, but eh.

[Neon_Chaos]

Did anyone else feel that this Episode 6 was the weakest episode of the season, perhaps the weakest in recent memory?

[RainMaker]

Another thing was that fight scene was really bad. You get better choreography from USA shows.

[bronconick]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Another thing was that fight scene was really bad. You get better choreography from USA shows.

That and the Sand Snakes in general made me check my remote to see if I was watching Xena or something.

[Coffee Warlord]

Dorne needs more Dr. Bashir, and less Sand Snakes.

[spleen1015]

Originally Posted by Neon_Chaos

Did anyone else feel that this Episode 6 was the weakest episode of the season, perhaps the weakest in recent memory?

Worst episode in the history of the show.

[chinaski]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

Worst episode in the history of the show.

+1

[spleen1015]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

Have to agree, by far the worst episode I can remember. This is heading slowly down the road of a paint by numbers TV show rather than an awesome adaption of some really well thought out books.

This kind of sums up my thoughts on where the show is going.

This last episode was a pretty big deviation from the books, more so then any other episode. The parts that don't match the books are the parts that really bring it down. This has me worried about the future of the storytelling if this is the way it is going to be when they don't have book material to follow.

[chinaski]

GIFs with Sound Mashups

Just look at the 12yo sand snake on the right, so horrible.

[Arles]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

Since I'm discussing differences in her motivation in the two realms. I've used spoiler tags on the book bits that have any specificity. May not be necessary, but eh.

I think the age difference is a good observation. If Tommen was 5-8 years old, some of this makes more sense. But when he's 16-18, it seems a little far fetched. One episode, he's shagging the queen and telling his mom to move back home. The next, he's cowering in front of her and watching his porn fantasy get shackled into the dungeon with no response. Not for nothing, but if I was 16 and some 22 year old girl was doing me all night, I can tell you where my loyalty would lie if it came down to her and my mom. I certainly wouldn't want to lose access to her for an extended period of time.

This episode just felt disjointed. We get extended time of watching Arya manicure dead bodies (one was plenty, by the third it seemed a little excessive). Yet, we get a rushed sandsnake/Bronn-Jaime scene. I feel like there's too much "Well, we need to get to X in time to keep up with the books, so let's make the watchers do some homework for a few episodes" and less seamless integration where certain things get pushed out a bit to focus on the interesting story-lines that are more organic to the show. Honestly, I could have done without these Xena-style sand snakes if their only involvement was to throw a spear through a dude's head, make a feeble fighting attempt and then get captured. Unless there's more planned on the horizon, I'm not sure why the show runners didn't just have the guards capture Jaime-Bronn and use the sand snakes time to help progress other rushed storylines. But, maybe there is more in store in later episodes where this makes sense (I'm hoping).

I'm ready to stop eating vegetables and enjoy the main course of this season at any time ...

[cthomer5000]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Another thing was that fight scene was really bad. You get better choreography from USA shows.

This whole season has put off a bit of a "budget" vibe to me. I don't know if they actually did cut the budget for this season, but It's feeling a bit sloppier, a bit more run-of-the-mill to me. What felt like a 100% gripping, 100% killer show up until this season feels like it has slid into "oh, yeah... this is a TV show" category.

From a story perspective, I also wonder if them catching up to George R.R. Martin is forcing them into more questionable writing. I wonder if he has at least outlined to HBO where the story is going big-picture, and where he sees it ending. Otherwise it seems like it is going to make things a lot trickier for them to plan their writing long-term.

[NobodyHere]

GRRM has definitely told HBO how the story ends.

[RainMaker]

Did they drop the Bran storyline? And why have I not seen some badass whitewalkers this season?

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Did they drop the Bran storyline? And why have I not seen some badass whitewalkers this season?

Bran isn't in this season.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Arles

I think the age difference is a good observation. If Tommen was 5-8 years old, some of this makes more sense. But when he's 16-18, it seems a little far fetched. One episode, he's shagging the queen and telling his mom to move back home. The next, he's cowering in front of her and watching his porn fantasy get shackled into the dungeon with no response. Not for nothing, but if I was 16 and some 22 year old girl was doing me all night, I can tell you where my loyalty would lie if it came down to her and my mom. I certainly wouldn't want to lose access to her for an extended period of time.

What I suspect the showrunners envision happening here is even though Tommen is on the cusp of manhood, he has no interest in actually ruling because woo ladyshag and so he hasn't really found a voice of authority yet.

So she gets bustled off to the dungeons and he doesn't know how to react, because his mother has been doing everything in his name while he gets his bone on.

I mean, it's stupid, but I think that's where they see the character right now.

[Ryno]

Much better than last week. The time really flew by.

Bronn lives another day! Sand Snakes not completely worthless.

Nice to see Sansa isn't broken. When Reek betrays her, how does he (or Ramsay) know about the old woman?

Awesome seeing Cersei getting that stupid grin wiped off her face.

Before tonight, I thought they were setting up Stannis to be the next big casualty. I don't want Shireen to go, but I really need Stannis to take out Reek and the Boltons. Still not looking promising, but at least there's some chance now.

[Grammaticus]

Originally Posted by bronconick

That and the Sand Snakes in general made me check my remote to see if I was watching Xena or something.

Or maybe an episode of Stargate.

[Neon_Chaos]

THANK GOD IT FINALLY HAPPENED.

Spoiler

The Mereenese knot is finally being untangled in the show

[Arles]

Yeah, back to the quality of episodes we expect from GoT. I enjoyed last night and I don't think it's a coincidence that there wasn't any of the "Arya cleaning dead bodies" plotline. Excited to see the new Tyrion/Khaleesi dynamic and what happens now that most of the power brokers in Kings Landing are being held in the temple prison.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

I guess you could argue they're certainly capturing the spirit of the later books then.

I see someone beat me to (what I figured was) the rather obvious line.

I always took that to be the general impressions of the source material, that it developed a tendency to draaaaag.

And I don't just mean the time between books either.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Ryno

Much better than last week. The time really flew by.

Bronn lives another day! Sand Snakes not completely worthless.

Nice to see Sansa isn't broken. When Reek betrays her, how does he (or Ramsay) know about the old woman?

Set a trap. Light the candle and grab whoever responds.

[stevew]

Was he actually going to the top of the tower or was that just creative editing?

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by stevew

Was he actually going to the top of the tower or was that just creative editing?

top of A tower, perhaps

[Ryno]

It was a misdirection. In the first episode, the broken tower didn't have anything covering the window where Bran was pushed out. It also had some ivy or something growing all over. In the scene after Reek seeing Ramsay, it showed Brienne looking at the tower, and it hadn't been repaired.

Presumably, the signal was intended for Brienne. I'm not sure what exactly she was going to do though. She can't very well take on the whole army herself. Maybe the old woman was supposed to sneak her in. But, even if she could've got to Sansa unnoticed, I don't know how she would expect to get her out without someone seeing her.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Very strong episode. I really enjoyed it.

It's always great when Ghost makes an appearance, though they clearly struggle with the special effects required.

All the scenes with Cersei were fantastic.

Amazingly cool to see Dany and Tyrion face-to-face.

Poor Jorah Mormont, he ain't never gonna win.

While I'm glad Bronn lived, his scene with the Sand Snake seemed pretty unnecessary other than BOOBS.

I was glad that they haven't (yet) used Sansa's rape(s) as redemption for Theon.

The new Myrcella is a pretty horrible actress.

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

While I'm glad Bronn lived, his scene with the Sand Snake seemed pretty unnecessary other than BOOBS.

I was glad that they haven't (yet) used Sansa's rape(s) as redemption for Theon.

The new Myrcella is a pretty horrible actress.

As I said last week - they have ruined Dorne.

Sansa has reached new levels of uninteresting-ness for me now. At the end of the day, she's been a captive at the mercy of a monster for what, about 4.5 seasons now?

Makes me wonder why they bothered re-casting her. The "old" Myrcella wasn't any younger of an actress. I have no idea why they felt it necessary to re-cast her, especially since she's had, what, 5 lines of dialogue?

edit: Just looked it up, new Myrcella is a YOUNGER actress. So it's not like it was so HBO could put Myrcella boobs on screen.

[Vince, Pt. II]

I actually really enjoyed the Bronn scene. Dudes got pipes. And I'm all for Bronn falling for a sand snake - seems like the perfect fit.

[Grover]

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

I actually really enjoyed the Bronn scene. Dudes got pipes. And I'm all for Bronn falling for a sand snake - seems like the perfect fit.

Game Of Thrones badass Bronn used to be a cuddly British pop singer · Great Job, Internet! · The A.V. Club

[Dodgerchick]

OMG can Ramsay Bolton die already? Sansa getting raped and beaten is hard to watch. I really hope this leads to her killing every mother fucker who has wronged her family. Reek, you disgusting worm... redeem yourself already. This whole storyline creeps me out.

Dany and Tyrion, can't wait to see what happens there. And surely they'll find a cure for Jorah... perty please?

[NobodyHere]

Amazon.com: Game of Thrones Coloring Book (For Adults) (9780692438978): Thomas Carter: Books

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Dodgerchick

Dany and Tyrion, can't wait to see what happens there. And surely they'll find a cure for Jorah... perty please?

I've always assumed Jorah would die either in battle with Daenerys or sacrificing himself for her, so he just needs to slow the spread. Plus tbh I don't think they've ever committed to (or at least been consistent with) how quickly greyscale spreads, so I think they'll have no problem keeping him alive and functional until he serves his purpose.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Dodgerchick

OMG can Ramsay Bolton die already? Sansa getting raped and beaten is hard to watch. I really hope this leads to her killing every mother fucker who has wronged her family.

but that's arya's storyline