Tonight’s episode saw the return of Arya Stark to Game of Thrones, events heating up over in Meereen and down in Dorne, and the Night’s Watch getting political up at the Wall.
Check out our book reader’s recap of the new episode, and stop in to share your opinions on “The House of Black and White” in the comments section below!
Spoiler Note: This post is for those who have read the A Song of Ice and Fire series. The post and the comments section will contain spoilers! If you haven’t read the books yet, please check out our non-book-reader recap. Thanks!
The first thrill tonight was felt before the opening scene even hit the screen. Hearing several months ago that Tom Wlaschiha was returning was no match for the joy of seeing his name in the main credits, accompanied by the iron coin of Braavos. What can I say, I’m a Jaqen H’ghar kind of woman. But is he actually playing the Faceless assassin from season two? We’ll have to wait and see.
“The House of Black and White” gives us what we want right away, which is to see the major character who was missing from the season premiere, Arya Stark. Arya arrives at her destination, the sunny port city of Braavos, home to banks, fisherman, and the home of the Faceless Men. The bright, bustling city brings a freshness to Arya’s world, and maybe her step is lighter too because she believes her journey is finally at an end. For the time being, anyway.
It’s never that easy though, is it? Deposited on the steps of the imposing House of Black and White, Arya is rejected gruffly by an old man in robes. (Is he for real or is this a Fight Club thing?) Without a place to go in a foreign city, she stubbornly remains on the steps of the temple overnight, intoning her prayer, her death list. In the morning, frustrated, she tosses away the iron coin she carried with her hopefully for so long, and heads into the city.
Dining at an inn in the Vale, Brienne and Pod run into Sansa and Littlefinger. (Don’t you love all these coincidental meet-ups at inns? There must be very few places left after the war. Also, Podrick is terrible at traditional squiring but aces at remembering faces and sigils, so there’s that.) Brienne approaches Sansa and offers her loyalty and service to the younger woman. Sansa is uncertain, and Littlefinger undermines Brienne’s offer by highlighting Renly and Catelyn’s deaths, the previous people who she had served. Sansa once again chooses the devil she knows and accepts his advice rather than trust Brienne’s intentions.
Recognizing Brienne could still pose a threat now that she and Pod have seen Sansa, Littlefinger sends his knights after them. After a rough chase, Brienne saves Pod’s life and dispatches the men sent to take care of them. Despite Sansa’s rejection, Brienne decides to continue following her, as neither she nor Pod feel Sansa is safe with Littlefinger.
Up in King’s Landing, a pointed message has been delivered to Cersei: a fanged serpent bearing Myrcella’s necklace. The message is clear: House Martell is not pleased about the death of Prince Oberyn. Cersei is enraged and demands Jaime act to save their daughter from the hands of the Dornish. Jaime recruits Bronn for the mission, offering the chance at something better than the situation currently on the table for the sellsword. Lollys Stokeworth, while sweet, is a second daughter and not offering much in the way of castles or money. Jaime has her engaged to another man, Bronn accepts the deal, and the men are on their way.
Down in Dorne, Ellaria Sand storms into the castle of Prince Doran, and demands justice for the death of her lover. She wants war, and the sight of Myrcella and Prince Trystane courting in the gardens has her enraged. The wheelchair-bound Doran unhappily tolerates her anger but refuses her insistent requests for action and retaliation.
“We do not mutilate little girls for vengeance, not here, not while I rule.” The callback to Oberyn’s remark in season 4 about how they don’t hurt little girls in Dorne is strong. Doran is very much Oberyn’s brother, though they may superficially seem different.
Over in Meereen, Daario lectures Grey Worm on the superiority of his Second Sons sellswords over the disciplined Unsullied who are incapable of blending into crowds and picking up secrets. They’re hunting someone, and find him hiding behind a wall with a golden mask- the same type worn by the men who killed White Rat the Unsullied in the season premiere.
“Sons of the Harpy,” Mossador the former slave explains. The Sons fight Daenerys’s rule and wish for the return of the old ways. Dany’s councilors debate how to handle the captured Son of the Harpy- mercy, execution, a fair trial. What will work best? Mossador who knows the Meereenese well says, “All they understand is blood.”
Barristan privately shares some history of her father with Dany, more of the Mad King’s fiery brutality, and he counsels caution to her. The khaleesi resolves to give the Son of the Harpy a fair trial.
The Tyrion and Varys Roadshow continues, this time in a slightly larger box. Staying inside is essential now that Cersei has put a price on Tyrion’s head. On the road to the Free City of Volantis, Varys muses on the nature of men like them while Tyrion still mourns the past. Varys points out that Tyrion was a good ruler in his time as the Hand.
Back in King’s Landing, the head of an unfortunate dwarf is presented to Cersei and Qyburn for reward, but of course it isn’t Tyrion. Qyburn the ex-maester keeps the head anyway because he’s a creepy bastard.
Cersei heads up a meeting of the new Small Council, and hands out new titles to shore up her power. She makes Qyburn the Master of Whisperers to replace Varys.
Cersei makes Uncle Kevan Lannister the Master of War but he’s less than impressed by her playing at Hand of the King and claiming Tommen has given the orders, and takes himself off to Casterly Rock.
Up at the Wall, it’s fun-time reading hour with Shireen, Gilly and Sam in the Castle Black library. The girls bond when Shireen works with Gilly, while it’s clear Sam was a less-than-patient teacher when he tried to help the wildling. The conversation drifts to the princess’s disfiguring greyscale, and Gilly’s memories of how the disease took two of her sisters. Queen Selyse interrupts the talk, scattering the group, and warns Shireen that any wildling shouldn’t be trusted, as they could strike at Stannis through his daughter. Oh dear, is this foreshadowing? Not my Shireen, please.
Stannis is having a hard time ruling at the Wall. It seems no one is respecting his kingship- not the wildlings and not the nobles of the North. The 10 year old Lyanna Mormont of Bear Island has denounced him since he’s no Stark, leading Stannis to make Jon an offer. The Northmen need a Stark, which Jon can be with a stroke of Stannis’s pen. He offers Jon everything he ever wanted, to be the lord of Winterfell. Jon is amazed, though he doesn’t feel he can accept the offer as committed as he is to the Watch.
But there’s a Lord Commander election to contend with before we hear Jon’s official answer. The candidates are presented:
Ser Alliser Thorne. Pros: amazing at fighting, gives rad speeches about having to eat people and rising to the occasion in battle. Cons: kind of a dick?
Ser Denys Mallister. Pros: Extremely experienced knight. Probably has some good stories to tell at chow hour. Cons: We’ve never seen him before this episode so we know how this candidacy is going to shake out. (Also RIP J.J. Murphy)
Jon Snow: Pros: Hand-selected by the previous Lord Commander who gave him his Valyrian steel sword which is neat. Leads suicidal missions at the drop of a hat. Is a Stark (and as this episode reminded us, the youngest Lord Commander ever was a 10 year old named Ostrich- sorry Osric Stark.). Cons: Likes wildlings a little too much. A lot too much.
Alright, forgive the tongue-in-cheek summation. To save everyone from an obvious win for Alliser Thorne, Sam jumps into the speeches to volunteer Jon Snow for the gig. And to remind Janos Slynt that he sucks and to expose him as a big coward in the Battle of Castle Black. Thorne offers the criticism of Snow’s wildling sympathies, which some brothers- including Olly- seem to take in and consider. But it’s time for voting. Maester Aemon breaks the tie, and names Jon Snow the new Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch.
Returning to Braavos, we find Arya wandering the streets before she’s accosted by two thugs who aim to relieve her of her Needle. Her stone-cold killer face drops into place but before she can send the thugs running, she spots the grumpy old man with a cane who turned her away from the House of Black and White. His very presence sends the men scampering off.
She follows him back to the temple, where he returns the iron coin that she ‘lost’ when she threw it away. He reveals a new face, but a very familiar one.
“You said there was no Jaqen H’ghar here.”
“There isn’t.” He explains, “A man is not Jaqen H’ghar.”
“Who are you then?”
“No one…and that is who a girl must become.” The man with Jaqen H’ghar’s face opens the door to the House of Black and White and welcomes Arya inside.
In Meereen, the question of what to do with the captured Son of the Harpy is solved by Mossador, who enacts vigilante justice of his own in executing the prisoner. The man makes no attempt to deny he committed the murder but reminds Daenerys when he’s brought before her of all that he did for her cause, taking the city and freeing the people of Meereen. He was a slave, kept down by these people who want to bring back slavery now.
Daenerys struggles over whether to show mercy or obey the law she has dictated. Mossador is brought forth to be publicly executed. Dany hesitates, reconsidering as the former slaves beg for mercy for the young man. After a moment, she nods to Daario to carry out the execution. The crowd, who called her Mhysa– Mother!- a minute before now hiss and then shout.
Chaos breaks out as the former slaves and the wealthier people of Meereen tear at each other. Daenerys flees and her people stand at guard that night.
Isolated in her pyramid, and rejected by both her dragons and the people who called her mother, she stands alone at night. And then, she hears the flap of wings and sees that Drogon has come home.
Happily reaching for her largest dragon child, she strains to touch him, but he only sniffs and hovers briefly before flying off into the night to vanish once again.
Highlights
“All they understand is blood.”– the Meereen storyline was fantastic tonight, building up the details of the Harpy story. I thought creating the part of Mossador based on the bit slave role last season was a good call with a very nice performance from Reece Noi . A voice for Meereen’s slaves was needed. It doesn’t look good for Dany in the city, on account some questionable choices, but it’s enjoyable drama.
The old faces and the new: Welcome back Tom Wlaschiha, and hello to new cast members, Alexander Siddig and DeObia Oparei. We saw Kevan last week, but I really loved Ian Gelder’s scene this week in the Small Council with Kevan making it clear to Cersei that he was onto her.
The locations: my god, the eye porn of Braavos and Dorne, along with the usual locations. We have to thank the Alcazar of Seville for giving us a home worthy of a fantasy novel’s dreams, and it was exciting to see the lively port of Braavos coming to life in Kastel Gomilica, Croatia.
That letter: also known as that time a 10 year old told Stannis Baratheon where to stick it. The childish scrawl on the note was the best part.
Assorted moments: Bronn on the beach with Lollys. If he’d married her, I don’t thinks Lollys’s sister would’ve been long for this world but they were a cute couple. Daario and Grey Worm’s odd broship continues. Qyburn’s creepiness. “Podrick.””Yes, my lady?””You can stand now.”
I didn’t love it
The election: It fell a little flat for me. It just didn’t feel as huge a moment for me as I think it should have been. Sam’s speech was very good and the performances were on-point, I enjoyed Slynt’s actions from season 4 being exposed, but the overall pacing of the scene was off, going from the impactful Stannis scene straight in the long election one. I think I would’ve preferred some breathing room between the two scenes. I thought it was interesting however that they showed Olly responding slightly to the criticisms of Jon’s love for wildlings. A sign that when things turn bad for Jon, the boy whose family was killed by wildlings will turn on his mentor? That, I think will work if they go in that direction.
The Ellaria whiplash: I discussed in my overall season 5 review that Ellaria is quite different from the one of the books this year. This takes a little mental adjustment for book-readers. Not going to lie- I love that Ellaria Sand of the novels protests for peace, because it seems so much smarter that she’d learn from Oberyn’s mistake of vengeance. But adaptation changes happen, so we adjust. Indira Varma is a wonderful actress and I can roll with it.
Great episode!
I love Kevan. Wish we had seen more of him now (which I didn’t particularly before, so kudos to the writers/Ian). Still, I’m sure he will be back at some point again. Let’s hope it is more than just a cameo!
Great write up Sue! Very funny and you captured the pure entertainment I felt this episode provided. Loved every minute!
My favorite part of this experience was the fact that the first like 15 minutes was ALL new material! We are all unsullied!!!
Sue –
The alcazar is a beautiful place, really. Seeing it on the show brings fond memories.
I really liked this episode, looks like Mereen and Dorne won’t be boring slogs like in the books. And Drogon is big!!
Man, I’d pay good money for a Funko Legacy Drogon figure.
Jeb,
I loved how Kevin told off Cersei! I loved so many things in this episode.
JaimenotJamie,
Whoa, is that a difference between the screener and the aired version? Let me check. I’ll edit it if so.
JaimenotJamie,
I think she may be mixing it up with a scene from 5×04, unfortunately. Other reviewers did this as well; and no, this is not a difference between the screeners and the released episode. She simply mixed up two different small council scenes, which is understandable :/
Chrysee,
Since others have mentioned it too, and I can’t edit the comment on my phone, please remove my first comment if necessary. Sorry Sue.
Hey, look at me there in your twitter sidebar off to the right!
That damn quote though. I nearly wept with joy.
Forgot to add in the other thread that it seems to me that Kevan is following his arc from the books…I hope to the same conclusion. I’d love to see that scene on screen. And creepy-ass Qyburn! [shivers] Great synopsis, Sue!
Thanks for the recap Sue. This was a lively episode and I’m absolutely in love with Braavos. Of all the places in ASOIAF universe, that definitely seems like the one to be in.
I think the Stannis offer should have been the episode ending. It makes zero sense for Jon not to consider saying yes. Although, now that I remember, he knows Bran is alive (terrible,terrible mistake). Or maybe he already forgot?
More time for the election and less time for invented background of Gilly`s sisters would have been nice. I enjoyed ep1 more than this, hopefully it will get better next weeks.
Luka Nieto,
No, I’m not mixing up two different episodes. It’s a difference between the screeners and the aired episode. It happens, that’s why I was rewatching tonight but I ducked out halfway through to put my son to bed so I missed this scene when it was airing. The edit is very subtle and doesn’t really affect the outcome of the scene.
Concerning the library exchange about Greyscale and what it means for later events:
Ashara D,
Not a big deal, nope 😉
Ashara D,
Yep. Kevan is once again the only member of the family willing to call Cersei’s bullshit to her face…and sadly he’ll probably get the same ‘reward’ for all his efforts to clean up her mess.
Love the emphasis on how the Northerners will only support a Stark…I hope that’s foreshadowing!
Agreed about the election and Jon Snow being offered Winterfell. It’s such a massive deliberation for him in the book and here I felt like he never even considered it, which I didn’t particularly like. I did love Sam verbally kicking Janos Slynt’s ass though.
Also loved that they kept Lyanna Mormont’s note word-for-word and Shireen and Gilly bonding. Tonight’s episode both passed the Bechdel Test and there was nary a boob in sight! Woot woot!
Why would they remove that scene from the aired episode?
Lavignac,
Possibly. Or there could be another cause of an outbreak in the Seven Kingdoms.
Sue the Fury,
Hm… well, let’s say a little birdie told me about the screeners, and that scene is in 5×04, not 5×02 :/ It’s a pretty ominous scene, an obvious set up. It’s in The Sons of the Harpy, not in this episode.
Maybe there are different screeners. Maybe the leaked screeners had these changes, who knows. But I’m not crazy; I looked it up, just in case. How did the original scene play out, then? Because Mace can’t go now; he’s present in episode 3 and at the beginning of 4 in the Small Council.
I love Qyburn. He seems so innocuous and kindly but is totally a creepy bastard. I smile every time he appears. Loved Kevan telling off Cersei. I really enjoyed all the story lines in this episode.
Brienne doesn’t seem to do much planning ahead. I mean she should have been working out in her mind what to say to Arya or Sansa when she finds them. I would have thought she would have a better plan after Arya rejected her last season, but she basically did the exact same thing with Sansa.
Nice work there from Ian Gelder as Kevan. I would hope we see more of him; I can’t say I’m optimistic, he remains such a tertiary character.
I agree that the LC election felt a bit rushed; I was hoping for something a bit more drawn out though Sam’s speech was very good.
The Meereen stuff was the major highlight of it; great work from Reese Nui as Mossador, and I wish we were to see more of him as well.
Love Arya.
I really enjoyed this episode. The highlights were the scenes at the Wall and the small council scene. Kevan was great. I hope we see more of him. I loved the Lyanna Mormont reference.
They are really driving home how lost Dany is without her dragons, and how unprepared she is to rule. I liked that Barristan finally told her what’s what about her father.
Nice to have Jaqen’s face back.
I think it’s funny to see Brienne be turned away by both Stark girls. That is exactly how I always imagined things would go while reading the books.
I’m worried about Bronn now. He’s too damn amusing to kill off. Please spare him, D&D.
Overall, I would give this episode an 8.5/10. It is my second favorite second episode, behind only last season’s Purple Wedding episode.
Lavignac,
I was glad to see the little scene about greyscale, given the omission of that storyline, since I still think it will play a part in the endgame. I doubt Varys will get it, but maybe Jorah, who is a tragic warrior figure like JonCon, will contract it on his little jaunt with Tyrion.
EDIT: Removed uneeded spoiler tags. This is the Sullied recap. Oops.
Lavignac,
In fact for that matter I sometimes wonder if Tyrion could have an internal case…
Luka Nieto,
Maybe the screeners had some editing differences and now they can figure out who had the ones that leaked, using some very season 2 Tyrion logic ;P
So…greyscale killed some of Craster’s kid-wives? Whhhaaaaatttt? That threw me for a loop. Shireen survived it but what did Cressen do?
Aemon cast the deciding vote! Yay.
Drogon blowing off mama! Yay.
Kevan handing it to mother madness. Yay.
Ellaria is a woman on a mission! Yay.
Chrysee,
Maybe? But, as I said, Mace has scenes in episodes three and four. I don’t see how he could go to Braavos in this episode.
Very good episode.
+ Brienne meeting Sansa and then Brienne being a badass
+ Kevan Lannister owning Cersei
+ Arya in the alleys of Braavos
+ Jon and Stannis. “Jon Stark of Winterfell”, “…whose name is Stark”. Great.
+ Barristan telling Dany about her father. With all the talk about burning fathers and sons he could have mentioned the Starks too.
+ Shireen! If anything happens to her this season I’ll go ballistic.
+ Sam’s nomination of Jon and takedown of Janos.
+ Mereen. Superb. I wonder how the people will react.
– Location of House and Black and White. Very nitpicky, but I imagined it placed next to a canal (and not the sea), surrounded by other buildings and with people bustling around. Braavos didn’t give me the sense of a large bustling city.
– The very short voting process for the Commander, and Aemon’s surprise extra vote. Felt a bit cheap.
Very good episode, although I wish the invented Mossador plot hadn’t followed the Robb-Karstark storyline so beat-for-beat. Reece Noi did great work, though.
The election scene worked for me, almost singlehandedly because of John Bradley (who’s become SO good in the role btw). I’m glad they kept Sam’s importance in that plot point, even if they simplified it considerably from the books.
And was that Bowen Marsh singing Denys Mallister’s praises during the election scene? Michael Condron’s name was in the credits, and I’m wondering if that was his introduction to the show.
Lavignac,
Episode 4 semi-spoiler:
¿€√¶∆=¥\#/?@:-[ :-$ :'( !&%#:”¿{[®£¢^¡℅™><WTF???????
After 41 hours of the best programming ever on television this is the dreck we get handed? If you could interpret the words in my introductory statement you might be able to follow what was on HBO between 9-10 pm tonight.
The incredibly HUGE mistake was not just veering away from Mr.Martin's storyline but completely rewriting it. Nothing made any sense, no continuity in ANY kingdom and who the hell would want Daenyrs Targaryan ruling on the Iron Throne? And if that was the best CGI "dragon sniffing hand" shot…….what a ripoff. The two dragons in the catacombs are HUMONGOUS AND REALLY PISSED OFF and do not want their mother anywhere near them……Drogon, who has been perusing the countryside seems to have been smoking some ganja and mellowed out man.
How many emotions can Jon Snow move through in 3-5 scenes all within 4 minutes of each other???????? Uh, sad, stunned, depressed (that one came naturally), confused, frightened, defiant, noble, humble and HAPPY????? Did he actually smile?????? OMG.
What the hell were those crisscrossed scenes with Pod, Sansa, Petyr and Brienne? And I thought we were finished with ridiculously hard to fathom scenes with big girl beating and slicing the crap out of all those great big men…
silly me.
To sum this hour up, nonsensically vapid.
And, I am an avid fan of The Song of Fire and Ice. I have all 5 books, first 4 seasons on DVD, The World of Ice and Fire and The Ice Dragon.
Yes, I've read the books 3 times through, watched the DVDs so intently I know most of the dialogue by heart so don' t come back at me like I'm a rainy day viewer.
Heavy sigh……I am so very sad.
Luka Nieto,
Well let’s say a little birdie watched her screener weeks ago and also again today, took copious notes for her episode 2 recap and
Scenes are edited constantly. And screeners were sent out over a period of several weeks. It’s not hard to fathom that scenes got changed and some people got one version and some got another. You saw other reviewers say the same thing yet you’re convinced that several critics are forgetful? Cut it out. It’s rude.
Definitely agree. The LC Election scene was disappointing. Felt too brief.
I noticed some things different from the screeners, they cut 2 scenes. Pod and Brienne was shorter, they just immediately showed up in the Inn
And the little intro of a carriage riding before Varys and Tyrion was actually shown. The TV episode just went right to Tyrion and Varys inside the carriage.
I dont know why they decided to cut that, but probably for time since my HBO Now said the episode altogether was 63 minutes.
Tyrion Pimpslap,
Don’t do it. I don’t want any leaked episode discussion.
honey I’m home,
Cool story bro.
Performances of the week: Reece Noi, Ian Gelder & Drogon
Sue the Fury,
I did say different screeners might exist. Sorry for being rude. I just find the idea fascinating. So I guess some of Mace’s lines from the next episodes will be new for you, then? That’s interesting. I never would have guessed that they did ‘alternative’ things like that, in case they changed their mind. It’s cool.
honey I’m home,
It made plenty of sense. We aren’t in Kansas anymore, Toto. If you can’t handle the show not following the books to a ‘T’, then perhaps it’s time to move on before they spoil something from the unpublished books.
Aren’t we all?
Lyanna Mormont’s letter was the highlight of the episode for me, nice to hear from one of my favorite houses! I don’t know that the election was handled in a way that made much sense, but I guess they needed to move things along? Didn’t really seem like Sam was so convincing to win half the vote just like that.
Agreed with the Kevan love, I’m glad he seems to be back for at least a little more screen time this season. The dynamic with Lena Heady was great.
wonder if the LC election was so abridged because Denys Mallister’s actor passed away after one of his first days of filming
Sue the Fury,
Okay. It wasn’t really much of a spoiler anyway. At least I marked it.
Hodor’s Bastard,
I’m almost certain grayscale is as important as I initially thought! Did you see the exposition they’ve wrote for THAT?! Blown away I was. I told someone that Winds of Winter just got more interesting RIGHT THERE! I’d freak out loudly right now if it wasn’t so late and the night so dark and full of quiet.
The LC election worked fine for me. They were never going to dedicate a long scene to Sam manipulating Dennys Mallister and Cotter Pyke. I thought Sam speaking for and nominating Jon was a fair compromise. If anything, I would have preferred Stannis’ offer and Jon’s decision to linger, but thinking back on the book, didn’t Stannis’ offer and the choosing all happen in the same chapter?
Tormund’s Woman,
How did Craster’s kid-wives get it???? We the people need to know. Val knows something! 🙂
Drew,
Talk about differences of opinions! LOL
I thought the election was perfect! Good set up with initial step being Sam in the previous ep being told by Gilly to do something so the next commander won’t send her and the baby away or the wildlings. Solid speeches for all three candidates. Ser Alliser even brought arguments toward Jon’s partiality towards the wildlings, which I thought was a good reminder. Also, good tempo with casting of the tokens, perfect timing in stacking them up with dum, dumm, duuuuuummm… Maester Aemon’s deciding vote. Climax achieved.
LC election was good and efficient.I loved Sam’s speech and the way he owned Slynt.Jon should have more time to consider offer from Stannis and that felt a bit rushed.Formally offer is still on the table,but Jon practically dismissed in like few seconds.It felt cheap.Next scene is LC election.But one more thing and that’s Aemon’s decisive vote.Typical TV drama,because one vote is going to decide LC election unlike books.Acting was spot on from everyone.
Highlight of the episode Meereen.Dany/Emilia is finally here and in-form.
Kevan Lannister was the high point for me (and I’m an Arya guy so you wouldn’t think so!). The way he just shot down Cersei and stalked out was amazing, with more weight because he probably *knew* he was the only one who could get away with it.
I agree that the LC election didn’t have the oomph that it did in the books. I think if they had made it the final scene of the episode it would have been much better. The actors all did a did a great job but it felt sort of stuck into the middle of the episode.
Now that I got the negative stuff out of the way, I loved the rest of it. Even though I saw the old man turning into Jaqen a mile away, it was still delightful.
All the Qyburn filled me with dread. I mean that as a compliment. He scares the crap out of me. I can only hope the show has the sense to not show us too much of what he does. It’s scarier not knowing. The mention of Lollys’ sister and Bronn’s comments about mean people made me wonder if they were going to follow the books. I don’t recall Felyse being cast though.
Lena Headey was fantastic and I’m very much looking forward to her arc this season. It should be very good.
Not sure what to make of the completely book divergent Brienne plot. It’s fun being unsullied though.
I loved Shireen teaching Gilly to read. So adorable. It was also good to see that they’re portraying the Wildling fear of greyscale. It makes me wonder even more than I already do what the disease is going to do in the books. I don’t think GRRM put it in there for nothing. It also gave me a big thrill to see that note from Lyanna Mormont. It was one of the details I figured wouldn’t make it to the show.
It was great to see Barristan finally get something to do. I also think Emilia Clarke gave one of her best performances since Fire and Blood.
Dorne was just as I pictured and I don’t mind the changes to Ellaria at all. It gives Indira Varma more to do than she would if they stuck to the book version of the character and gave a nice contrast to the understated performance of Siddig as Doran.
Can’t wait to see the inside of the House of Black and White next week.
Excellent episode. A lot of wonderful small moments…especially Kevan turning his back on Cersei, Lyanna Mormont’s letter and my girl Shireen talking with Gilly about greyscale. Doran looks and sounds awesome. Sam was nothing short of fabulous. Loved his take down of Slynt. Meereen was interesting…surprise! And Jaqen!
So far, S5 is showing a lot of promise.
Oh, Strider. Never change. :p
Kevan Lannister calling out Cersei, Stannis offering Jon Winterfell, Jaqen returning, damn. So much good stuff in this episode :-]
WeirwoodTreeHugger,
Something in your post, about how you would have preferred the LC election as the last scene, made me realize I’m a bit more Arya-centric than I realized. When she and “Jaqen” were walking into the HoBaW, especially the shot with the Titan in the background, I thought, “that’s the natural ending to this episode.” 🙂
asdf,
No, mostly likely because it would make for dull television. I’m not sure what people were expecting or want from that scene. It was tedious to read in the books and would have been even more so if they tried to draw it out for the show.
I see I’ve been ninja’d about a hundred times on the greyscale. Glad I’m not the only one geeking out about it!
Yeah I was wondering about that. If it’s acquired by contagion, who gave it to that incredibly isolated group of women? But then I was like, *shrug* They’re very likely never going to address it so I won’t obsess over it.
Oh by the way, anybody noticed in Qyburn’s lab the LARGE body covered by a white sheet on the far right when people start leaving? Did not seem very bloody, or alive for that matter.
The downside of watching 1-4 last week = having to wait to discuss them! So glad to hear the reviews on E2. My personal faves:
-Kevan (seems pretty universal). He owned that small council.
-Jaqen is baqen. My favourite faceless face.
-Tyrion talking about the ‘fucking box’.
-Mossador being the only one with any reasoning in Mereen. The crowd hissing at Dany. Fantastic. Beginning of the end.
-Brienne being Brienne. Pod being Pod, that smile at the serving girl. Dawww.
-The entrance to Braavos. Very Collossus of Rhodes.
-Lollys and Jaime. That actress is great.
-Doran. His expression at Ellaria’s rant. Fantastic. He is calm, and fair, and menacing as shit because of it. Really disappointed in Ellaria’s drama (yes yes hot tempered revenge death blah blah whatever)
-AND maybe I’m the only one, but the vote at the Wall. Only an improvement from the novel, imo. Well done, Sam.
Now if Arya hadn’t killed one of my relatives (just kidding, Mr . Feathers is a stunt pigeon)…
WeirwoodTreeHugger,
You’re definitely not. The only question is who will get it? Without JonCon, Jorah might seem a likely candidate but Varys is possible as well…or maybe just maybe Tyrion will start to turn to stone from the inside…
Uhm, what? I watched on HBO Canada tonight, and there WAS an establishing shot outside Varys’ “Wheelhouse” with some goats trotting away from the road.
Unrelated:
I have a small nitpick. I didn’t buy Arya’s pigeon-hunting… I thought Needle was a stabbing sword, not a slashing sword. And besides, that’s a SLOW pigeon with a death wish. They could have made her approach more slowly and stealthy, and then accelerate the sword-swing in post-production.
More Doran, please.
The thing with putting the LC election at the end, would mean two episodes in a row, it will be a Jon Snow moment. They probably wanted to avoid that
Edit: Nvm.
Nymeria Warrior Queen,
I felt like that was the natural ending of the episode too. I loved the Dany scenes but if I had my druthers, I’d have flipped her conclusion spot with Arya’s, so we could have the episode ending at the door.
Wow. I do know what to say. This season is starting to sink fast. I am hoping the directors change next episode and the writing starts to equal S4 or it’ll be one long tiresome season for me. Not much to praise. Cersei was good, nice to see Jaqen, Doran was really good but Oberyns chick seemed off, and that’s about it. I’m tired of Brienne. Sassy brassy Sansa is a twat. LF must be some mentor (give me a break). oh And BTW if you didnt know, there’s a NW vote and Jon was penciled in last minute. I hope Brienne dies a slow agonizing death, I’m up to my tits with her. Pod was just as bad. That horse shit? Cmon. Mereen is the new Lake town complete with smaug flybys. Tyrion needs to shut the Fuck up. That scene w Varys was pointless and gave us nothing new.
I need more beer. Oh and did mention how annoying Brienne is?
Does anyone remember if, in the books, the people from the House of Black & White went about town in a recognizable garb that produced dread in the locals? I didn’t remember that.
To Rygar: Careful with your beer. Too much alcohol can cause erectile dysfunction.
I’m sorry but that small council scene was really flat and poor written /acted.
This was a really good episode! My favourite scenes were:
Barristan telling Dany about her father.
Doran’s introduction (already loving Alexander Siddig).
Kevan letting Cersei know he’s not taking her shit (Great work from Ian Gelder)
I thought the LC election scene lasted about as long as it should have. Let’s face it, we all know what the outcome is going to be. I think even Unsullied can guess. there’s no need to drag it out too much. Sam’s awesome speech (and epic takedown of Slynt) was enough for me.
That said, I DO think Jon should have considered Stannis’ offer more, rather than instantly make up his mind about it.
And the Mossador execution scene was a bit too similar to the Karstark one.
I got the feeling Sansa sent Brienne away for her safety. Sansa knows she can’t trust Baelish and didn’t want to take a chance.
Lavignac,
I think the pigeon hunting was probably meant to be an allusion to season 1. I quite liked the street thugs who spoke in accents that were not dissimilar to those of public school students in England. Not even an attempt at an accent, like Ternesio Terys.
Rygar,
Poorly. See?
Ok, but im pretty sure Brienne and Pod were shortened, they werent shown outside the Inn before they entered it, whereas in the screener they were.
Kyrion,
By outside, do you mean them checking out all the blue-clad horses in the “parking lot” and noting that such customers should mean good fare in the inn? If yes, that WAS in the aired episode.
By the way, was this meant to be the infamous Inn at the Crossroads? Didn’t Podrick or Brienne state that Littlefinger’s group took the East Road? From the Crossroads, choices should have been King’s Road and High Road, and Littlefinger’s new marriage alliance should see them take the King’s Road.
Kyrion,
Riding up to the inn? Yeah they did. Did you fall asleep because of the sheer horribleness of the Arya scene and miss it?
Kyrion,
They were shown entering the Inn from the outside when I watched it on HBO tonight.
Nevermind… Others already answered similarly.
asdf,
Oh, I completely forgot about that.
I liked the episode – agree that the election was quick, and was surprised that Jon didn’t have time to consider Stannis’ offer, but I liked the result. Wished Dany had been a fast learner in her world; she’s not going to last long at this point (I did flash on The Man Who Would Be King at the end). Loved the rest of it. While I liked the last two episodes, and understand why the scenes jumped around alot, I am looking forward to one where a viewer can focus on just a few of the scenes in some depth. Hopefully that will be soon.
Lavignac,
No, it wasn’t the same inn.
Wonderful episode, very dense and packed. So many great storylines, with Mereen and The Wall, taking top spot for me. Mereen was terribly tragic, with no clear solution, and no “right” way. If one wants to do the right thing, unpopularity is the result. Barristan was so helpful in convincing Daenerys to give the Harpy guy a fair trial, but why was he conspicuously quiet with any “advice” during Mossador’s execution? Drogon! Why did he finally visit Mom when she was at her lowest, and then why did he reject her? What is he trying to tell her?
Wall – great, concise storytelling. And no Melissandre – yay! 🙂 Poor Stannis, no one really likes him except Davos. Lyanna Mormont’s letter was a hoot. 🙂 Jon’s election was well-done with the right pacing. Should Jon have accepted the offer of Winterfell to benefit Stannis? Should he have mentioned that Bran is still alive, though younger than Jon, of course? The Shireen, Sam and Gilly scene was just love.
What beautiful photography in Braavos and Dorne. Doran in Dorne, Martin’s naming system is so cute. 😉 Like Drogo, and Drogon the dragon….
Poor, poor Brienne. Listen to Pod, do something worthwhile with your time. Go to the Wall, join Jon in fighting the Others.
Really enjoying the season so far. Well, except for Cersei and King’s Landing. Time for her to die… But her Uncle is wonderful. Hard to believe he is Tywin’s brother.
Loved the episode! I’m both a book reader and show watcher and love both the scenes that are taken from the books and the ones where I’m not quite sure where they are going, plot-wise. It’s a great mix.
I’m especially loving the Wall scenes and the Brienne/Pod & Sansa/Littlefinger scenes. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy them as much as I have so far.
Very excited to see more of Dorne and Braavos throughout the season. Also, very glad they brought back Kevan Lannister – love the small council scene.
Season 5 is off to a great start!!
I’ve been saying it for years! …Thank You Lyanna Mormont! 🙂
“Here We Stand”
The North Remembers!
freoduwebbe,
Yep! Just read an interview with Gwendoline, in which she said that the script stated that Sansa gives Brienne a look like ‘get the fuck out of dodge!’ I love that Sansa is trying to help Brienne, although I’ll have to rewatch that scene to see if all that comes across…
Anyways, very happy with the episode.
– Arya saying the names for hours in the rain.
– Also killing the pigeon in the alley, just like in episide 1×09. And btw, everyone else thinks it is definitely Jaqen, right?
– Braavos looks AMAZING.
– all of Meereen. Grey Worm and Daario working together.
-Dany’s acting was great.
– The hissing was so strange and otherworldly but worked really well.
– Drogon CGI!
– Jaime getting emotional over Myrcella.
– Brienne & Sansa, of course.
– the head being brought to Cersei was horrifying, and exactly how I imagined it playing out whole reading it.
– I too was a big fan of the LC election.
– The letter from Lyanna, and Jon laughing at it.
Only negative really is Ellaria being so gung-ho about offing Myrcella.
This season has been stellar so far.
I made the mistake of watching this at 4 am, all tired ‘n stuff, instead of tomorrow morning when I can really focus. So, there are quite a few things I disliked tonight, but I can’t say until rewatching whether this was because the episode had problems or if it was because my brain was broken.
However, I do know that they butchered Jon’s election as Lord Commander.
Okay, Sam’s speech: hell yes that was brilliant. And Alliser and Jon and Janos and Aemon… I just love the dynamic on screen between these characters and the actors do it so well. Even after the deaths of Season 4 Episode 9, the Night’s Watch continues to captivate.
But as you say in this recap, the pacing was just off. In fact I think it was awful. I wanted it to go like how it goes in the book. As much as I loved Sam’s speech, it does the character a huge disservice to just flat out eliminate all that political legwork he does in ASOIAF. Not to mention the lack of Mormont’s raven (admittedly I didn’t piece together the significance of that on my first read, but now that I do understand it, seeing the show omit that too strikes me as a bit unambitious).
Don’t get me wrong, it must sound like I hated the episode – I didn’t! Brienne and Pod and Cersei and Kevan and Drogon! But… the next time we get a weak, meaningless scene between Missandei and Greyworm in season 5, I’ll feel sad knowing that the time could have been better spent at the Wall instead.
I’m open to all sorts of opinions. I like what you guys are saying; for me, the same applies to episode two as it did to episode one. What was pulled from the books was well written, what was written by D&D was mostly disappointing. This is what scares me about the changes. Some of the things happening, starting from last season to be honest (as much as I don’t mind changes, they have to make sense, otherwise they’re just stupid changes meant only for immediate impact drama and have story holes that ruin everything). Now D&D asked of us to wait and see the overall picture, then we’ll understand the changes, so I’m waiting for the overall picture. Hopefully no more plot holes thought (let the changes be, but don’t let the changes be massive piles of stupidity and lack of ASOIAF knowledge). I fear D&D were only into the books because of impact moments, it’s apparent from the way they talked “omg this scene, yes, yes, this scene will bring us lots of money and viewers”, but if all the little details are missing, those scenes become impact-less.
Being forced to wait is what I get for watching the leaked episodes, but I still re-watched the second one on TV. I enjoyed as much throughout my second viewing~
“The House of Black And White” (lyrics changed from “House of the Rising Sun” by The Animals)
There is a house in Braavos
Upon a rocky knoll of grey stone
And it’s been the home of many a god
With many faces, but no one
My mother was a high born lady
She slew a fool in grief
My father was a king’s right hand
I’m just a beggar and a thief
Now the only thing a girl needs
Is a needle and thread
And the only time she’s satisfied
Is when the death list is said
[Organ Solo]
Oh brothers tell your direwolves
Not to take on more than you can bite
Don’t lose your name or your face
In the House of Black and White
Well, I got one foot in the boat that brought me
The other foot on the steps
I’m goin’ on to Braavos
To swear service to no one.
There is a house in Braavos
Doors of ebony and weirwood
And it’s been the home of many a god
With many faces, but no one
Andrew,
What was interesting about the LC election scene is that it begins with Jon Snow telling Sam he’s going to refuse Stannis’ offer of leadership, no matter how tempting. By the end of the scene, Jon has found himself, with Sam’s help, a leader of different sorts.
There are remarks here that that scene was rushed but I think the scene nicely (and economically) managed to convey the strengths and weaknesses of Jon and Thorne without going into too much detail, as well as remind the audience of the divisions within the Night’s Watch.
James,
This version of LC election works better for TV unlike book version.That would tedious for audience imo,but I would loved that.I’ve always been fan of book version of LC election and Sam’s politics behind the scenes.Stannis’s offer was a bit rushed and Jon should’ve consider it a bit more since it’s something he always wanted.My unsullied friends complained about that.
Disagree about Missandei and Grey Worm.Again,this is TV and D&D wants to show people that Unsullied do have feelings and they could care about other person.It’s not like they’re just soldiers without feelings.Not to mention that romance traditionaly leads in GoT to one certain point and that is death.I fully expect tragic ending here.Romance,love is a huge part of it that sells especially in TV.My unsullied friends loved this and I’m sure that they’re not the only one thinking that.
Absolutely stunning episode – best in the series so far. Loved the changes, loved the book scenes. WOW.
Jon’s election was really dumb. It’s a tie that Aemon breaks, that’s stupid. Sam’s plots in the books are leaps and bounds better. Plus the use of Mormon’s raven. That’s how it should have been done. Really pissed off about this. D&D have really dumbed down this show. Also Jaqen is the Kindly Man. The point of Arya’s storyline at the house of black and white is that she has no friends there. Another dumb choice.
Phi,
It’s not the books. Using Jaqen’s face is a smart move by the tv show, as the audience has a connection to the actor. Mormont’s raven, and all the talking ravens from the books would be cheesy as hell on screen. Yes, Sam’s maneuvering in the books was better, but it would have also taken another long scene and 5 minutes of screen time. I felt the show’s version was an effective compromise, and worked in the confines of the show. If you are still caught up on comparing scenes to the books, you will hate this season.
Sue the Fury,
Me obsess?…Never! 🙂 But I’ll be looking for a connection with Valyria/Doom, certain Craster visitors, and Shireen’s early days. Even Gilly could be a passive vector. What did Mormont know? Is this a possible issue with the wildlings in general?
…ok, I’ll let it go…for now.
Well…on another note, at least Selmy finally gave Dany the “talk”.
Why? The election was a foregone conclusion. Anyone who has ever seen or read a piece of fiction before knew where Jon’s story was likely heading. The Unsullied I watch this show with have known Jon was eventually to become LC by the end of Season 1. I admit to feeling a bit of “yeah, yeah, we all know how this ends, get on with it!” during the election scene. It would have been absolutely excruciating to watch had they dragged that out any longer.
The nature of Greyscale, on the other hand, was new and interesting information, and the scene also served to establish Gilly’s uneasy position at the wall and how the new southern arrivals feel about her and the other wildlings. There’s a new set of tensions and conflicts at the Wall this season, and that scene helped to lay it all out for us. Also, it was just a really enjoyable scene on its own merits. I felt none of the impatience I felt during the election; on the contrary, I enjoyed watching those characters interact enough to have been a little sorry when the scene had to come to an end.
I ‘effin loved this episode.
Two favorite things in this episode – Jon’s laugh when he read the Mormont note (that boy never laughs!) and the nice talking to that Selmy gave Dany about the Mad King. Good episode!
It didn’t feel dumb or stupid to me. (I haven’t read the books, so don’t know if it was extra clever there). Aemon breaking the tie showed that though Jon was elected, he only got about 45% of the votes (the third guy getting about 10%). So it’s not at all a majority and many didn’t support him. As for Aemon voting for him, I thought it was a nice touch, Aemon being a Targaryen after all.
Phi,
I think you have a hard time separating the books from the show. Jaqen H’ghar replacing the kindly man was a wise choice as it gives the viewers a recognizable face to teach Arya. It also gives the viewers one less person to have to memorize in what is the largest cast in tv history
Very much agree. The book version was better but I enjoyed the show version. The scene was well structured with the time allotted to it
James,
They didn’t butcher anything, there is nothing great about it in the books, in fact it was quite drawn out and boring to read. No point in drawing it out like that in the show, it’s not like the book version would make for riveting TV. The show is better off handling it the way they did.
Corn?
I liked the election because it WASN’T politics. That actually always bothered me about the books. I know that GRRM was going for Night’s Watch society to mirror their own, but I think the economy of having a bunch of people already on John’s side once he was mentioned, and half with Alistair was actually more elegant and interesting than the books and sets up what happens later better. I love the books, but the TV show does many things better. Some worse, but this was not one of them. Really thought this was one of the better episodes of the series, and it looked like a big budget movie.
Geralt of Rivia,
It really grates when people go on about the Missandei & Grey Worm romance being a waste of time. I’m going to repeat a point made by others, but I think it’s worth repeating.
Actors want to get recognised for their work, in order to progress and move onto better things. They do not want to stand around doing nothing. The show would not be able to hold onto Jacob Anderson and Nathalie Emmanuel if all they did was stand there, because that is the job of extras. Nathalie has just been in Furious 7, and from what I have heard has got good reviews. Would she hang around on GoT if all they did was have her stand around? Hell no. And it is the same for Jacob. Actors are there to act.
Maybe they should have tried harder to keep some of the Dothraki, but they did so little anyway, that it probably wasn’t worth the actors’ time. They’re not going to make the same mistake again, and I think it is needed to flesh out the characters around Daenerys. Is it the greatest storyline in the world? No, but it gives them something to do, and gives us information about the characters’ personality/motivation. That is a job well done in my book.
Drogon saw and sniffed only “Half measures” in Dany’s eyes and skin. He’ll drop by again when she’s ready to go “Full measure”.
I really liked Kevan’s scene, though his reaction to Cersei seems very under-motivated compared to the books.
Sean C.,
It seemed far more motivated by pure sexism than it did in the books, to be sure. I wonder if that was intentional.
afartherroom,
Could be, though the show often has characters do the same thing they did in the book with less to explain it. Condensing the several sycophants Cersei appointed into one makes sense for the show (though ironically that one is Qyburn, the most competent of the bunch), but omitting Kevan’s knowledge about Cersei/Lancel and the incest seems like its just to save time. I think that could have been covered in a fairly brief scene with just Cersei and Kevan.
I’ve already made some points. Those are in addition to the following:
Positives
+Anton Lesser is great as Qyburn. He looks normal, but his mannerisms and speech capture the creepyness of the character, and his dark practises. I know he auditioned for the role of Maester Luwin, a role I think he would’ve been fine in, but he’s perfect as Qyburn. Nina Gold got that spot on, because Donald Sumpter was great as Luwin, but I don’t think he would’ve been quite so creepy as Qyburn as Lesser is.
+Dorne looks beautiful. Can’t comment on the scene as I was so enthralled by the surroundings.
+Bronn. More Bronn is a good thing. GRRM definitely sidelined a few great characters too soon, so it’s nice to see more of him, even if it does result in his death.
Negatives
-Cersei & Jaime conversation. I like the sound of Jaime in Dorne, but this scene struck me as being a little off. I also didn’t think Lena’s acting was at it’s usual high standard, but no matter.
-I also didn’t like Hannah Murray’s delivery in her scene, although the scene itself was fine.
Overall great episode, and the negatives were only really minor. A step up from the good premiere. I would give the episode 8.5/10.
I initially thought so, but the Meereen stuff really hit me hard; the dynamic, as it turned out, was way tenser than I imagined it would be. Sure, it’s a similar beat to the Karstark storyline, but this is worse in a way – someone who was willing to fight for their freedom, only to find the rules have changed the exact moment that they were given any power in the first place. And that Dany discovers that being right doesn’t make her impervious to opposition, and now she’s pissed off several factions of people in the city, making her position more concerning. And so the end with Drogon is somewhat dreamlike and wistful after the incredibly tense moment that preceded it.
Hodor’s Bastard,
Dany: “Drogon?…..”
Drogon: “First, let me just say that I’m not mad, I’m disappointed.”
Dany: “But…”
Drogon: “Stop being a dick, Mom!!!”
*flap flap flap*
Loved the episode. No surprises there. I would place it about on par with the premiere (which I also loved). Maybe a hair above. This season has set a lot of plots in motion already, and I expect they’re all going to pay off handsomely.
I already posted something similar in the open chat thread, but it’s relevant here as well: I’m glad that the LC election was set up and dispensed with efficiently. Watching Sam Tarly whip votes from featured extras in backrooms was not how I wanted to see the show to spend its precious time. I’m happy they devoted that time instead to scenes like the one where Shireen teaches Gilly to read and talks to her about Greyscale. I thought that sequence was wonderful – and funny to boot! (“I know ‘S’.“). That scene is also setting up the Stone Men, who will become highly relevant later.
The drama (such as it is) of the Lord Commander election as it is represented on the page was never going to translate effectively to the screen. Furthermore, the adaptive choices that the show has enacted prior to this season had rendered such political maneuverings far less relevant than they might otherwise have been. Other than Jon, Alliser Thorne was the only relevant candidate who we had spent any time with prior to this episode. Based on the current climate at the Wall, he was clearly going to win the election, as Davos states earlier in the episode. (Poor Denys Mallister. He got like five votes). So, rather than engaging in backroom politics, Sam stands up and gives a touching speech for Jon that swings the tide in favor, and Aemon casts the deciding vote. I thought that it was an effective and efficient way to represent this particular plot point. It worked for me completely. I would have liked Stannis’s offer to Jon to have slightly longer to breathe, but that’s really my only quibble with the entire sequence. Ultimately Jon refuses the offer, so any time he spent dwelling on it in the interim doesn’t amount to much.
Elsewhere, credit to Reece Noi and his performance as Mossador. He was excellent, particularly during his speech about his father and the plight of the former slaves in Meereen. His devastation when Dany ordered his execution was heart-wrenching.
The hissing sound that the former slaves directed at Dany after she executed Mossador was legitimately terrifying. She has already lost her dragons, and now her human children are turning against her. At the moment, the show is drawing a very effective parallel between her position and Robb Stark’s status post-Karstark execution. Dany is striving to be honorable. She wants to be just. And if she continues on her current course, she’s doomed. Luckily, she will have other recourses – if she’s willing to take advantage of them.
Finally, cheers to the official return of Tom Wlaschiha to Game of Thrones. Looking forward to the role he’ll play as a regular cast member this season.
Well, how does anyone get greyscale without going to Essos? How do the wildlings know about it? Must be more than just touching other people. Or maybe Craster traded someone with something that was infected.
Whenever I think there is no way I can find new ways to love this show, another episode like this one comes along and proves me wrong!
Excellent, to get to see all the plot points, some new and some expected! Some really fine performances tonight by all actors involved! And seeing someone I have wanted soo badly on this show for a long time, Alexander Siddig, finally utter his first lines…he killed me with “Luckily the entire country does not get to decide!” (I’m paraphrasing here)…that is something that Doran Martell, the clever yet tired scion of House Martell would definitely say!
I liked how the election of the 998th Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch aka Jon Snow, was handled, inspite of some people here getting their panties in a bunch over some perceived weakness or the pacing being off or other some such nonsense and bullshit…
The election of Jon Snow was about the same in the novels. It is not a joyous ocassion, you can even see Jon closing his eyes as Sam starts to speak, because he understands the position he will be put in if he wins…which he does! Jon’s only momentary relief is that this win, gives him a valid excuse to refuse Stannis’s offer…
At once he goes from being ridiculed and disliked to being outright hated and despised by some of his own Night’s Watch brethren, chiefly amongst them Ser Alliser! The moment he gets up from that table as Lord Comander, Jon knows that he has earned the implacable and deadly enmity of many of those who were sitting in that hall. He is not unanimously acclaimed or liked, outside the group of those who support and look up to him, as Ser Davos reminded him in last week’s episode!
Honestly, I have started to limit my visits to this site, as long as the season is on the air, because many of these criticisms, write-ups and recaps reek too much of nitpicking, bitching and moaning.
Life is busy and hard enough to let stuff like this sour one of the few things I do enjoy amongst the mundane and dearthly routine of everyday life…
Jeb,
At the risk of starting a big fight, some of the hate smacks of racism to me. Like some can’t stand the idea of black characters getting their own feelings and motivations rather than just existing as props to the white main character.
WeirwoodTreeHugger,
If I may, I think some of it is a particular reaction by people who are not pleased over departures from the printed word.
Some of these departures start out small, but then blossom over time into larger and larger incursions, the whole Butterfly Effect thing.
I’m not defending this point of view, but as a for-instance, Missandei in the books is a 10 year old girl. A slave child with multiple brothers in the Unsullied. Such a character in the show could have all kinds of plot lines to further define her character, that would not involve nudity, awkward conversations, etc. She could search for her brothers, one of them could be killed by a Son of the Harpy, etc. The decision to age her character up to…whatever age she’s supposed to be…definitely not 10…was one that is of course practical for tv and all, but now it’s having consequences.
So, if one is inclined to be annoyed by such things, that one change has now rippled out into her having a romance, the most cliched of all “extra plots”, with a character who literally has no balls. All at the behest of people not named GRRM.
In conclusion, I’m not doubting that you truly might believe there is an element of racism involved, I simply think you are waaaaay underestimating the volume of sheer purism and FAN-aticism in play.
They could have started this episode of a flashback with young Robb and Jon swordfighting in Winterfell when Robb tells Jon he cant ever be Lord of Winterfell since hes bastard born.
Good episode. They are cutting out filler and geting on with it.
Brilliant episode, really appreciate how seamlessly everything is flowing. It was a thrill to be unsulllied for a good portion of the episode. I thought Jon’s election was handled fine, even for an unsullied it was kind of inevitable that he’d end up commander, why prolong that result when they’ve got so much more to explore as the season progresses. It’s a show, plots will be streamlined, people should know this by now.
Watched the ep with my family, and everyone enjoyed it, people in the office are also raving about it.
I didn’t mind the LC vote scene; in fact, I really liked it. It was kind of understated and I loved how it felt semi-anticlimactic. It’s a real strength of the show, for me, that they can play the scene out with no cheese attached, and that style particularly suits the wall scenes.
Conversely, I already don’t particularly like Dorne. There was something about the scene that felt like it was from another show. Maybe it’s the fake-Spanish accents – it jars me a little to see two characters talking in English but with accents that clearly aren’t from English and automatically thinks of lesser shows and films. It felt okay when Indira and Pedro were speaking like this in Kings Landing, but in their home country, speaking to each other like this? Makes no sense. Either make another new language for them or just have them speaking with a variant of an English accent (IMO).
Maybe I’m being harsh and judging too easy, but I have a feeling Hotah can’t act (after just one line I know!) – it looked like he was doing his go-to mean face.
Even more worried now about the Sand Snakes being pantomimic, based on the promos and now this!
Otherwise, a good episode. Just worried about Dorne.
When I heard talk (from Sue the Fury, I think) that a big moment from The Wall came over as rushed, I was fearful that it might refer to my favourite moment in ADWD, namely
. I’m quite relieved that it referred to the election, which I actually rather enjoyed – Sam’s stump speech in particular. Now I think about it though, it probably would have been better if a) there had been a bit more politicking to raise the stakes beforehand – some menacing arm-twisting from the Alliser Thorne camp, for instance, and b) it had been the climax of the episode.
Some pathetic negative comments here. It’s clear that some people made up their minds that they were going to hate this series as soon as they read the line “will diverge from the books”, without even pausing to consider the very different demands of books and television. Sansa heading out and Ellaria playing Arianne are making use of established, popular characters to hit GRRM’s plot milestones while avoiding ballooning the cast even further and leaving popular characters (and well-paid actors) with little to do. While the LC election did lose some of its tension from the books by being played out in one scene, it was a sensible and practical adaptation choice for the show, and I thought the actual scene in itself was very good. Of course the show’s not perfect and of course we all have our favourite individual scenes and characters from the books and will be disappointed that they can’t all be adapted (Wyman Manderly and the hill clans, and the strength of Northern loyalty that they represent, for me). It’s not remotely realistic to produce an expensive, live-action adaptation that remains 100% faithful to the books, and any fantasy/ASOIAF fan who can’t take a step back from their disappointment at that fact and recognise that GoT is the absolute pinnacle any of us can likely hope to see in terms of the live-action adaptation of a lengthy, deep fantasy series – in both quality and budget – is wilfully missing out on the enjoyment of a truly fantastic series.
I quite liked the episode. The North and Meereen were undoubtedly its highlights for me.
+ The Wall. Although I agree the election felt rushed, it still gave me the chills and I cheered internally when Sam went all sassy and told Slynt his due. Loved Shireen and I vote Selyse for Westeros’ worst mother (not exactly worst parent, but she even beats Lysa in my opinion). Too bad the show runners seem to have forgotten about Jon’s knowledge of Bran’s survival.
+ Meereen. The plot was very nicely drawn, Mossador was a great guest character. I think Emilia’s acting has been much better this season. I do wonder what they plan on doing with Hizdahr, tho. So far he’s been a real hero – proud, fair, likable. I wonder if his development will go the same way it goes in the books … And I loved Barristan’s history lecture! Really great arc, all in all, especially with Dany’s solitude and Drogon’s cameo at the end.
+/- King’s Landing. Like many before me, I totally digged Kevan, tho I kinda found his dismissal of Cersei … a bit sexist. “You’re only the Queen mother now, so why should anyone listen to you?” Kinda left wanting there. And I agree with Sue, Qyburn is one creepy dude.
I also didn’t like Jaime’s progress from “Everyone wants us destroyed” last episode to “Ok, I’ll just run off to Dorne and leave the King because YOLO.”
Loved the Stokeworth scenes, Lollys was just too adorable (and the castle awesome!).
+/- Braavos left me a bit meh.
+/- Brienne just repeating the same mistake all over again was painful to watch. Loved the “You can stand up now,” part, tho 😀
+/– Dorne. I really like Alexander Siddig as Doran and the location was deliciously beautiful, but two things left me disappointed. All the little snippets of Trystane and Myrcella lovey-doveying around the garden, with only the words “My queen” standing out … kinda cheesy and not in the you’d-expect-teens-to-act-that-way cheesy way. It just seemed like a very obvious screenwriting tool. And, lastly, Ellaria. I Absolutely hated the scene with her. I am already tired of listening to her anger and bloodlust. She was right there, ffs, when Oberyn CHOSE to fight The Mountain. It makes zero sense for her to call for the revenge. And her desire to torture Myrcella? That is not the woman that Oberyn that we love would fall in love with. After all, his motives for coming to KL were revenge for the cruelty against the helpless (Elia and the kids). I hope they won’t justify her actions with the need for a “strong female character” – she doesn’t come off as strong, she comes off as angsty and childish. She’s not much more than a bully.
Eos:
And, lastly, Ellaria. I Absolutely hated the scene with her. I am already tired of listening to her anger and bloodlust. She was right there, ffs, when Oberyn CHOSE to fight The Mountain. It makes zero sense for her to call for the revenge. And her desire to torture Myrcella? That is not the woman that Oberyn that we love would fall in love with. After all, his motives for coming to KL were revenge for the cruelty against the helpless (Elia and the kids).
Why wouldn’t Oberyn fall in love with such a woman? Don’t forget that anger is often one of the stages of grief, even totally unreasonable anger, and Ellaria is grieving for Oberyn. Yes, she knows he volunteered as Tyrion’s champion, but that doesn’t stop her being angry at his death, and deep down her anger is undoubtedly also against Oberyn himself for doing what he did. I don’t have a problem with Show Ellaria wanting to rage and take revenge against the only Lannister she can reach at present, even if that person is only a young girl. The showrunners are combining characters for the show needs, and this Ellaria does make perfect sense. After all, if Oberyn wanted revenge for Elia and the kids, why shouldn’t a grieving Ellaria want revenge for Oberyn?
Agreed, but what I take from this is that it’s the setup that’s the hardest part. This episode was generally better than last week’s because last week’s episode took care of the grunt work – but Braavos, of course, was an exception to that (not counting the scenes of Arya’s arrival, which were gorgeous).
solid episode that grew on me as it progressed. The first few scenes featured a few changes from the books, i didnt think that they were particularly suprising or questionable ones, but I still didnt think these scenes were anything special.
Was psyched to see Doran turn up, and what we saw was promising, but brief, so wouldnt pass judgement on him yet, tbh what worries me about Dorne is more how they portray the Sand Snakes than Doran. Ellaria is a bit more eager for vengeance than in the books, but that change is understandable.
Good to see Kevan as well, and so far he is playing a similar role to the one he plays in the books (though the book reader in me thinks master of war isnt a thing)
The wall was a mixed bag, the stuff it showed was good, but it felt a bit rushed and unimportant. In my opinion they should have taken another episode over this one, to let the audience get drawn in while Jon struggles with himself to make a decision about Stannis’ offer, rather than just dismissing it immediately. Would have also given another episode for a bit more fleshing out of the election, and at least partially include Samwell’s interaction with the the other candidates to prevent Thorne getting in. I know they may not have a spare episode at the speed they will be going with Jon’s storyline this season, but that makes me question why they spent so most of last season building up to the battle for ages just to have the big ‘episode 9’ instead of having it happen a bit earlier and giving more time to some other good plotlines like this one, which had at least a couple of episodes in it. Still good to see Stannis getting a slightly more positive portrayal than in previous seasons.
I agree that the best bit of the episode was probably with Danaerys, this season only a couple of episodes old, but seems like they are really capturing the complexities of the problems that she faces, and that there no easy answers for her.
That was way more exciting than ep1!
I have to register my amazement that the Meereen scenes were my highlight, that’s not been the case for a long while. Dany with her impossible choice, making a very Stark decision. I did not expect the hissing from the crowd and found it terrifying.
Actually the Wall stuff is probably tied with Meereen. I agree that a bit more time before hearing Jon’s decision on Stannis’ offer would have been good, maybe inserting a scene elsewhere in between it and the election? But all the Jon/Stannis interaction radiates brilliance so far. I’ve been on the fence about whether I like Kit Harington’s acting for a long while but he can hold his own in dialogues with guys like Dillane and Cunningham. I’m impressed.
The election worked fine for me, I was kind of thrown by Sam coming over all bolshie and dissing Slynt (I cheered of course), he’s grown in confidence but that seemed like a bit of a leap. Aemon showing everyone who he likes for Commander was great.
Random cool moment: I loved the little nod of acknowledgement/approval Jon gets from Mallister upon winning, very gracious. I totally missed Olly’s moment of doubt though. Great excuse to rewatch.
Can’t wait to see more Dorne and more Braavos, I immediately liked the Dornish musical theme, individual but bearing the show’s musical signature, Djawadi is such a boss. As are the set designers.
The part that made this episode for me was Jons reaction to being called a Stark. If the R+L=J revelation is revealed I want Jon to say fuck Rhaegar and the iron throne eheh.
Anyone else feel a little let down by the Tyrion/Varys carriage scene? I get why Tyrion is like that, but it ended up feeling a little too ‘pity party’. There were some good, worthwhile lines, but a lot of it was just reiteration. I would have much preferred something like this instead of, or as well as, the scene we got, if only to answer some questions:
TYRION: It’s been a long time since I played this game. My uncle Kevan taught me when I was a boy. (He takes a sip of wine) Let’s make it interesting, shall we? Whoever wins gets to ask the other a question.
VARYS: You would not have made such a proposal if you weren’t about to play a winning move, my lord. (Tyrion triumphantly moves a black dragon piece across the board.)
TYRION: Given where we are headed, I would have thought you’d know the dragon is the most important piece on the board.
VARYS: Even a dragon can be forced to retreat, if surrounded by enough soldiers. (He moves a piece in response, dampening Tyrion’s victory.) Ask your question anyway. I have no reason to keep secrets from you now.
TYRION: How exactly did you manage for all those years, protecting the Targaryens without the crown finding out?
VARYS: I was the Master of Whisperers. It was my job to keep an eye on them.
TYRION: Didn’t you try to poison the girl at some point? (He moves a piece)
VARYS: Sometimes the best way to protect someone is to pretend to be their enemy. Once I told King Robert I had prepared a cask of poisoned wine especially for Daenerys Targaryen and her unborn child, he no longer felt the need to send an army after her. When I sent the cask to the wine merchant, he had no reason to doubt that it was poisoned.
TYRION: But it wasn’t.
VARYS: No. But the right people believed that it was. And that was enough. (He moves a piece, winning the game) In this game, what others believe about you is far more important than the truth.
I’m a bit mixed about this episode. I’ve accepted that the show is going to be different from the books so I’m looking at it as an adaptation which is making broad changes to some of the storylines in the show. The Adventures of Brienne & Podrick is leaving me a bit ‘meh’ at its cheesiness, but I am pleasantly surprised by Cersei so far this season. One of the things that has bothered me about the character in past seasons is how one-note she has been, but this season she has piqued my interest despite the fact that she is possibly the most sedentary character I’ve ever known who still manages to be interesting. I mean, she never goes anywhere or does anything active! The Bronn/Jaime thing was handled well, although it is an extreme deviation from the books. However, it makes sense and I am looking forward to seeing where that story goes. As for Dorne, man, Alexander Siddig is great! I think Indira Varma (Ellaria) is taking the place of Arianne, so while her character is totally different from the pacifist woman in the book who agrees with Prince Doran, this TV one fills in for the missing book Arianne (Doran’s daughter) quite nicely. Arya’s and Jon’s storylines do seem to be following the books and that’s great because they are two of the most compelling. So is Tyrion’s in some regard. Peter Dinklage and Conleth Hill are amazing actors. They could be reading the phone book and make it sound interesting. I’m enjoying their road trip. The show has made it quite obvious that Dany needs a really good advisor and I think Tyrion is going to fill that role quite nicely, maybe Varys too. (Will he replace the Shavepate?) Up at the Wall things are going quite nicely for a change, although I have a feeling this is only temporary. Great scene with Shireen teaching Gilly how to read. I got all choked up when Stannis offered to make Jon ‘Jon Stark Lord of Winterfell’. This was a real crossroads for Jon, and one wonders where things might have gone if he’d taken Stannis up on it. Lyanna Mormont of Bear Island! A wonderful reference! Jon Bradley is killing it as Sam. He’s wonderful. Too bad most fans don’t seem to appreciate him that much. I’ve always thought he’d be integral to the story as the most normal man in the whole thing, at least in his attitude to everything around him. I’d love to have someone like Sam in my life. He always knows what to do! One of my fellow show-watchers said last night that the first two episodes were boring because there was very little action. He really loved Ep. 9 of last season. I told him, “Just you wait.”
Schrödinger’s Cat,
JennyofOldstones,
I like it when book readers are balanced, and don’t just write everything off that deviates from the source material. Is every adaptation of Pride & Prejudice the same, or the same as the novel? No, but that doesn’t mean that they’re not all enjoyable on their own way, with different things to look forward to. This is how I see GoT.
Schrödinger’s Cat,
Tyrion is a master a playing Cyvasse, how am I supposed to believe he doesn’t know what to do with the dragon piece. Get out of here.
Arya/Bravoos and Dorne/Martells and Jamie are boring and filler
I agree. While the material that made it in was great and incredibly well-acted, there wasn’t enough to articulate why Stannis’ offer was so unsettling for Jon. What would have been useful was a line of something to the effect of “and Winterfell is not his to give” to follow Jon’s point about being a man of his word.
Annie Wilkes,
Well that was constructive.
Like many equally tedious posts written by tedious people who leave a dismissive one-liner or rant like they’d take a shit, for the sole purpose of stirring and trying to get a rise. Please don’t even think of calling it “debate”.
All the comments sections would be 20% shorter and 100% more readable without this baiting nonsense.
Yeah I know, I replied. Woo-hoo, highlight of your day.
Great episode, deeply thematic over the nature of power and rife with easter eggs IMO
I like how they set up the Dany crime and execution to be almost exactly like the Robb/Lord Karstark one right down to the guy killing a prisoner in place of the Lannister hostage (now Tommen lol) being killed, delves into the differences of how the Starks and Targaryens came to – and related to – power
To be fair I think the direct jump from Alys Karstark letter to the election scene is highly thematic
Possibly even an easter egg
Eg it is bringing into focus Jon legitimate relationship with the Stark name which Alys Mormont supports, and then it is no coincidence Aemon Targaryen ends up supporting him
So Jon Snow is being associated with authority of the Stark and Targaryen kinds which me smells of R+L=J
Obviously this theme runs through the dialogue of of the election, eg Alys Mormont supports the Stark, Jon obviously learned leadership through observing Ned although unofficially.
Sam points out Old Bear Lord Commander Mormont supported Jon as a Stark back from season 1 making him apprentice and protege of sorts which carries some official authority, and then of course Aemon Targaryen supported him as a mentor in season 1 and then gets him over the line in this episode to where he rises to a position of full authority
Long story short I reckon Jon Snow will become Jon Stark-Targaryen with dual Direwolf-Dragon arms in books and show ala Joffrey combining Baratheon with Lannister
I also liked the fact they had Aemon fill the Mormonts Raven role, which many including myself strongly suspect is warged by Bloodraven, who also has Targaryen blood
The strong Mormont flavour in all this has got me thinking the Mormonts will play a major role in Jons ascent to King, this is a little distinct from the Manderly’s support of Rickon as liege Lord under Stannis
Watch this space for Maege Mormont turning up with Howland Reed and a certain will…
[/quote]
I thought it was highly ironic that right after reading out the Alys Mormont letter Stannis goes on about having the need for people to “fear you”, lol
Minty,
Agree. It is simply a matter of Show Ellaria being different from Book Ellaria. As much as I liked the book version, I believe that the show version makes sense (and probably necessary in the confines of the story telling). Expressions of grief are not always logical or consistent. Ellaria, like Oberyn, was a passionate person. It doesn’t strike me as odd that she would be demanding revenge. I loved Doran’s response to her and look forward to seeing what Sidding brings to the role. In one brief scene, he strikes me as being much more imposing than his book counterpart.
I am very interested in how Brienne’s story goes forward. Being rejected by Arya and Sansa will certainly carry implications for her commitment to duty and honor.
Ghost’s Lunch,
Lyanna Mormont’s letter not Alys Karstark/Mormont.
I thought that they will cut it out,but since it’s “Lyanna” Mormont,they have to include this from D&D point of view(Rhaegar and Lyanna).Maybe an easter egg to unsullied.Lyanna Mormont was in fact named to honor Lyanna Stark(given the strong connections between House Stark and Mormont).Edric(Ned) Dayne is another interesting figure,but he’s not in the show.Maybe next season,but that’s just like my wishful thinking.
I am particuraly interested in meeting between Jon and Jorah.Jon was like a son to Jeor Mormont and Jeor Mormont was his father figure just like Mance was or currently is Stannis.Someone he can learn from.I believe that Dany will eventually pardon Jorah,but she will never trust him like before.With Mormonts.Well, in the books they will play major role(Robb’s will,GNC),but not so sure about show version.
Greatjon of Slumber,
Or at the very least she should’ve told Sansa that Arya is alive, but that might make Sansa not trust her since Arya wasn’t with her
“A wildling girl, a baby…. And Lord Slynt. I found him there standing in a puddle of his own making.”
Sam had me howling in that scene, definite front-runner for comedic moment / line of the year. Great episode!
Brienne saw Arya and she escaped. That would either be seen seen as another failure or a complete lie from Littlefinger and Sansa’s perspective. Also, I don’t see how Brienne telling the story of how she killed the Hound would win Sansa over…
Seems like an overwhelmingly positive episode from the posters on here.
Ghost’s Lunch,
If you liked that R+L=J easter egg, there is another even better one to come in episode 4…. 😉
TheMannisthatRides,
Gilly’s sisters background is probably about taking the place of Tyrion on the Sorrows learning about the Greyscale disease
Instead we learn about it from Gilly
Seems there’s more to come regarding Shireens dormant Greyscale
Geralt of Rivia,
lol, thanks, getting my names mixed up
There is an interesting combination, the Mormonts seem to be closely attached to both Jon and Dany
Or at least to both the arcs of the Starks and Targaryens
I’ve half noticed it but haven’t given it too much thought
And then he bumps into Tyrion at the whorehouse while with a girl who looks like Dany
Not sure if this is unofficial Tyrion is a secret Targ, I personally hope he is full Lannister, but there could be a larger reference to Gerion Lannister (Uncle?) or the other Lannister who went missing, and I reckon Brightroar may be decisive
Heard a great theory recently the Lord of the Sorrows could be Gerion Lannister
Morna the Witch,
Looking forward to it
I’m not watching the leaked episodes
Minty,
Surely Oberyn would fall for a hot-headed woman, but what I pointed out was I think he would be quite opposed to her desire to take it out on Myrcella. Yes, he came to KL for revenge, but he wouldn’t take it out on the innocent. It was just that – the violence against the innocents – that pissed him off in the first place! And sure, he was mostly angry with the Lannisters/The Mountain because the person killed was his sister, but in after all he said and did I really think he would feel really strongly against her views. And as far as her anger and desire for revenge is concerned – it doesn’t work for me. At least not as much as it worked in the books as far as the Snakes were concerned. They were in Dorne at the time of his death and quite possibly not as privy to his thoughts and motivations as Ellaria was. They were young and wild. But her – a mature, if passionate woman – wanting to go to war for her dead lover who chose to volunteer and knew what he was up against and knew what the possible outcome was – I just find that lacking. And while, sure, people can be unpredictable when grieving – but when screenwriters decide to make someone act that way I just find it hard to take the character’s motivation and story seriously or with interest.
Avid maybe, but not one with great attention to detail…
Winnie,
My theory is that the northern Lords will back Jon but the Riverlanders will back Sansa
If there was some alternative that Cersei kicks Mace out straight away in a funny way. This would make sense given the way she was eyeing him off in E1 and she is suspicious of the Tyrells, so she wants to get rid of them all
As for the LC election, while it was a shame we didn’t have the deep politics between Cotter Pyke and Mallister and Sam scheming, given the series themes they are tying this and Dany’s Mereen decisions into I can understand
Special mention to Ser Kevan Small Council scenes
Plus I loved Daario in this episode, not just the knife through the Wall but the sarcastic reply to Hizdahr just before the execution
GILLY IS ON FIRE.
OSTRICH STARK (Osric Stark)!!!
Ostriches beyond the Wall confirmed bless you Gilly.
JamesL,
I don’t know, “butchered” might have been the sleep deprived, broken brain’s doing. But I don’t see why they didn’t pace it better. I always thought that Jon Snow becoming LC was a huge moment.
Tell them a few more times and it becomes true. Try clicking your heels together three times as well, that may also help. Don’t forget to clap for Tinkerbell!
Tyrion knows. The show-watching audience doesn’t. Minor compromises have to be made with characters in order to get things across in the writing. Besides, the point is more that he’s underestimating Varys, not that he doesn’t know what he’s doing.
I have to say I really like Shireen, Kerry Ingram does a wonderful job. Everytime she appears in an episode I want to praise her in the comment section here haha. If something happens to Shireen I’ll be livid.
Liked the election scene, don’t think there was anything wrong with it. Sam was the highlight there.
Tyrion/Varys scenes are boring me to tears, I love Varys but the dialogue in this episode was literally the same as Ep. 1. My complete 180 (from liking to disliking) on Tyrion after killing Tywin in the books is running parallel with the show.
Schrödinger’s Cat,
Indeed. I would have loved to see them play a bit of Cyvasse and further the exposition regarding post-rebellion tactics. Their conversation did feel like a forced extension from the previous episode. But there is plenty of time for more rationale and exposition (I still think Varys is playing Tyrion and playing cyvasse would have been a great metaphor for his game)….and they are headed to Volantis! Yeah! Plenty of intrigue there.
Furthermore, the segue from Tyrion’s last statement for the scene to the “headless Tyrion” Cersei scene was priceless and an excellent book adaptation.
It’s funny, I actually thought the Lord Commander scene was great and didn’t feel rushed to me. The only scene that felt off was Barristan telling Dany about her father. It felt very rushed, to me. It seemed like she would take it harder, finding out that everything she thought about her father was the opposite of true and he was actually a terrible person. And I kind of wanted them to sit down or something, have some pregnant pauses. Instead it’s like “hang on a minute, let me drop this huge info on you real quick, ” and “oh, ok, I guess we’ll have a trial then.” No issues with the acting, it just felt like the director could have let them take about 20-30 more seconds to let this massive shoe drop.
But otherwise I am over the moon about this episode, LOVED IT. And I like how we are getting the part in Cercei’s arc where, yeah, she’s terrible, but the people opposing her are also kind of patriarchal a-holes, too, so I’m always a twinge unsure who to root for. Qyburn getting his creep on. Tyrion and Varys. Shireen and Gilly. Brienne and Pod. Every single character pairing is pure gold.
Luka Nieto,
I’m having a hard time believing this, too, given Mace’s significant presence in the next two episodes. But whatever.
As for the episode itself, I’m surprised so many think the election scene was rushed. It’s a fairly long scene, and it happens to just not be placed at the end of the episode.
Another interesting thing is the notion that Kevan is supposedly now a sexist. Why? Because he said “Queen Mother, nothing more”? Isn’t that just basically a way of saying she has no official position on the council? She is not a ruler, or the Hand, just the mother of ther King. That’s what he says.
Btw, he’s actually a sexist in the books, where he says: “I’m going to bring my brother home, WOMAN.” That has removed here (likely intentionally).
Yes! A lot of people miss this in the books because they hate Cersei so much they just go WOOO KEVAN WOOOOOO.
But I LOATHE Kevan for this shit. It’s not hard to be a better person than Cersei but that doesn’t mean you still aren’t a stupid sexist dickbag.
BTW it seems like Kevan is Lord of CR now? I guess D&D thought it was too complicated to have Cersei be both Lady of CR & Queen Regent?
Queenofthrones,
As for Kevan being sexist, read my post above yours. As for your CR issue: It is not mentioned who is the Lord of CR. That’s because it is completely unnecessary to focus on who rules a castle we have never seen or will see this season. Nor is it important for the politics in KL.
I didn’t think of Kevan’s comment as sexist, more along the lines of ‘you aren’t as powerful as you think you are’.
Really liked this episode. I enjoyed the greyscale scene, just confirms for me that
is going to get it after Tyrion saves him somehow from the Stonemen. Also confirms for me that Griff and YG are 100% out. They’ll give
Along with what he will do in the upcoming books.
I loved the Kevan scene. Cersei’s downfall is gonna be great this season.
I’m curious who they will have as the Harpy in the show. I think Hizdhar is too obvious of a choice. I’m curious if they add a new former slave to her Small Council and they make that character into the Harpy. It would be a stretch to have a Slave turn on Dany before she pissed them all off tonight but I think it would be a nice twist if they did it right and turned a former slave into the Harpy that wants to move up in Meereen.
So how do people feel about the fact that even though Oberyn was against hurting little girls, just like Doran and hopefully everyone else in Dorne, apparently D&D have made Ellaria all for it.
What a great episode! My dear Jaqen is back and Braavos looks amazing! Unfortunately Arya’s storyline felt pretty rushed to me, especially considering that the episode is titled House of Black and White. I get where they were going with the whole Arya doesn’t get into the temple immediately thing, but to me in order for it to work, the story would’ve needed more time than the 4 minutes it got. But, I can’t be too critical because Jaqen is back! 😀 By the way, IMO he is definitely the Faceless Man from s2, there’s nothing in this episode that would indicate that he’s a different guy. Also, the way Tom talks about the character in the interviews that surfaced today makes me believe he’s playing the same person as before.
The Wall scenes were again the best written ones (loved the Mormont letter!), and I actually liked the LC election scene better than the book version. Meereen was really good as well, surprisingly. Doran and Kevan are fabulous!
Late response to my first cell phone post from last night:
I also love how the Kindly Man was adapted. I’m sure this will essentially echo what others have said, but it was wise to start out with an unfamiliar face and then “put on” Jaqen’s face solely to illustrate to Arya the concept of no-one, in a way that would perhaps challenge her feelings or connection she had with the character previously know to her as Jaqen. Calling yourself “no one” is a much more shocking and realized concept when that “no one” has a face you recognize as “someone.”
Other than that, every scene was great. I particularly liked our first glimpse of Dorne, Bronn and Lollys, how Pod’s infatuation with the server was the *cause* of him noticing Sansa and Petyr, Drogon, the cut to the dwarf head, and of course, that brilliant small council scene. The KL arc is really going to shine this year.
My wife is unsullied and her reaction to Jon Snow being legitimized was, “HOLY SHIT! STARK STARK STARK!!!!” So it did feel a bit worthless when he says right after that he won’t accept it because of his vows to the Watch.
Other than that, I enjoyed the ep. all the way around and I am curious to see what happens with Brienne and Pod from this point.
I have to admit that I enjoyed Doran’s intro more than I thought I would. Siddig owned the look of calm outward demeanor with venomous fury beneath. I never realized, and I could be totally wrong, but I think he uses the calming effect of the water gardens to keep his cool because he does have the fiery temper of all Dornishmen whether he displays it like Ellaria and Oberyn or not.
The politics buff in me feels there should have been a second-round run-off election between Jon and Alliser, with Mallister excluded. Maybe it wouldn’t have made for such good television though.
You are the queen mother nothing more is pretty blatantly sexist, yeah. it’s not surprising considering it’s Westeros, but it’s still infuriating.
Jesus chill out, I’m just making an observation, not a critique of the show. I think it is indeed relevant to Cersei’s character whether or not she has Lady of CR to “fall back on”). In some ways it’s a more interesting choice because it makes her (even more) isolated – since in this case if she’s not the Regent, she is basically nothing. I’m not a book-wanker – sometimes it is actually worthwhile to point out changes that may impact character.
For me it went more like this:
Drogon: Uh, mom? I’m home.
Danys: *in dreamy voice* Mister Drogon, where you been? (Green Mile) *reaches out hand*
Drogon: Not so fast there “Mommie Dearest”. Gotta make sure you have no wire hangers. *takes off*
My mind works in strange ways.
Quick addition to what has been written. I am very excited for the canon and now D & D additions. I love GRRM and isn’t that how we all came to be here in this place? But he could go on and on, pointless narrative from time to time. D & D make better work of it. All of us who read the books (and I hope that is all there is on this thread) KNEW that JS would be offered what he was and KNEW he would be tagged LC. The best part was Sam’s speech. But other than that, it came off great.
For those who say that Braavos was ho hum. Really? I loved the part where Arya was getting rowed to HoBaW, she smiled watching the wharf and people at industry about it, like normal. She has been needing normal for a long time. I also approve of Jaqen showing up now. Besides, he ain’t too bad to look at.
I am anxious to see more Varys/Tyrion. It was just a teaser this week. But Tyrion is acting JUST like book Tyrion. Moody, sullen and drunk. Oh wait…. 😉 I am all for moving Tyrion into a place of advisor to Danys. I think they are going to Volantis to “pick up” Jorah.
Meereen was the best acted this episode. Perfect all the way around. I think that Drogon isn’t too far away and Danys concession for executing Mossador will be to open the fighting pits and then WHOOSH….off she will go. This plot line still has far to go and so far, very promising.
MORE DORNE!! I didn’t get to see enough there.
Brienne/Pod/Sansa/Littlefinger…..not enough substance but to make ya scratch your head. I hope that gets more meat in episodes to come.
I am highly encouraged by the first two episodes….and indeed,
BROTHERS without LEAKAGE forever.
Spacechampion
Your satire of House of the Rising Sun was great!!!
I just wanted to acknowledge you for the effort. *bows*
Thank you ser… ma’am… ser?
I did an update of the lyrics. I would love to see a talented fan singer do a rendition of this and put it to music and do a video. Anyone out there wishing to do so, please do!
Apparently I was the only one who didn’t like the Brienne/Sansa scene. I felt the characters acted odd as a way to force conflict and get to that admittedly fun fight scene between Brienne and Littlefinger’s solders. I mean, I know Brienne is somewhat naive in some things, but loudly proclaiming in a crowded inn ‘Hey Sansa Stark!’ seems like a pretty foolish move, even for her. Sansa still is probably the 2nd most wanted person in Westros, right? Maybe third after the Hound. Brienne couldn’t have come up and said something more along the lines of ‘I know who you are’ and then run into her promise to Catelyn? And I get why Sansa would want no part of Brienne, but it seems like Brienne is exactly the right amount of naive for Littlefinger to find a use for. Or at the very least, pretend to and then knife her when she sleeps or something, not give away the game right away by refusing her outright. Hopefully he shows the right amount of concern later that an unknown element who’s foolish enough to loudly proclaim who Sansa is, is still out there after his solders failed to kill her and doesn’t just dismiss it.
Overall I liked the episode, though I agree that I like book Ellaria better and wish they would’ve introduced the Sand Snakes as well. Just that scene worried me a bit.
I really love how they are clearly “hanging the guns” of R+L=J and greyscale/the stone men this season. Now we wait to see when those guns are going to get fired… 🙂
I highly doubt that’s the every day Elia we saw there. You are right, she was there when Oberyn chose to fight The Mountain and she saw the love of her life getting his had crushed without being able to save him. She just had to stand there and watch, knowing that Oberyn died in an affort to revange the ones he loved and to make matters worse, the monster that killed his sister and her children is now also reponsible for the death of the father of her very own children.
I have absolutly no problem to believe that things like that let see you red.
Hodor’s Bastard,
I think Martin holds out on us! And you know every time someone asks for an explanation to these small little things we think he will never elucidate, he responds with: “I let my text speak for myself.” Dollars for doughnuts we get info in TWoW about that.
Cumsprite,
You have no power here, Mr. Sprite! Begone, before I click my heels three times and somebody drops a house on you.
#IAmStillBoysenberry
All pretty interesting. Agreed we’re not in Kansas anymore.
Loved Oathkeeper just going through the dude’s sword into his armor.
I wondered if non-book readers remembered the sword when that happened or just thought Brienne is that strong.
spacechampion,
That’s just genius
I didn’t think it was sexist at all. Kevan simply reminded Cersei of the fact that under the rules of the realm she had no formal power and anything above that constituted a naked power grab. Cersei isn’t Queen Regnant, she’s Queen Mother. That’s a pretty big difference, even today in, say, England.
Spacechampion
Lady type here. Confusing with the bow, but I feel I would fall on my face to try a courtesy. And the “Brothers……” indeed still confusing but it goes along with the “Brotherhood without Banners”…
Better re-write of the song parody. 🙂 *nods instead of bows*
I will be so, so, so happy when we get beyond the episodes that were leaked. I am so fucking tired of reading through a thread, enjoying many of the interactions and thoughts, and then…BOOM…someone posts a fucking spoiler from one of the leaked episodes.
This is not a complaint about how the powers that be here are running the site. They’ve made it pretty clear not to post spoilers from leaked episodes, and on the one thread each week where it seems inevitable people will post spoilers from the episode, they’ve clearly asked people to mark the spoilers as episode spoilers, which most still can’t manage to do (thanks to those who have, though…really appreciated!!!).
Please, for those of us who have chosen not to watch the leaked episodes, but wait until the episodes actually air, have the decency not to spoil what happens for us. Please!!!
The small council gets smaller and smaller.
Wouldn’t be too complicated for the TV show, being that they already have a well established
who has talked about his father before.
What puzzles me a lot is why are there so few comments when the speculation threads used to have hundreds. Is it so difficult for people to ignore for the time being episode 3 and 4 and just focus on the current episode? Because I imagine that they should be really anxious to talk about the episodes that have aired given that they did not have permission to discuss the episodes before they aired.
I can’t wait to reach episode 5, too. This leaked business is a pain in the a…
WTF happened to Arya’s list?
Last season:
Joffrey
Cersei
Walder Frey
Meryn Trant
Tywin Lannister
The Red Woman
Beric Dondarrion
Thoros of Myr
Ilyn Payne
The Mountain
The Hound
This season:
Cersei
Walder Frey
The Mountain
Meryn Trant
Disappointed.
Rygar,
Well, finally. I was beginning to question whether I had seen the same episode as other viewers. Brienne is BORING, Pod is a dolt and Dany is being touted as finally coming into her own as a leader????? WHA???
With 8 episodes to go I am still hopeful.
Again, heavy sigh and still sad.
Sid,
Well to be fair, 4 are dead/presumed dead.
Lavignac,
In one of the screeners
and it only added to the freakiness!
honey I’m home,
It is pretty obvious the show is not trying to show that Dany is a good ruler. Don’t confuse what Varys believes as what the show is trying to portray. The show is streamlining Dany’s struggles from the book, quite nicely, IMO, although a lot of the complexity is lost without characters like the Shavepate,Green Grace, etc.. That is not a surprise, though. As for Brienne and Pod, how is that any different than in the books?
Adam,
That happens in a later episode, I believe.
Sid,
Well, Joffrey, Tywin, and the Hound all died last season. Strike them off. (Yes, the Hound may reappear one day, but as far as Arya knows, she left him to die. She removes his name from her list in the books as well).
Arya’s recitation of her list was used for a very specific purpose within the episode – to denote the passage of time. She recited it five times while the light and weather changed around her, indicating that she was waiting outside for at least a day, if not longer. The writers likely decided that the dialogue simply flowed better with Arya reciting a list of four name rather than eight. It also allowed them to get through that scene more efficiently.
As for which names were left off the list, it’s likely a question of priorities. Beric, Thoros, and Ilyn Payne are not going to appear this season, so Arya’s vendetta against them is less immediately relevant. We also have no reason to believe that Arya and Melisandre will meet this year. By contrast, Cersei is a major character and the big name who has been on Arya’s list from the beginning. Walder Frey won’t appear, but he did commit an unspeakable act against her family that’s surely still lingering in her mind (and unlike Beric, Thoros, and Ilyn, it’s a virtual certainty that he will appear on the show again someday). The Mountain will also play a role this season. So will Meryn Trant.
It was a noticeable change, but an understandable one.
Tyrion Pimpslap,
“Shhhhh….Shhhhh….good little zombie”.
Yes I am aware that people died that shortened the list, none of which is the concern. The concern is the red woman + beric + thoros (all in Arya’s eyes as being accountable for what happened to Gendry) and the removal of Ilyn Payne (and yes I know whats up with the actor…so did they before they filmed S4 and they still had his name in it anyway).
I perceive it as sloppy…because it is.
Doesen’t make sense if Mace is sent off immediately but Trant is still around for a couple more episodes in KL
So better to edit his sending off to coincide with Trant leaving, plus if there’s some thematic stuff with the Iron Bank as well as the Sparrows in the next few episodes such a sending off would be good to have a lead-in
That’s all I can think of at this stage, I’m keeping away from the leaked episodes entirely so it’s a shame I heard about this scene but minor spoilers are to be expected if they are still shifting scenes around
Eg I thought I heard there was supposed to be a leaf scene in S4E10 pushed back to S5E1 which if this was the case it was edited out completely
I hope Meereen continues to be as strong as it was in this episode.
Emilia is definitely doing excellent now that she has some real material to chew on.
Sid,
This is beyond a nitpick *sigh*
You know why they shortened this list.. so why complain
On the contrary I don’t know why they shortened this list, which is why I posted here. I like the books and the show. Why complain? Why praise? How rhetorical.
My take on this:
The conflict that sets off the Dorne plotline in this story is the conflict between Doran’s seeming passivity and his relatives’ desire for action and vengeance. In the book, the voices opposing Doran are primarily those of the Sand Snakes, who also — we are told — have the will of the people behind them.
I think this would be a bit weak on TV, in part because we don’t actually see the “will of the people,” and in part because the Sand Snakes are much younger women represented by younger actresses who, while I am sure that they’re very talented, are unlikely to have the gravitas to match Siddig’s Doran. They can’t — they’re just too young. In a visual medium, age really does matter.
Give Indira Varma the role of opposition to Siddig’s Doran, on the other hand, and it starts to feel like a much chewier conflict. Ellaria, as Oberyn’s lover, is a kind of age-equal to Doran as Oberyn’s brother. They occupy the same generational level on the family tree. It’s not at all the same relationship as that between an uncle and his nieces. That gives Ellaria some metaphoric “weight,” and she gains even more “weight” by virtue of being a character we have met before. That tips the scales even more in her favor.
So when Ellaria makes her not-really-even-all-that-veiled threat at the end of the scene, it really does feel threatening. It makes the viewer believe that Doran may well really be risking something by standing in opposition to the call for vengeance. I don’t know if you could get that same frisson by pitting Doran against one or more of the Sand Snakes. I’m almost certain that you wouldn’t get that same frisson by pitting Siddig’s Doran plus Varma’s Ellaria against the much younger Sand Snakes. It just…it wouldn’t come across as a balanced conflict at all, and balanced conflicts are what make drama work.
My take on it, anyway.
Sid,
I can’t speak for why they removed Melisandre, but as for Thoros and Beric, I can only assume it is because they will never appear in the show again, and I guess that would answer why Illyn Payne was removed too. I too think it is a bit sloppy to remove names just because you want the audience to forget about them, even if the list was way too long last season. Don’t add them to begin with.
Tyrion Pimpslap,
That’s a totally logical explanation for the removal of Thoros, Beric and Illyn Payne from her list. (And it makes me a little sad to admit it.)
I really like Stannis in these first two episodes. He’s basically as he has already been, but he’s just not depressed anymore. Well, not as depressed (I believe he suffers from some sort of constant melancholy). And he is in a position of more power. The beauty of Stannis’ character (flawlessly portrayed by Dillane) is that he is how he is, no more no less. He never changes. So its the situations and who he interacts with, that determins how we percieve him.
In the first episode, he was seen in a rather villainous light, as he burned mance alive. He gave him a choice and he chose to die. In this second episode, he’s seen in a more positive light, as he puts forth his offer to jon. It’s still not because he has changed. There is a note in the law which means that he can release jon from his vows and so he does that. In one scene he’s a villain, in the next he is kind to our hero, but Stannis himself is the same exact person in those two scenes.
Also when Stannis brings his offer to jon, that whole scene is perhaps episode’s best scene. The Lyanna mormont letter, stannis being irritated. And the offer itself. ‘Kneel before me, lay your sword at my feet, and youll rise as Jon Stark’! Goosebumbs man! Complete with Dillanes perfect dillevery and Kits reaction.
I’ve loved show-stannis from the get-go. Of course his season 2 and season 5 arcs are more interesting than his season 3 and season 4 arcs, because in 2 and 5 he is in positions of power and has the opportunity to show his strengths. But 3 and 4 were just as important and I think his depression and further descent into Mels power were precisely presented and makes season 5 much more exciting and give it more punch. And i think Dillane is one of the best actors on the show. Cant wait to see more of him in S5!
afartherroom,
Ellaria is definitely in an “angry” phase as she goes through her 7 stages of grief and loss after Oberyn’s demise. I almost believe she is leaning toward madness without her brave and amorous paramour, who she claims was “murdered” but was not. It is a major (almost jarring) difference in characterization from the “no more violence” stance she took in the books. Definitely an amalgamation of other Dornish denizens that D&D chose not to include in the GoT tale. I’m interested in and fear where this is going for Ellaria.
I’m rather intrigued by the contrasting tales involving mothers this season….namely, Ellaria, Dany, Cersei, Selyse, and Gilly,
Interesting! This never occurred to me but I like it!
It was a fine point, but beautifully done – Siddig’s accent perfectly mirrored Pedro Pascal’s – well done!
On rewatch, my favorite line was so quick and so subtle that I missed it the first go-round:
Varys: “Are we really going to spend the entire trip to Volantis talking about the futility of everything?”
Tyrion: “You’re right – no point”
I thought that this episode in particular is an exemplar of adaptation. I was quite impressed by how they managed to do the same things that the book did in having Sam engineer Jon’s election (albeit completely differently) and Kevan establish the tone regarding how Cersei is viewed and how Cersei views herself (albeit with completely different dialogue, at least insofar as I can remember). Similarly, Daeny gets the truth about her father in a non-trivial way: and this in turn provides her with a parallel to Robb two years ago (and
that is strongly in keeping with this season’s story. I really like the way that they had Drogon appear: I would wager that this is a gun hung on the wall for later in the season!
I also was struck by what they did with Brienne. Brienne’s Crow chapters were an unmemorable tedium: but they already have hit the storyline on the head, and they seem to be actually doing something with her. What, I have no idea: but I actually am intrigued.
On side notes, Lollys was hysterical. The joke about hating flutes was definitely an insider for the TV show fans. Also, having her state that she hates the color yellow while wearing so much of it (and generally displaying the IQ of a turnip) cracked me up to no end.
In some ways, I think that I had more fun watching this episode than most of the prior ones because almost none of the narrative details were as in the books, yet all of the points made in the various scenes were just like those made in the books. I still know “what” is going to happen next: but for the first time, I really do not know how these things will happen!
I liked Areo Hotah’s “do u want me to kill her” gesture 🙂
Tyrion Pimpslap,
I honestly think they are planning to have her kill all the characters she names on her list therefore they removed the characters she will never kill.
Anyone else feel like this could be the best season yet?
Lion of Night,
Tom Wlaschiha has basically confirmed in interviews that the Jaqen he is playing this season is the same one from season 2. When he says “I am not Jaqen I am no one”, he means Jaqen is not real, it is just a mask he wears but it doesn’t mean he is a totally new faceless man which is what most people seem to be assuming. This is the same faceless man from season 2.
Excellent episode! Solid 9/10. Maybe higher, after I rewatch…
-Braavos! Looked amazing!
-Dorne! MORE YES!!!
-Dr. Bashir!!! He makes an AWESOME Doran. Loved his accent.
-It may have been a bit rushed, but I was SO happy to finally get the Jon Stark of Winterfell / Lord Commander Jon Snow stuff.
-I was laughing pretty hard out loud, when Sam roasted Janos Slynt.
My only quibble was how Arya gained entry to the House. It seemed a bit weird how the Faceless Man rejected her at first… then she wandered off…. and he just came and found her, led her back to the temple, and let her in (while turning into Jaqen). I didn’t quit get what changed his mind, or how she suddenly earned entry. Not a big deal though.
His accent sounds a lot like the one he used in Kingdom of Heaven though that one I presume was supposed to be Arabic-sounding. Anyway, I love it either way!
Sue, a favor to ask – I often start reading these posts before I go off to work. When I return, the number of posts has at least doubled. Is there a way I can bookmark the last post I read, so I don’t have to scroll through the whole bunch? Or is there a way that I just don’t know about?
Lex,
Maybe he had to clear it with the Committee of Black and White first.
I had the same thought – it would certainly distract the people enough to maybe let her alone. Otherwise I could see knives out….
I also have no trouble seeing Elaria as vengeful; she’s angry, hurt, probably feeling guilty for not somehow stopping her lover…lots of emotions to cloud reasonable thought. And yes, I think she’s taking the place of Adrianne in the show. Will be interesting how the Sand Snakes will follow.
Episode got wrecked in this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1GxhTqMGy0
I was actually worried about the opposite: that it would wind up being too drawn out. What GRRM did in the books was fine for the books: in fact, I think that it worked very well there. However, that would have been death on TV: the audience would have figured out very quickly where this was going, and it would just seem like the inevitable was being delayed.
Instead, they rather speedily got to the end while emphasizing a key character point: Sam can play the Game. I will even admit: I had a moment’s fear when the vote came out tied: more politicking? More attempted “drama” when this horse had just keeled over in the prior scene? Then they busted the trope by having Aemon cast his vote! It was a low-level “shoot the swordsman” moment.
Overly simplified explanation:
Characters in the books – inside looking out (we see the story through their thoughts and experiences)
Characters in the show – outside looking in (we can’t see or hear their thoughts or perspective, we need their dialogue or actions to tell it)
There is no way to tell the story in the same manner in different mediums, and so it will never be possible for things to work in the show in the exact manner which they did in the books. Some aspects are lost, some are gained. An internal monologue which goes on for pages needs to be portrayed in a look, a statement, and action. I think it’s been largely very well done.
I agree, Arya’s list was too short.
Joffrey, the Hound (probably), and Tywin are dead. (ok maybe she doesn’t know but still)
Apparently we are not going to see the BwB for a while..
But I would have liked to see Ilyn Payne stay, he killed Ned! She had ample time to have 1 more name on that list for the number of times she repeated it.
Meryn Trant is foreshadowing I hope 🙂
Ok it took a while but I read all the comments!
Overall really liked the episode, can’t wait for more!
For Jon Snow- While initially I was a little disappointed by the LC election (apart from Sam’s speech which was awesome), you guys convinced me it was all for the good of the show. Very true they could not have done it the way it was in the book without taking a lot more time. I would have liked to see Jon wrestle with his decision a bit more, as others have said.
To those who said everyone here is hating on the show/being book purists. I disagree. I think the majority of reviews were overall positive, even if there were quibbles.
Eos I also found Jaime’s mindset a big awkward jump from what we saw in episode 1. I’m a little worried they have skipped any opportunity to showcase his grief/guilt/confusion about Cersei, and now we’re off to Dorne already, alas. No slam on Nikolaj, I would never, I just felt like something was missing in between which we didn’t get to see. Maybe he will have some roadtrip talk with Bronn.
Damphairintheshowplease!
Agreed! Stephen Dillane was and continues to be awesome- totally underrated.
Lex
heh. Dr Bashir. You’re not alone. SO excited to see him as Doran, and I thought he did great in the short scene he had. This guy is kicking the acting up a notch 🙂
Someone suggested Sansa was trying to help Brienne by getting her away from Littlefinger. I have to admit I didn’t get that vibe from the scene, I will have to rewatch it with this in mind and see what I think. I was really looking forward to that scene (accidentally saw leaked photos) and I don’t think it hit home as well as it could have (7/10). Normally I love scenes with any of those characters. Rare for me to say but for once, I know, just this once, I was not feeling Sophie’s performance, while Aidan and Gwen were stellar. I just couldn’t figure out what was up with Sansa at that moment, it felt flat.
And yes, Brienne probably should not have been yelling “HELLO SANSA STARK!”
As for Jaqen is back/no kindly man, I’m cool with it. More Jaqen the better, less new characters, smart switch.
As for Kevan is sexist? I did not see it that way.
I leave you with my top 5 slams of the episode:
5. Drogon dissing Dany, cya later Mom!
4. Doran’s comeback to Ellaria “Then we are lucky the whole country does not decide.”
3. 10 year old girl Lyanna Mormont pwning Stannis. And Jon laughing.
2. Sam’s epic speech calling Janos a coward
1. Kevan Lannister not taking Cersei’s shit. Love. It. Welcome back Kevan, you were missed.
afartherroom,
Pretty much this
People seem to be irritated at Ellaria’s character changes and Sand Snakes as some kind of “B movie girls” or whatever but in TV terms it makes since to articulate the drama simply and to do this through decent actors with what you describe as gravitas. Doran and Ellaria as the focal points make perfect sense and it’s a case of having Areo and Sand Snakes are the muscle behind the perspectives articulated by Siddig and Varma
Ellaria especially as viewers are already introduced to her, and in turn she is being used to introduce all of the other Dornish characters which works in TV terms
Jaimie and Bronn as Arys Oakheart + the other people coming to fetch Myrcella out makes sense too, it’s basically the TV principle of introducing new characters and areas via established ones, so having established characters on both sides of the coin makes sense
They’ll probably go for Dany ala Varys and Illyrio to tease the the whole Dany to Westeros misdirect, might even get brutally Quentyned to give further shock value to the Dornish on top of Oberyns death,
I didn’t see the Inn episode
One thing I will say is that the fearsome Mountain Clans from season 1 seemed to have suddenly gone quite docile…
Aemon is Mormonts Raven (earged by someone with Targ blood), just as Drogon was
Quaithe
The election is different, but they started out with Lyanna Mormont mentioning Stark, the notion of Jon holding legitimate Lordship over Winterfell and finished with a Targaryen putting Jon in a position of power
Exactly
Of course the Showrunners are happy to bend if not break the rules if it helps to whitewash Cersei (Kevan scene was great but it opens the door for apologists to cry he was motivated by sexism)
So many other things, instead of beetles we could have talk of Tysha, in the Episode Tyrion kills Tywin, show a young Tyrion frolicking with young Tysha for visual reference of that relationship
This way it would be oh so much more meaningful when he shoots Tywin
Hopefully in the future we get some Rhaegar + Lyanna at Harrenhall tourney, they can’t merely get away with name dropping, on a TV show they will remain merely abstract concepts
They’ve got an easy entry into it all via Bran visions too
Jaime’s girl,
i LOVED that line, the way he delivered was perfect, acting is definately stepping up a gear with Ser’s Siddig and Pryce this year.
Roose On The Loose,
What a fantastic introduction to Doran! I know I am critical of Ellaria’s over the top venom, but it sure served to contrast his contained anger. Brilliant.
Both of those things are impractical for a tv show. 1. Live animals 2. Inner monologues
Momentous moments: Ser Kevan demonstrates he has some backbone . Sam
Well chosen words for the nomination of Jon. Drogon returns.
The election scene was weak as hell and I agree they needed breathing room between that and Stannis’s offer. Both scenes got shrunk because they stuffed them into an already packed episode. The Tyrion scene also felt out of place, since it was his only scene and it was really short.
The rest of the episode was amazing, though. The Brienne/Sansa meeting was great, Meereen and King’s Landing were strong as ever and Dorne is cool (though I think we should have seen more of it).
Can somebody confirm whether there was error in episode 2 (apologies if this has already been mentioned) as it looks like Brienne kills the same Vale knight twice. The Knight who she killed to protect Pod, was one of two knights guarding the front of the booth occupied by Sansa and Littlefinger.
Outside the inn, whilst on horseback she seems to strike an approaching knight; there appears to be contact due to the sound effect used and there is also a faint splatter of blood. The knight in question, whilst on horseback would later charge at Pod, was closest to Brienne in the inn and not wearing a helmet. If you look at the Vale Knights only two seem not to be wearing helmets; both would be killed by Brienne.
Would appreciate clarification as it is bugging me a little!