Game of Thrones Season 6 Premiere – The Red Woman – Open Chat

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Game of Thrones Season 6, Episode 1 “The Red Woman”

Writers: David Benioff and D.B. Weiss
Director: Jeremy Podeswa
Runtime: 50 minutes
Content Warnings: TV-MA: Adult Content, Adult Language, Graphic Violence, Nudity

Synopses:
Released by HBO: Jon Snow is dead. Daenerys meets a strong man. Cersei sees her daughter again.
From the HBO Schedule: At Castle Black, Thorne defends his treason while Edd and Davos defend themselves. Sansa and Theon race the cold and the hounds.  

*Note: this post is for ALL viewers so please use spoiler coding when discussing ASOIAF or filming spoilers.*

Spoiler coding is still required in this Open Chat post prior to the episode’s official airing (9PM EDT tonight for Season 6 Episode 1). We ask that fans use consideration for your fellow viewers, and cover and label your spoilers appropriately. Please do not post or link to any leaked episode 1 materials, at all. Those posts will be deleted. Thank you!

Season 6 is finally here- and now our watch has begun!

(Almost.)

Sue the Fury
Susan Miller, Editor in Chief of WatchersOnTheWall.com

912 Comments

  1. Dorne! Can’t wait to see Mel’s “astonishing” reveal whatever Liam was referring too!

  2. Can’t bloody wait for the firest episode of Game of Thrones season 6
    I’ve said everything already, can’t bloody wait!!!

  3. 50 minutes? Is this the shortest premiere? HBO requires at least a 50 minute runtime and Beinoff and Weiss weren’t fooling around lol.

  4. Oh my god. I can’t believe it’s finally here. I am so pumped and there are 6 hours to go! Maybe I’ll go cook my brains out making goodies for tonight. Sounds like a plan. BBL.

  5. Yessssss ! Time has come ! Bring on the pop corn! (Makes me sad that in France we only get to see it tomorrow…) Don’t know if I have enough courage to stay awake until 3 am :/

  6. Beyond excited!
    Also, my cat had her first kittens this morning, so we are picking GOT names for our little babies! The first one? HODOR!

  7. Matthew The Dragon Knight:
    Can’t bloody wait for the firest episode of Game of Thrones season 6
    I’ve said everything already, can’t bloody wait!!!

    All that’s left is to sit back, relax, and enjoy 🙂 It was fun following the awards ceremonies this off season with you bro!

  8. jennyofoldstones:
    Oh my god.I can’t believe it’s finally here.I am so pumped and there are 6 hours to go!Maybe I’ll go cook my brains out making goodies for tonight. Sounds like a plan.BBL.

    We’re ordering in from our favorite Italian restaurant later 🙂

  9. Any thoughts on what the “shocking twist” that has been discussed in tonight’s episode will be?

  10. Steve Snow,

    I think we may got a hint of that soon enough. Maybe through Bran and the event that seems to happen near the cave, with the Night’s King…

  11. I am both hyped and nervous 9 PM can’t come soon enough.

    I hope that Jon returns I was positive he would but to be honest I am wavering a bit. But a man is not 100 % sure right now.
  12. Besides the episode I’m also really looking forward to the episode 2 promo. It’s always fun to start puzzling what the next episode involves and we get to see 30 seconds worth of material as our guide.

    I’m hoping that won’t involve or be ruined by anymore leaks in the weeks to come. That’s really starting to become annoying, especially when they promised to “send the episodes to international partners only hours before release”, which they didn’t do, evidently.

  13. My kitchen sink broke today and I had to make an emergency run to the hardware store. I was so damn happy to have a distraction, then something to do with my hands.

    But it was a pretty simple fix and is done now. The bacon-wrapped tenderloins I’m making cook too quickly. I don’t have to get started until about 7:15.

    Four hours. What do I do for FOUR HOURS???

  14. Beyond excited! Cannot wait for the Castle Black parts this episode.

    I think

    episode 1 will open with the panning shot of Castle Black onto Jons body (like in the short teaser the GoT Facebook page posted today).

    All of the speculation in my head about how all of this will play out will be seen! (Not in my way of course)

  15. Dutch Maester:
    Besides the episode I’m also really looking forward to the episode 2 promo. It’s always fun to start puzzling what the next episode involves and we get to see 30 seconds worth of material as our guide.

    I’m hoping that won’t involve or be ruined by anymore leaks in the weeks to come. That’s really starting to become annoying, especially when they promised to “send the episodes to international partners only hours before release”, which they didn’t do, evidently.

    Hoping we see Euron and Bran in the Episode 2 promo.

  16. While I wait until 9 pm, I will play the Witcher 3 and pretend I’m fighting Bolton soldiers.

  17. Kilgore Tully:
    My kitchen sink broke today and I had to make an emergency run to the hardware store. I was so damn happy to have a distraction, then something to do with my hands.

    But it was a pretty simple fix and is done now. The bacon-wrapped tenderloins I’m making cook too quickly. I don’t have to get started until about 7:15.

    Four hours. What do I do for FOUR HOURS???

    Rewatch the last 4 episodes of Season 5 🙂 I’m going to watch Mother’s Mercy at 8 and lead right into the premiere.

  18. Connor:
    While I wait until 9 pm, I will play the Witcher 3 and pretend I’m fighting Bolton soldiers.

    Witcher 3 is epic. You on PS4?

  19. Don’t know how long I have to wait for Jon Snow to return, but hopefully it’s not long, since he is at winterfell with sansa and the Big Battle for the north.
  20. THIS IS GOING TO BE EPIC! (I’m not really the one to say “epic” every time something happens but this is a really special ocassion)

  21. MiaMoon:
    I am both hyped and nervous 9 PM can’t come soon enough.

    He

    will come back, if not tonight (which is highly likely) maybe next episode (hopefully)
  22. I’m ready….

    …for my favorites to die and to wait half a season for Jonny boy to get resurrected. I have a feeling he’s going to hook up with Melisandre this season lmao.
  23. I’m so envious of US fans who get to watch it tonight. Having to wait till tomorrow night is so difficult! I’ve barely posted, but I have been reading WW for the entire off-season every day. I will have to keep reminding myself not to automatically come on here tomorrow before I get to watch at 9pm. We don’t have a TV, so I have to wait for it to become available on Nowtv. If we did, I’d be staying up till 2am to watch and bribing my husband to do the same. Aghhh!! So excited!

  24. Just renewed subscription today.. I had to go to NC (from Florida) this weekend just to NOT think about GOT until today… super uber excited.. come on 9:00pm already…

  25. Connor,

    I’ll give the Jon Snow return to be around episode 3 or 4, unless they’re going to drag it’s out.
  26. I won’t be able to watch in sooner than in like 15 hours, so everyone enjoy it and I hope I’ll make it home to watch it with successfully avoided spoilers, because I’m sure the internet will be FLOODED with those. 🙂

  27. Matthew The Dragon Knight:
    Connor,

    If they do that, then it will be dragging it out,

    his body will be rotted fairly well by then, and he won’t be himself, and all of that character development they had for him, including the Tower of Joy will be absolutely pointless.
  28. I can’t wait to see if

    tonight will be the night Jon gets resurrected or if they make us sweat it out a bit. Also curious to see if Thorne gets away with it, or if he gets executed?

    One thing I’m really looking forward to is the opening credits. It’s always fun when we get a new location. We’ll probably get the return of some old map locations this season, like Vaes Dothrak, The Twins, and Riverrun. I’m not sure what new ones we could get though. I’m hoping they’ll finally go beyond the wall and put the Other’s city in the map.

    Luckily, I don’t have to work until late afternoon tomorrow, so I can drink. I’m making a Fire and Blood GOT cocktail. Basically it’s a slightly fancier screwdriver. Instead of plain vodka, it’s Absolut Ruby Red grapefruit and instead of regular OJ, it’s a blood orange drink. I usually get blood orange Pellegrino but the store didn’t have it so I’m trying a new brand I’ve never had. Hopefully it’s good. Then I’m going to garnish it with a slice of blood orange.

    Any one else have a GOT drink they made up? Or am I coming to close to the dreaded cocktail video posts at that other site by even discussing it? 🙂

    Any one else have thoughts about might make the opening credits this season?

  29. Once we get into the season, at least the cast can be spared from the constant “Is Jon Snow dead?” questioning from the media. This has to have been a drag for all of them.

  30. I don’t know if these are legit beyond the first three, of course, but here is a complete list of episode titles that has been going around:

    1. The Red Woman
    2. Home
    3. Oathbreaker
    4. Bloodriders
    5. Old Wyk
    6. Promises
    7. The Mummer
    8. Remember Your Name
    9. Our Blades Are Sharp
    10. The Citadel
  31. plop_plop,

    well, to be honest if you have played the 1st and 2nd, you will absolutely love the 3rd, the 3rd one is faster than its previous games. Hard? yes. but very engaging. I’m loving it so far. Best game in the series so far with the most gorgeous graphics and environments.

    I don’t know, for some reason the witcher series never got me hooked in. I tried getting into it but, never finished any of the games in the series.

  32. Connor,

    let’s wait and see what they plan to do. We should have a good idea of it in episodes 1 and 2. The quicker the better, if it is indeed in episode 2 good. All the shots we have seen of Jon have been at castle black, so we will see.
  33. I just wanted to stop by to wish everyone a Happy Premiere!!!
    It’s finally here!!!
    Woooooo-hoooooo!!!

    Also, I want to thank the people who post on this great site for all the fun over the off-season.

    Additionally, thank you so much to the staff of WotW!!! Thanks for all the articles, the information, and for giving all of us such a wonderful place to indulge our obsession.

    Finally, another, but nonetheless heartfelt, thanks to Sue and any other mods who have been so vigilant about deleting any posts containing information which shouldn’t be out there. I’m sure y’all have many things you’d far rather be doing than monitoring every post just in case someone posts something they shouldn’t. I can’t thank you enough for that. I wish I could buy y’all a beer, or drink, or whatever…several, in fact. You deserve it.

    …And now it begins…

  34. Soo excited for the premier!! Will follow the show by episode this time!!

    Still trying to figure out a way to watch in India. It will be 630 am by the time of the premier!!

  35. RBloodworth,

    If that is the actual list, it’s going to be a fun season. Just wish there was more time spent at #10. That was always one place I wanted to spend a bit of time in, in the show. Kind of like Dorne.

  36. Kilgore Tully:
    My kitchen sink broke today and I had to make an emergency run to the hardware store. I was so damn happy to have a distraction, then something to do with my hands.

    But it was a pretty simple fix and is done now. The bacon-wrapped tenderloins I’m making cook too quickly. I don’t have to get started until about 7:15.

    Four hours. What do I do for FOUR HOURS???

    Eat the bacon. Go to the market for more bacon. Go home. Cook bacon. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Sit down. Put your feet up. Turn on TV & Stereo. Dim lights. Hype.

  37. Waiting one year for jon snow to comeback was hard,but waiting one year and 5episodes is a real torment!?

  38. TFW the transaction from bank account to paypal takes way longer than anticipated and you can’t really activate your streaming service yet -_-

  39. Can’t wait to see Doran putting Ellaria in her place for killing Myrcella, though it might not even come up as the ship Jaime’s on isn’t turning.

  40. RBloodworth:
    I don’t know if these are legit beyond the first three, of course, but here is a complete list of episode titles that has been going around:

    If those are real then episode 6 will have

    Tower of Joy and revealing Jons true parentage.
  41. Danial:
    Waiting one year for jon snow to comeback was hard,but waiting one year and 5episodes is a real torment!?

    1 year and 5 episodes?

  42. Jack Bauer 24: I just beat Dark Souls III!

    I will never play that game lol, I would suck so bad, but it’s fun to watch people play it and I like seeing all of the bosses.

  43. Some quick speculation (mostly based on what we’ve seen in trailers):

    I think that Mel will attempt to resurrect Jon Snow, with the aid of Davos and Jon’s loyalists. She, however, will fail. The final words of this episode will be, “And now his watch is ended.” This will hammer the point home that Jon Snow is dead, no seriously, he’s dead. Like, totally DEAD! Deader than dead!

    That way, we’ll be shocked when he comes back in E2/E3.

    I kinda feel that those words are necessary to fully break Jon Snow from his vows to the Night’s Watch.

  44. Game of Thrones starting, Civil War on the horizon and Uncharted 4 just behind the corner. Not a bad time.

    Hopefully this will be strong season premiere and start to what looks like the best season yet.

  45. I’m going to sleep. When I wake up at 3 AM here in Belgium the new episode should be starting. That’s going to be a long night! So excited!

  46. Deesensfan:
    Jack Bauer 24,

    I’m going to watch hardhome and dance with dragons and mother mercy right after I’m done errands. It’s super nice out here in Ottawa!

    You’re Canadian? I am too, I live a few hours from Ottawa, in a small town called Trenton, home to the biggest Canadian Air Force base! Been living here since I was 6 months old, Im 19 now.

    Want out of this town, there’s nothing here at all lol.

  47. HAPPY PREMIERE to all of you in the US, and the same to you guys in Europe for tomorrow.
    I really hope you enjoy it!
    As for us in faraway lands… personally I will not lie; I will try to download it at some point. But if it doesn’t work… well, I will just have to wait until the end of May when I will be back in Europe. Which means that in the meantime, I am hiding from this blog, the social media and the internet in general!
    So enjoy my friends – and know that I deeply envy you!

    Miss you all!

    PS Just allow me to say that next Sunday is Easter Sunday for eastern Europe… What a perfect day for a ressurection!

  48. Ginevra:
    Ice Spider,

    Welcome back, Ice Spider!Do you thinks we’ll see any of your octolegged friends in the finale this year?

    Hiya … Idk.. but Im so excited to see….. Im Ice Dragon on the other site so Im really hoping ONE of those gets some air time.. how cool would that be?? And thanks for the welcome back.. I was in Smokey Mountains doing some property hunting… no Ice Spiders there but some wild Coyotes were on our path… I was like so hyped bc all I could think was I was seeing a baby DIREWOLF… lol

  49. Hidey ho! I’m trying to keep myself busy with my kid at the pool (wear him out) to distract myself.

    I can’t believe it’s here. I feels like a lifetime ago that we were
    just getting filming updates from summer. Thanks to the mods and everyone who keeps the ship right! You are appreciated!

    I’ll be live tweeting during the official first run time, 9pm EST, on @thewolfmaid if anyone else is on The Twitter!

  50. Connor,

    Want out of this town, there’s nothing here at all lol.

    Heh I was the same when I was 19. I grew in a really small ”city”.
    But after I lived 5 years in the capital, for studies, I can tell you nothing compares with looking out of my window and seeing a open field with peoples gardens and sleeping without cars buzzing in my head! 🙂

  51. I’m looking forward to the opening credits, and to seeing Bran & co. It’s been so long.

    Also, why was Benjen in the beginning of the last episode? Everything on the show usually has a meaning. He wasn’t in the episode, will he be in tonight’s episode?

  52. Connor,

    Oh!!!! Canada! WoohoO!
    My sister goes to Trenton for her job.
    You should come to Ottawa. It’s a nice small city, close to the big fun cities!!!!!

  53. MeeraReed,

    GOT is among the very few series I watch, that I never skip the opening, it’s just perfect.

    It really get’s you into the mood and universe.

  54. Atish Vaze:
    Josh L.,

    Why wouldn’t they burn his body in first episode if they know that he is truly gone

    They will. Or at least, they’ll burn a body that looks like Jon Snow. I suspect it’ll be a glamour, and that Mel will hide the body away in the ice cells. This is probably why we didn’t get the Mance Ryder switcharoo last season (the directors didn’t want to overuse that trick), and E1 will hint at it by having Mel reveal that her sexy self is really a glamour and she’s actually ancient (hence that disrobing scene in the trailer).

    The only thing I’m unsure about is whether the show will be upfront about Mel using a glamour during the Jon Snow burning scene, or whether they’ll hide that from the viewers as well. Either way, the words, “And now his watch is ended” will be uttered.

  55. Mihnea:
    Jack Bauer 24,

    Think we’ll break 10 mill. live viewership?

    9+ mill would still be great in my opinion though.

    I think it’s very possible, although I’m going to go with 9+ mill.

  56. Mihnea:
    Connor,

    Beat the game, waiting for the DLC. Best game I ever played.

    Jack Bauer 24,

    How is it? I did play the 2nd game but didn’t get around this one, yet.

    Loved it. I’ve played all 3 Dark Souls and Bloodborne and i’d say it’s my favorite current gaming series. Last game I bought was Fallout 4 last year, so yeah I was hyped for DSIII.

  57. Deesensfan:
    Connor,

    Oh!!!! Canada! WoohoO!
    My sister goes to Trenton for her job.
    You should come to Ottawa. It’s a nice small city, close to the big fun cities!!!!!

    Been there before! Nice city, it’s been awhile though since i was last there, been to the War museum before.

  58. Very excited. After all these months it is finally here!! I’m going to stay up for this one as I’m absolutely buzzing, so I may be a little tired tomorrow! It’s been a good day with Leicester winning earlier, so hopefully the première will keep me smiling from ear to ear.

  59. Jack Bauer 24,

    When I think that the first season had an average of 2 millions….this is insanity. The show has become a monster. It’s easily the most popular show on the planet at this point, even The Walking Dead is not as big.

  60. I’m gonna go watch the 3rd season of Orange is the New Black to get in a positive mood before GOT!!

  61. Ok now Im so tired but found out GoT is playing S5 back to back shows.. and I was driving for 11 hours straight to get home to rest before the show and now I CAN’T SLEEP uuuuuuuuuuuugh…. ok guess its coffee for me tonight to make it through.. lol I love the torture!!! So geeked… hope everyone has a great watch – can’t wait to read after show comments. I have a feeling Im going to be seeing a TON of blacked out comments… lol. Nice to see everyone on here getting hyped for the show!!!

  62. plop_plop:
    Ice Spider,

    Im an hour southeast of Charlotte NC myself – I visit Cherokee/Asheville area frequently, great area!

    Nice.. I was in Waynesville, NC looking around Maggie Valley area and Lake Junaluska (sp) and Butler TN on top of a mountain overlooking Watauga Lake (sp). Too tired to make sure its spelled correctly so forgive me if spelling errors.

  63. Mihnea,

    I agree, also because it changes from week to week in terms of locations (at least in the first two seasons when I hadn’t read the books yet and was completely unspoiled for content I was really excited to see new locations in the sequence :P). Nowadays it’s basically so I know who’s going to be in the episode as I recognise all the actor names lol.

  64. If it breaks 10 mil. tonight im afraid it will be a big drop for Ep2 to 6 mil because people won´t get what they “wanted” in Ep1:
    Jon beating Olly to death using Ramsey´s severed head.

    Its kinda intense to wait 6 months for a cliffhanger to unfold only to get another season 1 intro episode. Im talking about the wall storyline here ofcourse.

  65. Deesensfan,

    I live in Stittsville, just outside Ottawa. I have to go there a lot, since my college is there. I’ve also gone to Ottawa ComicCon the last 3 years (and will again this year).

    Can’t wait for the Premiere tonight! Just under 5 hours left… 😀

  66. Mihnea,

    the thing is that it doesn’t really matter because the show is so huge in India or East Asia, in Latin America that this number pales before the real audience…

  67. Hoyti Von Totiy:
    If it breaks 10 mil. tonight im afraid it will be a big drop for Ep2 to 6 mil because people won´t get what they “wanted” in Ep1:
    Jon beating Olly to death using Ramsey´s severed head.

    Its kinda intense to wait 6 months for a cliffhanger to unfold only to get another season 1 intro episode. Im talking about the wall storyline here ofcourse.

    6 months? Its been 10.

  68. dothrakian raven,

    That is completely true.

    Hell I don’t think those numbers even include Europe.
    But it’s a somewhat nice way to see the show growing…..and shuting people who say the show is dying.. 🙂

  69. Damphairintheshowplease!:
    Kilgore Tully,

    Watch ep 7,8,9 an 10 of season 5?

    I was going to try and watch the entire S5 shows since they are playing back to back but since I was driving for 11 hours Im now thinking just episode 8, 9 & 10… going to pop the biggest bowl of popcorn ever and sit down and die in happiness.

  70. Why am I not sleeping yet??? It’s 10:27 PM here, I have to get up at 3 AM! I’m too excited to go to bed!

  71. Well I’m off to sleep. see you all tomorrow morning, i’ll try to chime in before I leave for work and give some opinions.

    Hope all you lucky ones who see this live have a great night!!

  72. Connor,

    Dark Souls 3 was the only thing that helped me get through this last week and what a masterpiece man, another mind blowing effort by From Software.

    I have to wait like half a day instead of 5 or 6 hours like you guys goddammit!

  73. I think Benjen will make a return this season, that hooded guy on the horse with flaming ball on a chain, saving Meera, is Benjen, PLEEASE BE!

  74. alsnow,

    Dark Souls fan spotted!!! You on Ps4? If yes i’m in for some jolly cooperation haha.

    Praise the Sun indeed!

  75. Hellooooooo everyone *still waving like a crazy thing* European night shift clocking on. Show is 2am here in the UK so I took tomorrow off to join in with the rest of you 😀 I’m expecting Molestown bastard (fellow UKer) and Shy Lady Dragon (Romania) to drop by later too.

    This is safe to read, House Mum does not spoil! I saw some screen shots by accident so am not going to say anything at all about this ep until we’ve all seen it. For S6 as a whole, the thing I am most looking forward to is seeing the feathery helmet from the trailer in all it’s ridiculously over the top glory. I am very confident it will usurp the mammoth as my favourite ever thing in the show. I hope once we’ve seen it, it appears in every single scene after that and more and more people end up wearing them so by the last ever episode it has become Game of Awesome Headgear!

    Sou don’t give up, try the streaming options that person posted about. Hopefully it all works out somehow, otherwise see you in a few months *fingers crossed for you* 😀

  76. Connor:
    I think Benjen will make a return this season, that hooded guy on the horse with flaming ball on a chain, saving Meera, is Benjen, PLEEASE BE!

    That would be amazing!

  77. 9 PM EDT? I think that’s 3 AM here. I don’t want to know how much of a wreck I am going to be at work tomorrow 🙂 (I have to get up at 6 AM and today was my last day of vacation).

  78. weirwoodtreehugger,

    It’s not a drink I invented, far from it… It’s just beer. As I can’t get the official GOT beer in Europe, I tried to find something kinda related… and it had to be beer, to put my wonderful dragon stein at good use. So I tried to find a beer which I can symbolically connect with GOT. I chose Lowenbrau (the German people please put the needed umlaut at the right place, as I don’t have specific diacritic marks on my tablet) because it shows a lion. I’m as much a Stark supporter as always, but I want Jaime to stay alive. So, maybe I can call it a cocktail: my Stark revival hopes, the dragon stein and the lion beer.

  79. I’ll be up till morning because I live in Saudi Arabia (different time zone) ..thank god I’m on vacation. Just Play the damn thing before I piss my self

  80. The internet keeps saying there’s an HBO preview free this weekend, but as of last night, it wasn’t showing up. Does anyone else know what the deal is with that. I have HBO Now, so it’s not a huge deal, but I’m afraid the huge traffic to the site could cause crashing or freezing and delay my viewing of the episode. I can’t call Comcast myself, because I’m at my dad’s house and it’s his account. Fuck Comcast if they gave some markets a preview and not others. This shit is why I’ll never have them again.

  81. Daughter of Winter:
    alsnow,

    Dark Souls fan spotted!!! You on Ps4? If yes i’m in for some jolly cooperation haha.

    Praise the Sun indeed!

    I’m on PS4. Sunlight Bros all day. What’s your PSN tag? I’m Showstopper47

  82. Atish Vaze,

    Angeala95,

    Glad to see iam not the only one awake at 2.30 am in the morning.

    Its a shame we don’t get HBO defined anymore and wait for Star World to premiere it on Tuesday night.
    However it is good that GOt is most pirated show ever

  83. Sou,

    I don’t know if you are still around, but I’ll try! I’m in Eastern Europe (Romania) and I like what you wrote about Orthodox Easter and GOT resurrection. Interesting coincidence, indeed! I still can watch GOT this night (it’s midnight here and I have to wait for 4 more hours) because HBO offers us the official time premier. But we usually watch on Monday evenings. For me it will be my second time.

  84. Lulus Mum,

    Heyyyyyyyyyyyy loveeeeeeee, not bad thank the good lord, missed you and Shy one so much really.

    I can’t believe that the wait is finally over. Man there’s no constraining mechanism for this level of excitement!

  85. Deesensfan,

    I remember now, thank you. I only watched the episode once. I was too devastated to watch it again. I forgot all about how the cowards lured him to the trap. And the parts which resonated in my head are all the stabs to his chest – then thinking, where the heck are the rest of the NW?

    Anyway, thanks for reminding me. Right now HBO is showing season 5. When I sat down and turned the on that telly, I caught the end of Ramsey and Sansa’s wedding. Then Ramsey telling her he wants her to be happy and asking her why she’s still a virgin. — if he isn’t tortured, and slowly killed by the end of the series, as in season 7 or 8 (whenever it finishes), I might build a TARDIS, go back and rewrite the script to amend the error.

  86. Here´s one for Melissandre:

    I bet Jon is in the afterlife regreting he missed out on this hottie.
    If she ressurects him he´s going to have sex with her if he likes it or not.

    #doitfortherealmjon
    #forthewatch

  87. I hope I am wrong,but I think ep1 won’t give us any satisfaction and then more waiting for ep 2. Torture!I am pesimist,I know..

  88. Daughter of Winter,

    Hello, my friend! I’m glad to “see” you around, I was afraid you were too busy with your exams to read and write a bit on WOTW. I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed for you… until you tell us that you finally are a happy man, free of exams! And I also hope for your favourite character to have a good season, free of any harm.

  89. The Drowned Goddess:
    Beyond excited!
    Also, my cat had her first kittens this morning, so we are picking GOT names for our little babies! The first one? HODOR!

    We named our son Bowen.. 😛

  90. Ice Spider,

    Maggie Valley was my yearly vacation for a while as a kid, Ghost Town was a neat Theme Park before they shut it down. I got skiing nearby sometimes, it’s on the way to the big Casino in Cherokee, I am about 3 hours away driving!

  91. Ginevra,
    Hi honey. I saw your Simon and Garfunkel comments on another thread but thought you’d probably moved over here so here’s my highly intellectual and well thought out reply. You could actually get enough episode titles out of their songs to finish off the entire story, there seem to be more that could apply to GoT than ones that couldn’t. As has been mentioned the title for ep2 apparently appears on some listings as “Homeward Bound” rather then “Home”, although I think Sue said that was the title of an episode of some other show that’s on around the same time so it might just be an admin error. I only know their more famous singles so did a bit of googling.

    General:
    Sparrow; [Baelor the] Blessed; A Hazy Shade of Winter; A Most Peculiar Man [take your pick from who that is]; Teenage Fool [ditto]; Old Friends; I’ll Drown in My Tears [applies equally to the viewers]; Somewhere They Can’t Find Me; That Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine; True or False; You Don’t Know Where Your Interest Lies
    Wish list/shipping:
    For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her [substitute name of missing character]; He Was My Brother [uncle/friend etc]; (Pretty Baby) Don’t Say Goodbye; We’ve Got a Groovy Thing Goin; Why Don’t You Write Me
    Specific Houses/characters:
    Flowers Never Bend with the Rainfall; I Am a [Casterly] Rock; Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream; Save the Life of My Child; Rose of Aberdeen [otherwise known as Highgarden]; That’s My Story

    and the more spoilery

    A Church Is Burning [the Cersei torching KL theory, or an attack on the Sparrows?]; Bridge over Troubled Water [bye, bye Balon]; The Sound of Silence [Euron’s ship] and Surrender, Please Surrender [Riverlands siege].

    Mmmm is GRRM a big music fan do we know? 😉

    Sorry for length but there are loads of them!

  92. Lulus Mum,

    Hello, my dear donkey penguin! I’m here, ready for the night shift. It will be 4 a.m. for me, but I took tomorrow off… to be able to watch this night, have a good sleep and then watch again on Monday evening. I’m already celebrating (see my post above about beer) and if I happen to fall asleep (slight chance, I’m so exicited) I count on the alarm on my phone to watch me.

  93. Flayed Potatoes: That would be amazing!

    I would shite myself if this is true… I am such a huge fan of his character.. almost as much as I love JS. Men of the North… whew… face turning red.. they are so hot!!

  94. And so it begins…my weekly Monday ritual of completely avoiding the internet from mid-morning until after dinner is eaten and the dishes cleaned.

    I love living in Asia, but the practical impossibility of watching GoT with everyone else….that sucks.

  95. The Red Woman will be a ‘set the stage’ episode, I’m more hyped for the subsequent ones.

  96. plop_plop:
    Ice Spider,

    Maggie Valley was my yearly vacation for a while as a kid, Ghost Town was a neat Theme Park before they shut it down.I got skiing nearby sometimes, it’s on the way to the big Casino in Cherokee, I am about 3 hours away driving!

    They just reopened Ghost Town.. didn’t have time to do much touristy stuff as I was property hunting but man oh man I can’t wait to go back this summer and really hang out and soak in all the sights.. it is just amazingly beautiful in the mountains and I LOVE hiking.. thanks for saying hi!!

  97. weirwoodtreehugger: Any one else have a GOT drink they made up?

    I didn’t have to make one up. The night is Dark & Stormy and full of terrors!

    (A Dark & Stormy is a shot of black rum mixed with a bottle of ginger beer. I add a bit of ginger liqueur to give it even more of a spicy kick.)

  98. Rygritte:
    Thank the old gods and the new I took tomorrow off. NCW on WWHL tonight.

    LMAO.. I wonder how many ppl are taking tomorrow off to watch this show? I would love to know!!

  99. Firannion: I didn’t have to make one up. The night is Dark & Stormy and full of terrors!

    (A Dark & Stormy is a shot of black rum mixed with a bottle of ginger beer.I add a bit of ginger liqueur to give it even more of a spicy kick.)

    That sounds DEvine… I might have to try that NEXT week.. if I drank tonight I wouldn’t make it to the end of the show.

  100. So in hbo USA – the channel that will play GOT is showing season 5 right now?

    Hbo Canada is lame we aren’t having a GOT marathon.

  101. Deesensfan,

    Hard to say, but it is certaintly possible. So far, on IMDb with 651 votes, the episode has a perfect 10/10 (from the people who watched the leak).

  102. Shy Lady Dragon,

    Hi there my lovely friend, actually not being that much involved in comments doesn’t mean i’m totally absent from the site, this place is my second home and family after all.
    Thanks again and i AM a happy man with amazing friends like you.

  103. Deesensfan:
    So in hbo USA – the channel that will play GOT is showing season 5 right now?

    Hbo Canada is lame we aren’t having a GOT marathon.

    I’m just going to watch the end of the season 5 finale right before the premiere tonight.

  104. Does anyone on here know if WoTW is doing any episode watching in any cities? Like to get WoTW fans together to watch the show and then hang out? That would be SOOO cool if we could do that across the world and then share. Any idea’s or if this has been mentioned before I am clueless then please let me know. I would LOVE to watch the show with any fans on here that are in the Tampa, FL area. Hit me up and we can work it out!!

  105. Deesensfan:
    So in hbo USA – the channel that will play GOT is showing season 5 right now?

    Hbo Canada is lame we aren’t having a GOT marathon.

    Yes they are actually showing it on two different channels that come with HBO package.. they are running the episodes in S5 back to back Im assuming till 9:00 tonight. That sucks you guys aren’t able to watch it. I just assumed our Canadian friends got the same packages we got. ;(

  106. weirwoodtreehugger,

    My first thought was to choose some read wine (I drink red wine frequently, though less frequently than Cersei 😉 ) as a hint to Tyrion, but, because of the stein, I decided for beer. But you gave me great suggestion, I’ll look for GOT themed wine.

  107. Jack Bauer 24,

    I’m afraid i can’t use the Console right now but will reply and accept as soon as i do (which will be tomorrow morning probably since it’s 2 am here where i live)

  108. Did Verizon just give away a certain characters fate? When I was setting to record tonights episode, I read this (in the mobile app)……..

    …….Fate of Jon Snow reveled…………..

    What the what??? I know it could still go either way, but when you take in to account all the cast interviews on the subject, then it becomes kind of silly to reveal the fate of a supposedly dead character.

  109. Shy Lady Dragon:
    weirwoodtreehugger,

    My first thought was to choose some read wine (I drink red wine frequently, though less frequently than Cersei ? ) as a hint to Tyrion, but, because of the stein, I decided for beer. But you gave me great suggestion, I’ll look for GOT themed wine.

    You should check out the GOT themed beer from Ommegang as well.

    http://ommegang.com/got/seven_kingdoms.php

    Take the black stout and Three Eyed Raven were my favorites so far.

  110. Can’t believe it’s here. After drinking in spoilers for most of the year I am imposing an internet blackout on myself until tomorrow night when I can actually watch the bloody thing 🙂

  111. Daegon,

    They haven’t seen it, every episode of every TV show is rated a 10 before release. I read the leaked summary and it looks strong, I don’t think it will be as good as Two Swords but I can be wrong.

  112. Premiere day!!!! I am so happy. Less than 4 hours. I bought the new GoT beer for the new season. I am stocked up and ready to go. I will watch the last 3 episodes to occupy these last awful hours.

  113. Exactly 4 hours to go!!!! Can’t believe how good I’ve been I went to watch my football team today ( they won yay) and I did not have one single drink of alcahol the whole time. Now I’ve got a crate on ice the pizza is on its way (ordered a brownie in honour of lulus mum) and it’s time for all of us to enjoy the last couple of hours of torment together!!!!!!

    Thanks for the off season everyone it’s been great here????????

  114. Lulus Mum: For S6 as a whole, the thing I am most looking forward to is seeing the feathery helmet from the trailer in all it’s ridiculously over the top glory. I am very confident it will usurp the mammoth as my favourite ever thing in the show. I hope once we’ve seen it, it appears in every single scene after that and more and more people end up wearing them so by the last ever episode it has become Game of Awesome Headgear!

    In the upcoming US presidential election, I couldn’t decide whether to write in my vote for Vermin Supreme, Cthulhu or Boaty McBoatface. But now you’ve got me thinking that maybe Mace Tyrell’s Unspeakably Awe-Inspiring Plumed Helmet might be the true people’s choice.

  115. Molestown bastard
    Hey NotMoley, saved ya a seat. Did you remember the napkins and stuff? 😉

    Daughter of Winter
    Missed you too lovey, glad all is good with you! 😀 I actually feel a bit sick with anticipation. This place is my GoT family and hypes me up no end, it wouldn’t be the same at all doing this by myself. Well it’s me and the cats but they don’t offer much insight into the show tbh, cats are a bit aloof and “I’m above that sort of thing” attitude-wise. There are so many familiar names that have starting appearing on here lately, it’s like a big old reunion.

    Shy Lady Dragon
    Hi lovey. My donkey ears are waving so excitedly I’m in danger of taking off!

    Connor
    The names of lots of Simon and Garfunkel songs, from me 😉

  116. In Southern Finland it’s effing snowing. And no, it’s not supposed to in late April. But a nice reminder that Winter is Coming. Planning to stay up til 4 to watch the premiere.

  117. Ice Spider,

    Thank you:)
    Nope we have different stuff but the main shows (not reruns and stuff) are the same! So we get season 6 tonight!

    Is GOT at 9 on both channels??
    I ask for my sister who is USA for work

  118. Daughter of Winter,

    Aww, thank you, you’re so nice! I consider myself blessed for finding this site and “talking” to my friends here.
    I try to read as much as I can from the comments, but I’ve been rather busy lately, so I have still 2-3 days of comments to catch up. But I managed to watch the five seasons (again) to be prepared for season 6. I’m rather afraid of what it can bring, but it’s part of the game 🙂

  119. Chad Brick:

    And so it begins…my weekly Monday ritual of completely avoiding the internet from mid-morning until after dinner is eaten and the dishes cleaned.

    I love living in Asia, but the practical impossibility of watching GoT with everyone else….that sucks.

    Oh how I feel your pain. It’s just about bedtime if I want to avoid being a zombie tomorrow. But going to sleep knowing the episode is a few hours away is damned near impossible & watching the ep during work is quite impossible! BUT WE SHALL ENDURE. Just gotta wait a wee bit longer ???

  120. Deesensfan:
    Ice Spider,

    Thank you:)
    Nope we have different stuff but the main shows (not reruns and stuff) are the same! So we get season 6 tonight!

    Is GOT at 9 on both channels??
    I ask for my sister who is USA for work

    They are showing GoT on two channels right now yes. They are showing S5 (on both) and one channel is further ahead then the second channel … Im going to watch just from 7-10 bc I drove for 11 hours and I have been up since 2:00 am… Im so hyped I am not even tired. Lol.. well a little but not even going to let it phase me!!

  121. Getting fucking stoked. Fortunately, it’s nice out and I took a long walk to calm down some. Now for dinner and beers, and eps 9 and 10 of last season to get extra hyped.

    weirwoodtreehugger,

    That drink sounds pretty good. I like the blood orange pelligrino. And blood oranges are in season now. Maybe I should walk to the store and get some vodka and bloody oranges, to kill more time.

    No idea about Thorne and how that will play out. I have a feeling he will die somehow, at some point, this season. Wildlings? Wun Wun? Davos? Boltons? ohhhhhhh…. maybe he makes it until the walkers arrive…

    Also, I think (hope) we will see Bear Island on the map 🙂

  122. I’m in the UK so have to set to record at 2am when all you lucky Americans get to view.

    Can’t believe it’s finally here after such a long drought!! So exciting! Winter is coming at last 🙂 Enjoy everyone. Thanks to WOTW for keeping me so engaged for soooo many months and GRRM for bringing to life an epic story which seems so so real somehow….if you know what I mean.

  123. FinnFan:
    In Southern Finland it’s effing snowing. And no, it’s not supposed to in late April. But a nice reminder that Winter is Coming. Planning to stay up til 4 to watch the premiere.

    That actually sounds pretty great.. to have snow falling when WINTER IS COMING returns.. that is Finland’s way of showing HYPE…. lol.

  124. Can’t wait. 3 hours left, but ay least they replaying season 5 on HBO right now, and Hardhome is on now, one of the best episodes ever.

  125. Jack Bauer 24:
    Will this be the night Thorne and Olly leave us?

    I hope so for Olly.. Thorne on the other hand I would like for him to die a slow methodical death over a few episodes.. maybe let Ramsey have a go at him! Trade him for a Northerner!!

  126. Lulus Mum,

    Of course it wouldn’t be the same without WotW, also that is how you know if you’re dealing with the right cats (or dealing right with the cats) when they start offering insights about stuff (man all this anticipation and excitement indeed are showing negative effects on me haha)

  127. The Drowned Goddess:
    Beyond excited!
    Also, my cat had her first kittens this morning, so we are picking GOT names for our little babies! The first one? HODOR!

    The Drowned Goddess:
    Lyanna_Targaryen,

    There’s a ginger-honey one, a black with white paws, and a grey one. Not sure on names or sexes yet. Lots of choices!

    If the grey one is a boy, then you should name him Greywind. Congrats on the kittens.

  128. Lulus Mum,

    Hey look I’m going to fes up I’m a bloke and I forgot the cutlery and napkins sorry Hun!!! Did order some cake so my hearts in the right place. Might need that cake as I have a lot of beer here lol

  129. ash:
    Ice Spider,

    I only know a few Phx folk here, it sure would be fun!

    IKR.. I was trying to ask around how to set something up here but have been so busy with personal stuff it had to be put on back burner but now Im mad at myself for not making it more of a priority. ;( I think that would be a super fun thing to host.. any suggestions Sue?

  130. They should have covered 60 minutes at least instead of 50, 10 extra minnutes can really make a big difference in terms of how long we perceive an episode.

  131. I love this – being able to spend time with other fans of GOT from all over the world, and to also watch as more and more familiar fonts pop in to say hi and be part of the scene again. Makes the hype even more fun! Good place to hide from spoilers too.

    BTW my sis and I were talking about all the Jon Snow talk this last year. We had just come back from seeing Elvis and Nixon (good movie, a little slow, but Spacey and Shannon nail their parts!) and we remembered how crazy it was after Elvis died – I mean there are still people decades later who swear they have seen him. Whats amazing is that it all happened without the help of social media! Anyway, we are looking forward to seeing what i really happening, and like the cast feels Im sure, will be very glad to have it resolved. At some point in the season anyway…..So let the season commence!

  132. Deesensfan:
    Ice Spider,

    Wow!!! You can do it!!!

    I was asking if both will show the premiere at the same time !!

    Oh… sorry for the misunderstanding. Idk presently. I just finished unpacking the car and getting my six year old in bed AND reading and answering the posts here before my self induced GoT frenzy watching begins.

  133. What a great day! My football team, Benfica, just won, and is ahead of the Portuguese league. Now season 6 is about to start! Greatest day of 2016 for me without a doubt!
    Sorry boys and gals, I had to share my happiness 😀

  134. I’m watching episodes 6 through 10 of season five in preparation for the premiere, which I will watch live —It airs here in Spain live, in its original English version (subtitled to Spanish instead of dubbed, thank God —and I hope I can turn off the subtitles). For us it’s 3:00 AM, though! Anyway, I had to skip a few scenes in “The Gift”, but now I’m watching Hardhome and if my calculations are correct I will end exactly a few minutes before the new season premieres 🙂

  135. I’m usually a lurker here, decided to post and join the the hype for the new season!
    I’m all settled in, wearing my Jon Snow shirt and watching Hardhome. Just under 3 hours to go!!!

  136. Deesensfan:
    BigMac,

    Oh good old stittsville! My friend lived there for a bit! Algonquin?

    Yeah, Algonquin! I’m in the Game Development program. I’m really enjoying it! 🙂

  137. Hoyti Von Totiy,

    I honestly think about doing that at least 3 or 4 times a day. That would be great indeed, but then there’s this part of me that thinks, “oh, It was so hard waiting this 9 months, there’s no way I’m waiting another 3″…

  138. Molestown bastard,
    Thanks chuck 😀 I’ve got French (sleeved) fancies and jam tarts. Any sign of a whore, I’ll go for the one of the latter in their honour.

    Firannion,
    Hello you! 😀 We are talking politicians here so I think whichever country you live in it tends to be a question of who’s the least worst 🙁 Boaty McBoatface is a scientific research vessel so good for and facts and figures but possibly not glamour and snappy sound bites. There is also an Australian race horse called Horsey McHorseface so I’m sure there are some race-to-the-top/bottom (depending on how you see it) jokes to be had there. Maybe someone like the Night’s King? No-one is sure what he wants and he might be a bit of a one issue candidate, but he is very enigmatic. When people see him in the flesh they do tend to follow him en mass 😉

    Hodors Bastard,
    Hey HB 😀 I don’t really drink so any GoT drinking games would probably knock me out about halfway through, imagine waiting 10 months and missing it! Sticking to cake although there’s a danger I might get too fat to fit through the door for work on Tuesday. I gained about 5 stone when we had the Is Jon Snow Dead? scoff-fest recently.

  139. Britt Stark:
    I’m usually a lurker here, decided to post and join the the hype for the new season!
    I’m all settled in, wearing my Jon Snow shirt and watching Hardhome.Just under 3 hours to go!!!

    Oh Shite.. I have my WoTW shirt I need to put on.. good gravy so dang tired I forgot about it. Thanks for the reminder!!

  140. Luka Nieto,

    That’s awesome!!! So you’re staying up for it!

    Just finished hardhome. First, I need Jon back. If he doesn’t come back I’ll be so sad and annoyed. And I hope it doesn’t take too long.
    Second, just imagining a battle between the army of the dead and our beloved characters aligning together… It gives me chills. The army of the dead are too crazy

  141. Ice Spider: Yes they are actually showing it on two different channels that come with HBO package.. they are running the episodes in S5 back to back Im assuming till 9:00 tonight. That sucks you guys aren’t able to watch it. I just assumed our Canadian friends got the same packages we got. ;(

    I don’t know if it’s different for different cable providers – I have DirecTV. The marathon is currently on 502 – HB2eHD, and 505 – HB2wHD. The marathon will run until 5:59 PST. Then the new season will begin at 6:00 on 501 – HBOeHD. This channel is the main HBO channel.

    i just wanted to let anyone know in case they needed to record at the last minute.

  142. LOL I was wondering if there would be Open Chat up yet – I should have known. HEY EVERYONE! It’s here … Salsa and chips? Cake? They’re here. Who has the beer?

  143. The latter half of season five flows much better on a binge-watch. So many of those storylines simply are meant to be watched as a sort of big movie. Sansa in Winterfell after the wedding, Arya as Lanna meeting Meryn, Stannis’ march, Jon and Tormund going to Hardhome and facing the consequences when they’re back, Tyrion and Dany… it all flows perfectly as one single piece. As one episode per week, not as much.

    Deesensfan: That’s awesome!!! So you’re staying up for it!

    Sure. I won’t stay up for most episodes, probably. But the premiere, the big battle episode nine, the season finale… Maybe a few others, depending on the hype 🙂

  144. Deesensfan:
    Luka Nieto,

    That’s awesome!!! So you’re staying up for it!

    Just finished hardhome. First, I need Jon back. If he doesn’t come back I’ll be so sad and annoyed. And I hope it doesn’t take too long.
    Second, just imagining a battle between the army of the dead and our beloved characters aligning together… It gives me chills. The army of the dead are too crazy

    Im with you. If Jon doesn’t come back in this season Im going to really be upset. Why even bother with TOJ flashbacks if he’s NOT coming back?

  145. Deesensfan:
    Luka Nieto,

    That’s awesome!!! So you’re staying up for it!

    Just finished hardhome. First, I need Jon back. If he doesn’t come back I’ll be so sad and annoyed. And I hope it doesn’t take too long.
    Second, just imagining a battle between the army of the dead and our beloved characters aligning together… It gives me chills. The army of the dead are too crazy

    He HAS to come back, all of the R+L=J foreshadowing, all that character build up, the stare down between the Night King and Jon, the Tower of Joy this season, why show the Tower of Joy flashback now, and as Bran’s vision?

    He is coming back, he HAS to, and I think he will come back Episode 2, I hope so. I hope they don’t drag it out.

  146. Well,guys!!! This is it!!! Good luck to everyone! Here´s hoping the loooong wait was worth it!!! 😉 🙂

  147. I’ve been going back and forth with my prediction for the episode where Jon will return and I have now officially run out of time. It was between episodes 2 and 3 – I’m calling it – episode 3.

  148. Connor,

    I don’t know what tower of joy is ! Haha

    I know I know – he has to… Just preparing myself for the worst 🙁

  149. MeeraReed: I don’t know if it’s different for different cable providers – I have DirecTV. The marathon is currently on 502 – HB2eHD, and 505 – HB2wHD.The marathon will run until 5:59 PST.Then the new season will begin at 6:00 on 501 – HBOeHD.This channel is the main HBO channel.

    i just wanted to let anyone know in case they needed to record at the last minute.

    Yes those are the channels! Thanks for answering! Im about to sign off and start my binge watching. It has been awesome sharing the late afternoon on here with you all. Enjoy the show. I prob will pop in now and then to see what everyone is saying.

  150. Connor: He is coming back, he HAS to, and I think he will come back Episode 2, I hope so. I hope they don’t drag it out.

    For a long time I assumed it would be the cliffhanger for episode one. Now I’m pretty sure it will be the cliffhanger for episode two or three.

  151. Molestown bastard,
    My comment above was a reply to an earlier post of yours. Oh you *theatrical sigh* well, nevermind. Tbh when it’s just me, Bert and Ernie (the furry ones) I can eat with my fingers and they can hoover up the crumbs. No need to pretend to be polite and well mannered when it’s just me in my pjs watching tv at 2am. Sadly have to have the sound on really low but the cake is useful to shove in my mouth rather than scream at the telly and have the suddenly woken neighbours calling the police 😀

  152. I just opened the new Seven Kingdoms Ommegang Beer and poured into my Stark pint glass. Good stuff. My drink for tonight and every episode. I will need because I am freaked out what is going to happen. No books to rely on.It is just like when I watched the first 2 seasons Unsullied.

    I am watching Hardhome right now. I am at the part when they shut the gates and the battle begins. It still holds up. The suspense of waiting for them to attack the gate. Amazing. Like a horror movie. I love it. Sorry. I am just so excited.

  153. Deesensfan:
    Connor,

    I don’t know what tower of joy is ! Haha

    I know I know – he has to… Just preparing myself for the worst

    Ohh, okay, well I won’t spoil it for you. You’ll see this season 😉

  154. Angela: Seven Kingdoms Ommegang Beer

    How intensedly hoppy is it? I’m not really an IPA fan, but had to have my ritual drink for the premiere.

  155. Hoyti Von Totiy,

    I’ve been listening to great music from you and other fans this night, but it was the best to listen to Rammstein, whom I simply adore. Their concert I went to years ago was one of the most amazing nights of my life. Thank you for Rammstein!

  156. I’m still hoping our 3 favorite orphans (Dany, Tyrion, Jon) have a United/larger role to play in the future! Remember, the LORD OF LIGHT requires sacrifice to ensure victory, so anticipating lots of death and unification!!

  157. This is my contribution to the musical theme of the first episode. But more about the Red Woman’s crisis of faith to the Lord of Light

  158. Firannion: How intensedly hoppy is it?I’m not really an IPA fan, but had to have my ritual drink for the premiere.

    I know. I am not a wheat ale fan but it is for the new season. It is a little on the hoppy side but everyone is different. It is not a bad beer though and not overwhelmingly hoppy to me. Try it. The worst thing that will happen is that you don’t like it. Then don’t buy it again. I think the Three Eye Raven is still being sold. I even got Take the Black Stout at Whole Foods.

  159. Paul:
    First post, staying up to watch in the UK. Fantastic site here been lurking since day 1

    Welcome and glad to see you “posting” for the first time. Enjoy!!

  160. Thronetender,

    Sadly, I can’t drink tonight. The only nights I can ever drink are Friday or Saturday. On the bright side, I can indulge in certain combustible herbs (after which, I will be raiding Lulu’s Mum’s cake stash). I’d be happy to share. 🙂

  161. Watching Hardhome on one of the HBO channels right now. Styr the Thenn just said “There are stories of ice spiders big as hounds …” That’s the second time those ice spiders were mentioned; the first time was by Old Nan in season 1. Luka, would the promise of ice spiders be enough to keep you up when the time comes?

  162. oh I found Ommegang 3 eyed raven at my local liquor store. Naturally I bought the remaining 4 in stock

  163. Nymeria Warrior Queen: On the bright side, I can indulge in certain combustible herbs (after which, I will be raiding Lulu’s Mum’s cake stash). I’d be happy to share

    🙂 I knew I could count on you, Queen. Glad to see you!

    Damn, I wish they would have shown Hardhome on IMAX this year –

    There must be a load of people on here already; for the first time in months it’s taking a long time to load the comments, even with the new server. They might need an even bigger server before this year ends. GET HYPE – I GOT IT

  164. I may have to skip a scene in S5ep09

    It’s hard to watch

    But maybe I won’t – to get the emotions going again.

  165. Lulus Mum: any GoT drinking games would probably knock me out about halfway through,

    Hey to you as well! Have a good viewing. Ser Pounce (R’hllor is disguise) says hi but your monthly sacrifice is late. I guarantee you would not nod off during our viewing! Too much chortling, hissing, giggling and shrieking going on for that. 🙂

  166. I’m lucky enough to be able to work from home tomorrow morning, so I’m staying up for the premiere! Can’t wait 😀

  167. Hbo has changed the red woman synopsis as of 20 mins ago. Look at hbo new synopsis on channel 501 in the states.

  168. For those of us in Hawaii, any idea on the start time? Getting conflicting listing from HBO and cable channel – either 6:00 or 3:00 HST.

  169. Damn. I can’t seem to find a decent version of Hendrix’s Fire on youtube, but for those of you familiar with Hendrix, that’s my song for the episode.

  170. Jack Bauer 24,

    Big fan! Loved seeing those two at the premier!

    I’m torn on how Thorne should go. Although I’d like to see both he and Ollie leave us as quickly as possibly, I’d also like to see Thorne face the Others and gain some insight on what the Wildlings were dealing with and why they needed to get south of the Wall.

  171. Deesensfan,
    You’re in Canada aren’t you? I hope I’m allowed to say this and it’s not in any way a spoiler for the show’s content but apparently in Manitoba the show was accidentally available online about two days ago, only for about an hour, but some people saw it and have posted descriptions. I accidentally clicked on a link to some very spoilery screen shots but they were from a different source. Someone from the company that does subtitles apparently gave a copy to a ‘friend’ who posted them to prove they had seen it.

    Mods please delete this post if you think it is inappropriate. I am really sorry if it is, it is absolutely not my intention to spoil anyone but I know you are trying to discourage talking about the leaks. I assume you mean the actual content, but if it’s the sources as well please accept my sincere apologies and delete this 🙁

  172. Nymeria Warrior Queen,

    I was JUST looking for that. The stockholm 1969 was pretty lame. (I think he was done with Noel by that point)

    The version of Red House, from the same show- I’m currently watching it- is great.

  173. My contribution to the Red Woman theme. I think it works 🙂

    Edit: Not sure how you embed the image/video here…

  174. jhd

    3pm

    HBO wants everyone sat down at the same time to watch premier so there is no area on Earth (possibly Universe) where it is seen before somewhere else. So if not on US east coast one has to do time zone maths equivellant to 9pm EST.

  175. Hello, Everyone! So excited! Spent the day enjoying some sunshine here in Chicago–and the big Blackhawks win last night. Paying some bills, checking in here and having some dinner, just trying to kill these last few hours before IT BEGINS!! Sooooo glad to have you all to share this with as the hubby is not an obsessive type…thinks I’m Stark raving mad (pun intended)! 😉

    I hope that you all enjoy every single moment as it has been a very long wait. Check in with you all Monday afternoon!

    <3

  176. Paul,

    Welcome to the Wall!!! 🙂

    Thronetender,

    Glad to see you, as well.
    I’m happy to see the names of so many folks who’ve stopped by.

    Just about 2 hours to go.
    Just typing that made my heart beat a bit faster.
    I’m such a dork…hahaha.

  177. Deesensfan,

    I don’t want to make you sad, you’re such a positive person… but I think Jon will be resurrecter in episode 2. Just be prepared not to be disappointed later!

  178. Thronetender and Nymeria Warrior Queen
    Hey you two! I’ve been waving at people so much today I think my hands are going to fall off. Great to see so many of us here at once, I’d forgotten what it’s like. I have fizzy drinks, crisps and cake in my stash but everyone is welcome to help themselves 😀 Might get a few free cat hairs too! I’m already totally over excited/nervous and am about to ingest loads of sugar, gonna be bouncing off the walls all night.

    StarkSquad
    Meeeee! I’m in the middle near Victoria. Two hours to go. Squeeeeeee 😀

  179. Deesensfan: It’s hard to watch

    I’ve watched the episode several times; I skip it too, but not before a deluge of obscenities at Mel, Stannis and Selyse – relaying their fates and promising Mel forgiveness of sorts if she can manage to raise Jon Snow. If not her, then who, what, HOW? Yep, I’m hyped …

  180. Lulus Mum:
    Hellooooooo everyone *still waving like a crazy thing* European night shift clocking on. Show is 2am here in the UK so I took tomorrow off to join in with the rest of you ? I’m expecting Molestown bastard (fellow UKer) and Shy Lady Dragon (Romania) to drop by later too.

    Woohoo! I’m glad you and Spidey will be around tonight, Lulu! I hope that Nymeria will stick around but her post sounded like Hello, Goodbye, and I hope many of the other ladies will be popping in, too.

  181. I hope Kristian Nairn’s been weight training during his year off. According to Nairn, Isaac’s grown a lot, apparently he’s 6′ tall now. Lugging Bran around is not going to be easy.

  182. Bex:
    Ice Spider,

    I would suggest Meetup and Facebook as two options, personally!

    I run a Game of Thrones one for DC (http://www.meetup.com/DC-Game-of-Thrones-ASOIAF-Meetup/) and it’s very easy to schedule events, especially if you join other people’s groups. People seem to like Facebook in general.

    I will try the meetup. I have never heard of it but will research it. Most of my Facebook friends are my hometown or college friends so I don’t have many to choose from for Tampa area. But thanks for the info appreciate it.

  183. jhd,

    I’m on the west coast, and it’s starting at 6pm here. Hawaii is currently 3 hours behind the west coast, so I’d say 3pm start time for you is a pretty safe bet.

    Sister Kisser,

    Ooooo…nice. Thanks!

  184. Just experienced Hardhome in Blu-Ray quality. Wow. Now I’m on The Dance of Dragons, and Jon is returning to Castle Black with the wildlings. Such a good scene. You can see the conflict in Alliser’s eyes. “Do I let him in? Do I let the wildlings in?” He’s stuck between the Lord Commander’s orders and the Night’s Watch oath he believes he’s breaking. You can almost see his heart breaking when he tells the men to open the gates. I believe that, from that moment forwards (but not before), Alliser didn’t need much to tip him over the edge and justify the murder of Jon as the execution of a traitor. Maybe Alliser and the others were already planning the murder when Melisandre arrived with the news of Stannis’ defeat, or perhaps they made the decision just then, when they realized Jon Snow was at long last alone and friendless in the world. Whatever the case, Jon was doomed to die and Ser Alliser was doomed to betray his Lord Commander from the moment that Thorne was forced to open the gate for Jon and the wildlings.

  185. 2 hrs 50 min to go and I’m a lucky one. We’ve got the GoT Marathon on HBO2 going right now and it will take me right up to premiere time.

    So hyped that it’s finally here!!!

  186. Lulus Mum,

    Hello to you, lovely!!! Seriously, some of the names I’m seeing post are making me so happy, and I’d list them, but I know I’d inadvertently leave out someone. You’re so kind to share your munchies!!! I wonder if Henry Gordon will be by with some of his grandma’s brownies?!?

    Ginevra,

    Oh, I’ll be around. I won’t post during the episode, ’cause it will have my undivided attention, but otherwise, y’all are kinda stuck with me.

    Thronetender,

    Yep. What a wonderful sea it is!!!

  187. Hello and welcome to all the new people too. That’s it I’m going to shut up and calm down now for a bit *yeah right! everyone else*

  188. My friends and I have taken gentlemen s bets on the number of Deaths and Boobs we see tonight.

    I have 4 deaths
    3 Boob shots
    and an OH MY

    I feel i might be low on the death count but had to go low on E1 and known dead didnt count or any Zombies.

    On friend said his son went with 20 boobs, man to be 17 again lol you know whats on his mind.

    Making GOT themed snacks for tonight, Elk Jalapeno Poppers, Blackened Fish (trout) Lemon meringue pie and some Local brewed Ale.

  189. Lulus Mum:
    Ginevra,
    Simon and Garfunkel …. As has been mentioned the title for ep2 apparently appears on some listings as “Homeward Bound” rather then “Home”, although I think Sue said that was the title of an episode of some other show that’s on around the same time so it might just be an admin error. I only know their more famous singles so did a bit of googling.

    I actually think that “Homeward Bound” was originally the title of Episode 2 and not a typo, and later renamed simply “Home,” but I had no idea that HB was a S&G song! I Googled, and I’m pretty sure I have heard it. I’m saving the others you’ve mentioned to Google later and give a listen. They do sound quite relevant.

  190. Ginevra: Woohoo!I’m glad you and Spidey will be around tonight, Lulu!I hope that Nymeria will stick around but her post sounded like Hello, Goodbye, and I hope many of the other ladies will be popping in, too.

    I will be here off and on.. trying to watch episode 9 & 10 Before 9:00 but I keep stopping the shows to read posts here and its making me fall behind. LOVE hearing from you and everyone else. So awesome to check in and see all the familiar names! Love this site.

  191. Deesensfan,

    I think Owen Teale does a fantastic job at portraying the conflict in Alliser’s character. He’s truly a man of the Night’s Watch. In that scene, it’s all in his eyes. He’s twitching, it almost looks like he’s about to explode. The contradiction is too much for him. Jon is his Lord Commander, so he must obey him; yet, as he sees it, what Jon is doing is increasingly approaching treason. He probably hoped for Jon to die in Hardhome so that he didn’t have to deal with this conflict at all… but Jon came back, at the head of thousands of wildlings. What to do? In front of the men of the Night’s Watch, no less! In a way, it was no choice at all: He had to obey and open the gates… but doing so broke him, I believe. It doomed him as a murderer and Jon as a dead man. And Teale portrays that breaking point beautifully! Such an interesting character on the show.

  192. Ginevra,

    “Homeward Bound” was the title of the “Girls” episode that aired a week before its finale week, so like 2 weeks ago. I think it was a clerical error because we have “Home” for GoT ep 2 everywhere else like the actual HBO schedule, and because “Homeward Bound” is a modern reference, synonymous with the S&G song. The phrase doesn’t appear anywhere in the books, and oddly the word “homeward” isn’t even in the books. And it seems unlikely we would have two identical episode titles on two HBO shows is a very close amount of time.

    Given that the network drones probably submitted all that info around the same time, to me the simplest solution is, data entry error.

  193. Not exactly GoT-related, but a great song by a great songwriter, imagining a conversation between Fire himself personified and the most famous medieval person burned at the stake (who also happens to have a lot in common with Brienne of Tarth).

  194. Sorry Dorne fans. I have to fast forward the scenes. They are just not up to par for me. IDK why but they just bore me to death.

  195. andy,

    I was about to ask if 6″ and 5″10′ wasn’t the same thing, but then I remembered your system isn’t decimal at all. Such craziness.

  196. Ginevra,
    I got most of those titles from wikipedia, I only know their famous singles and the songs my parents used to play in the car. You may have heard The Boxer, America and Mrs Robinson (from the film The Graduate) which are some of the few that wouldn’t make good titles. Well not that we know of, perhaps Mrs Robinson is actually the Night’s King’s real name or something! 😉

    For anyone wondering what happened to “shut up for a bit”? I managed a whole 2 minutes or so! 😀

  197. ash,

    I do, Ash, but I have a kid and that’s Sunday dinner in our house. I’m going to have to go internet silent until I can get him to bed, so I’m aiming for 9 if not before. Wish me luck.

  198. This is so exciting! I didn’t post much the last few months but I came on WOTW.com everyday and I read all the news. I’m so excited for season 6!

    I wish you all a great moment watching episode 1 in 1 hour and 26 minutes! In my country I’ll watch it tomorow. I’m going to bed now as if it was Christmas eve, tomorrow I’ll avoid the news (and this website) until I can watch it!

    OMG!!

  199. Bex,

    Oh duh, Meetup would be perfect! Its a fun place to check out if you are looking for groups in your area with specific interests Wonder if there is one where I live. I am in a couple of book groups from Meetup;

  200. Lulus Mum,

    Lol I was a bit disappointed I couldn’t the GOT beer so I went upmarket and bought some nice Mexican beer and m&ms to keep me awake, should have had a kip though

  201. Moka:
    This is so exciting! I didn’t post much the last few months but I came on WOTW.com everyday and I read all the news. I’m so excited for season 6!

    I wish you all a great moment watching episode 1 in 1 hour and 26 minutes! In my country I’ll watch it tomorow. I’m going to bed now as if it was christmas eve, tomorrow I’ll avoid the news (and this website) until I can watch it!

    OMGGGGG.

    No way could I avoid the internet for a whole day while I knew the buzz was going on about what happens tonight. My gosh my hats off to you folks for being able to do that.

  202. I went for a long run in the glorious sunshine to consume an hour and a half and to recharge before the premiere. The whole time, I was silently praying to the Many-Faced God “Don’t get hit by a car. Don’t let a tree branch fall on me. Don’t trip and break something. Not today, not today, not today.” I was hugging the side of the road much tighter than I usually do.

    He must have been listening, because I made it back fine. Of course, while I’m nice and refreshed, the endeavor wasn’t entirely successful. I’m still too damn excited. I’m practically bouncing off the walls. 😉

    I’m ready to settle in with a few cold beers for my favorite three-and-a-half hour block of TV out there. Game of Thrones at 9:00. Then Silicon Valley and Veep for some palate-cleansing laughter after what’s likely to be a dark hour. Then Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. Then the re-run of Game of Thrones again at 11:30. There’s nothing better!

    I probably won’t post any comments here until after that second viewing. I like to watch the episode twice before I try to articulate any in-depth feelings about it, otherwise I’d just ramble about how awesome everything was. Of course, that might be fun too. I guess we’ll see!

    We made it, everyone! Season 6 is finally here. Let’s revel in every moment! 🙂

    Luka Nieto,

    Exactly. Owen Teale does a lot of excellent silent acting in that scene – you can see the surprise, the anger, the conflict all burning beneath his eyes as he struggles to decide what to do. Well said!

  203. Honestly I’ve never been so excited for a TV show before. Season 6 has been on my mind everyday for the last 10 months. I feel like the kid I once was when I waited for the next Harry Potter movie. God this is so exciting.

  204. Ice Spider: I will try the meetup. I have never heard of it but will research it. Most of my Facebook friends are my hometown or college friends so I don’t have many to choose from for Tampa area. But thanks for the info appreciate it.

    We could go in the forums sometime and all share our Skype info and Skype-watch an episode together. That may be too cheesy, but some of my spread-around-the-globe Harry Potter friends and I have watched things like Lost and Sherlock together that way.

  205. Deesensfan,

    Oh, he’s dead all right, but he won’t stay dead. Unfortunately we can’t expect Mel or anyone else winking to us viewers (breaking the 4th wall) a “don’t worry, I/ she / somebody else will manage next time” kind of wink.

  206. Lulus Mum,

    I remember the party hats is what I was supposed to bring I’m useless lol. Can’t believe we are finally here and in one hour we are going to be watching it!!!!

  207. ash,

    If it’s any consolation, the talk of S&G has made it such that 59th St Bridge Song is going through my head…’cause, yep, you guessed it, I’m feelin’ groovy.

  208. Nymeria Warrior Queen:

    Ginevra,

    Oh, I’ll be around.I won’t post during the episode, ’cause it will have my undivided attention, but otherwise, y’all are kinda stuck with me.

    Yay! That’s generally my philosophy, too. I sometimes read and watch but rarely do I post and watch.

  209. Lyanna_Targaryen,

    Oh I knew about you 🙂 Need to find out where madera is from – we should plan a GOT watch night this season! I think Patsy is also from here, out in the west valley, but haven’t seen her lately.

    I lucked out – my family was going to have seder tonight, but ended up having it yesterday. I like to pretend it was because I wanted to watch GOT but I know better!

  210. Ginevra: We could go in the forums sometime and all share our Skype info and Skype-watch an episode together.That may be too cheesy, but some of my spread-around-the-globe Harry Potter friends and I have watched things like Lost and Sherlock together that way.

    Nothing is too cheesy when it comes to GoT. I would be game. I haven’t Skyped in so long bc of IPhone FaceTime but I will download again. Let me get past this week. Email me [email protected].

  211. I am on the finale. It will end about 10 minutes before the premiere. Enough time to get snacks and another glass of beer.

  212. Here it is. “Mother’s Mercy”. Stannis marches onto Winterfell after all his family’s tragic death and the desertion of half his army and Melisandre. Jon and Sam talk for one last time. And 55 minutes remain. Then… I’ll have to wait 10 minutes and on we go to “The Red Woman”!

    Angela,

    We’re synchronized!

  213. Ginevra,

    Sorry meant to say email me and we can try for next week. My mind is not working so great on lack of sleep and nervous energy waiting on this show to start.

  214. Sue the Fury:
    Ginevra,

    “Homeward Bound” was the title of the “Girls” episode that aired a week before its finale week, so like 2 weeks ago. I think it was a clerical error because we have “Home” for GoT ep 2 everywhere else like the actual HBO schedule, and because “Homeward Bound” is a modern reference, synonymous with the S&G song. The phrase doesn’t appear anywhere in the books, and oddly the word “homeward” isn’t even in the books. And it seems unlikely we would have two identical episode titles on two HBO shows is a very close amount of time.

    Given that the network drones probably submitted all that info around the same time, to me the simplest solution is, data entry error.

    If it happened at the HBO network level, I suppose that typo could have trickled down to other cable and show distributors as well as Google. I suppose we may never know for certain, but knowing that they do change their minds on titles I like to speculate that it might not be data entry. I could well be wrong, as I often am.

  215. Did anybody else raise an eyebrow when their Directv synopsis said “Jon snows fate is revealed” instead of “Jon snow is dead”? Otherwise it’s the same as the synopsis listed here with dany and the strong man and cersei and her daughter………

  216. Nymeria Warrior Queen,

    Nice to “see” you, Queen Nym! Well, we weren’t exactly worthy of Henry Gordon’s exquisite recipes. There has been no 1000 comments thread after we got the brownies know how. He was preparing another recipe for us but that thread (I don’t remember precisely which) stopped at 700-800 🙁

  217. Mustangride: On friend said his son went with 20 boobs, man to be 17 again lol you know whats on his mind.

    Lol, not 17, not these days – but 29 again with experience – that could be a happy thing. Sigh. Um, is that 20 single boobs or 20 pairs?

  218. Lulus Mum:
    Ginevra,
    I got most of those titles from wikipedia, I only know their famous singles and the songs my parents used to play in the car. You may have heard The Boxer, America and Mrs Robinson (from the film The Graduate) which are some of the few that wouldn’t make good titles. Well not that we know of, perhaps Mrs Robinson is actually the Night’s King’s real name or something! ?

    For anyone wondering what happened to “shut up for a bit”? I managed a whole 2 minutes or so! ?

    When I saw the S&G titles behind your spoiler code, many of those were awesomely familiar, and I love, love, love some cu-cu-cachoo (I have a friend who had a real-life Mrs. Robinson!). Love The Boxer!! Quintessential S&G, innit?

  219. 1 hour, people!!! Eeeee!! I’m nervously excited, my hands are clammy. Finally, after 10 months, we’ll start getting answers. Squeeee!!

  220. Angela,

    Don’t forget to leave time to pee. 😉

    In fact…

    The following is a Public Service Announcement

    In preparation for the season 6 premiere, please, in your excitement, don’t forget to visit the lavatory.

    Remember: Empty bladders make for a more enjoyable viewing experience.

  221. Time for #TeamStark to start ranting and raving. Knights of Sansa …..Arriving! #GameofThrones

    The North Remembers!!

  222. ash:
    Ginevra,

    Wow,feeling really old right about now….. ?

    Sorry. I love classic rock, especially the 60s and 70s, but I only caught the latter part of the 70s while it was happening. And I’ve never been good with remembering titles unless they are repeated a lot in the song.

    –Ginevra, circa 1973

  223. Nymeria Warrior Queen:
    Angela,

    Don’t forget to leave time to pee.

    In fact…

    The following is a Public Service Announcement

    In preparation for the season 6 premiere, please, in your excitement, don’t forget to visit the lavatory.

    Remember: Empty bladders make for a more enjoyable viewing experience.

    That will also happen in that 10 minute window. Sorry I didn’t name peeing as one of the things I do will do after the finale. I thought it was TMI but no one minds right? I am having a bathroom break too. Snack, bathroom, and more beer.

    I agree. Everyone please do this so you do not have to do the most horrible thing in the world…… Getting up in the middle of the show and going pee.

  224. When do the new episodes show up on HBO Now, after it airs or at the same time? I’m thinking of signing up do I can watch this season.

  225. Luka Nieto:
    Here it is. “Mother’s Mercy”. Stannis marches onto Winterfell after all his family’s tragic death and the desertion of half his army and Melisandre. Jon and Sam talk for one last time. And 55 minutes remain. Then… I’ll have to wait 10 minutes and on we go to “The Red Woman”!

    Stannis was having a JOB moment when he was told all the bad news.

  226. Shy Lady Dragon,

    Ah, but the fact there have been no other 1000 post threads just goes to show how special we are, thus worthy of his magic recipes. 🙂

    I think the thread you mentioned may have been the one after the first trailer came out. We were on track to reach 1,000 posts, but then analysis article went up, and we all migrated to it.

    Ah well, there will be another 1,000 post thread someday, and perhaps he will grace us with more yumminess.

  227. Angela: That will also happen in that 10 minute window. Sorry I didn’t name peeing as one of the things I do will do after the finale. I thought it was TMI but no one minds right? I am having a bathroom break too. Snack, bathroom, and more beer.

    I agree. Everyone please do this so you do not have to do the most horrible thing in the world…… Getting up in the middle of the show and going pee.

    LMAO.. thanks for that piece of advice. I was not even thinking of having to do that. Too excited and I would be so mad doing the pee pee dance for any length of time. I for one will thank you in advance.

  228. Jared: Not today, not today, not today.” I was hugging the side of the road much tighter than I usually do.

    Syrio Forel would be proud. I will be happy to read anything you post, whenever you post it.

    By the old gods and the new, I wish all of you peace in your kingdoms during all airings, and hopes that you have rewind capabilities in case you Have to pee during the episodes. I’m settling in now, watching Stannis best two soldiers then settle against the tree, awaiting his fate. See you later!

  229. West of Moon:
    When do the new episodes show up on HBO Now, after it airs or at the same time? I’m thinking of signing up do I can watch this season.

    GO has the episode up usually around 8:57 like 3 minutes early. NOW is the same I believe.

  230. Just watched Brienne off Stannis.

    She is delusional. (and I quite like Brienne) How was Renly the rightful king of the andals, in whose name she passed the sentence?

    FUCK. I thought I had chilled out a bit. AMPED!!!

  231. Ice Spider: LMAO.. thanks for that piece of advice. I was not even thinking of having to do that. Too excited and I would be so mad doing the pee pee dance for any length of time. I for one will thank you in advance.

    You’re welcome. Nymeria Warrior Queen and I are trying to make sure everyone has a good premiere. You get so excited that you forget things.

  232. Connor:
    One of the saddest things is that we won’t see Jon and Sam together anymore

    I wouldn’t be so sure about that. Sam will definately not become a maester so soon, so hi role is to find out something, maybe a dictionary of Whitewalkerish ? So he could then be on parlay with Jon and Night’s King, I think it’s a great role for Sam.

  233. I pray to the Old Gods and the New that HBO GO doesn’t overload from the strain of all the people logging on at 6pm. Or else I’ll have to watch the premiere in SD. UGH.

    Connor:
    Smiling like a mad idiot right now, less than 1 hour to go!!!

    Me too! 😀

  234. Ginevra,

    hee I understand. Im that way with books; I can remember titles but forget author names, which means Im very well loved at my local bookstore…. 🙂

  235. Can someone please explain why the White Walkers (or the other’s for that matter) did not follow into the water? I guess I don’t understand that part?

  236. Guess who else is excited for this season premiere? My almost 80 year old step-father. We spoke today, and it came up in the conversation. 🙂

  237. Sister Kisser: She is delusional. (and I quite like Brienne) How was Renly the rightful king of the andals, in whose name she passed the sentence?

    How was Stannis the rightful king? If Stannis truly was all about rights, he would’ve fought to put Dany on the throne. Actually, he would’ve never betrayed Aerys in the first place, fighting against Robert in the rebellion. The Targaryens are the rightful kings after all… Why? Because they came and conquered it all. Not unlike Robert. Not unlike Renly, if he had won. Not unlike Stannis.

  238. Ice Spider,

    The Night’s King was making a wordless point, I think it’s quite clear. “We’re coming”. The message doesn’t get sent at all if they kill them all.

  239. Angela: You’re welcome. Nymeria Warrior Queen and I are trying to make sure everyone has a good premiere. You get so excited that you forget things.

    😉

  240. Luka Nieto:
    Ice Spider,

    The Night’s King was making a wordless point, I think it’s quite clear. “We’re coming”. The message doesn’t get sent at all if they kill them all.

    Okie.. thanks. I guess Im not so good at war tactics. I wasn’t thinking of him sending any “message”. But that works for me!!!

  241. Luka Nieto,

    Well, not Dany, but Viserys…. if Viserys dies guess what? the next male in line is Stannis, Targaryen women aren’t allowed to inherit while there are still male relatives.

  242. Ice Spider:
    Can someone please explain why the White Walkers (or the other’s for that matter) did not follow into the water? I guess I don’t understand that part?

    Maybe letting him go to tell everyone how screwed they are. I think it was a psych out moment. I think they see humans as bugs basically and letting them go was not a big deal. Like, run along friend, tell your puny human friends we are marching South.

  243. Does anyone else think that they’re gonna add ice spiders to the show?

    Would be awesome, I want to see a Wight Bear too!

  244. Vlad,

    That’s not how it works. The king’s daughter comes before a distant relative. Dany comes before Stannis. Stannis didn’t fight for Dany (or Viserys) because Robert came and fucked up the Targaryen dynasty and Stannis (after some consideration, I’m sure) helped him instead of fighting for Aerys. He really doesn’t have a leg to stand on in regards to rights to the Iron Throne.

  245. Lol.. ok pee break and then Im gone for the rest of the night.. ENJOY EVERYONE …so awesome to talk to you all and read everyone’s posts. So much fun. Thanks WoTW mods for a great site and all the fun keeping us from boredom during off season.

  246. Ice Spider,

    I was wondering as well. It seems that the wight retains some of their memories that’s why the wight that got inside the watch specifically targeted lord commander mormont. Surprisingly, they did not seem to remember anything about swimming or ridding a boat or ship. Are the wight and white walkers scared of water as well?

  247. Ice Spider,

    Ice Spider:
    Can someone please explain why the White Walkers (or the other’s for that matter) did not follow into the water? I guess I don’t understand that part?

    To my mind, the ending of Hardhome is like an amplified version of the ending of the introduction to the very first episode, where the White Walker throws a Night’s Watchman’s head at Will before, evidently, allowing Will to flee. In both cases, it looks as though the White Walkers are deliberately attempting to send a message.

  248. Ice Spider:
    Can someone please explain why the White Walkers (or the other’s for that matter) did not follow into the water? I guess I don’t understand that part?

    Maybe the WW/Others are made of Ice Nine like in Vonnegut’s ‘Cat’s Cradle,’ and if they got into the water the entire planet would freeze solid in a matter of seconds?

    As for why wights don’t go in the water, I am reminded of a tasteless joke:

    Q: What do you call a leper (or person with greyscale) in a Jacuzzi?

    A: Stew.

  249. darkdadi:
    Ice Spider,

    I was wondering as well. It seems that the wight retains some of their memories that’s why the wight that got inside the watch specifically targeted lord commander mormont. Surprisingly, they did not seem to remember anything about swimming or ridding a boat or ship. Are the wight and white walkers scared of water as well?

    It is a book spoiler. So if you want to stay Unsullied do not click but here is sort of an answer:

    in ADWD we find out from Cotter Pyke, I think, about the aftermath of Hardhome. He writes a letter that says they saw “things in the water.” when they went to check out what happened there. We don’t the exact events in the books. So no. I don’t think they are afraid of water.
  250. Luka Nieto,
    No man, not when it comes to Targaryens, not after the War of Dragons. In any other noble family a daughter comes before any other relative except a brother, including uncles, cousins and so on. But for Targaryens is different and weird, they took out completely women from the lineage…. any man, no matter how far comes before a woman. That’s how big was the hate during that war. Of course, we’re talking in theory. So, a distant cousin does inherit before a daughter …. but Stannis, while being a cousin is not named Targaryen, so that creates problem…. by law the throne is his, but without a royal decree, or a grand council it would be disputed. Anyway, it’s far from clear who would be in the right. This on the Targaryen line. But they lost the throne, they’re done… by right of conquest the throne belongs to the Baratheons now, something that’s been accepted by all the nobles of Westeros. They all swore fealty to House Baratheon… and the next heir to Robert if his children are bastards is again Stannis.

  251. darkdadi:
    Ice Spider,

    I was wondering as well. It seems that the wight retains some of their memories that’s why the wight that got inside the watch specifically targeted lord commander mormont. Surprisingly, they did not seem to remember anything about swimming or ridding a boat or ship. Are the wight and white walkers scared of water as well?

    I don’t know. It seems as if the explanation is that they are sending a message to the people of Westeros. So perhaps not afraid of water. Just not the time to go swimming.

  252. Luka Nieto,

    I didn’t suggest that Stannis was the rightful king. I’m asking why Brienne considered Renly to be the rightful king.

    I get it. Nobody is the rightful king, by your logic. But by law, Renly had no claim. For Brienne to invoke that title while passing the sentence seems absurd.

  253. ash,

    Hahaha…yes, turn off the phones.

    So, let’s see…pre-premiere check list:

    – Get beverage of choice.
    – Get any snacks one may desire and place them in a location you can access them without having to take your eyes off the screen.
    – Turn off cellphones, or for those who still have landlines, ringers.
    – Feed animals, if you have any. You just know they’ll decide they’re hungry while you’re watching, and if you’re at all like me, that’s really difficult to ignore.
    – Pee.

    Am I forgetting anything?

  254. Sister Kisser,

    She has explained her point of view multiple times. She believes Renly to be the rightful king because she believes he would’ve been a good king. She believes his capacity for the role, not just his name, gave him the right to rule. Which is a far more enlightened perspective than Stannis’, honestly.

    Vlad,

    My point stands, doesn’t it? Right of conquest is just an excuse. So, let’s say Renly wins the war… He won, ergo he is the rightful king. Isn’t that neat!

  255. Ice Spider,

    Because WW are intelligent creatures and they didn’t want to rush things just to catch a few more hundred Wildlings. They know what they want and there is no hurry for them to get it. Otherwise they would have attacked already… Hardhome was a message and that was the meaning of the Nights King raising the dead.

  256. Firannion: Maybe the WW/Others are made of Ice Nine like in Vonnegut’s ‘Cat’s Cradle,’ and if they got into the water the entire planet would freeze solid in a matter of seconds?

    As for why wights don’t go in the water, I am reminded of a tasteless joke:

    Q: What do you call a leper (or person with greyscale) in a Jacuzzi?

    A: Stew.

    I wil have to google that. Im afraid I don’t know “Cat’s Cradle”. But that is interesting thought. Stew that is. Lol.. 😉

  257. dothrakian raven:
    Ice Spider,

    Because WW are intelligent creatures and they didn’t want to rush things just to catch a few more hundred Wildlings. They know what they want and there is no hurry for them to get it. Otherwise they would have attacked already… Hardhome was a message and that was the meaning of the Nights King raising the dead.

    Okie.. got it Thanks so much.

  258. Ice Spider: Ok. Thanks

    You’re welcome. I try not to spoil people who did not read the books. That is why it is in spoiler tags with a warning but I did answer try to the question.

  259. I am supposed to be working – Sunday nights are writing deadline time for me – but I can’t settle to work! Guess it’ll be another all-nighter for me. Time to go make some popcorn and pour a tall glass of Ommegang Seven Kingdoms. Enjoy, everyone!

  260. Nymeria Warrior Queen:
    ash,

    Hahaha…yes, turn off the phones.

    So, let’s see…pre-premiere check list:

    – Get beverage of choice.
    – Get any snacks one may desire and place them in a location you can access them without having to take your eyes off the screen.
    – Turn off cellphones, or for those who still have landlines, ringers.
    – Feed animals, if you have any.You just know they’ll decide they’re hungry while you’re watching, and if you’re at all like me, that’s really difficult to ignore.
    – Pee.

    Am I forgetting anything?

    Yeah, be quiet while watching with someone else!

  261. Luka Nieto,

    Luka, I am not in the Stannis camp. I’m not arguing his case. I’m saying it’s absurd for Brienne to use “In the name of Renly baratheon, first of his name, rightful king of the andals, etc…” as she passes her death sentence on Stannis. You say she’s justified because she “believes he would be a good king?” She may have been right in her belief, but that does not justify invoking such claim. It just seems ridiculous to me.

  262. Episode over! I guess fastforwarding the Previously On and the credits shaved off an extra 5 minutes. Woo Hoo! Onto my break.

    Change the channel to HBO
    Finish up dinner
    Pee
    Snack
    Refill my beer glass

  263. Sister Kisser,

    That’s so cool!
    I suggested the books to him, but he watches the show with his lady friend, and he said he didn’t want to have more information than she…which I thought was really sweet.

  264. Sister Kisser,

    And I’m not saying I agree with Brienne, necessarily. I agree with her on principle, but not that Renly would’ve been a great king. What principle? Well, you really cannot see why she would say what she says, considering the believes she has so far shown to have? She supported Renly, she believed he was the rightful king —a right given not by being the eldest brother, but by what she thought was his capacity to rule. A right nonetheless, in her view! Is that so “absurd”, honestly? That’s how most things worked, even back then, and more so today… A right to the position by merit, not (just) blood.

  265. If there is something that stays from Mother’s Mercy is the incredible performances by Stephen Dillane and Lena Headey… And everytime I watch Stannis last scene I can’t help laughing. It is maybe the most tragicomedic death of all the protagonists who died… And Brienne’s moment of hesitation what a great piece of acting by both of them…

  266. “The Red Woman” should be up on GO in about 10 minutes! Enjoy the premiere everyone!

  267. Ice Spider,

    I have to complete my check list, but this is important enough I don’t want to leave it until after the episode and possibly forget…

    Cat’s Cradle is an absolute must-read. I think all Vonnegut is, but if a person only ever reads on of his novels in their lives, I think it should be Cat’s Cradle.

    Since there’s only about 10 minutes left (OMG!!!OMG!!!OMG!!!), I may not make it back before it starts, so everyone enjoy the episode, and I’ll see y’all on the flip-side.

  268. Molestown bastard,
    The feathery helmet is hat enough for all of us I reckon. There’s no way anything else can compete! 😀

    Angela,
    Breathe! Don’t forget that, it’s easy when you’re anticipating something.

    10 mins to go. Sky are running S5 ep10 now. Walk of shame is just finishing, hello Ser FrankenMountain 😀 Oh no Davos’s face when he hears about Shireen. Just been hit by the feels. Oh f*** here comes Olly 🙁

  269. Lulus Mum:
    Molestown bastard,
    The feathery helmet is hat enough for all of us I reckon. There’s no way anything else can compete!

    Angela,
    Breathe! Don’t forget that, it’s easy when you’re anticipating something.

    10 mins to go. Sky are running S5 ep10 now. Walk of shame is just finishing, hello Ser FrankenMountain Oh no Davos’s face when he hears about Shireen. Just been hit by the feels. Oh f*** here comes Olly

    I knew I forgot something.

  270. The time is almost here! After months of waiting we are just minutes away from why we are all here in the first place. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of interesting fun stuff to read and discuss during the off-season, but that all goes to another level now. The next seventy days are going to be very exciting, and I’m looking forward to both the episodes and the discussion they will generate here.This is why we all love both GoT and WotW!

    It is also great to see so many commenters here, both new and old alike. The discussions to come will be a pleasure to read I’m sure. If you’re a.lurker, don’t be afraid to join in- you won’t regret it!

    I’m going to check out of this thread now, and will discuss my thoughts on the episode in Sue’s review when that is posted. It is a première, so I’m not expecting fireworks, but I do have high hopes that this will throw us straight back into the action and will suitably raise my excitement for future episodes (if that’s possible).

    It’s almost here now, so I better go, but this is the moment, this is the time we have all been waiting for since last June! Woohoo!

  271. The Red Woman is up on HBO Now, but when I click on it it takes me to episode 1 of season 1. WHAT THE FUUUCK! I cant contain my hype another fucking second!

  272. HBO now is the most worthless thing to ever exist. Paying for a useless service right now 🙁

  273. When I thought they couldn’t butcher the Dorne storyline anymore, they literally butchered it.

  274. Haven’t watched yet, but I’m guessing the Sand Sneks did the thing that was in the leaked photos. Is it as stupid as the descriptions of the photos, or was it cool?

  275. CatspawAssassin:
    “A bloody woman!” Damn right about that, dead man.

    Season 6 episode 1: “The Red woman”

    We all thought it was all about mel who could have thought the red woman was actually somebody else

  276. Hawk:
    Haven’t watched yet, but I’m guessing the Sand Sneks did the thing that was in the leaked photos. Is it as stupid as the descriptions of the photos, or was it cool?

    I didn’t see the photos but it was stupid. Like over the top bad b movie WTF stupid. Why did they even have Dorne at all?

  277. “Don’t anything else that could melt a ram’s horn.”

    Ser Jorah hasn’t encountered Ramsay Bolton’s halitosis.

  278. Hawk:
    Haven’t watched yet, but I’m guessing the Sand Sneks did the thing that was in the leaked photos. Is it as stupid as the descriptions of the photos, or was it cool?

    Just stupid. And if they fob this off as ‘feminism’ I seriously hope they choke. Dorne should have ended with Oberyn.

  279. Pigeon: Just stupid. And if they fob this off as ‘feminism’ I seriously hope they choke. Dorne should have ended with Oberyn.

    This is disappointing, but at least I won’t be irritated through the rest of the episode. I was for sure certain that it would be Jaime and/or Bronn to take out Trystane. How in the world did the Sand Snakes get on the boat when they were on shore with Ellaria? Dornish Jet Ski’s? I’m usually not disappointed at all with the show and praise it quite often, but this is just dumb.

    Here’s to hoping that Dany carpet bombs Dorne.

  280. Pigeon: Just stupid. And if they fob this off as ‘feminism’ I seriously hope they choke. Dorne should have ended with Oberyn.

    It’s not feminism.

  281. Hawk: This is disappointing, but at least I won’t be irritated through the rest of the episode. I was for sure certain that it would be Jaime and/or Bronn to take out Trystane. How in the world did the Sand Snakes get on the boat when they were on shore with Ellaria? Dornish Jet Ski’s? I’m usually not disappointed at al with the show and praise it quite often, but this is just dumb.

    Here’s to hoping that Dany carpet bombs Dorne.

    I was hoping they would improve the storyline but it continues to be weak. They turn everyone into crazy, stupid people. It also makes zero sense.

  282. Angela: I was hoping they would improve the storyline but it continues to be weak. They turn everyone into crazy, stupid people. It also makes zero sense.

    And Ellaria doing nothing and getting imprisoned and possible executed would have made more sense for her and the Snakes? Seriously. A coup was the only option for her if she wanted revenge. It makes perfect sense.

  283. At least they’re killing off the characters in Dorne pretty fast. The less characters the better over there.

    Oh, look, boobs.

  284. Angela: I was hoping they would improve the storyline but it continues to be weak. They turn everyone into crazy, stupid people. It also makes zero sense.

    And such a complete waste of

    Siddig

    Why even bother?

  285. CatspawAssassin,

    I made a comment on another thread when I found out about this leak and saw how the sand snakes are doing.. though apparently (even though I did not mention any specific spoiler) my post was deleted. Its alright for me no hard feelings didn’t knew there was a forum for those leaks..but as I mentioned there

    Im waiting for a specific someone on this site to start rampaging about that dorne scene… im pretty sure he’s gonna appear soon.

  286. Pigeon: Just stupid. And if they fob this off as ‘feminism’ I seriously hope they choke. Dorne should have ended with Oberyn.

    Even feminists hate the Sand Snacks. Or at least myself and all the ones I know.

  287. Flayed Potatoes: Even feminists hate the Sand Snacks. Or at least myself and all the ones I know.

    Yeah, it’s not strong or powerful or just – it’s just (literal) backstabbing. Cowardly. Ugh.

  288. Well… Im going to kinda withhold comments but really… Im with Deesensfan… I have no words.

  289. PoorDornishNavy:
    To people complaining about Sand snakes. Since when Dorne has only 1 ship?

    Trystane was on only one ship – or at least it is fair to assume he couldn’t have been on more than one. And he appeared to still be on that ship when the Snakes came in.

  290. Pigeon: Yeah, it’s not strong or powerful or just – it’s just (literal) backstabbing. Cowardly. Ugh.

    Yup. It also does not make any logical sense. What Ellaria and the Sand Snakes did will not gurantee a woman will rule Dorne either.

  291. Found this on Twitter. Just thought I’d share. XD

    Jon Snow ‏@LordSnow 3m3 minutes ago
    Please, no more Melisandre nude scenes.

    Sincerely,
    Everyone
    #GameOfThrones

    The North Remembers!

  292. Ginevra: Trystane was on only one ship – or at least it is fair to assume he couldn’t have been on more than one.And he appeared to still be on that ship when the Snakes came in.

    Sure. It was hours later, as we see with the Jaime-Cersei scene. They came in another ship, boarded Trystane’s docked ship and killed him. Why is that in any way complicated?

  293. Extremely disappointed! Very little was done to advance story.

    I feel that I was just watching a superbowl that did not deliver.

  294. Ugh. I now fear what we saw at the end of the episode will be how Mel brings Jon back. Meaning she will glamour someone to look like him. Lame. Sadly if they go down that path, it might ruin the entire show for me.

  295. Ice Spider,

    Weren’t there rumors of glamouring? I must say, I was surprised but not all that shocked. I think there were hints that her beauty was faked in the books, weren’t there? Maybe I’m wrong.

  296. Dorne is a mess but at least they killed off most of the characters in that story arc.

    The rest of the episode was amazing. Super fast paced for a GoT Episode 1 and sets up the season well.

    I can see why the show is ending in 15 episodes after this season. Things are hitting a critical mass.

  297. I was sure when the photos leaked,that Dorne was all everybody on this site would talk,just give it up it was a shitty storyline in the books and it’s a shitty storyline in the show,also you may want to check out the twitter feed because people were actually enjoying the scene .

  298. The problem is the terrible Dorne scene will overshadow the rest of the premiere. It was a good episode. All people will be talking about is bad that was instead of the good things.

  299. Great episode. I had all the big shocks ruined, but I still could marvel at the dialogue and the visuals 🙂

  300. TEPhillips,

    It didn’t work on my laptop, but it worked fine on my iPhone. The server must have been completely overloaded. Hopefully it clears up later, as I want to watch this again tonight.

  301. meh, I thought the Dornish stuff was fine. Certainly unexpected. But I think some people may be letting their opinions be colored by what happened last season. There was nothing there to get mad about.

  302. I thought the opening was perfect. Ghost howling like that…damn. When I heard the sound of him banging on the door…quadruple damn…flashback to Grey Wind at the Twins.

    Brienne and Sansa, well, I loved the nod back to Brienne and Catelyn…plus the moment of humor. Is it just me, or has Sophie, not that she didn’t have some great moments, especially last season, really grown as an actress?

    Dorne, as someone already said, you don’t get Siddig, then off him without him ever have done much. I get, given certain changes from the books, how they could off Doran and Areo, but I didn’t like it.

    And, of course, then there’s Melisandre.

  303. I am sorry they robbed Doran of his amazing line about Oberyn being the viper and he himself being the grass that hid him. They also robbed him of “Justice. Vengeance. Fire and blood.” But I guess once they junked Arianne and Quentyn there was nowhere to go with those Doran threads. Who knows what the point is now.

  304. Clayton (Not) Suggs:
    This from an old episode really makes me annoyed at the twist ending. http://8840-presscdn-0-18.pagely.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/melisandrebath.jpg

    Just give it a rest. I am certain it will be explained.

    As for the Sand Snakes and people who are bitching about them. There could be hundreds of explanations. Let’s just see how this plot develops. I was mightily surprised because of where it is going in the books, but we’ll see.

  305. Melisandre didn’t come as a complete shock. There were subtle hints: she could glamour others, her beauty was unnatural, not everyone found her beautiful, and she was never, ever without that damned choker. I’m not saying I guessed this – it was a surprise – but it also fit.

  306. With that title, I cannot believe it never once occurred to me that we would get the Mel/Glamour reveal.

    Intense. Commencing rewatch!

  307. The website is loading so slowly lol

    All in all, I thought it was a really dull and dry episode. The highlights were Sansa’s scene with Theon and Brienne, as well as the first scene at the NW with Davos and Thorne.

    I thought they wasted a lot of time. We should have had Bran in the premiere (he was gone for a whole season!) and that “Apologies for what you’re about to see” scene (we already saw it in the trailer, and we’ve seen Davos and Tormund outside of Castle Black in the trailer, so there’s no suspense for that NW fight because we know how it is about to end). They will drag the you-know-what scene with Jon for a lot of episodes. If we get the Wall in ep 2, it will probably be just the fighting imo.

    Also, Siddig was totally wasted. Probably the most annoying thing is seeing a great actor with an interesting character that has potential thrown aside for the Sand Snacks who are neither of those things.

    Unless Dany destroys Dorne, Ellaria and the Sand Snacks are most likely going to align with her, so we might be seeing them a lot
  308. Pigeon: And such a complete waste of

    Why even bother?

    I said the exact same thing! Pretty disappointing.

    Not terribly impressed with the ending – the ‘big twist’ was hyped up so much I really thought more would be going on. Naive of me to expect that from a season premiere, I guess, but still! Is there anyone who didn’t at least suspect that Melisandre was not what she seemed?

  309. I liked the rest of the episode. I just didn’t like the one Dorne scene. The rest of it was awesome.

  310. Honestly what happened in Dorne made me like ellaria more than before. I liked Doran alot but she made a point when she said that he just sits back when his brother and ellia were killed

    I loved every single scene in this episode and it set up for big things!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    Just wow

  311. Ginevra:
    Ice Spider,

    Weren’t there rumors of glamouring?I must say, I was surprised but not all that shocked.I think there were hints that her beauty was faked in the books, weren’t there?Maybe I’m wrong.

    Sorry I think this site is being overloaded. I am having a hard time getting back on. I knew the glamouring was mentioned but as always never know if its really going to happen. As for the show. I honestly HATE the Sand Snakes and that whole Dorne storyline and I was really kinda sickened by how they killed off Trystane. Seriously how did they get on the boat? They were back at the docks when it left.. they must have been on a fast ship and also .. were there NO guards guarding the future ruler of Dorne? Just really don’t get that whole storyline. Really just at a loss for words. Ghost and Castle Black were the best scenes for me.

  312. Yeah, Maisie was right. I’m confused. As in something is not OK. Dorne was short and unexpected, but not in a good way. Mel… I read somewhere about this, so I expected it. But I clearly remember she had no necklace when she was in the bathtub and Selyse entered. And why does she have to take the necklace out when she goes to sleep?
    At least I cheered for Brienne and Pod. And I’m glad Theon still manages to use a sword.
    I should go to sleep now, but I don’t feel like.

  313. It’s SO MUCH to see that GRRM has no hand on it … But at least it’s only action now, no fillers, like Tyrion and Jaime speaking about their cousin.

    And it seems like instead of Martin’s plot they just will use all the popular fan theories to end the story. No wonder there is only time for 13 episodes left if they kill now 5 people with more or less big roles each episode !

  314. I think Mel just owned all the people perving on her Boobs….Winter is here!

    Go Pod! He held his own.

    I see D&D just decided to throw out GRRM whole Dorne thread and rewrite it! They better keep it going on a good arc.

  315. Angela,

    It makes a lot of sense. Elaria showed who she is from the beginning. I do not understand why so much hate. They made Dorne a lot more interesting. And the boat was already in Dorne…

  316. Good start. Not as good as “Two Swords” from S4, but very good. Everyone’s complaining about the Dorne stuff, but I’m just kind of resolved that it is what it is. I think the scenes were better than last years, but that’s not saying much. Otherwise, everything felt like an opening episode, where we checked in on everyone to set the table. The Castle Black stuff worked the best. I’m dying to see where that Melisandre twist goes. When it was explained here, I thought it was the dumbest thing, but then they executed it really well. Podeswa is good with atmospheres, but,sadly, not so much with the sword fights. Even the Brienne one felt rushed and lacked the suspense it could have had. Excited for next week, of course.

  317. Anyone with a brain could have predicted 90% of all that. I knew Jorah was going to find that ring because of the horses trampling in a circle around Dany. The released videos and photos gave away everything but Dorne.

    I really don’t care about spoilers for myself since I don’t get my enjoyment from the surprise of things happening. But I do care about storylines being totally predictable.

    I think D&D are wasting this narrative, just wasting it. Dragging out things forever to just get to the point where damn near everything is obvious and at the same time making a big deal out of secrecy is just STUPID. sorry to yell.

    On the other hand, I enjoy all the images/mise en scene and always will.

    D&D could have spent way more time on characters we are in love with and had a better product all the way around.

    Apparently, their idea of storytelling is to be so predictable that everything has to be a secret because the only thing they deem important is shock value.

    I do see what they mean about this season being about queens.

    Sansa, Ellaria and Dany.

    I didn’t understand the Mereenese burning the fleet. Rage for rage’s sake.

    I’m all for Tyrion releasing the last two dragons to wreak havoc. Mereen is a disgusting city filled with idiots. Can you tell I am a Dany fan?

    Dany, Jon and Arya.

    Off to rewatch. Ten weeks of pleasure wrapped in agony.

  318. Ice Spider,

    Not know cats cradle? Oh my get thee to a bookstore or download it. Then proceed to read everything else by Kurt Vonnegut. Trust me, you won’t regret the time!

  319. From the ASoIaF wiki: “Melisandre says she has practiced her art for ‘years beyond count’ (ADwD, Chapter 31) and may be very old.”

  320. Coming here can be somewhat depressing with all the hype killing

    Bring on next week!!! So excited. I’m so curious to see what happens next at the wall.

  321. Wandering:
    Ugh.I now fear what we saw at the end of the episode will be how Mel brings Jon back. Meaning she will glamour someone to look like him. Lame. Sadly if they go down that path, it might ruin the entire show for me.

    Likewise. I hope that’s not what happens here, and I really hope that isn’t going to happen in TWOW.

  322. Davos and Mel are the definite highlights of a strange episode. Not terrible but certainly not what I was hoping for.
    Dorne was weak. It was brief, as were most of the storylines revisited tonight, but the Sand Snakes are corny. I was so excited last year for them to introduce them and it was such a dud. Hope that turns around because Indira Varma is so fantastic, this plot just feels like a waste.
    Happy to see Sansa safe but who doesn’t think that her “Always have a place by my hearth” speech, a nod to Catelyn, will be tested when

    she orders Brienne to kill Jaime

    ? The whole sequence also felt like the fight budget was on par with the unfortunate Sand Snakes/Jaime/Bronn fiasco from last year.
    Mel at the end, cool as shit.

    For a season premier, not on par with “Two Swords” but hopefully things will shake out in the next few episodes.

  323. Sorry but after an entire year waiting, I was Underwhelmed, to say the least. Almost like they just cobbled together what they filmed at the end of last season that ended up on the cutting room floor. And good Lord, what is with Dorne? The acting and dialogue has gotten even worse, if possible. Not one twisty, thrilling moment. Not even Berserker Brienne. Although the Sansa/Brienne oath was a nice touch, recreating what was done with Cat.

    It can only go up from here.Hopefully.

  324. Dorne scene was great. Don’t know what the problem is?

    Where was Bronn though?

    Bran next week!

    Who was hiding out looking at Varys and Tyrion?

  325. Enjoyed all of it except Dorne. What a waste of Alexander Siddig! Guess we can expect to see a lot more of Ellaria and the Sand Snakes. Not what I was hoping for.

    Loved the Sansa and Theon scenes. Old Mel was fabulous even thought I wasn’t completely surprised by it. Roose better watch his back.

  326. Dorne arc was kind of lame, wall stuff seems good. Waiting for ed to rally all wildlings.

    Meli was a kind of a shocker. What if davos would seen her like that….

    I really hope that Ollie survives long enough to either be decapitated by JS or eaten alive by Ghost.

    What was up with all the mindbending control over the nights watch from Alliser?

    And for gods sake why is cersei such a lame b***h. She deserves all the bad things that happens to her.

    Brienne can finally fulfill her vows

  327. Deesensfan,

    I always admire your spirit. I loved the episode too, as many others did. Don’t let others bring you down 🙂

    Dorne is indeed a big WTF, but this is certainly a way to bring Dorne into war. I admired the touch of the other guards not moving a finger and looking at Doran disgustedly. As Ellaria said last season, all of Dorne wants to go to war. And now they will!

  328. It was worth the wait!

    I loved Davos, Edd, and GHOST protected my baby Jon. Poor Ghost broke my heart howling and then nudging dead Jon’s hand. 🙁

    I love Brienne! I love Pod! I love Theon! I love Sansa! I teared up when Brienne said the oath and then when Sansa gave hers. *weeps*

    The Melisandre reveal was perhaps the most disturbing thing in the entire episode. Mel’s lost her mojo and I actually felt sorry for her. But, uh, who sleeps buck naked when there are a bunch of men down the hall about to kill each other?

    My poor Arya. I wanted to give her a hug. I get this is all part of her training but it hurts to see her so beaten down. Braavos has not turned into the adventure she thought it would.

    Dorne, pfft. King’s Landing, pfft.

    Can’t wait for next week!!

  329. A waste of my sexy Siddig… but at least a vague move in the right direction as far as the Sand Snakes are concerned. Should have 100% done Ellaria instead, but as usual, not enough time allotted for Dorne. Glad I wasn’t spoiled for it.

    Otherwise… dammit I clearly have no patience… my problem, not the episode’s fault.

  330. MELISANDRE SUPER OLD BOOK THEORY CONFIRMED!!! WOOHHOOO

    I don’t know you guys, i read the books, but now with this twist i’m interested with show-Dorne.

  331. Don’t like my boy Areoh Hotah going out like that. Dorne is now totally pointless. But that happens when you axe Arrianne. But then again her brother was rather pointless in the books except as an excuse to make up and waste almost instersting new characters.

    I have a feeling

    young Griff

    will get the boot now too.

  332. And this is why i am glad they are ending the show earlier,this fandom doesn’t deserve this show . The only predictable thing was your lame reactions just based on a scene from an entire episode, i knew this was going to happen because you did this all season long last year .

  333. Luka Nieto,

    I was trying to explain why folks are asking about how they got on the ship. It’s certainly not impossible that they got on, and I don’t think that was ever the question, but perhaps unclear writing to have the girls apparate halfway across the continent without showing their travels or arrival. If Sansa started walking around Dorne in the next episode, we might be all, WTF, right? We just need a little bit of from here-to-here stuff.

  334. Also was cool to see Sophie finally graduated to her own title card, even before Maisie. I wonder if that points to her having a really big season.

  335. It is easy to find the “fans” who are still hurt over the show spoiling the books.

    The show continues to get better with each season. Bring on the last 24 episodes!!

  336. kells,

    It is not a speech, it is a standard form of giving and accepting an oath which Sansa unlike her mother is not very well acquainted with. That is why Theon gives her a helping hand…

  337. dothrakian raven:
    Angela,

    It makes a lot of sense. Elaria showed who she is from the beginning. I do not understand why so much hate. They made Dorne a lot more interesting. And the boat was already in Dorne…

    The boat wasn’t in Dorne because they showed a quick cut of it sailing away from KL before the Snakes killed Trystane.

  338. kells,

    It is not a speech, it is a standard form of giving and accepting an oath which Sansa unlike her mother is not very well acquainted with. That is why Theon gives her a helping hand… It is a formality.

  339. well i guess the the dorne scene kind of improved last seasons dorne stuff, now that we know were supposed to hate the sand snakes. Now we know why arianne got cut because either ellaria or a sand snake will rule dorne anyway. Were about to get the war of the 5 queens lol. Cersei, Sansa, Ellaria, Dany, and Yara!

  340. Luka Nieto,

    Thank you!!
    I won’t – you’re right:)

    I totally agree with you about dorne. That is what I was thinking. I mean, every single family is avenging theirs except the martells. It’s time now. I think I’m gonna love where this goes. Of course the lannisters needed a new enemy, seems like dany ain’t heading to westeros anytime soon haha

  341. Ice Spider,

    oh dear – cats cradle is one of the best books in the world, by one of the best writers, Kurt Vonnegut Its a good book to start with, then go on to Slaughterhouse Five, Player Piano, Welcome to the Monkey House, and oh I can’t think of more. Anyway, its a book about the end of the world, and many other things. So it goes…..

  342. Ugh. Dorne. Another otherwise-perfectly-decent episode sinks under the weight of horrible writing for Dorne. And they killed off the only remaining interesting Dornish character. So much for Olenna and Varys going there for a summit with Doran, as had been rumored. This is exactly where the argument that “the showrunners shouldn’t pay any attention to viewers’ criticism” goes all awry. You learn nothing, David and Dan.

    Other than that, I enjoyed it, though most of it seemed rather rushed and choppy: the Cliff’s Notes version of the story (for those of you old enough to remember Cliff’s Notes). The Sansa/Theon/Brienne/Pod sequence was my favorite – largely because they actually devoted some time to it. I got a little teary when Sansa and Theon were embracing, even if it was ostensibly only to stave off hypothermia.

    Now I’m just looking forward to Wimsey having to admit that he was wrong about how Melisandre wouldn’t have aged. Heehee.

  343. ash:
    Ice Spider,

    Not know cats cradle?Oh my get thee to a bookstore or download it. Then proceed to read everything else by Kurt Vonnegut.Trust me, you won’t regret the time!

    Well when was it written? Sorry I spent 6 years putting myself through college with two small children and then proceeded to raise them on my own. I didn’t have a lot of time for reading. But THANK YOU bc I will check it out at yours and Ginevra’s behest!! I’m having a hell of a time getting on this site. Trying my IPhone, IPad, and my Mac Air. Nothing is going through. Must be too many ppl trying to post. Nite everyone. Will try and respond tomo.

  344. Gods, what a lot of moaning minnies on here! I enjoyed it, but I’m not enjoying the whining here.

  345. dothrakian raven:
    Angela,

    It makes a lot of sense. Elaria showed who she is from the beginning. I do not understand why so much hate. They made Dorne a lot more interesting. And the boat was already in Dorne…

    It doesn’t make sense at all. Prince Doran and his son Trystane does not gurantee a woman will rule Dorne. I don’t like it because it wasn’t a good scene.

  346. I do have to say – despite some great scenes (Castle Black, Mel, Theon/Pod/Brienne and dare I even say Sansa), this is the first season premiere in 6 years that has left me more disappointed and, well, kinda depressed than pumped.

    I wish I could rewind a few weeks when my anticipation was at a high and I couldn’t wait.

    At this point I’m wondering if Dorne really is just a big trolling attempt – that axe should definitely have been put to use. It’s like a high school production. Tyene’s hair growth doesn’t even follow logic.

    The Mel scene was great. I truly felt for her – what a sense of loneliness and separateness! Davos and Edd, so good.

    I just feel deflated. That’s ok. Can only mean that things will look up…right?

  347. The Sybian,

    There’s a (fan) theory that she doesn’t have to wear the necklace around Selyse because she’s a true believer. Mel says something cryptic like that in the scene.

  348. Also I’m now 100% convinced that the brightened trailer 2 version did reveal Sansa looking shocked as Jon rises.
    Considering Sansa is heading to castle black now.

  349. Connor: She probably used the potions in the tub or something.

    That was probably an incontinuity error. I believe the books said she was never without her choker.

  350. The only way the Dorne situation makes sense is if the Sand Snakes blame the murder on the Lannisters and go immediately off to war. I still don’t like the logic, she is so mad about the deaths that she goes and extinguishes the Martell line?

  351. Resident Evil:
    And this is why i am glad they are ending the show earlier,this fandom doesn’t deserve this show . The only predictable thing was your lame reactions just based on a scene from an entire episode, i knew this was going to happen because you did this all season long last year .

    I’ve kind of got to second this. I made a rant and then this site ate it, but you said it more succinctly!

    The negativity just gets worse and worse. I kind want there to be separate threads for people who just want to bitch and complain, and people who actually want to discuss the episode.

  352. I’m coming at this from a non book reader point of view – we don’t care about how they are portraying the Sand Snakes. All we know of the Dorn storyline is what we saw last season.

    We don’t care about the fact that they wiped out Doran and his body guard – for us, they had a minor role last season and the writers intend to add to it this season.

    I thought the Mellisander twist was jaw dropping, exactly how I like my fantasy stories. What’s the problem? Adding to that, stop simplifying that Mell turned old when she took off her necklace, it had nothing to do with that. Think back to the episode with her in the tub – she told Stannis’ crazy wife not to touch that vial because it was bad or powerful or something. In the final scene the camera panned down to that very same vial sitting on the dresser.

  353. teunteulai,

    There are two differences, though:

    In the bathtub scene, she’s immersed in hot water, and her faith is fully intact.
    In the Wall scene, I’d guess the room is much colder than being immersed in a hot bath, and her faith seems utterly shattered.

    Perhaps, the glamour can hold for a little while without the necklace as long as she’s very warm, and her faith, or inner fire, shall we say, is burning brightly.

  354. I went into the episode with an open mind but I have to echo some others here and say I am a little disappointed and underwhelmed. But, it’s a first episode. I assume episode 2 may also be a little boring, setting up and all. I will go into that episode open-minded as well.

    Dorne just sucks. I now fear that the Queenmaker plot is going to move from Myrcella to Dany in some weird way. Tyene killing Areo Hotah, one of the greatest warriors in all of Westeros? Get out of here. I feel like D&D have set this up in a way that we’re supposed to be rooting for these “bad-ass” women but I can’t stand any of them. And I’m one of those people who actually liked Arianne and Dorne in the books. Just a complete massacre of that storyline. Make it go away. Have Drogon just do a flyby and burn it to the ground.

    I still firmly believe this season is going to be amazing but this episode is barely worth an HD rewatch, but I will, for that awesome Sansa/Brienne moment. I got pretty choked up watching Brienne so happy to finally be able to pledge herself to Catelyn Stark’s daughter.

  355. Great episode, really enjoyed the twists, will people here stop complaining about Dorne, the unsullied here enjoyed that Dorne scene, and those harping about the guards not protecting Trystane…haven’t you been watching…they were siding with the SS. I wonder if that’s it for the RW, she was so distressed, perhaps she looked at her glamoured body one last time, removed the Choker and went to sleep permanently…but…didn’t early spy pics capture her under a tent at the BotB?
    Where’s Bronn? Could he be in Dorne about to take some Jamie vengeance? I guess Euron passed by Mereen on his way to Pyke. It appears the Castle Black story concerning Jon is going to be stretched over 3-4 episodes.

  356. I really liked the rest of the episode. It was just that one Dornish scene. I am off to bed. I will continue the discussion/argument tomorrow evening after work. If you liked the scene, then it is fine. I just think it didn’t worked for me at all. Good night.

  357. Guys. Sansa – Brienne. Crying And laughing I am so happy.

    Holy shit Dorne

    That’s all I got.

  358. Jack Bauer 24,

    Ok I checked it again. It is in KL. Which means that the 2 SS followed the ship to KL and killed Trystane. I still don’t see what is the problem and the furore about the continuity.

  359. Pigeon:
    I do have to say – despite some great scenes (Castle Black, Mel, Theon/Pod/Brienne and dare I even say Sansa), this is the first season premiere in 6 years that has left me more disappointed and, well, kinda depressed than pumped.

    I wish I could rewind a few weeks when my anticipation was at a high and I couldn’t wait.

    At this point I’m wondering if Dorne really is just a big trolling attempt – that axe should definitely have been put to use. It’s like a high school production. Tyene’s hair growth doesn’t even follow logic.

    The Mel scene was great. I truly felt for her – what a sense of loneliness and separateness! Davos and Edd, so good.

    I just feel deflated. That’s ok. Can only mean that things will look up…right?

    Tyene’s hair growth? That’s what you care about?

  360. Jack Bauer 24,

    Ok I checked it again. It is in KL. Which means that the 2 SS followed the ship to KL and killed Trystane. I still don’t see what is the problem and the furore about the continuity of the scene.

  361. This would’ve been a fine Episode #1…IF it had been two hours long and what we saw tonight was the first 45 mins.

    But as it stands, it didn’t feel like a premiere. More like a postscript to the Season 5 finale. Perhaps because they had left so many cliffhangers they needed to tidy up a few things before moving story arcs forward. You know, showing the aftermath of: Jon’s death, Arya being blinded, Sansa and Theon jumping off the wall, the poisoning of Myrcella (both coming home and the aftermath in Dorne), Dany in captivity etc.

    A postscript episode wouldn’t have been out of place if there was an immediate part two moving everything forward. But we have to wait a week, and honestly for me this premiere wasn’t terribly satisfying after waiting for so many months.

    The only three memorable moments for me were Ghost growling at the door, Sansa/Brienne vows, Mel’s transformation.

    I hope next week is more forward looking.

    I also hope more than anything that Jon’s resurrection is NOT related in any way to glamouring. Ugh, that would be seriously cheesy and render him a castrated character with no storyline that really matters anymore.

  362. To show watchers only, Doran is a nothing. We have barely seen him
    And killing Aero- from behind you can kill anyone when they aren’t looking. Clearly the soldiers at dorne have no qualm getting rid of Doran
    Book and show need to be separated
    We have more attachment to Ellaria through oberyn then we do of Doran.

  363. I thought Melisandre’s “glamor costume” and old age would be common knowledge by now…
    Hints throughout. Just a few:

    http://www.quotes.net/show-quote/34209

    Stannis Baratheon:
    You talk about war as if you understand it

    Melisandre:
    I’ve been fighting far longer than you

    Someone around here had even compared it to this one:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMkOe1L0ZtU

    This is what had sealed the deal for me (section: In the books):

    http://gameofthrones.wikia.com/wiki/Kinvara

  364. I Loved the opening to the episode, the shot panning through castle black, the score and hearing Ghost howl in the night. starting off immediately where season 5 ended, great move, I was immediately glued to the screen. The loyal nights watchmen along with Davos find Jon snow and bring him inside. of course Thorne and co aren’t going to deny a bloody thing, Telling the brothers it was done to keep the watch safe. Castle black was a definitely highlight. Shit is going down next episode and I can’t wait.

    The North kept my attention as well, Ramsay remembering the first time he met Maranda and later giving her corpse to feed the dogs is so Ramsay. Brienne saving and reuniting with sansa was a good scene, I’m glad they got it over with, nice fight scene with Brienne coming to save her and swearing to serve her was nice.

    I loved and enjoyed it a lot, going to re watch it tonight. I want to see how Dorne turns out during the course of season 6 before giving my opinion.
    can’t wait for episode 2, looks bloody intense. I’m glad they got to all the storylines season 5 left off from.

  365. Whew, finally able to get back on!

    Ice Spider sorry about the double posts, I didn’t think the one I wrote went thro so….just ignore the second one 🙂

    Deesensfan,

    I was surprised by this (and shocked that they somehow found Tristan; I thought maybe his ship sailed back to Dorne?) However, I have a theory – war will be declared against the Lannisters, and while they are fighting, the North will easily beat Roose, Ramsey and company, and start for King’s Landing. Maybe.

    Otherwise I thought it was a decent catch up with the main arcs in the story. Knew Brienne would have to be there to collect Sansa and Theon, castle black was as expected, a quick glance at Arya, loved Cersi and Jamie’s scene.. Not a bad way to start the season, tho I expected more

    I didn’t catch what was on fire in Meereen….And I really wish they’d make the english captions bigger, I could barely read them.

  366. still processing i.. but I have to say I enjoyed the episode ..only one thing would have made it better (but it seems we are getting that next week)

    Dany- oohh Khal Smexy(Moro) was heading to asshole- ville until Dany said she was Drogo’s widow..then he went all R E S P E C T… meh..will have to see how he plays out next couple ep’s.. I may want him in the Drogon Bar B Que that is sure to be coming after all

    Winterfell-..”Feed her to the dogs”..lol Ramsey, never change….
    He’s gonna flip that Sansa/Theon got away from his “girls” and go into panic mode… and after that little back and forth tonight…Daddy Bolton is a goner

    Sansa/Theon-I think I cheered louder when Theon picked up that sword then I did when he threw Myranda over the wall last season lol..loved the scene were Sansa finally accepts Brieanne’s oath to serve her..and Pod kicking all kinds of butt!

    Ayra-it was HARD to watch these scenes.. felt soo real…Maisie was EXCELLENT

    Dorne-I did not see that coming.. I dont think it was bad..maybe a bit ..abrupt? .. this is one of those things were we have to trust that D&D know who is supposed to be where at end game

    Kings Landing- props to Lena for that amazing Cersie scene..I really felt sorry for her there….and a pissed off Jamie is always fun to watch 😀

    and finally
    The Wall- Ghost howling in the opening shot about killed me..and how AWESOME did he look , he is HUGE!!
    I love Davos.. he needs to just be a part of every scene, every episode.
    I was surprised that Thorne was just outright admitting what they did.. have a smidgen of respect for him for that
    I am not sure what to make of that Mel scene..I am sure there is a reason for it, and that we will find out.. but right now I am just confused

  367. Briennes vow won’t get put to the test, the fact they made those vows proves that. In other words, Sansa will not ask Brienne to kill Jaime. I (and many others) have said this all along… Sansa doesn’t care about him, she has way too much going on in the North, her focus is reuniting her family and she will send Brienne south to find Arya (as the ep2 trailer pretty much confirms).

    kells:

    Happy to see Sansa safe but who doesn’t think that her “Always have a place by my hearth” speech, a nod to Catelyn, will be tested when…

  368. Got so tense I had to keep stopping it, even though I’d seen screen shots of the Dorne-related deaths and Mel’s reveal and knew Theon and Sansa got away. Typed some initial thoughts as I went along:
    * loved them before but even more now: Davos (Shireen would be so proud of you), Edd and BriPod (don’t care how unlikely that was, and Brienne’s face when Sansa accepts her service: all the feels!)
    * the Night’s Watch (in general) could really do with some shampoo. Olly really can do smug
    * oh Ramsay you old romantic, you. Him seeming upset and almost human is disturbing me. “The reckoning will come” oh yes, Roose it certainly will. Odds on Ramsay killing Fat Walda now so bad you’d only get a pay out if he didn’t. Get out of there NOW lady!
    * Theon, you have been a better man in the last however many minutes it is in the story than the whole of the rest of your life. Nitpick: where did the dogs go? (not that I care, I shed a tear when they did the oath thing)
    * Cersei sometimes I really feel for you and have to remind myself what you’ve done to others
    * you are in sooooo much trouble: the sneering Dothraki; the Waif; Alliser and mates “…or this ends with blood” just delete the “or”
    * time to play internet points *ticks off the ones I got and ignores the fact they are vastly outnumbered by the ones that were wrong – in some cases stratospherically so*
    it was Edd’s hands and Mel is using a glamour on herself. Wimsey it’s lucky I did insist on using spoiler tags for our recent conversation after all.

    I think Luka‘s nailed it with the Sand Snakes catch up with Trystane on a second ship idea. He is still on the ship after Jaime disembarks and spends time with Cersei, so they could have got there at least a few hours later, maybe the next day. The reason they could get to him easily is the same one the guards didn’t protect Doran, they are in on/support Ellaria’s coup.

    Presumably there isn’t a trailer for ep2 yet? In the UK we usually get it with Thronecast but that’s not on until Tuesday evening this week.

  369. The premier did its job for me, showed me all the storylines and where these characters are heading during season 6, and it left me pretty excited for episode 2 of game of thrones.

  370. There are two potential continuity errors I think:

    The first being that we see Melisandre without her necklace when she’s in a Bathtub talking with Selyse in an earlier season.

    The other is the sand snakes teleporting into the ship where Trystane is, when they weren’t on the ship in last season’s finale.

    I could be wrong about the second though, if it’s happening on a ship.

  371. Flayed Potatoes:
    Jack Bauer 24,

    Except last season Doran sent Trystane to be a part of the Small Council in KL. Continuity error??

    He couldn’t have stayed with Myrcella’s death. Cersei would never allow it. Him leaving makes sense I just don’t know how the Snakes got on that boat. Like dothraki raven said is the only explanation.

  372. I’m with Deesenfan and Luka – I loved the episode. In my opinion, people are still complaining mainly about things that are different from the books. I’ll grant you that the Dorne fight last season was poor, but the rest of the story is not if you just view it as what it is and not in comparison to the books. And I don’t get the “What a waste actor xxx!” comments. Shouldn’t we be happy that they can cast great actors for minor and brief roles. I guess the glass is always half empty for some people.

  373. The Melisandre reveal was shocking, sure.
    I’ve heard some people talking about Mel giving her necklace / youth for Jon, implying that she will stay “old grandma”.
    I don’t think it will happen this way.
    Just remember the first trailer when Davos and Mel (as we know her) sit next to each other and she tells him how all of her visions were a lie?
    That didn’t happen in this episode, so it will happen later on (which means we will see young Mel again).

  374. Interesting how Cersei and Dany both had callbacks in their dialogue to their respective prophecies (gold their shroads, rise in west, set in east).

  375. Laura: Sand

    Hm. I don’t get the feeling that we are supposed to be rooting for the Sand Snakes. They have been presented as one dimensional villains, at least that is how I interpret their scenes. They have killed likable, innocent people, and that’s it. Why do you get the sense they want us to cheer for them?

  376. Ooo! I’d forgotten that Rattleshirt/Mance’s glamor was held in place with a ruby, as well, like Mel’s choker.

    “Not me. I’m done with those bloody fools.” Rattleshirt tapped the ruby on his wrist. “Ask your red witch, bastard.”

    Melisandre spoke softly in a strange tongue. The ruby at her throat throbbed slowly, and Jon saw that the smaller stone on Rattleshirt’s wrist was brightening and darkening as well. “So long as he wears the gem he is bound to me, blood and soul,” the red priestess said. “This man will serve you faithfully. The flames do not lie, Lord Snow.”

    –ADwD, p. 244.

    Surely that bath scene was a continuity error, or her ruby wasn’t so far that she couldn’t maintain the glamor with effort. I think part of the reason she let the glamor drop tonight was because she was tired of the effort after such horrible blows with Stannis and Jon.

  377. The Trystane thing confused me. I don’t think they boarded the boat in Dorne as we saw them watch the boat leave in the distance. They must’ve either traveled by foot (and they would’ve had to have traveled very fast to beat the boat) or they took another boat and caught up with it. I can live with the latter explanation.

  378. Jack Bauer 24: Tyene’s hair growth? That’s what you care about?

    Good point, actually – why mention an example of such a minor inconsistency, when the whole story is a flaming pile of shit? My bad.

  379. I liked the whole episode even Dorne. That shit caught me off guard and I was sure Ellaria was going to die but it was Prince Doran. Well shit, now Ellaria has 2 bad batches in KL to wreak having on Lanister clan. The rest was cool too but all set up and predictable for this seasons premiere. I thought we wouldn’t see Bran until episode 2 but that should be a good chunk of time, I hope, dedicated to his story. Mel’s twist wasn’t all that crazy but will play a part which is why it was introduced now.
    I hope most of you enjoyed but feel some folks critique just for the sake of complaining. To each their own I liked it and can’t wait for next week

  380. Deesensfan:
    To show watchers only, Doran is a nothing. We have barely seen him
    And killing Aero- from behind you can kill anyone when they aren’t looking. Clearly the soldiers at dorne have no qualm getting rid of Doran
    Book and show need to be separated
    We have more attachment to Ellaria through oberyn then we do of Doran.

    This is why I always appreciate Unsullied views. For book-readers, even those who didn’t like book Dorne, and there were a lot of them, Doran was still a character almost everyone liked, and Siddig was a fan-favorite casting for Doran. I, who liked parts of book-Dorne, didn’t like seeing Hotah and Doran killed off like that, but as I said initially, I can see why, with certain cuts they’ve made in the show, how what they did worked in terms of the show. It’s good to hear the opinion of someone who has only the show for context.

    Please forgive me, in advance, for including something under spoiler coding (book stuff) in a post to you, but it’s taking a long time to get a post through, so I don’t want to have to try and get two through. Please don’t click on the spoiler.

    Having thought about it a bit more, Trystane being killed does open the way for Nymeria to sit on the small council, like she’s sent to do in the books.
  381. I’m sure someone’s said this upthread, but I cant read 650.: I’m pretty sure the dorme subplot, which is as pathetic in the show as the ironborn plot is in the book, is completely different in the book. Which means we’re heading toward two separate endings!

    Awesome. It’s like the old choose-your-own-adventure books. Write George, write!

  382. Kamali: Hm. I don’t get the feeling that we are supposed to be rooting for the Sand Snakes. They have been presented as one dimensional villains, at least that is how I interpret their scenes. They have killed likable, innocent people, and that’s it. Why do you get the sense they want us to cheer for them?

    You know, I don’t even really know what I am looking at when I’m watching the Dorne storyline so I shouldn’t even try to decipher it.

    As a book AND show fan, I am always in favor with telling the story in the best way, whether that is straight from the books, a deviation or something completely new altogether. I would think most book fans feel the same. Always in the service of the story!

    I think it’s ok to criticize the show when you feel they’ve done something poorly and it doesn’t make you a hater or a book elitist or anything like that. Just opinionated 🙂

  383. dothrakian raven:
    kells,

    It is not a speech, it is a standard form of giving and accepting an oath which Sansa unlike her mother is not very well acquainted with. That is why Theon gives her a helping hand… It is a formality.

    No, I get that. I thought that moment was really nice because it brought back the memory of when Cat said it to Brienne. I like Brienne’s reaction, even if I felt the fight scene leading up was pretty weak. Seriously, we know Brienne is a badass but she seems to hack through everyone and even Pod is now a skilled swordsman. While I didn’t expect, or want, either of them to die (yet, because I think both will be toast eventually), I did like that end and look forward to how her this oath will pan out. Especially considering she is fulfilling this oath not only on behalf of Catelyn, but Jaime.

    Apollo:
    Briennes vow won’t get put to the test, the fact they made those vows proves that. In other words, Sansa will not ask Brienne to kill Jaime. I (and many others) have said this all along… Sansa doesn’t care about him, she has way too much going on in the North, her focus is reuniting her family and she will send Brienne south to find Arya (as the ep2 trailer pretty much confirms).

    Sansa might not care about Jaime now but if she learns he is responsible for Bran’s injury, she will. Catelyn was well aware Jaime pushed Bran, which leads me to believe that Brienne knows as well (I don’t recall that being shared in the show). If Sansa catches wind and they all end up in the Riverlands, I could definitely see her asking for his head (ala Lady Stoneheart).

  384. Kamali: Hm. I don’t get the feeling that we are supposed to be rooting for the Sand Snakes. They have been presented as one dimensional villains, at least that is how I interpret their scenes. They have killed likable, innocent people, and that’s it. Why do you get the sense they want us to cheer for them?

    This. They’re villains. They’ve been set up as villains. We’re not supposed to like them. We don’t like them. Therefore, everything is working as it needs to be in that respect.

  385. Deesensfan:
    To show watchers only, Doran is a nothing. We have barely seen him
    And killing Aero- from behind you can kill anyone when they aren’t looking. Clearly the soldiers at dorne have no qualm getting rid of Doran
    Book and show need to be separated
    We have more attachment to Ellaria through oberyn then we do of Doran.

    Without getting too much into what’s in the books, it seems pretty obvious to me from the books that Dorne, as well as the Iron Islands stuff not pertaining to Theon mainly exist to further complicate things for the main characters. I think some of the book readers are expressing frustration that these storylines are truncated because they had built them up to be more important than they are.

  386. Grandmaester Flash,

    WORD. I feel the same. Really disappointing reading these posts right now.
    I admit the Dorne stuff wasn’t my cup of tea (but it’s never been, in the books OR the show), but I loved the rest of the episode. Can’t wait for next week!

  387. I do not understand why Elaria and SS are suddenly regarded as villains who kill innocents. I mean people were cheering for Oberyn being badass and wanting to take revenge for Elia. Elaria and SS follow his steps. They do exactly what he would have done. They killed the incapable and soft ruler and his son and took revenge for what the Lannisters did to their relatives. They paid them in the same way. And now Elaria and SS are players. It remains to be seen what kind of players but in my opinion the whole thing worked fine. And Indira was really great tonight. Majestic, playful. authoritative and determined as hell. She is Oberyn now…

  388. Ravyn:

    There’s a (fan) theory that she doesn’t have to wear the necklace around Selyse because she’s a true believer. Mel says something cryptic like that in the scene.

    This crossed my mind too.
    Let’s see if the necklace issue is explained later on.
    Not really a deal breaker, in any case…

    On a non-related subject:
    I thought Moro would have recognized Daenerys immediately, since in book 1 he was present along with Drogo, his son and others when they visited Illyrio’s mansion in Pentos to inspect the “merchandise” for the first time.
    And she can’t really be forgotten or mistaken for someone else…
    Guess this detail did not make it to the show…

  389. Great premiere! Only possible setback for me is Dorne, but I say let’s wait and see what they do with it, the deaths of Doran and Trystane could make room for interesting developments..

    I’ve got one tiny nitpick that is bothering me, when it really shouldn’t: in the Theon/Sansa/BriPod scene, what happened to the dogs?

  390. Nymeria Warrior Queen,

    Thanks Queen nym
    There, that’s a sullied I can totally agree with and can separate both products
    Yeah we liked Doran but we liked many others who died – this is the story in the show. Period.
    I won’t click on it, no worries 🙂

  391. ash:

    I didn’t catch what was on fire in Meereen….And I really wish they’d make the english captions bigger, I could barely read them.

    They burned all of the ships in Meereen. No way to Westeros now, until perhaps other ways become available – opening up for other storylines!

  392. Sansa and Theon hugging, and then Sansa accepting Brienne’s oath – I almost teared up, and I never cry at films or TV. Never. Amazing.

    Also glad to see that Pod has gone from being unable to ride a horse to capable of carrying on a horseback swordfight in the course of a season. Brienne’s obviously a great mentor when she can tear herself away from staring at candleless windows.

    Tyrion mistakenly telling that woman he wanted to eat her baby was great.

    The Khal manifesting an instant respect for Dany’s status as a widow was interesting. I get the sense that the Dosh Khaleen is going to be confining but, within those confines, we’ll start to understand that these women have much greater influence over Dothraki politics than we thought.

    Dorne was….definitely a WTF moment. But guys, there’s more than one ship in Dorne, and also, ships travel at different speeds. Assume that the Sand Snakes went directly from that dock, boarded a fast ship, trailed Myrcella’s ship, waited till Trystane was morosely painting the eyestones for his dead beloved, and climbed aboard to kill him. Stop worrying about it. There are other more important things going on.

    Mel’s reveal was expected to me, so I was a little disappointed that that was the big moment – although I see why it’s surprising to Unsullied.

    Overall, I feel a little deflated and indifferent about parts of this episode, but liked other parts. Even though there was a lot of action, they’re still primarily engaged in the start-of-season set up. They’ve placed the pieces well. Excited to see where it goes.

  393. I just want to say: I called that Dorne coup. I was wrong about other things but from the first review it was obvious. In Other places women take charge in terrifying ways. I didn’t think they would be the ones to kill Tristane. Maybe the sand snakes get better this season?

  394. I am so hoping that Mel is somehow connected to Bloodraven. Not sure the show will have time to go there…. not even sure Mel will survive much longer… but I would really like to see this. Shiera Seastar, anybody? I like the way this scene made me feel the way I felt reading Mel’s chapters- finally seeing behind the facade, a lonely woman insecure in her convictions.

    So Dany will need the Greyjoy fleet. It is known.

    Davos, ever the smooth talker. Streets to the core.

  395. VegoDread,

    I agree…the liquid shown in the vial has something to do with her appearance…it was told in an early episode it was important and it was specifically shown again…

  396. Well, that flew by. Enjoyed every bit. Quick hits on the story lines. Loved the throwback to Cat with the Sansa/Brienne oath. Nice to see Pod has improved his skills and to see Theon with sword in hand. It’s been a while. Daeny back in the acting like I don’t understand the language mode. Wonder if we’ll see another Drogon saves the day scene. Was hoping for a Siddig secret master plan in the works story line, but…guess not. Wonder if the special effects gag was the spear through the head out the nose …ugh

  397. It’s far too early to say this confidently, but tonight’s episode scares me. Dave and Dan carrying on this show without GRRM’s books…I am already seeing a difference. Dorne was awful again, the Dothraki sequence was clumsy and the two women reminded me of the crappy sand snakes giggling at each other. I hope I’m wrong, but it was not a good start tonight. Davos saved tonight from being a disaster, I can’t wait to see him take over at the wall.

  398. Darkrobin:
    Angela,

    I believe that is the end of Dorne.Obara and Tyrene are in King’sLanding.Maybe Nym joins them.

    Will they stay there though? Cersei will have them killed.

  399. Whew, what a night!

    My initial reactions: This was a great premiere episode that comes in right under “Two Swords” in terms of best premieres the show has ever had. Lots of moving pieces and plot developments, stuff we typically don’t see until episodes 2-4. I am psyched to see where they go from here, especially at Castle Black (for obvious reasons).

    The North: All win. Great scenes all around. I knew that the mutineers would not try to pass off Jon’s murder on the Wildlings, as I saw some folks here predict. That wouldn’t have made any sense. His body was left out in the open, under a sign that read ‘TRAITOR’ as a message to the Watch. The question now becomes, what was Thorne’s plan to deal with Jon’s loyalists? What was his plan to deal with Ghost? My thinking is that Edd and Davos and the other Loyalists are playing into his hands: he wants them to draw a line in the snow and fight over this act, as it gives him justification to kill off those who are the biggest threat to him, and seem reasonable to the Crows still on the fence. Indeed, by the end of the episode, it seems like he has the bulk of the NW ready to stand with him if it comes to bloodshed (as we all know it will).

    Dorne: Holy hell, I did not see that coming. It seems like a terrible waste of Alexander Siddig to kill him off this early, but it was either that or get rid of a similarly talented Indira Varma. I’m just glad things are moving here, and I honestly have no clue how Dorne will fit into the overall plot going forward.

    King’s Landing: It’s been said before, but it needs to keep being said until the woman wins an Emmy. Lena Headey is a fantastic actress. She was amazing this episode. But, now that we’ve gotten that whole Myrcella business out of the way, I NEED to see FrankenGregor go ape on some Sparrows.

    And Melisandre. Carice sort of gave this secret away in one of her interviews, but it was still a shock to see her transform into her real persona. I don’t care how old she is, I don’t care how many adorable little girls she burns, just give me back Jon Snow!

  400. that was just not enough… boo to weiss and benioff only making it 50 minutes and fans riot if they shorten season 7 and 8. it was good, just not enough, kinda anti climatic

  401. Did Jerome Flynn film this off season? Where was Bronn? He definitely wasn’t on that small ship with Jaime and Myrcella.

  402. Lulus Mum:

    Presumably there isn’t a trailer for ep2 yet? In the UK we usually get it with Thronecastbut that’s not on until Tuesday evening this week.

    I saw a trailer.

    And I agree that Luka is right, but I do still think that some explanation would have made the sequence much better. If Cersei suddenly appeared in Meereen next week to assassinate her brother, we’d wonder how she knew he was there, how she got to Meereen, and all of the happenings in between. Not that we want to make the Sand Snakes scenes longer, but some minimal explanation for what was going on would have been nice: having Mama Snake reference that Baby Snakes were on their way to KL and seeing Baby Snakes hop from ship to ship would have been perfect.

  403. This episode name-dropped Othell Yarwyck, Bowen Marsh, Septa Unella, the Rhoynar, and the “Dolorous” part of Dolorous Edd. And here I thought book-readers would be disappointed.

  404. Wow! Almost everything was spoiled for me, I was prepared to be underwhelmed, but having just finished watching it twice now, it was just awesome! Everything hit the mark; all storylines. Also, I had expected more deaths than just three; something tells me Episode 2 will be far more bloody.

    Vincent Stark:
    I wonder who was the person watching Varys and Tyrion speak…

    Yes, I wondered about that too. Someone we know? The Harpy?

    Luka Nieto: Great episode. I had all the big shocks ruined, but I still could marvel at the dialogue and the visuals

    Me too. Exactly. Really great episode.

  405. Darkrobin:
    Jack Bauer 24,

    Details, details …

    They took the next shipfrom Dorne (a fast one) … had it dock outside of KL, stole into KL, stole onto the ship …

    Flayed Potatoes,

    He was painting the eyes for Myrcella the boat was in KL docked

    It wasn’t docked. They showed the Dorne ship sailing away right before the scene with the Snakes killing him. Why in the world would be stay knowing Cersei would have him killed for Myrcella?

  406. Jack Bauer 24:
    How were Obara and Nymeria on that boat with Trystane?

    Just watched it TWICE via Sky Atlantic (I’m in the Canary Islands)

    Exactly my thoughts too? The ship carrying Jamie and Myrcella’s body arrived at Kings Landing and I presume with Trystane also. When the ship sailed off from Dorne, all the Sand Snakes were on jetty.

    Perhaps I missed something, but how the fuck did Obara and Nymeria get on the ship. Perhaps they ‘teleported’ to Kings Lane and did the deed 🙂

  407. Grandmaester Flash,

    Just because you enjoyed it doesn’t mean those with opposite opinion shouldn’t be able to freely post here. Did you and others who are complaining really think that all comments would be positive?! That’s unrealistic.

  408. kit_hepburn: This. They’re villains. They’ve been set up as villains. We’re not supposed to like them. We don’t like them. Therefore, everything is working as it needs to be in that respect.

    I don’t necessarily think they were set up as villains. They’re avenging their beloved (to us and to them) family member like we all wish Arya could do. I do feel we were supposed to see them as kick-ass female warrior women who weren’t putting up with anyone’s shit, not the Lannisters or any man. But it appears I am reading this a lot differently than most so it’s probably just my interpretation.

  409. Luka Nieto,

    Exellant first episode. Watched with a group and we all liked it.

    I agree with your comments. I think, as you did, killing Trystane was easily explained. Now they could have used a few more minutes to do so, but chose not to. Whether I agree or disagree, I understand their reasoning to end the ill-fated Dorne visit and now with two of the three SS in KL (and probably the 3rd soon enough) we may never had to revisit Dorne.

    I totally anticipated Mel. It was clear from Carice’s early interview that Mel was much older than she looked, D&D had talked bout the “gag” they had been wanting to do for 2 years (as they noted in Inside the Episode), and there was a big reveal regarding Mel

    Plus it is clear in the books that she is not what she seems, red eyes,
    perfect skin (but no slave tattoos like the other two red priests from Volantis and she appeared to have been sold as a slave and the largest R’hllor temple is in Volantis with the chief priest),
    her POV chapter where she regards herself as other than human,
    her interaction with Ghost (2 more red eyes, and Bloodraven has the 5th red eye and there’s magic and possibly glamouring there as well in the Dunk and Egg stories) etc.).

    I wonder if we will ever know why she did not appear to us to be any different in the bathtub scene where she did not have the ruby on … but a minor detail …

    I don’t expect Jon until Episode 3 … first night must fall, Alliser et al tries to break in … and just as it looks the darkest, Edd and the Wildlings arrive … and they spirit Jon out … whether Mel glamours him or not … I don’t know … only after all of this … and likely after at least one failure … will anything happen …. I think it will milked for all it’s worth as I would if I were them

  410. After a battle with HBO now (darn thing kept kicking into fast forward and wouldn’t quit without restarting my phone) I finally got the episode watched. I loved it.
    Ghost howling at the beginning g gave me chills. Everything at the Wall was great. I was bouncing when Edd took off to get the Wildlings and when they called him ‘Dolorous’. And I want to give Old Lady Mel a hug, seeing her like that made me feel so sad.
    Sansa/Theon and Brienne/Pod was really touching. I almost felt bad for Ramsey when he was talking about Miranda and then he ruined it, lol. Roose is a going to regret that jab.
    My heart shattered for Cersei, watching her run to the dock and then seeing her expression fall.
    Dorne confuses me but I’m actually interested in seeing where they take it after this.

  411. darkdadi,

    I don’t follow the leaks and spoilers stuff. As a fanboy myself, I get why people get all het up about that stuff, but I’m really just into watching the show itself. 😉

  412. Deesensfan: I liked Doran alot but she made a point when she said that he just sits back when his brother and ellia were killed

    After Season 5, I had totally expected that Myrcella’s poisoning was with Doran’s approval. It was extremely shocking that he was not. What was Doran’s plan all along? After what happened to his own sister at Lannister hands so long ago, and after Jaime Lannister snuck into Dorne and was caught, he was just happy for his son to have a seat on the Council and marry a Lannister? What a useless man. It was very telling that the guards did not blink when their Prince was killed. Totally out of touch with reality. I am not fond of Ellaria and the Sand Snakes for being kinslayers, but Doran had to go.

    Deesensfan: Coming here can be somewhat depressing with all the hype killing

    So true. Once again, the collective imagination of what would happen in the story fell short of what was actually going to happen in the story.

  413. I find funny how everybody talks about Dorne and the Wall, but no about Daenerys and the new Khal’s scenes, which I found the coolest scenes along with Reek and Sansa’s.

  414. Firannion,

    Yes, he disagreed with my thoughts on that …

    Although in his defense, I think he agreed that she might be much older than suspected, but that she hadn’t aged and wasn’t glamouring …

    And I suspect that the book reveal may be different … I was even more sure in the books that she was old, but I’m not sure what she looks like … does she have red eyes, perfect skin, is she taller than most men, etc.? Her book description was somewhat idolized

  415. This is one of a handful of GOT episodes that have truly felt too short. I was shocked when the credits rolled because I was expecting this big fight with Davos and the loyalists vs Thorne.

    Best scene was Sansa/Theon/Brienne/Pod. Worst was the Sand Snakes killing Trystane. I did get a chuckle at how they killed off Doran and mocked him for doing nothing after the show cut his whole plan from the books. Dorn should have never existed in the show. I think D&D know this, and will likely not feature Dorne much the rest of the series.

    This was a fairly typical premiere. Outside of ‘Two Swords’ and Winter Is Coming’ the premieres have usually been some of the weaker episodes. Given the hype, I was a tad underwhelmed. It didn’t help that I was spoiled about the Melisandre and Dorne happenings. I think I may have to avoid GOT sites later in the week, only visiting after each episode airs.

  416. Darkrobin:
    Luka Nieto,

    Exellant first episode.Watched with a group and we all liked it.

    I agree with your comments.I think, as you did, killing Trystane was easily explained.Now they could have used a few more minutes to do so, but chose not to.Whether I agree or disagree, I understand their reasoning to end the ill-fated Dorne visit and now with two of the three SS in KL (and probably the 3rd soon enough) we may never had to revisit Dorne.

    I totally anticipated Mel.It was clear from Carice’s early interview that Mel was much older than she looked, D&D had talked bout the “gag” they had been wanting to do for 2 years (as they noted in Inside the Episode), and there was a big reveal regarding Mel

    I wonder if we will ever know why she did not appear to us to be any different in the bathtub scene where she did not have the ruby on … but a minor detail …

    I don’t expect Jon until Episode 3 … first night must fall, Alliser et al tries to break in … and just as it looks the darkest, Edd and the Wildlings arrive … and they spirit Jon out … whether Mel glamours him or not … I don’t know … only after all of this … and likely after at least one failure … will anything happen …. I think it will milked for all it’s worth as I would if I were them

    Are Ellaria and Tyene going to stay back in Dorne with Obara and Nymeria in KL? I don’t know how they will be allowed to stay in KL with Cersei wanting vengeance.

  417. Black Raven,

    The message that Doran got was sent by Trystane, so that was a period of time that the SS had to get on a ship and follow him to KL. The timing pretty much works out.

  418. CatspawAssassin,

    And then talking incessantly about every episode to anyone who will listen, and even some who couldn’t care less about a tv show about dragons and zombie snowmen. 😉

  419. CatspawAssassin,

    Meant to add: And then talking incessantly about every episode to anyone who will listen, and even some who couldn’t care less about a tv show about dragons and zombie snowmen. 😉

  420. J:
    I find funny how everybody talks about Dorne and the Wall, but no about Daenerys and the new Khal’s scenes, which I found the coolest scenes along with Reek and Sansa’s.

    Khal Moro definitely got the funniest line in the episode “Ok seeing a beautiful woman naked is one of the top 5 things ever.” hahaha 🙂

  421. Jack Bauer 24,

    Yes, my thoughts exactly. In the books, they were within the walls of Castle Black, but they may be a little further away in the show. I don’t think they’ll be too far away.

  422. Finished the episode.

    Pretty cool as a season premiere! My favorite part was Sansa’s.

    The scene with Trystane was still majorly disappointing, but there is potential for the rest of Dorne.

    All in all, aside from the Trystane part, the episode was pretty good.

  423. VegoDread,

    Good observation. I thought the same thing when they panned down … it was a blue vial correct?

    What she says is “no not that one … you don’t even wan to touch that one”

  424. Was that new armor for the SS? I don’t recall seeing Obara or Nym where that last season?

  425. Ygritte:
    Grandmaester Flash,

    Just because you enjoyed it doesn’t mean those with opposite opinion shouldn’t be able to freely post here. Did you and others who are complaining really think that all comments would be positive?! That’s unrealistic.

    The problem is that most of the complaints are far-fetched. Some people are simply looking for things to bitch about. Not everything has to be perfectly explained. For example, the Sand Snakes showing up in Trystan’s room can be easily understood, there is no reason for D&D to take three minutes of air time just to show us how they sailed to King’s Landing in another boat as soon as Jaime left Dorne, and how they made it onto his ship once in King’s Landing. Your imagination is supposed to come in once in a while to interpret these things, jeez!

    As for what happened to Doran, I’ll admit I was surprised, but, again, let’s wait and see how the season develops. There will always be time to criticize D&D’ choices as the whole picture becomes clearer.

  426. Laura: Khal Moro definitely got the funniest line in the episode “Ok seeing a beautiful woman naked is one of the top 5 things ever.” hahaha

    I loved this scene. I liked how they were all talking crap, and Dany was pulling the same move she did in Astapor. Her expressions were awesome. Then BOOM. She busts out with all of her titles and that she was Drogo’s wife. Love her.

  427. Tyron Pimpslap,

    I’d put it third behind “Two Swords” and “The North Remembers”. It was definitely better than the first ep of S3 and S5. I think it was a curious mixture of urgent scenes (Castle Black, Sansa/Brienne) and the typical table setting (pretty much everything else), and another Dorne moment that just stuck out for its B movie acting and dialogue that seems to be put together by an entirely different crew. Poor Podeswa always gets stuck with the Dorne stuff. I do think that what took the episode over the top for me was the ending with Mel. Not only was it classic GoT WTF moment, but it sets up a possible tragic choice for Melisandre: resurrect Jon, or stay young. I can’t wait to see how it plays out.

  428. So who is the Harpy??? Varys and Tyrion discussion clearly implied there is one, and that we’ll find out. All the suspects are dead. Is it Daario????

  429. Danys scenes were awesome – really gonna enjoy this story line
    I love how she talked her way out of something but now she’s stuck in that widows nest – ugh

    Also, ramsays soft moment, and then he ruined it. I need him dead ASAP

  430. Sister Kisser: So Dany will need the Greyjoy fleet. It is known.

    Is it known because that was set up till book 5? Or was the Greyjoy fleet in the books going to suffer the same fate as the fleet in The Red Woman? I haven’t read the books (but somewhat book spoiled), but the burning fleet to me felt like D&D having a little laugh at a useless Victarion storyline and his fleet; that is, Victarion’s fleet will suffer a similar fate. 😉

    fierce as a wolverine: Tyrion mistakenly telling that woman he wanted to eat her baby was great.

    I loved that scene. Nice moment of levity in a serious episode.

    Also, I like Khal Moro. For now.

  431. The bit with Mel’s necklace. I wouldn’t look too much into it. Weren’t people saying the same when Dorne sent Mrycella’s necklace back to Cersei last season and she said only two were made and she had the other? But Joffrey gave Sansa one so there were really 3 and not 2…

  432. A line I won’t soon forget: “She’s good meat, feed her to the hounds.”

    Oh I can’t until Ramsay gets his.

    Speaking of hounds, what happened to the pooches during the rescue of Sansa? Did they just run off with their tails between their legs?

  433. Kay: What was Doran’s plan all along?…What a useless man. It was very telling that the guards did not blink when their Prince was killed. Totally out of touch with reality…. Doran had to go.

    This is one very clear instance where an interesting, complex character in the books was made one-dimensional and dull for the show. In the books, Doran is a master player. He is strong and subtle and wily and well-informed and has a ‘long game’ going on that even most of his family don’t know about. They only imagine him weak and useless; it’s very far from the truth.

    I know that they have to streamline for TV, but I don’t think that the showrunners did viewers a service by giving us this weak, ‘shorthand’ version of Doran. They could’ve written him a scheme that was different from the one in the books, since they were cutting out a couple of other characters, but still kept him interesting.

  434. James Rivers,

    No one else has mentioned the prophecy. What I find interesting is how resigned Cersei was … it was fate … she didn’t blame Jamie … there was nothing he could do (I also found her comments about Myracella extremely touching)

    Is she so resigned to fate on Tommen … does she now accept that it is fated that he will die? That there is nothing Jamie or she can do to prevent it?

    it also raises the question of whether there was a valonqar prophecy for the show Cersei … is it that they just have not shown yet or will they leave it off entirely … if she is so resigned … is she resigned that it is her fate for the valonqar to kill her? For some reason that doesn’t seem likely so does that mean no valonqar prophecy on the show … or maybe she will change her tune by the next or two episode and reject fate …
  435. Seriously, are these westeros.org trolls commenting here? That was an excellent episode, possibly one of the best opening episodes ever. Some of the comments are just absurd with people jumping to wild conclusions. Continuity errors with Mel’s necklace and Obara and Nymeria?? Really? Do you honestly think Dan and Dave are dumb? Just wait till the next episode, we are not supposed to know everything about the Melisandre twist yet. And as for Dorne, I loved it! Came out of nowhere, while the other storylines were fairly predictable. And please dont mourn for Doran and Areo, they were nothing last season and even in the books they’re minor characters at best. And clearly the whole of Doran wanted war and was in on the act aswell, judging by the guards. As for Trystane, i think he was sent back to Dorne by Jaime after the whole Myrcella incident. Nym and Obara intercept him as he’s about to come off the boat. Or maybe not. Its supposed to be a twist. Im sure it will be revealed or explained later. There’s so much we don’t know. Honestly, really disappointed by this website right now, and here I was excited about discussing the episode here. Everyone else loves it. You guys can join the westeros.org people and continue bitching about D&D and how much he ruined your precious Dorne story from the books when they clearly said they were going off book.

  436. if you guys saw the preview for episode 2, it looks like the boltons are going to the wall.

  437. Darkrobin,

    If its not shown on the show, we have to assume that valonquar may not exist in the show. Or maybe it does, but Maggy never told her in the show. Who knows, maybe she’ll appear later in the show and tell her the rest of the prophecy.

  438. Alex G,

    At least when I looked on my iPad, it will difficult to see the other blue vial … the one on the table looked a lot like the one that Selyse picked up and Mel sprinkled in her bath … but again I couldn’t see it clearly … also what she said was

    No … not not that one … you don’t even want to touch that one …

    So it is not clear what she meant by that ….

  439. I LOVED Ghost and his scenes. That was when I shed a tear.

    J:
    I find funny how everybody talks about Dorne and the Wall, but no about Daenerys and the new Khal’s scenes, which I found the coolest scenes along with Reek and Sansa’s.

    For talk about Daenerys’ scenes, you have to go to places outside of the die-hard ASOIAF sites – those tend to be all about the Starks. 😉 I really liked all of Daenerys’ scenes – she is no longer going to be Meereen Daenerys. She reminded me of Astapor Daenerys. Meereen is a bad dream, that Viserion and Rhaegal need to torch.

  440. Zalos: Some people are simply looking for things to bitch about.

    No, we aren’t. Why would we do that? We’re reacting with spontaneous disappointment or confusion to bits that disappointed or confused us. Stop trying to tell us how we ‘really’ feel; it’s patronizing.

  441. Syed Kabir,

    Good post. Possible that Jaime could’ve told him to wait on the ship until things blow over with Cersei as he was painting the funeral eye things.

    Also, wonder if Bronn could’ve somehow been in on the act.

    And I just realize from looking at here and other sites, people are never ever going to let Dorne go. They latched onto it last season, and it’s like they became politicians with their talking points. Last season in Dorne wasn’t even close to as “bad” as people paint it – the majority of people actually liked it.

  442. Now for some real discussion. I’m sure everyone saw a man hiding when Tyrion and Varys were discussing who the Leader of the Harpies was. Who could that man be?

  443. dothrakian raven:
    I do not understand why Elaria and SS are suddenly regarded as villains who kill innocents. I mean people were cheering for Oberyn being badass and wanting to take revenge for Elia. Elaria and SS follow his steps. They do exactly what he would have done. They killed theincapable and soft ruler and his son and took revenge for what the Lannisters did to their relatives. They paid them in the same way. And now Elaria and SS are players. It remains to be seen what kind of players but in my opinion the whole thing worked fine. And Indira was really great tonight. Majestic, playful. authoritative and determined as hell. She is Oberyn now…

    Um. That’s not what Oberyn would have done. If he wanted to kill Myrcella, he could have done that considering she was right there in Dorne with him. Instead he decided to confront the people directly responsible for their crimes. The Sand Snakes/Elaria have a more reckless vengeance.

  444. Zalos,
    I’m just very disappointed. All the hype and it was a let down for me. I haven’t been able to get into the site and for some reason typing is delayed (could be issue with new laptop) and comments have to be resent and then don’t show up. Anyways, the show is not headed in a direction I care about anymore and everything felt rushed. I thought things were supposed to start out with a bang but that’s not what I saw.

  445. Syed Kabir,

    Agree. It just interested me that Cersei was so resigned to fate …

    Dorne didn’t bother me … it’s clear that they wanted us to know that Dorne hates the Lannisters and now you have two Sand Snakes in KL (which by the way is what it appears you will have in the books).

    Maybe we will even find another Dornish lady at the Citadel.
  446. Syed Kabir:
    Really? Do you honestly think Dan and Dave are dumb?

    No, but there are some of us who believe that they have lost interest in this show to the point where they are rushing to finish instead of giving the narrative the room to breathe that it needs. Details tend to get lost when the effort becomes phoned-in. Maybe it’s time for HBO to give this to new showrunners?

  447. Boy, Khal Moro was kind of weak. His blood riders and wives sure talked out of turn a lot – telling him what he should do and even correcting him. Also, he did a 180 pretty fast on Dany, from talking shit to her to apologizing pretty quickly. People with that style of leadership don’t seem to last long in the world of GoT and ASOIAF. One has to wonder if his days are numbered, especially as a Khal of the Dothraki.

  448. The guy who was giving the pep talk to the Meereenians: does anyone know if he was in the books? Just wondering if he might be a returning character.

  449. I’ll admit, I probably should have seen the events of Dorne coming after re watching season 5 lol
    Good times XD

  450. Syed Kabir: I’m sure everyone saw a man hiding when Tyrion and Varys were discussing who the Leader of the Harpies was. Who could that man be?

    Can’t be Daario or Jorah, they are quite far away. I am betting that it is Yezzan, the leader of the Harpies. Someone whose economic status has taken a hit with the abolishment of slavery.

  451. Ravyn:
    Black Raven,

    The message that Doran got was sent by Trystane, so that was a period of time that the SS had to get on a ship and follow him to KL. The timing pretty much works out.

    Ok, I’ll go along with your reasoning. It seems logical. I can’t recall if Obara and Nym were present when Doran and his body guard were killed, but Tyrene was certainly there (or maybe I have Nym and Tyrene and where they were reversed) !
    I’ll watch it again on Monday night and check that out 😉

  452. Can we talk about next on? Tyrion is going to the catacombs! And finally that scene at Castle Black!

    And has Tommen confined his mom to her quarters on Kevyn’s advice?

  453. Firannion,

    Really, you think that they should listen to every nitpicker on the net? (such as you lol) Besides, what do you and anyone else think would happen when Doran learned that Ellaria killed the girl? What was going to be the next step for her and her girls?

    Spoiler (how do you use them lol)
    [Hmmm, she simply struck first

    And they might go ahead and [ send Lady Olenna to Dorne anyhow to bargain with Ellaria or calm her the f*** down now since she’s the unofficial leader there and that there might be war]

  454. dothrakian raven,

    Well, I wonder what their next move will be. People complained that Arianne wasn’t on the show, but in may ways she’s been incorporated into Ellaria’s character.

    Fans also hate on Ollie in a similar way. “He killed Ygritte; He stabbed Jon.” All he knew about Ygritte is she was part if wildling raid that slaughtered his family, and she had an arrow pointed on Jon at the Wall. He protected his Brother then. He was already half drunk on the “wildings are evil forever and ever” Koolaid before Thorne organized his coup.

    As for that closing shot. I don’t know if it lived up to the hype, but it made your mind spin.

    Oh Trystane. Dang you, GoT, must you kill all the pretty boys?

  455. I thought it was a good – maybe not GREAT – GOT episodes. We’re spoiled by amazing episodes, and this one felt like a 5.10b or something, instead of 6.1. At the same time, there were some beautiful scenes. Everything about the North is A++++++. I don’t love Dany, but I liked her this episode, and this story.

    I think Ellaria is great because Indira is a force. The 3 Sand Snakes are so meh, but it might just be pre-ingrained anger. My biggest confusion is WTF they’re actually doing with Dorne in the show. In the books, it’s complex and maybe a side interest, but there IS a plot with Dorne. In the show, they never had a Doran “vengeance” moment, because of not other subplots so sadly there’s no room for Doran. In the books at least you can see who/how they’re angling for allies. In the show, if they want to ally with Dany they have 1) no makes and 2) wtf is Dany doing are they even aware of who she is?? And are they aware she’s wandering around captives of a horse hoard?

    So again, I just think the motivations in Dorne are confusing as hell. They want war with the Lannisters? In the books, Doran knew they needed allies. What, Ellaria and the SS are going to take Dorne to war with Kings’ Landing?

    It’s just confusing.

    The Mel thing – I don’t think she’s glamoring Jon back to life. If anything, I think it’s meant to show that there is some deep magic that she – and the Lord of Light do have. The show has made a point to show Stannis as a reckless believer, and as much as Mel ominously talks about the night being dark and full of terrors, she APPARENTLY looks like she’s wrong about her god. But in a moment she’s expressing vulnerability and doubt – she says she saw him in the flames fighting at Winterfell – we’re supposed to realize that there IS deep magic that she has.

    And if that isn’t a spoiler, Jon fighting in Winterfell, heck D&D nice one

  456. Syed Kabir,

    I’m thinking it’s a shadowbinder who

    takes on the appearance of Shae in order to manipulate Tyrion. Assuming that “Shae” appears onscreen again…
  457. Jack Bauer 24,

    I think it may be “undercover” Yes, in the books

    one was going to be on the small council and the other was going to integriate herself with the high sparrow

    … so it may have not been undercover … but they will have to change their outfits or it’s pretty obvious they are not from KL 🙂 Or they could go back … I just think that if they end up in the same place in the books and the show it is for a reason (like Mel coming back to CB)

  458. The Dornish storylines are weak in the books. I had high hopes that HBO would improve them on the show, but they are barely watchable. Dorne should of ended with Oberyn.

  459. CatspawAssassin,

    I was going to look for that on my second watch. I don’t remember if they ran away, or the handler took them away. Maybe he reports back to Ramsay what happened.

  460. Nadia,

    Thoros had lost faith … and it was implied that that loss of faith had something to do with his ability to resurrect Beric … so I agree with you … this is all a process …

  461. weirwoodtreehugger: kind want there to be separate threads for people who just want to bitch and complain, and people who actually want to discuss the episode.

    ‘Discussing’ generally includes mentioning what one dislikes as well as what one likes. If people are only allowed to gush and praise the episode, that’s not discussion or analysis or critical thinking; that’s just mindless fangirling/fanboying.

    I for one was very hyped for this season despite some past misfires. I was hoping to be utterly wowed, hoping that D & D would have learned from their mistakes. Maybe this sort of thing is inevitable when we let ourselves board the hype train, but for me it was a big letdown when the subplot that came off most amateurish in Season 5 came off even worse at the outset of Season 6. Now I want Dorne just to go away so I can enjoy the parts of the show that I do like, without distraction.

  462. I mean seriously people give this season a chance without nitpicking about Dorne all the time lol

  463. Ravyn:
    Tyron Pimpslap,

    I’d put it third behind “Two Swords” and “The North Remembers”. It was definitely better than the first ep of S3 and S5. I think it was a curious mixture of urgent scenes (Castle Black, Sansa/Brienne) and the typical table setting (pretty much everything else), and another Dorne moment that just stuck out for its B movie acting and dialogue that seems to be put together by an entirely different crew. Poor Podeswa always gets stuck with the Dorne stuff. I do think that what took the episode over the top for me was the ending with Mel. Not only was it classic GoT WTF moment, but it sets up a possible tragic choice for Melisandre: resurrect Jon, or stay young. I can’t wait to see how it plays out.

    I agree with this, pretty much. Everything out of Dorne seems, for reasons unknown to me, to be coming out of a Xena: Warrior Princess episode; it’s puzzling.

    Loved the rest of the episode through, very much up to form. I though everything else not Dorne was fantastic.

    For those not liking the Mel twist, blame George, not D&D. The Mel thing is heavily hinted at in the books.

  464. Ginevra,

    It would, if you notice Mel has some major scars/body modifications on her back. They look too symmetrical to be not have been put there deliberately. At first I thought it might be from her days as a slave, and having been whipped as punishment. However, those scars almost look like the pattern of scales on a dragon. I’m wondering about the significance of them.

  465. Kay,

    I doubt it.

    Ginevra,

    Huh. Well, that is interesting- Benioff says that after the premier, as the article noted, but then the writer goes on to speculate that if she is only 100 years old, she could be related to SS and BR. If she’s 400, she could have some information about the Doom. More and more intrigue…

  466. Doran… the great strategist (playing the long game), dead. :p

    Areo Hotah killed so easily? Give me a break. :p

    The rest was good. I guess they just wanted to wash their hands of the Dorne plot?

  467. Did anybody else see a dragon in the bloodstain Jon left behind? Davos seemed to linger on it for a long time.

  468. Ok, this season premiere was still really good, I thought it was good, i liked it. I never got a preview of episode 2 after the show, but its on youtube so i got to watch it, i am pumped for Bran and Bloodraven!! Sansa is going to send Brienne to find Arya, no doubt.

    And Dorne, the only thing that pissed me off about it is that everyone is bitching about it, why not talk about the postives? The rest of the episode was a great set up for season and follow ups from season 5.

    Also, why was Davos looking at Jons blood with such curiosity?

  469. Hoderes: Really, you think that they should listen to every nitpicker on the net? (such as you lol)

    I think that there is a HUGE middle ground between listening to ‘every nitpicker on the net’ and insulating oneself from any sort of public feedback or reality checks, surrounding oneself with sycophants and yes men, which I suspect is what D & D have done.

    And please play nice and avoid the ad hominem attacks.

  470. Easily the most overhyped episode in the history of Thrones. I fucking knew it that it would blow. This destroyed my faith for Season 6.

  471. Firannion,

    To repeat a sports metaphor: A coach who listens to the crowd, will soon be watching the game with them.

    D&D aren’t perfect, they’ve made their share of mistakes (Dorne, Theon’s endless torture, come to mind) but they have a better handle on this story and how to tell it than any random person on the internet.

  472. I don’t want to be a fan girl but I don’t want cheese with a whole lot of WHINE either, lol just be somewhere in the middle.

  473. Kabhal:
    Doran… the great strategist (playing the long game), dead.:p

    Areo Hotah killed so easily?Give me a break.:p

    The rest was good.I guess they just wanted to wash their hands of the Dorne plot?

    How is it “washing their hands of Dorne”, when we now have Obara and Nymeria in KL and Elaria and Tyene still in Dorne?

  474. Tom:
    Easily the most overhyped episode in the history of Thrones. I fucking knew it that it would blow. This destroyed my faith for Season 6.

    Calm down, man. Just wait, I was a litte disappointed with the episode, thought it should have been longer, for sure, but it followed up on all of the Season 5 stuff and sets up for the rest of the season, Jon is coming back, i think Episode 3 now, I hope its soon though, next week looks better and hopefully it will pick up.

  475. Who do you think will have sex with Melisandre now to make shadow babies at Castle Black as suggested by Davos??????

  476. Fancy word for a sellsword:
    Did anybody else see a dragon in the bloodstain Jon left behind? Davos seemed to linger on it for a long time.

    Yes. I saw a howling direwolf silhouette in the blood pooling above his head, as I had at the end of Season 5; and I also saw something that could have been a dragon silhouette in the bloody imprint below his torso this time. I agree that they did seem to point it up by having Davos stare at the spot. Seems like we are supposed to deduce something significant, like they’re Rorschach Test ink blots.

  477. Jack Bauer 24,

    Well, I saw the ship heading back while only the boat was coming towards KL. My friend pointed that out.

    But Sandsnakes in KL is even more intriguing, especially if you know that theory in the books. In that case, I’m sure Trystane was just sitting on the boat while Jaime sorted things out. We’ll probably see Jaime coming to look for him and find him dead. He’ll take the stones then. Or something. Idk, its very intriguing. And no, D&D are not stupid to teleport them there, there definitely is a rational explanation.

  478. Jack Bauer 24,

    I find it hard to believe that they will have much of a role this season. [spoilers]No leaks suggests that they are involved in the main storyline of KL and they were also absent from most promotional material. For the latter, it’s possible that the showrunners are just hiding them after the backlash of last season, but that still doesn’t explain why there weren’t leaks of them if they had a major role to play.

  479. EW loved it http://www.ew.com/recap/game-of-thrones-premiere-red-woman?xid=email-gameofthrones-20160424-readstory

    “This is the strongest opening episode of Game of Thrones.

    Yes, Jon Snow is still dead, but the episode is terrific. Expertly shot, crazily expensive looking, each sequence totally effective at setting up the next, complete with surges of drama, action, horror, and humor. Thrones season premieres have never been the best episodes, often focused on re-establishing all the various story lines. But after last year’s cliffhanger, “The Red Woman” (and oh yes, we’ll get to that shocking Melisandre reveal), this hour just barreled forward. If, as in previous years, Thrones tends to get stronger as the season progresses, then perhaps what the showrunners have declared will prove correct — that this is the best season yet.”

  480. RBloodworth: No, but there are some of us who believe that they have lost interest in this show to the point where they are rushing to finish instead of giving the narrative the room to breathe that it needs.Details tend to get lost when the effort becomes phoned-in.Maybe it’s time for HBO to give this to new showrunners?

    Yeah, HBO must be eager to get rid of the showrunners who have made GOT the most popular show in the history of the network, and the show that just swept the Emmys last year. LOL, not gonna happen, pal.

  481. Connor,

    I’m getting the vibe that the whole season is overrated by actors and producers. I will just wait, but I lost excitement.

  482. Jack Bauer 24: How is it “washing their hands of Dorne”, when we now have Obara and Nymeria in KL and Elaria and Tyene still in Dorne?

    Okay that’s fair. I guess it’s just the book version of those characters in me. Areo sleeps with his spear and Prince Doran is brilliant. So I just find it hard to believe they would go down so fast. Clearly it’s a book to show problem, so my own hang-up I suppose.

  483. My initial thoughts…

    1). The Wall stuff and Dany stuff was really good.
    2). The Arya stuff was good.
    3). King’s Landing stuff was good.
    4). The Tyrion/Varys stuff was okay.
    5). The Sansa/Reek/Brienne scene was okay.
    5). The Dorne and Sandsnake stuff was dumb.

    Overall, I liked the episode.

    The Tyrion cock joke fell flat but the Dothraki talking crap about Dany was funny.

    I really just didn’t like the Dorne/Sandsnake stuff. The rest was good.

    Mel taking off her charmed necklace to show her true self was very cool.

  484. I was so pissed at how smug Olly looked when Thorne was talking, fuck Olly. Made me hate him even more. Wun Wun and or Ghost, kill his ass over and over.

  485. I can’t see them letting any Dornish on the council if the dornish’s plan is to go to war w the iron throne. But it is hard to tell.

    I really enjoyed the levity interspersed in this episode. Davos’s request for mutton, Tyrion’s bad Valyrian, the five best things in life and even Obara being a greedy bitch.

    The most touching things for me was 1) Sansa taking Briennes oath as Cat had done (breaking my heart D&D), 2) ghost howling and sniffing Jons hand and 3) Cersei running to greet her daughter.

    It wasn’t the shocking episode I had expected but it was a great opener.

  486. Firannion,

    I agree with ya. I don’t understand the nerve some people have of calling others out over respectfully expressing an honest opinion on a discussion board. It’s controlling and antagonistic. Why can’t they just communicate with the many posters who have the same outlook they do and ignore the rest. That is always the way of the internet. There will be things one reads that they don’t agree with and with matters of unimportance, which this is at end of the day, starting an argument over it makes no sense.

  487. Connor,

    Have to agree there…and the way they kept the light on him, I thought he was about to give a rousing speech to the troops. Can’t wait until he’s a goner.

  488. Connor,

    I was thinking how sweet it would be for Wun Wun to smash his head in the way the Mountain did to Oberyn. But honestly that would probably be like Arya killing Trant-initially satisfying, but then disturbing.

  489. So, next episode, Wun Wun breaking through Castle Black gates, for sure.

    BRAAAAAN IS BAAAAAAAAACCKKKKKK!!

  490. Tom,

    Do yourself a favor and stop watching right now… There’s nothing worse than “hate-watching” and/or “confirmation-bias-watching”.

  491. Hoderes,

    Nope. Sometimes people really love or hate something and if they want to rejoice or conversely commiserate together, they can. Nobody should have to keep things vanilla just because some people don’t like passion lol.

  492. CatspawAssassin,

    I was wondering about the hounds too. That apparent continuity error bothers me much more than Mel’s necklace or even the two Sand Snakes somehow catching up to the ship in King’s Landing.

    I’m not a big fan of the Dorne plot twist either – I was thinking that Doran was playing some sort of long game, or that Cersei would kill Tristane in revenge for Myrcella and that would drive Doran to war.

    Much of the rest of the episode was great – Davos, Ed, & Ghost and Sansa/Theon/Brienne/Podrick were the highlights for me. The short scene with Varys and Tyrion left me wanting more.

  493. Jeff Rassuchine,

    It can only be someone of royal descent. Hint hint. But there isn’t enough time for her to birth a shadow baby there anyway but we know they are hanging out there after. We have seen her standing on the balconies or whatever you call them and we’ve seen her getting ready to leave. Looking confident again.

  494. Demon Monkey:
    Haha and it’s funny how much Ollie has grown overnight!

    That’s what killing a man will do for you. Puts hair on your chest.

  495. Kamali: Um. That’s not what Oberyn would have done. If he wanted to kill Myrcella, he could have done that considering she was right there in Dorne with him. Instead he decided to confront the people directly responsible for their crimes. The Sand Snakes/Elaria have a more reckless vengeance.

    Exactly. Didn’t he even have a line about how they don’t kill little girls in Dorne. Until now, that is.

  496. The episode gets a lot of hate on the Internet, IGN thought it was the weakest episode of the entire series. I think it’s safe to say that the show will never be as universally liked as Season 1-4. I’m a bit bummed to be honest, I don’t want to read any comments I will take no pleasure in it.

  497. Hoderes:
    I mean seriously people give this season a chance without nitpicking aboutDorne all the time lol

    Ppl can have their opinions but I disagree. They don’t have a lot of screen time but I think their scenes in this episode were miles above what they have done in the past. So maybe they will improve. Also, this successful coup was more interesting than anything we saw last season in Dorne. And Doran and Areo’s deaths were shocking.

  498. Pounce:
    The episode gets a lot of hate on the Internet, IGN thought it was the weakest episode of the entire series. I think it’s safe to say that the show will never be as universally liked as Season 1-4. I’m a bit bummed to be honest, I don’t want to read any comments I will take no pleasure in it.

    IGN didn’t think it was the weakest. They gave it an 8 out of 10.

  499. Pounce:
    The episode gets a lot of hate on the Internet, IGN thought it was the weakest episode of the entire series. I think it’s safe to say that the show will never be as universally liked as Season 1-4. I’m a bit bummed to be honest, I don’t want to read any comments I will take no pleasure in it.

    Over at IGN, they primarily cover videogames, not movies and TV shows. I think I’ll take what they said with a grain of salt.

    The episode was good. It is tiring to see the people who always act disappointed every time a season begins. And, no, it wasn’t any different during S1, S2, S3, & S4. I’ve been following GoT for ages and you always have the same nitpicking.

    Anyway, for us fans who love the show as well as the books, let’s rejoice! This season is going to be amazing.

  500. DireWolfHeart,

    Interesting observation (the bumps on her back).

    When we first saw the “real” Mel in the mirror, for a sec I thought it was Dany. When she turned away, the long hair – gray as I’m sure it would be for anyone but did I detect a teensy bit of platinum blonde? – for some reason reminded me of the Targaryans.

  501. Pigeon: Now THAT is bringing the excitement back! Sansa will send Brienne to look for Arya……

    Also Boltons are going to the Wall like I suspected they would in a previous post. Looks like Davos, Mel, Jon, and Sansa (if she gets there) are getting out of there quick!!

  502. Pounce:
    The episode gets a lot of hate on the Internet, IGN thought it was the weakest episode of the entire series. I think it’s safe to say that the show will never be as universally liked as Season 1-4. I’m a bit bummed to be honest, I don’t want to read any comments I will take no pleasure in it.

    This episode is getting good reviews from what I have seen. AV Club gave it a B+, Entertainment Weekly said it was the best premiere of GoT, Hitfix gave a positive review, Forbes said it was a “strong, surprising return” and I just checked IGN and they gave it a 8.0 which is “great” on their scale.

    Critically, the show is still doing fine.

  503. Instead of Master Doran, what if it went down like this?

    1. Cersei gives in to her rage after what happens to Myrcella and kills Trystane despite Jaime’s best efforts of convincing her. This also moves Jaime a bit further away from Cersei. He starts to see the madness start to creep in.

    2. She sends his head to Dorne. Doran, unaware of the context, is furious. This pushes him over the line. Meanwhile Ellaria and the Sand Snakes have gotten exactly what they wanted. They’ve got war AND doran and hotah on their side. Call it Ellaria’s Masterplan.

    Nonetheless, I still loved Dorne though. I’m sure there were people saying what was the whole point of building up Ned only to kill him in the first season/book. Doran should’ve seen this coming. Despite his pragmatic stance, the people(including his own guards) clearly wanted war. He also underestimated Ellaria and the SS and gave them a chance too many. From an Unsullied point of view, this was coming. And Nym and Obara in KL falls in line with certain book theories. Will we get Tyene in the Citadel now? I personally thought she’d be the one to make it to KL, with her history with Bronn and all. Nevertheless, really intrigued by Dorne this season as we dont seem to know anything unlike the Northern storyline with all the leaks and trailers. Also, really like the Sand Snakes’ hot-headed reckless badassery mixed with playful sibling rivalry.

  504. Ygritte:
    Zalos,
    I’m just very disappointed. All the hype and it was a let down for me. I haven’t been able to get into the site and for some reason typing is delayed (could be issue with new laptop) and comments have to be resent and then don’t show up. Anyways, the show is not headed in a direction I care about anymore and everything felt rushed. I thought things were supposed to start out with a bang but that’s not what I saw.

    Those who were disappointed by the premiere: The actors over hyped the twist at the end. It is natural that if you were following coverage closely you should be let down. But try to have some perspective. It was far from bad. Of course, if u think it was terrible television you’re entitled to your opinion. Lmfoa.

    I know I have been disappointed in the past. At least initially with things that weren’t bad at all. So I hope u change ur minds.

    On the other hand, I get why ppl don’t want to hear these complaints. Especially when the criticism isn’t really matching the quality of the show. Because if we wanted to read comments like that (criticism of something we LOVE) instead of the kind we are accustomed to (excited speculation and reflections) there are other sites that we could frequent. *cough winter is coming* (which btw is not a reflection of the writers there, just the angry bunch of ppl posting in their comments. )

  505. What if, in some backwards way, the ‘true’ Baratheons are all sacrifices to resurrect the Targaryan bloodline, Jon included? After all, they all died in connection to Mel in some way, except for Robert?

  506. Kamali: Entertainment Weekly said it was the best premiere of GoT

    I think Hibberd is on GoT’s payroll. EW never says anything bad about it.

  507. Deesensfan,

    Luka Nieto,

    Well I loved it! Two Swords was definitely my favourite season opener, but damn, this is close. The whole opening sequence at the Wall was amazing. The dawning horror on Davos’ face when he comes outside to investigate Ghost’s howls was spine tingling. And poor Edd! He looks so devastated. Made me tear up.

    I cried again during Brienne’s pledge. My partner fist-pumped when she and Pod came pounding around the corner to the rescue.

    Lena Headey, my god. Her face is incredible. She and Carice really knocked it out of the park tonight. Carice made Melisandre’s despair palpable. The way she looked at Jon Snow; you could see the last piece of her faith dying. Losing My Religion stuck in anyone else’s head right now?

    Loved Khal Moro. He’s going to be fun to watch. And hey, I liked the way they dispatched Trystane! Personally I hate the dude, and it gave me a good laugh. Was sorry to see Doran go out like that though. I prefer his stronger book plot. Then again, I really didn’t like Arianne, and the fact that she was cut suited me. So I guess I can’t whinge too much about the change to Doran’s storyline.

    My main complaint: too short, and it’s way too long until the next episode! Not sure if the trailers count as spoilers, but just in case:

    I’m thinking now that Jon won’t come back until E3 at least, sigh. Ep 2 will have Edd’s return with the backup, and the skirmish will take up most of the time spent at the Wall. I’m still firmly in the camp that believes Mel will have something to do with Jon’s resurrection, and according to the trailer, Mel’s devastation won’t dissipate overnight. She needs to have her “deep and meaningful” with Davos first, which has to happen after Davos and co have escaped Thorne.

    Am suddenly wishing there was a netflix-like binge watch option for this show.

  508. Demon Monkey,

    To be fair, I’ve been in a sort of foul mood since I woke up. Got home and settled down with the show hoping the spoilers I looked at yesterday were fake. I was disappointed they weren’t lol. I realized one thing tonight though and it is that the only real story line I’m truly invested in anymore is Jon’s. I thought that something interesting might be ahead with Doran, but oh well. And I was hoping for something more glamorous, for lack of better word, with Melisand or at least some interesting conversation between her and Davos. Sure I know it’s coming most likely, it’s just the wait has been so long I wanted it now 🙂

  509. Thanks to Sue and the other administrators, I was able to avoid the screenshots posted prior to the episode’s airing — which I gather were about the Dorne scenes — so they were surprises for me. I understand why most comments have been negative — the tone of these scenes just did not fit with the rest of the episode. I have to give Dan and Dave credit — it took guts to commit to a storyline that was almost universally ridiculed last year. I am in the minority of readers who actually liked Arianne and the Sand Snakes in the books, and I was still thinking that Doran had a master plan that would pay off in the show. I don’t want to give up hope that the showrunners will find a way to redeem the whole mess.

  510. I must say I was quite impressed by this episode. Some parts were slowly setting up the rest of the season while others went right to the point with several surprises.
    – I certainly did not expect that Dorne storyline, but given the show not having the YG in it, it could make sense.
    -Lena/Cersei was absolutely great in her changing expressions while waiting for Myrcella. Reference to the prophecy again.
    -I wonder what sight Arya will soon have. There are some parallels to the Blind Beth storyline.
    -Sansa and Brienne’s encounter brought me to tears and I am a little nervous whether there will be some StoneSansa this season. Also glad, that Pod was properly training with Brienne in the off-season; Alfie is great as always.
    -Castle Black was set up great – while as a book-reader Mel’s secret is(was) rather common speculation , I really thought we went back to the Wall for the resurrection towards the end so it came as a great surprise to me.
    So, all in all a great start of the season. Maybe not a 10/10 but 8 or 9 certainly. I am really looking forward to more.

  511. I liked the episode and enjoyed it more when I rewatched it.
    I can’t wait for the next episode.

  512. Laura: Dorne just sucks. I now fear that the Queenmaker plot is going to move from Myrcella to Dany in some weird way.

    How is that shocking? It did in the books… :/

  513. DireWolfHeart,

    Ooo, I’ll have to look for that on my rewatch.

    As for the episode as a whole, the Dorne moments were shocking, even if they felt a bit forced and cheesy. And the rest of the episode was lovely. But I think I’m fated to be underwhelmed by every episode until Jon returns. I can’t get hype before that shoe falls.

  514. dothrakian raven:
    I do not understand why Elaria and SS are suddenly regarded as villains who kill innocents. I mean people were cheering for Oberyn being badass and wanting to take revenge for Elia. Elaria and SS follow his steps. They do exactly what he would have done. They killed theincapable and soft ruler and his son and took revenge for what the Lannisters did to their relatives. They paid them in the same way. And now Elaria and SS are players. It remains to be seen what kind of players but in my opinion the whole thing worked fine. And Indira was really great tonight. Majestic, playful. authoritative and determined as hell. She is Oberyn now…

    My honest answer to that question, that will piss off a lot of “feminism is ruining the world” people? They’re woman, so they’re perceived differently. Women who lead are perceived as bossy. Likewise, badass, dangerous and adventerous women are perceived as much more villanous than the same kind of men, which Oberyn was. Oberyn didn’t have a strategic thought in his head, yet people didn’t hate him for it. They loved his passion. Ellaria and his daughters are basically the same. But then it’s suddenly silly.

    Black Raven,

    Okay, why do people here have a problem with object permanence?

    Does Dorne only have one ship? They knew Myrcella, Jaime, Bronn and Trystane were heading to the capital. So the Sand Snakes took another ship a few hours after they departed and went to the capital. That simple. Why didn’t we see that? Well, it was obviously meant to be a surprise. They assumed that we would understand that people off-screen are able to travel.

  515. If episode one is a sign of the season to come, we’re in serious trouble folks. Characters are saying things they’d never say, phrasing them in ways they’d never say. Have the show runners learned nothing in five years? So much does not ring true:

    1. Tyrion is suddenly not witty. See not-a-boy / c*ck line.
    2. Cersei is suddenly humble. “She wasn’t like me. She was good.” When has Cersei been the slightest bit humble?
    3. Jaime suddenly curses. The Hound may say “f*ck the king” etc. When has show Jamie cursed, ever?
    4. Pod is suddenly a more than competent swordsman who can go toe to toe with Bolton raiding parties.
    5. Everything Dorne.
    6. Dothraki bro dialogue: Fifth best thing, she doesn’t have to be smart to be (unmentionable) etc. When have any show Dothraki sounded like 12 year olds?
    7. Daario suddenly made of cardboard. The “I want to grow old like you” line. Painfully awful filler.
    8. Thorne admits killing Jon, makes half-assed speech and nobody does anything? Doesn’t ring true.
    9. Tyrion and Varys wander Meereen by themselves, taking care to explain to each other why they’re without guards (dressed as merchants line). Like characters in soap opera might say, “As you know Jim…”.

    There’s much more but I’m tuckered.

    TLDR; So much dialogue didn’t fit these characters it’s painfully obvious what is GRRM material and what isn’t. At times, D&D are like squires who aren’t ready for battlefield despite 5 long years of adapting GRRM. Here’s hoping it gets better from here…

  516. Luka Nieto,

    You’re wrong. It has nothing to do with “women so they’re perceived differently”. It’s bad writing for cardboard characters. All the smirking and one liners equal shallow characters that are the OPPOSITE of complicated women who are strong but also real. Oberyn may have not “had a strategic thought” but we saw his compassion for baby Tyrion (“he’s not a monster/just a baby”) and wanting justice for his dead sister. Oberyn would be just as great as a female and the Sand Snakes just as lame as males.

  517. ash,

    I love Vonnegut, I’m glad to find another fan! I have read Slaughterhouse 5, God Bless you, Mr. Rosewater, Mother Night, Galapagos and Bluebeard. I guess it’s high time to look for Cat’s Cradle… and for the others.

  518. SnowLives,

    Some of those are a tad harsh, but number 9 was definitely a facepalm moment. I agree the cock joke was lame, too. I’m ok with Pod showing that he can now fight, as Brienne did agree to train him, so this is presumably how they spent most of season five while hanging out near Winterfell. Sure, it’s slightly unrealistic, but it doesn’t bother me and I like the idea that Pod will eventually become a knight. Cersei acting humble was a bit jarring, but we could say that’s character development as a result of her humbling experience in season five, combined with the unpredictable consequences of a deep state of grief. Likewise, Jamie behaving slightly differently is character development which shows his deep sense of rage. I thought the Daario line was ok, not great but whatever. Dothraki banter was fine, in my opinion, and I liked the expression on Dany’s face which showed how much stronger she has become since season 1. The way she rolls her eyes at their threats of rape was very effective in establishing her retaining a sense of agency and courage rather then allowing herself to be cast as a victim.

  519. Kay,

    Useless man? Alright, let’s say Tommen has an accident, he falls of a horse, whatever, guess who’s the next king of Westeros? Trystane!!! And the Baratheons lose the crown. Yeah, such a stupid move, to have a Martell in King’s Landing, willingly being given the power. I am sure Ellaria’s plan will work so much better, yeah, they will conquer King’s Landing on their own.. sure. #facepalm

  520. Luka Nieto: My honest answer to that question, that will piss off a lot of “feminism is ruining the world” people? They’re woman, so they’re perceived differently. Women who lead are perceived as bossy. Likewise, badass, dangerous and adventerous women are perceived as much more villanous than the same kind of men, which Oberyn was. Oberyn didn’t have a strategic thought in his head, yet people didn’t hate him for it. They loved his passion. Ellaria and his daughters are basically the same. But then it’s suddenly silly.

    First, I should clarify that I don’t see the Sand Snakes as villains – I see them as poorly written, poorly developed, and poorly delivered divergences from the main story. They could have been badass and awesome, but they’ve failed to live up to the level of the rest of the show.

    I will say that I love Arya and Brienne and I have high hopes for Sarella. I love badass women and female leaders, in general, including Madam Secretary; The Good Wife; Alias; Alanna the Lioness; Celaena Sardothien, the female assassin in the Throne of Glass series; Rey in The Force Awakens; and Laia in An Ember in the Ashes.

    So why do I adore Oberyn and have no love for Ellaria and her Sand Snakes? I see three reasons:

    1. Oberyn’s cause was just, honorable, and inspiring while Ellaria’s cause falls flat. Oberyn repeats over and over and over again how the Mountain raped and murdered his sister. The Mountain also crushed his sister’s children – all defenseless, helpless, and innocent creatures, presumably. He wanted to bring their killer and coconspirators to justice. Admirable. Relatable. Lovable.

    Ellaria, on the other hand, wanted revenge mostly for Oberyn, who died after volunteering as Tyrion’s champion, after a fair fight – well, not quite fair because Oberyn cheated with the poisoned blade, but not unfair to Oberyn beyond what he had begged to do.

    Oberyn Martell [to Tyrion]: I want to bring those, who have wronged me, to justice. And all those, who have wronged me, are right here. I will begin with Ser Gregor Clegane, who killed my sister’s children and then raped her, with their blood still on his hands, before killing her too. I will be your champion.

    2. Oberyn stands up and fights for the helpless and the innocent instead of poisoning and stabbing them in the head.

    Oberyn Martell: They don’t hurt little girls in Dorne.
    Cersei Lannister: Everywhere in the world, they hurt little girls.

    Oberyn Martell: I’m sorry about your grandson.
    Tywin Lannister: Are you?
    Oberyn Martell: I don’t believe that a child is responsible for the sins of his father… or his grandfather. An awful way to die.

    3. Oberyn gets all the great lines and has the best delivery. It’s no secret that fans consider the Sand Snakes cheesy. I think this is both writing and delivery. Oberyn had some of the best lines in the show and delivered them with unimaginable flawlessness. Even Pedro’s parody of Inigo Montoya was beloved.

    Oberyn Martell: It is rare to meet a Lannister who shares my enthusiasm for dead Lannisters.

    I know folks love Indira but I’ve not found her exceptional in this role. And the Sand Snakes also don’t stand out so far. The whip as a weapon is laughable. Yes, a whip hurts, but you need to stick them with a pointy end to be quickly lethal. Hard to do that with a whip. And it’s crazy easy to take away a whip that’s wrapped around your arm four times like in their first fight. Much of their famed badassery seems overstated.

    Do the Snakes have any good dialogue? We all remember their bad dialogue. Perhaps that made me overlook good dialogue, but I cannot recall any beloved quotes.

  521. Wandering:
    Ugh.I now fear what we saw at the end of the episode will be how Mel brings Jon back. Meaning she will glamour someone to look like him. Lame. Sadly if they go down that path, it might ruin the entire show for me.

    Lol

    Not sure where this idea is coming from. There would be a point to glamouring a Royal person perhaps but not Ned Starks bastard who holds no power beyond the NW and some Wildlings

    The point of the Glamour was to kind of thematically show how Mel is feeling and where she is at within herself etc

    She will bring Jon back by burning him, which is also why I find this talk of “Davos is saving him from being burned” discussion also a little odd

    Seeing the sneak peak for next week and Ramsay talking of “storming the Castle” has me hopeful for the Pink Letter

  522. Ser Podrick:
    Ginevra,

    Like Stannis suddenly appearing North of the Wall?

    I can see some similarities, yes. With Stannis, however, we did see him and Melisandre and Selyse and Shireen prepping to leave Dragonstone three episodes prior to go to the North. He wasn’t originally destined for The Wall at that time but rather somewhere not so far away. We weren’t thinking that he was still on Dragonstone. Because we knew he was already travelling in the North, albeit not that far north, his appearance had both foreshadowing and shock.

  523. Hoderes,

    impossible

    I actually feel bad for the people who did not enjoy the episode. I think its a small minority thankfully. 🙂

    I effing loved it!

  524. Ginevra:
    DireWolfHeart,

    Ooo, I’ll have to look for that on my rewatch.

    But I think I’m fated to be underwhelmed by every episode until Jon returns. I can’t get hype before that shoe falls.

    This!!

  525. Ginevra,
    I did wonder about this as it obviously confused the hell out of a lot of people but I am guessing they thought it would have ruined the surprise element? At the end of S5 we got the impression Ellaria and gang had had their revenge by killing Myrcella and were going to stay put in Dorne. Now it looks like that was just the very beginning of their plan. Showing them going places before hand would have alerted us that they were up to something else.

  526. Mihnea,

    Haha so why is everyone crying about this?

    What I was trying to say was that, when you erase the books from your memory, Doran is a minor. We have zero connection to him, besides moments where you are like okay this guy is cool, and chill. Lol.
    But other than that, we barely see him. We see Ellaria more, we liked her before because of Oberyn. Whether or not we like her now, is a personal opinion. But either Doran was going to execute Ellaria – meaning the war with the lannisters would be over – because Doran does not do war, he would have tried to avoid war with the lannisters, and having executed Mycellas killer it would have been easy for him to avoid a war…. or Ellaria was going to commit treason, meaning, the war with the Lannisters is on. It makes a lot of sense what they did in terms of Martell vs Lannister story. These idots are going to keep fighting amongst themselves, and meanwhile, whats happening in the north? haha

  527. Deesensfan,

    Because after 15 years of waiting people have created a theory.

    ”the dornish master plan” In my opinion this is exactly like Stannis, people have made up a theory in their mind and after so much waiting they start to believe it’s the truth.

    Doran does have a plan in the books, but in my opinion it’s no where near the genius plan people make it out to be.

    In truth he has 2 plans but he abandons the first, for various reasons and the second happens out of pure chance. Nothing happened because he planned it, he just took the chance he saw.

    He does have a ”cool speech” though….so there’s that. But in my opinion the speech is overshadowed by how much chance Doran’s plan relies on.

  528. Mihnea,

    Ah okay. I see
    but I haven’t people noticed the we don’t see much of Doran in the show…so this is what we know of him.
    Instead theres, “its not like that in the books, it sucks” and “D&D are terrible writers if they are not using book material”

    HAhahaha – makes me laugh.

  529. Deesensfan:
    Mihnea,

    Haha so why is everyone crying about this?

    They just can’t separate the two mediums from their minds. Doran in the books isn’t even a tertiary character, and he does absolutely squat, like the rest of Dorne and the Dornish characters.

  530. Kamali,

    Oberyn came to KL because he had a plan. Myrcella was a hostage. What he said to Cersei was a bluff. What he really wanted was to take revenge. His hatred against the Lannisters was more than obvious obvious from the very beginning. He could barely hide it and he wanted to take revenge personally. He was almost there and he failed. Elaria was also there and saw everything. When she saw him dying we all remember her cry of despair. This was a moment for her that changed everything. She would continue Oberyn’s work only she wouldn’t take so many risks. She schemed, she had the SS in her side and also the Dorne soldiers and she attacked when all was ready. I don’t see any problem with all this at all. I like Elaria and I like Indiras portrayal of her. And I am intrigued by the fact that now Dorne is at a collisions orbit with KL.

  531. dothrakian raven,

    We have seen absolutely nothing to suggest that Oberyn would be okay with killing innocent people in the name of revenge or that he would be okay with the cold blooded murder of his brother and nephew. His targets for revenge seemed to be limited to Tywin and the Mountain.

  532. Some here are still whining about Dorne…
    1. Book Doran is irrelevant, no fAegon, no Arianne in show.
    2. Nym is now in KL like the books, so her arc is still relevant.
    3. Trystane’s usefulness is done, he was attached to Myrcella’s story.
    4. He was too nice, Cersei would have offed him before nightfall.
    5. Sand Snakes suddenly appear; well they took a faster ship to KL and the guards let them onboard, because if you watch the expressions on the Dornish guards near Doran, they looked on him with disgust as he was dying. Doran was out of touch with his people. This is the case in the books too.
    6. Remember Dorne and The Reach are bitter enemies, they hate the Tryell’s as much as the Lannister’s. If I remember, book readers couldn’t wait for Nym to be unleashed on KL, well they’ll get their wish.

  533. Ginevra,

    I love the Sand Snakes dialogues. I love the fact that they don’t really like each other but when it comes to it they fight like a fist. They are spoiled brats, fierce, entertaining and have good chemistry with each other. They meant to be different than your ideal women. Women heroines are not made by the same typecast. Different backgrounds, different characters, different motives, different circumstances. A lot of the people here cannot understand the word diversity as a means of creating a wholly new character. Diversity often means the same typecast in a different package. What is the difference between Bronn and Oberyn? Men, badass, humour, good fighters, the same typecast. What makes them different is the clothes and the accent.
    As for Elaria she continues from where Oberyn left it only now his death has drastically changed their dornish principles. She has to take revenge at all costs and no one and nothing obliges her to do it with the rules that your standard heroine would follow. It is also called character evolution, plot twist etc. But it full force consistent with what Elaria has been so far.

  534. ghost of winterfell,

    And why would this attitude since it has so obviously failed should be pursued by Elaria? Why has Elaria to follow the same frame-mind as Oberyn did when this failed with a thunderous crash of his head? I call it smart from her side. And badass. Westeros politics is not all about courtesy and politeness. All the players are cruel calculators and Elaria is part of this mentality. Oberyn tried but he failed. She will try using other means. And yes killing innocents this is how the story goes. D&D have written many scenes on the topic for example Dany’s, Hizdar’s and Tyrion’s dialogue before the pits.

  535. Ice Spider,

    My apologies – I need to stop doing that. And I had the same trouble last night, in fact when I emailed the mods about it they said that everyone was trying to get on and everyone was having the same problem. but now its the morning after, on to other posts! 🙂 Cheers.

  536. Wtf folks????? Where is Bronn? Why is Trystane painting eyeballs on the ship????? How in hell did those two Sand Snakes get on the ship? They were on the dock with their mother last time they were seen…..their mother is crazy and her days are numbered…..no woman rules Dorne……and Dorne is as stupid and disjointed asit was last season…… Stop wasting film time!
    Jon Snow is dead….? but, I think I saw what Davos saw….a dragon in the snow…..? and Ghost was rather benign comparing him to Grey Wind’s frantic efforts to escape when Rob was also being stabbed to death. Red eyes and snarling just doesn’t cut it…….
    Hope next week is better-first episode very disappointing…..?

  537. Ginevra,

    Yeah the thing about this is that show Ellaria has just done exactly what Oberyn was so angry about the Mountain/Lannisters, namely, killed Oberyns sibling and the siblings children (niece/nephew of Oberyn) only Ellaria has actually just wiped out the Martell dynasty meaning Oberyn has no legacy and will become a footnote of history…yeah that’s great, but I guess Brienne did the same thing when she killed Stannis in the “name of the House of Baratheon”

    In this scenario, it perhaps would have at least been reasonable to play it like Jon Snow and Night’s Watch, eg half his Guards at least would have rallied to protect him even if half are angry about his policies. Yet no one does anything?

    As I said before, hopefully there is some kind of plot to put the Yronwoods in power and we end up with Rhoynar vs Andals in Dorne but…

    I actually reckon there is an overarching theme here beginning to occur about bastards rising to power, eg Ramsay, Jon Snow, Ellaria/Sand Snakes and of course Gendry – of course putting aside that the Bolton Household let alone anyone else would ever follow Book Ramsay or Ellaria/Sand Snakes but anyway

    An idea out of left field revolves around Jon Snow coming to power in Dorne, but more likely it is just creating an opening for Dany. Seems they’re really putting aside Aegon/Arianne and whatever that point is

    As for women in power, to be fair I can get what the quoted commenter said to a degree about some women in authority positions can overcompensate for the fact that they aren’t perceived to be taken seriously and so get excessively bossy which can be counterproductive. Some can be matronly of course, eg Catelyn Stark and hopefully Sansa

  538. Lulus Mum:
    Ginevra,
    I did wonder about this as it obviously confused the hell out of a lot of people but I am guessing they thought it would have ruined the surprise element? … Showing them going places before hand would have alerted us that they were up to something else.

    I think it’s possible to add something without spoiling the surprise. Here are the back-to-back Dornish scenes as they are (not bolded) with two minor changes that would have clarified (bolded). I don’t think this would give anything away, and it would have taken only a few seconds to show.

    Prince Doran: Your mother is a brilliant woman, you know that?

    Maester: Prince Doran.

    Prince Doran: The Princess Myrcella.

    [Tyne stabs Areo Hotah. Ellaria stabs Prince Doran. Maester runs. Tyne takes back her knife from Areo, throws, and hits the Maester.]

    Ellaria: When was the last time you left this palace? You don’t know your own people. Their disgust for you. Elia Martell raped and murdered, and you did nothing. Oberyn Martell butchered, and you did nothing. You’re not a Dornishman. You’re not our prince.

    Prince Doran: My son. Trystane…

    Ellaria: Your son is weak just like you. And weak men will never rule Dorne again. Where do you think Nym and Obera have been these past weeks?

    [cut to a ship at sea near a castle that looks nothing like the Red Keep should be replaced by cut to two ships together, either in port or out, with the Red Keep in the background and Obera and Nym going from one ship to the other]

    Trystane: I told you I’m not hungry.

    Obera: We’re not here to feed you. We’re here to kill you.

  539. dothrakian raven:
    Ginevra,

    I love the Sand Snakes dialogues. I love the fact that they don’t really like each other but when it comes to it they fight like a fist. They are spoiled brats, fierce, entertaining and have good chemistry with each other.

    Wow. Okay. Maybe it is the delivery that is off, then? I tended to think it was the writing since, like many other Sullied, these Sands were my least favorite in the book. (I do still love Book Sarella so far, and I really hope to continue to love her.)

  540. Ginevra,
    Evening missus *waves* Mmmm not bad, certainly could have worked like that 🙂

    I do a lot of checking for legal reports, partly to make sure they make sense to lay readers. One thing you notice is that when the author is writing about something they are very familiar with, and think they have clearly explained it to the reader, that isn’t necessarily the case. D&D have always said they are pushed to the limit with getting the show done on time, they don’t have the luxury of being able to take a step back, leave things for a while and go back to them for fine tuning. Perhaps sometimes the people working on the show are so familiar with a storyline they don’t realise it’s not entirely clear to viewers how A has led to B. I think it’s probably due, at least in part, to time pressure rather than deliberate or simply bad writing. That applies to the producers, other writers etc as well. They know what’s going on so it’s very difficult to objectively be sure everyone watching will. The same can be said of all shows, films etc but they aren’t usually under quite the same time pressure.

    And of course sometimes you just have to go with the flow. If you don’t have a problem with 60ft wing span fire breathing dragons and an army of the undead marching on a Wall held up by magic spells, you can suspend disbelief for other things too! 😉

  541. Ginevra,
    I really liked how you explained why Oberyn was a favourite for many of us… and why his daughters aren’t. My feelings exactly. But I must admit I like Tyene: she is playful, flirty, dangerous, funny. I found her scene in prison with Bronn amusing. But this doesn’t mean that I find natural how she killed Areo Hotah.

  542. Deesensfan,

    I think I felt so unpleasantly surprised of what I saw because I expected Doran to be a great ruler, a cunning politician and Areo Hotah a skilled fighter. He didn’t even use that beautiful axe of his. Unfortunately what I saw were two people who had no idea what was going on. I don’t mind being surprised, but it’s puzzling to discover that you judged two characters wrong. More that 2, actually: I thought Ellaria just mad of grief and didn’t even consider that she might be right with the Dornish people wanting revenge.

  543. But this doesn’t mean that I find natural how she killed Areo Hotah.
    Shy Lady Dragon,

    I seriously do not understand a statement like this. You like Tyene’s character (which many here has dished as b-movie caricature) for all the reasons you have counted but you didn’t find “natural” how she killed Areo? What does “natural” mean? That she should ask him politely if she could kill him? That she should invite him to a duell? I mean she killed him because it was planned. There was a point in it. Do you mean that for 5 seasons people kill and be killed by something that one can cal a natural way? I was never expecting that a difficult to hide hatred toward the Dorne plot will initiate all these bizarre argumentation of why Dorne is Satan incarnated in the Westeros mythology…

  544. dothrakian raven,

    I don’t hate Dorne. It just is one of my least favourite arcs in a show I love.
    What I meant about Areo’s death was that he, as a guard and supposedly skilled warrior, didn’t feel that someone was attacking him and didn’t try to fight back.

  545. No matter how skilled warrior he was there was no chance for him to react to Teyene’s speed to stab him. Nobody would have been able to react in a similar situation.

  546. Darkrobin:
    Angela,

    I believe that is the end of Dorne.Obara and Tyrene are in King’sLanding.Maybe Nym joins them.

    Maybe.

    I am doing a rewatch now. Maybe it will be better the second time around after my initial shock and bad reaction. You never know. I’ll give it another chance. I was all WTF last night. I ranted a bit. Let’s see.

  547. Nymeria Warrior Queen,

    Not entirely sure anyone is going to be wanted on the small council now Myrcella’s dead. Even Trystane would have had a time convincing Cersei. Fingers crossed someone in King’s landing squashes some snakes. Would make a nice snack for Frankenmountain!

  548. Lulus Mum,

    Of course, of course. And really, the writing team is so fantastic that I’m just surprised when they aren’t as clear or as perfect as possible. But the episode was still fairly fabulous compared to every other show on television.

    I love that you proof for a law firm! How cool. I wanted to be a lawyer but my dad is very anti-lawyers. I’m sure I would have been if he’d ever given the slightest indication that he was okay with it.

    When writing, one of the guidelines I try hardest to follow is to write so clearly that you cannot possibly be misunderstood. In writing instructions for students, I find that some students will deliberately misunderstand anything that could possibly in the whole wide world be misunderstood, and so I strive for and appreciate clarity.

  549. dothrakian raven,

    It wasn’t about him not reacting quick enough to avoid the stab wound, it was the fact that he was massive, and that was a small dagger, he could’ve been stabbed by that dagger multiple times and still turned around and fought, it is ridiculous that he would just drop to the ground so quickly from such a small wound.

  550. Ryan,

    someone has commented that he got the knife directly to his kidney and there is no way he could react if this is the case. If you look carefully you will see that Tyene is not standing behind him but almost next to him a step behind. And you have to count that the knife was poisoned. So yes a sudden attack with a poisoned knife that strikes a vital organ and you are dead even if you are the Colossus of Bravos…

  551. Liked the ep except for two things, first the disappearing hounds in the Sansa rescue. I mean filming with animals, let alone a fight scene w swords would b difficult, but these trained attack dogs go from the high of finding their prey to calmly watching a life and death struggle to poof just gone? Maybe the handler knew that if he let Ramsey”s puppies get hurt he was well and truly f’d, and yes the last man would retreat to report what happened but he and the “vicious” hounds are standing a foot away from Sansa the last time they are shown then just vanish.. but yay for Brodrick and co. Second, Areo should have got a fight scene, it’s fine the halfling rogue drops the orc warrior in one shot, watever. A pov character deserves better and him going out more like Yoren would have proved that it wasn’t just a coup by omission. Overall exciting episode, it’s strange having no clue what’s about to happen and now I’m looking forward to book 6 even more.

  552. Watching the episode and Mel’s transformation/glamour gave me a horrible feeling that Jon is in fact dead and will not be resurrected, but instead Mel will glamour someone else to look like him. I think it’s possible that she will try to resurrect him, but even she was surprised that Thoros had that ability. She may try, fail and then cheat by glamour.

  553. Ginevra,
    Afternoon lady *waving* it’s the time delay reply game 😉 I actually work for a government department but we look at a lot of legal issues and it’s lawyers who write most of the reports.

    I’ve been on a few courses and the thing they always say is that you have to write for the intended audience (rather than yourself) and, unless you can guarantee their level of knowledge, have to be as plain and simple as possible. Writing something that everyone can clearly understand is apparently a lot more difficult than it might seem.

  554. Some of the OMG I Found A Plothole talk is annoying when there aren’t any plotholes.
    Trystane was on the boat he travelled in from Dorne and in the harbour waiting for Mycella’s funeral and to take his seat on the Small Council. He sent a letter to Dorne, presumably from a port on the way. The sand snakes may have beat him to KL if their ship didn’t stop. They had to kill him before he went to the Red Keep.

    The hounds chasing Sansa and Theon ran away when their handler was killed.

    Last season Melisandre had a small red gem in her hand when she was in the bath. That obviously maintained the spell.

    Davos mentions Melisandre to Thorne in the hope that Melisandre would do something nasty to Throne. Davos sees her as a magical weapon

  555. Some of the OMG I Found A Plothole talk is annoying when there aren’t any plotholes.

    Trystane was on the boat he travelled in from Dorne and in the harbour waiting for Mycella’s funeral and to take up Oberyn’s position on the Small Council. The sand snakes need to kill Trystane before he gets to the Red Keep. So they take a ship that’s slightly faster than his ship. They might have even beaten him there.

    The hounds chasing Sansa and Theon ran away when their handler was killed.

    Last season Melisandre had a small red gem in her hand when she was in the bath. That obviously maintained the spell.

  556. Sarah,

    I saw that on rewatch too, darn I was hoping for some Doom of Valyria Dragonpriest of R’hllor conspiracy! Still, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out she is a survivor of the Doom, making her older than the Seven Kingdoms….

  557. Lowkeh7,

    I know a bit about dogs, there is an explanation in line for the bloodhounds taking off during the fight even if they were trained to be vicious toward people who aren’t handlers.
    Bloodhounds=track by scent to find and corner the Thing You Are Looking For. They do *not* attack their target, but bring it to bay. Basically they find and intimidate the animal/person in to not running without chewing them up & spitting them out.
    In order to find Sansa (& Theon) Ramsey would want to capture but not significantly harm at least Sansa, so using Bloodhounds is ideal.
    Scent hounds tend to be easily distracted by interesting smells, so if they had found the target and were subsequently signaled by the handler, they wouldn’t necessarily be “on” the scent or even particularly interested in that animal/person anymore. Wandering off in search of a Thing That Smells Interesting would be totally in line for a scent hound if their handler physically released them by dropping the leash. Again scent hound=sniff out & find things, they aren’t heavily inclined to attack people. I don’t believe hounds are used much (at all?) in schutzhund, even though one of the tasks is tracking.
    Now if those were German or Belgian Shepherds…Sansa & Theon would have been Screwed.

  558. Not that I ever thought I would be defending the snakes but here goes:
    After a few rewatches it looks to me that Tyene stabs Areo midline, in the upper back, the only area where a dagger of that size could drop an adult instantaneously. She drove it directly into his spinal cord, with complete loss of everything below that level. Areo was muscular, but likely lean, so there wouldn’t have been much fat over the spine, a small dagger could still reach the cord.He would have been able to move his head and arms until the shock or poison killed him, but that’s it. The maester (the one who delivered the message) was dispatched with the dagger thrown midline into his neck, potentially an instantly fatal blow as she effectively pithed him.

    With a bit of training many healthy adults could pull off Tyene’s first strike. He was standing still, and she got the drop on him. Not sure about throwing a dagger to the one spot that could have dropped a man that fast, but they are supposed to be bad assess who’ve trained with weapons all their lives.

    The quick drop for Areo is more realistic than many other deaths on the show: Rouge dropped instantly from a needle prick, while others have taken several grievous wounds and remained upright, if not fighting for far longer (e.g. Barristan).

    Every single scene has points we could argue about, inconsistencies with character, where did the missing handler and hounds go to, why did Ramsay suddenly appear to be a human etc, but the bottom line for me is that I still think it is the best show on TV, and cannot wait for what’s to come.

  559. KD:
    The hounds chasing Sansa and Theon ran away when their handler was killed.

    Actually there were two handlers on foot and four fighters on horses. The handlers and the dogs guard Sansa an Theon during the fight, that much we can see. They don’t show this probably so we don’t notice, but just before Pod kills the last rider the handlers must have decided to abandon Sansa and Theon and to split up. One attacks Pod and the other leaves with the hounds, presumably to get help, so we might see him again. That’s why Theon is unguarded and able to pick up the sword with which he backstabs the second handler.

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