Episode 337 – No One
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A podcast finally meets No One. Heartfelt reunions frame drama in the Riverlands, while our friends in the East being to move West.
Give us your Owns and input/ideas for discussion questions on the next episode! Let’s do this.
Discussion Topics
Jumping into things
Seizing Riverrun
Trouble in Braavos
A new brotherhood
Seizing Meereen
West of Westeros
Owns of the Episode
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Hodor
Own to Arya Stark of Winterfell, for OWNING herself & for finally going home!
I wonder if we have seen the last of Jaquen. I thought he would be more irate but he let Arya go with a smile…..
I guarantee one of these guys will say it’s their favourite episode and fail to mention the gaping holes in the Arya/blackfish/hound stories. Relentlessly positive.
We haven’t seen the lanisters feasting with the Freys. We haven’t seen the dothraki charging like from the trailers. Ramsey bolton’s voice saying “do you like playing games little man”. Bran’s voice saying “they have no idea what’s going to happen”. Tormund saying “i thought he was the man to lead us through the long night, i was wrong”. Sons of the harpy. The dragons (viserion and rhaegor) breathing fire. Tyrion saying “are you afraid? You should be. You are in the great game now and the great game is terrifying.” all this from the trailers
The Riverrrun development was very good, I think. Good acting. Leaves many options. I also liked how Brienne and Jamie have a “professional respect” towards each other.
However, I now suspect that the Arya storyline in seasons 5 and 6 was just a waste of time. The Danearys story has been a big crap since somewhere in season 4, and it seems that the appearance of Tyrion doesn’t help that at all. Some of the many plotlines have gone out of control and it seems they are just there in order to be there but they do not contribute much to the story development. Endless twists without point and reason, one could as well leave out many scenes and episodes without loosing much. The scenes with Tyrion, Gray Worm, Missandei are really bad in terms of writing, directing and acting. Emilia Clarke is in my view a talented actress for some types of roles, but a miscast for Danearys. She lacks the edge for that character. The poor writing and development of her role doesn’t help much either. The Arya story is in danger of stalling completely. Maisie Williams is given increasingly a “mission impossible” juggling between a sympathetic young girl and a destructive avenger. The acting talents of Tom Wlashiha and Faye Marsay have been wasted to good measure. I see some parts of this episode as completely failed, but some bits have been good, especially the Riverrun scenes. What a pity that the Blackfish is dead. Clive Russel was an asset as an actor (yet this is true of many who had to pass so far, unfortunately some of the weaker actors go on).
Okay I did not enjoy this episode at all but the season as a whole has been great except one thing IMO… Tyrion.
Tyrion did a few good things in a few short scenes I suppose, only thing I can really think of though is getting the Red Priests to calm the masses so to speak, but besides that what has Tyrion done… I will tell you!
1). Make stupid jokes (mostly cock jokes).
2). Be used as a supporting actor to flesh out the Missandei and Greyworm characters.
3). More jokes.
4). More scenes where he is used to try to humanize Missandei and Greyworm.
He went from being a wise and good addition to team Dany, to a drunk who likes to tell cock jokes and tickle Missandei and Greyworm’s ears…
JOY!
Cersi’s face, priceless. Jamie and Brienne, the tension. The Hound, hero bound. Arya and the waif, John Conner and Terminator 2 status. Tyrion, ummmm…still love him though.
And OMG don’t get me started on Arya’s (Two seasons in the making) payoff…
I talked about this in detail all week with friends and family on what the hell her plan is, what did she have up her sleeve. She couldn’t be that stupid to be walking around in the open like that just going up to people when she knows that Waif girl would be after her and could be anyone.
How could Arya be that stupid after two years of ninja school??? Makes ZERO sense.
Also, how can someone just get a few stitching and be running around the next day like that after having her guts brutally pierced and stabbed through several times. She would be dying in extreme pain and very slowly.
I understand this is a fantasy show and sometimes you have to suspend your logic but come on man… That was just bad.
I was so excited to sit down and find out what clever thing Arya was doing… Then to find out she is just dumb and has wolverine healing factor? Oh well…
I am glad some of you guys liked it cuz people I know all felt the Arya payoff was very weak.
Sirbnc,
Which is why I switched from westeros…who,while I can appreciate the amount of work it has to take to run that site, still can’t get over Cersie’s character “assasination” on the show…
P.S. LET’S GO PENS!
The Waifu showed some really good farewell-acting, for example the last expression with a hint of knowledge that she might actually not win after all. But apart from the chase scene and Robert Strong vs the Faith Militant this was probably the worst episode ever. (Yes, indeed.) The dialogue was at its worst, most stilted and most filler-y, the Blackfish’s whole existence in the story turned out to be completely pointless, they didn’t even bother to show his death (which was also pointless), and there really was not much progress and practically no preparation whatsoever for the grand season finale.
Something I feared from the beginning is now coming to powers. There are clear signs of deterioration concerning the coherence of the story arc and its story sublines. I always wondered how George Martin would be able to connect the many substories he has started and amalgamate them into a convincing whole and ending. I think he may be wondering himself by now, or possibly since quite some time. Some storylines are now revealed to be just detours, like Arya, Tyrion, Dany and her Dragons. What is worse, they start to become stereotype, repetitive and boring. The masters start attacking Mereen? Why don’t I find that thrilling? Because it is just the same pattern we have had before. Nothing pointing to a climax, just another battle within a war where the fighting powers have forgotten what they are fighting for or who their allies and their foes are. The viewers also start loosing track. It seems some actors are loosing motivation. Peter Dinklage’s performance was stereotype and weak. Let alone some others’. The writers and the primary author should get together and resolve massive issues in the screenwriting before heading for a disaster. Still some good scenes make the day, but the deterioration in parts of the narrative are so noticeable and increasing in number that at some point they could result in tilting the quality of the show completely.
Arthur,
He will be great again when he returns to Westeros. Essos is death for almost every character, expecialy Meereen. Tyrion was great last year, but no one can create two great seasons for a character in Essos.
GRRM destroyed Dany by creating Meereen storyline. Now she is so hated in the fandom. It is ridiculous.
Comedienne,
You don’t find that thrilling because the Masters don’t have a face in the books or the show. D&D should have created interesting villain as leader of Dany’s opposition, and people would be far more invested in Meereen.
They created the Waif in Braavos. Yes, it was a cheap trick to create a villain for Arya, but it worked for general audience. They were more invested in Braavos than Meereen and they cheered when that she died.
I get the feeling he kind of wrote himself into a hole with both of those. Arya couldn’t be in Westeros until the war in the Riverlands died down and the Starks retake Winterfell because she’d have nowhere to go. She couldn’t succeed into getting to the Vale because it was too early for a reunion with Sansa. And Daenerys can’t get to Westeros too early because it would effectively end the entire King’s Landing story when she just murders all the Lannisters and Tyrells. I don’t think he wanted her to fight Stannis, either, because we were supposed to kind of root for both of them.
But he had to do something with them because they’re both big five characters, so they go into years-long holding patterns on another continent. And as strong as he is at writing anything inspired by medieval Europe, when he tries to depict more exotic cultures, it’s silly patronizing orientalist nonsense. It’s the same with Dorne, even. At least the showrunners toned it down a bit and didn’t do blue pointed beards and soldiers on stilts (though they somehow made Dorne even worse), but they’re still just giving us what is basically borrowed material from better sources that doesn’t really fit in with the larger story.
Hopefully these final two seasons and the final book, if it ever gets published, will make for a strong ending as everyone is in Westeros finally fighting the real war, catching up with where Jon and Bran have been since the beginning.
Adam,
I’m not worried for S7 and S8, because we will be done with Essos this year.
An Own to Bronn for saying what Jaimienne shippers around the world are thinking. On that note, an Own to Jaimienne for the best guilty eye sex ever.
Happy to hear mentioned the ‘coincidence’ of Varys appearing in Meereen right after the harpy attack and then leaving right before the masters attack. Seems suspicious to me. I don’t know if he will turn out to be the Harpy leader (hope not) but I do think he knows a lot more than he has told Tyrion. Remember that we did not hear what the prostitute told him about who was behind the harpy attacks. No, we only heard what Varys told Tyrion.
mau,
I must say that the passing of the Waif didn’t thrill me much for that matter as it was completely foreseeable, even though the purpose of all that remains entirely opaque. Could be “a difficult student gets rid of a demanding teacher”. Does it boil down to that? Previous plotlines have been much more contrived and subtle. Arya’s story in the latest episodes was unmotivated and highly unrealistic (a stabbed belly – even if only the muscles are injured – hurts so much that one cannot even move to the privy without help). That was all complete nonsense without getting anywhere. A filler, a waste of time.
Owns to Jamie. Following through on a threat at the beginning of the ep so he could bluff another to get access to Riverrun. His heart is Owned by Brienne, he just doesn’t know how to say it yet. Here’s to seeing Lannisters fighting beside Starks in the war to come.
It’ll be interesting to see what ultimately happens to Jaime if he lasts to the great war. There’s a good chance this story ends with the two most powerful people in the world being the boy he crippled and the girl whose father he murdered. Not sure either of them would forgive him.
Now that I reached the end of this podcast, I feel honor-bound to mention that Jaime is full of it for his “consequences for rebelling against the crown” nonsense. The Tullys were originally attacked and Riverrun sieged by Jaime as payback for Catelyn taking Tyrion prisoner, which they had absolutely nothing to do with. Of course they’re going to fight back when you attack them without just cause. That isn’t rebellion.
Waiting for someone to photoshop the Waif in the pic above.
The episode had flashes of brilliance but for the most part felt ham-fisted. Was the Arya story arc a concession the showrunners had to make to George that they wouldn’t spoil it? That’s certainly what the end of that arc felt like.
Overall that was one of the weaker episodes. Like I said before, it had bright spots. My least favorite is still the sand snakes fighting Jaime and Bronn episode. That was a close second though.
I wouldn’t be surprised if none are going to be said. Like Ramsay saying the line from the Pink letter in the Winterfell teaser.
There is a face of opposition in Meereen in the books, you just don’t know who it is yet. That’s what the show lacked. If there was a Green Grace and Hizdar surviving his “attack” ect Instead tge only characters were the same 4 people who were all on the same side. If there were 2 or 3 new characters who’s allegiance was questionable it could’ve been more interesting and Tyrion could’ve had something to do instead of having 1 convo with a bunch of lame characters we have already met and couldn’t care less about.
I’m perplexed how people have forgotten where Ayra was as a person when she got on the boat to Braavos: detached, thinking she needed No One. This journey has reconnected her with the person she was raised to be merged withe person her experiences has made her. My hope? She finds Nymeria.
Adam,
True, the Tullys defending their lands from invaders shouldn’t qualify as rebellion. But then they joined the North in declaring Robb their King and attempting to secede from the Seven Kingdoms. In doing so, they launched attacks on castles in the Westerlands that were loyal to the Crown. The War of the Five Kings ensued, and the Lannisters won. If Robb had won, or even lived long enough to negotiate a peaceful end to the war, they’d be heroes. Alas, history and laws are written by the victors, so the Tullys are attainted rebels and traitors.
It may not be honorable or morally right, especially from our perspective. But by the law of the land, Jaime, the Lannisters, and the Freys are justified in their actions. That’s where the pain of this particular drama comes.
Sent by Raven,
You are not a general audience
Sir Imp hand Strong,
But those GRRM’s characters in Meereen are lame and we couldn’t care less about them. I mean Green Grace…
It’s way better than “tell me a joke”. And the only reason they are “lame” is because everyone wants Dany to go to Westeros and her storyline in Meereen has just been glanced over by most people.
I find a lot of parallels between Jaime Lannister and Margerie Tyrell. Both have come to know who they are in contrast with the reputation that others perceive them to be.
Margery plays to the High Sparrow and Septa (Shall we pray?), while passing the Rose to her exasperated Grandmother. Jaime plays to Edmure Tully (I’m a monster), while ensuring that Oathkeeper remains with Brienne.
I suspect that Jaime will allow Edmure (in blackfish armour?) lead the Tully forces North.
mau,
Who is “we”? Have you polled everyone who has ever read the books to come to this conclusion that “we couldn’t care less about them”? Why make hyperbolic statements in order to make your point? Usually that means a weak point.
Man I love you guys and I’ll never not tune in but I didn’t want to spend an hour of my life listening to 50 minutes of complaining and 15 minutes of adverts.
On the plus-side I listen to this podcast at the gym and all the negativity you guys put out fuelled a really good work-out
Yeah, nah. The exact opposite actually. This GOO Ep is pretty negative – the most I’ve heard to date, even. Happy now?
I agree. I don’t think the Arya Braavos plot was a waste of time at all. The execution wasn’t always perfect, but she’s now primed and ready to exact her revenge, using all of the skills she’s gained. She has knowledge of poisons, is proficient at armed and unarmed combat and general sneakiness (her behaviour at the end of Ep 7 notwithstanding!). She wouldn’t have learned any of that wandering around with the hound for another season and a half.
Everytime I look at that pic, I think Looney Tunes for some reason.
Wish u hadn’t used that Terminator pic. Every time I see it I cringe 🙁 it’s ridiculous lol. And look at the extras who’ve been told to carry on like nowts happening ha!! I was forgiving them so much. No. Not forgiving. Putting up with. But Dollars and Doughnuts have gone too far now. This world is no longer real to me and idc what happens to anyone. And no one.
My own goes to George, for having some integrity and respecting his story and readers. Instead of just laying out the quickest possible path to the back door.
Whilst I’m here I’d like to ask (the site) why they only do written and video recaps, and not podcast reviews? Personally I cba with the former. I like to multitask not be locked in. There are a host of awesome podcasts out there n it’d be good to have a thread where ppl could discuss and share and explore new ones.
Just a thought. That I had years ago lol. And only just got around to asking. Derp.
Ser Lurk of House Turnip,
You can always stop watching. It’s not healthy to watch something you hate.
Also with that language you would fit much better in other places, in my opinion.
Find it hard how one can think this was better than the last few episodes
First time I had a feeling of being underwhelmed at the end of an episode this season
Partly because we are in the culmination stage of the season and the setup isn’t coming together well
Eg Arya, they started off well enough with Blind Beth etc, would have been good to start the competition with the Waif a few episodes earlier and make it less martial and more cunning, eg sniff out poisons
There’s also Battle of Bastards next week, the “army we have” argument is unfortunate, as you do not rush into pitched battle with a large Wildling Army, you enter into a war of attrition/Guerilla war and it kinda raises questions about Jons ability as a fledgeling military commander and whether he knows how to use troops,
so we should have had a slow build up to battle of the bastards with Wildling ambushes of Karstakrs or Umbers etc, Jon and Sansa gaining momentum and slowly smaller Houses throwing their hats in as they get encouraged. They should only have engaged in pitch battle if they have one of the major Houses on board, so I was hoping to see Manderly’s
If we are going to get a Vale saves the day then how do they get their Army past Bolton held Moat Cailin. Having Howland Reed besiege and take it needs to happen first
Mihnea,
Thanks for trying to tell me I’m not welcome. I already felt like that anyway so f u. This is the only place I frequent and am likely to.
Between season 5 & 6 I seriously considered not watching. But that would be impossible. Family, friends, etc. It just wouldn’t work. Plus I’m a fan of the show so wtf. It’s not my fault the standard has dropped. It’s not my fault I can look at things objectively. It’s not my fault that D&D are tired.
Pls stop replying to my comments. If we had this convo irl I’d eat u alive, but I hate this opinion tennis shite n refuse to get involved. It’s boring.
Can’t have a negative thought around here without being told to go toW.org or whatever. 🙁 imo show apologists have become way way worse than book wankers ever were.
On the positive side though, enjoyed Sandor “you’re shit at dying” plus “I prefer Chicken”. Obviously it’s a massive divergence from the books, Beric Dondarrion vs White Walkers is like Robert or Ned vs White Walkers and so really entering the realm of fan fiction but I’m curious to see where they go with it
Got used to no LS a few years ago so not all that cut up about it
Also, Kings Landing was very good, the Faith Militant in the Red Keep was good as it shows the Sparrows are tightening the noose and thanks to Franken=Gregor she held them off
But having Tommen ban trial by combat was politics and a good set-up to the seasons KL arc, really get a sense of Cersei being cornered
Not massively bothered about lack of “Cleganebowl”. Sandor may face his brother at some point anyway but for me the idea of Cersei blowing up the entire Sept >>>>> Cleganebowl anyway
Except for Blackfish not going north to help Sansa etc, and then dying off-screen, unlike Westeros.org for example I got the Jaimie-Edmure thing and enjoyed it all.
Jaimie is being reasonably until Edmure starts judging him ala Ned in season 1 which pisses Jaimie off, but Jaimie adapts and plays off it with his threat
There’s also the clothing he’s wearing, eg the Tywin outfit instead of his usual Brown Jacket thing, so he is veering heavily towards his House and family (Cersei). This is understandable if Tywin just got killed along with Myrcella so he is “closing ranks”.
In the show, he may veer away from her if she does blow the Sept, same way he does after Tower of Hand
Did get a fair bit of a T-1000 vibe from the Waif, plus the Franken-Mountain and the Sparrows reminded me of the T-800 with them street punks
Looking forward to Faye Marsey Curtain call, different to book Waif obviously but in terms of what was asked of her she did very well, really bought the whole “bitchy” animosity
Ser Lurk of House Turnip,
It’s your petty and childish name callings that I said have no place here.
Not your opinions.
LOL
Mihnea,
Lol I thought ud like that one. Irl ud get what I meant. But yeah all I do of late is have a tantrum every few days n I’m sick of it too. I’m enjoying a non online life atm n this is the only loose thread. For both our sakes, I’ll stay quiet until the season is done. I feel sorry for the ppl who find no faults in the show n get it all ruined by those of us who do.
ps idk what the name calling claim was about but hey ho it’s not like it matters.
Enjoy the rest of it folks. 🙂 (not a fake smile honest)
Takeaways from Arya’s thread.. I think we knew she would ultimately always end up as Arya Stark the moment she hid Needle.. Here’s my thinking..knowing what we know about Jaqen, is it not fair to assume he knew about it and he was actually helping her become Arya? He was saved by a little frightened girl and I think he admired her beyond his beliefs and maybe he is an “outside the box” thinker and actually believes that he is serving the Many Faced God by helping “Arya”.