What an awesome episode. Sent several stories in new directions and we had several first-time meetings of characters. Arya/Hound and Breanne! Jon Snow and the Night's Watch gang meet Stannis, Davos, Melisandre and company! Possibly a hint of future meetings for next season, what with Arya and Tyrion/Varys both going to Easteros. Depending on which 'free city' Tyrion and Varys are going to, it could line up for an eventual pairing with Jorah or even the Mother Of Dragons herself.
I'm very happy we've still got Peter Dinklage with us on the show, but I'm very sorry to be losing the great Charles Dance. May he glower at us from behind a desk for all eternity.
"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." --- Bart Giamatti, on baseball
Wow, they made the last 3 episodes all "Episode 9" quality. Glad to see Tyrion get revenge on both Shae and his pops, on Father's Day. I was so worried Jaime would do a heel turn after hooking up with Cercei.
Bye bye Jojen Reed... he was the weakest link in the whole group that included a boy who couldn't walk. Weird little girl throwing fireballs at the skeleton army.
Great battle between the Hound and Brienne. They both weren't knights so there was a lot of dirty fighting including Brienne chewing off the Hound's ear.
Poor Daenarys. Heavy is the head that wears the crown as she is starting to see her decisions backfire left and right. Not so easy.
Looks like the Mountain will survive thanks to Dr. Frankenstein.
Finally Stannis did something of significance by defeating the Wildlings with his new army.
most excellent episode. Having to kill Shae and then warning his father to not call his love a whore..Poor Tyrion. And damn, he kept his word. Tywin did call her a whore again and that was his end.
Was Varys on the boat at the end? I wasn't sure.
The attack by Stannis' army was underwhelming but it had to be done quickly to get on with the story. The large group of riders swooping in looked cool though. And I loved how Vance refused to bow.
Brienne and the Hound's battle was great, but I was disappointed by the lack of 'cunts' being thrown around by the Hound. How nice of Arya to not kill him and let him to rot.
And wow, even Bran had something of interest to do. Jojen was expendable at this point since it was his goal to bring them to the Children. And I still get a kick out of warrior-style possessed Hodor. He could be so much more if I wasn't just Hodor
The next season will be interesting as iirc we're closing in on what I call "we see ....walking" as people travel all around the globe next. But I have faith that they'll speed things up a bit in the tv show or give them actual interesting side plots.
Speaking of that, still no news from the Iron Islands. That's really a story they're downplaying aren't they?
You are going to get more than you want with the Iron Islands and their fucking Drown God, I assure you. A few things missing from the TV show that were in the book like Jamie admitting he knew about the gang rape of Tyrion's first wife who actually did love him, Tyrion telling Tywin he was going to see him shit gold and of course Brie never fighting the Hound.
The Hound brought up the massive problem I have with Brie's quest. Where exactly are the girls safe? Not Winterfell or Castle Black. I have always wondered if Jamie doesn't have an ulterior motive for helping her. Tonight, I think the Hound confirmed it. Good finale, I was glad to see John give Stannis a large piece of advice to show they are somewhat equals. It will be interesting how much further the show deviates from the books as they really only have two seasons worth of material if they intend to keep the main cast as they move forward.
While I didn't care for a lot of the decisions made this season, at least it ended on a strong note. I still maintain that the story is missing a proper antagonist, which I wouldn't mind quite so much if that role hadn't been perfectly filled with the sadist Joffrey. And now, we're also missing Tywin, so I still don't understand against who our protagonists are supposed to be fighting.
And Littlefinger's motivations for starting all of this are still not entirely clear to me. Was it to eliminate Ned and get Catelyn? So, now what?
It was also nice to see some strong female characters finally make an impact. Seeing Brienne get the best of The Hound in tough fight was cool. Even Cersei standing up to Tywin was kind of a great moment (for someone I'm supposed to dislike, I guess...).
So my guess is, at some point, we'll see Jon Snow, Daenarys, Bran, Arya, Tyrion and some solid supporting characters all team up to save the kingdom from the White Walkers after Cersei/Tommen and the Tyrells further wreck it with infighting and power plays.
Originally posted by Leroy While I didn't care for a lot of the decisions made this season, at least it ended on a strong note. I still maintain that the story is missing a proper antagonist, which I wouldn't mind quite so much if that role hadn't been perfectly filled with the sadist Joffrey. And now, we're also missing Tywin, so I still don't understand against who our protagonists are supposed to be fighting.
Originally posted by Leroy And Littlefinger's motivations for starting all of this are still not entirely clear to me. Was it to eliminate Ned and get Catelyn? So, now what?
Get control of the Vale, and use that as a base to eventually challenge for the Iron Throne, although maybe by controlling it rather than sitting on it (much as Tywin was just doing).
And he can't have Cat, but he can have her daughter.
Originally posted by lotjxA few things missing from the TV show that were in the book like Jamie admitting he knew about the gang rape of Tyrion's first wife who actually did love him
I was surprised they left this bit out because I felt Tyrion's motivation for killing Tywin was even more about that than it was about Shae. Although I suppose for those that have only watched the TV show it was plenty motivation for him to take out dear old dad.
Originally posted by lotjxA few things missing from the TV show that were in the book like Jamie admitting he knew about the gang rape of Tyrion's first wife who actually did love him
I was surprised they left this bit out because I felt Tyrion's motivation for killing Tywin was even more about that than it was about Shae. Although I suppose for those that have only watched the TV show it was plenty motivation for him to take out dear old dad.
Exactly! That was the thing that drove him to go all berserker in there. That and Shae calling him "my Lion", but she was mumbling her lines I could barely make out the "Twyin?".
The other thing that bugged me was Stannis not having his flaming sword.
But overall very good. Hound and Brienne fight was great, and better than what happened in the book.
Next season should be very interesting from an adaptation perspective, seeing as this is where the POV structure gets tweaked.
Either a lot's getting cut or there could be character subbing than previous seasons. Or they will have to write a lot more of their own plots than before.
Thread ahead: Transformers: Age of Extinction Next thread: New DVD/Blu-ray/digital titles for the week of 6/24/2014 (190) Previous thread: Casey Kasem has died
Thread rated: 5.37
#
#
#
#