3901

Comment about Theon: a weak men with good intentions is way worse than a strong evil men.

3902

Theon doesn’t even have good intentions though – he knows his father’s plan is flawed, he knows that to follow his father means betraying his friend/brother and the people he grew up with. The ONLY reason he is doing what he’s doing is because he so desperately wants validation from daddy. That’s just weak.

3903

That reminds me: is it ever mentioned in Dance that Theon realizes his father’s dead? I think it safe to assume that Ramsay would’ve heard and been sure to tell him.

3904

My favorite episode, so far, as things finally get rolling. Great facial expressions from Theon in that brutal opening…poor Rodrick :(

Ygritte was perfect.
"

Gonna miss her when she dies :(

Weird moment when that mob descended like zombies on that priest and ripped his arm off, but whatever. The Hound proves himself chivalrous yet again.

3905

Yeah if he had good intentions, he would be like Anakin Skywalker but, really, he’s just a lost kid who wants to fit in. I haven’t read ADWD yet, but I’ve heard he’s had a redeeming change of heart after having his skin removed piece by piece by the Bolton bastard?

3906

What’s the consensus here?

Does Littlefinger realize that Arya is Arya Stark?

All of those meaningful glances would certainly indicate yes.

3907

They were playing pretty coy with that, but I tend to lean towards yes. Baelish is no idiot.

3908

I think he must recognize her because he brings up Catelyn and her daughters at the end of the conversation (from what I remember.) No clue how this will impact things though…

3909

My guess is that Littlefinger did recognize her. But he won’t let Tywin know that he recognizes her. In fact, he is likely to assume that Tywin is actually holding Arya, and is parading her around to get Baelish to admit to something.

It’s an exhausting life that men like Littlefinger lead. It is unlikely to occur to him that Tywin might not know who she is.

Where the hell is Varys? I miss him.

3910

You bring up a good point, would Littlefinger assume that Tywin knew who Arya was?

3911

I don’t think Tywin has ever actually seen Arya Stark and at best knows a vague description of her. Littlefinger is probably thinking to use knowledge of Arya’s whereabouts/well-being to further his cause with Catelyn somehow. Not really sure how it’ll all play out since they’ve altered the whole Harrenhall scenario so much now.

3912

Agreed. Not sure on what impact it will have, but my guess is that it will tie into Arya’s needing to run for it.

Run WHERE of course is another matter. It might be that they have her go “to Riverrun”, but I guess we shall see.

Of all of the changes they have made to the books so far, the one with Tywin and Arya is easily the best. It BETTER than the book, tbh, and seeing as I’m a die hard GRRM fanboi, that’s saying a lot.

3913

I don’t think that they are at that point, but the changes to Jon’s story this year have been needless. From a story point, they make no sense because they do not create a superior script. They don’t create “more” story, either. What they do is change the book and don’t give us a better story, rather, an inferior one told in the same amount of time. Is this a “cheaper” story? Maybe, but if so – it can’t be much cheaper…

Some of these changes are unnecessary, but the significant ones seemed to be aimed at reducing costs and dealing with practical realities.

Big Problem #1: They can’t – or at least won’t – film in the wilds of the Icelandic glaciers at night.

We don’t get the ambush on the Wildlings at night, because they don’t want to film at night.

But why do the following changes to Jon this year?

1- Craster knocks him out and makes him look the weakling with no Ghost to protect him. Why?

Dramatic tension? Not a biggie on its own – fair enough. But it does not stop there.

2- Jon does not find the cloak of obsidian arrowheads or the horn. Why?

No good reason yet. Even if Jon does find it now, it won’t be on the Fist of the First Men when Sam and Co. make a run for it. I conclude that Sam will be finding the cloak - or D&D are going to mess with Sam killing an Other. Either way, I don’t like this change. At all. For this, we get Joffrey’s nonconsensual SM moment? Really? Isn’ the whole obsidian thing a pretty big deal in the tale? I think so.

3- Quorin Halfhand does not ask that Jon accompany him. Why?

I don’t know why, but I would guess the reason ties into budgeting. The reason that Quorin asks that Jon accompany him in the book is not because of Jon Snow, it’s because of Ghost. Quorin is a believer in the old powers and had Jon pegged for a warg. It’s Jon that see the widling host through Ghost’s eyes – and then is attacked in Ghost’s form by the eagle.

My guess is that the attack by the eagle/showing the vast Wildling host is something they did not want to film as it would have been too expensive.

ALTERNATIVELY…

D&D have decided to reduce the “magic” level and have left out the warging ability of everyone but Bran. This is NOT a good decision as it has unacceptable impact on the story by the time ADwD rolls out (where the ability of both Arya and Jon to warg becomes important to their tale - in Jon’s case, absolutely pivotal).

So I think it’s just budget. If so, this was an inelegant solution.

4- Quorin does not leave Jon to kill Ygritte with an equivocal command, but an express one. Why?

Because it’s poor writing. There is no other reason for this. Bad call.

5- Jon’s now following Ygritte around without any reason to do so at all. Why?

No good reason why at all. They’ve turned Jon kick-ass-take-no-prisoners Snow into a whiney wannabe Ranger whose mad skillz can’t cash the cheques his ego writes. And that’s NOT Jon Snow in A Clash of Kings.

All I am left with is that they wanted to give us a little more Jon + Ygritte. But that’s just not necessary. The wildlings chasing the rangers down and finally getting him was a BETTER story than this. Would it really have been that hard to film – that expensive to film than what they’ve now cooked up out of nowhere and shown last episode? No, doesn’t look that way.

Result: I’m not happy with this direction and frankly, it’s shitty writing. I’m fine with merging Bran and Jojen (though a little troubled by it), I’m GREAT with the changes to Arya+Tywin (they improved the tale, tbh), I’m even fine with the theft of the dragons and the death of Irri (actress wanted out and Dany needs stuff to do). Littlefionger meets Catelyn? Ok. Catelyn comes back before the Robb+Jeyne thang? Okay again – as I expect Catelyn will be confined to quarters when that happens. I was NOT okay with Theon’s slaying of Rodrik. Theon is not made that villainous by GRRM and his conflict is left more equivocal than that. But I can see WHY they did it, at least.

But none of these considerations seem to belie the changes to Jon’s arc, which appears to be aimed at taking one of the two “standard” fantasy hero characters in the entire series (Brienne would be the other, imo) and making him into a wuss for no great reason. It pisses me off, frankly.

It seems to me that unless ALL of this turns on not wanting to show Jon warging with Ghost, than NONE of this is making any sense at all and is resulting in a weaker tale.

Am I missing something here?

3914

I suspect she is going to run straight to Braavos . . . but, in the books, she runs into the Hound’s arms . . .

Given her strong interplay with Tywin, I can see a back and forth with the Hound - but I can also see it being cut.

3915

Not that I can see - but there is still the possibility of Jon deciding to free Ygritte and then rejoining Quorin, and then Ghost sees the wildling horde.

Quite a bit to cover in 4 episodes - I’d say the natural end for the Wall arc this year is Jon with the wildlings when the battle at the fist takes place. But I don’t know how they will cover it.

3916

Is the Fist quite so desolate in the books? I pictured more trees, at least in the valleys. The whole area they’ve been in the last couple of episodes is so desolate, it’s hard to imagine a large host surviving for any time at all.

3917

The Fist of the First Men is not nearly so desolate in the books. In fact, it’s depicted as essentially a hill fort made of stones on the edge of the forest. Defensable and with a good view of the surroundings, but definitely not waaaaay the hell up in the mountains where you’d easily freeze to death the first night there. I’m not sure what they are doing with that change, but I suspect we may not get to see the Fist get overrun by white walkers as was depicted in the book. Instead we may get another scene of a redshirt sentry killed by a walker followed by a scene hours later as the tattered remnants of the Night’s Watch stagger into Craster’s camp and explain to him how they were overrun.

3918

Yeah I’m a little perplexed by the rendition of the lands beyond the Wall. I appreciate the awesomeness of filming in Iceland and all, but when I read the books I envisioned a hell of a lot more forested terrain.

3919

Same here.

3920

Especially since last season’s “beyond the Wall” depictions were forested areas.