He spends quite a bit of time in a sullen pout. That was true in the books as well though.
Mr_Zero
4403
Snow’s a perfect example of the difference between likeable and compelling, and which one actually counts.
I find it amusing that Daenerys is completely left out of the likeable/compelling discussion. She’s as idiotic and less likeable than the Starks, but things end up working out for her.
Ned had power before he was named Hand. Ned made plans to evacuate his children but dumb old Sansa told the queen first. Ned was done in by his own honor mostly, with an assist from Littlefinger.
Bad luck doesn’t run in that family, they make their own luck. Already the mom has undercut her son’s position in his own army, but that’s not such a big deal when the son himself has done something that caused a chunk of his army to leave. This was all the result of deliberate choice, not luck. Sansa maybe, there’s a Stark who just drifts where ever luck takes her. All the other Starks though are making choices.
Ned’s father: not so lucky.
Ned’s brother: not so lucky.
Bran: not so lucky.
Sansa: idiot
JonRowe
4406
I think what I really like about the show/books is that all of the characters (for the most part) aren’t one sided, and often times you end up understanding the “bad” character’s point of view. You also get to see how “good” characters definitely aren’t all saints. The characters all feel real, nobody is a Disney villain or hero. Shit gets real.
Economics of Ice & Fire: Part I, Part II (via)
not a spoiler but the links above may contain some
All this gives us one way to understand the Lannister zeal for power in King’s Landing. In effect, Tywin is attempting to execute a debt-for-equity swap since his debts aren’t actually recoverable. But that simply underscores the extent to which the loans to the Iron Throne are, themselves, worthless as financial assets.
(Haven’t caught up with you guys yet so am behind on these threads, but spotted that and thought I’d share)
Some epic shit right there, man. I’m only a bit saddened that I already knew it was coming and could not experience it for the first time.
I loved the look on Mormont’s face when Dany commanded the dragon to burn the slaver. So good.
Warning
4410
Sometimes this show is just so good.
That exceeded my expectations! I could do without the Theon crap though.
Everything was so good in this episode, even Sansa’s scene with Margaery, that the Theon part was an obvious weak point. I think they screwed up having him have his epiphany right before the zinger. It felt like his low moment was the epiphany and the rest was kind of redundant. The dude was too depressed and distracted for mind games to have any real impact on him.
According to the showrunners, they actually filmed the slaver dude getting torched with a flamethrower to make it more realistic.
The Beric scene is great. He does an excellent job as Beric and I guess kinda/sorta looks like a very scruffy, beat-up version of the actor you see for five seconds in season one. I’m glad they provided a bit of connective tissue there at least. They did make Clegane look a bit perplexed and slightly worried about Beric’s declaration that he’ll be the one doing the fighting.
— Alan
Blips
4414
The dragon attack this episode was far far more satisfying than the awkward burping and flailing of the warlock’s tower.
rowe33
4415
Now that was an episode…holy crap! And an ending worthy of it too - lets me forgive last week’s travesty…
That was utterly fantastic. The final scene is what is sticking in my mind the most, but the whole episode was great. I love all the Margery scenes they’re putting in, they’ve done great things with her character. The Queen of Thorns is really good too, nicely cast. Left and Right seem to be missing, though.
So, SPOILERS AHEAD. Don’t know what you’re doing in here if you haven’t read the books, but just in case…
I’m wondering how Dany will find out about Ser Jorah’s having informed the small council about her movements and pregnancy. It was Baristan who told her in the book, and the reason he didn’t do so immediately was because he was posing as Arstan Whitebeard.
So to help some confusion, the guys that attacked Theon after he escaped, were they just regular brigands? I mean if they were part of the guards sent to recapture him, why were they killed if he was going to end up right back at the torture chamber?
Emos
4418
IIRC, that guy who killed the guards (his own BTW) and lead Theon back to the torture chamber is Ramsey Bolton, who just happens to be the most twisted psychopath in the series (and that’s saying a lot). He loves to play cat and mouse mind-f*ck games with his victims.
Disconnected, I think it’s interesting that, having read the books, I have very different takes on all of the characters whom you mentioned.
In a world where family is everything, Tyrion is at least as competent as Tywin in serving the interests of House Lannister. He’s also a substantially better person. Part of the problem for everyone in this show is that they must move carefully, lest they get caught in some unseen trap set by somebody still worse and more bloodthirsty than they themselves.
The books do spend some (albeit not much) time digging into Stannis’s personal reasons for pursuing the crown so avidly. That makes his character somewhat more comprehensible, if not much more likeable. Have they given him a soliloquy or two in the show?
My guess with Theon is that whatever the plans of his captors, the brainwashing is thought to be more important than the lives of three lowly bannermen. I guess we’re free to wonder (as with much else on the show) why anybody would limit themselves to deciding between such wasteful options.
I have to say that I’ve found Daenery’s for the most part convincing. She is a teenager, after all, and was always subordinate to her brother in youth. She has a formal education, and probably gained a bit of diplomacy as Illyrio Mopatis’s guest and the Targarygen heir, but presumably knows almost nothing of statecraft. She’s got to be reading the vibes coming off of Jorah, and knows that she can’t use Whitebeard/Selmy as a crutch to the extent that he’s the one managing all of her affairs. If she stumbles, well, that’s to be expected.
Ned was clearly one of those people for whom the ends never justified the means. That made him rare, yes, but I’d argue that it also goes a long way toward explaining why he was so well admired. It’s also worth remembering that his execution was a fluke: Cersei had not planned, and indeed disapproved of it, but was powerless to countermand Geoffrey in the moment. Had he not been killed, Stark would have been sent to the Wall, where surely he would have passed on the truths he knew to other interested parties.
Fozzle
4420
One thing that bugged me about Dani in Astopor both in the book and last night is that she does a fairly dishonorable thing. Her character seems to follow a pretty straightforward code of honor throughout most of the books, but in this instance, she for all practical purposes welches on the deal for the unsullied, sacks the city and kills the people she was dealing with. It’s a drug deal gone bad, and just seemed out of character.
On the other hand, they were all slavers, the merchant had called her a slut about 60 times, and she technically did complete the trade… I don’t know. Just felt out of character, if not still a brilliant move.
