Since she was working overtime to excite him, I assumed the poison worked more quickly if your blood is really pumping, as he only really started showing symptoms then. Don’t know how much more effective that makes it in short combat, but …
From Littlefinger’s dialogue I think it goes something like this: Littlefinger tells the interested party(Cersei/Olenna) who has the info to be used, then it’s up to them to figure out how to move the chess pieces. So he tells Olenna about what convert Lancel knows, she takes it from there. There are any number of ways to manipulate him. Tell the high sparrow what he knows, the high sparrow questions him and he answers. Challenge Lancel directly, “You claim to be of the faith but you haven’t confessed…” and I bet he’d do it, why not?
About Mormont, I think him kicking ass made perfect sense. Those guys were mostly fighting other people then he interrupts them. They weren’t expecting a fresh attack. He picked and chose his opponents. The Barristan situation was the opposite. I think Dany wasn’t impressed to see him since what does beating all those other fighters have to do with re-establishing trust? Their relationship is still in the same spot as before, which is where Tyrion comes in. He’s clever enough to figure out a way to spin this in a positive way I’m sure.
Quaro
6343
Exactly it. Feels like a different character than the books, where she slowly learns and starts to make decisions on her own.
olaf
6344
I liked that one a lot too. Bronn almost dying was the worst. I was very happy when she tossed him the antidote.
Razgon
6345
Except a lot of it seems to be breasts and violence because its expected, as a cheap thrill, especially in those instances were its scenes that weren’t in the books.
This episode was better, but I still found huge parts of it less than interesting, and my interest waning. As someone mentioned upthread, its more of a TV-show in many places now, instead of a book translation as the first 4 seasons were.
I liked the episode but I’m still pulling my hair out on a few things.
The Wall - Jon leaves Ghost behind? That seems really strange - Can’t bring Ghost on a ship perhaps? The bigger deal to me is Sam breaking his vows.
Stannis/Melisandre - I almost thought they were going to mention Balon.
Sansa - This whole plot is making Sansa look stupid. In the books she is learning to be clever. She asks Theon - a proven turncoat who murdered two of her brothers - to help her? And this same traitor looks much more decidely unstable than the last time she saw him. Only a fool would do such a thing. This is Sansa the Eternal Victim and this consequence was driven by the stupid writer’s decision to depart from the books and have Sansa marry Ramsay Bolton.
King’s Landing - The Queen of Thorns looks like she is getting outplayed by the High Septon which is an interesting twist. Tommen’s a hotblooded teenager (instead of a docile boy) so his reluctance to either storm Margaery’s jail or organize a more stealthy night time operation is odd. I wonder if we’re going to see the Queen of Thorns send Randyll Tarly to get Loras and Margaery out of jail. And when is Margaery going to demand a trial by combat? Loras should have demanded it already - and would have if they hadn’t turned him from an elite knight to a stereotypical sissy.
Dorne - continues to disappoint. Jaime Lannister shows up unexpectedly and assaults your son, Prince Doran doesn’t want to torture/talk/imprison him? At least show him eavesdropping on Jaime and Myrcella.
Using a slow acting poison on a weapon is the definition of imbecility. And why would a Sand Snake care at all about a Lannister henchman to spare his life with an antidote?
We have time for this T&A - but no time at all for Prince Doran. He’s the most important character in Dorne, we just finished episode seven, and we’ve barely seen him. We’ve seen the Sand Snakes act like morons on several occasions by comparison.
I was a little troubled by Sam, too. It’s not the WHAT he was doing it’s the WHERE he was engaged in it.
In the novel, Sam is reticent for weeks and then is persuaded, after being thousands of miles away from any member of the night’s Watch, on board a ship literally FILLED with people who believe in “free love” and open promiscuity as the height of human freedom – and with the prospect that Gilly would soon be delivered safely and far away from him for the rest of his life into the care of his mother’s maids. It was a one-off situation.
Circumstantially, that a very expensive long-distance call from what we saw in S05E07. I am not sure what is going to come of this, but nothing good I wager.
Teiman
6348
What the fuck was that smallish arena supposed to be? a training pit? it was incredible small. I have seen town in spain with a bigger battle arena.
Razgon
6349
So have I - In Spain, even ;-)
You from around Malaga, Teiman?
They did mention that Dany was making the rounds of the training grounds to see the upcoming talent in advance of the big event. “It’s tradition.”
Which in itself sounds odd for a couple reasons. First, I’m not clear on who the tradition was speaking of – did Meereen have a figurehead before Dany? You kind of get the impression it was an oligarchy… but then you figure SOMEONE had to live in the big pyramid before “Mysa” took residency, right?
Second, what kind of a ruler has time to visit a bunch of training pits? That’s like saying that the POTUS attends the Super Bowl, and “it’s tradition” that he also goes to all the teams’ mandatory workout sessions. That’s a full-time job , at least.
It’s one of those “plot wins” moments. They could have Jorah win the big event, but that’s half an episode there. Instead, in about 15 min of screen time, Jorah gets sold, kicks ass, and sees Dany.
One way they could have done it smoother was to have Dany’s beau have an interest in the pit… and they may have and I forgot it.
But what else could they have done? Introduce another (from the audience’s point of view) new character (Jeyne Poole)? And meanwhile Sansa - one of the top recognizable characters in the series, does what - twiddle her thumbs at the Eyrie like she does in the books?
I think the use of Sansa is just fine. I see her as weathering the storm, just as she believes Littlefinger expects her too. It’s more brutal than she expected, sure, but she’s far from bowed, bent or broken - she’s still not the airhead Sansa of the first few seasons.
She knows Ramsay can’t kill her outright (the wedding is a strategic necessity), so she knows she has room to maneouvre, and we’re starting to see her maneouvering, testing the boundaries (twitting Ramsay). Asking Theon was pretty desperate, but that’s understandable in her situation just at that point. Now she knows he’s unreliable, so that’s another datum.
She’s a Stark, Winterfell is her home, and she can’t be frightened. I still think her next major move is going to be to get Myranda into trouble, so Ramsay’s attention moves to Myranda.
This season is going strong and super awesome man!!
Watched latest episode on http://www.123movies.to/ as it doesn’t go on air in my country on date. Loved it man!
REPORTED
(exciting that I get to report a post!)
Thanks man!! This is super awesome info man!!
Teiman
6357
Nah, I am not from the south :(, unfortunately.
I am a northerner from a place that is fucking cold in winter and fucking hot the rest of the year.
So the Iron Islands plot is still (potentially) on the table? HMMM
Maybe. I guess it would’ve been weird to have the Iron Islands and Asha in the show and just have it all disappear with no follow-up.
Well, who was disgusted and ready to leave early due to the slaughter? Dany hates that kind of thing, and Jorah knew that. I loved the look on her face as it slowly dawned on her who this was before he took off his helmet. Jorah knew what she wanted, and disabled his foes without killing them.
I really liked this episode, and as someone who thinks the show is going off the rails, I thought this was a step back in the right direction. Cersei’s arrest was so satisfying. The fact that she gets arrested at the sept, where she came to gloat over Margery, is perfect. I think the books did a much better job of adding some sort of humanity to Cersei’s character in book 4, and I think the show is missing that.
Thank god the Sam/Gilly scene didn’t include the “dairy” elements from the book.
Sansa’s stuff was o.k. too. Especially since it seems like she is going to murder the shit out of Ramsay, and it is going to be so satisfying. But, the main problem with her storyline, and the deviation from the books, is that it feels unnecessary. The story with fake-arya (poor poor Jeyne Pool) could easily have been told from a different perspective. The books do an incredible job at portraying the savagery of Ramsay from Reek’s perspective, and they certainly could have told the story that way too. Alfie Allen has been pretty good in the show, and a POV character in the earlier seasons. I think that would have been a more interesting way to portray this story. Especially because the deviation from the books is so jarring.
Though, the rebirth of Sansa will be fun to watch.
Also, was that a Strong Belwas tease/cameo? The large man helping Tyrion out of his chains?
