TV HBO picks up George RR Martin series - Game of Thrones (24 Viewers)

[guidomerkinsrules]

I thought it was "Eddard" but internets says you're right.

I wish it was Eddard.

she was saying it to Eddard, ie Ned Stark

 

[rajncajn]

but mostly, how, in one season does Cersei go from getting played like a banjo by the High Sparrow, to being a super genius playing 10D chess against the best minds in the realm?
i can see how losing Tommen, et al makes her completely ruthless, but how does a 40+ yr old woman all f a sudden jump like 40 IQ points?

I chalk it up to her no longer having her children to cloud her judgment so-to-speak. She no longer cares about anything but her own advances and she will do anything now to rule. Nothing matters to her but the game now and she's gone full ruthless *****.

I don't see Tyrion falling for Dany like that. More likely to me is that the line of succession question which was so far out of place the previous episode just got more complicated. Even if he assumes no heir is possible, having Jon as her husband and capable of producing a ******* child throws the whole plan of busting the wheel into question. Maybe Tyrion doesn't trust a witch doctor either. Surely Tyrion knows Jon's died and come back so could Jon breathe life back into Dany's womb?

I'm hoping that's it as well. He's gotta know that he'd never had a shot with her and for him I keep hoping that he and Sansa actually kindle a real relationship at some point. If he betrays them and turns to Cercei I'll be royally ******. Like more than Ned Stark losing his head ******. There are just some characters that deserve to either go out fighting the good fight or to really win and he's one of them.

 

[livefromDC]

Things I liked about this episode:

1. The closest thing we've ever seen to a smile from the Hound. He was genuinely pleased to hear about Arya. How many times have we seen Clegane ambivalent about anything? Go ahead..I'll wait. Even when he's talking about chicken, it's still with a growl and a snarl. His face damn near lit up (when talking about Arya). The actor has done a great job making the hound a brooding, angry but still likeable character. His portrayal has been masterful. A lesser actor would have come off as sulking or mean-spirited or worse yet, good bad guy campy (like Gru in Despicable Me). His unspoken dialogue and body language has been gold the entire series. This scene was one of my favorites. Coincidently, another of my favorite scenes of his also involves Brienne. As he stands between her and Arya while accusing her of being a Lannister shill, it's again another scene where he portrays so much with just his body language alone.

2. Stark realization for Littlefinger. Sure, seeing Littlefinger beg for his life before being unceremoniously killed was fantastic. However, my favorite scene between Sansa and Littlefinger was the one where he invites her to work through the worst case scenario regarding Arya. She concludes with this, 'Arya would become Lady of Winterfell'. He thinks he has done his job well. His misstep? Thinking that everyone is as power hungry as he is...especially Arya. It's at that moment when Sansa realizes the worst case scenario, is actually Littlefinger's worst case scenario alone. As she says this final conclusion, Sansa knows that this is absolutely the last thing that Arya would ever want. I was happy to see Sansa finally thinking through the long game. Her problem, like her mother before her, has always been seeing several moves down the road. She's never looked at the long term ramifications of the things happening around her. In this last lesson, she does just that.

3. Redemption for Samwell Tarley. There's a bunch of episode reviews, articles, and posts ( me included, though maybe not others here) that owe Sam a great big apology. He wasn't ignoring Gilly. He had heard her. He had processed the information already. He answered her question but didn't reply to her statement. He didn't need an answer, she was just readying the diary aloud. By now, we should all have learned not to doubt Sam. He put it altogether when even Bran, the Three Eyed Raven, had missed it and that guy, as he assured us all during this episode, doesn't forget anything. Samwell Tarley. The guy that made Jon Snow the Commander of the Night's Watch, has now made him the true ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. Absolutely loved how that scene unfolded.

4. Jaime jumping ship. Finally, Jaime realizes that Cersei is out of control. She sent the message that she has her heir and doesn't need him. She a lunatic willing to run her Navy and reinforcements on the way. Threatening to kill him was all he needed to realize that she doesn't even care about him anymore. She blinked when it came time to actually kill him but I think she soon realizes that she has to kill before he reaches Tyrion. Maybe she sends Bronn after him or a small team to retrieve him. But she'll realize that he's left with her plans to betray the truce.

Things that were just meh:
1. A lot of time spent waiting in the dragon pit. It was like watching a waiting room.
2. And I've never seen someone winning a fight so convincingly get so worn out beating the crap out of someone. We get it. Theon is a eunuch now. How many crotch kicks did it take to drive home the point? You would think that guy would've went back to what was working instead 3 or 4 consecutive crotch kicks that were having no effect.

All around, my favorite episode of the season.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

I chalk it up to her no longer having her children to cloud her judgment so-to-speak. She no longer cares about anything but her own advances and she will do anything now to rule. Nothing matters to her but the game now and she's gone full ruthless *****.
.

like I said I buy the ruthlessness completely, but not the genius manipulations

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

3. Redemption for Samwell Tarley. There's a bunch of episode reviews, articles, and posts ( me included, though maybe not others here) that owe Sam a great big apology. He wasn't ignoring Gilly. He had heard her. He had processed the information already. He answered her question but didn't reply to her statement. He didn't need an answer, she was just readying the diary aloud. By now, we should all have learned not to doubt Sam. He put it altogether when even Bran, the Three Eyed Raven, had missed it and that guy, as he assured us all during this episode, doesn't forget anything. Samwell Tarley. The guy that made Jon Snow the Commander of the Night's Watch, has now made him the true ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. Absolutely loved how that scene unfolded.

that or Gilly spent the entire trip North badgering Sam about interrupting her and then re-reading the diary like a books on tape

 

[tenordas]

but mostly, how, in one season does Cersei go from getting played like a banjo by the High Sparrow, to being a super genius playing 10D chess against the best minds in the realm?
i can see how losing Tommen, et al makes her completely ruthless, but how does a 40+ yr old woman all f a sudden jump like 40 IQ points?

You neglected to mention how she turned the tables on him and played both him, Margaery, the whole Tyrell house, Grand Maester Pycelle, Tommen, and the entirety of the Sparrow religious order. She checkmated them all, so it's not a jump at all. If anything, I would say the Grand Sparrow was a case of her outsmarting herself by underestimating the power of what she felt was an asset.
Not to mention her earlier successful gambits against Ned, Robert, etc. IMHO, her current scheme is completely in character from all she has done over the scope of the story. I don't find it a stretch at all.

I also don't think Tyrion really believes she will keep her word. That's as it may be, however, since Jaime likely is going to let the cat out of the bag to someone when he reaches them. And I don't see his refusal to go with her scheme as the actions of an imbecile; rater, I see it as his sense of honour is overtaking his Lannister loyalty - and that he's smart enough to realize she no longer counts him as needed.

 

[MrVoodoo]

I don't think Euron makes it to the Golden Company - somewhere along the lines Theon is going to get a chance to challenge Euron to single combat and he's going to take him down. Dunno how, Theon shouldn't stand a chance against Euron... but the show has turned to where the good guys win more often than not and Theon has become one of the good guys.

My thought on Arya is - now that the wall is breached, what's the point in her having that power. She didn't gain the power of the faces just for what she has done so far, there's something bigger coming. The only thing that makes sense to me is her killing Cersei. The best option that I can see is her somehow taking Jaime's face and killing her - while it isn't to the letter the prophecy, it fits the prophecy of the little brother strangling her... while Jaime only has one hand, Arya has two and would use a fake gold hand to match Jaime.. Fits the prophecy because while she wears his face, she essentially is him. I've got the Hound travelling with Jaime/Arya to protect her, he fancies her a lot. While Arya is killing Cersei - the Hound protects her from the Mountain. Not sure when this happens, I imagine while the army of the dead is marching south so as to gain her armies to battle them.

 

[Mr. Sparkle]

she was saying it to Eddard, ie Ned Stark

Right but I heard her whisper of the child's name as "Eddard Targaryen" - I thought she had named him after Ned.

Aegon is also confusing because that's also the name of Rhaegar's first son with Elia Martell that was killed by the Mountain. So like George Forman, Rhaegar had 2 sons both named Aegon.

 

[livefromDC]

that or Gilly spent the entire trip North badgering Sam about interrupting her and then re-reading the diary like a books on tape

I mean...girlfriends, right? Wilding or otherwise..So yeah, also quite possible, LOL.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

You neglected to mention how she turned the tables on him and played both him, Margaery, the whole Tyrell house, Grand Maester Pycelle, Tommen, and the entirety of the Sparrow religious order. She checkmated them all, so it's not a jump at all. If anything, I would say the Grand Sparrow was a case of her outsmarting herself by underestimating the power of what she felt was an asset.
Not to mention her earlier successful gambits against Ned, Robert, etc. IMHO, her current scheme is completely in character from all she has done over the scope of the story. I don't find it a stretch at all.

fair point BUT - she did not maneuver them into the Sept - that was all High Sparrow. She just decided to use a weapon that no one in there could have really anticipated - both b/c the didn't know about the wild fyre, nor have any inkling that she would use it on her own people

out crazying is completely different than out thinking

 

[Twenty]

Right but I heard her whisper of the child's name as "Eddard Targaryen" - I thought she had named him after Ned.

Aegon is also confusing because that's also the name of Rhaegar's first son with Elia Martell that was killed by the Mountain. So like George Forman, Rhaegar had 2 sons both named Aegon.

It was definitely Aegon. Maybe Rhaegar named his new son that because he knew the other Aegon was a goner in the coming war.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

Right but I heard her whisper of the child's name as "Eddard Targaryen" - I thought she had named him after Ned.

Aegon is also confusing because that's also the name of Rhaegar's first son with Elia Martell that was killed by the Mountain. So like George Forman, Rhaegar had 2 sons both named Aegon.

right. so either the Double Ds are just doing a mash-up of the name or pointing to how tied to prophecy Rhaegar is??

 

[Tapxe]

4. Jaime jumping ship. Finally, Jaime realizes that Cersei is out of control. She sent the message that she has her heir and doesn't need him. She a lunatic willing to run her Navy and reinforcements on the way. Threatening to kill him was all he needed to realize that she doesn't even care about him anymore. She blinked when it came time to actually kill him but I think she soon realizes that she has to kill before he reaches Tyrion. Maybe she sends Bronn after him or a small team to retrieve him. But she'll realize that he's left with her plans to betray the truce.

Bronn would leave her for Tyrion and/or Jaime IMHO. It's not likely to go unnoticed that the armies have not arrived as planned so it doesn't really matter if Jaime tells them. At most, that gives them proof of what they'd suspect when there's no planning etc.

 

[GeauxWhoDats]

Was that the same actor who portrayed Dany's brother in the first season? It really confused me for a minute.

 

[livefromDC]

It was definitely Aegon. Maybe Rhaegar named his new son that because he knew the other Aegon was a goner in the coming war.

Yeah, I watched with captions on to make sure because I couldn't tell at first. Aegon is just a really popular name for the Targaryeans. It's like Walder for the Freys. There's been dozens of them in history.

List of characters - A Wiki of Ice and Fire