A Game Of Thrones: To the point of the TV show, no spoilers beyond that

[Raoul Duke]

1 hour ago, Jiggs50 said:

Other than the obvious reveal, felt like a filler episode. 

Yep. Another snoozefest. Seven episodes into the season. Oh wait, it's "buildup". GTFO.

[Down by the River]

Now THAT episode felt like it was written by TV writers.

[GLASSJAW]

I find it so funny that people are assuming Arya is just stupid and that this isn't all a trap or plan. Either it's a trap she's setting up, or it's a trap set up by the faceless dude - afterall, the girl she's "fighting" has now broken pretty much every rule in her few seconds of screentime tonight.

 

Thought the Hound's scenes were great too, a great way to humanize him and make him more substantial after so many episodes of being called a dog.

 

Fantastic episode, IMO.

 

Cue the "this show should be 2 seasons long" crowd

[Hugor Hill]

7 hours ago, Down by the River said:

Now THAT episode felt like it was written by TV writers.

It feels more coherent and less disjointed from the various plots.

 

 

[Hugor Hill]

Some people think Arya and the Waif are the same person... it's all in Arya's head:

 

http://www.bustle.com/articles/164939-are-arya-the-waif-the-same-person-this-game-of-thrones-theory-is-so-crazy

 

 

[Tre Mac]

Is Cersei gonna burn KL to the ground?  Is that what the wildfire vision Bran had and not of the Mad King? 

[RUPERTKBD]

Not sure if I buy this "the waif is Arya" thing, but an interesting theory....

 

Great to see The Hound back in the game, but Swidgen, we hardly knew ye.Looks like Sandor "the broken man" is off to seek himself some revenge, although I don't believe those guys are part of Beric Dondarrion's crew.

 

I think most of us believe that Arya will survive. Most likely, she'll seek out, or run into Lady Crane (who shouldn't be alive, but whatever)

 

Loved the Blackfish putting Jaime in his place. I doubt that he'll win, but his pride is more important than his life and I'm positive that at some point, we'll see Lothar Frey get his.  

[Monty]

7 hours ago, GLASSJAW said:

Cue the "this show should be 2 seasons long" crowd

If each season is 40 episodes, sure.

[Miss Korea Bob.Loblaw]

7 hours ago, GLASSJAW said:

I find it so funny that people are assuming Arya is just stupid and that this isn't all a trap or plan. Either it's a trap she's setting up, or it's a trap set up by the faceless dude - afterall, the girl she's "fighting" has now broken pretty much every rule in her few seconds of screentime tonight.

 

Thought the Hound's scenes were great too, a great way to humanize him and make him more substantial after so many episodes of being called a dog.

 

Fantastic episode, IMO.

 

Cue the "this show should be 2 seasons long" crowd

I don't follow.

[Tre Mac]

1 hour ago, Bob.Loblaw said:

I don't follow.

Me neither aside from the fact she wasn't suppose to make her suffer.  Also doesn't she need her face or the whole thing is moot?  Arya sure looked different when she was buying a passage home off that captain.  I was rewatching season three 'kissed by fire' episode where she calls Mel a witch.  Mel told her they would meet again.  Maybe Jon/Sansa sent Mel to retrieve her, who knows.

 

Maybe Waif is an illusion but I don't buy it like some people are saying Jaquen was Syrio in season one.

[Jägermeister]

That episode wasn't necessarily action packed, but I enjoyed it for the most part.

Even though it didn't come as a huge surprise, the Hound reveal was awesome, Bronn is back and as witty as ever, and the Arya story line is picking up steam.

Despite liking the last episode, I still really want to see some real shiz go down next week.

[Guest]

The next episode or two will probably have something major go down. This season as a whole hasn't had a lot of "Oh wow" moments yet

[Down by the River]

12 hours ago, GLASSJAW said:

I find it so funny that people are assuming Arya is just stupid and that this isn't all a trap or plan. Either it's a trap she's setting up, or it's a trap set up by the faceless dude - afterall, the girl she's "fighting" has now broken pretty much every rule in her few seconds of screentime tonight.

 

Thought the Hound's scenes were great too, a great way to humanize him and make him more substantial after so many episodes of being called a dog.

 

Fantastic episode, IMO.

 

Cue the "this show should be 2 seasons long" crowd

Regarding the waif, what rules did she break in her few seconds of screentime? 

 

Didn't think the Hound's scenes were humanizing; not that they didn't show his humanity, just that we've seen him humanized since season 1 with Sansa and then all throughout s2 or s3 with Arya. I was glad to have the Hound back, but nothing he did in this ep was particularly groundbreaking.

 

The only thing I liked about this episode was the comedic moments: the Bronn/Jamie combo, the sharp 8yr old running House Mormont, and pretty much anything Grandma Tyrell said. 

[theminister]

2 hours ago, Jägermeister said:

That episode wasn't necessarily action packed, but I enjoyed it for the most part.

Even though it didn't come as a huge surprise, the Hound reveal was awesome, Bronn is back and as witty as ever, and the Arya story line is picking up steam.

Despite liking the last episode, I still really want to see some real shiz go down next week.

See... this is what I don't get about the claims of 'filler' episodes... to me they are absolutely necessary.

 

It's a giant game board and the pieces need to be moved around and set up before the actual action.

 

Axis and Allies isn't the same when everyone wipes out every piece in the first two moves. Same, same.

[Down by the River]

4 minutes ago, theminister said:

See... this is what I don't get about the claims of 'filler' episodes... to me they are absolutely necessary.

 

It's a giant game board and the pieces need to be moved around and set up before the actual action.

 

Axis and Allies isn't the same when everyone wipes out every piece in the first two moves. Same, same.

Filler episodes are absolutely necessary, but filler episodes don't need to be poorly written either. For me, two episodes have gone by where important things have happened, but the manner in which they were told fell flat.

[theminister]

2 minutes ago, Down by the River said:

Filler episodes are absolutely necessary, but filler episodes don't need to be poorly written either. For me, two episodes have gone by where important things have happened, but the manner in which they were told fell flat.

That's a fair, but different, criticism that I can accept.

 

Though he may not be the best writer in the world, having Martin's source material for the actors to base their personas and emotions off of in a moment is probably the biggest difference.

 

My reference was more about how 'nothing happened' which to me is never the case. And sometimes we can't see what really happened until after the fact.

Edited June 6, 2016 by theminister

[GLASSJAW]

36 minutes ago, Down by the River said:

Regarding the waif, what rules did she break in her few seconds of screentime? 

 

Didn't think the Hound's scenes were humanizing; not that they didn't show his humanity, just that we've seen him humanized since season 1 with Sansa and then all throughout s2 or s3 with Arya. I was glad to have the Hound back, but nothing he did in this ep was particularly groundbreaking.

 

The only thing I liked about this episode was the comedic moments: the Bronn/Jamie combo, the sharp 8yr old running House Mormont, and pretty much anything Grandma Tyrell said. 

Waif WANTS to kill Arya - not allowed

Waif revealed herself - not allowed (i don't think?)

Waif is letting Arya suffer - not allowed

 

Found an article about it: http://www.bustle.com/articles/165193-the-waif-stabbing-arya-on-game-of-thrones-broke-the-faceless-mens-rules

 

as for the Hound: I don't always agree with the AV Club, but I do like to read their reviews of show episodes that I follow just for a second opinion or two. They drew the parallel of the Hound's story (in that episode) following the pastoral elegy tradition. the article doesn't really go into detail about it, but it's here: http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/pastoral-elegy-gives-thrones-thematically-rich-rev-237761

 

I think maybe the difference between these scenes and the ones you're referring to with the early seasons is how the Hound (back then) was still almost always subservient to someone or something else--whether it's the kingdom or his relationship to it. Even if we don't believe he's "protecting" Arya for selfish reasons, it's mostly all we're given. Even though the Hound seemed like a (sorta) good character in previous episodes, he never was, like, Snow-tier levels of "goodness." In the last episode, though, the Hound is more or less his own man. It's HIS nature in a very reduced natural situation, and his choices are his own (even if he pretends they aren't). He obviously does have a sense of justice or desire that are not attached to orders or the crown or personal financial gain, or whatever.

 

But I guess we'll only see how deep that runs next week

 

 

[theminister]

I found it interesting that Arya didn't have Needle on her. 

 

Maybe it wasn't Arya?

[Mathew Barzal]

That Mormont girl nailed her persona.

[Down by the River]

3 minutes ago, GLASSJAW said:

Waif WANTS to kill Arya - not allowed

Waif revealed herself - not allowed (i don't think?)

Waif is letting Arya suffer - not allowed

 

Found an article about it: http://www.bustle.com/articles/165193-the-waif-stabbing-arya-on-game-of-thrones-broke-the-faceless-mens-rules

 

as for the Hound: I don't always agree with the AV Club, but I do like to read their reviews of show episodes that I follow just for a second opinion or two. They drew the parallel of the Hound's story (in that episode) following the pastoral elegy tradition. the article doesn't really go into detail about it, but it's here: http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/pastoral-elegy-gives-thrones-thematically-rich-rev-237761

 

I think maybe the difference between these scenes and the ones you're referring to with the early seasons is how the Hound (back then) was still almost always subservient to someone or something else--whether it's the kingdom or his relationship to it. Even if we don't believe he's "protecting" Arya for selfish reasons, it's mostly all we're given. Even though the Hound seemed like a (sorta) good character in previous episodes, he never was, like, Snow-tier levels of "goodness." In the last episode, though, the Hound is more or less his own man. It's HIS nature in a very reduced natural situation, and his choices are his own (even if he pretends they aren't). He obviously does have a sense of justice or desire that are not attached to orders or the crown or personal financial gain, or whatever.

 

But I guess we'll only see how deep that runs next week

 

 

Waif was allowed to kill Arya, she got the nod from Jaqen. The waif believes that Arya was dead, as she did not resurface, therefore she did not think Arya was suffering.

 

There are also instances of the hound showing that he was not at all subservient to someone else. He left the Blackwater and said "eff Kings Landing" and "eff the King". He then left Kingslanding simply because he was fed up with being subservient.