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Game of Thrones *NO BOOK SPOILERS* |OT| Season 4 - Sundays on HBO [Read the OP]

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fallagin

Member
Pretty good episode, but yeah, desperately want to know whats up in kings landing.

Surprisingly, Ygritte's death didn't really affect me much. I mean, I kind of liked her as a character, but I guess we just weren't given enough time to connect like some other characters in the show.
 

Volimar

Member
3AxMrON.jpg
 

Svafnir

Member
Lots of people saying it was a great episode but I really didn't enjoy it that much. It was just one big fight.

The battle of blackwater bay was much better due to the non action scenes with cersei and everything else going on. It also had the giant wildfire explosion, this fight tonight however, didn't come close to any of that. The giant army is still on the other side of the wall and it feels like nothing was accomplished. I don't care about ygritte. The whole nights watch story has been boring for me, one big battle isn't going to redeem it.

Here's hoping episode 10 gets crazy.
 

fallagin

Member
The guy from HBO's "Rome".

That's how I have to describe Game of Thrones characters to my friends since they can't remember any names, but to completely forget a character when you have their name? That's lunacy!

I remember the name Mance Raider and who he is in the story, I just couldn't pick the actor out of a line up if my life depended on it.
 

Jaeger

Member
Surprisingly, Ygritte's death didn't really affect me much. I mean, I kind of liked her as a character, but I guess we just weren't given enough time to connect like some other characters in the show.

I was really sad for Jon. The lives of the Night's Watch blows. =/
 

manfestival

Member
this episode was long overdue. It was nice to get something that isnt mostly plot pushing and get some decent action for once. The last episode was nice with the fight between the mountain and viper but this episode was great for a change of pace
 

Heshinsi

"playing" dumb? unpossible
Dammit Jon Snow. Only a Stark would do something stupid like "lets go have a chat with the enemy over a cup of hot tea and crumpets, shall we"

That whole fucking family has some sorta stupid gene embedded somewhere in their DNA.

The beginning part with Sam and Jon talking almost bored me to sleep. But when the action started, I sat up and had a huge grin on my face. Hahaha Even Sam got a kiss and got accepted by his crush. What's wrong with you Jorah the Fedora? No King's Landings scenes make me sad, and knowing that Mace and his 99,000 are still out there, makes me worried that the finale will have a lot of the wall scenes.
 

Macka

Member
Honestly, this is the worst episode of the entire series imo.

For those who will cry hyperbole, I re-watched Season 1-3 less than a week before Season 4 started so it's still relatively fresh in my mind.

I just don't find any of the characters at the wall compelling, and Jon Snow is one of the worst actors in the show. I never liked Ygritte, so her death meant nothing to me. And as others have said...Mance Rayder is still sitting beyond the wall with just short of 100,000 men, so this entire episode felt like it didn't really accomplish anything.

The action was also fairly meh tbh.
 

UrbanRats

Member
I thought the action was simply great.
the problem of course is that it was an entire episode about the worst characters in the series.
I think a worst case would've been an all-Daenerys episode, hopefully the gods will spare us that in the future.

Anyway, a failing of the series (in making any of the Wall shit compelling) more than the episode itself, which handled the battle fairly well i think.

Random thoughts:
  • Oh no, Ginger Minge died... i think nobody gave a shit about that.
  • What the fuck is Jon's plan? Seriously, how is he going to even get to Mance alive?
  • Them Giants were badass, and that great arrow, that dude on the wall got Dark Soul'd.
  • Hopefully Jon left his plot-armor with his sword, 'cause when he's on screen you just feel the tension leaving your body, knowing he can't die.
  • I also knew Sam couldn't die, because they kind of have a plot armor for comedy relief characters, too, i guess.
  • Couldn't they tie a knot to those ropes holding those fuckers shooting arrows vertically to the wildlings climbing the Wall? Why even have people holding the rope?

But yeah, the battle itself, i though, was pretty great.
 
Jon Snow really should get promoted after that episode. If he ever survives, I think Lord Commander Jon Snow has a nice ring to it. Hell, I'll settle for True King of the North.
 

xbhaskarx

Member
I don't normally comment in this thread, but I just wanted to say that was the worst GoT episode that I can remember, the type of episode that underdeveloped guys who are into comic books and hollywood action movies will love, "it was 'badass' when X did Y and when Z happened..."

My only complaint is that an asteroid didn't drop from the sky and wipe out that entire fucking storyline.

.
 

Dennis

Banned
The action was also fairly meh tbh.
I am not sure what exactly you expect from TV action scenes.

50 minutes of non-stop action with great special effects is what I saw.

I swear to God, every week I am amazed at the bitching at a show that is clearly leagues ahead of anyone else when it comes to production values.
 
Whoa, surprised at the number of dislikes for tonight's episode. I thought it was great and a tragic follow up to the initial heart break from last week.

Yeah, seriously. The people working on this show are pulling insane levels of effort in every aspect into every episode that surpasses a majority of TV and popular film. I have no idea how this war ends up, but it left me wanting more than 1 more episode.
 

Heshinsi

"playing" dumb? unpossible
I still think Daeny has the highest.

That's not even remotely close to reality. First of all Dany hasn't killed anyone with her bare hands. But I'm guessing you're counting direct orders in this though right. Well let's see.

  • Tywin Lannister orders the sacking of King's Landing; a ton of people die there. He also battles Rob and the Starks. More people die on either the battlefield or tortured to death at Horrenhall. Has a hand in the Red Wedding that kills Rob and his troops.
  • Rob Stark personally led his troops into battle. Sacrifices 10,000 of them to spring a counter move on the Lannisters. Then you add up all the Lannisters they've killed on the field.
  • Walter Frey is party to the Red Wedding
  • Roose Bolton is a Stark commander who also partakes in the Red Wedding. He is also responsible for ordering the extermination of Greyjoy troops in the North.
  • Stannis at the battle of Blackwater Bay. That battle results in the death of tens of thousands.
Dany having a bunch slave owners killed doesn't even come close to the bloodshed spilt by the previous men.
 

Volimar

Member
I don't normally comment in this thread, but I just wanted to say that was the worst GoT episode that I can remember, the type of episode that underdeveloped guys who are into comic books and hollywood action movies will love, "it was 'badass' when X did Y and when Z happened..."



.

No need to insult the people that disagree with you.
 

Yoda

Member
I thought the action was simply great.
the problem of course is that it was an entire episode about the worst characters in the series.
I think a worst case would've been an all-Daenerys episode, hopefully the gods will spare us that in the future.

Anyway, a failing of the series (in making any of the Wall shit compelling) more than the episode itself, which handled the battle fairly well i think.

Random thoughts:
  • Oh no, Ginger Minge died... i think nobody gave a shit about that.
  • What the fuck is Jon's plan? Seriously, how is he going to even get to Mance alive?
  • Them Giants were badass, and that great arrow, that dude on the wall got Dark Soul'd.
  • Hopefully Jon left his plot-armor with his sword, 'cause when he's on screen you just feel the tension leaving your body, knowing he can't die.
  • I also knew Sam couldn't die, because they kind of have a plot armor for comedy relief characters, too, i guess.
  • Couldn't they tie a knot to those ropes holding those fuckers shooting arrows vertically to the wildlings climbing the Wall? Why even have people holding the rope?

But yeah, the battle itself, i though, was pretty great.

As Jon told Sam, there are no better ideas. It's essentially a blind shot at diplomacy because he knows there aren't enough men left to defend the wall against another assault.
 

Braag

Member
Great episode. It was good to take a break from King's Landing even though I can't wait to know what happens to Tyrion now that Oberyn's dead.

I was more sad that Pyp died than Ygritte, though I felt a little bad for Jon since he seemed to genuinely love her but as for her dying as a whole.. I didn't care much.

Dat Tormund though... fucking beast of a man.
 

Macka

Member
I am not sure what exactly you expect from TV action scenes.

50 minutes of non-stop action with great special effects is what I saw.

I swear to God, every week I am amazed at the bitching at a show that is clearly leagues ahead of anyone else when it comes to production values.
I suppose it was impressive for a TV show, it just didn't interest me at all. The issue is probably more that I just don't care about anyone at the Wall. When Ygritte was aiming at Jon I was yelling at screen urging her to actually do it, even though I knew she wouldn't.
 

Radec

Member
Wow, whole episode for Jon Snow.

Poor Iggrite. But I guess she got what she deserves. Should have been an arrow to the head tho.

Also, that giant wielding a ballista like a bow.
KuGsj.gif


and count me in to the crowd that thought this guy is mance.
Screen+Shot+2013-03-26+at+11.41.12+AM.png
 

Heshinsi

"playing" dumb? unpossible
I am not sure what exactly you expect from TV action scenes.

50 minutes of non-stop action with great special effects is what I saw.

I swear to God, every week I am amazed at the bitching at a show that is clearly leagues ahead of anyone else when it comes to production values.

Exactly. What on earth are they comparing the show to for them to have such expectations?
 
Honestly, this is the worst episode of the entire series imo.

For those who will cry hyperbole, I re-watched Season 1-3 less than a week before Season 4 started so it's still relatively fresh in my mind.

I just don't find any of the characters at the wall compelling, and Jon Snow is one of the worst actors in the show. I never liked Ygritte, so her death meant nothing to me. And as others have said...Mance Rayder is still sitting beyond the wall with just short of 100,000 men, so this entire episode felt like it didn't really accomplish anything.

The action was also fairly meh tbh.

This is pretty much how I feel. The things I love most about GoT is the personalities and the politics. Those two things are at their strongest in Kings Landing, with characters like Tywin and Tyrion. Now more than ever, with Tyrions head on the chopping block, I want to know what is happening in Kings Landing dammit. The Wall is comparatively boring.
I disagree with you about the action of this episode though. There were some great action scenes and those frost giants were just beautiful to look at. VERY imposing creatures.
 

Tchu-Espresso

likes mayo on everthing and can't dance
Great episode which i thoroughly enjoyed. I like the entire wall storyline and its importance to the show as a whole.

Reading this thread too much tends to make one jaded and unappreciative. Serves a reminder as to why i tend to avoid this forum these days.
 

UrbanRats

Member
I don't normally comment in this thread, but I just wanted to say that was the worst GoT episode that I can remember, the type of episode that underdeveloped guys who are into comic books and hollywood action movies will love, "it was 'badass' when X did Y and when Z happened..."
Lol, 'cause the rest of the show is some highbrow material, and not some fantasy escapism show about people killing and fucking each other.

As Jon told Sam, there are no better ideas. It's essentially a blind shot at diplomacy because he knows there aren't enough men left to defend the wall against another assault.
Yeah but that's no plan at all.
Bargain what? He has zero leverage.
Unless Mance is a complete idiot and lets him near enough for him to kill him or something.
 
I am not sure what exactly you expect from TV action scenes.

50 minutes of non-stop action with great special effects is what I saw.

I swear to God, every week I am amazed at the bitching at a show that is clearly leagues ahead of anyone else when it comes to production values.
I'm sure God is incredibly intrigued by your turmoil with people not liking an episode of the show. Calm the flying fuck down.

I thought the episode was good, but for the most part not that great. I don't care much for the characters or the story of this part of the show. So it's hard for me to be excited even if it's visually appealing.
 
That whole fucking family has some sorta stupid gene embedded somewhere in their DNA.

The beginning part with Sam and Jon talking almost bored me to sleep. But when the action started, I sat up and had a huge grin on my face. Hahaha Even Sam got a kiss and got accepted by his crush. What's wrong with you Jorah the Fedora? No King's Landings scenes make me sad, and knowing that Mace and his 99,000 are still out there, makes me worried that the finale will have a lot of the wall scenes.

Arya is not stupid.
 
Reflecting on the episode some more, it really was really good episode. Great action and I greatly enjoyed watching the leader Thenn get his shit wrecked by JON FOOOOKING SNOW

Damn. I hope now that Jon meets up with Bran up in the north somewhere. They just have to now.
I mean, we all have to pretty much know that GRRM likely has it written down that John is going to die soon, right? I mean, there has been a severe lack of Stark Blood adapted this season. In my head it just keeps on flashing bright red lights which say that that John is next.
 
Lol, 'cause the rest of the show is some highbrow material, and not some fantasy escapism show about people killing and fucking each other.


Yeah but that's no plan at all.
Bargain what? He has zero leverage.
Unless Mance is a complete idiot and lets him near enough for him to kill him or something.

His leverage is that the longer he holds out, the more damage he inflicts on Mance's forces, and the closer the WW that are behind Mance gets the wilding forces.

He knows it's a plan with a very small chance of success. The alternative is that the NW all desert and just let Mance through, which Jon won't do, or they all get killed on the next attack. Even a long shot is better than nothing at this point.
 

NJDEN

Member
They have been building up to this critical plot point for the whole season... maybe even longer, I don't remember. One would have to expect they would devote an entire episode to this event. I felt the combat was especially well done for a TV show and on such scale.

I do feel that they did not advance the story far enough along... I think to make up for the fairly minimal advancement we can expect to see a drastic lurch forward in regards to the season finale (at least I think its the season finale next week?)

I'm guessing John Snow kills Mance, the Wildlings turn on each other and the resulting dead add to the White-walker story line. Also lets toss Bran in the mix since he is out there somewhere (its my guess he will be the ending of the season as he does something astounding).

Or its also possible we wont see much of anything in regards to the Wall and it jumps around to everyone like a normal episode.
 

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
I really enjoyed the episode and at times loved it, but overall wasn't crazy blown away, largely because Snow's story (despite liking the character) seems immensely undercooked and littered with dull development and dumb decisions. This was clearly supposed to be a really big event but such little time has been spent on the wildlings beyond "RRRORAR WILD FOLK" that it was hard to invest. Blackwater, by comparison, despite being a simpler soldier battle, benefited from the hours of exposition at Kings Landing and the investment I had in the characters. As well as the immediate ramifications for failure.

Really great action and I do love what they've done with Snow over this season. Liked the exposition with his bros. The Sam stuff was two dimensional. The whole wall + wildlings plot line just, as a whole, feels undercooked and disconnected.
 
They have been building up to this critical plot point for the whole season... maybe even longer, I don't remember. One would have to expect they would devote an entire episode to this event. I felt the combat was especially well done for a TV show and on such scale.

I do feel that they did not advance the story far enough along... I think to make up for the fairly minimal advancement we can expect to see a drastic lurch forward in regards to the season finale (at least I think its the season finale next week?)

I'm guessing John Snow kills Mance, the Wildlings turn on each other and the resulting dead add to the White-walker story line. Also lets toss Bran in the mix since he is out there somewhere (its my guess he will be the ending of the season as he does something astounding).

Or its also possible we wont see much of anything in regards to the Wall and it jumps around to everyone like a normal episode.

What if bran does that wrag thing into Mance's body and commit suicide? Super lulz... and have Mance name Jon as the new leader before his death.


I know I'm stretching but this is Game of Thrones we talking about.
 

ST2K

Member
Ultimately, I think the choreography, cinematography, and grand atmosphere tonight were the best the show had seen yet. It just was unfortunate it got tied to a setting where there's only maybe one character I, and it sounds like most of you guys, care about. They should've previously developed the wildlings more if they wanted us to relate more to the events of tonight.
 
Best episode in a long time and it was a great payoff as Jon's arc needed such a great episode as his story was unfolding at a much too slow pace.

And it is funny to see that Jon is the only "good" main character that get's to fight on screen, kick ass and win his duels. E.g. Rob was only shown to cut up trees and we never had a fight scence with him. So it sounded so wrong when Jon told us a few episodes back that Rob was better in everything than he was.
 

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Ultimately, I think the choreography, cinematography, and grand atmosphere tonight were the best the show had seen yet. It just was unfortunate it got tied to a setting where there's only maybe one character I, and it sounds like most of you guys, care about. They should've previously developed the wildlings more if they wanted us to relate more to the events of tonight.

Yeah, this better sums up my feelings. Fighting was great with some of if not the best swordplay in the series. That long shot scanning around the battlefield was fucking brilliant at highlight the carnage. First person arrow shooting. Giant bows. Wall scythe. Exploding barrels. Red beard grunting as he massacred crows. Giant in the tunnel. Hammer to head. It was an awesome, exciting action episode and I had a lot of fun from start to finish.

But by comparison it had very little of the richer intrigue and emotional investment that Blackwater had, even if Blackwater had weaker fight choreography. With Blackwater you had hours dedicated to building a wide spectrum of characters that if you didn't love were at the very least very interesting, and if dead by the end would have wide implications on Westeros. The Hound telling the king to stick it, bailing on the fight, and that moment where you think Sansa might go with him. Assassination attempt on Tyrion. Tywin charging in with Loris to save the day. It was also a major turning point for Stannis, who was a big new character for that season, and entrenched in Westeros politics.

Obviously the wall battle was really significant. Wildlings running rampant had the Night's Watch lost would be serious shit. But the investment in either side doesn't touch the events at Blackwater. In a way, much of what happens with Snow has a similar disconnect to Dany.
 
After the show it was all positive reactions and I thought I must have missed something or needed to watch it again. Thank goodness it's not just me. I understand and enjoy that episode 9's are extra special episodes: We've had Ned's death, Blackwater, Red Wedding, and now Castle Black. 2 of them have been character death episodes that had serious ramifications and 2 have been big battle set-piece episodes. The difference between tonight's episode and Blackwater is that Blackwater didn't happen right after an episode that people were very eager to see the aftermath of. It was the culmination of episodes worth of build-up and set-up that involved multiple story arcs coming together and being altered in the process.

As cool as tonight's episode was at times (Giants, mammoth, giant wall scythe, Sam being not lame for once), I couldn't help but think that this battle didn't need an entire episode dedicated to it. It seemed like it was a battle that was singled out ahead of time to be blown up given the big budget treatment for what has become an episode 9 tradition. Again, it was still really cool and entertaining, but with so little time left in the season to see the pieces move I found myself getting bored and anxious to move on.

As for the episode itself, i'm more bummed about Pip and the other guy dying than I am about Ygritte. She's been gone way too long and done too much terrible shit, not to mention holding a nonsense grudge against Snow for not killing a harmless old man, outing himself as a Crow and leaving the wildlings. I don't understand Lord Commander, "I agree with you we should have sealed the tunnel but i'm still going to wish you were dead and be a dick to you even though you're clearly a great asset and a good man." The whole episode sort of felt meaningless when you figure that nothing has really changed.. Castle Black is still going to get attacked again and probably fall and for some reason no one in the 7 kingdoms gives a shit. Add to that how obtuse and drawn out most of the night's watch/beyond the wall stuff has been and you have a very underwhelming episode overall. Even the ending was strange, "Bye Sam, i'm going to abruptly leave without telling Lord Commander of my plans to find Mance and kill him or something, all by myself and with no weapon."

Hopefully next week really delivers. Usually season finale's have been more of clean up/ set up episodes than anything. I really could use one last heavy dose of political intrigue and scheming before the year long wait.
 

Philippo

Member
Good episode overall.
So fun to see almost no reaction to Ygritte's death after last week, guess she wasn't anything more than a hot redhead after all.

Anyway, plot wise the assault and Jon's plan can ends only in two way:
(speculation)
Jon challange Mance at duel and kills him, either forcing the wildlings to retreat or becoming their new leader and thus keeping them away from the wall (this would be cool as fuck)
 

Garruson

Member
I thought it was a hell of an episode, Ser Allister had me fucking pumped, he's a massive knob but damn he can fight. Hope he's alright.

The five nights watch reciting their lines knowing they're going to die but kill a fucking giant. BOOM. Man tears.

That one shot sequence panning the whole keep. BOOM. Joy tears.

Jon Snow making a boss entrance then showing how it's done. BOOM. Jon Snow knows a lot tears.

I don't get how anyone could not like this episode, it was leaps and bounds better than Blackwater and I loved Blackwater.
 
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