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[TimeEffect]

Not sure why that would be confusing. Cersei controls the Kings guard, and used this cult to do her bidding separating herself from directly being involved in these matters. The King could take control but he is weak and young and easily manipulated by his mother. So with Cersei controlling essentially the police of the city, the cult has been allowed to run rampant to destroy her enemies. But it turns out that leader is actually true to his beliefs as far as we can tell, so even Cersei is not safe from them.

So now crazy cult has all the power, unless Tommen can put on his big boy pants.

I am not a fan of this particular storyline, but it makes sense and they did a good job setting it up.

Where exactly were these militants before all this though?

Do they outnumber the guard loyal to the lannisters? Who follows them? All poor people?

 

[Kiritsugu]

Danny really should take Jorah back and hire Tyrion. She needs good advisors.


Also, those tits.

 

[Griss]

You, by far, have the lamest nitpicky complaint about the show.

You're annoyed that she knows who the Lannisters are? What an odd thing to complain about.

I was more annoyed at the way he was reacting to others' relatively reasonable opinions with disdain.

I'm not being a dick when it you're arguing that she wouldn't know who the Lannisters are, because that's stupid.

I mean, look at her face in the last scene with her? Use logic? Both?

Well, we'll find out who was right next episode either way. With that said, I was wrong to use an ad hominem. That's on me just being in a bad mood after a rough weekend and I apologise - no place for it here on GAF imo. Didn't mean to start thread shitting, especially after such a good episode.

 

[harSon]

I know why this episode was called The Gift now

 

[Mobius 1]

A snake for a snake

Spoiler

if ye know what I mean

 

[CountAntonius]

I know why this episode was called The Gift now

 

[Fenderputty]

I knew the red witch was gonna pull that shit with his daughter.

Great episode. Talk about creating a monster you can't control.

 

[Jobbs]

Has anyone else noticed a steep decline in the quality of this show? Almost everything about this season sucks.. And don't get me started on how ridiculous this faith militant thing is. In a show where most aspects of the plot are slow beyond description, these faith militant people are locking up queens over night.

And this whole thing in Dorne with Sand Snakes has been pretty dumb. Yeah, she has breasts, okay, that's nice, I guess, but I can get that anywhere... The show kinda sucks..

 

[The One and Done™]

Just finished. A few thoughts:

Glad to see Sansa finally attempt to play the game. The only thing I hate about it is that the "Rape Outragers" will say it was because of the rape and will continue to bash the directors.

I fucking love Ramsay Snow. He's up there with Joffrey for me as far as hate levels. Great actor.

Ghost with the guest appearance!!! The show needs more of the fucking wolves. The Flash does more with less. Come on HBO!

Sam with the SSSEX! DMC fans get that reference.

Lady in Red done fucked up. No way Mannis harms his daughter. It's about time he has that biitches skull.

Win or lose, Mannis vs Boltons will be amazing.

Omg that Sand Sanke girl is attractive as shit!!! Fuuuuuck!!!! I hated them before but that scene definitely made me jump to TeamSandSnakes and I think Bronn agrees lol.

And lastly, HEY CERSEI! BYE BITCH!!!

 

[vas_a_morir]

For the record, I was on team short-haired snake a month ago!

Shame on SAM for breaking is vow. He should be put to death. Also, surprised she would want to have sex after nearly being raped but what do I know? it's fiction; it happened in the story, so let's go with it.

 

[ReturnOfTheRAT]

I knew this guy looked familiar, just know remembered he's on orphan black.

He showed up on Orphan Black then GoT and every movie has that beard too.

Cersei gonna get imprisoned.

You called it.

Bronn, you're amazing. I love you so much.

The discovery that he was a musician back in season 2 is something a lot of us here shared.

Man, that girl

HBO delivers and I don't think that was sexposition either.

Fedora sure perked up

The white knight we all deserve;

my name is maximus

If only...

There's that smirk again. Ugh.

I thought she was about to go torment the brother too. Instead she ended up getting her comeuppance. FINALLY :d

Littlefinger playing 3 level chess

Dude is playing all the sides. Wonder what he has up his sleeve.

Had to go back and quote these.

Great episode.

 

[Avinexus]

Sand snake storyline redeemed in one scene.

 

[block tower]

Sam is such a fuck. i really just wanted to see his ass get killed when he got hit a few times and just took a beating. dude is a total simp, especially with that pitty fuck lol.

 

[BeforeU]

What will happen to Cersei :O

Fuck that was a great episode.

 

[puebla]

So thankful future Dany scenes will actually be interesting now with Tyrion there. Also sandsnake girl is officially the hottest on the show, my god.

 

[The One and Done™]

For the record, I was on team short-haired snake a month ago!

Shame on SAM for breaking is vow. He should be put to death. Also, surprised she would want to have sex after nearly being raped but what do I know? it's fiction; it happened in the story, so let's go with it.

Well...to put it into perspective, she WAS raped repeatedly by her father. She's probably generally numb to it.

 

[sangreal]

took a screencap of the item Sansa picked up. Does look like a corkscrew or tap of some sort

 

[Langdon Alger]

How the hell do those religious militant people (I don't know what they're called) expect this whole grab for power to end? Now that Cersei's in prison, Tommen will call in the army for sure. How do those sparrow guys expect to beat a real army? They're wearing robes and fighting with rusty chains.

 

[turtle553]

took a screencap of the item Sansa picked up. Does look like a corkscrew or tap of some sort

Looks like an old type of drill used on castle repairs:

 

[JadedWriter]

I fucking love Ramsay Snow. He's up there with Joffrey for me as far as hate levels. Great actor.

I love Ramsay and Roose, the Boltons need their own spin off show, but it'll never happen.

 

[NolbertoS]

Great episode. Loving this season. Sam no longer a virgin, I guesd there's still hope in the real world for big luggy, scholarly type peeps . Tommen is gonna have to take out the cult to save his wife and mom, but will pay for it in some way. Also I get the feeling Theon is truly broken and won't come to Sansa's aid. Somebody else will light the tower and than Brianne will lay rhe smackdown on Winterfell. House tyrell and littlefinger on a whole new level of tactics. Feels like I'm playing fire emblem "Game of thrones edition" . Can't believe we're past rhe half way point of the show :'(. Also, dammmnnnn the woman of dorne, are exotic alright, exotic to tease you and then kill you :s

 

[komplanen]

It was on top of a barrel so I immediately went on to think it's a corkscrew type thing.

The Sand Snake lady really is the most beautiful woman in the world (GoT so far) and I won't get her out of my head now.

Good episode since lots happened.

 

[sangreal]

Looks like an old type of drill used on castle repairs:

that would make a lot of sense

 

[AppleMIX]

Seasons is going to have a hell of a ending.

Sansa (maybe reek too) vs. the Boltons vs. Stannis vs. Brienne

Lots of people are going to die.

 

[Advocatus Diaboli]

During the Littlefinger-Olenna exchange, I think I recall him stating that he'd give Olenna the same thing he'd gotten Cersei at one point -- "a handsome young man." I read that as suggesting Littlefinger informed Olenna about the Lancel-Cersei relationship ... but does that also imply that he was the one who originally sparked that liaison in the first place?

Also, loved the Bronn-Sand Snake exchange. The "honor among thieves" that demonstrated was, dare I say it, a little Oberynish. Glad the Snakes crawled an inch beyond cartoon villains. Was hoping for a Dr. Bashir appearance, though.

 

[ramparter]

Justice! Stupid bitch, she unleashed the fanatics.

 

[Griss]

Has anyone else noticed a steep decline in the quality of this show? Almost everything about this season sucks.. And don't get me started on how ridiculous this faith militant thing is. In a show where most aspects of the plot are slow beyond description, these faith militant people are locking up queens over night.

And this whole thing in Dorne with Sand Snakes has been pretty dumb. Yeah, she has breasts, okay, that's nice, I guess, but I can get that anywhere... The show kinda sucks..

The faith militant thing is one storyline I'd defend. We already saw long ago the people attack Joffrey and cause a riot. Remember that the 'idea' of power keeps the smallfolk in check. There's a total power vacuum in King's Landing right now with Tommen on the throne and armies decimated by years of war. We've also seen people preaching about the degradation of the royal family on the streets for quite some time, and religion has always been a big part of the show.

It's not at all beyond the realms of possibility that in desperate times of poverty and need that all these kids would sign up for a religion like this. And with Cersei's stupidity arming them, it's perfectly possible that they could stage an armed coup while the King is too weak to order the use of force. All of this has been fairly well signposted at one time or another. And with the show having examined so many different types of power, seeing a wholly (or holy, lol) religious type of power-wielding maniac is different, refreshing but in keeping with the theme of the show. I really like it.

 

[vas_a_morir]

I love Ramsay and Roose, the Boltons need their own skin off show, but it'll never happen.

Fixed.

 

[C4Lukins]

Where exactly were these militants before all this though?

Do they outnumber the guard loyal to the lannisters? Who follows them? All poor people?

Well the sparrow did make a point that the many are more powerful then the few.

So yeah easily the army of Kings Landing could overtake them, but Cersei told them to look the other way. Now she is in captivity, and Tommen is in control which should be interesting. He certainly has the power to overpower a bunch of crazy monks, but will he go through with it. Another question, I assume another character will come forward and start chirping in his ear on how to save his mother and wife? Will it be Littlefinger, will it be Olenna, or maybe Pycelle.

Whoever gets to him first will have a big impact.

Also what did Sansa pick up when she was speaking with Ramsay? It looked like a wine opener or a scroll. I tried rewatching it but cannot tell.

 

[Einchy]

I wish Brann was in this season. We're missing a lot of the mythical stuff without him.

 

[komplanen]

It bums me out a little that there was that scene in the final episode of last season where Sansa was descending the stairs in her black dress, looking cunning as fuck having just accepted what happened with her aunt.

Team Little Finger and Sansa looked to be so awesome and now she's just a crying piece of meat to some fucking monster and Little Finger is gone.

:-(

 

[Advocatus Diaboli]

The faith militant thing is one storyline I'd defend. We already saw long ago the people attack Joffrey and cause a riot. Remember that the 'idea' of power keeps the smallfolk in check. There's a total power vacuum in King's Landing right now with Tommen on the throne and armies decimated by years of war. We've also seen people preaching about the degradation of the royal family on the streets for quite some time, and religion has always been a big part of the show.

It's not at all beyond the realms of possibility that in desperate times of poverty and need that all these kids would sign up for a religion like this. And with Cersei's stupidity arming them, it's perfectly possible that they could stage an armed coup while the King is too weak to order the use of force. All of this has been fairly well signposted at one time or another. And with the show having examined so many different types of power, seeing a wholly (or holy, lol) religious type of power-wielding maniac is different, refreshing but in keeping with the theme of the show. I really like it.

It's not as if they're signing up to a new religion, either. The Faith of the Seven is the accepted (official, even?) religion. While I find the brothers' garb and fetish for branding their foreheads a bit extreme, that's really for the Sparrows. Also, something I picked up tonight: Cersei addressed the High Sparrow as "High Septon." In other words, and maybe I missed when this happened, but the Sparrow isn't just the de facto leader of the religion in King's Landing, but he's the de jure leader too.

Besides, considering Tommen's proclivity to bang his wife (pre-imprisonment) and play with Ser Pounce, and Cersei not even managing to stay classy while day drinking, the people probably do respond well to otherwise decent folk giving them food and the shoes off their feet.

 

[sangreal]

During the Littlefinger-Olenna exchange, I think I recall him stating that he'd give Olenna the same thing he'd gotten Cersei at one point -- "a handsome young man." I read that as suggesting Littlefinger informed Olenna about the Lancel-Cersei relationship ... but does that also imply that he was the one who originally sparked that liaison in the first place?

That could make sense, I read it differently though -- that he told Cersei about Loras' lover

 

[royalan]

My problem with the High Septum and the faith militant storyline isn't so much the groups action's and motivations (they're an empowered group of religious fanatics; they're pretty much acting as expected).

My problem with that storyline is that their empowerment involved an unexplainable level of stupidity from pretty much everyone at The Red Keep.

 

[DangerMouse]

That was a great episode.

 

[C4Lukins]

What would Dany want with Tyrion? What does she know about him? Does she think he's evil? Does she hate all Lannisters or is she aware he's not a scum bag? I mean it's tough to keep track of every character's knowledge base given the show's age. Can't assume people re-watch episodes or memorize things that were briefly mentioned years ago.

She and her brother were being prepped for returning to Westeros to conquer it. Not to mention Jorah and Barristan who had direct knowledge of what was going on in Westeros were her top advisors. She may not know a lot about Tyrion, but she certainly knows the name and his importance.

 

[RS4-]

I can't deal with pixie snake, all I see is my ex.

TThought it was an OK ep. Tired of this Ramsay shit.

 

[CountAntonius]

My problem with the High Septum and the faith militant storyline isn't so much the groups action's and motivations (they're an empowered group of religious fanatics; they're pretty much acting as expected).

My problem with that storyline is that their empowerment involved an unexplainable level of stupidity from pretty much everyone at The Red Keep.

Tyrion gone and Tywin dead. This is exactly what was going to happen. They kept this family in check.

Also it's being overshadowed but I'm pretty sure that's the first time they showed Sansa having a rack.

 

[ReturnOfTheRAT]

 

[ComputerBlue]

 

[scabro]

that fucking sandsnake

good lord

almighty

help me

 

[partime]

Completely dont get the Sand Snakes, they went from being loyal to immediately dropping their weapons when the guards came to helping the very person they were told to kill...

 

[Naughty_Doge]

Lord, the Sand Snakes redeemed in a single scene...

Was not expecting that.

 

[royalan]

Maybe because I'm gay and impervious to the power of boobs, but I thought this episode left the sand snakes plotline in a even worse position than before.

Like, NONE of their motives make sense at this point.

 

[megamerican]

Best episode so far this season, which is pretty faint praise. Still something seems a little off, like they are cutting costs or something. There's been relatively little action all season and then the gladiator battle is mostly Khaleesi reaction shots? The arena set looked pretty laughable too.

I also love that the big soft nightwatch guy can take 10 vicious kicks to the head and get right back up, meanwhile the old blonde guy knocks out all the helmeted gladiators with like one barehanded punch.

 

[CountAntonius]

Maybe because I'm gay and impervious to the power of boobs, but I thought this episode left the sand snakes plotline in a even worse position than before.

Like, NONE of their motives make sense at this point.

I'm thinking they are gonna try to sway Bron to their cause using their sexuality. He's a talented fighter and a dirty old man and at least one of them is insanely seductive. Sexuality seems to be a big part of Dornish culture from their mom having orgies with Oberyn to Bron saying "All danish do is fuck and fight, fight and fuck."

 

[Einchy]

.

 

[ComputerBlue]

Completely dont get the Sand Snakes, they went from being loyal to immediately dropping their weapons when the guards came to helping the very person they were told to kill...

They would have been slaughtered and I really doubt they're suicidal.

 

[sangreal]

Where exactly were these militants before all this though?

Kevan Lannister said they were avoiding the capital while Tywin was alive

 

[Langdon Alger]

It's gonna take a lot more than one of the Sand Snakes showing her boobs for that Xena Warrior Princess level fight scene to be redeemed.