More history talk comes from having twice as much time to handle this book. I'm glad they're expanding because some characters won't have much to do for a while.
I don't really have a huge problem with them spending two scenes to crack-wise on Renly (which was kind of out of the blue, considering the amount of show time that has passed) but the fact that they previously will gloss over scenes where certain parties never even reacted to Renly dying in season 2 makes that stuff seem strange by comparison.
I think this episode is evidence that when the show goes off on it's own it *
can be very mediocre. If you disagree then that's cool, but it's definitely inconsistent. Some scenes are careful and well-planned (I thought the Joff bowgun scene was good, added character color, and was paced nicely), but other stuff can come off hurried and weird. The conversation with Queen of Thorns seemed very fast for me, despite everyone in this thread complimenting the introduction. The delivery was hurried and for what it's worth, a friend watching alongside me (who is strictly a show-watcher), had trouble digesting many of the lines. He didn't even catch who she was.
But just in case I sound like a total gripe-fest, I really did like the Reeds. They talk and act like I had always imagined they would. Excited to see more scenes with them, and holy shit they mentioned Howland Reed. Bout time!
