• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Game of Thrones *Tagged Book Spoilers, Please Read OP* |OT| Season 3 - Sundays on HBO

Status
Not open for further replies.
Loved seeing
Dirk
in this episode. Great scene. Tellin' it like it is.

Overall one of the best episodes in the entire series, honestly. So much good stuff. From Tywin dressing Cersei down (I love how everyone keeps telling her she's not as smart as she thinks she is), to Varys (PERFECT in this episode) to the surprisingly great dracarys scene. Wow.
 

Fuzzy

I would bang a hot farmer!
What a fucking episode. Even knowing what Dany was up to, I got complete chills listening her deliver dat epic speech in "perfect" Valyrian.
I'm glad they got David J. Peterson (creator of the Dothraki language) to come back and create the Valyrian language.
 
That was one of the best episodes of the series, wow. The end gave me the same goosebumps I had when I read that chapter from the novel - in fact, it might even be better than what happened in the book. I can't stress enough how perfect Emilia Clarke is. She isn't the young girl Dany from the novels, but she has all the intensity and an impressive level of command to her performance; I may not like some of her less dramatic acting but she pulls of the Khalessi role perfectly. Just a stunning end. These last two episodes have really upped the ante in terms of great endings, and given this is ASOS...the rest of this season will continue like that.

I thought this episode featured some of the best changes and new scenes that have appeared in the show thus far. Varys' backstory was done great, but the addition of the revenge story took the scene to an entirely different level. Very good exposition - with no breasts! And since I'm on the topic of Varys I have to mention his scene with the Queen of Thorns/Diana Rigg, who continues to be one of the best additions to the cast.

And of course that scene led to one of the other changes I liked: Margery's scene with Sansa. So far Margery has been perfect this season, and I'm glad they changed the marriage proposal to be Loras (a character the TV audience is well familiar with) instead of his brother, who hasn't been in the show. Having Varys mastermind all this is great. I suppose it takes away a bit of the Queen of Thorn's scheming from the book, but I still liked it given the nice chess game the show has developed between Varys and Littlefinger.

some minor observations:

-I liked the scene with Beric but I feel like it could have been much stronger if the character was talked about in previous seasons. S2 did feature some talk about the Brotherhood, but it seems like having some scenes with Tywin, the Mountain, or townsfolk discussing him could have made his eventual reveal more impactful for non-viewers. I'd imagine many watched that scene and were like "Ned Stark told him to do what? Ohhh..."

-The Theon stuff...eh. I'll wait for it to play out. I know where it's going, and like the changes in theory, but I kind of feel like he should have been imprisoned longer before being released.

-I felt the Bran scene came out of nowhere. It wasn't bad but it felt tacked on given how developed the other stories in this episode were.

-Ros' scene...wasn't bad. Would have preferred something else but hey, at least I didn't roll my eyes; even though the continuation of this Pod stuff...ha don't know whether to laugh or shake my head

-Nice scene with Tywin and Cersei

IMO the King's Landing scenes continue to be some of the best and most focused in the series this far. Which IMO bodes well for the show if it gets to AFFC. (AFFC spoiler):
Margery is already such a strong presence that her competition with Cersei will make for good television. Likewise Jaimie will have a lot of great content in that season too. Too bad Varys won't be in that season, he's been so amazing thus far on the show. But who knows, perhaps they'll decide to keep the Queen of Thorns in King's Landing, that would be cool IMO
 

whytemyke

Honorary Canadian.
Interesting detail I noticed about Bran's dream:
(Series)
Someone earlier in the thread mentioned that Cat looked rather "ghoulish," and I would also submit that she had a rather nice scarf covering up her whole neck, as well...
 

RaidenZR

Member
This episode was very strong. I was really impressed with the way they handled the Daenerys-Unsullied scene. It was both paced and shot well, and had a ton of impact. And yeah, Emilia Clarke nailed it, too. I noticed it sounded like Drogon was crying out for its mother, which was a nice touch.

This was also the first episode I really felt something in regards to the Jaime/Brienne journey. Their banter before the chopping of Jamie's hand was playful and fine, but it came off a little forced for me. They gave them a lot more to do with their bodies and and plenty of shots to do a lot with facial expressions, so that won me over. [ASOS and beyond]
I was wondering if Nikolaj would be able to pull off Jaime's character transition, and if this was anything to go by, then I'd say yes.
. Jaime looked so feeble and broken in the mud, not to mention pathetic trying to sword fight with his other hand.... Good stuff.

Seeing Joffrey get empowered is so twisted and delicious.

The set they built for the the Great Sept was really something. It looked expensive and really cool. Loved seeing that and hope some more scenes occur there.

If I have any nitpicks it's that the Varys scene where he reveals how he was cut to Tyrion was a little too tidy. Like there was this little bow on the scene at the end, not just for the character's dialogue, but for the themes of the episode. I think it would have been more elegant to have those moments separated somewhere during the course of this season (the confession and then the reveal of him having the man in his possession). It was such a cheap tv moment that they had to put a button on it. [ACOK]
I might be mis-remembering but in the book the confession is quieter, slower and conveyed with more emotion. I feel it's supposed to be this big, personal moment we're given a window into...
In the beginning he seemed like he was just rambling off something unimportant, and hurried through it like it was no big thang.

And this show needs more than 2 minutes a week of Arya. The actor who played the Hound was doing a great job too, but then Arya goes and makes me feel genuinely bad for a super-trivial character all over again.
 
Even though people are saying Dany's part was predictable, her delivery was just fucking amazing! EASILY made the episode for me. Freed the slaves and let them kill their slavers. When she started speaking in Valyrian and the music kicked in I was like "Aaaaahhhh shiiiiiit, it's about to go down. basement!"

#TeamDany fo life
 
Thinking about it, asos/ffc/dwd
I'm really curious as to how they'll handle Sansa's story ... both in the show and books ... does this mean varys knows sansa is in the eyrie in the books? or is it just for the show? because as far as we know in the books, only LF is aware of sansa's whereabouts ... and considering varys has guessed LF will use her for the north, it's odd that he hasn't done anything about it, especially when he's supporting aegon ... perhaps this is hinting at WoW? because we haven't really seen much from sansa's story after she escapes KL ...

AFFC/ADWD
I wouldn't be surprised if Varys knows about Sansa. He knows Littlefinger, and a quick report on Littlefinger and his "bastard daughter" arriving in the Eyrie would be enough for him to put 2 and 2 together.

Interestingly, Littlefinger asked Cersei to send him some old tapestries in AFFC. Many people believe they're Targ tapestries, which would come in handy if Littlefinger decides why should he marry Sansa to Harry The Heir when he could marry her to Aegon...who Varys just so happens to be bankrolling. Plots within plots.
 

methodman

Banned
Absolutely loved that episode

All books
wonder if the show runners will show things on tv in the next couple of seasons that happen in book 6 or book 7 before we get to read it? Seems like that might be happening soon. I won't mind at all personally.
 

RaidenZR

Member
when does that varys scene happen? adwd? it isn't in asos

It's in ACOK.
It's a few Tyrion chapters before the Battle of Blackwater, when Varys and Tyrion are beginning to bond a little and the topic of magic comes up. And no, the final bit in the episode wa s fabricated. In ACOK there is just the personal story revealed, nothing at all about revenge or Varys having captured the sorcerer. And he wasn't even described as a sorcerer if I recall... just some mysterious man who wielded magic.
 

woober

Member
tumblr_inline_mlmymu7Miz1qz4rgp.png

My mind exploded when I realized what happened. He's one crazy psycho. I love how dense this episode was with information, but nothing felt rushed.
 

Kuroyume

Banned
Great episode

Really love how they put Jaime through all that. What's his name may not be Vargo but he's doing a fairly good job of it.

Good stuff with the Night's Watch at Craster's Keep. They pulled off that scene well.

Theon/Boy was wonderful. You get this really sad scene with Theon regretting what he had done and he ends up on that cross again. Hope going forward they start to morph his body into what he eventually becomes.

Really good stuff with the Tyrells... They're really doing justice to Olenna.

Good stuff with the Brotherhood too although I wish Eric was actually zombified...

And of course the Danny stuff was wonderful. Probably her best stuff since the ending to season 1.

Btw, in the book does Varys really capture that Warlock? I don't recall that.
 

Snake

Member
Wow, wow, wow. Emilia Clarke was full-on spectacular when she was speaking Valyrian. The unveiling of the dragons in S1 was the biggest "awww sheeeeeet" moment of her story but this was quite easily her best scene to date.

Random thoughts:
  • *ASOS spoilers*
    Damn, in Bran's dream I thought Cat was going to go full zombie for a second. I was already processing how book readers were going to debate the foreshadowing and then they pulled away. Sort of a brief, unexpectedly thrilling moment.
  • The Sept of Baelor's interior was genuinely impressive. I could almost smell the dollars they must have spent on that.
  • Margaery! What can I say? Natalie Dormer is absolutely murdering this season in the best possible way. I was cracking up when they started shouting for her, with Joff basking in the reflected glory. And she had total mastery in her scene with Sansa. I died when they referenced her "pig nose." The writers are having some fun this season and it shows.
  • The material at Craster's Keep was good, not great. *ASOS*
    Still hoping that Sam and Gilly get attacked by an Other before Coldhands shows up.
  • Tywin/Cersei was great. And I respectfully disagree with those saying Lena Headey couldn't keep up with Charles Dance. I thought it was a near-perfect portrayal of their relationship from a combined show and book perspective.
  • On Varys, of course Conleth Hill is a master. Really glad he got so much material to play with this episode. And I am 100% supportive of everything they're doing with the Tyrells. In this format it is immensely hard to get people to see a whole new family as their own entity when we're already well into the series. It's hard enough getting people to be able to remember their names. But they're taking such a grand stab at it that some might actually leave an impression.
  • Jaime and Brienne continue to be great. They are doing a terrific job of *ASOS*
    rebuilding Jaime's character from the ground up.
    Very excited that *Ep 5 preview spoilers*
    they're arriving at Harrenhal next episode. We may finally get a real taste of Roose Bolton.
  • Theon reveal was a bit underwhelming, but I appreciated that they gave some dialogue directly addressing the issues central to his character. Show-only are people are going to need that spelled out for them *Series spoilers*
    since we ain't gettin' the opportunity for something else like that for a loooooong time.
  • The scene with the Brotherhood was surprisingly great. I hope show peeps absorbed the references to the Red God.
 
ALL
For my family, the Mutiny at Craster's Keep was strike two on my "They aren't going to handle the Red Wedding very well, are they?" checklist. Based on their reaction to this and Jaime's unhanding, they are going to convulse in grief.

yeah, its gonna be interesting. Honestly, only one of my friend read the book, the other read the wiki (he is lame) but the rest of my friends who watches the show, has not read the book.
The Red Wedding is gonna be very interesting, and personally I hope they do the death of Robb and his mother well.
 

Morrigan Stark

Arrogant Smirk
ASOS
I really hate seeing Tywin with a pen in his hand.
Yeah, we all know what he's writing. [ASoS minor/vague spoiler]
Some wars are won with swords, others with quills and ravens... :\

What's the name of the guy who killed the old bear again? It's been a while.
Rast.

I don't like how they're doing the Sansa storyline.
Anyone else that read the books disappointed at (asos)
The prospect of Sansa marrying Loras? I always considered the prospect of Willas to be a slap in the face to Sansa and one of the factors to her leaving with Dontos. I guess they are playing up the idea that when he joins the Kings Guard, she'll have no other choice but to head out with littlefinger...

People call me the purist? Even I think it's fine. xD It's perfectly on track. [ASoS]
I didn't expect Willas or even Garlan to exist in the show. They haven't put Loras on the Kingsguard yet (postponed or cut, I guess), so he's still a marriage prospect, and he's not cripple but he's gay, so it works in being ironic for Sansa. And the factor for leaving with Dontos was that by then she was already married off to the Imp, and then had no choice because she was suddenly caught up in a royal assassination.
See, I hate pointless and arbitrary changes, but this one doesn't affect her arc or her character development, so I have no problem with it whatsoever. In fact, I think it's smart, and I would have done the same. Why bring up Willas, another name to confuse the TV viewers, for no real reason?

I thought Craster's Keep scene was done just fine, the only negative being...

ALL
Leaving out Mormont's final words to Sam about finding, and forgiving Jorah. Though, admittedly, even in the books, I don't know if that's going to go anywhere given all the other stuff on Sam's plate.
Agreed. Put me up in the "good not great" for this scene. I am hoping that
somehow Sam and Gilly hide for a little while, they get attacked by an Other and Sam the Slayer happens, then come back to Craster's briefly and find everyone dead or fled, and Mormont dying but not yet dead and he learns of the dragonglass and imparts his dying wishes. But I doubt that will happen, that's kind of a lot of things that need to happen before he dies of multiple stab wounds... :|

Mormont's death was brutal, but not really sad and poignant like it was in the book. Too bad.
When they showed Jorah later in the episode I was totally, Hey dude your dad's dead... :(

Now I see you were wrong.
Indeed I was, it was a fantastic scene and I'm glad I was wrong (I admitted about two posts later that I probably would be, btw :p).

Although... I do think the scene would have been even better had they not spoiled the Dracarys moment previously. :p I also have to nitpick on one thing that kinda made me laugh in the final scene; when the battle starts and they cut to Dany's face with the fake-looking flames behind her, it looked very cheesy.

Everything else was great, though. In fact I think it's probably the best episode of the season, possibly better than the previous one. I was WTFing at Varys's captive sorcerer and thought that was kind of gratuitous and goofy, Ros talking about Pod was insipid, and the flaming background was silly... I also have doubts that Theon would ever admit, even to himself (let alone to a stranger, even one who rescued him in a moment of weakness), that Ned was his father and that he "chose wrong". But those are very minor complaints, just nit-picks in an overall fantastic episode. I even liked the added scenes, with Margaery and Joffrey. I thought the sets of the... Sept of Baelor? (whatever that place was with the Targ tombs and dais for wedding guests and stuff, the outside stairs looked like the Great Sept of Baelor anyway) looked gorgeous, really cool architectural design.

And as a bonus: no lame nudity!

Edit: oh, I lied. Something else annoys me. Cersei said "Tie-rell", then immediately after Tywin says "Tee-rell". WTF! XD
 

Timbuktu

Member
Unfortunately i can't remember much that is interesting happening with Dany in the books after this ep. Hopefully thhe show can do something with her, didn't feel that this comes so early.
 
Anyone else that read the books disappointed at (asos)
The prospect of Sansa marrying Loras? I always considered the prospect of Willas to be a slap in the face to Sansa and one of the factors to her leaving with Dontos. I guess they are playing up the idea that when he joins the Kings Guard, she'll have no other choice but to head out with littlefinger...

I liked the change. ASOS spoiler:
The audience doesn't know about Loras' brothers and considering we'll probably never see them on screen I thought it was a nice trim. Plus Sansa has been slapped enough, literally and figuratively. She'll get another slap when she finds out who she's actually going to marry anyway.

Which makes me wonder how they'll handle the Tyrell plot. I'm guessing Margery will tell Sansa that she'll be shipped to Highgarden on Joff's wedding night.
 

Morrigan Stark

Arrogant Smirk
How do I report obvious book readers in the other thread? I just spotted one,
TheHeretic, who posted right before me (I didn't name him in the other thread). Yeah sure you totally noticed the scarf on your own...
 

ZeroRay

Member
This is the best run the show's ever had. I think at this point it's safe to say that season 2 wasn't as great of an adaption of the source material as seasons 1 and 3 are respectively. Outside of a few particular scenes and Blackwater, it was a very rushed telling of ACOK; An admittedly slower paced book than it's predecessor and successor respectively, plus the fact they probably spent half the budget on one episode.

The only storyline I'm not impressed by so far in season 3 so far is Jon's. Even if Arya's storyline isn't 1 to 1 with her character, the TV only viewers still consider her one of their favorite characters as far as I could tell. I don't think Jon's getting that much love (as he should be at this point anyway).

I can feel the writers know where the series is heading (and specifically too) at this point, so I don't really care about significant differences as much as I do care about the resonance the high spots the series gave off being adapted right. If tonight was any indication, it's all good.

Musings and speculation time (series spoilers to follow):

Ros is so gonna get shot full of arrows. Seriously, season 4 has potential to be some of the best TV ever if they can keep this up.

Love the Tyrells, excellent casting. Establishing Margery now was an excellent long term decision considering all the AFFC stuff that won't have to be established in future seasons.

The Sept of Baelor is almost exactly how I imagined it to look.

Alfie better win an award within the next two years. He'll deserve it.

One thing I like about Jon's storyline in the show is the fact that they're stressing the threat of White Walkers more. Jon's reason to defect is actually pretty good for the show. Mance being Caesar II would have been infinitely better though.

Looks like this is the season where they finally "break" Sansa and have her understand the true Game of Thrones.

I'm curious on how they're going to do Bran's greendreams. If the Cat speculation is right and "promise me" too, then it's a very clever way to tie in past events and GRRM's delicious foreshadowing.

Sansa/Tyron's wedding is prob episode 8. Looking at the title of the episode, Second Sons, this is one of the rare times when an episode title can apply to multiple storylines. You know, Tyrion, Bran, and of course Brown Benn's Company, or they might just have one group with our favorite Sellsword...

The direction is a huge step up. Alex Graves did one of the better directorial jobs in the show and Alik is up after him, then McLaren. *drool*

TV only viewers may have a mixed reaction to Dany freeing Astapor. "WTF, is she going to Westeros or what?"
 
Spoilers regarding the last 10 minutes or so
I kinda wish they had kept the dragon's fire the same as the dragon's colouring, ie black and red rather than just plain old orange.
 
Someone again appears to be dropping/hinting at massive spoilers in the non book thread under the guise of spec. Same guy as last episode too :(

But good lord that final scene was everything and more than I wanted it to be. Guh.
 
Yeah they're doing a horrible job on the Sansa story. All nuance thrown out the window while possibly spoiling future book events.
It has been very tactless, hopefully they are just taking it on a different path

I really started loving Sansas story in this book. But I don't know what they are doing
 

rakhir

Member
This episode was awesome, and to think what's next!

Storm of Swords is such an amazing book, this two seasons will rock hard.
 
I thought the Jaime stuff was done really well. My only real issue with it is have we actually seen him do anything impressive so far? He fought with Ned for a little bit, that wasn't really impressive.

A scene earlier where he cut down 4 or 5 men easily would have made for a better contrast.
 

Emerson

May contain jokes =>
How do I report obvious book readers in the other thread? I just spotted one,
TheHeretic, who posted right before me (I didn't name him in the other thread). Yeah sure you totally noticed the scarf on your own...

I don't think it is the same guy. Last week there was some fuck with an avatar of a guy with a hat making a stupid pose giving out obvious spoilers, who had been posting in this thread and the books unmarked spoiler thread previously. This guy hasn't made any posts about GOT this season (unless they were deleted).
 

Eidan

Member
I thought it was once again a great episode. A bit slower paced with all of the King's Landing scenes, but I thought those scenes were great. Conleth Hill really is the MVP of this series. It was also nice hearing them discuss Targaryens besides Aerys II and Aegon the Conqueror.

I kind of wish ASOS
they had kept the line from the book where they read off a long list of the Hound's crimes. I really enjoyed that moment
. Otherwise it was a great scene, and can't wait to see it play on screen.

I was also thinking ASOS
since Strong Belwas has been cut, they could easily replace his Yunkai scene with Grey Worm, if they have Grey Worm on the show.
 

Emerson

May contain jokes =>
I kind of wish ASOS
they had kept the line from the book where they read off a long list of the Hound's crimes. I really enjoyed that moment
. Otherwise it was a great scene, and can't wait to see it play on screen.[/spoiler]

ASOS
Maybe next week before the actual trial begins, no reason that wouldn't work.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom