Really enjoyed this last episode. All Tyrion does is Winning! Can't get enough of his posturing with the less scrupulous members on the council and other characters of influence. Makes my confidence grow that he'll pull through but I worry a bit as he tests Joffrey's temperament. His personal guard (forget his name) better stay vigilant.
The rat torture was crazy and the pairing of Arya with Tywin should be awesome. Was satisfying when he slighted his guards and commented on their intellect. I wonder how long she'll be able to conceal her identity from him. Really curious to see where Arya ultimately ends up. I just hope her wolf, Summer? will return to her one day, maybe a timely entry to save her life or something.
It will be interesting to see who gets the pleasure of ending Joffrey's life. Surely it has to happen by the end of this season if there are a bunch of Kings about to duke it out. I'm guessing Sansa will get a surprise attack in. I'm probably on my own in saying that I still can't stand Sansa and while I can sympathize with her situation, I can't completely with her, that's how much I dislike her. Nothing can redeem her for me, not even killing Joffrey. Her and her mother are insufferable and I hope they both get an untimely demise.
Renly SHOULD make an easy way of things with the size of his army but he knows nothing of war and relies heavily on others. Stannis is the opposite and has too few a numbers to be a serious threat which is why this shadow creature will surely be a beast on the battle field or at least be some sort of massive trump card. Clearly the witch is for real. I don't like her personality but I doubt she'll live in the long run. I'm curious to see if she'll truly aid Stannis and settle for being his queen or something along those lines, or if she will use the shadow creature to over take him and make a bid for the thrown herself. It's kind of weird having these fantasy elements thrown in this season. The show has largely stayed in the realm of fairly realistic medieval times up to this point but between this shadow creature, the dragons, and a likely greater focus on white walkers with Snow's plot line, the series is morphing. I liked how things were progressing without these elements so I hope the more fantastical aspects are done well and will feel natural. It's still early on in the series so the identity of the show can still bend in different places.