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[badcrumble]

And now I'm hyped for S6 fAegon.

Thanks for nothing, guys.

I mean, the whole mummer's-dragon vision seems to indicate that fAegon's going to be a big deal at some point before the real Targaryens (Tyrion, Mance, and Jaime, natch) take control. Still think he'll be heavily involved in the Three Queens business.

 

[Moff]

I would bet a lot we won't see faegon in the show

a) he's bad
b) if he does anything important, it will be done by trystane

I'd say it's even more likely that we'll see coldhands in the show

 

[Speevy]

Bringing up Karl Tan-Fookin'-ner of Gin Fookin' Alley should be so tired by now but I still legitimately laugh every time it happens.

I would like to watch George R.R. Martin watching that scene.

 

[badcrumble]

I would bet a lot we won't see faegon in the show

a) he's bad
b) if he does anything important, it will be done by trystane

I'd say it's even more likely that we'll see coldhands in the show

I could see Trystane taking his place, yeah, but I think people are putting too much weight on the small possibility that that's Trystane's role instead of that Trystane's going to be all about putting Myrcella forward as the superior Baratheon heir a la Arianne's plot in AFFC (and I think it's totally possible that Dorne's going to fall back to her plan in the books once they find out what happened to Quentyn).

We'll see. It'd be neat to have Doran secretly hiding a Targaryen and/or Blackfyre this whole time for sure.

 

[NeoGiff]

I read that in Varys' voice, and it was amazing.

Wait... do you read all of my posts in Varys' voice?!

I would like to watch George R.R. Martin watching that scene.

It's like poetry.

 

[Speevy]

Wait... do you read all of my posts in Varys' voice?!
.

It's for the good of the realm.

 

[Madness]

I wonder if the Myrcella attack stuff is what will drive the wedge between Jaime and Cersei for good. They're trying to bring it up with Bronn asking if the girl he loves would want to go out like he does in her arms.

Also, pretty interesting how there really is no black or white in the show. Oberyn loudly proclaimed to Cersei, 'we don't hurt little girls in Dorne', and then you have Ellaria telling Oberyn to send little pieces of Myrcella back to Kings Landing. Everyone is guided by revenge, justice, wanting to preserve themselves and their family etc.

 

[Aiii]

I really don't like that they changed the story so that it was Cersei's idea to restore the Faith Militant instead of being tricked into it by the High Sparrow. I can't think of a good reason for that particular change either.

On the other hand, the Tommen manipulation storyline is very much a hit, a nice addition to the storey, helped by Tommen not being a little kid in the TV show, of course.

 

[Fuzzy]

Wait... do you read all of my posts in Varys' voice?!

Doesn't everybody?

 

[SquiddyCracker]

I really don't like that they changed the story so that it was Cersei's idea to restore the Faith Militant instead of being tricked into it by the High Sparrow. I can't think of a good reason for that particular change either.

I like it, Cersei is trying to do the scheming her father used to do, only to have it all hit her in the face once she realizes that she doesn't have a clue about power plays. Having it be her idea makes it so much sweeter when it all turns around to hurt her the most.

 

[Santiako]

The Stannis-Shireen scene was amazing. Stannis the true king.

 

[Cpt.Underpants]

I wonder if the Myrcella attack stuff is what will drive the wedge between Jaime and Cersei for good.

There was a discussion where Dorne sent a threat according to Cersei. And people here were talking about that it wasn't actually Dorne who sent it but Cersei made it up so Jaime would be force to rescue their daughter

I guess we'll know in the next few episodes

 

[Speevy]

There was a discussion where Dorne sent a threat according to Cersei. And people here were talking about that it wasn't actually Dorne who sent it but Cersei made it up so Jaime would be force to rescue their daughter

I guess we'll know in the next few episodes

It's not really up to question at this point. If either Doran or the sand snakes had the necklace, Myrcella wouldn't be walking around carefree in the Water Gardens while Ellaria begged for war.

Cersei started this.

 

[Kerned]

It's not really up to question at this point. If either Doran or the sand snakes had the necklace, Myrcella wouldn't be walking around carefree in the Water Gardens while Ellaria begged for war.

Cersei started this.

I would bet that at some point Jaime will see Myrcella and she'll be wearing the necklace. He'll realize that Cersei lied to him, which will be why he won't come to her aid.

 

[Talon]

On the other hand, Jon doesn't look a lot like a Targaryen. He looks like a Stark, although that could of course be explained by reference to Lyanna being his mother...

I guess Lyanna would be Ice and Rhaegar would be fire, then? A song of ice and fire.

youdontsay.png

 

[Lautaro]

youdontsay.png

Are you holding your dick while you browse the other thread, man?

hehe

 

[Talon]

Are you holding your dick while you browse the other thread, man?

hehe

I'm just glad that the tv show was explicit enough to sow that theory.

 

[Crisco]

Sand snakes seem dumb but they are pretty dumb in the book too so I'm not really sure what the problem with that scene was. It was supposed to show a bunch of petulant children whining about their daddy's head being crushed and how they are going to get back at the meanies who did it. If anything, their plan in the book was way dumber.

 

[Speevy]

Sand snakes seem dumb but they are pretty dumb in the book too so I'm not really sure what the problem with that scene was. It was supposed to show a bunch of petulant children whining about their daddy's head being crushed and how they are going to get back at the meanies who did it. If anything, their plan in the book was way dumber.

No, it's dumb that they took a bunch of actresses from England, Italy, and Australia and gave them ridiculous Spanish accents, cringe-worthy dialogue, and a motivation that involves avenging someone who was never on screen with them (exception being Ellaria), who was himself trying to avenge someone who was never on screen with him.

 

[foxtrot3d]

Are you holding your dick while you browse the other thread, man?

hehe

LOL! Anyway, it seems the lack of the Tower of Joy scene is what has the show watchers confused. They are missing a large piece of the puzzle.

 

[Liquidsnake]

No, it's dumb that they took a bunch of actresses from England, Italy, and Australia and gave them ridiculous Spanish accents, cringe-worthy dialogue, and a motivation that involves avenging someone who was never on screen with them (exception being Ellaria), who was himself trying to avenge someone who was never on screen with him.

Lol even the mom regressed in ways I can not explain. Her lines and delivery are so bad.

I was wondering if you guys cringed at the entire scene last night.

 

[Crisco]

No, it's dumb that they took a bunch of actresses from England, Italy, and Australia and gave them ridiculous Spanish accents, cringe-worthy dialogue, and a motivation that involves avenging someone who was never on screen with them (exception being Ellaria), who was himself trying to avenge someone who was never on screen with him.

Eh, it's an effects heavy show on a TV budget with handful of big name actors getting $lannister as well. Not every scene is going to be perfect.

 

[foxtrot3d]

Lol even the mom regressed in ways I can not explain. Her lines and delivery are so bad.

I was wondering if you guys cringed at the entire scene last night.

Am I the only one who didn't have a problem with the scene? First, the Sand Snakes are lame and annoying in the books, except Sarella. Second, they haven't done anythign as of yet for me to be able to judge them. What I saw last night was a small scene introducing the audience to them as basically little Oberyn's with teats. No problem with me.

 

[Speevy]

I'm on board for most of the things this show has done, and having Oberyn's daughters on the vengeance train was no exception.

The issues I had with last night's scene were avoidable. It was just bad taste that they introduced the characters in such a cheesy way.

Think about Balon Greyjoy. This is a character with only a few scenes in the whole show, but from just his first one, I know exactly what this guy is about, and why he's doing what he's doing.

What I know about the sand snakes is that Obara trained to fight because her father brought her to court. Also, she knows how to throw a spear into a guy's head without causing any bleeding.

Also, she employs the best sand diggers in the world.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Barristan's death, on the other hand, was very clumsily handled. Why the fuck pull away from the throat slit if he's just dead anyway. At least make it clear! It completely robs the scene of any emotional impact if the viewer is left wondering for a whole week if a character died or not. The reactions next week will now be "Oh, he died, I guess", rather than an emotional one which they had set up with the Rhaegar conversation beforehand. I'm not sure if this is a noob mistake by Dave Hill, or D&D working their magic. I'm going to say D&D.

Yep, his death scene was not only poorly conceived but also bungled in its execution.

I despise the DBZ power level approach that the show has ascribed to characters in certain situations but not others.

Agreed. Remember when Daario, Grey Worm, and Jorah single handedly conquered Yunkai for her back in season three?

 

[Speevy]

I thought they could have conveyed Barristan's death more clearly, but I can tell you what the writers were thinking.


Grey Worm stepped in at the last moment to save Barristan, but he's already dead. That is the futility of fighting against these harpies. They come from everywhere in slaver's bay, and even Dany's best efforts are not good enough to stop them.

So Grey Worm's "save" was an exercise in futility, just like stopping the harpies is.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

I thought they could have conveyed Barristan's death more clearly, but I can tell you what the writers were thinking.


Grey Worm stepped in at the last moment to save Barristan, but he's already dead. That is the futility of fighting against these harpies. They come from everywhere in slaver's bay, and even Dany's best efforts are not good enough to stop them.

So Grey Worm's "save" was an exercise in futility, just like stopping the harpies is.

I mean, it's clear what their intent was. It's just that the execution of it was poor.

 

[Nodnol]

Oh Barristan. :-(

The legend that he was, didn't deserve to die in a backstreet alleyway. Saying that, it's better than just living out his days on a small hold somewhere, forgotten by the people he fought for and protected. Missed opportunity there though; he should have gone out like Leonidas.

I liked the way they handled Cersei and the Faith Millitant. She seems so desperate and lost, clinging onto anything that resembles power and manipulation. She can't see the forest through the trees, and it's going to be so sweet. It's borderline naivety.

The Rhaegar mentions, as well as Sansa's scene, definitely seem to be reminding the show watches who he was, and the implications regarding Jon's parentage. They can't just have a character go to Jon "Oh by the way...", without reminding the audience who those names are. I half expected Littlefinger, when Sansa states that Rhaegar kidnaped and raped Lyanna, to correct or at least question that idea. Still, with the show having to cut down on any nonessential material where they can, it seems pretty obvious that the nature of Lyanna's "kidnapping" and the tourney at Harrenhal etc are to be important going forward. There's only one reason why it would be.

Haven't got an opinion on the Sand Snakes. Pretty "meh" at the moment, going by the show. Can go either way.

Everything's bubbling at the moment; I'm looking forward to it all boiling over. There's a lot of underlying tension; it's half way between tedious and exciting. I just hope the dramatic scenes this season seems to be promising deliver. I think I'm most looking forward to how things play out in Winterfell; so many paths cross there, or will do. Given Littlefinger's comments, I wouldn't be surprised if he's playing the long game and has some sort of deal with Stannis in the background. I did find the kiss awkward though, and I question his decision to return to King's Landing. Naive, arrogant or just plain stupid.

 

[NeoGiff]

Yep, his death scene was not only poorly conceived but also bungled in its execution.

Barristan the Bungler.

Agreed. Remember when Daario, Grey Worm, and Jorah single handedly conquered Yunkai for her back in season three?

But Daario is the greatest whistler in the land.

 

[badcrumble]

Everything's bubbling at the moment; I'm looking forward to it all boiling over. There's a lot of underlying tension; it's half way between tedious and exciting. I just hope the dramatic scenes this season seems to be promising deliver. I think I'm most looking forward to how things play out in Winterfell; so many paths cross there, or will do. Given Littlefinger's comments, I wouldn't be surprised if he's playing the long game and has some sort of deal with Stannis in the background. I did find the kiss awkward though, and I question his decision to return to King's Landing. Naive, arrogant or just plain stupid.

I don't think Littlefinger and Stannis have a deal at all - totally not Stannis's style. In the books I wouldn't be super surprised to learn that Littlefinger and Wyman Manderly are working together, though. If anything, I expect Littlefinger to engineer Stannis's death at some point.

As for Littlefinger returning to King's Landing, yeah. I find it odd that we don't know why Cersei invited him back (and that she herself hasn't mentioned it at all in any of her KL scenes). I'll be curious to see how that goes, and to see what he ends up doing while he's there (I don't think he'd go without his own purpose in being there).

For all the talk about how the Lannisters can't reach Sansa in Winterfell (which I... sorta buy, I guess, handwavey as it may be), it's pretty funny that he's traveling straight into their clutches.

 

[CitizenVectron]

I would bet that at some point Jaime will see Myrcella and she'll be wearing the necklace. He'll realize that Cersei lied to him, which will be why he won't come to her aid.

Ooh, I like that. But I am doubting the showrunners will have done that.

 

[Nodnol]

I don't think Littlefinger and Stannis have a deal at all - totally not Stannis's style. In the books I wouldn't be super surprised to learn that Littlefinger and Wyman Manderly are working together, though. If anything, I expect Littlefinger to engineer Stannis's death at some point.

As for Littlefinger returning to King's Landing, yeah. I find it odd that we don't know why Cersei invited him back (and that she herself hasn't mentioned it at all in any of her KL scenes). I'll be curious to see how that goes, and to see what he ends up doing while he's there (I don't think he'd go without his own purpose in being there).

For all the talk about how the Lannisters can't reach Sansa in Winterfell (which I... sorta buy, I guess, handwavey as it may be), it's pretty funny that he's traveling straight into their clutches.

Ok so maybe not a deal...but rather a willingness to let things unfold and be there when the dust settles. He highlights to Sansa Stannis' usefulness; would be a useful ally for anyone. Playing the percentages, all being well, Stannis slaughters the Bolton's, liberates Winterfell, and Littlefinger can present Sansa with a relatively true narrative that he rescued her from the Lannister's. Obviously you can throw Brienne into the mix, and maybe (hopefully) a Red Wedding Revenge, but other than that you'd expect Littlefinger to trust Stannis to be Stannis, and pick up the pieces when it suits him best. Chaos is a ladder, afterall.

Regarding Littlefingee traveling to KL, there was a scroll with his Mockingbird in Cersei's quarters; probably highlights some sort of correspondence, and I doubt they'd highlight it just because he's being polite and replying. The more Littlefinger the better; him and Varys are two of the most interesting characters in the story IMO. That said, they could have just shown the scroll to foreshadow him being called to KL.

 

[kirblar]

The weakest part of the show definitely seems to be the direction, you have the "I'm not sure if Barristan's dead?" scene this week, you have them accidentally making Jaime a rapist last season - Olly pales in comparison.

 

[Iksenpets]

The weakest part of the show definitely seems to be the direction, you have the "I'm not sure if Barristan's dead?" scene this week, you have them accidentally making Jaime a rapist last season - Olly pales in comparison.

I'm kind of wondering if the director who did the past two episodes just isn't terribly good? I'm not familiar with much of the rest of his work, but last week had the thing where lots of viewers didn't realize the action had moved from Moat Cailin to Winterfell, and then this week had the confusing ending and the awkward Sand Snakes scene, with the weird cut on the spear throwing that Giff giffed earlier (though part of me is worried that that may have been them trying to edit around the fact that the actress couldn't really throw the spear well enough).

I might just be eager to lay as much as possible at the feet of the writer and director though, since these are their only episodes this season, whereas of the issue is anywhere else, we're going to be dealing with it for a while.

 

[Latvian Hitman]

According to Martin, Ned is a competent swordsman. Jaime on the other hand is one of the best who ever lived. Jaime should have torn Ned apart. The only people who can stand up to Jaime are Barristan and maybe the Cleganes.

If we've learned anything, it's that the showrunners have their own ideas about the hierarchy of fighters, and they could give a damn what Martin thinks. Shit, at this point the show-only crowd would have no reason not to think that Brienne of Tarth is the best sword fighter in all the realms of men, with Jon Snow being a close second.

 

[bengraven]

Did Stannis say the Stone Men were in the ruins of Valaryia?

Huh...

 

[frontovik]

The Sand Snake scenes were cringeworthy. The only arcs I'm looking forward to now are the events in the North (Brienne/Sansa & Jon/Stannis)

 

[Iksenpets]

Did Stannis say the Stone Men were in the ruins of Valaryia?

Huh...

Yep, it makes sense though. It explains the geography behind why the boat trip is happening on the way from Volantis to Meereen, given that the Sorrows are north of Meereen, and instead of a pointless history lesson about the Rhoynar, we get to see Valyria and learn more about that.

 

[bishopcruz]

Yeah what is important thematically is showing that conquering is one thing, but holding and ruling is a totally different scenario. The point of this episode was to show that her army is not as effective stationary as when they are on the move. The Second Sons have nothing to do but hang out with whores and it turns out the Unsullied are ineffective against guerrillas with unconventional tactics.

The point they are trying to make is fine, but it was handled poorly. The Unsullied became weaklings, it is not what we have been shown in the past, and thus, it rings incredibly false. A large group attacking 1 or two literally out of alleys, that makes sense, the Sons know the city better, and know better ambush spots.

What happened in the show though had the Unsullied breaking rank IMMEDIATELY, with Grey Worm, their damn commander being the only one who really did well at all. They were in a circle when the Harpies atacked. Backs together and shields up at the very least.

Not to mention the fearless harpies. I would have expected at least one or two to run when Barry was cleaving through them.

Greenwald, who I normally respect the hell out of, called this last episode one of the best the show has done.

I don't see it. Way too many issue and inconsistencies.

Yeah, It's like we are watching different shows. Jaime's characterization is all over the place, the Faith Militant is cartoonish, and Littlefinger has a gambling addiction.

*sigh*

This whole Unsullied debate is the worst type of criticism from book readers, it's so small and nitpicky. They are not invincible, they are human and their strength is in formation not one on one combat against outnumbered forces. I complain about large scale changes that destroys a characters motivations or arc, like Sansa marrying Ramsay. I'm upset that Barristan died but not because he went out "like a bitch" but because his character was underutilized and offed simply to save money and further condense the story. We can nitpick small details like Tyrion mentioning Stone Men in Valyria all day but those are minor complaints and not worth getting up in arms over.

Thing is, the Unsullied are also used as GUARDS, not just an army. You would figure that they would at the very least have a base level of competence at fighting off a small number of poorly armed foes. It's not like they become USELESS 1 on 1, if so, then how did Grey Worm kick so much ass? It was a poor set up and poor execution. The result isn't the problem, it really is how it was done.

 

[sorryaboutdresden]

Did Stannis say the Stone Men were in the ruins of Valaryia?

Huh...

Yeah they already teleported past thr Rhoyne so they need a new home for them.

 

[badcrumble]

Ok so maybe not a deal...but rather a willingness to let things unfold and be there when the dust settles. He highlights to Sansa Stannis' usefulness; would be a useful ally for anyone. Playing the percentages, all being well, Stannis slaughters the Bolton's, liberates Winterfell, and Littlefinger can present Sansa with a relatively true narrative that he rescued her from the Lannister's. Obviously you can throw Brienne into the mix, and maybe (hopefully) a Red Wedding Revenge, but other than that you'd expect Littlefinger to trust Stannis to be Stannis, and pick up the pieces when it suits him best. Chaos is a ladder, afterall.

Regarding Littlefingee traveling to KL, there was a scroll with his Mockingbird in Cersei's quarters; probably highlights some sort of correspondence, and I doubt they'd highlight it just because he's being polite and replying. The more Littlefinger the better; him and Varys are two of the most interesting characters in the story IMO. That said, they could have just shown the scroll to foreshadow him being called to KL.

I think the idea with Sansa is that, as things stand, she's too valuable to *both* sides to come to harm. The Boltons and Stannis both need her for legitimacy among an unsettled and angry North. Littlefinger can trust that neither side will hurt her while also knowing that she can play the Boltons to his advantage. The ideal situation for Littlefinger is probably that both of those sides fall to ruin, with only Sansa left standing.

 

[DeSo]

Why the fuck would they have have Grey Worm stop Selmy's throat getting cut and then have him die anyway? Terrible direction.

 

[hipsterpants]

Considering how much time they dedicated to showing Ramsay torture Theon, I have to assume that he'll play a major role in getting revenge on the Boltons with Sansa.

 

[dsp]

Jaime vs Ned (despite how stupid it was for them to be evenly matched) is probably still the best sword fight in the series.

Did you forget about The Hound vs. Beric Dondarrion?

 

[toastyToast]

R+L = J has really taken off on the other thread. Way too on the nose especially with the double dose of hints last episode especially with the good guy Rhaegar story. At least they won't be waiting years to find out where that goes.

 

[Lothar]

I'm kind of wondering if the director who did the past two episodes just isn't terribly good?

The writer wasn't good either. There was an enormous amount of exposition. Almost all of it was clumsy and awkward. The only good one was the Stannis scene and I think that may possibly be despite the writing and just because of the terrific acting. I can tell you from all of the casuals I know, the exposition is just completely wasted on them. They don't remember who Rhaegar was. (And barely just remember the name Lyanna) Why would they? It's been like 4 years since he was mentioned. I'm sure there's a way to write it to make them care about Rhaegar again but that wasn't it.

Both Littlefinger and the Sand Snakes explaining their plots came off incredibly unnatural and was hard to follow even as a book reader because their motivations/feelings just don't make any sense. Littlefinger is 1. Leaving his prize. 2. With a psychopath. 3. And he knows Stannis is invading? I still can't wrap my mind around how this benefits him even if everything miraculously works out. Stannis comes along and Sansa kills Ramsey, okay, Sansa has a claim to the north, what does that have to do with Littlefinger? Stannis and Sansa will both tell him to fuck off. Unless Sansa is in love with him or something.

 

[Iksenpets]

The writer wasn't good either. There was an enormous amount of exposition. Almost all of it was clumsy and awkward. The only good one was the Stannis scene and I think that may possibly be despite the writing and just because of the terrific acting. I can tell you from all of the casuals I know, the exposition is just completely wasted on them. They don't remember who Rhaegar was. (And barely just remember the name Lyanna) Why would they? It's been like 4 years since he was mentioned. I'm sure there's a way to write it to make them care about Rhaegar again but that wasn't it.

Both Littlefinger and the Sand Snakes explaining their plots came off incredibly unnatural and was hard to follow even as a book reader because their motivations/feelings just don't make any sense. Littlefinger is 1. Leaving his prize. 2. With a psychopath. 3. And he knows Stannis is invading? I still can't wrap my mind around how this benefits him even if everything miraculously works out. Stannis comes along and Sansa kills Ramsey, okay, Sansa has a claim to the north, what does that have to do with Littlefinger? Stannis and Sansa will both tell him to fuck off. Unless Sansa is in love with him or something.

True. Reading online, it sounds like D&D promoted this new guy to writer after being blown away by his creation of #1 fan-favorite character Olly. So yeah, writing was off too. Hopefully a new director working on a Cogman episode will be better next week.

Though I guess in his defense, he can't help that he was assigned an episode where he was expected to dump all of the R+L exposition at once, introduce the Sand Snakes in like three minutes, and then wrap it all up by randomly killing off Barry.

 

[badcrumble]

I can buy the idea that Sansa's politically untouchable to the Boltons because they need her to secure the loyalty of the North (so they won't let her come to harm). Same reasons they need fArya in the books.

What's harder for me to buy is the idea that it's okay for Sansa to come into the open because suddenly the Lannisters have zero pull in the North. It's true that the northern Bolton coup was pulled off pretty much in secret via Tywin's scheming and Cersei doesn't have that same connection to the Boltons, but Roose is still Warden of the North only with a Lannister blessing.

fArya threads both of those needles (Northern legitimacy + keeping the Lannisters happy) while Sansa only succeeds at the first.

Not saying it's necessarily terrible writing, but the writers need to show that there are consequences to the fact that revealing Sansa is going to piss the Lannisters off and arguably tip Littlefinger's hand with regard to his participation in Joffrey's assassination. If Cersei somehow doesn't find out about it, or if she finds out but doesn't really react, that's pretty lame.

 

[Steelyuhas]

I think Jon Snow's stuff during episode 9 last year was pretty good. Brienne vs. prisoner Jaime on the bridge was decent, but not really a proper fight. Bronn's season one trial by combat was pretty good, but more because of how he avoided actually sword fighting his armored opponent. Oberyn vs. Mountain was showy but not really a sword fight since Oberyn was using the spear and he dominated the choreography. So yeah, for the most part it's just kind of average swordplay, with isolated cool moments outside of actual duels (Brienne's horseback stuff this season, Daario vs. rider last season, etc) Like, Brienne vs Hound is a great fight because seeing the characters go at it is awesome, but the fight doesn't really get good until they both lose their swords and it turns into a nasty brawl. The actual swordplay part of the fight was kind of a mess of quick cuts.

The show actually doesn't have much just straight sword fighting in it. Like, outside of what I mentioned and the latest episode, the only other prominent things that come to mind are Jaime vs Ned and Syrio vs kingsguard in season 1? Blackwater didn't really have anything aside from general battle stuff. Robb vs tree in season 2 I guess? Maybe the few seconds of Hound vs Mountain at the joust in s1.

Barriston's just seemed kind of slow to me, probably because the actor was actually doing a lot of the fighting himself since we were seeing his face?

Beric vs The Hound was well done I thought.

I think it's worth noting that although GoT is an insanely expensive production, it's still a TV production on a very tight schedule. I'm sure getting what they want out of fight scenes is a tall order, especially in the case of someone like Barristan (Ian is 67 years old).

I'm kind of wondering if the director who did the past two episodes just isn't terribly good? I'm not familiar with much of the rest of his work, but last week had the thing where lots of viewers didn't realize the action had moved from Moat Cailin to Winterfell, and then this week had the confusing ending and the awkward Sand Snakes scene, with the weird cut on the spear throwing that Giff giffed earlier (though part of me is worried that that may have been them trying to edit around the fact that the actress couldn't really throw the spear well enough).

I might just be eager to lay as much as possible at the feet of the writer and director though, since these are their only episodes this season, whereas of the issue is anywhere else, we're going to be dealing with it for a while.

Yeah I wasn't very familiar with Mark's previous work much (he has a variety of TV credits, most notably of recent a number of Shamless episodes).

Direction in this show is an interesting challenge. Pretty much every director of this is being asked to do the biggest scale production they've handled in their career.

Season 5 is an interesting prospect from a direction perspective because it's four newcomers, only one returning director (David Nutter is doing 9 and 10).

 

[cj_iwakura]

Are you holding your dick while you browse the other thread, man?

hehe

Browse? He's been posting in it.