Game of Thrones (contains serious, massive SPOILERS)

[The Shoemaker]

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I honestly felt Catelyn and Robb Stark met the right fate after betraying I really liked Robbs wife though I felt so bad for her.

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Well, I don't know about Catelyn (or the rest of the army being murdered) since she didn't really do anything wrong other than being Robb's mom! But I do think Robb was more so in the wrong in the show than in the books. Still, killing a guest under your roof... shame, shame.

[Kiwi the Tortoise]

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The 10 year old bear island ruler was amazing.

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If she had 3 Dragons, the show would have had it's happy end three seasons ago

[SkyPikachu]

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Well, I don't know about Catelyn (or the rest of the army being murdered) since she didn't really do anything wrong other than being Robb's mom! But I do think Robb was more so in the wrong in the show than in the books. Still, killing a guest under your roof... shame, shame.

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She let Jamie go and betrayed the house. Heck he made her son a cripple and killed the king. As for the army I agree but they were screwed anyway without a leader. Also agree with the backstabbing guest killing.

[Kong Wen]

Another great episode. Great season so far.

Riverlands spoilers:

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My only problem is I felt like Al's storyline was rushed. It felt like a lot to introduce him in this episode, give him as much developmental influence on Sandor as possible, and then kill him off. It makes me question what Sandor's redemption is supposed to look like. In the books, it's clear that he's no longer The Hound. But with this quick turnaround, all we know is he was taken in and healed by Al, and now he's going to get revenge on the Brotherhood. The fact that they sunk so much attention into him hints that he has an important story role to play.

Arya spoilers:

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Her storyline is boring, but I still like her character. They've just been slow-burning her. Going back to take Needle was a nice turning point for her. Something is off with her in this episode, though. I think it might not have been Arya (maybe a Faceless Man / Jaqen disguised as her to test Faye?), because, where's Needle, and where did she get all that cash? Why's she walking around all nonchalant when the last time we saw her she was basically holing up and hiding? If it is Arya, then it has to be that she has a plan, although I can't figure out what kind of plan involves intentionally getting fatally stabbed in the guts.

North spoilers:

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The Mormonts are awesome. The Glovers are jerks. Tormund is awesome. Sansa is writing to Littlefinger, who the viewers still obviously don't trust. What if he shows up in their hour of need and then takes Winterfell for himself, which was his plan all along? It's still possible that Brienne will negotiate a truce between Blackfish and Jaime that would allow Blackfish to bring his troops north, but that seems like a long shot to me.

King's Landing:

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We knew Marge wasn't a zealot. It's interesting to see her try to protect the Queen of Thorns by sending her away. She got some lovely parting barbs in against Cersei. The High Sparrow is going to keep pushing his agenda against various people until all the pieces are where he wants them (Jaime out of the city, Oleanna out of the city, etc.). It's going to be awesome to see Cersei "choose violence" in the next episode.

[The Shoemaker]

I was surprised Jon didn't show off Longclaw to the Mormonts!

Arya

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I thought it was really silly how Arya was stabbed, and I don't think the show is that silly so I definitely expect something fishy to happen here. Why end the last episode with Arya grabbing needle and turning off the lights, only to pick up in a completely different scene the next episode?

Either way Jaqen should get rid of the Waif, she clearly has personal influences.

[Kong Wen]

I was surprised Jon didn't show off Longclaw to the Mormonts!

They may have had mixed reactions to that ("give it").

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"Either way Jaqen should get rid of the Waif, she clearly has personal influences." — This is partly why I think he might be testing her. When she gleefully requested permission to execute Arya, his "shame... a girl had many talents" line was pretty ambiguous. And then Arya's Needle-free demeanour in Braavos was highly suspect and Jaqen-like.

[The Shoemaker]

Episode 8

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I thought it was ridiculous that Arya was actually stabbed and okay, and how silly they made the Waif.

I've heard some people say that it was lame how they didn't actually show the fight between them, but I thought that was a good part, more tasteful. I imagine if this was a chapter in the book it would end with Arya extinguishing the candle.

I was happy to see the Bron and Pod reunion until it went on for too long and consisted too much of dick and sex jokes. Jaime's sequences were not bad. Interesting the different methods they used to give Jaime his book motivations while still being his show character. Riverrun had a stellar cast selection, and they were all used pretty well. Is Jaime just going to go back to King's landing now though?

I will say 100% now no Stoneheart. I'm guessing the Northern enemy the brotherhood is talking about are the Others, which I imagine Thoros must have saw in the flames.

I think the next two episodes will be big, but I think this season has had the worst pacing overall. Honestly I think it will be a good thing if they actually decide to shorten the next two seasons to around 6-8 episodes. Too much filler.

[Kong Wen]

I think the next two episodes will be big, but I think this season has had the worst pacing overall. Honestly I think it will be a good thing if they actually decide to shorten the next two seasons to around 6-8 episodes. Too much filler.

That is their plan, the last I heard.

Arya:

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"I thought it was ridiculous that Arya was actually stabbed and okay, and how silly they made the Waif." - Arya's whole story in Braavos was pretty poorly executed and took way too long. Hopefully with last night's climax, it's done. We need to see her do different stuff in a different place. I now believe that the entire purpose of that whole tangent was just to get her out of Westeros while shit is going down, so she can return to an aftermath.

Riverrun:

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"Jaime's sequences were not bad. Interesting the different methods they used to give Jaime his book motivations while still being his show character. Riverrun had a stellar cast selection, and they were all used pretty well. Is Jaime just going to go back to King's landing now though?" - I thought Jaime was excellent. He tried to reason with Blackfish, he tried to send Brienne to reason with Blackfish, and then he tried to reason with Edmure. When it became clear that Edmure was blinded by this conception of Jaime as an evil man, Jaime realized he had to play the part to make Edmure believe him, so he made his threats and his kill all Tullys speech. Contrary to some people's complaints that that's a reversion of his character to old bad Jaime, I see it as a clear example of his progression to a more rational and strategic character who did what he had to do to avoid bloodshed. Note: he kept his oath not to raise arms against any Tullys. He's the kingslayer, so he's used to people thinking he's awful when he's done the "right" thing. Another complaint I know people have is that we didn't get to see Blackfish go out in a blaze of glory. I think it's better that they didn't show it. What purpose would it have served? Fish was toast. Why show a glorious general die against some generic soldiers? People just want to see a sword fight. I have a feeling they're getting some next week...

Riverlands:

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"I will say 100% now no Stoneheart. I'm guessing the Northern enemy the brotherhood is talking about are the Others, which I imagine Thoros must have saw in the flames." - Agreed. When Sandor was pissing in the river, I thought that was a nice allusion to the LSH plot. I actually really like how they're developing Sandor's character. He was still a badass against the stray bandits, but then when he ran into his old buddies he was actually fairly conversational. He bartered with them reasonably. He took some boots. He asked for food. Remember, he knows both Thoros and Beric from the tourney circuit. While they're not friends, they ran in the same circles at court. And it's interesting that they're carrying on Brother Ray's role of trying to convince Sandor that he's not a bad man, that he can still do some good, etc. Sandor is probably my favourite character in the series, so I have high hopes for him having an important role to play against the Others.

[The Shoemaker]

Who's ready for the longest GOT episode ever this Sunday??????

Lots of loose ends to tie up. Kingslanding, Riverlands, Greyjoys, Sam, Winterfell, Mereen, Bran (Tower of Joy finisher?) and maybe even Braavos. Kind of expecting some big TWOW spoilers for this one, especially considering it's called The Winds of Winter.

As for the previous episode, it was certainly impressive in terms of production values. As characters in the show I don't like Jon, Sansa, Daenerys or Tyrion, so it was hard to really enjoy it because I'm not invested in any of them, but they made all of the battle sequences entertaining. The part with the dragons was really cool to see, even though I think it's a little unearned. And I'm sure like everyone else it was really neat seeing the scene where the Boltons surrounded the Starks and when Jon was being trampled.

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I found it to be really disturbing when Jon was punching Ramsay's face in, as well as when Sansa smiled after watching him being torn apart by dogs. I think they are fine, reasonable actions for these characters, but the smile from Sansa especially really sent me over the edge to not liking this character. Will be interesting to see if they expand on that at all, if we'll see a more brutal side of Sansa, or if the smile was only to represent her happy to be rid of Ramsay. Would anyone else have preferred to see Ramsay publicly beheaded in front of all the lords; the Northern way?

[SkyPikachu]

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Would anyone else have preferred to see Ramsay publicly beheaded in front of all the lords; the Northern way?

Yes very much so it's tradition.