Knights & Knaves Alehouse

Predictable and par for the course this season. On its own merits the plot was totally fucking shit, with people acting completely out of pre-established character, but it is obvious that this is all going to make a lot more sense in the books, chiefly because Sansa is nowhere near Jon and just turns up with Little Finger at the right moment. Almost certainly it is not going to be to "save the day" either, but to mop up the Bolton forces and "win the battle" that Jon Snow was on the verge of winning himself. The battle itself was bloody and fun, but just about as unbelievable as the other events. Consistency has its own virtue, I guess. It would have been more satisfying if Ramsey went down snivelling, but he remained iron willed right up until his dogs ate him. Looks like Sansa may be turning evil, though, which might be fun.

I think that the plot with Arya is potentially more complicated than it seems. The nature of the Faceless Men remains undisclosed, and it may be the case that Arya has in fact become no-one without knowing it. On the other hand, her wound does not seem to be troubling her any more, so maybe it is straightforwardly the case that she has been replaced by the Waif ... but do Faceless Men take their own faces off? That did not seem to be the case when Arya disguised herself as somebody else.

Jon remains obviously the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen. If he is not riding a dragon around by the end of the show, I will eat any hats that I own.

Watched "The Most Dangerous Game" (1932) last night. It had been on my DVR for a month.

Wow, was Ramsey Bolton's tv character totally based off of Count Zaroff?!?! Zaroff made some concessions to appearing civilized, but otherwise, they're the same character, including prominent scenes with bow and arrow (I even yelled, "Zig zag" at our main character) and the same grisly end. The film gets bonus points for Fay Wray.

TRP wrote:Oh, and fuck you Rickon for running a straight line. He spent how many years with a Wildling chick, and he learned nothing about evasion? What, did she keep him locked up in a box all that time? Dumb ass.

Amen. At that range, he could have just turned around and waited for Bolton to fire before moving a few feet in either direction. He could have even fallen to the ground and there would be little chance Bolton could have seen him well enough to hit at that distance. It's like the writers just decided to take the cheap way out for dramatic effect. Pitiful.

As for Sansa - I'm sick of all that whining about her wedding night. I don't think she's 'turning evil' - just the opposite. I think that's the show's writers trying to throw a bone (no pun intended) to all their millennial feminist fans and show a 'strong female character with PTSD issues', albeit in the most hamfisted way. Seriously, in a truly medieval world there has to be a lot more for her to complain about than one night of uninvited buttsex.

And what is it with Winterfell? That place looks like a rancid shithole. The Black Hole of Calcutta is palatial by comparison. Every other castle in that show looks to be far more comfortable than Winterfell. Christ, start a fire and hang up some tapestries ferfucksakes.

T. Foster wrote:

TRP wrote:

rogatny wrote:Have they completely dropped the Dorne subplot? Everyone in the show seems to have forgotten that Myrcella was murdered.

The Lannisters are too busy having their assess handed them by the High Sparrow to do anything about the Martells.

And isn't it nice of the Martells to sit back and not to take any advantage of that situation

They're not out of the fire yet either.

The beginning of the battle was good. Lots of chaos as the 2 cavalry forces met. The ensuing infantry scene not so much. No one in Jon's army had shields? No one thought to drop to the ground and hack at ankles and feet? I doubt the spearmen were all wearing iron boots...

They obviously just wanted to kill Rickon off, as the million to one shot that stuck him could have been easily avoided. He barely counted in any case in the series. Getting caught in the first place seemed too convenient. In the book, rescue is on the way for him.

I liked how Dany handled the masters, but don't quite get the arrival of Theon and Yara. seems out of left field.

All in all I prefer the books but I'll take what I can get I guess.

The Spaniard wrote:The beginning of the battle was good. Lots of chaos as the 2 cavalry forces met. The ensuing infantry scene not so much. No one in Jon's army had shields? No one thought to drop to the ground and hack at ankles and feet? I doubt the spearmen were all wearing iron boots...

They obviously just wanted to kill Rickon off, as the million to one shot that stuck him could have been easily avoided. He barely counted in any case in the series. Getting caught in the first place seemed too convenient. In the book, rescue is on the way for him.

I liked how Dany handled the masters, but don't quite get the arrival of Theon and Yara. seems out of left field.

All in all I prefer the books but I'll take what I can get I guess.

When Yara made her case for the Salt Throne her or Euron mentioned that Dany was gonna need ships. Each of them going to "woo" her in different ways. So when Yara lost they fled with the best part of the Greyjoy fleet.

Euron is still building a fleet to have Dany use, Yara just got there first with what she has.

Kellri wrote: Amen. At that range, he could have just turned around and waited for Bolton to fire before moving a few feet in either direction. He could have even fallen to the ground and there would be little chance Bolton could have seen him well enough to hit at that distance. It's like the writers just decided to take the cheap way out for dramatic effect. Pitiful.

It is definitely a quick fix for a character with a totally different fate.

Kellri wrote: As for Sansa - I'm sick of all that whining about her wedding night. I don't think she's 'turning evil' - just the opposite. I think that's the show's writers trying to throw a bone (no pun intended) to all their millennial feminist fans and show a 'strong female character with PTSD issues', albeit in the most hamfisted way. Seriously, in a truly medieval world there has to be a lot more for her to complain about than one night of uninvited buttsex.

It is not the wedding night, or even the nights of torture that followed, that may have turned Sansa "evil", after all she is not even in that role in the books. Rather, it is her relationship with Little Finger, which has been fucked up in the television series, and his mentoring her to "play the game" or her "corruption of innocence" story arc. Somewhere along the line it is very possible she is going to engage in some treachery against Jon, and this idea seems especially likely in light of the synopsis Falconer provided earlier. Essentially she is a kind of "anti-Jamie", a thoroughly non-innocent character who becomes more sympathetic.

Kellri wrote: And what is it with Winterfell? That place looks like a rancid shithole. The Black Hole of Calcutta is palatial by comparison. Every other castle in that show looks to be far more comfortable than Winterfell. Christ, start a fire and hang up some tapestries ferfucksakes.

It's grim up north, mate.

The very first thing I ever heard about ASOIAF before reading it (and before most of the books were published) is that the premise was “the good guys and bad guys in the first book turn out to be the opposite in the second book.” Which I have always taken to mean the Starks, esp. Bran, are really the bad guys (really not at all a stretch IMO for the remaining ones, obviously including Catelyn in the books) and the Lannisters, esp. Jaime, are really the good guys (he has already essentially completed that redeeming arc in the books).

Predictions:

Cersei torches King's Landing with the wildfire caches (either deliberately, or accidentally while trying to burn the church).

Arya marks a name off her list.

The Wall comes down, possibly. Or that may be the end of next season instead.

Blackadder23 wrote:Predictions:

Cersei torches King's Landing with the wildfire caches (either deliberately, or accidentally while trying to burn the church).

Arya marks a name off her list.

The Wall comes down, possibly. Or that may be the end of next season instead.

Ben, I love you, but those are all super crappy!

Blackadder23 wrote:The Wall comes down, possibly. Or that may be the end of next season instead.

Does the wall have to come down? Now that Bran's been touched by a White Walker, wouldn't Bran's passing through the wall be sufficient to break the enchantment? Then it's just a stroll on through.

Chainsaw wrote:

Blackadder23 wrote:Predictions:

Cersei torches King's Landing with the wildfire caches (either deliberately, or accidentally while trying to burn the church).

Arya marks a name off her list.

The Wall comes down, possibly. Or that may be the end of next season instead.

Ben, I love you, but those are all super crappy!

I just call them like I see them.

TRP wrote:Does the wall have to come down? Now that Bran's been touched by a White Walker, wouldn't Bran's passing through the wall be sufficient to break the enchantment? Then it's just a stroll on through.

You're probably right. But I would be really surprised if the Wall doesn't come down in big CGI chunks by the end of the series.

Blackadder23 wrote:... I would be really surprised if the Wall doesn't come down in big CGI chunks by the end of the series.

That *would* be much cooler than a simple stroll.

gizmomathboy wrote:

The Spaniard wrote:The beginning of the battle was good. Lots of chaos as the 2 cavalry forces met. The ensuing infantry scene not so much. No one in Jon's army had shields? No one thought to drop to the ground and hack at ankles and feet? I doubt the spearmen were all wearing iron boots...

They obviously just wanted to kill Rickon off, as the million to one shot that stuck him could have been easily avoided. He barely counted in any case in the series. Getting caught in the first place seemed too convenient. In the book, rescue is on the way for him.

I liked how Dany handled the masters, but don't quite get the arrival of Theon and Yara. seems out of left field.

All in all I prefer the books but I'll take what I can get I guess.

When Yara made her case for the Salt Throne her or Euron mentioned that Dany was gonna need ships. Each of them going to "woo" her in different ways. So when Yara lost they fled with the best part of the Greyjoy fleet.

Euron is still building a fleet to have Dany use, Yara just got there first with what she has.

Sorry, I meant more in terms of this story line differing greatly from the book series. I guess they had to do something with them since they aren't with the now deceased Stannis.