dalbowski

Can anyone list the names she was saying? (I should have turned on CC)

I believe I heard Cersei, Joffrey, The Hound, and the Mountain (I think she added The Mountain on the 2nd night). There was one I couldn't tell what she was saying.

Josh-da-man

It was Joffrey, Cersei, The Hound, and Ilyn Payne. She blames Joffrey, Cersei, and Illyn for the death of her father, and the Hound for killing Micah (the butcher's boy).

She then added The Mountain and the guard who was treating them like shit.

creekdipper

Glad the ratings are holding steady through the early narrative exposition episodes & new character introductions. As often happens with cable series, things start really picking up around episode 4 with some big events & action happening in Ep. 5 (next week).

So far I've like almost all of the variations from the books (got several scenes this episode). It was easy to predict that they would depict scenes involving major characters who were largely offstage in the books (although their doings were described in secondhand accounts). Even the early introductions of certain people who will play big parts later makes sense for the viewers. It's not like they are altering the major plotlines...more like they're filling in gaps for a visual medium.

I like Sophie Turner, but it looks like the casting people would have checked out her parents' height before casting her. She's starting to look like she's more kin to Brienne of Tarth than the Starks. I thought maybe she had reached her full height early when she first appeared last season, but she is towering over the other adolescent characters (and some of the adults).

Agree with earlier post that said that it makes sense to have Tywin point out Arya's gender. In the books when time is suspended, you could imagine her staying the same waif-like figure that we saw in the first episodes of Season One, but puberty has arrived & Maisie Williams' body has changed. It would be good if they'd pull in close when she's reciting her litany of villains so that she could actually whisper them & the mike would pick it up. I've read all five books, and I couldn't make out Ilyn Payne's name.

I don't think GMM made a mistake with the kids' ages in the books. It added to the drama having a teen King in the North (along with a teen Jon Snow) and made the dilemmas of Sansa & Arya even more suspenseful. Just saw the original Cape Fear and having the very small teen actress (looking much younger than her age) being terrorized by the hulking, thoroughly evil & sadistic predator Max Cady was made effective by the actress's small stature. In the case of GOT, having a 12-year-old Sansa beating beaten and stripped in front of the court was even more horrific due to her age. The closest the tv series has done to establish an approximate age was when Cersei embarrassed Sansa by asking if she "had bled" yet. However, HBO might have actually asked for an older-looking actress to avoid any appearance of exploitation especially given some other more sexual scenes in the books involving nudity. It also helps not to pin down the characters' ages so that the stories don't seem ridiculous when the actors are obviously growing older.

And a shout-out to Jack Gleeson who doesn't get much love due to his dead-on portrayal of a confused teenage male who has been given power that he can't handle. For a kid born to privilege to have nearly unlimited power suddenly fall into his lap (while having no impulse control) to demonstrate his wild mood swings & sadism is not far-fetched at all, and Gleeson really sells the part.

creekdipper

Did they ever refer to the torturer by his nickname (The Tickler)? Also, I seem to remember that he was very near-sighted and wore spectacles in the books.

pinata242

I don't remember them saying The Tickler or Raff the Sweetling. We only got Polliver because they needed to update Arya's prayer at the end.

Astrofan

I can't imagine a non-book reader reading these threads. There's just too much book discussion. These threads even surpass The Walking Dead discussions. I know it's hard to do, but it would be best if the book-readers try to knock it off and just discuss what's on the screen. Hard, yes, impossible, no.

zuffy

I hope the bastard suffer a very slow death. No way he can survive acting like this.

superdeluxe

superdeluxe

You will always have comparisons between the book/TV/Movie. That is just one of the things that happens when you have adaptations.

I do agree that any spoilers, or future potential spoilers from the books should not be talked about in the thread.

superdeluxe

superdeluxe

It was just as creepy reading about it, you are not alone in this feeling lol.

outcastja

Why don't the book readers just post in the GoT Season 2 spoiler thread? I don't know why one would bother posting in these weekly threads at the risk of spoiling others.

wishbone

fumanstan

Ah, that's what she was saying. I just thought she was saying "in pain"

superfro

Because people are dicks and want people to know they know. But now people are posting about book 3 events in the book 2 spoiler thread, so at least some folks are consistent.

Tommy Ceez

I tried forever to post this on the iPad but gave up...thanks!

Hiro11

This episode absolutely hurtled forward compared to the last couple. Lots of stuff coming to fruition.

Liked:

Joffrey out-Joffrey-ing himself. Say what you want about him, he's not someone to be fucked around with like Tyrion was trying to do.

Bronn's quote about Joffrey. The series needs Bronn to drop in and drop some knowledge more frequently. The guy is the most honest character in the story and one of the least utilized here and in the books. More Bronn, please.

Shadow demon. Awesome.

Harrenhal melted with dragon fire. Very Fantasy-y.

A break from Theon. Too much time spent with him in the past couple episodes

Quarth. Well constructed, not in the book set-up scene and delivery.

Arya becoming Tywin's cup-bearer. This tightens things up a bit from a plot perspective.

And the best thing in this episode:
Robb getting a talking to by the nurse. They have been needing to better set the context that the civil war is destroying the smallfolk and preventing them for preparing for winter. This is made very clear in the book. The scene with Robb started them being able to do it.

Didn't like:
Dany's unconvincing "I'm a total badass" acting during her speech with the Quarth 13. I don't buy it. She just looks a little too waif/girl like for me. I know she's very young in the books, but they should have changed her a bit like they did the Tyrell girl.

Overall, awesome television and the best episode this year, IMO. Some serious shit is going down next week.

superfro

Case in point.

Dr. DVD

As someone who has read the first two books and is on the third , I sometimes forget that some things that I know about and take for granted might look kind of weird to people who haven't. I was anticipating the smoke monster, but others seem to be wondering "wtf"? When Arya was saying her prayer, I didn't think much of it, but realize now how it might look unusual to others.

Tommy Ceez

To be fair, that could be just from his observation THAT A MONSTER CAME OUT OF A WOMAN'S VAG!!!!!!!

superfro

Who said I was fair?

Hiro11

Oh for God's sake, give it a rest. Even the "scenes from next week" shown at the end of the show make it clear that next week is going to be pivotal. Yes, I'm a "dick" for saying so.

pinata242

Why you gotta assume he's a monster? He might just be misunderstood. Keep it to what's been shown, please!

KirstenS

Really really enjoyed this episode, with one minor exception: the Dany scene in Quarth. I had this complaint about last season as well. Her scenes seems to be shot by a B-production team. They're not shot or directed as well as the KL, etc scenes. My husband commented that the "13" looked and acted like they came directly out of a 1960s Star Trek episode. The city CGI however, was stunning.

pinata242

Scenes from next week are not part of the episode, though. Many people (myself included) choose not to watch them.