I want Hodor to win an Emmy.

While not having much action we had some great dialogue between Jamie and Alton, tywin and arts and cersei w/ tyrion and Sansa. The ending was awesome as well

Perhaps the best music of the series was played at the horrifying reveal at the end that then played through the credits. Did I note a bit of Bernard Herman in there?

HBO's website seems to state that those are the remains of the Stark boys. That would be pretty lame if they turn out not to be.

I would be willing to bet they are not the Starks. I just can't see them dying without showing it and losing many men to the wolves. I was very shocked by the cousin's death though, I was really beginning to like him. My first thought was, "wouldn't have faking being hurt/sick have worked as well?"

The fadeout of Theon with his gaze cast down seemed to hang a few seconds before the credits were shown -- seemed kinda odd. A somber and moving score over the credits indeed.

Some nice character scenes, as mentioned previously. Those scenes with Arya and the senior Lanister were really entertaining to watch -- what great chemistry those two have on-screen. Really hating Theon now, what a dick he's become (and unlike Joffrey, he's not even doing it to enjoy cruelty, but rather to avoid losing his men's respect). I'm a little confused about what just happened on Qarth, I suppose Daenerys is sort of a prisoner of Xaro now? Was this Xaro's plan all along, to perform a coup with the help of those warlocks? And who was that woman with the hood that Jorah was talking to? I didn't remember her from before.

I have a feeling you are right, they are not the Stark boys, but HBO is lame for wording their synopsis like they did.

She was at the party last episode but I thought she was one of the 13. I guess not because I didn't see her at the table when the others died. I'm guessing she is some sort of priestess.

I believe she was one of the 13.

Why is it lame? If HBO said they are not the Starks boys then it's spoiler and no shock value to the ending.

It could be worded exactly as a viewer would view it, "the charred remains of what appears to be the Stark boys."

I also thought it was peculiar that both Cersie and Jamie spoke so open and candidly about their forbidden love, especially Jamie to Cat. I would have thought they'd deny it to the end, considering Jamie tried to murder Bran to keep the secret. Why blurt it out unprompted now? It only validates their opposition's claim to the throne.

Cat already confronted him about it when Jamie admitted to throwing her son out the window. He admitted it was because Bran saw Jamie and the queen together.

I have forgotten that scene. Was that first season or second?

Even though it involved Jaime and wasn't this episode, it was the second season

It was in the first episode.

Whoops, it was in the season one finale.

I can't tell Theon's play with killing the kids. I know it wasn't the Stark boys, but did they just torture the kids to try and get some info on the Starks' whereabouts after finding the nuts and 'confirming' the Starks were there?

Or did Theon choose to kill them such that their remains are unidentifiable, so he can temporarily pretend he killed to Stark boys?

I think it's to trick the folks in Winterfall. Everything Theon does now is to keep up the appearance of being a strong leader.

Gotta love Theon punching one of his men for insubordination and then clutching his hand in pain afterward.

That's what I'm thinking too. Otherwise, why show it off to the old guy whose name I can't remember right now?

Theon has officially surpassed Joffrey for me. I want Theon to SUFFER! At least until we catch a glimpse of Joffrey's next play at senseless cruelty.

I don't think Theon has reached Joffrey levels at all. Joffrey killed Ned and is a total douche. Theon seems like he's still uncertain about all of this.

Killing Ned, who confessed to treason in front of the people and the gods, is worse than hunting down two young boys and burning them? Okay...

Another thing that doesn't make sense IF it wasn't the Starks (and I'm sure it wasn't) was Theon's reaction to seeing the bodies. Surely he knows they were not them.

I guess it was a reaction simply to killing two innocent children. My guess is his 2nd in command realized they would not find the Starks, knew that if Theon couldn't produce the boys he would face a mutiny, and then decided they should kill the boys who lived at the farm in a way that they couldn't be identified. That is why he told Theon to send the Maester away, not to spare him the sight as I first suspected, but so he wouldn't reveal the plan. The youngest Stark made a point to mention the two boys who lived at the farm earlier in the episode. What I can't figure out is what the walnut shells have to do with that. Maybe it was just a red herring to throw off the viewers.

Joffrey is in his own league of doucheness. Theon will never make it to that league since he has guilt.

Very uneven episode, IMO:

I liked:
The Quarth scenes have become fascinating in this episode. I have no idea where they're going with this plot but I like it. Love what they've done with Daxos and Pree. Also, the scene with Jorah and "creepy unnamed woman with mask" was effective for some reason I can't put my finger on.

Great scene between Tyrion and Cersei. Cersei is brilliantly written and acted this season.

Williams and Dance continues to be terrific. The producers clearly realized they had something with these two and wrote a bunch of scenes for them. Loved the "m'lord" stuff.

The final scene was just brutal. Theon has created a monster and doesn't know what to do. He's unhinged. Finchy's constant leering/smirking presence has started to deeply creep me out.

Jaime dispatching the Frey kid. Didn't see that coming.

Roose Bolton sneaking around in the frame is a bit icky. Lord Karstark making his desires known. Robb's control is starting to slip a bit.

Stuff I didn't like:
Robb and Jeyne. On one hand, it's slightly interesting because Robb is playing with fire (as his mother warned him), but otherwise they have no onscreen chemistry and the scene had no real point beyond giving them time onscreen together.

Jorah and Dany's scene. Rehashing character points. We get it.

The scene between Sansa and the Hound was hamfisted and obvious.

What was the point of the scene with Jaime and Cat? It reminded me of Hannibal Lecter winding Clarisse up: just a little camp. Missed the mark.

Ygritte and Jon. Unlike Robb/Jeyne they have a nice chemistry but the scenes were too long and too talky. Lots of shots of them wandering around in Iceland with endless obvious talk about "freedom" and "honor".

This episode had some of the best stuff from this season and some of the worst.