Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

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Synopsis:

Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) exchanges gifts with a slave lord outside Yunkai. As Sansa (Sophie Turner) frets about her prospects, Shae (Sibel Kekilli) chafes at Tyrion's (Peter Dinklage) new situation. Tywin counsels the king, and Melisandre reveals a secret to Gendry (Joe Dempsie). Brienne (Gwendoline Christie) faces a formidable foe in Harrenhal.

Written for television by George R. R. Martin; directed by Michelle MacLaren.


Episode 7 of 10


Preview:

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Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

I plan my Sunday dinner around Game of Thrones. Rare air. This episode synopsis (Thanks Djariya) sounds all kinds of awesome.

Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

surprised the synopsis' aren't in spoiler tags (given how sometimes they spoil key parts

Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

There's nothing there that's really a spoiler.

Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

........hodor

Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

"....we can arrange to have you carried" :lol:

Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

tywin showed great restraint in not smacking the shit out of joff. Then again, in every scene with joff, nearly everyone in attendance shows great restraint in not smacking the shit out of him.

Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

That Tywin scene was gold.

Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

"I've seen wet shits I like more than Walder Frey." :lol: Blackfish is the Roger Sterling of Westeros.

Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

The bear pit was underwhelming to say the least. That scene just did not work at all.

Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

Yup.

Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

I thought it was alright, it kind of showed Jamie taking control again, coming out of the entire self-pitying morose mood he's been in.

Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

Yes, that Tywin scene was legit. I enjoyed the bear pit and it was good to see Bart the Bear again. I thought he died a while ago. I kept telling my friends that it was a real bear and they were like no way, you can tell it was cgi, blah, blah, blah. Then when the credits rolled - Bart the Bear was right there. lol

Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

I thought the bear part was underwhelming too.

Some nice lingering shoots of Robb's wife. :) And now I really feel bad for Theon. :(

Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

Probably the slowest episode of the season, but I'm not complaining. It feels like they're brewing something big for the finale (hopefully not just the Joffrey-Margaery wedding).

BTW, I read about a VERY interesting plot theory. It's such a good theory, I think it's very likely to be true. Interestingly, it's supposedly not in the book, so fair warning to those who have read the book who don't want it potentially spoiled. It should go without saying, please spoiler any responses.

Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

-eek- Oh man, I'm soo onboard with that theory. Would totally fit the show.

Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

Seems like a solid theory to me and would definitely work well! I liked this episode but expected a bit more considering GRRM wrote it. Bear pit was a bit less than I expected. I can't really remember how it happened in the book but I thought (book spoiler)

Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

I had that exact thought when I saw her writing the letter Hahn.

Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

Bart is dead and now just a name carried by other bears.

"Little Bart the Bear is Bart's namesake. Little Bart, born 2000 in Alaska, is an unrelated Kodiak raised by the same trainers, Doug and Lynne Seus. He has appeared in Dr. Dolittle 2, along with his sister Honey-Bump Bear, and in an episode of both CSI and Scrubs. Also, he appeared in the seventh episode of the third season of Game of Thrones, called "The Bear and the Maiden Fair"."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bart_the_Bear

Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

Another enjoyable episode.

The bear scene seemed to have some bad digital zooming, felt like an old pan&scan DVD when Jaimie jumped into the pit.

Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

Ah, good to know. It was cool seeing that giant Kodiak bear, though.

Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

The first thought Jamie had saving Brienne:

Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

lol, I thought of Anchorman as well

Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

Yeah, that line popped into my head as well.

Not my favorite episode at all. Too jumpy, no flow. Not enjoying Theon's Mutilation of the Week; not even nice nudity is helping it for me. I hope that's not what the book readers are meaning when I'm told it will pay off eventually. Also thought the Dany stuff was a little illogical. That town gave her exactly what she needed, so why does she want to play Lincoln of Easteros? Just go already! Probably my least favorite episode of the season, and it's the one written by Martin.

Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

Good to know that others were underwhelmed by the bear scene, which I had been looking forward to all season. Went back and re-read the scene in the book (and discovered that I was wrong...Brienne was not nude as I had remembered, but was still in that "ill-fitting gown" (although it was somewhat tattered from the bear's swipes). And, though the outcome was slightly different, a few of the changes (though predictable) SHOULD have made the scene even more exciting. Yet it came across a bit flat.

Not as disappointing as the scene in book 2 when Arya released the prisoners amidst the raging fire and escaped through a tunnel, but still oddly unrewarding. Maybe that comes with too-high expectations.

Apologies to those who wanted to hear the lisp, but that's one thing I didn't miss....

I found myself getting impatient with this episode. I could do with a Theon break, and some of the filler material is making the story drag (IMHO) vs. the furious pace of Storm of Swords the Novel. Guess that's unavoidable when you have to create new scenes for actors whose characters' presence was largely felt rather than seen in the books, but it also requires delaying scenes that have already taken place by this time in the books or moving up scenes that didn't appear until Feast (which would normally not occur until Season 5). The pacing just seems off to me. I'd rather that they focus on a few 'chapters' each episode rather than feeling that the audience needs to check in on every major subplot for a few minutes each time. To me, it doesn't allow the story to flow & results in a choppy narrative. When you find yourself admiring the costumes & scenery more than the interplay between characters, that's a bad sign.

I think the whole thing will play much better on DVD/BD when a viewer can watch 3 installments at one sitting. I'm beginning to wonder if some of the major events in Storm are going to be delayed until Season 5 while other events (from Feast & Dance) are going to be moved up to try to 'even out' the BIG EVENTS.

Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

Well I liked the bear scene - I did not read the books.

The bear looked real to me, and I had no idea how they would escape without killing the bear.

Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

I did enjoy Tywin punk that little shit Joffrey. As soon as he walks in to the throne room I was like someone is going get slapped in the mouth. Loved how they shot the scene too. Joffrey sitting on the chair, can't even make eye contact, while Tywin just stands over him shooting daggers at him and basically punking him.

It was also good to see Bronn back cracking wise with the dwarf.

Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

Fail. It's called Essos.

Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

Agreed.

Glad Arya is finally out of the Brotherhood's camp, and that Gendry knows the truth about his sperm-donor.

Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

One of my few disappointments with this season is the lack of shenanigans involving Tyrion and Bronn.

Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

Well, if you've seen Ripper Street, you know that you can't keep any character played by Jerome Flynn away from the prostitutes for long.

I thought for a moment that Bronn was going to offer to act as Tyrion's substitute with Sansa if Tyrion had such major objections to bedding her. Just to keep Shae happy.

Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

:shrug:

I thought the bear scene was pretty great. I was hoping Jamie (wait, am I rooting for Jamie now?) would toss that dude in with his one good arm.

Dany is a badass. That's why she didn't compromise. She has dragons.

I thought the episode was decent. They have to jump around to all the different storylines so it seems disjointed sometimes.

Hypothetically speaking, couldn't Joffrey just have Tywin's head chopped off if he mouths off like that?

Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

Did is strike anyone as odd (besides just to me), that Melisandre and Gendry would be taking a leisurely boat ride along the shore of King's Landing and through the remains of the Battle of Blackwater? I'm sure their boat lacked any obvious banners revealing the allegiance to Stannis, but even so...

Thos.

Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

Joffrey got away with threatening his mother but he's clearly out of his league with respect his grandfather. Tywin's slow, ponderous steps toward Joffrey got that point across with Joffrey recoiling in the Iron Throne.

Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

http://i.imgur.com/8q1llOF.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/owH8729.gif

Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

Don't forget that her army is comprised of freed slaves who follow her by choice. She leads through strength of purpose and charisma. If she starts ignoring other slaves along the way, her attraction diminishes. She might lose her army if she doesn't stick to her beliefs.

The town tried to buy her off. She refused. The audience wasn't the town elder, but her army.

Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

He could try, but I don't know that he has anyone under his control with enough moxie to do it for him. The Hound might have done it.

Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

Plus, what if only a fraction of those 200,000 slaves decide to join her cause? Every soldier and support person helps.

Re: Game of Thrones -- "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" -- 5/12/13
 

Thats why I said "hypothetically" - he has the power as "King" to do so, doesn't he? Ned Stark had some sort of standing, didn't he?