I'd like to plunge Melisandre's darkness, if you get what I mean....

Good episode and glad no more of the Theon torture porn scenes this week. Can't wait for episode 9 and watching the Internet crack in half!

-Boobs
-Tyrion slamming Joffery
-Something dieing
-No Theon torture
-Onion Knight learning to read

Perfect episode.

Sam better go back and pick up that dragon glass(I think that is what he called it).

The Usurper Robb Stark

I have to say based on the hype of the book from everyone who has read it (including my wife) the season thus far has been underwhelming. There were people making claims that this season had the potential of being the best season of any series in history if the producers executed correctly. So far I am not seeing it. I feel most storylines have just dragged (Robb, Bran, Theon, all those at Kingslanding). I really hope some of these lines start to merge at some point and we see some of these big events that the readers have been promising soon.

Yeah, even as a non-book reader I'm quite confident they're building to something awesome. That's why it's easy for me to thoroughly enjoy some of the slower episodes.

And iirc the last two eps have been the most epic of the first two seasons.

Stupid question...why does Stannis want Robb and Greyjoy dead, since neither of them seem to give a fuck about Kings Landing? Just that he believes the north and Iron Islands are rightfully his as well?

Second-to-last episodes are the big ones. The last episodes are typically just wrap-up and setting the stage for the next season.

As much as readers love book three, many will tell you that it's the second half of the book that makes it a classic. We're pretty much getting to that point now, so I would guess that you can expect the rest of this season and probably all of next season to live up to the hype.

Pretty much. He doesn't really care if Robb wants to rule the North as his vassal, just as Ned ruled the North as vassal to Robert. But Robb is claiming to be king of an independent North, which is absolutely not allowed. Same deal with Balon Greyjoy.

I'm guessing Book 3 ends in the epic naked pillow fight between Marjory, Mellisandre, and Daenerys then?

Side but related note: whatever happened to that insane queen that was breastfeeding her 12 year old son?

That's where Littlefinger went: to marry her.

She's been sitting out the war because her husband (Jon Arryn, former Hand of the King to Robert Baratheon) was murdered which set off the sequence of events that led to Ned's beheading and the war itself and to keep her son and people safe.

Even non-book readers know that things tend to lead into a explosive episode 9 if the show follows similar format of the previous two seasons.

Also Tyrion had some of the best lines of the show in one episode:

"And so my watch begins"

"You will be f**king your bride with a wooden c**k"

"I am the god of tits and wine!"

Except that now they have a "Yara" & an "Arya". You'd think they would have done more of a Talisa-for-Jeyne replacement if they wanted to avoid confusion.

As far as Sansa putting on her 'big girl pants', it would seem to the average viewer that she is a lot better off with Tyrion than with the other psychos in King's Landing (except Ser Bronn, who really knows how to treat a woman).

On the other hand, Peter Dinklage is Brad Pitt compared to the Tyrion of the books, who sort of resembles a very short Quasimodo ('shock of hair', grotesque features...especially after the Battle of Blackwater Bay, gnarled limbs, etc. Even his eyes are mismatched). It's understandable that she would object to a little person in that day & age (especially when she had a handsome, strong knight in mind...at least, after she got over Joffrey), but there are worse matches to be made. In the book, she has to look forward to being deflowered by what they would have regarded as a monster.

In fairness to the character, in the book she is only 12, she doesn't resemble a WNBA forward, and she endures much more indignity (not going to spoil for those waiting to read) and fear than what was portrayed last night. HBO handled it tastefully, although they could have adhered more closely to the book without violating any standards if they wanted to give the full impact of the scene, but it wasn't necessary. Guess they're being delicate with some characters due to ages (?). Does make me wonder if non-readers would be more sympathetic toward Sansa (who gets her share of criticism from fans) if the character were more like the young girl of the book vs. the series (if you've seen shots of Sophie Turner at conventions/premieres, you know that she looks more like a college coed than a small, vulnerable child). Wonder if she had a growth spurt after they cast her (she's starting to look like she could be related to Brienne in stature).

Great episode...love the extended focus on several scenarios instead of the constant hopping around that have weakened a few episodes IMHO.

Re: the comment about this season disappointing viewers who have heard so much about this potentially being the best season ever for any show, the decision to split the book over two seasons obviously slows the pace a bit. As others mentioned, this season will set up so many payoffs that will happen next season. I suppose they could have done a "Season 3, Pt. 1" with Pt. 2 airing in the fall, but right now they have a major hit & the delay only allows Martin more time to write. Also, considering the production costs and planning, they need as much time as possible if they're going to do justice to so many big upcoming events.

And the lucky people who will get to see the whole saga for the first time when it hits the video shelves can go straight from one episode to the next.

Which can be problematic for the producers who want to keep viewers guessing.

Why wouldn't they cast a 12 year old as Sansa? It would totally change the character. Even her "14" isn't believable.

They really need to tinker with the timeline a bit IMO. Neither Arya nor Sansa look the ages they are supposed to be, though Maisie Williams still looks young, she won't for much longer.

Nice callback to the conversation between Tyrion and Varys prior to the Battle of the Blackwater last season.

They raised the ages of all the child characters, which was a good choice. Especially for Daenerys, who is 13 in book one.

The pilot episode was filmed late 2009 but never aired. Sophie would have been around 13 at that time.

Given a multi-season series it would expected that the young actors would "grow up" over the course of time.

I must be the only one that doesn't care for Sam.

Well to be fair to that plotline, they really haven't built up his or Gilly's characters yet.

If you've not read the book, I encourage you NOT to read this spoiler.

Aged up pretty much all characters. Tyrion probably he most, who is about 23 in the books I believe.

Not just that plot line, but everything he's done.