Game of Thrones (S5E02) -- "The House of Black and White" -- 4/19/15
 

http://media.comicbook.com/uploads1/...-51-131975.jpg



Episode 2 of 10

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E02) -- "The House of Black and White" -- 4/19/15
 

Guess no one's had a chance to make a post yet. Good ep, and everything looked great. They have really upped the production values this season.

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E02) -- "The House of Black and White" -- 4/19/15
 

well people have less to worry about regarding book spoilers, as some story lines are veering pretty far off track now. I have no idea where they are going with jaime/bronn & brienne/pod.

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E02) -- "The House of Black and White" -- 4/19/15
 

I think of the show as trimming all the book's fat.

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E02) -- "The House of Black and White" -- 4/19/15
 

I liked the the changes from the book, though it looks like even Weiss and Benioff can't make Meereen interesting.

Glad they found a way to keep Bronn around.

No Dorne on the map in the open even though we finally saw Doran Martell.

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E02) -- "The House of Black and White" -- 4/19/15
 

I don't think there was a single scene in this episode that mirrored anything that actually happened in the books.

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E02) -- "The House of Black and White" -- 4/19/15
 

And yet it didn't matter and the story is still going in the same direction. The production value of this episode was insanely good. It was major feature film level and the dragon CGI was awesome. With all the Stokeworth, Bravos and Meeren backdrops as well as Drogon there was a ton of superb CGI in this episode. More than that, I thought it was one of the better episodes of the series. Loved the Shireen scene, tough not one it possibly portended. Also, a LOT happened in this episode. We need to savor each episode there may never be another TV show like GOT again.

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E02) -- "The House of Black and White" -- 4/19/15
 

Yeah, I really wanted to see Sunspear in the opening.

So far, I don't think they've shown Riverrun, Casterly Rock (though I don't think we have been there yet), or Highgarden.

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E02) -- "The House of Black and White" -- 4/19/15
 

I was briefly worried for Pod. He's likable enough to get a sword through his face for sticking with Brienne. I can't say I blame Sansa for not dumping Littlefinger but I also don't believe she is manipulating him as much as she thinks she is.

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E02) -- "The House of Black and White" -- 4/19/15
 

Why wouldn't Brienne at least blurt out to Sansa that she's run into Arya? That's the fist thing I would've said.


Yeah, and to get an even better appreciation for how much the production values have increased, there's a few scenes in season one which look so cheap, that if you see now, you won't believe they're from the same show.

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E02) -- "The House of Black and White" -- 4/19/15
 

Just before his first scene, I was going to mention to my wife that I wondered what was going on with Bronn. Glad to see him back.

I could've kicked myself for not realizing right away that the man befhind the black and white door was Jaqen H'Ghar. As he and Arya were walking back, I mentioned that it was probably him in disguise again. I was puzzled, however, as it seemed that he previously was able to actually transform himself, instantly, or am I mis-remembering that? While this time it was made to look as though he was wearing a mask.

Also, LOVE the Titan of Braavos statue. Something about it is just so cool! For some reason, I can just picture it coming to life and scooping up an enemy ship trying to gain access to the harbour.

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E02) -- "The House of Black and White" -- 4/19/15
 

Great episode. It was nice to see finally a group of characters just barely missing each other. Loved Brienne finding renewed purpose.

Also loved Drogon, Massive awesome looking dragon.

Enjoy that they brought Bronn Back.

and Jon Snow being named Lord Commander. That was great.

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E02) -- "The House of Black and White" -- 4/19/15
 

I didn't see a mask. His face changed as the camera went behind Arya's head.

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E02) -- "The House of Black and White" -- 4/19/15
 

Yeah, he put his hand up to his face and sort of acted like he was pulling off a mask as the camera panned around Arya. The last time I think he turned around, then looked back with a different face.

I think that maybe they don't want to actually show how he changes because the only way to do that would be with a CGI morphing effect. They probably want to avoid that because it's been done to death and would look too much like an obvious CGI shot.

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E02) -- "The House of Black and White" -- 4/19/15
 

For half the characters maybe.

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E02) -- "The House of Black and White" -- 4/19/15
 

Ask you guys a question cause maybe I misinterprepted the scene with Danaerys and the Dragon at the end. When he flies off at the end, is he bolting from her for good as I couldn't read her facial expression that she was sad or relieved?

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E02) -- "The House of Black and White" -- 4/19/15
 

I like that Maester Aemon, the old forgotten Targaryen, cast the tiebreaking vote for Jon Snow as Lord Commander.

But I am surprised that Jon didn't take Stannis up on his offer to be Jon Stark, Lord of Winterfell. Yeah, he took vows for the Night's Watch but did so before the war broke out and a chance to take back the North for the Stark name seems like something he would jump at.

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E02) -- "The House of Black and White" -- 4/19/15
 

Danaerys needs to let the other 2 dragons loose to gain their full size. Keeping them locked up will stunt their growth. So they mistakenly get a child or 2, them developing a taste for human flesh isn't a bad thing if she's going to retake the Westeros Throne.

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E02) -- "The House of Black and White" -- 4/19/15
 

Except that he inherited his "father's" code of honor and wouldn't go back on his sworn word. Then again with the line about the Watchers on the Wall being the Shields of Men he may yet decide his place is elsewhere.

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E02) -- "The House of Black and White" -- 4/19/15
 

Was excited to see Jerome Flynn's name in the opening credits. Had no idea that Bronn was returning this season.

It's been a few years since reading books 4 & 5, & I kept thinking "did that happen in the books?...don't remember that." Dan & David have done a great job of both cutting the fat while maintaining the spirit of the books in the original material. While it's hard to match GRRM's dialogue...one of the strong suits of the saga...it's nice to see the plot stay focused on moving forward rather than meandering around Westoros without much of consequence happening.

One of the few gripes I have is the prevalence of "coincidental meetings" that happen between characters. In the books, the only one that stood out in my memory was how close Arya came to reuniting with Robb & Caitlyn at the time of the Red Wedding (and that turned out to be fortuitous for her). These close calls (last season & this season) don't ring true.

Loved Sam's speech nominating Jon...especially his recounting of Ser Janos's role in the battle against the wildlings..."in a puddle of his own making."

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E02) -- "The House of Black and White" -- 4/19/15
 

The Dany story bores the shit out of me, and that is why I am hoping Tyrion and Varys make it there sooner than later. The only storyline that is worse is the Theon/Reek bullshit, imo.

I am looking forward to seeing more of Braavos and the Faceless Men.

If Jaime and Bronn's adventures are a half as amusing as Tyrion and Bronn's - I will be pleased.

Littlefinger calling out Brienne's failures gave me a good chuckle.

It was good to see Sam call out the coward during the meeting.

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E02) -- "The House of Black and White" -- 4/19/15
 

This was a great episode. Technically it was awesome.

A lot of things happened, and almost all of them were meaningful. No filler here.

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E02) -- "The House of Black and White" -- 4/19/15
 

Overall I thought this was a better episode than last week if a bit pedestrian. The scales are still weighted more towards exposition than advancement. Overall, I liked the stuff that wasn't in the book a bit more than the stuff that was in the book.

1. Arya's story returns a bit weakly. Braavos looks great but they're reeeally dragging this out with her. I do like the changes from the book with H'gar (spelling?) here, much more economical. Also, Arya confronting the ruffians was convincing.
2. I can't remember if Brienne meets Sansa in the books. Regardless, I think this was the best scene in this episode. Sansa's really coming into her own as a character, the progression vs. the first episode is especially big for her. Minor point: why did they ride off on horseback instead of the armored carriage? Oh right, because we need Brienne to know that it's them. Also, I really don't think Pod would still be this useless with a horse after riding the length of the Seven Kingdoms.
3. Stannis, Jon and the Wall was all handled efficienctly but in a fairly anodyne way. I did like Sam taking Slynt to task, although he's probably going to pay for that.
4. Very small scene in Dorne to remind us that it exists. Sending Jaime to Dorne is a good idea.
5. Bronn reappears! Yes! Great idea here, pairing him with Jaime. I also liked him doing the minimum to not piss off his betrothed.
6. Varys and the Imp on the road was a fairly boring scene. I have no idea what they were talking about.
7. Discussion of greyscale and its effects. Interesting.
8. Cersei stomping on the Council was actually handled pretty well. I liked her Uncle's defiance. It's true: who exactly does she think she is?
9. I disagree with the idea that Mereen is boring. I like seeing a teen-aged doe-eyed Dany flop around as masked, pityless soldiers march through the streets and chaos starts to pop up. The hypocracies, inconsistency and illogic of her rule is being made subtly clear. The slowness of the story makes sense: she's getting bogged down in a quagmire of her own making. I also liked Drogon showing up, as if to check in on her progress. He senses her hesitancy and flies off. I actually really like how the show is setting up her story.

Good stuff. As the show diverges from the book, I'm enjoying it even more. I like that I have no idea where they're going with some things here.

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E02) -- "The House of Black and White" -- 4/19/15
 

This series is taking a more interesting approach than Martin at this point. Time for me to realize the books will be the books, and the series the series. Though I think the books will be a bit more epic as they are not limited by any budget, they are also VERY bloated and tedious in the 4th and 5th ones.

I have read about Jamie going to Dorne being something of a buddy action comedy. Don't know if comedy will fit, but I'm all for the approach if it keeps Bronn in the fold. I am also glad that

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E02) -- "The House of Black and White" -- 4/19/15
 

I hope that if Jon Snow knows something by now, it's that people who put absolute importance on honoring vows don't last long in their world. If not, to paraphrase something the Hound said last season, how many Starks do they have to behead before he figures that out?