Dany makes a difficult decision in Meereen. Jon recruits the help of an unexpected ally. Brienne searches for Sansa. Theon remains under Ramsay's control

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Looks like everyone is on the same page now

Page? Pages are in a book. He mentioned the books! Everybody BAIL.

Curious to see where they take Brienne's story.

Is tonight when Tyrion gets eaten by Drogon?

Finally. No more reruns!

Whew! Thanks for the warning, almost read the OP.

Good ep. overall. Nice to see the stonemen and ruins of Valyria. They really aren't changing up things form the book as much as changing up characters to whom things happen and omitting unnecessary fluff.

Well...

Probably also means no

I was entertained.

Stanis would be a grammar Nazi.

I think it was interesting that Sam mentioned wanting to be a Maester because I've wondered why his father sent him to join that Night's Watch instead of sending him to the Citadel to train to become a Maester (which seems to me would've been a perfect fit for him).

Daenerys taking the family leaders to the dragons was one of her best scenes this season.

Jorah and Tyrion's scene passing through the ruins of ancient Valyria was great. I like that Tyrion finally saw a dragon with his own eyes when Drogon flew overhead but I do wish he had also made some remark about it.

Was that a poem that Tyrion was reciting and Jorah finished?

I think it has to do with the possibility of him working for another known family either above or below their status and on the wall no one will see his failure son. His father was a great warrior, and Sam embarrasses him, he does not care what Sam wanted just saving his face.

I think Sam's dad wanted him to Sam to die so that the other son could be the oldest living male heir.

Sam has no claim once he was sworn in as a member of the Night's Watch, so he doesn't have to die for Randall Tarly's next son to inherit his lands and title.

Yet another good episode to me.

- Stannis vs. Bolton is really being set up extremely well in this episode. There are lots of pieces to this puzzle that are being set in place to deliver in the future. Melisandre lurking in the background, Davos establishing a little reasonable doubt, Bolton bracing for impact, Shireen's humanity and vulnerability, Sansa stuck in an increasingly awful situation, Brienne in there as a wild card, the hint that the peasants of the North aren't as powerless or beaten down as it seems, winter bearing down. I'm really interested to see where they take this.
- I really liked Dany demonstrating a bit of spine in this episode. I've been waiting for that since she got to Mereen.
- Stone Men and Valyria... I'm really glad that they put it in the show. It gives the world more texture and background. Drogon flying overhead with the unrealistically huge ruins of former grandeur: proper Conan / Joe Abercrombie low fantasy stuff there. This show is like a gateway drug to people who would never watch that kind of stuff.
- Jorah getting greyscale is very interesting.
- It must be said that the digital work on this show this year has been outstanding. Hollywood quality.
- Jon's scenes were all pretty good in this episode. He's still probably my least favorite of the main characters but the scenes with Ollie and Tormund were well scripted and acted. Credit where credit is due, this story is going places.
- The Ramsay / Reek dinner scene was really weird and didn't really work for me. The scene had a comic and sick tone that wasn't consistant or believable to me. I really don't know why Roose tolerates that psychopath of a son. Roose is a ruthless bastard but he isn't crazy. Roose knows he's hardly in a secure spot and yet he embraces an unstable person who dramatically increases his risk. I don't get it.

One spoilerish comment:

Well they are really pushing the angle that Ramsay is Roose's son (That he wasn't going to throw him into the river, because that was his son). So maybe he lets Ramsay be his own person, because maybe he feels guilty about Ramsay's circumstances.

I was one of the guys who watched the screeners, so I was happy to finally get to watch a live episode again and move forward with the story.

This season has been excellent so far, and I thought this was among the best episodes of the season. I'm absolutely loving all of the storylines right now, especially Jon Snow and the Wildlings, Stannis camped in Castle Black, and Sansa and the Boltons in Winterfell. Lots of good stuff happening in the North. I'm curious to see if Snow's plan will pay off. I've really enjoyed Snow's interactions with Stannis these last few eps, and their mutual respect for one another.

Loved Roose's speech to Ramsey as a parallel to Stannis with his daughter last episode. Hilarious how matter-of-factly he describes raping a woman under the hanging corpse of her husband, and what a great guy he was for taking in Ramsey instead of whipping his mother and killing the child.

And Sansa, man. She seems cool and collected here for the most part, but I'd love to know what she's thinking/planning, especially as far as discovering Reek. I don't recall if Sansa heard of her young brothers death before, or if she knows they are actually alive?

Everything else this episode was great as well. Tyrion witnessing a dragon for the first time. The stonemen. And Dany still trying to get her footing as a ruler. I'm glad Grey Worm survived last week's fight.

How would she know that Bran and Rikkon are alive? Theon and the Bolton's know but we don't know that any told her.

do the Boltons know? That all happened a long time ago, I can't recall...

every Ramsay scene has a comic and sick tone.

Yeah, remember they sent Locke to kill Bran. Hodor won. Hodor.

I can not understand why Dany felt she needed to marry one of the heads of Family... I am not sure why they are staying at Mereen, I thought that they just wanted more soldiers so that she could move on to acquire the Iron Throne of the Lannisters?
There is a whole lot more I am not sure of but I figured I would start off slow. Thanks.