lwhy?

Except for Oberyn and the one cute sand snake who got naked, everything about Dorne in the tv version has been terrible. I can't believe Doran and Areo Hotah went out like that on the show.

My favorite moment tonight was when Brienne rescued Sansa. I actually clapped.

Osiris3657

He was not on the boat. He was at home in Dorne. The Sand Snakes are part of the royal family, I'm sure they have access to all parts of Sunspear (the castle that House Martell rules from).

Osiris3657

Agreed, that was unexpected and disappointing. Really wondering what their fates will be in the books.

mwbmis

That made me happy too. When they got caught I was thinking that I don't that I could take another season of Ramsey terrorizing Sansa and Theon.

johnnysd

Dorne is tiresome and pointless so far in the books.

lwhy?

The Dorne characters were much better written than they are on the show and I think they really messed up by not bringing Arianne to the television show.

bluetoast

I'm wondering what reason Trystane was given for going back to Dorne (since last season he was supposedly with Jamie et al. on the way to Westeros), or if he even knew Marcella was dead. But since his own guards were against them, he'd probably be in the dark.

dave-o

I think he was on a boat. I am confused as to why he was taking a separate boat than his betrothed, but that's how I took it...

bluetoast

Yeah - thinking again, it definitely was on a boat. Plus, otherwise Doran would know that he was back, which would obviously arouse his suspicion. But I agree, traveling separately was weird.

Defiant1

Uh no. The establishing shot shows a boat in Blackwater Bay and the interior set is clearly a cabin interior below deck. The sound design of waves coming up against the creaking hull and sea birds completes things.

dave94

I think he was still on the same boat, sitting in the bay. He was making "eye rocks" for Marcella.

zuffy

Yup. I thought some shadow was gonna come out but nope.

Baron Of Hell

I really liked the episode but it ended to soon. I guess things need to be setup.

Why So Blu?

I thought it was a great season opener. I told y'all that bitch was a witch. She was foolin' y'all!


That mother/daughter death team is fine as fuck, though.

slop101

What are you talking about? There was progression on every storyline, and it was all really well done too - sure, not much action, but this show really only has about one or two action scenes per episode anyways.

hdtv00

He's probably just a walking dead fan and wouldn't know good story if it put a spear through his head haha. I liked it.

Why So Blu?

Looking forward to seeing Franken-Mountain tear shit up next week. At least that's what I get from the preview.

windom

Will they finally show the iron throne again this season?

chowderhead

nice to have the show back. Hopefully, this ends the Dorne storyline and they can do their own thing off screen like the Ironborn storyline. Brienne and Podrick coming to the rescue was the best thing tonight.

Baron Of Hell

I'm pretty sure Dorne just declared war with the Lannisters. I bet at least one third of the show will deal with Dorne.

DaveyJoe

Yes, Osiris is correct, although there is some massive confusion going on. Doran is technically the Prince of Dorne. He is the sickly ruler of Dorne who was murdered in the Water Gardens, back in Dorne where he likes to chill. His son, Trystane, is the one who took the spear to the face on a boat.

Overall I thought this was one of the best season premiers of the show, up there with Two Swords and Winter is Coming. It did a great job covering all of the cliffhangers from season five, and was surprisingly well paced, yet dense, packing a lot of narrative progression in an hour that is normally reserved for catching the audience up. Moments at the Wall, and outside of Winterfell were extremely suspenseful, and the show revealed a groundbreaking secret regarding Melisandre that was only teased by the books.

My only complaint is the handling of Dorne. Prince Doran is teased as a cunning player of the game similar to Tywin Lannister in his patience and pragmatism in the books, and Alexander Siddig's performance was the only redeeming quality of this storyline in season 5. Yet he's unceremoniously dispatched here in the premier, dispensing of such potential and raising the question of whether or not the showrunners know what to do with this storyline.

Brienne, once again, is used as a deus ex machina and seems incapable of carrying her own storyline, but conveniently tying up loose ends for more compelling characters. As good as the escape scene with Sansa and Theon was, Brienne's rescue was so forced that it almost undermined the suspense building up to it. I really hope the writers find a purpose for this character in the show or just get rid of her entirely, because she's one of the few elements of the show that feels like a repeatedly abused cliche. Otherwise, the season premier was excellent, and I'm very excited for this season.

Josh-da-man

Doran was basically Ned Stark, a decent, moral leader who ends up getting betrayed and killed by someone who doesn't follow the rules.

I was hopinh he would be portrayed as someone who is physically incapacitated, and relied on his wits and saavy to rule.

Not many Lannisters left for for Ellaria Sand to go to war with. Kevan better watch his back. Fortunately he has the ability to fade into the background and not be noticed.

Josh-da-man

And we finally got a full frontal shot of Melisandre's bush.





Seven hells, I hope that was Carice van Houten in a body suit.

coli

Love the Season Premiere, as the show never disappoints. It is amazing but its one of the few shows to keep up consistency in quality throughout its run.

And I actually sympathy for Cersei and hope she gets revenge.

JCWBobC

Sling TV's HBO feed kept cutting out and HBO Now just kept looping to the sign up page so we missed most of the episode but it seems to be working this morning.