Alayne Stone

Let's be honest with ourselves here, guys. The Jon Snow of the show was very naïve this season. His actions in episode 9 were not that of a meticulous and thoughtful leader. They were one of a brash, emotional and reckless leader. Ramsey played him like a fiddle during the Battle of the Bastards. Sophie Turner is not wrong in doubting his ability to rule. Of course the Jon Snow of the show is very different than the Jon Snow of the books who is thoughtful (almost to a damn fault at times) and is constantly shown weighing all his options before making a decision. Hell, even the Jon Snow of the show pre season 6 showed more of an aptitude for listening to other people and meticulously forming a plan and actually sticking to it without letting his emotions get the better of him. That being said ... Sophie Turner is still a troll. I would take anything she says with a grain of salt as she spent seasons 3-5 promising that Sansa was going to learn how to manipulate people and play the game of thrones and that amounted to her getting sold off to the Boltons and raped. I'm sure the still will still dredge up unnecessary tension between Jon and Sansa for the sake of more unnecessary drama between any group of siblings who aren't the actual siblings that should have tension between them (hint: their sigil is a lion) rather than, oh, I don't know ... maybe focusing on the actual battle that is going to close this series out. And guys, let's also not forget whose story forced everyone else's storylines to be sacrificed in season 5. It wasn't Sansa's storyline they were so hell bent on telling. It was Ramsey's. ;)

Also one final LOL at Dornish sails being evident in Dany's armada. It's almost as if D&D forgot that the Dornish don't have any sort of naval fleet whatsoever after Nymeria burned her ships, oh wait ...

The good: TOJ pt 2 finally pays off and it was perfect. The music was stunning. The final shot was beautifully rendered. The bad: Everything else. Reappropriated book dialog just feels like deliberate trolling. I wanted to vomit in my mouth after hearing "Vengeance. Justice. Fire and Blood." While the directing and cinematography in King's Landing (mostly due to that absolutely stunning musical track) was beautiful but good lord did it take FOREVER and by the end of it all I was just screaming at my screen for Cersei to blow the thing up already and be done with it. I don't know how the North went from being my favorite storyline to my least favorite by the end of it all. And that's really the weird thing with this show. It's characterizations are just all over the map. Sansa is ruined for me and that King in the North scene was supposed to be powerful and yet it fell utterly flat for me because it felt unearned especially with everything Lyanna claimed Jon did was actually accomplished by Sansa (and unwittingly, Arya with her Frey pie). Sansa and Jon feel so unlike Sansa and Jon now. And ironically, Cersei has not felt so close to her book counterpart since season 1 and Jaime since season 3. So now I'm oddly excited for finally seeing those two have their falling apart. Wishes for next season: I truly, truly hope the creators just do us all a favor and have Dany execute Ellaria and the Sand Snakes the moment she lands in Westeros. Please, just get rid of them. No one likes them and they were a horrible addition to the show. I'd love to see Jaime have to kill Cersei to prevent her from blowing up the rest of the city, succeed in doing so, and then have Dany fly in and accidentally do the deed herself. I'd love to get Jaime's "oh shit" moment just as the wildfire goes off, and then to see Dany's horror as she's soaring above the burning city. Dat wall needs to come down. Kind of a missed opportunity in an episode called The Winds of Winter. Regarding show Arya: The show definitely knows she is going down a dark path. They even mention this in the Inside the Episode. We are told explicitly that we should be worried for her. The sad thing is that the show is built on such a narrative that glorifies violence and vengeance that the fandom on a whole just does. not. get. it. Everything I'm seeing all over tumblr and facebook is praise and cheering for Arya. Nevermind the fact that she's one of the darkest characters on the show.

All I will say about that smile at the end is something I actually read from someone else, which is essentially that Cersei Lannister has officially won in the sense that Sansa has turned into the thing Cersei always said she would. The Sansa of the books did not take any joy in the suffering of even her worst enemies. She might have imagined a painful death for Joffrey at one point but when the actual deed occurred it ended up haunting her after the fact. The Sansa of the books, at least up to this point, has not succumbed to the ills those around her. She has remained a better person for it. That being said, book Sansa and show Sansa are not the same person. I've never felt that so emphatically as I have this season and consequently I have had less and less to say about the show as time has gone on. I don't find the show's version of the characters the least bit compelling. That's just me and I wholly acknowledge that this is one woman's opinion, but there you go. Anyone who has grown bored with the show's ceaseless exploration of the theme of vengeance is going to find this episode to be sadly underwhelming despite some very impressive visuals. But then the show's strong point has always been anything relating to its visual affects. Still, just because something is shinny and pretty doesn't mean there's anything of actual substance underneath.

In the books Benjen and Coldhands are two different people, so no ... he doesn't count. There's also Berric Dondarion and of course some people who believe Euron and Melissandre might be undead (I tend to agree with the latter). So no ... not all Starks. And yes, I highly recommend reading the books. Funny story: When I saw Toby again, I knew it was Edmure, but I was still having very negative Black Jack Randall flashbacks too. ;)

GRRM just read a new Winds chapter yesterday that has never been read before and BOY IS IT A DOOZY. Probably the most "action" filled chapter yet. The POV is:

Kind of an underwhelming episode for me. I have 0 interest in King's Landing at this point. It doesn't even enrage me anymore, which would at least provide some sort of sick entertainment for me. Dany's speech on Drogon might have been more impressive if a.) it didn't feel so overshadowed by the finale of episode 4 and b.) if I didn't know this was the reason all the direwolves were being killed off. Frankly ... I think seeing Dany riding Drogon would have been more impactful if they had waited to do it when her army returns to Meereen. The Dothraki had already pledged themselves to her. This just felt repetitive. I knew either Benjen or Coldhands would show up to save Meera and Bran, but I was not expecting a hybrid of the two. As always, the scene I was most interested in didn't feel long enough. Bran's flashes were wonderfully shot and edited and I hope we get more glimpses of them. I have a feeling they'll be using Bran to show us some of the stuff from the House of the Undying that was left out. Arya's stuff felt flat to me as well but at least they kept her character's name this time. I guess that's something. Not an awful episode but not a great one either.

I'm more amused by episode 9 possibly being called "The Battle of the Bastards" since that name and Bastard Bowl were troll titles for that battle going around the internet ever since the battle spoilers leaked. I wouldn't worry about Arya leaving in ep 8. If Littlefinger can teleport from the Vale all the way to Castle Black in the span of one episode, Arya can teleport over an ocean in an episode too if the plot demands it. If Ep 10 is really titled The Winds of Winter then I think it's a safe bet to suggest dat wall is finally coming down.

The show throws logic out the door all the time. Bran's arm was marked despite the Night's King only touching his sleeve. I guess we'll see one way or another soon. I'm more curious to find out who is going to come to Bran's rescue now because he and Meera aren't getting very far on their own.

Hey! Like Mya Stone said, Hodor's death has not happened in the book yet, but the creators confirmed that some form of it will occur in an upcoming book based on what GRRM said. From the way it sounds, "Hodor" does derive from "Hold the Door" but GRRM said the context would be very different. My guess is that Bran and co. will not actually be attacked at the cave by the Others because as it is going in the books so far it seems like Bran is going to be stuck under that tree for a very long time and some of us even believe he will never even leave the cave, period. As for what is in that tower ... the only thing we know for certain is that the Tower of Joy is where Lyanna Stark dies. After defeating the members of the Kingsguard outside the tower, he finds his sister in a "bed of blood." The implications for what that means is possibly one of the biggest revelations of the series involving a certain bastard with uncertain parentage that most people who read the book series generally prescribe to. Hope that helps. :)

Anyone else think Bran will be the reason the wall falls now that the Night's King has marked him and can get to anywhere he goes now?

People are going to see in Sansa and Jon what they choose to see, especially those who have a tendency to want to ship any and everything under the sun. The reunion was a very touching scene that even my cold, hard, book-snob heart could appreciate even if Jon's general motivations are completely off key and absurd at this point (he knows what is at stake; he saw the army of the dead). But the acting was on point and it was nice to, for once, have a nice moment in the show. I'm not even going to touch on the comments made about Sansa being a "snotty bitch" upthread where Tyrion is concerned. She was forced to marry a man she did not want and did not owe him anything. End of story. This was probably the best episode this season so far but as with any good I manage to find in this show, it's often tainted by strange motivations and questionable storytelling devises. I was certainly pleasantly surprised to see Daenerys save herself for once. I think we were all expecting Drogon to turn up and save her in the end but at the same time ... I don't know what the purpose of Dario and Jorah were when this plan really did not need them. It would have made for a far more powerful moment (not to mention an, I don't know, empowering feminist moment - which is clearly what their whole "Womenz on Top!" tagline from EW is going for) if the dosh Khaleen in the show had not been stripped of their power and if they had somehow been convinced to help Daenerys. But whatever. I guess we take what we can get at this point. Last thoughts ... Brienne and Tormund ... the ship I never knew I wanted, but apparently I did.

IIRC actors won't appear in the credits unless they actually appear in that episode, which would explain why Aidan, John and Hannah have yet to appear.

BR is Brynden Rivers AKA one of the Great Targaryen Bastards AKA the Three Eyed Crow (or Raven in the show) AKA Bran's current "mentor" in the weirwood cave. :) GrailKing: Oh I have been all over the r+l=j theories for years now and I'm well aware of the significance of winter roses. I can't imagine unsullied would have any reason to understand their significance unfortunately, but those little easter eggs the creators leave in the show (blue roses in the stained glass windows, Sansa's dress, etc.) are always fun for us book readers to spot.