[Completely Unspoiled Speculation Thread]

If Sam hasn't told Jon about Bran yet, WTH????  I guess I just think Sam is too smart to skip over important info like that.  I think it just happened offscreen.

Oh, I can think of a reason Sam would keep that under his hat for as long as he could.  If he tells Jon Snow, "hey, I saw Bran, headed North of the Wall.  Don't worry, I'm sure he'll be fine.  By himself, with only two dodgy strangers for company and that giant fellow of few, actually only one, word.  How's that arrow wound healing?" 

So I'm assuming Sam actually didn't tell him so that he didn't have to deal with Jon's promptly deserting while bleeding, or in the midst of his trial by Jackass featuring Thorne.  

I don't know, Pallas, I just don't agree.  She described Robert as being handsome or magnificent or something and how he was the hero of the rebellion, and whereas Gendry, who apparently looks enough like Robert that Ned was able to figure out who he was, while handsome isn't a GQ model.  I mean, he's a very handsome guy, but we did meet Robert.  That man wasn't beautiful at any point.  

Plus a true Narcissist wouldn't live for her children in the way Cersie has done  I'll give you emotionally warped, probably a goodly dose of superficial ad self-involved, but I remember when Joffrey was scarred by the Butcher's boy , she was decidedly not freaked out by that.  She told him that he would tell everyone it was some glorious battle wound and that the truth was whatever he wanted it to be, because he was going to be King.  

ETA: Thank you for your help, mad typist! 

[Completely Unspoiled Speculation Thread]

Hi anyway  you could remove those posts, please?  I actually didn't read them, but someone's going to.  

[Small Talk: Crossroads Inn]

I've totally got you now, IndependentGeorge, you're talking about posting a link here, perhaps in a dedicated thread, that would lead posters or readers to the first post after an episode in the Unspoiled Speculation thread.  That way the "my, that's a big ass thread.  The backside of that thread, she is broad and wide and...holy crap with all the words, I give up and runaway" problem of the aforementioned big thread would be minimized. 

People could just choose the "Hyperlink for episode two (which would actually be whatever fully deranged thing one of us said right afterward, quoted)" and go right to the first post of interest to them if they were looking for Unspoiled commentary and speculation on a particular episode.  Right? 

You are a splendid human, Sir.  What a great idea.  Let's run it by the mods here.  

Thank you so much, IndependentGeorge! 

ETA: Also in unrelated matter?  I apologize that I am so often missing a letter, my keyboard is old and fed up with how wordy I am, so it has a few issues.  

[Putting The Hi In Hieroglyphics]

Glad to help, marina to, but don't resign yourself too quickly.  I don't think that's what having various threads means.  I think we'll still be able to go off on silly tangents and goofy talk of ships, we'll just have more places to do that, from everything I can see.  It absolutely doesn't look like a policy in place to limit fun, just one to make sure as many people as possible get to join in :-) 

We will once again be daft as a group, I can feel it!  We're too good at it to let that tradition die.  We'll just do it in shorter threads :-) 

[Small Talk: Crossroads Inn]

Hi Independent George :-)  A hyperlink that leads to the Westeros board?  Although it's kind of you to offer, that wouldn't work for the Unspoiled thread.  Most of us wouldn't go over there just to be on the super-safe side.  

Am I misunderstanding the purpose of a hyperlink?  What would it do and where would it lead?  If it leads somewhere offsite that would be problematic for us.  We try to stick to one thread to try and keep a) the heinous task of trying to mod for us to a bare minimum of head-pain and b) the number of ways we can inadvertently be spoiled to a bare minimum also. 

I really appreciate all offers of help, and how great you all are to us.  I know we all do, but I may be misunderstanding what a hpyerlink would do.  If it would lead offsite, it unfortunately won't work for us, but thank you so much for thinking about us.  It really is greatly appreciated.  

[Completely Unspoiled Speculation Thread]

So one other thing about the "Holy crow, that's the backstory there?" thing with the Martells of Dorne is this: what the hell was with that pathetic greeting party then?  I mean, it was bad enough for "Oh, don't sweat them.  That's just the ruling family of Dorne, the one that has the King's sister.  Nothing to fret over.  Make some Jiffy pop and inflate the airpumped mattress.  They'll be fine of the floor."  and having just that group of three, misfits all of them, standing randomly at a tree, but at least Tywin usually seems to have a hair more sense than that and Tyrion definitely does.  

The Martells have Myrcella in their custody.  To say there is bad blood between the two families turns out to be both literal and a honkin' screamin' understatement of sort of epic proportions.  Many may moons ago I was a camp counselor and we put on a bigger show for a visiting camp and by that I mean, there were dreamsicles, hotdogs and a singalong.  So, what gives?  

I get that women just aren't given much value by their families, but good gravy.  We're they trying to offend the living hell out of the Martells? I've seen more formal greetings and efforts made by drivers collecting people at the airport.  Seriously, that's what it reminded me of more than anything.  A guy in a limo driver suit, standing around with a sign , looking bored and waiting for his assignment to show. I'm sure it's just budgetary or set design or something, but why the hell is the fourth tree to the left of the moss covered stump the place where you waylay visitors to the capital?  

Do they not like Myrcella, for goodness sake?  You'd think Cersei would have pitched the "They have my baby girl" fit to end all fits.  

[Completely Unspoiled Speculation Thread]

So the guy with the zombie hand was there at the Council and there was no explanation??

He was sitting there at Jon's tribunal at the Wall (or whatever the hell that panel of Grim goes by).  Just like, "Hey, I've been here the whole time. Yo." 

Like Nikki and Paolo on Lost...only nowhere near as gorgeous. 

[Completely Unspoiled Speculation Thread]

Oh before I forget again, the moment that got the biggest, "Wait, what the hell?  Are they just going to pretend that never happened?!?" deal was when Thorne was just sitting there at the Wall, all sneery and jackassy and astoundingly physical present with no damned explanation. 

What the hell, show?  You sent that dude off to King's Landing at the end of the first season, with a hand of the undead army.  

Would have been nice to have it mentioned how that freaking went rather than just having him sitting there, being an super-jackass to Jon Snow for still no discernible reason.  Kind of a lot has occurred since Thorne had his pissing matching with a Sixteen-Year-Old Jon Snow, so you'd think Old Crusty Thorne would have gotten the hell over his beef with Jon. 

Also, the freaking Dreadfort was in the credits.  More Bolton, that Bastard and Whittled Theon to come, I take it. 

[Completely Unspoiled Speculation Thread]

Well and I think Tyrion appears to understand that at long last (that he needs Shae to leave or else she will actually die) because he was pointedly not answering her about leaving.  

I don't think it has anything to do with no longer loving Shae.  I think Tyrion just has a pretty good handle on what the stakes are here.  Poor Shae, I know she's a pain, but really the gig is that she dearly and sincerely loves Tyrion, which is precisely why she's doomed if she doesn't get the hell out of Dodge.  

Nymeria, thank you again for all the work you're doing.  You have no need to apologize at all.  It's been three full seasons now and there are things like Dondarion (that's his name, right, dude with the flaming sword?) having been named dropped two full seasons before we met him and his eye patch. 

I haven't been on team Kill Someone Already Arya! But I like the way it happened.  She didn't kill someone just to be fully blood thirsty, which was my fear for her last season when she went after the soldiers at the campfire.  She was really deliberate in letting the guy on the ground know what had brought about his specific end.  He made mention of how torture just got sort of ...boring (Good grief) and so when Arya killed him, he didn't initially recognize his own words.  She really has become some kind of avenging angel. 

Okay, so one of the things that has semi-fascinated me is that apparently there is no portraiture in the Seven Kingdoms and aside from that one statue of Baelor we saw back when Ned lost his head, I haven't noticed much statuary of people.  So Joffrey's statue stood out a damned mile.  It really is just a super brutal world where the only commemorative art is apparently tied to complete slaughter. 

 

ETA: Oh thank goodness, another lost companion back with us!  Good to see you, ChocButterfly! I'm sorry I couldn't PM everyone, my PM system was full as I tried to round up everyone.  So thanks to everyone that followed the link we left behind.  You weren't being excluded, I just couldn't PM everyone at once.  Which reminds me, I need to go try and round up LevitateMe, keep a fire burning, folks. 

[Small Talk: Crossroads Inn]

I wasn't sure where to put this, but I did just want to say thank you to both David T. Cole and Dougal for working with us on our Unsullied "Our Eyes! Whatever shall we do?!? Who'll pay the rent?!?" crisis last night.  

I know I'm speaking for everyone from the Unsullied (is so weird how we all got used to that nickname, by the by) when I say we were super grateful for the help and willingness to try something different.  Thank you again.

I know you've got a site policy about "no giant threads, because...Giant is big.  Too big.  One might even say gargantuan and it wouldn't be an overstatement."

So if you guys want to lock after a certain number of pages and then do a "Part 2" or whatever will make it less of a "Look, a gajillion words. Many of them silly.  Oh joy."  we'll be so down with that, we will reinvent the concept of gravity.  Sincerely, thank you.  We're kind of a weird group, but  seeing as the internet is one giant GoT spoiler at times, it's so appreciated to have that thread.  

[Putting The Hi In Hieroglyphics]

Thank you very much! That way we're so much less likely to lose the darned thing again.  It's like the car keys of our fandom.  "Now where did I see it last?" 

[Completely Unspoiled Speculation Thread]

Direwolfpup, we've always sort of thought that the timelines -- while appearing to run concurrently -- kind of don't when it comes to Dany's meanderings across the Narrow Sea.  Honestly, she's had time to wander across three different deserts at this point.  Not to mention get married, conceive a child that had time to actually start showing, ect.  Lose said child and husband.  Wander the desert like a figure from the world's most screwed up bible (and man, I've read some of the Old Testament for a class so that's saying something).  Free slaves, conquer one city, sail to some place else, conquer another.  Free a giant ass slave army and now she's on the road to some place where the road signs are just plain old disturbing. 

Dany is now on the trail of some truly gruesome bread crumbs.  So I"m thinking a little more time has passed in Dusty Sometimes Sunnyville than in the 7. 

 

 

Or was there some foreshadowing in her consulting the not!maester?

I almost forgot about that.  It would help explain what in the hell just happened.  They made such a point of talking about Jaime's age (which is kind of a first for an adult character) that menopause might be the gig -- although that happens later in modern times -- but Cersei seemed relatively sober.  Cersei isn't a narcissist precisely and I'm not even sure saying she's self-centered is accurate as much as she cold to the point of being callous. 

Last season it even turned out that she's not entirely insensitive to Sansa's plight, she just thinks that it's about the best Sansa can hope for and Tyrion ought to give her a child to love...since she views Sansa as shit-out-of-luck otherwise.  So it isn't even that she entirely lacks empathy, it's just her starting point for human feelings is warped to the point of perverse on a good day. 

Still, I really didn't quite buy the entire, "You left me alone" stuff, because Cersei, while very self-involved ( I mean, witness who she hooked herself up with) , didn't display any anger towards Jaime throughout.  Just occasional concern and a lot of drunken behavior.  

So she's either ill (cancer of the soul, perhaps?) or she's having the Maester make her ill or incude menopause to get out of having to marry Loras.  

ETA:  I'm also really torn on what it might mean that it was Cersei's spy that spotted Shae.  If it had been someone reporting to Tywin, Shae would die on the way back to Sansa's quarters.  Cersei, however, has enough reason to really be pissed.the.hell.off at Tywin that she might not actually immediately give the information to her father.  But we did just hear the story of why Cersei had such a fit about Myrcella being sent off to Dorne and, to put it mildly, yeah that seems rather warranted in retrospect.  So Cersei might not even come close to hesitating. 

Although, in Cersei's only defense, when she had a hold of Roz, all she had done to her was having her vaguely roughed up a little. 

[Completely Unspoiled Speculation Thread]

I have to admit, I almost started crying when Tywin struck the hilt from Ned's sword.  The infamous wedding actually just ticked me off to no end.  My poor husband had to sit there and listen to me just fuming "Why do I even watch this show?  I wish I'd never started!"  because it just went full blast into "this will upset you, oh yes it will, there will likely be nightmares, you'll get irrationally angry every time you hear a cello for months" .  That scene with Tywin and the sword got to me more than that scene with Rob's body.  

It was so quiet and so utterly awful. The Starks -- as far as Tywin knows -- are destroyed.  Rickon's a little kid and he has to live secretly, Bran's headed into gods-know-what in the hell that is the frozen North, where the best case scenario is he'll find the White Walkers and their Army and the worst case scenario is that he'll find anyone else from those parts, because Jebus Yipes.  

gingerella, there is no PM system here,  The one at TWoP is still functioning and then for anyone who needs it my email address is just my screenname @ yahoo.  I'm usually pretty dogged about finding everyone.  So if you all just want to make a note of that, there's a contact point. 

I really did not like the actor who originally played Daario and since there was seriously no way for me to avoid that "Liam from Nashville is leaving to play Daario" stuff over in that show world , I had plenty of time to prepare myself for "this will be different".  I think it was the right call, overall.  The original actor had such a vaguely slimy, smirky insincere thing going on, it was impossible to take his loyalty to Dany seriously.  Therefore I spent most of my time waiting for him to betray her.  Then worse than that, Dany looked like a chump for trusting him, no matter what he did.  I just couldn't see the appeal. 

The actor playing Daario now pretty much specializes in playing charming, but roguish types.  Unlike other Dude, this guy can pull off "fully sincere, if still prone to lying and cheating when the moment calls for it."  

Okay, I am STILL blown away that that is the backstory with the folks from Dorne.  I know they referenced bad blood between the Dornish people and the Lannister, but way to go for understatement.  Good God.  They killed the would-be queen (she wasn't Dany and Viserys mother, right, she was married to Rhaegar, their brother.  

Holy crap.  When Tyrion played his "find the spy" game with "who gets to marry Myrcella, Tyrion said Myrcella would be safer there than in King's Landing.  I think Tyrion was smoking some fine Seven Kingdoms Weed, because ...oh.my.goodness...you had one of their relatives (who supposed to end up the damned Queen, by the way) split.in.two after being raped.  Poor Myrcella.  Hopefully the Dornish are far more honorable than the Lannisters are, because I thought Sansa had it bad when she had to live at KL during the war. 

It also makes poor Sansa's "Stannis wouldn't let them hurt me" look naive on new and uncharted levels. 

ETA: abelard, yeah, this time wasn't as "Uh...sometimes I feel as if the show is talking sort of directly to us...which I know is beyond unlikely and into absurd...but..."  as what felt like the pigshit-shoutout , but still.  My husband asked "What?" as soon as I started in with "Oh god, no." and I explained, "That's Ned's sword.  I'd recognize that oversized sucker anywhere." 

[Stargate SG-1 Bests and Worsts]

Fair enough, most episodes really did have something close to redemptive about them.  I just couldn't stand billionaire guy and the budget issue was really glaring to me.  Plus, it was sort of re-tread of a story.  

"Someone threatens to expose the Stargate program!" wasn't exactly fresh material by season 8, but I grant you, Daniel in a suit covers all manner of sins.  

[Through the Gate: The Cast in Other Roles]

Dude. that is totally Tony Amendola! He's got some acne scarring and you can actually catch a tiny bit of that on his right cheek.  

Good for him! I bet that gig plays well and it's good to be a working actor! 

[Completely Unspoiled Speculation Thread]

Thanks, janjan, greatly appreciated.  I'm going to suggest that we all be each others champions though, because I can't even throw a decent punch to save my life.  I can, however, marinate Tofu like a pro.  

I'm thinking the bean curd isn't big with the Westeros set though.  Okay, so when Arya and the Hound were rolling up that inn (clopping up to that inn), I swear to God I thought it was going to be where they had left Hotpie last season.  Did we know that joint? Or just some random "stop and have some filth and grunge with your dirt and grime, plus, Ale" place? 

Also, didn't take them long to commission Joffrey's statue, did it?  And Tywin tried to kick Jaime out of the Kingsguard, but he was resisting the boot because he wanted to remain close to Cersei.  I'm bat 0 for Everything at this point.  Me and the big goose egg over here.  

Tofu? 

ETA: Oh and truly, Margaery's rather open "necklace of sparrows heads" seemed really heartfelt.  He does have to be wearing to hang around, you know?  

[Completely Unspoiled Speculation Thread]

Oh man, thank you!  We know about the drumstick problem, David.  That's why we walled up in one thread as it was, because it's been a few years at this point.  

Thank you so much.  We do know that we are troll bait, and I apologize for any difficulty it causes.  Wow, I'm far more relieved by this than you would think would be warranted, 

[Completely Unspoiled Speculation Thread]

No, it didn't have two episode threads. I just scrolled through the names again though.  Most of the posters have read the books.  I'm not trying to be difficult, or unkind to anyone.  There's not a darned thing wrong with having read the books, but the point of the completely unspoiled group is...we literally don't even watch promos.  

I'm sorry if I'm being a pain. I'm not trying to be, I'm just really uncertain what to do.  

[Completely Unspoiled Speculation Thread]

Okay, well thank you for the help.  

[Completely Unspoiled Speculation Thread]

Dougal, we usually discussed the episodes in the Speculation thread too.  Will that not work here?  Book readers still compared what happened in the books to what happened in the episodes even in a non-spoiler atmosphere.  

ETA: Yeah, there's readers in there, I recognize the names of several. 

[Putting The Hi In Hieroglyphics]

I'm sure you could suggest that in the Suggestions area, marina to.  But someone already asked about single threads over there and the answer is in the suggestions area.  I'll grab a link.  ETA: Here you go, Page 2 down past Ari333's question (Sorry , no post numbers available to me) .  The logic behind not having one thread.  I can see his point, it can feel exclusionary to people trying to join a community, vs. maintain an existing one.  I just don't think it will be much of a hassle, just an adjustment. 

Sure, I'd be glad to put the lexicon link somewhere more prominent.  Where would you like it? 

[Completely Unspoiled Speculation Thread]

Shae is jealous of Sansa, which cannot end well for her.

Actually, I think poor Shae is just mad at Tyrion's inattentiveness, which isn't quite the same thing.  Whatever faults Shae has, and she can be incredibly irritating, she doesn't seem to blame Sansa for their plight, at all. 

Sansa earned an "attagirl" from me for taking that necklace. However, she really doesn't have a lot of joy to live for as long as she's in King's Landing.  

[Completely Unspoiled Speculation Thread]

Oh fuck. Cannibals?  On top of incest-as-a-way-of-life (Craster) that included ritualistic infanticide, now we have cannibals with which to contend?  That's where Bran and the Reeds decamped to, by the way?  The side where even the Wildlings, who bathe once every lifetime or so, are grossed out by the tribally scarred cannibals? 

Welcome back, Game of Thrones.  The show no one ever snacks to. 

Also, ,the one thing I knew going into this season was that Dario had been recast with Liam from Nashville.  Welcome change, that. 

We have people from Dorne, Spitballers.  He seems...nice and pissed off.  God, that's who they sent Myrcella too?  The people who believe her grandfather ordered one of their family raped and split in two? Not to mention killing all of her children? Well, almost all, but good gods, no wonder Cersei was pissed off. 

Also, I'm crying a little bit foul on the show.  We've never really had any reason to believe that Cersei cared about physical perfection before.  She was in love with Robert at one point in her life, after all.  So it wasn't Jaime outgrowing Cersei, it was Cersei outgrowing Jaime? Okay, fine.  As long as there is growth away from each other, I'm okay with that. 

Poor Arya has become the god of vengeance, the embodiment of karma and the angel of death all rolled into one.  Be afraid Joffrey.  Be very afraid.  That guy wasn't even on her oft repeated list. 

ETA:  You're likely right about Robert, Pallas.  I was pissed as hell when Tywin took Ned's overly gigantic ass sword from it's scabbard...that was a wolf skin.

[Putting The Hi In Hieroglyphics]

With all that out of the way and with the new rewatch and meet market threads, one general discussion thread should be quite manageable and keep our community together.

But that's not what they're going to do here, marina to.  There isn't going to be one thread so since it's what we're going to be doing, I was just looking for the upside on why it's a good change of pace.  I think we'll get used to it easily and even learn to dig it.  

 

 

And we really need a lexicon thread, pin or something. Anyone have the original link?

Hold on, let me see if I can find it.  Here you go, clicky clicky for Lexicon

[Completely Unspoiled Speculation Thread]

Versus Robert who hunted stag and whose House is flaming out in spectacular fashion.  Which is why I long to see a lion's pelt grace the floor of almost any Lannister's chambers.

When did Robert hunt Stag though? He was killed hunting boar, wasn't he? I'm honestly asking, I don't recall any other hunts and he was hunting boar when he was gored. I always referred to that hunt as The Stomp Hunt, because surreptitious would not be an appropriate word to use for their approach.  I'm surprised the boar didn't have time to lay out a trap worthy of Bond villain, god knows they had enough audible warning.  

Now, I remember the dead Stag and dead Direwolf in the first season, but they hadn't been hunted, they killed each other which is a piece of symbolism that still troubles me and makes me (once again) fear for Rickon and possibly Gendry (although Gendry may yet be saved by his illegitimacy from that seem curse.