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I think I figured out the purpose of the Arya scenes -- it's like a commercial break, you can go to the bathroom or get a snack. Rickon's actor has doubled in size. Tyrion's dialog with Missandei and Grey Worm was painfully bad. i realize it was supposed to be awkward, but it was so poorly written. Bet a friend of mine who was really excited about the Tower of Joy that it'd be a tease. He now owes me a beer. That reveal isn't coming this soon. Hello, Kit Harrington's butt. I'll be in my bunk.

I'm not convinced Davina is gone for good either. Someone somehow somewhere will put the pieces back together and she'll come back, seeking vengeance because that's what you do.

The show skipped the story of the Knight of the Laughing Tree. I lean towards the theory that it was Lyanna in disguise and that when Aerys ordered everyone to unmask the KotLT, Rhaegar succeeded. They conversed, and he let her go. My guess is they made a more meaningful connection then, rather than he just picked her for the Queen of Love and Beauty laurel because she was pretty. Who knows, Rhaegar was obsessed with the PtwP prophecy, maybe during their conversation he thought she fit an interpretation of that prophecy as the appropriate mother for his 3rd child, It's speculation though, and I doubt we'll see that much detail in the Bran-o-Vision. It'd have to be a montage almost like the Penseive flashback of Snape falling in love with Lilly in the last Harry Potter movie.

Tywin had a strong reputation with the folks of Kings Landing already, and it was not good. They still hated him for sacking the city at the end of Robert's Rebellion. Even before that when he was Aerys's Hand, they didn't love him. They respected his abilities, but he wasn't popular. Moreover, he didn't care.

Think of it this way: The Inhuman experiment was a Kree government program. After a few years of trying, the Kree Department of Defense probably wanted to end the program because they weren’t getting the results they wanted – soldiers with random unpredictable abilities, Hive, etc. Unfortunately, some Kree defense contractors with deep pockets were already invested in it, and funneled a lot of campaign contributions to their Kree congressmen to keep the project funded despite it having no actual value. Eventually, those Kreengressmen lost reelection, and when their opponents took control of the government, they shut down the program. Everyone was embarrassed that they wasted so much time and effort on this unsuccessful experiment that they abandoned it without adequate clean-up. “Yeah, don’t worry about finding the diviners that are scattered over the planet. The odds of modified humans finding them are pretty low. And leave a beacon they can use to summon a couple of frozen reapers in case Hive shows up. That’s enough, right? When is my tee-time this afternoon?”

I’m not a fan of the A=J=T theory. One of the pieces of evidence people always cite for it is Tywin’s “you’re no son of mine!” statement. Taking that as literal ignores another highly emotional scene between Tywin and Tyrion, back in GoT / S1: At the end of the war council when Tywin sends Tyrion to Kings Landing to be acting hand, Tyrion was flabbergasted. “Why me? Why not my uncle, or anyone else?” “Because you’re my son.” I guess you could say that Tywin was manipulating Tyrion by appealing to a father/son relationship that he knew was false, but I don’t buy it.

I can understand why Coulson wouldn't want to use Lash. Two reasons: 1., what if Hive could take control of Lash? and 2. even if Lash beats Hive, how are they going to recapture him? He only got captured this time because Blair Underwood turned himself in. Of course, that's head-canon. It'd be nice if they said that on the show if they're not going to use him. Which makes me think that they are going to use him and aren't addressing it now so it'll be a surprise.

I loved that scene. Littlefinger tells the story of the tournament at Harrenhal, Sansa says "Then he kidnapped her and raped her" and Littlefinger gives her the biggest side-eye. Aiden Gillen conveyed "That's what you think happened? No one ever told you the real story? Hmm" with one look.

I think I'd like to see that. It would make for an interesting story about competing philosophies instead of the standard SHIELD = good because Villain (HYDRA, Afterlife, Hive) = bad.

Just out of curiousity, what's the origin of "Drath Daisy"? Sort-of "Darth" but less threatening and sillier?

Lol, that was exactly what I was coming here to post! I was wondering what kind of tie-in they'd have. Apparently none. Daisy still having Kree blood in her system after two years is rather stupid. But overall, I liked the episode, especially with Lincoln's sacrifice for lurve being futile. I really don't know why they thought shooting Hive would be effective. Didn't Simmons mention that she'd already shot him? Where were the flame throwers? Insecticide sprayers? Something more effective than bullets.

One interpretation of the Lightbringer prophecy is that it is a metaphor for the dragons. Dany "forged" them in the fire of Drogo's funeral pyre. Another alternative is Tyrion's (and Marywn's) opinions of prophecy: "Prophecy is like a half-trained mule. It looks as though it might be useful, but the moment you trust in it, it kicks you in the head".

Pretty sure they're giving Vic's plotline to Yara. Since she's not currently freezing her butt off with Stannis's snowed in army like in the books, it'll give her something to do and eliminate having to cast another actor. I thought that was supposed to be young Brandon, and wondered why he was considerably older than the other kids. Being young Rodrik makes much more sense. Regarding Theon: I didn't think he was afraid of his inevitable execution by Jon if he went to the wall. He said he was planning on taking Sansa all the way there, but now that she's got Brienne and Pod, he has an opportunity to make some restitution for his crimes. He's now got a chance to do something good before dying.

Jake Lloyd the Second. I hope he dies soon. Or just stays offscreen, that'll work for me. For one thing, she might not know that Sansa knows the Hound. Sandor buggered off in S02E09. Brienne didn't get to Kings Landing until the end of season 3. Brienne might have skipped his name because she thought that Sansa might know him by repute only, and would be scared that Arya was with him. Ironically, she'd probably feel good that Arya had him protecting her. For another

When Tyrion unchained the dragons, did they just slink back into their dungeon? Didn't he just give a speech about how they need to range over hundreds of miles? I guess they have a back door out of there or something? Damn the High Sparrow for making me side with Cercei. I really don't want Tommen to become her padawan learner, though I wouldn't mind seeing him send a few squadrons of well armed knights and foot soldiers to deal with the sparrows.

How lucky is Carise Van Houten, she gets to rub her hands all over Kit Harrington's chest. Repeatedly. "Oh, I flubbed that up, can we do another take?" I thought we'd find out how Hodor became Hodorized. That was a nice little "here's what Bran has been doing while absent last season, learning to see the past and growing another foot taller." Dialog in Meereen was a little too... not good. "If I ever have another good idea, punch me in the face". I groaned. Ramsey resolved his inheritance a lot faster than I thought he would. Farewell, Roose and Walda and animatronic baby.

In keeping with the adage, "the opposite of love isn't hate; it's indifference" I was playing Sudoku throughout Cami's death throws. Didn't care, didn't care. I was mildly amused at how much sunshine they were blowing up her ass about how wonderful she was and how much she helped Klaus, etc., but I could chalk that up to just being nice to the dying person. At one point when Kol was trying to stop Davina from going after Lucien, he grabbed her and she gave him a magical shove. Inside the bar where no magic works. Or were the petulant ancestors successful in breaking that?

The show runners have a habit of compressing and flattening characters / story lines in order to fit TV, not have to have a cast of thousands, etc. Sometimes it works (Dany's multiple political troubles with neighbors and Meereen's citizens became a simple armed insurrection), sometimes it doesn't (I'm looking at you, Loras). I think that's what they're doing with Dorne. In the books, we've got (f)Aegon, Jon Connington, and the Golden Company invading the Stormlands. Jon Con wants to get Dorne on his side. Basically, its another military threat for the Lannisters to have to deal with. Since the show excised (f)Aegon entirely, they might have compressed the threat into "Dorne attacks". And instead of "complex political and military maneuvering in an attempt to win allies and seat a Targaryen (who might be an imposter) on the Iron Throne", they flattened it into "Revenge!!!!" Whether this works or not is up to the viewer to determine. (Hint: It won't)

Fitz was also conspicuously holding a duffle bag of some sort that he did not have at the club. What's in it? Did he steal a bunch of stuff from Dr. Frankenstein? (I forget the character's name. The actor looked really familiar though).

I'm glad May called out Coulson on his fixation on Daisy. "Don't hurt Daisy, who is already infected by Hive and under his control! But if there's the slightest sign that Lincoln is being controlled, smear him over the sidewalk with this explosive vest." Lincoln should have punched him in the groin. So Hive stimulates the Inhumans' dopamine levels, presumably like cocaine? So next year we'll not only get Daisy PTSDing, we'll get her going through drug withdrawals. Fantastic.

I'm hoping that a package arrives in KL with the following note attached: To: Tommen, First of his name, etc. From: Anders Yronwood, Warden of the Stoneway We have taken control of Sunspear, and summoned Arianne Dayne nee Martell (2nd cousin once removed from Doran Martell) from her home at Starfall in order to take up governance of Dorne. Enclosed please find 4 severed heads. We apologize for any inconvenience. Sincerely, Various Non-Insane Lords in Dorne PS: Please omit us from future plotlines as Show!Dorne is the worst. Pod left KL after the Purple Wedding but before Tyrion killed Tywin and fled. Sansa had been living in the Vale during this timeframe, so she probably got the news of Tyrion's fate already. She might ask Pod what he's been up to since Tyrion's arrest.

The staging was unclear, but what I think happened was: 1. Davos spotted Jon lying in the snow. 2. Davos, Edd, and some extras grabbed Jon and hustled him inside, noting the "TRAITOR" sign. 3. Inside, Edd checked for vitals, and realized that Jon was dead. 4. Everyone In the room realized that they were in the middle of a coup, and as Jon-loyalists, they were probably marked for death already, and needed to defend themselves. Edd got Ghost, 5. They got vengeful, and Davos convinced them to get Tormond and friends to help with the vengeance. So basically they weren't defending Jon's body. Circumstances just put them locked up in a room with Jon's body.

Regarding burning Dany's fleet -- that was to deal with a self-inflicted plot hole from season 4. After Dany and the Unsullied took Meereen, Daario casually mentioned that they'd captured the Meereenese fleet. People asked "she's got a fleet and an army, why the hell isn't she sailing to Westeros already?" They had to contrive some silly rationales for her staying, like "How can I rule 7 kingdoms if I can't rule a city?" (Nevermind that she can't rule the city because of fundamental cultural differences.) Now, if she gets back to Meereen, she can't sail because she has no fleet.

Only death can pay for life. I'm hoping if Jon resurrects on the funeral pyre in a parallel to Dany's Mother of Dragons moment, that Ollie will be filling the role of Mirri Maaz Dhur. I'm afraid it might be Ghost though. I thought it was weird that a group of NW were guarding Jon's body trying to keep it from Thorne. None of them know that Jon is going to be brought back to life, so it seemed odd. I then fan-wanked that they weren't guarding his body, they were just gathered in a room where Jon's body happened to be. By grabbing Jon's body (maybe they initially hoped he was only injured) they've self-identified as "loyal to Jon" so Alliser wants to kill them. No one ever said it, but I'm guessing that these were the survivors of Hardhome.

Aliser Thorne's speech to the remaining NW guys was well delivered. Too bad he admitted just how stupid his plan was. "Jon Snow let the Wildlings through, let them settle on the lands that they'd been raiding. He was going to destroy the Night's Watch!" Umm, that ship has already sailed, dumbass. If you wanted to stop him from letting the Wildlings through, perhaps you should have done that before he let the Wildlings through. Sometime in the next couple of episodes they're going to kick your asses.