Tryangle

This was the impression I got. Because after all, if Tony got the clean sweep, then the argument of 'Greatest Player' automatically must include his name. Thank goodness. Mind you, if not a pity vote, I don't understand it. Wish we had heard her comment when revealing the vote (if she said anything; all we got was a tiny smile from her). I would have expected a Woo vote from Sarah or Jefra, this was from way left field. Dear Lord, please end this fiasco. We do not need Tyler Perry's Survivor next season. Someone hack into Probst's cell phone and delete that number.

Even a one-minute of Sansa constructing her snow castle (maybe with Petyr looking on, maybe fingering his brooch/pin/whatever) could have set the tone for what this episode was about. Luckily, I think the directors realized that they didn't need to expound on the scene for the viewers. Move quickly along, Daario's got the spring in his step, Dany's got a new dress on, and Jorah's got a Le Sigh face.

I was mildly surprised that Tyrion didn't bring it up, most notably that her rape got her pregnant with some bastard child, and was Bronn willing to take on that extra role. I had always assumed the woman whose dress was ripped off in the KL riot scene was meant to be Lollys, but I guess that is just now some forgettable rape victim instead. Agreed. The 1-5 would have been fine, or go back to the 4-1 sequence otherwise. Give the Eyrie some love. That sketch of Daario's conquests vs Jorah's (lack of) was Made. Of. Win. Well done.

Agreed. Looking at how this episode played out, I'd like to think most people got the impression that it was Cersei who was responsible for getting Shae in to testify against Tyrion, and not Tywin at all. (sigh, the internet ate up the rest of my reply and I'm too tired/can't recall it, but it was *AWESOME*)... Basically, I hope the show reveals some kinks in Tywin's armour over the next couple episodes, else any Shae-in-Tywin's bed scene is just going to be weird for all of us.

... and on top of that, we're seeing the other people in Essos speak their own languages (like the goat herder). Fascinating stuff.

Now I must wonder how a battle between Ramsey and Karl would have gone. Wouldn't be one for the purists, for starters.

Mace Tyrell: Gofer. Just cracks me up. The city depictions in the opening credits montage continue to impress. The Braavos one starting with the coin, ending with the Titan, was beautiful. Agreed that the overhead panning from Wall to Braavos was awkward, they could have gone back to the non-rotation pan to Essos, but oh well. Still excited for new city. I took Ramsey's bloodied appearance when confronting Yara as mainly kinky fingernail-raking sex. That said, it's odd seeing that a half-clothed guy can take out armored Ironborn fighters easily enough. The way I saw the scene ending (Yara's crew escaping to their boats) was partly Yara knowing that they'd stand little chance in tight quarters with vicious dogs in the fray, and Ramsey wanting the Ironborn to tuck tail, so they can tell their folks that the Dreadfort is strong. Witnesses, of a sort, to tell the tale of how Theon is no longer Theon. I'm mildly surprised, after three sets of boobs on display, that HBO didn't take a chance at showing whatever could have been left of Theon's waterworks. C'est la vie.

Poor Michelle from Fiji indeed. Could have been a real gem if the tribe swap didn't utterly kill her hopes. As for Rupes: To me, Rupert's first 3 or 4 episodes, and his very last one, likeable. When he got all "my island, my adventure" starting in Pearl Islands, continued through All Stars and HvV, I soured on him. Admittedly, he's a polarising character and mileage definitely varies on his in-game appeal among both casual and long-term viewers. That said, his out-of-game activities, most notably his work with children and teens, are just brilliant. Elevates him on a personal level.

and even if there was a 'Player of the Season' prize of any sort, the viewing audience has been force-fed so much of Tony's antics that he'd land the prize by default.

The Least list is very easy. Colton. By a mile. Then you have pricks/entitled/hypocritical types like Lex, Rupert, and Corinne (her first time). All-time favourites? Yau-Man, Earl, Cirie, Danni, Yul and the Aitu 4, and I think I may add Tasha to this list at some point.

As truth suggests, I suspect Tasha did overplay her hand with both the non-scramble statement to Tony, and the Russell Hantz idea-planting into Kass's head. She could have either tried the 'sulk quietly by yourself' routine (unlikely, as she's been chipper most of her time out) or thrown a few bones out by suggesting dumping Kass to Tony/Trish. Ultimately, Kass made the right move for her own gameplay, but has now deluded herself into believing that Tony's great to carry to the end. The other side-effect of this is that she's no lock to get carried to the F3, particularly if Spencer wins F5 Immunity. As for Woo, I guess he has a chance at winning *if* it's him, Trish and Kass at the end, but if that particular outcome happens it won't be through his machinations and plotting. The man is strategic ballast. I'm just bummed Tasha is gone though, she's just been so likeable and an IC beast to boot. 1 item off, Probst said. Sigh.

Good point, but I think that the director's decisions do tend to absolve Cersei of being reckless with the Crown's finances (and yes, Littlefinger's Creative Accounting didn't help).

I'm an opening-credits hound so agree that it would have been great to have replaced Dragonstone with the Eyrie at this point. Really enjoy seeing different angles of the Westeros world so a mild disappointment that it was status quo. Agreed that Winterfell is kind of still the heart of the show, so keeping it as a key location is fine with me. I don't think they've ever thrown more than 6 locations in an opening sequence and wouldn't expect them to try it anytime soon. Next episode preview shows both Dreadfort and Stannis action, so we may be stuck with the status-quo flyover next episode.

I'm amazed that not once in the run of this show, someone's said "Shut up, Probst" during an IC (maybe they did but editors cut it out).

I love Way Wes's Power rankings, just had to get that out there. Was thinking about how a possible Tony/Spencer/Tasha F3 would shake out for jury votes, I have no idea how it would work. Conversely, the only chance I could see Trish, Woo or Kass winning the million is if they were in the F3 together. Of course, there's no way I can see it happening. Tasha's playing the most under-radar (to Probst) Immunity Challenge run in memory. Dominant. That former Beauty tribe got rolled over like a stack of dominoes, didn't it. Guess that proves which 'attribute' isn't the best for winning this game.

Diana Rigg's pretty much stolen the show ever since Olenna's been in King's Landing, so her tale to Margeary about her own youthful antics, combined with her demonstration of her sleight-of-hand tricks, was a great wink to the audience who knew how capable Tracy Bond/Emma Peel was in younger days. Hope that they find a way to bring her back in some capacity down the line. True, I think HBO underestimates the deductive powers of their viewing audience a bit much at times. I wasn't overly fond of what appeared to be the show trying to demo a burgeoning romance between Grey Worm and Missandei; although I still hold hope it's just more of a platonic, strong-friendship vibe that comes about (reference, Grey Worm calling Daario "not smart" in episode 1 when Daario hinted that Grey had the hots for her). Not a major deal however it turns out, I guess (unless they Rakharo/Xaro his character down the line). Tommen's set to be the new king; I can understand them moving him to Joffrey's old bedchambers if it was deemed safer/more kingly, but I think the young king needs to insist in a change of decor. He doesn't need an animal head staring down at him at night. As for Margaery sneaking in to see him, I don't know if Tywin got that far with his birds and bees speech, but I think poor Tommen's got first hand exposure to what arousal feels like now. As for Mutineers + capturing Bran + Locke and Jon on their trail, well I'm going to wait and see, and trust that they won't destroy some of the canon established in the books (I don't mind the extra fleshing of Bran's story, just have to be careful they don't break anything already set in stone - Jon meeting Bran could be a disaster)

Craster's is north of The Wall, Gilly was sent to Mole's Town south of the Wall. Indeed, there are a ton of place names mentioned in the show. It's probably at the point where the average viewer will want to get a Westeros atlas or something to keep track.

I hope that the donkey who carried Big Easy around got an extended vacation, because seriously I don't blame any of those animals for being all "You kidding me. Put *that* fellow on *my* back?"

No you're right, OakGoblinFly. I simplified it too much by implying pure seduction and you expanded the whys and where it's coming from aspects far more than I could have imagined.

You covered it, Chyna. Shoot, I'm now on the verge of cheering for the Brenchels down the stretch. Ugh.

Littlefinger was raspier than normal in this episode. Is that a side effect of the mist on the Blackwater? I miss that we don't have a Strong Belwas on this show, but on the flip side, well HBO will show genitals, be headings and gouging all day long... but I don't think there's ever been a live defecation on cable TV. Talk about breaking (wind) new ground. Jamie, yeah... they made him a rapist. The books made it more of a seduction turns quickly to mutual consent, the show was all rape. Very odd maneuver.

Just saw Lena Headley in "Imagine You and Me" (or is it Me and You?), never had heard of the movie until last night. Interesting kind of rom-com, that. Felt gutted for the husband in that movie, but as for Lena's role itself, it wasn't bad. She played her role pretty well, I think.

Every episode, Tasha moves up in the rankings. She's shown herself as being positive and happy, solid in the latter-stage challenges (I suspect swimming remains a weakness, but otherwise she holds her own) and appears to be respected by those not in her alliance. Still needs some help to get to the end game, and I don't think she has any buffers in her own tribe (maybe Spencer, but I think she's considered a bigger social threat than him).

Yeah, definitely saw disappointment from Raina there, On the other hand, she appeared to continue to roll with the punches. Hopefully she'll serve as more than an exposition point for Ward in future episodes. As for Quinn, I'm a bit surprised Garrett didn't just clock him for being an ungrateful nuisance

When Pycelle was the chief maester (for lack of a better term) he was useful to Cersei because he was extremely loyal to the Lannisters, Now Qyburn shows up, Cersei sees that he's at least as effective (and apparently better-smelling and less pervy), so now she can just have at it and treat old lecherous Pycelle just like anybody else she despises. Only thing is I don't think she has the power to remove him from the Small Council, so she may still have to endure his presence in some capacity for the near future.