Meredith Quill

Wic.net article re Ep8 Trial by combat: David Benioff and Dan Weiss tease “one of the best combat scenes we’ve done so far”

Re Looking younger, I've decided it must be down to The Mountain having a MUCH better skincare regime than The Hound.

I'd like it to go like this:

Here is a chance to speculate about what events may or may not occur in episode 8 only. There will be weekly episode spec threads for individual episodes from now on so please either save your thoughts about eps 9 & 10 for those or post them in another appropriate thread. This is a Book Talk thread, therefore, if you are unspoiled please leave now or risk spoilers. Thank you.

Here is a chance to speculate about what events may or may not occur in episode 8 only. There will be weekly episode spec threads for individual episodes from now on so please either save your thoughts about eps 9 & 10 for those or post them in another appropriate thread. Readers are welcome to post in here also but no Book Talk please; save that for the Book Talk version of this thread. Thank you.

Imo JP is the epitome of a 'tart with a heart' lol.

Yes it was disappointing that, not only didn't they didn't pick up where they left off, but a fair amount of time seems to have passed by the opening scenes of S3. #feltcheated

I could've sworn they mentioned him saying "he's been cleared" or some such statement?

Lol well I'm in Europe (UK) and I don't personally know anyone who's ever done it, nor have I myself (not my cup of tea, so to speak) but I also know that there are some people that probably do, as well as the Royals.

I'm guessing that's why the cot was there, it's called a vigil; apparently the Royal family do that also.

Cannot.Wait. @ElectricBoogaloo re below; how could I forget...I'm feeling withdrawal already!

This episode left me with lots of questions; What did the last scene with Mercy mean? Is she free or was it just a vision? Who is working against Mary? What is the box that Alden found and which innocents did he kill in the war?

We are almost halfway through this epic saga now and the time has come to get off the fence and pick a side... I realise there was a similar poll prior to S4 starting but that one allows for changes of allegiance. There shall be no such dilly-dallying here. Using the above, this is your chance to firmly pin your colours to the mast of your chosen House. Choose wisely smallfolk, for once chosen, you should remain loyal to your liege lord come what may, else forever be known as - GASP - an oathbreaker - the shame, the dishonour! (If your House is destroyed with no living heirs a la Renly Baratheon, then you may follow Briennes' example and choose again) I'll choose House Stark till the bitter end as I have a soft spot for those kids. Please state your choice &, if you so wish, reasons for below. Please remember to put any book talk behind spoiler tags. Thank you

There is a distinct lack of polls in The Habitat so with that in mind, I'm going to get the ball rolling... We are almost halfway through this epic saga now and the time has come to get off the fence and pick a side... Here is your chance to pin your colours to the mast of your chosen House. Choose wisely smallfolk, for once chosen, you should remain loyal to your liege lord, else forever be known as - GASP - an oathbreaker - the shame, the dishonour! (If your House is destroyed with no living heirs a la Renly Baratheon, then you may follow Briennes' example and choose again) Please state your choice below. Please remember this is for Unsullied members only. Thank you.

I suppose it all depends on your POV, personally, I think if the show wanted to indicate even vaguely that she was fully coerced they would have directed her to portray some flicker of conflict on her face. Anyway, we agree in conclusion; it was a mixture of both.

I think she was taken and 'coached' by Cersei with regard to the actual lies she told, but had no problem in doing it, hence throwing in the non essential but humiliating & cruel intimate details. There wasn't even a micro expression of conflicting emotions on her face at any point, even when her face was turned away from Cersei & co toward Tyrion. If she felt any remorse for her actions, her face would have revealed it, micro expressions are not controllable, we aren't even aware we're making them. I don't believe she volunteered for the job but it wasn't entirely against her will either.

For a moment at the end there, I thought there was someone else coming out of Proteus's body, I was like 'wtf?!', then I realised lol. The seance was freaky and I'm really hoping that the whole MM incest with his daughter thing is either a lie or misinterpretation - squick :O ETA I thought that the fog, where the guy was lighting the street lamps, was fairly pea-soupish?

Synopsis: Vanessa and Sir Malcolm attend a party at the home of Egyptologist Sir Ferdinand Lyle and meet Dorian Gray. The party takes an ominous turn when medium Madame Kali hosts a séance. Meanwhile, Ethan befriends Brona Croft, a young Irish immigrant. N.B This episode was released early via Showtime On Demand. Therefore, if you haven't yet seen it, this thread will contain spoilers.

I do agree it is rather stretching credibility that people wouldn't have talked about the mines etc. However, if we go by how the show presented the information to us i.e. this is news to Cersei; whilst we could believably assume that yes, someone as shrewd as Tywin would have made contingency plans, 3 years ago those probably wouldn't have included having to go to war (again) or having to bankroll 2 coronations, 2 state funerals (Robert & Joffery) plus a no expense spared wedding, (along with the Tyrells). It seems to me that (thanks to Robert & Littlefinger) the crown is essentially cash poor and also heavily in debt to the Iron Bank, therefore, unable to repay it's considerable debt to the Lannisters at this moment in time, so until such time it can repay the Lannisters, regardless of blood ties, it is a bad debt. If Tywin suddenly found himself needing to free up that money, it wouldn't be available/possible right now. So yes perhaps it could be viewed as a long term investment, providing they ultimately win the war, otherwise it's a write off and thus cannot be guaranteed upon to bear fruit. As far as taxes go, they obviously are woefully inadequate in terms of providing a sufficient income to cover the crowns outgoings, otherwise LF wouldn't have had to borrow so much money from the IB and Tywin in the first place. Probably even less so now, with so much farmland/crops having been destroyed in the war, not to mention the gods only know how many 1000's of men/smallfolk killed fighting for, at one point, 5 different kings.

Why tell Cersei three years after the fact though? To my mind that is evidence that their fortune is dwindling more & more with each year that passes, to the point where Tywin is explaining to Cersei why she must marry Loras. Can you imagine Tywin - when he was still 'the richest man in Westeros' - ever feeling the need to justify to any of his children why he does/wants anything? That in itself informs me that their financial situation is none too healthy.

'A Lannister always pays his debts', aren't their actual house words. It's 'Hear Me Roar'. So with that in mind, how about: 'Hear me excuses why I can't pay my debts right now' or 'Hear Me Bitch & Whine' ETA untagged as @Lady S. quite rightly pointed out downthread that the house words form part of the thread title heh.

@Veruca Assault where did you find episode 2? I want to watch it too! ETA I found it :)

I feel there are 2 differing perspectives; the Starks are dumb!/boring! appears to come from a 'do they entertain me' POV, the other being invested in the characters and caring about them because they are portrayed as being very decent, if naive, people. There is no right or wrong here, that's just my opinion. For me the Lannisters are entertaining but I love to hate all but 2 of them. (they have my interest). The Starks, I like them because I just care about what happens to them. (they have my heart). I refer to the current Starks because a post upthread pointed out how there were no Starks in the last episode. The only Starks left alive, are just children. If Ned, Cat and Robb's stupidity angers anybody, then they already paid the ultimate price for that. What more could be wanted? I don't blame the children for the sins of their fathers, as long as they learn from their parents mistakes, that'll be good enough for me. At this moment in time, in the story, they are the underdogs. Whether people believe they will prevail in the end or not isn't my argument, just that as things stand right now, in the show, they are the underdogs. Whatever tropes may be played out in the future, is the future, I'm talking about the here and the now. And we are supposed to root for them because they are decent human beings (not to mention orphaned children!), not scheming, lying, manipulative scumbags.