WearyTraveler

Well, I don't think it's that straightforward. I am not a shipper, never have been, don't think I'll ever be, but this is obviously not the first time I see romance on a TV show and perhaps precisely because I'm not a shipper, I can see the patterns more objectively. Many shows do this for a reason, it works, it keeps people coming back and that's the sad reality of it. Many shows find that after they get their couples together, the hole thing falls apart and they can't sustain the ratings. Some of it is because the writers don't know how to write the couple together, but some of it is also because once the leads get together some people just lose interest in the story. As a person with no dog in this fight (as in I'm neither rooting for Ichabbie nor rooting against it), I think if they went into a relationship right now it would be too soon, and I'd think, if that were to happen, that they were actually pandering to the shippers, instead of letting the relationship evolve organically. I think that past seasons have shown us a good friendship and chemistry with Ichabod and Abbie, but I don't think there was the opportunity or a credible motive for them to become romantically involved. We know there's a time jump and that Ichabod and Abbie have been apart for months. If so, I'd expect their relationship to be awkward at first, then to slowly fall back into their friendship/partnership rhythm and then for romantic feelings to emerge. Otherwise, it would not feel earned. After that, I don't think it's unreasonable for the characters to be hesitant about these feelings because they would be concerned about how acting on those feelings would impact their friendship and their shared mission, which is basically to save other people from a horrible, horrible future. That's a story I would watch, even if I have a cold, indifferent, non-shipper heart :D I think Betsy Ross as an old flame is different from Katrina, the wife, and the love of his life, as the character said in more than one occasion. An old flame resurfacing can actually act as a catalyst for the characters to understand their feelings. Who knows? Maybe it won't be that bad, after all.

The phrase he used before saying the shippers would be happy leads me to believe that he's saying they will play with the chemistry without necessarily going all the way with it. As shows do. "Will they/Won't they?" eventually turns into "when will they?". I think what they will do this season is have them have those interactions that hint at deeper feelings being developed without any of the characters doing anything about it.

So, LF is taking the Vale army north. This definitely confirms they are pretty much accelerating Sansa's book plot. Not that I'm complaining. All the Vale stuff so far is boring to me.

I'm so happy!

From what I gathered they had already lost the Coast Guard, but they were worried that it might come back later. It was more a precaution than an escape tactic, which is why it was so much more cruel.

The article you linked is about a singer called Camilla Kerslake, not the designer. Is the look you want us to see the first picture in that article?

To be fair, it's kind of difficult to sex up Benjamin Franklin :D

Well, if next week is a team challenge, they couldn't ask for a better time for someone to leave on their own. With nine people they can have 3 teams of 3, with eight people they can have 4 teams of 2. I don't think Jake's exit terribly upset whatever their plan for next week is.

I think it might be my favorite one too, in terms of overall chapters. There are some chapters in later books that I might like more than any one chapter of this one (I'm not sure, ATM), but overall, I thought it was excellently paced, rich, without being overwhelming and that it told us everything we needed to know about the characters while still building interest to know more and giving us a few mysteries to ponder.

Well, it's certainly possible as they are either completely off book or working with knowledge of WoW. We'll see. I don't have high hopes though. On the bright side, if the story is good I'll be pleasantly surprised.

The Dothraki and the Ironborn... two things I'm definitely not looking forward to in the next season, but well, I'll enjoy all the Northern goodness that seems to be coming our way too.

Well, I meant they should do both. Complain when they don't like it, but also show their support when they like a new development, so as to encourage the showrunners to keep doing the good things.

I'm advocating the exact opposite of censoring. I don't think you understood my comment at all.

See? They can't win! LOL! People should be jumping for joy that there's no more CFD, taking to twitter and demonstrating how happy that makes them. I mean, if we're going to have equally impactful reactions to good and bad news....

Yes, to the point that we, as readers, are thoroughly confused as to the comet's real meaning. Who do we believe? What I got from it is that it is, at the very least, a sign that magic is back in the world, and that we'll know which character had it right by the time the story concludes.

And the comet, don't forget the comet.

I think the beating might have been a one time thing, when Sarah died. The dad is certainly fucked up, but so far he doesn't strike me as a regular abuser. I think they use the gas to bring people from Cuba too. They can't purchase it, or it would look suspicious. Plus they are entering / exiting US territory illegally on a regular basis. I believe that when you come into port from the sea you have to register somewhere and state your course and where you have been. I don't think they regularly burn their boats, though. I once read or saw in a documentary somewhere how difficult it is for the coast guard to really be on top of illegal boats coming into US waters. It's a very large expanse and there will never be enough manpower to police it all. I think the boat burning was a last resort when they were spotted by the coast guard that one time. Presumably they use little, deserted keys to make the gas exchanges and to hide if they think they've been spotted.

Awesome job, Avaleigh! Truly! It seems that Dany's original plan was not to go into the fire herself, but to use the three lives in the pyre to give life to her eggs. Then, when she's watching the fire, it seems that she's hypnotized by it and some force compels her to walk right in. Martin has said Dany is not inmune to fire but that there were special circumstances in this one occasion, so that's why she didn't burn to death. So, I wonder, will Dany become as crazy as her father when it comes to fire or as her ancestor who actually drank wildfire? Is this a sign of the Targaryen madness showing its head? Is it foreshadowing of Dany's actual end? I also loved how the Dothraki males changed their minds when they saw dragons. I can't remember if the show actually had the dragons feeding from Dany's breast. I think they didn't, which is a shame because that explains her "Mother of Dragons" title so much better. I wish they had also had Dany's hair totally burned off and had Emilia use a bald cap for the next season. It somehow conjures up a more powerful image than the "silver" wig. Plus I think it's supposed to mirror her hair burning out when she confronts Drogon in the pit. Two monumental events in Dany's interactions with her dragons marked by her hair completely burning off: the birth of the dragons, and the time when she's finally able to ride and control a dragon.

Yeah, my answer was to beenteen's comment about Ned. I agree that it looks like a continuity error. Unless Catelyn is thinking of all the other castles in the south, except Riverrun.

I think most castles still have Goodswoods, but the weirwoods are not at the center of them as they used to be, and they might not be called Goodswoods anymore. The one in KL had a heart tree, but not a weirwood.

Like I said, I could be wrong. But I still think LF could have had something to do with all of it. Or might have been aware of Tywin's plan to negotiate with the Boltons. Tywin was writing letters in Harrenhal, even though Robb had not broken his promise yet. I think we are meant to think that Tywin actually wrote to his Lords in the Westerlands and offered them something if they compromised Robb, then he brokered an alliance with the Tyrells through LF, so, they'd come to the rescue when Stannis attacked KL, while at the same time courting the Freys and the Boltons. We're talking Westeros here. It would have taken several birds flying back and forth to set up the Red Wedding. Not all of which could have been done so quickly after Robb's mistake, IMO. I think Tywin was talking to Robb's more malleable, power-hungry supporters (namely the Freys and the Boltons) way before Robb slept with Jeynne. And LF could have provided Tywin the intelligence or the contacts to reach out and do just that. But, like I said, I'm willing to concede is not a fact in the books or the show just yet and that it may never well be.

In the books it's not very clear, but he did go to visit Tywin in Harrenhal on the show. I think the show was trying to say that he had some participation in that plot, by brokering alliances, maybe. But yes, not 100% confirmed, so, I could be wrong about that. But I think the show loves so much LF as a villain that it makes sense to them to have LF play a part in it, however small that might have been.

It doesn't need to be weighted that much more heavily. If you give Nora 10 points for the first challenge and you give Kevon 2 points, then apply 20% to that, you have Nora with a weighted score of 2.0 and Kevon with a weighted score of 0.4 For the second round, if you give Kevon 10 points and Nora 4.2 points and then apply 30% to that, Kevon has a total weighted score of 3.4 and Nora 3.3 making them 1st and second. So, Round 2 being weighted at 30% (only 10% more than round one), still allows Kevon to jump from last to first.

I can see LF going south, which is why I posited that if he's going to make a move with the Vale's army, it could be one in support of Olenna and the Tyrells. But I don't see Sansa going back south at all. Another possibility that is likely is that we don't see LF until much later. It's not uncommon for characters to disappear for long stretches. After the battle in episode 9, we could see LF's next move. He wouldn't have done much this season, if my speculation is true, but that would be fine. Now, since I think the show is moving characters to their eventual ending point in the series, according to what Martin revealed to the showrunners regarding everyone's fates, and that the books will eventually move Sansa North, I don't see D&D taking Sansa back south again. Add to that the lack of any casting news for Vale characters, and the casting news for Tarly characters, and I think it's clear that the show will not be doing any Vale related storylines this year. There would be no time for it. I think it's much more likely that Sansa will stay North and reunite with Rickon, asking Brienne to go look for Arya, which would move Brienne South to meet with Jaime. Since LF's stated plans are to take the North, I think he will eventually make that move, whether he makes that move in season 6 or season 7 is yet to be seen. I think Sansa will "slay the giant" as was prophesized, and this will happen in the North. Perhaps when LF returns there, confident that Sansa is his ally, only to discover that she finally has his number and is aware of his role in her family's tragedy. I think one way Sansa can find out about Petyr's involvement in the Red Wedding (and maybe Ned's capture) is if she interacts with people like the Umbers (where Rickon is on the show), who were involved in the war and presumably know better of the events that took place in KL when Sansa was kept locked up by Cersei. No one in the Vale (on the show) can provide this information for her.

I don't know, I'm not that close to my cousins and I still think it's icky. I understand this is supposed to depict a medieval world and that in this society such marriages were socially acceptable, so, I'm not discounting either one could happen. I'm just saying they are disgusting to me. I have a feeling I wouldn't be alone on that one, too.