S06.E04: Book of the Stranger

[polyhymnia]

Daario's reaction cracked me up.

[Brn2bwild]

Add me to the myriad of voices cheering on the Sansa-Jon reunion, and approving of a Brienne-Tormund ship (Brimund?).

From the way Loras looked/acted, I wondered if Ramsay Bolton was his jailer.

Edited May 16, 2016 by Brn2bwild

[Triskan]

I'm amazed at how many people would have preferred a Drogon's ex machina over that truly great scene where Dany regains power and confidence by herself, for herself ! 

[Avaleigh]

1 hour ago, benteen said:

Theon feels out of place being back in the Iron Islands instead of the North.  As a friend and I both agreed on, he'll be treated like an absolute joke at best on the Iron Islands because he is a eunuch. 

I don't really understand Theon's decision to return to the Iron Islands. I was hoping that he'd want to join the Night's Watch and find a purpose fighting against the Others. I was really hoping that he'd think about Maester Luwin's advice about taking the black. Instead he's going to go to the Iron Islands where they'll, at best, mock him for being a eunuch in addition to whatever else. I don't see how there's any place for him there and feel like he could have been more use if he'd gone with them to the Wall. Oh well. 

Edited May 16, 2016 by Avaleigh

[Minneapple]

I will forgive D&D a lot for that Stark reunion. The hug! Sansa apologizing! Reminiscing about Winterfell! Saying "where will WE go." Sob. I may have watched it more than once and may have misted up a little.

Welp. I am now shipping Brienne/Tormund. What's the ship name? Someone write me a fic.

I can't take another minute of the Septon droning on and on about faith and piety and I find him so goddamn creepy someone make it stop please. The whole King's Landing plot could wind up in the Narrow Sea and I wouldn't care. 

Yeah so Dany with the fire and killing everyone and the burning building and taking over all the khalasars and blah blah blah BUT JON AND SANSA REUNION WOOOOO!

[J----av]

1 hour ago, MarySNJ said:

So much happened this episode.

I loved the Dany scene. It was not what I was expecting (dragons!) and in this case, maybe having book knowledge or Word of God confirmation of her non-fireproofedness actually made it more of a surprise when she became Unburnt 2.0 in the show. I'm not convinced that Dany is exhibiting MadTargaryen traits yet. Aerys was paranoid and irrational. Dany seemed pretty rational about the whole thing and she was legitimately in a dangerous situation. She manages to defeat all the Khals without shedding blood in the sacred city and now she's got an army to lead into battle. Badass.

I cheered and squealed when Jon and Sansa had their reunion and their hug. At long last a little relief for the Starks, if only for a moment. I love how she took command in that situation too. I get Jon reluctance. I can imagine experiencing murder, death and rebirth could be traumatizing, but he needs something to fight for. That being said, I think Edd has a point too. Jon has seen what they are up against and the strategy to save the North has to include protecting the North not just from the psycho in Winterfell, but the White Walkers that no one but a few brothers of the NW believes are real. 

This week's Kings Landing scenes were marginally more interesting. I don't like religious fanatics and I'm tired of the Sparrows and would like to see the plot move forward. So, small progress this week. I don't believe that Cersei would mind seeing her rival for Tommen's affection forced to walk naked through the streets, but Margaery is an important piece in this plot to try to take back power from the High Sparrow. It was nice to see Cersei getting her game back, and nice to see Olenna making peace with her enemy for a common purpose. 

I think Tyrion just made a big mistake. I'm sure I'll be wrong because Tyrion is supposed to be the smartest guy in the room, but I just think he should listen to the slaves who actually do understand the masters in a way the Tyrion can't. I did notice that one of the women he had brought in to pleasure the masters at the end of the meeting appeared to be the same prostitute who was conspiring with the Sons of the Harpy. She's now on Varys' payroll, so I can only assume she's one of his little birds now.

I'm glad to see Yara and Theon reunited. Unpleasant though it was, I can really understand Yara's misgivings. We'll have to see if he's able to pull himself together enough to support her claim in the Kingsmoot. 

And Osha... Sigh. I give her credit for trying to play Ramsay. She has a very keen sense about lordly men for someone who's only been around them a short time but I'm sick of Ramsay the super villain. I hope his eventual death is prolonged, painful and humiliating.  

I loved Brienne's scenes; with Davos and Melisandre - and her not forgetting what went down by with the blood magic. I loved Tormund making eyes at her. LOL Wilding men like their women warriors. He's got good taste! 

Edited to add:. I'm glad to see that Margaery isn't broken by her experience and is trying to keep herself and her brother sane. I hope she succeeds.

 

 I don't get people complaining about "Super Ramsay" but not Super Jon who kills Whites, takes over the KW as a teen and  always ends up on top even when he dies. Super Brienne who just roles through everyone she faces and freaken Dany who births dragons, has every city roll over for her, takes over armies in 10 mins and twice walks out of a fire. With so many "super" hero's you need at least one super villain to counter them.

[Ambrosefolly]

I pretty sure that is what the Night King is.

[Avaleigh]

1 hour ago, MarySNJ said:

Edited to add:. I'm glad to see that Margaery isn't broken by her experience and is trying to keep herself and her brother sane. I hope she succeeds.

This made me really happy and made me gain a new respect for the character. I was worried that she would have an emotional conversion and would start believing the crap that he's trying to sell her but she's made of sterner stuff than I expected and I love it. I'm glad that she gave as much comfort and support to Loras as she could. I found this scene to be very moving and it reminded me that I like the way the show portrayed the closeness between the siblings. I felt like I could actually see them drawing strength from each other.

All in all I thought this was a very strong episode. Definitely my favorite episode of the season so far. 

[Skeeter22]

That was probably the least awkward dinner Sansa has sat through since the first season.

[Andromeda]

Khaleesi, my Khaleesi! I bow down before you!! 

I clapped, I cheered, I got teary (when Sansa and Jon reunited, when they agreed to fight the Boltons, when Tyrion used his BIG BRAIN, when Dany conquered the Dothraki, when the small council agreed to fight the High Sparrow). Awesome episode. So many big things to come! 

[Sentient Meat]

Sansa and Jon's reunion was like a tantric orgasm after 5 years of foreplay.  After so much pain and suffering it was nice to see any type of win for the Starks.

I don't know how else the Osha scene could have gone...  at least she went down fighting and not groveling.

I can see the producers negotiating with EC to do one last topless scene.  "How about we let you kill all the Dothraki leadership and have 100,000 people simultaneously bow down in worship to you."  "All right... fine, I guess."

Instead of having Tyrion pragmatically sell out her principles...I don't see why she just doesn't take that act like a Vegas revue up and down the coastline.  Invite the leadership of her enemies to a meeting in an enclosed space.  Light everyone on fire...  have all the citizens bow down in amazement... Rinse, Repeat.

[Oscirus]

Quote

I think Tyrion is giving in to a little hubris and arrogance. Not because he is choosing to negotiate when in a weak position but because he expects to be viewed as an aristocratic Lannister when the people he's dealing with have no idea and care less about Westerosi hierarchies. Even though Tywin hated him, Tyrion always had Lannister gold and privilege backing him. That was one of the mistakes Missendei and Grey Worm were trying to warn him about

I disagree. The point of his coming down from the throne and addressing them level was to show them that he's on the same level that they are. Followers of Danerys. Tyrion's flaw is that he's approaching this from an outsider's prospect and in doing so he's not seeing the personal toll of his dealings. In trying to avoid war, he's stepping all over Dany's message. That being said, Missandei and Grey Worm aren't right either since they don't seem to get that they don't have a big enough army to use martial tactics to get these people to listen to them.

Tyrion's story is interesting to me in that he's the only leader currently trying to use diplomacy to solve his region's problems. Everybody else is trying to take everything by force or defend it by force.

Quote

I don't really understand Theon's decision to return to the Iron Islands.

Redemption. He's looking to atone for the horrible things that he's done, and the only way he knows how is to put the right person on the salt throne.

[VCRTracking]

Loved the brother-sister reunions this episode Jon and Sansa, Loras and Margaery and Yara and Theon.

I'm glad they referenced from the books that Sansa wasn't nice to Jon when they were growing up(she took after Catelyn that way) and her apologizing to him.

So glad Missandei schooled Tyrion that being a slave for just a few days doesn't mean he understands it.

Damn, RIP Osha. God please let Ramsay die this season.

Tormund looking at Brienne with heart eyes this whole episode was my favorite thing.

[Avaleigh]

3 minutes ago, Oscirus said:

Redemption. He's looking to atone for the horrible things that he's done, and the only way he knows how is to put the right person on the salt throne.

I suppose, I just feel like he walked away from the very people that he needs to atone for. His life should be in service to House Stark and/or the North. 

Since he didn't even know that the Seastone Chair was up for grabs, we know that his motivation didn't have anything to do with putting the right person in charge of the Iron Islands. He seemed to want to go home and seemed like he felt that he had no other options even when Sansa told him that she'd speak up for him at the Wall once they got there. He didn't think that he would be forgiven and doesn't want to be forgiven. I wish, instead of looking for forgiveness that Theon was deciding to seek redemption through doing something good as opposed to just heading back home and hoping that they'll accept him. 

[J----av]

36 minutes ago, Avaleigh said:

I suppose, I just feel like he walked away from the very people that he needs to atone for. His life should be in service to House Stark and/or the North. 

Since he didn't even know that the Seastone Chair was up for grabs, we know that his motivation didn't have anything to do with putting the right person in charge of the Iron Islands. He seemed to want to go home and seemed like he felt that he had no other options even when Sansa told him that she'd speak up for him at the Wall once they got there. He didn't think that he would be forgiven and doesn't want to be forgiven. I wish, instead of looking for forgiveness that Theon was deciding to seek redemption through doing something good as opposed to just heading back home and hoping that they'll accept him. 

 

 How would he do that? He expected Jon to execute him as soon as he got to CB and he probably would have. The North would never accept the guy that betrayed the Starks even if he did help Sansa. Robb was the only Stark he ever saw as family (and apparently Ned on the show) and he is dead, so he went back to the only other person he see's as family, his sister

Edited May 16, 2016 by J----av

[Avaleigh]

21 minutes ago, J----av said:

How would he do that? He expected Jon to execute him as soon as he got to CB and he probably would have. The North would never except the guy that betrayed the Starks even if he did help Sansa. Robb was the only Stark he ever saw as family (and apparently Ned on the show) and he is dead, so he went back to the only other person he see's as family, his sister

All crimes are supposed to be forgiven if a man is joining the Night's Watch. I don't agree that they would suddenly change the rules for Theon. It also isn't up to the North to accept a man of the Night's Watch. 

[Conan Troutman]

3 hours ago, dbell1 said:

Margery was cultivating the people of King's Landing, a bit surprised that she hasn't thrown out her charity work to the sparrow.

Wouldn't the HS know about that already through tons of sources? It comes across as much more believable if you don't feed it to him like "See? I'm totally pious!". Same with not claiming to know all the religious texts inside out. So she can say that learning about them opened her eyes. A slow, reluctant conversion is far more plausible in my opinion. 

Contrast that with Osha, who took a far less subtle approach and literally threw herself onto Ramsay at the first opportunity. But he knew she was lying, so she had no chance. 

Edited May 16, 2016 by Conan Troutman

[Ariah]

When Sansa and Jon were talking about wishing to go back to the day they left Winterfell and yell "don't go!"... 

Well, isn't it what Bran can now kind of do?

(A lesser show would use that device. Let's hope that's not the idea for the finale)

[Umbelina]

1 hour ago, Minneapple said:

I

Welp. I am now shipping Brienne/Tormund. What's the ship name? Someone write me a fic.

 

Well, I think Torienne works best.

41 minutes ago, Oscirus said:

 

Tyrion's story is interesting to me in that he's the only leader currently trying to use diplomacy to solve his region's problems. Everybody else is trying to take everything by force or defend it by force.

 

Yeah, what a concept, talking things out and compromising instead of burning people, fields, crops, and murdering people, or going to war.  Something has to free Dani up to go to Westeros, maybe this will be it.

--

I am so thrilled that we have left the books behind!  Still sad that Cersei is getting such a great edit, and Jamie just hangs around as her lapdog, because I really came to love Jamie in the books.  Glad Littlefinger is back to being smart instead of just mustache twirling.

Go ahead on D & D, trim the massive cast or characters and lets get on with this thing.  Hopefully, Arya joins the family soon, or at least gets involved with the other players on screen.

[Conan Troutman]

3 minutes ago, Umbelina said:

Well, I think Torienne works best.

BRUND!

[RedheadZombie]

2 hours ago, Paws said:

Because they had just threatened to gang rape her. They kind of deserved it.

Yes, they were salivating at raping her to death.  I have no problem with how Dany handled it.  The rape-hungry fuckers are all dead, and the women and children were untouched.   I hope Dany brings the sweet little Khaleesi with her. 

[J----av]

15 minutes ago, Avaleigh said:

All crimes are supposed to be forgiven if a man is joining the Night's Watch. I don't agree that they would suddenly change the rules for Theon. It also isn't up to the North to accept a man of the Night's Watch. 

I didn't know you were talking about him joining the nights watch. You said his life should be in service to House Stark and/or the North, but i doubt Theon thinks the nights watch would do that. Everyone thinks the nights watch is a joke

[Oscirus]

Quote

I suppose, I just feel like he walked away from the very people that he needs to atone for. His life should be in service to House Stark and/or the North

I think he's served the Starks long enough. He was pretty much robbed of his birthright at an early age because of it. I can understand why he'd want to go back to his own people for better or for worse. You were right about the following statement though.

Quote

Since he didn't even know that the Seastone Chair was up for grabs, we know that his motivation didn't have anything to do with putting the right person in charge of the Iron Islands.

I can't believe I'd make such a huge mistake.

 

11 minutes ago, Ariah said:

When Sansa and Jon were talking about wishing to go back to the day they left Winterfell and yell "don't go!"... 

Well, isn't it what Bran can now kind of do?

Bran can whisper in the wind in the past, we don't know if he can affect the future as most people tend not to listen to such things.

[Chris24601]

The Jon/Sansa reunion was everything I'd hoped. And while the huge hug and reaching out for each other's hands and "Where will WE go?" were fantastic, I keep coming back to something else a bit less obvious...

"We never should have left the cave." Ygrette's last words were paralleled in Jon's "We never should have left Winterfell." The regret of having left the place where they had once known happiness. It also touches on the things Jon and Sansa DO have in common even in the books; that dream of recreating the Winterfell of their youth with children named after all their dead family members.

Between that, the absolute slaughter of any argument that they can't stand each other, and Jon's insistence that he'll be sticking by Sansa from now on I don't see how they're NOT setting up something for once its revealed that they're not actually siblings. The fact that this is the first time Jon and Sansa have even shared dialogue with each other on screen only helps that last impression.

Unlike the books where an agreeable political marriage is probably the best ending anyone can hope for, I think the showrunners would prefer a more traditional endgame romance to appeal to general television audiences and we're running out of time to get such a thing set up and still give it enough time to breathe for it to feel both earned and that general audiences will have seen enough of it to believe it will be a good thing.

Meanwhile, this episode also confirms for me that Dany's going to end up as much of a villain as the White Walkers. Contrast Jon's denial last episode that he was a god and his only reluctantly wanting to go to war with Dany in this episode walking out of a fire she set to kill her enemies, basking as people fell down to worship her as a god and clearly intending to use her new worshipers as an army of conquest.

The most telling thing to me is that Tormund/Brienne is easily the third most interesting thing in the entire episode. While stuff happened and people died, I just don't find myself caring that much. Littlefinger was his usual self, but karma has to be coming for him eventually. Mereen doesn't matter because Dany's going to come back with the entire Dothraki horde and make all Tyrion's efforts one way or the other irrelevant. All the King's Landing is clearly going to end up self-immolating to save Dany the trouble of doing it herself. The Ironborn are clearly only going to be important due to finally matching up with their book selves, meanwhile Ramsey and Rickon are both as dead as Osha now is because it makes sense that the only way Jon and Sansa get to both go home to Winterfell and rule it will be because of Rickon's dead body.

[Sunnydayman]

1 hour ago, J----av said:

 

 I don't get people complaining about "Super Ramsay" but not Super Jon who kills Whites, takes over the KW as a teen and  always ends up on top even when he dies. Super Brienne who just roles through everyone she faces and freaken Dany who births dragons, has every city roll over for her, takes over armies in 10 mins and twice walks out of a fire. With so many "super" hero's you need at least one super villain to counter them.

Jon had help doing all of his super things; Mormont's Sword, San's scheming and Mel's voudoo.  Super Ramsey only needs his wits.  There is no context for his magical powers.

[ulkis]

2 hours ago, J----av said:

They weren't just not as close as Arya and Jon, they didn't even like each other. Sansa never even considered Jon family. One of the biggest fuck ups the show has done is not doing fake Arya since it would makes Jon's motivation for everything he does make much more sense   

Sansa didn't actively dislike Jon; she kept herself distant because she thought it was the proper thing to do, although not that she was yearning for a friendship otherwise. As for Jon, he didn't dislike Sansa, even if he didn't have a relationship with her. Especially now, he recognizes she was a child taking cues from her mother. He showed concern for her in the books when he was given the news Ned was taken prisoner in book 1. Even if he resented her, for Ned's sake, he would try and help her.

[jellysalmon]

17 minutes ago, Sunnydayman said:

Jon had help doing all of his super things; Mormont's Sword, San's scheming and Mel's voudoo.  Super Ramsey only needs his wits.  There is no context for his magical powers.

Agreed. Also I don't know if I would consider Dany or Brienne as rolling over anything either. Brienne vs the Hound. Or vs Jaime. Or even vs Loras. All had her struggling a bit. Meanwhile Ramsey has barely broken a sweat.

[rubyred]

So, basically the High Sparrow told Margaery that she's a sinner because wanting to get back to her family means she'd be getting back to being rich. The hell? She was talking about relationships, and he was talking about circumstances over which she has no control. It's not her fault her family is rich. It doesn't make her more of a sinner that she has nice clothes, even if it takes longer for someone to make them. I don't have a lot of patience for fanaticism, particularly when it offers no practical alternatives. Okay, the rich are the scourge and need to be brought down. Then what? What is the PLAN?

I barely understand what Cersei says these days. I mean I know she's plotting to get revenge for her humiliation but she's such a basic, vindictive bitch that I can't even enjoy her machinations because they're always so short-sighted and selfish and she quite often underestimates her opponents. This Faith Militant debacle is all her own fault so I can't help but side-eye her outrage. Plus her pixie wig is AWFUL. (I am constantly flashing back to Tywin telling Cersei she isn't as smart as she thinks she is...and it is so true!)

Not looking forward to the Mereen plot; I suspect Tyrion is buying into his own hype as a super-diplomat and of course the slave masters et al are going to betray him. I expect this master diplomacy to result in major casualties of the slave, Unsullied and freedmen persuasions. Tyrion will, of course, live to drink another day. That's okay; that's what the mute button is for.

Sansa will never have to talk openly about Ramsay's treatment of her. People know, and knew. Winterfell is full of workers and servants, and gossip like that would common knowledge. Just like Umber knew that Ramsay killed Roose, despite Ramsay's claim that Roose fell ill or whatever. God only knows what lies he's told about poor Walda and the baby. You think the North doesn't know about the infant being attacked by dogs? That's one of the reasons why Ramsay's become so boring. We KNOW, show. You don't have to keep coming up with new and unusual ways to show Ramsay torturing or killing anyone. We get it. It's time to take him down. Or put him down, as it were.

[ulkis]

2 hours ago, Minneapple said:

I can't take another minute of the Septon droning on and on about faith and piety and I find him so goddamn creepy someone make it stop please. The whole King's Landing plot could wind up in the Narrow Sea and I wouldn't care. 

I don't know if it's a mark of how good Jonathan Pryce is or how much the septon sucks or both but yeah, I agree. I dislike him and not even in a "someone get vengeance on him" way, I wouldn't mind if he just disappeared.

Is Tyrion still as popular as he used to be? I took a break from the show and I'm just pretty much totally over him. Imo, they try too hard to make his lines witty and Dinklage is a great actor but he gets a strange candance in his voice when he's doing the accent.

Edited May 16, 2016 by ulkis

[J----av]

19 minutes ago, Sunnydayman said:

Jon had help doing all of his super things; Mormont's Sword, San's scheming and Mel's voudoo.  Super Ramsey only needs his wits.  There is no context for his magical powers.

 Well what about Brienne running through everyone that steps in front of her? Or Dany? She is WAY more "super" then Ramsay or anyone on the show. Honestly its because Ramsay is a bad guy that he gets the hate for his flaws. Just look at everyone's posts. Everyone wants the "good" guys to just roll through everyone even if its bad writing, but when a bad guy does the same they complain. The show has far bigger problems and worse written characters then Ramsay

[Oscirus]

Who has Ramsay really beaten that he gets called superpowered?  There was an outnumbered theon army, another army that Theon talked into standing down. A ravaged Stannis army that he sabotaged and this week Osha. If anything, Ramsay's fairly down to earth compared to most people on this show.

[J----av]

17 minutes ago, ulkis said:

Sansa didn't actively dislike Jon; she kept herself distant because she thought it was the proper thing to do, although not that she was yearning for a friendship otherwise. As for Jon, he didn't dislike Sansa, even if he didn't have a relationship with her. Especially now, he recognizes she was a child taking cues from her mother. He showed concern for her in the books when he was given the news Ned was taken prisoner in book 1. Even if he resented her, for Ned's sake, he would try and help her.

 

  I am not saying they hated each other, but they didn't like each other. Sansa always saw him as beneath her. I also never said Jon wouldn't help her. He would. Its just underwhelming (to me) because Sansa and Jon had no real relationship or interaction. Their "reunion" (and in the books and the show they never shared i scene together) was very low on the list of possible Stark reunions. Well behind Jon/Arya, Sansa/Arya, Jon/Bran, Bran/Rickon or maybe Bran/Arya as far as emotional impact

[J----av]

20 minutes ago, jellysalmon said:

Agreed. Also I don't know if I would consider Dany or Brienne as rolling over anything either. Brienne vs the Hound. Or vs Jaime. Or even vs Loras. All had her struggling a bit. Meanwhile Ramsey has barely broken a sweat.

Then you are probably bias. Ramsay has been "struggling a bit" (losing Reek, Miranda and Sansa, having his dad shit on him all the time, growing up a bastard), but he always comes out on top just like Dany and Brienne. When Ramsay concurs cities in 5 min, takes two armies (like 108,000 men) in 10 min and walks out of two fires and has pet dragons, then maybe his superness can be compaired to Dany's. Dany is seen as a good person though so of course people won't hate on how poorly she can be written as much as bad guy Ramsay 

[J----av]

14 minutes ago, Oscirus said:

Who has Ramsay really beaten that he gets called superpowered?  There was an outnumbered theon army, another army that Theon talked into standing down. A ravaged Stannis army that he sabotaged and this week Osha. If anything, Ramsay's fairly down to earth compared to most people on this show.

 I think its mainly the "20 good men" and "shirtless Ramsay" that he gets the whole "Super Ramsay" thing from. Ridiculous, considering some of the other things people have done, but Ramsay is opposed the Starks so people are more likely to point out the flaws in how his character is written.

[GreyBunny]

Two Starks in one place - finally!   Yeah, I got teary-eyed.

The last Dany scene was impressive by itself but it's at least the third time she's done the messiah thing with everyone bowing down.  It's getting a little old.  Enough with the naked blue steel, she needs to get her butt to Westeros.

Not sorry to see Osha go.  The book character is cool but I've always hated the TV version.  Good riddance.  

Love the strange bedfellows alliance between the Lannisters and the Tyrells, Cersei and Olenna make a delicious unholy duo.

[Dewey Decimate]

Well, plot-wise I knew that Ramsey couldn't die yet, but during that scene I was so desperately hoping Osha would go all Rick muthafuckin' Grimes on that smirking shit.

Really enjoying how many different stories we have going on this season. A little nugget of each is working for me.

[mrspidey]

Briennemund?

Huh! Now there's a ship I never considered sailing. Hell, I didn't even know it existed. Looks mighty fine though. 

[patchwork]

I want to shout Stark reunion in bolded caps and use at least five exclamation points but I'll restrain myself, easily one of my top moments of the show though. I love how understated they are then there these little burst of emotion like the hug and her reaching for his hand, it fits perfectly with their characters. It would have been nice to see a catch up scene but I know that would take a lot of time and slow the episode down. I assume when something is plot relevant there will be a reaction from one of them. Jon meeting Ramsey or Melisandre and Sansa will talk about Jon's resurrection and her belief that he's the Prince That Was Promised.  

That said I wish we had a scene of Sansa travelling to Castle Black in the previous episode to connect the terrified victim certain she was about to die to Lady Stark determined to retake Winterfell with or without her brother's help. With a good nights rest and time to digest the news Arya is alive it's a plausible change but there should have been something to show that transition. 

Great dinner scene, Tormund eye sexing Brienne and Edd rolling his eyes, Sansa winning him over by agreeing the food was awful but it's not important and the entire mood changing when the letter was brought in. 

For once I actually liked the Meereen stuff, Tyrion is acting like a Lannister in a land where that means nothing and he's trying to fix things in a very Tywin way. Missandei and Grey Worm are a great foils to his Westeros thinking and I love her pointing out that he might know slavery but he doesn't understand it (or something like that). I hope they are left in charge once Dany sails away, I've never liked the idea that Essos is just her testing ground and nothing she does there really matters because it's not the Seven Kingdoms. 

The Unburnt 2.0 is season one but on a bigger scale, cool scene but it's the kind of power demonstration I've come to expect from her so meh. 

[Happy Harpy]

Davos doesn't know what happened to Shireen! I knew he wouldn't be so respectful of Melisandre if he was aware of it. Murder-revenge is still ON, hell yeah! Shit is going to hit the fan here. 
Going to meet the Stannis supporters and tell them point-blank that she killed him for murdering her king, "anybody has objections?" is so Brienne. And Melisandre shrinking under her righteous stare was pure gold.

Tormund and Edd continue to make Castle Black less of a bleak place. Loved Edd smirking at Tormund eye-sexing Brienne, and she being so uncomfortable with it was so her, too.

I was glad that two Stark children reunited per se, but it was the head more than the heart talking. I was more involved in other reunions, characters who had intereacted onscreen or on pages (Bran seeing Jon at Craster's keep still gives me the feels). Nevertheless, they did a good job afterwards by establishing the sibling bond between them, through their reminiscing their common childhood memories and in a realistic way, it involved me in their relationship as brother and sister. For example, I'm glad that they established that Sansa used to be awful to Jon (if Jon admitted it, well) instead of pretending they were besties. She was vain and a mean girl with Jon and Arya when she was a child, it doesn't take anything away from the kinder and stronger person she has become. I really like new and improved Sansa.

Yara is awesome! Awe-some. Alfie Allen was flawless, as always, but G.Whelan was quite perfect, too. Yara's look when Theon said he wanted to help her got to me. She risked everything to get her brother back, thought she had lost him. And she gets her brother back, not only in title or because of shared blood, but as someone who wants to be on her side like a real sibling. Loved it.

Dany was fabulous. Oh damn did I love, love, love her giving the Khals  the finger, mocking them, and burning them alive. She was badass and she didn't have her dragons! Go, Dany! And for me the character of Khal Rhago (?) was used in the best way. It was excellent to remind people that some misogynists might pretend to have principles, might be funny people, might look like they aren't so bad, but deep down they're all the same soulless monsters who consider and actually treat women as less than cattle whenever given the opportunity. The bunch of rapists got their just desserts, hell yeah!  I was dreading this storyline and in the end I loved it and it was awesome. And now Dany is going to crush the slavers with her hundred thousand of Dothraki.

I don't know how the outcome of the Meereen political plot, but for now Tyrion seems rather smart in his choices. They lost their fleet, they have a civil war that weakens their army of Unsullied, their Queen is gone, they can't use her dragons. I think that he negotiates in order to stall, since I don't see how they could attack the other cities of Slavers Bay if they have internal troubles and rebels ready to stab them in the back at every moment. The first priority should be to consolidate their hold on Meereen. I can't imagine he isn't aware that a war will happen sooner or later because for tyranny, the very existence of freedom is a threat.

Wow, Margaery, you're gaining points with me. Girl has a backbone. I begin to think that the Faith Militant should be more afraid of her than of Cersei if she's freed. I can't believe that I'm rooting for the Lannisters to win, especially since Cersei is the one who created this situation in the first place.

Osha is gone, Rickon is going to go. At least, unlike for my Shireen, I can prepare for the worst. I just hope for no torture. Onscreen. Sigh.

Edited May 16, 2016 by Happy Harpy

[ElizaD]

I'm glad Dany came up with her own plan for killing the khals. It's a shame that she never has to question herself, so there's no break from the smugness and the endless wins, but at least this time there was some real thinking involved and she wasn't just saved by a dragon outta nowhere. I liked both the old khaleesi and the young one so I hope we'll see them again.

Meereen is just horrible this season. At least Dorne offered some WTF amusement and the opportunity to point out how ridiculous it is, but Meereen is nothing but unrelenting dullness. Though the acting isn't as bad as in Dorne, there's zero fun, tension or unpredictability in the Meereenese cast of characters. Even Braavos doesn't scream wasted potential the way Meereen does.

I didn't know I wanted Brienne/Tormund until it happened. She deserves someone who's all what a woman! upon seeing her glory. I love the interactions of the Wall cast (the total opposite of Meereen) so it's too bad they're going to start heading in different directions now.

In one episode, Jon smiled more than he usually does in a season.

[Bill1978]

I am beginning to think that the moment the show moved ahead of the books someone put up a sign in the writer's room  that says What would GRRM do?

And of course the answer is kill at least one well known character an episode.

I'm not saying I don't expect death, but with every new death the shock factor of it is starting to wear off. It's more surprising when someone lives. I feel like the writers are just killing people because its become the expected of the show.

[snowblossom2]

7 hours ago, larapu2000 said:

I loved how Jon was whining about his life, and Sansa didn't mention the absolute hell she's endured, she's just like, "nut up, motherfucker, we're taking back Winter fell."

I'm pretty sure they both told each other what they've gone through since they last met. We saw them after they did so.

[Silje]

6 hours ago, J----av said:

I really didn't care about the "Stark" reunion. It wasn't Arya/Jon (the big one), Jon/Bran Arya/Sansa, Bron/Rickon or even Arya/Bran. It was the two that have never interacted and don't really give a fuck about each other. In the books they don't even think about each other. I have no investment in JOn and Sansa's relationship because they never had one 

Sansa and Jon thinking about each other. 

[anyanka323]

8 hours ago, RedheadZombie said:

I think it would be difficult to sell virginity when one has had two wedding nights now.  And I agree that Sansa has seized her agency.

I have to rush off to Penny Dreadful.  It's almost more than I can take to have these shows back to back.

It worked for Margaery, but we know she never made it to the consummation in marriage #2.

[larapu2000]

42 minutes ago, snowblossom2 said:

I'm pretty sure they both told each other what they've gone through since they last met. We saw them after they did so.

I'm talking specifically about the scene when Jon is literally whinging about "war" and "fighting" and how tired he is of it. Sansa's battles have been no less than his, but she doesn't bring it up (doesn't bring it up again-if what you speculate actually happened).  Instead., she uses the strength she's gained FROM those battles to convince him to join her to take back Winterfell.  I thought it was a great moment.

[Constantinople]

OMG

Daenerys Targaryen is Carrie.

Except Carrie didn't need someone else to lock the gym doors for her at the prom.

[BooBear]

8 hours ago, nodorothyparker said:

.I'll admit the Jon/Sansa reunion got to me.  It's been such a long damn time since any of these kids have seen each other.  At least Sansa's presence kick starts Jon into something other than sitting around brooding.  I also really love all the assorted misfit survivors from other stories that are all hanging out at the Wall now and are obviously going to be part of the retaking of Winterfell story.  

When I saw Sansa pulling up as Jon was there I was like, are we going to get the reunion? I waited for someone to attack Sansa or something but no, John saw her... he SAW her... OMG that is amazing right there, I loved the way he seemed stunned like maybe he was having some after effects of the death and then just before he goes in for the big hug he pauses like, wait, does she want to hug me, and then he sees her go in and he goes for it.  That alone makes this my favorite. I also thought Sansa was looking pretty great here. I would love it if in the end she is Warden of the North.

I do feel bad for John, he does deserve a little vacation and now he is pressed into service again.... just when he gets his life back?  But as they say, this is his destiny. I enjoyed that he took some flack for leaving the night's watch in their time of need against the white walkers.

Danny, at first I was confused but I enjoyed her plan. I just somehow wish Dany could hear about Sansa and take out Ramsey.  I did feel like Osha's death was rushed and not important to the story.  Too bad. I don't like to see that but it does seem like they are really killing off characters at an elevated pace. Glad she wasn't tortured.

I am worried about Tyrion. I think he is out of his depth. Sometimes politics as usual just doesn't work and I am not sure he sees that. This doesn't seem to be a place where politics will work. They will give them 7 years and then they will not give the slaves up. I am not at all sure I care about the Grayjoys other than i think they might get a new leader and also join the big war that is coming. I don't really care what is going on in King's Landing. Other than FINALLY they are planning to get rid of the crazy religious nuts. I still don't particularly understand how this hasn't happened more quickly.  I do agree that if the Sparrow really wanted to help the poor he would be doing that. He wants power.

Brianne and Tormund awsome!

[Misplaced]

Did we know that Ramsey knew Bran and Rickon were alive?  That was a total reveal to me -- when he said Theon was a great talker and spilled the beans about how B&R were saved and fled.  And who saved them.  *Stab.*  So I saw the stab coming but not the build-up....that's kind of a significant fact, isn't it, that Ramsey knew B&R were alive?  

Meeren was a total yawn for me.  Get on with it already.  I actually liked the wordless glances between Missandei and Grey Worm better last week, although her line about understanding slavery was all kinds of awesome.  

Jon + Sansa = Fab.  Sadly I am now starting to ship them.  

[Haleth]

Brienne and Tormund!  <slaps forehead>  Why did I never think of that?  The less ladylike she is, the more he'll find her sexy.  What a perfect pairing!

Like you all, when Sansa ran to Jon and they hugged I shed a few tears.  That was a lovely moment, all the more so because they weren't close as children.  Now they have common sorrows and regrets and can build a new relationship on the desire to take back what is theirs.

I was surprised by D&D going rogue and Dany being fireproof again.  At least she now has a massive army and can move her plot forward, just in time to rescue Tyrion from that extremely boring Meereen storyline.

RIP Tonks.

[CrashTextDummie]

Seriously, how amazing is Team Stark right now? On one hand, Sansa riding into Castle Black was just intensely gratifying on an emotional level. On the other hand, the new constellation in the north has me as giddy as I've ever been about this show. Jon, Sansa, Brienne, Pod, Tormund, Davos, Melisandre, Ghost. The majority of the most honorable, badass, likeable characters left are now in one place and united for a common cause. Clearly these are the people who will take back Winterfell at the climax of this season, but I strongly felt like these scenes had more far-reaching, endgame oriented meaning: These people are the founding members of Team Humanity who will make mankind's last stand against the white walkers at Winterfell. Others will no doubt join, but the stage has been set. So fucking satisfying.

The writers of the show deserve endless derision for what they've done with Dorne, but I have a lot of respect for how they treated the other problem storyline of later books at the Iron Islands. For a while it seemed like they forgot about it altogether, but it turns out they were just waiting for things and people to move into place for it to actually have meaning. With Theon being there, the kingsmoot is already more compelling that it was in the books and it hasn't even started. I thought his scene this week was great for several reasons, not least the fact that Yara actually looked like a woman who could lead the ironborn. She was always a frustrating character to me in the books because she seemed so impotent, whereas here I actually feel like she could have a role to play in larger things to come.

My hat is off to Jonathan Pryce, because he makes an entire storyline work that I also had little patience for in the books. Just the fact that he's an entirely different kind of evil is very refreshing to me and he's just selling the veiled grandfatherly malevolence to perfection. Can't wait for things to turn nasty at King's Landing.

Finally, is it wrong that I immediately recognized that EC wasn't using a body double? She has very distinctive boobs. I'm sorry, I'll leave now.