S06.E08: No One

[Oscirus]

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

 No chance of that. People have been waiting for two seasons for her to get back to Westeros. Fans would riot if she went back to the FM. It would be like Dany sailing for Westeros and then turning around because she decided to try ruling Meereen again

And I'm sure she will get back to Westeros. I'm just saying a reunion is in her future. The Jaquen actor played that scene way too deviously for me to not believe that he has plans for her.

[kittykat]

I haven't rioted on Arya because given how much time they spent on this it's still compressed from how they covered it in the books.  

[J----av]

35 minutes ago, SoWindsor said:

I feel very dense or maybe I tuned out. How did Jamie convince Edmure to do what he did?

Where are the other two dragons? What was the point of Tyrion unchaining them?

Arya getting stabbed made no sense -- she should have just escaped and killed the waif like she did tonight without last week happening. I don't think the bonding with Lady Crane was enough of a reason to have that happen -- too much willing suspension of disbelief.

I also don't understand what happened with Lady Crane standing on the stool and getting a potion to hand to some blonde guy -- was that a dream?

Bad casting with the guy who was hanged and who the hound stole his boots. He looks exactly like Theons uncle which some folks called out last week.

i do like the development of the hound joining the BoB.

I wonder if Maegary played a role in getting Tommen to cease trial by combat/

i wasn't in love with this episode.

 

 Why would she? Her brother had better odds in a trial by combat and Cersei losing weakens (or destroys?) Tommen's claim as king and therefor her claim as queen

[nodorothyparker]

2 hours ago, kittykat said:

Sorry but I'm glad Cerseis trial by combat got cancelled. KL hasn't been the most interesting but I'm enjoying seeing her get owned at every turn.

I dreaded Jaime saying the "I love Cersei " bit from the previews but in context to the episode I didn't hate it at all.  I know us bookies are upset about Jaime with good reason but this was the first time since the deviation that I liked it.  Despite that declaration it's the first instance that the breach could be possible.

 

I didn't really hate it either.  In the books, Jaime knows he's leveraging on his own bad reputation.  Show Jaime has had more people throwing knowledge of his relationship with Cersei in his face.  This honestly felt like he was just using it to up the ante to make sure Edmure knew how deadly serious he was.

Does that mean I don't think there was some element of truth to it?  No, but I also think the scene of Bronn very pointedly telling Pod how obvious it is that Jaime and Brienne want each other was there for a reason.  They still have mad chemistry and it seems fairly obvious from the setup of the Hound with the newly reintroduced Beric and Thoros and Brotherhood that Brienne won't be making it back to Winterfell before she and likely Jaime get sucked into a modified version of the Lady Stoneheart plot.  It was clear last week with the Blackfish and this week with Edmure that some of what they were saying to Jaime was sinking in, just as it was clear that Brienne being the one person in all of this to remind him of his own honor forced him to pause.

Arya's story in Braavos managed to feel every bit as pointless on the show as it does in the books.  Apparently she can be stabbed repeatedly in the stomach and then slide more than once on that same stomach down flights of stairs.  And at the end of it blithely announce that hey, so sorry, I'm not no one after all and I'll just be on my way.

Aside from maybe the most pointlessly tiresome Peter Dinklage scene ever, there was a nice parallel there between Cersei and Tyrion when Varys commented on how Tyrion had now set religious fanatics loose on Mereen and he hoped he could control them.  Hopefully, that plot won't take as long to get anywhere.  As tired as I am of the Sparrow story, Lena was doing nice work convincing me just how isolated and closed in Cersei is feeling.   

Edited June 13, 2016 by nodorothyparker

[kieyra]

9 minutes ago, Oscirus said:

And I'm sure she will get back to Westeros. I'm just saying a reunion is in her future. The Jaquen actor played that scene way too deviously for me to not believe that he has plans for her.

Hm. I didn't read him as all that devious. He practically gave her the Mr Miyagi seal of approval when he smiled at her for casting off her FM vows or whatever. "Go get 'em, tiger." It seemed final. 

The only reason I could see them bringing him back is because he was a fan favorite for a while, esp. among the ladies, at least until he turned into FM Jesus. I feel like a lot of that good will was lost soon after his new setup in the temple, though.

Speaking of fan favorites, I did wonder if Edmuir got so much good screetime because Tobias Menzies has been making quite a name for himself lately, including a fairly high-profile dual role on Outlander. I'm also seeing him pop up more here and there than the typical GoT third/fourth-tier characters. 

Edited June 13, 2016 by kieyra

[GrailKing]

Looks like we picked up some info from the previews:

Jon tells Mel not to bring him back, and I think Sansa told Jon about the Vale.

[stagmania]

1 hour ago, screamin said:

I think there should be, like, a law against any more scenes Tyrion urging Dany's cohorts to drink 'comedically'.  SO tedious.

It's amazing to me that there are only 15 episodes of this series left and we're still getting this kind of pointless filler. If it was cleverly written, it might be tolerable. But alas, no.

The Arya resolution was completely nonsensical, and I feel vindicated in my long held belief that the Faceless Man plot was little more than narrative wheel spinning to keep her busy until the right time came for her to re-enter the larger story. 

What a disappointing stretch of episodes. I hope the final two are good enough to leave a strong impression of the season overall.

[J----av]

32 minutes ago, trif said:

Jaqen's comment about Arya finally being No One also caught me off guard. But I think maybe the logic was supposed to be that if the Many Faced God "allowed" Arya to best his true devotee The Waif, then there is a reason and Jaqen should not interfere with the MFG's will or at least the death 'balance'. Sort of a lesser version of the reasoning we heard this same episode about why Dondarrion thinks The Hound can be redeemed (and why the BWB itself is meant to fight for light instead of getting caught up in the lords' wars).

I'm not sure, though. One of my hesitations is that I never got the sense before that the Many Faced God was a particularly interventionist god, even in the eyes of his true believers. For having spent two seasons with them, we know pretty little about the actual deity.

 I think he was just trying to get her to finally admit she is Arya Stark

[InsertWordHere]

20 minutes ago, paigow said:

In the interval between putting the waif face on the wall and Jaquen discovering it, Arya found a magic cure that repaired her broken stitches and included the non-drowsy version of "Milk of the Oxy" because she walked out like nothing happened.

She gave the gift of death to the bacteria seeping out of her intestines. That's why she's Faceless Men material now. She killed thousands and no one knows how she did it. 

[J----av]

Its kinda depressing going back and watching the amazing scenes Tyrion had with Joffrey, Cersei, Jamie and Tywin in the first 4 seasons then seeing what he is doing this season

[areca]

56 minutes ago, Oscirus said:

I'm all penised out since every week seems to have a new penis joke. It's like a where's waldo game nowadays.

Dude they even hung the horse in the background of the campfire.  I'm almost certain it was a mare with CGI.

[benteen]

My dislike of D&D's sympathetic take on Cersei aside, I did really feel bad when her own son betrayed her.  Tommen is spineless in every way.

The character of Tyrion thrived in Westeros, bouncing off of  family members and characters like Bronn.  But even a character like him does poorly when he is in the void that is Meereen.

[Dev F]

What a weird episode. Some really effective moments, like the Jaime/Edmure scene, but it mostly felt like a Frankenstein's monster stitched together from leftover book material the series never got around to handling in its original context. So we have things like the Blackfish randomly taking back Riverrun only to quickly lose it again, and a bunch of threads that seemed to point toward Lady Stoneheart but instead led to something way less interesting: the reintroduction of the characters who were only intended to lay the groundwork for Lady Stoneheart!

And now the BWOB are going to wander into a different storyline! Wow, I can't wait to see what Lord Beric, a not very memorable character who last appeared three years ago, has to contribute to the quest a bunch of main characters are already engaged in! And it sure will be great to add a Red Priest to the mix when right now we only have a Red Priestess who recently demonstrated that she possesses the exact same abilities! I really have no idea where this is going or how it could possibly be the slightest bit interesting.

Edited June 13, 2016 by Dev F

[KaleyFirefly]

1 hour ago, Hanahope said:

Braavos wasn't a complete bust. At least Arya learned to fight.

Arya already had fighting skills (from Syrio) before she ever came to Braavos. The whole storyline was a complete waste, because she didn't learn any new fighting skills (except maybe how to fight in complete darkness, which doesn't come up a lot). She spent most of her time at faceless men camp either being hit in the face with a stick or washing floors or being a blind beggar. I'm just glad this whole useless plot has finally wrapped up and she can return to Westeros.

[Oscirus]

1 minute ago, KaleyFirefly said:

Arya already had fighting skills (from Syrio) before she ever came to Braavos. The whole storyline was a complete waste, because she didn't learn any new fighting skills (except maybe how to fight in complete darkness, which doesn't come up a lot). She spent most of her time at faceless men camp either being hit in the face with a stick or washing floors or being a blind beggar. I'm just glad this whole useless plot has finally wrapped up and she can return to Westeros.

I guess they needed to fridge her for her inevitable return to westero. This storyline feels like a waste since the only thing she really affected was the Waif dying.

So that play is in trouble since it lost two of it's lead actresses :x

[Constantinople]

Quote

The things we do for love

That's what Jaimie told Edmure almost immediately before Jaime told Edmure

Quote

I'll send for your baby boy. And I'll launch him into Riverrun with a catapult

Of course,

Quote

The things we do for love

is is also what Jaime said right before he pushed Bran out the window.

Tell me more about Jaime's alleged redemption.

Edited June 13, 2016 by Constantinople

[trif]

1 hour ago, kittykat said:

Yeah he's been given nothing really and losing Varys now doesn't help.  I'll be the unpopular person here and say I didn't mind the jokes scene that went on for Tarantino lengths.  Only because in this world of misery it was nice to see three characters laugh and enjoy ones company for a moment, which didn't last.

I was smiling by the end, but at the same time the whole dynamic between the three of them (Missandei, Tyron, and Gray Worm) grates on me. Gray Worm and Missandei as righteous innocents being their sole personality traits (other than their affection for each other and Dany) is kind of old now. IMO this characterization worked initially, but now they are overly infantilized relative to the positions of influence they're supposed to have at this point. Dany left, and 80% of their action in the power vacuum and crisis situation is sitting around being befuddled saints. The most interesting they've been to me is when they fought with Tyrion with actual opinions about why his deal with the slavers was a bad one (you can't trust men who sell people to keep their word), rather than just stating what everyone agrees with, that slavery should end tomorrow. Other than that, I feel like the writers a) have given up on trying to develop Gray Worm and Missandei further and b) don't want to portray any of the three in a bad light (for different reasons) which is how you end up with repetitive scenes where the main joke is, "Tyrion's playing to the wrong crowd."

[MadMouse]

First Jaime in Dorne and now in Riverlands, what was the point of either arc? I know I come off like elitist book snob sometimes but man did they ruin one of the best character arcs with Jaime's redemption. No LSH and the Cleganebowl are one thing but to ruin some of Martin's best work is a travesty. Jaime in the Riverlands IMo will be remembered as some of the best modern fantasy ever.

 

And then everything with the Blackfish was even weirder, you could tell they just needed him gone so he decided to Butch Cassidy it off screen. Logically his best chance to regain Riverrun is to go with Brienne and install Sansa in the North. Then attack the Frey's with an angry northern army .

Wonder if we'll get a play of Brienne and Pod being hung with the Hound taking a certain lady's place? Just hope we get more Beric , Richard Dormer's take on the character is great. Probably my favorite smaller role on the show.

[Knuckles]

1 hour ago, taurusrose said:

Acting in an honorable way towards Brienne doesn't change the fact that Jamie is a major dick.

Jaime seems to be reminded of what honor is, only in the presence of Brienne. That said, Tobias Menzies did a great job of portraying a weak man, especially vulnerable after years in a filthy cell, who knows he is weak, and yet cannot force himself to follow the lead of the Blackfish. Same was true when Robb and the Blackfish forced his hand in marriage to Roslyn, he was out-muscled then, he was out-muscled now. He should have asked to see the proof that a child exists, or that Roslyn actually gave birth. I don't know if he believes Jaime at all, or he is too close to the end of his rope, to not give in. But his calling out Jaime for his utter lack of honor did ring true...Jaime Lannister is a dick. By the way, he conveniently forgot his oath to Catelyn to return her daughters to Winterfell...just blew it off. Inconvenient for the boy..gotta get back to Cersie's bed. You'd think having his own bastard son humiliate him by stripping him of the Kingsguard in front of the whole court would have been a slap of reality, but no, nothing will stay his narcissistic attachment to Cersei. He is as emotionally and developmentally crippled as she is. 

And Edmure is a dead man...the Freys took the castle in a cakewalk, and Edmure will be handed back to Walder Frey. They don't need him as a hostage anymore, so he's a goner. Jaime won't remember who he is in 10 minutes. And that soldier so eager to serve his rightful lord looked freaked when Edmure surrendered the castle without a fight...Edmure is done, the castle is gone, and the Tully forces are now under the jackboots of the Freys. 

The Blackfish had the right of it...and Edmure had to know he was a dead man either way.

[KaleyFirefly]

1 hour ago, Anisky said:

So, what I'm getting from this season is that nobody is the slightest bit concerned that Walder Frey might be angry about his allies knowingly and cold-bloodedly killing his children and grandchildren. Ramsay at least we know is, well, Ramsay. Jaime's plan to launch a Frey toddler into a castle with a trebuchet is a bit more surprising.

EDIT: Especially considering they are surrounded by Freys and helping the Freys in this battle. None of them would have a problem with their little nephew/cousin/etc being cold bloodedly murdered by the man sent there to help them? No? 

Technically, that baby would be a Tully. They don't care about Tullys.

[KaleyFirefly]

1 hour ago, lmsweb said:

OH and why has nobody else mentioned we saw a penis this week? The Hound's penis, no less. Am  I the only shallow one who noticed it?

What, was that when he was peeing? That's not exactly sexy.

[MrWhyt]

2 hours ago, Anisky said:

So, what I'm getting from this season is that nobody is the slightest bit concerned that Walder Frey might be angry about his allies knowingly and cold-bloodedly killing his children and grandchildren. Ramsay at least we know is, well, Ramsay. Jaime's plan to launch a Frey toddler into a castle with a trebuchet is a bit more surprising.

EDIT: Especially considering they are surrounded by Freys and helping the Freys in this battle. None of them would have a problem with their little nephew/cousin/etc being cold bloodedly murdered by the man sent there to help them? No? 

what are the Freys going to do against the Lannisters/The Crown? They aren't a strong house, they got to their current place by scheming with the Lannisters, they don't have the balls to move against them.

[dbell1]

Considering that book Tyrion was drunk, muttering "Where do whores go?", and being a fighting dwarf on a pig for many many chapters, I'm good with him having stilted drinking scenes. 

[Oscirus]

Yea, I don't think Walder gives a fuck what happens to his brethren as long as they aren't under his roof.

[jjjmoss]

Quote

Jaime in the Riverlands IMo will be remembered as some of the best modern fantasy ever.

That's one of the biggest hyperboles ever.

[KaleyFirefly]

1 hour ago, nodorothyparker said:

I didn't really hate it either.  In the books, Jaime knows he's leveraging on his own bad reputation.  Show Jaime has had more people throwing knowledge of his relationship with Cersei in his face.  This honestly felt like he was just using it to up the ante to make sure Edmure knew how deadly serious he was.

Does that mean I don't think there was some element of truth to it?  No, but I also think the scene of Bronn very pointedly telling Pod how obvious it is that Jaime and Brienne want each other was there for a reason.  They still have mad chemistry and it seems fairly obvious from the setup of the Hound with the newly reintroduced Beric and Thoros and Brotherhood that Brienne won't be making it back to Winterfell before she and likely Jaime get sucked into a modified version of the Lady Stoneheart plot.  It was clear last week with the Blackfish and this week with Edmure that some of what they were saying to Jaime was sinking in, just as it was clear that Brienne being the one person in all of this to remind him of his own honor forced him to pause.

Arya's story in Braavos managed to feel every bit as pointless on the show as it does in the books.  Apparently she can be stabbed repeatedly in the stomach and then slide more than once on that same stomach down flights of stairs.  And at the end of it blithely announce that hey, so sorry, I'm not no one after all and I'll just be on my way.

Aside from maybe the most pointlessly tiresome Peter Dinklage scene ever, there was a nice parallel there between Cersei and Tyrion when Varys commented on how Tyrion had now set religious fanatics loose on Mereen and he hoped he could control them.  Hopefully, that plot won't take as long to get anywhere.  As tired as I am of the Sparrow story, Lena was doing nice work convincing me just how isolated and closed in Cersei is feeling.   

The best and saddest part of the Tyrion scene was when Tyrion said he was going to have his own vineyard one day and only invite his closest friends to drink the wine, and then he did a very slight pause, as if wondering if he even has any true friends. 

[Gertrude]

1 hour ago, stagmania said:

It's amazing to me that there are only 15 episodes of this series left and we're still getting this kind of pointless filler. If it was cleverly written, it might be tolerable. But alas, no.

I was just saying this to someone else. Only so many episodes left and this is what we get. This episode was underwhelming, again, and I just want the show to be over and done. It's sucking the joy out of the story for me.

Thank goodness we can stop with the unCat truthers and CleganeBowl get hype. I was getting sooo sick of GET HYPE after last episode. Don't get me wrong, I think it would be OK if the Clegane brothers had a showdown, but I never wanted it as the Trial. I also want Sandor to find peace and killing Gregor for revenge never fit into my head canon. For a greater good, to put down a rabid dog, sure - but not for revenge. Then again A Show isn't reassuring me that Sandor will find that peace, so, meh.

Just get this show over with please and let me go back to waiting years for the books. It was less painful. (I really have become a crab about the show lately, sorry. I think I hit my breaking point somewhere and now it's more annoying to me than it is fun. It's sad)

[Ambrosefolly]

I don't think this will happen, but I hope it is later revealed in the epilogue that Roslyn secretly grew to hate her Frey family and later installs her son as the rightful ruler of the Riverlands if he exists.  

[Oscirus]

22 minutes ago, KaleyFirefly said:

The best and saddest part of the Tyrion scene was when Tyrion said he was going to have his own vineyard one day and only invite his closest friends to drink the wine, and then he did a very slight pause, as if wondering if he even has any true friends. 

That's probably the other point of Tyrion's drinking scenes. He desperately wants people to see him as more then a misshapen little man. The tragedy of Tyrion is that despite everything he does, that he'll never have any true friends. So while it may seem like a wasted scene, it's actually a characterization scene.

Edited June 13, 2016 by Oscirus

[WatchrTina]

Here's my tin-foil theory:  Lady Crane is actually a defrocked red priestess and Arya actually died of her wounds and was brought back from the dead by the Red God via Lady Crane.  Otherwise her miraculous recovery from being GUT-STABBED is just ridiculous.  So what do you think; Arya & Jon as the back-from-the-dead, dire-wolf-warging super-siblings (or cousins)?  I like it.

Edited June 13, 2016 by WatchrTina

[Gertrude]

These conversations have come up before, and honestly, I hold Roslyn as responsible as the other Freys involved in the Red Wedding. I get that she didn't like it and there was hella pressure on her to participate, but in the end, she didn't have to. She knew what was going to happen and knew it was shit and now she's stained with it too. If her life meant enough to her to ruin so many others, then she can live with the consequences. OK, so maybe not AS responsible, but send her to a sept to live out her life as a silent sister or something, but no way does she deserve to live happily ever after with Edmure or her child IMO.

[FemmyV]

Wow, I'm so happy with this episode, for so many reasons. This is hands' down the season's best so far, if you can forgive the lack of epic battle scenes. Like episode 4 there was a lot of to enjoy but there was also meat! Not just candy, but real meat. 

But first, let's back track to all the questions about last week and whether or not Arya was pulling a freak out on the waif. So sorry I now have to agree with those who called it bad writing to have a Girl, who knows there's a pissed off Waif who wants her dead, galavanting around Bravos & throwing coin around and not carrying her Needle for protection? That out of the way ...

Candy with substance:  A Girl is also just damn lucky Lady Crane knows how to treat abdominal tears and intestinal damage, eh? To bad Lady Crane wasn't so lucky, herself. Real witch, that waif. I will admit to some breath holding at the end, to see if Ja'qen or not-Ja'qen would rip off a face to reveal Syrio. Either way, all good and wasn't it fucking grand to see and hear A Girl pronounce herself Arya Stark? Whoever he is, he doesn't seem to mind that much; maybe we'll see him again one day and find out why he targeted Arya in the first place.

Arya fucking Stark.

Candy: Tyrion getting Missandei and Grey Worm to drink. And tell jokes. 19 ways to yell for help, indeed. And Dany's back. One might have noticed that many those things anti-Danys list as reasons why she'd be some whacked-out dictator are also the reasons Tyrion uses to say why she'd be welcome to the Iron Throne. Sidenote: I wonder who Varys is off to see? Ships! Many ships! And Dany returns. Tyrion, Dragon Mama is going to be very unhappy with you ... but looking ahead: who's the lucky birds gonna be rescued by Yara & Co?

Meat: The Hound hooking up with Bw/oB. So glad to see the people we thought of as kind-of-good guys still are.

Meat: Brienne / Jaime. So that's how it's going to be. For now, anyway. Good thing she's keeping the Valyrian steel for now, at least.

Sweet meat: Pod & Bron. Happy to see those two reunited, too bad about this week's dick jokes. So Bron would do Brienne, hmmm?

Meat: Brienne / Blackfish .. not brilliant but, like so much else here that we haven't gotten in forever, the dialog had substance.

Meat: Jamie / Edmure. Poor, poor Edmure. He's just always going to be seen as the joke of the Tullys, and their bane, if they don't get that castle back by the end of the story. Hard to believe he rolled the Blackfish for a brat he's never seen, by a woman he fucked once and whose family killed most of his off. Asshole, Edmure. You might think he'd at least realize that no way would the Freys want their legitimate heir to Riverrun killed.

Happy Blackfish went out fighting. But Jaime ... *sigh* .. still fighting the war for Cersei's c***. "The things we do for love ..." indeed. I have a feeling Jamie will use that phrase at least once more, when all is said and done.

Candy: Cersei / Hound / Sparrows take one. We may have had too much exposure to this scene for it to have very much of an impact, but as much as we hate Cersei, it was good to see her win a bloody one against those bullies.

Candy with substance: Cersei / Sparrow / Tommen - Ooooooh ... IIRC we are way off book territory here. Good demonstration of why Cersei is such a great heavy in this story: for every win, there's at least one loss, and that's why she gets to stay around when Joff and Tywin got bumped off the island. I wonder what the Little Birds found? The leftover Greek fire, or the tunnels?

Edited June 13, 2016 by FemmyV

[gwhh]

I like how someone gets good with patching someone up. After they Ben stabbed twice deep in the gut and than had the knife turned in them like opening a door knob.  

I guess Arya good at cutting off people heads now!  I can't believe they had her do that!  

I guess the the faceless men did not change the locks after she left the assassin order!  

Its going to be real HARD for the blackfish to fight for the Starks with no weapons!  

Edited June 13, 2016 by gwhh

[Gertrude]

1 minute ago, FemmyV said:

 Either way, all good and wasn't it fucking grand to see and hear A Girl pronounce herself Arya Stark?

While I liked her saying her name, the rest of the scenes and all that led up to it fell so flat it took the joy out of it for me. A line that should have me fist-pumping for all I'm worth and meh. This show has no earned moments. It just has moments.

[AGuyToo]

At least we're done with the Faceless Men and Jaqen. (Please, please don't let them come back.) For me, that was the only good part of this episode.

[Greta]

15 minutes ago, Ambrosefolly said:

I don't think this will happen, but I hope it is later revealed in the epilogue that Roslyn secretly grew to hate her Frey family and later installs her son as the rightful ruler of the Riverlands if he exists.  

I'm the opposite- I want Roslyn to be the most evil of all the Freys and end up ruling Riverrun through her spawn .  I did enjoy that Edmure's dopey love for her was referenced in the show, since his belief that she was innocent and special and really looovvved him- seemingly based  on the fact that she was pretty and had sex with him- would have caused my eyes to roll completely back while I was reading, if said eyes weren't already rolled by the fact that Edmure never questioned the convenience that she got knocked up with a "Tully" heir on their wedding night (or wedding 10 minutes mid-massacre, more accurately).

Edited June 13, 2016 by Greta
grammatical coherence reached through dashes

[Ambrosefolly]

16 minutes ago, Greta said:

I'm the opposite- I want Roslyn to be the most evil of all the Freys and end up ruling Riverrun through her spawn .  I did enjoy that Edmure's dopey love for her was referenced in the show, since his belief that she was innocent and special and really looovvved him seemed to be based on the fact that she was pretty and had sex with him  would have caused my eyes to roll completely back while I was reading, if said eyes weren't already rolled by the fact that Edmure never questioned the convenience that she got knocked up with a "Tully" heir on their wedding night (or wedding 10 minutes mid-massacre, more accurately).

You know, maybe it isn't a terrible thing if Dany breaks the wheel. I mean, since this is book talk isn't Dany a descendant of the Blackwood family, the original Lords of the Riverrun? 

I don't entirely blame him for trying to hold onto something. The Lannisters and Freys did massacre his family and what remains of his blood isn't coming for him, maybe he is holding out hope on the last vestige of affection her received. Edmure was one of the few people in his family (including Cat and especially Robb) that tried to do the right thing and took one for the team to make up for what was a miscalculation on his part (the mill). I kind of hate how the women seem to be able to make up and learn from their fuck ups, while the men are made to be weak.

Edited June 13, 2016 by Ambrosefolly

[Minneapple]

Jaime is the worst. Seriously the worst. I cannot believe how they've massacred his book arc. He's a little tolerable with Brienne, but I don't even want his grossness anywhere near her. Go back to Tormund, Brienne. Also, Jaime. Please don't ever play the "poor mother" card with Cersei. She would not do anything for her children. Cersei would do anything for herself and the power her children can give her. But hey, two of them are dead and the third is probably marked for death so perhaps that means Jaime's Cersei blinders are due to come off soon. Not that, you know, that would redeem the character by any means. 

Lots of Catelyn Stark mentions in this episode. Hmmm....interesting. Even give Lady Crane red hair and in the dim light that could even have been Cat being all motherly toward Arya. 

Speaking of Lady Crane, damn she's good at the healing! A few days with her and Arya can race through the streets of Braavos with a bit of bleeding and then have a swordfight with a trained assassin and win the swordfight. I'm sorry Lady Crane is dead, I liked her. But yay, a girl is Arya Stark and she's finally coming back to Westeros! 

1 hour ago, Constantinople said:

Tell me more about Jaime's alleged redemption.

There is no Jaime redemption in the show. Maybe they actually thought about it at one point but no. Nope nope nope.

[FemmyV]

16 minutes ago, Gertrude said:

While I liked her saying her name, the rest of the scenes and all that led up to it fell so flat it took the joy out of it for me. A line that should have me fist-pumping for all I'm worth and meh. This show has no earned moments. It just has moments.

I think last week's writer (Cogman) royally fucked up. Was he under direction from D & D to write Arya with her guard down? Dunno.

[Gertrude]

9 minutes ago, Minneapple said:

Cersei would do anything for herself and the power her children can give her. But hey, two of them are dead and the third is probably marked for death so perhaps that means Jaime's Cersei blinders are due to come off soon. Not that, you know, that would redeem the character by any means.

But if (when) Tommen dies, I expect Cersei to curl up in a sad ball and spout off that it was fate. After all, Maggy told her this years ago. No reason to fight it, no reason to get revenge. Poor, sad Cersei. Jaime need to be there to comfort her.

And - just a silly question, but didn't Tommen essentially ban Jaime from the city? He told Jaime he would continue to serve House Lannister, just not in the city. So he thinks he can walk back after mission accomplished and ... what, exactly? (aside from fuck his sister).

[Oscirus]

If Tommen dies and Cersei doesn't try some weekend at Bernie's stuff, I'm going to be very pissed. And anachronism or not, there had better be sunglasses involved. That parts non negotiable.

 

Jamie can always go to Casterly Rock and try to somehow get Cersei to follow I guess.

[InsertWordHere]

9 minutes ago, Ambrosefolly said:

You know, maybe it isn't a terrible thing if Dany breaks the wheel. I mean, since this is book talk is Dany a descendant of the Blackwood family, the original Lords of the Riverrun. 

Before that, they were supposedly the warg kings in the Wolfswood. House Blackwood just keeps popping up. Any remaining Baratheons in the books have Blackwood blood the same as Dany. The Starks have Blackwood ancestors too. Walder Frey also had a Blackwood wife, Lothar is her son.  Then of course there's Bloodraven. 

You might be on to something. The whole series is really about the heroes of House Blackwood (+Lothar). 

[Brn2bwild]

1 hour ago, stagmania said:

It's amazing to me that there are only 15 episodes of this series left and we're still getting this kind of pointless filler. If it was cleverly written, it might be tolerable. But alas, no.

Has it been confirmed there are only 13 episodes left after this season?  I can't see how they possibly wrap everything up by then.

[Chris24601]

11 minutes ago, Minneapple said:

But hey, two of them are dead and the third is probably marked for death so perhaps that means Jaime's Cersei blinders are due to come off soon.

People keep saying this, but I'm really starting to think that Martin's twist is going to be that Jaime's redemption quest fails. At this point I'm not even sure that Cersei killing Tommen would be enough to turn him from Cersei's side as long as they got to be together.

He had his chance at redemption with Brienne, but now he's literally waved it goodbye. Go Brienne, you'd be better off with Tormund's worship of you anyway.

I am so ready for all things King's Landing, including Jaime, to just die already.

I'm struggling to see what good Tyrion is supposed to be to the story at this point other than as an author's pet. Sam has been more useful this season and he's only been in two episodes. It really feels like we probably could have skipped this entire season in Meereen.

At least Arya is freakin' done with the Faceless Man/Braavos stuff... I just fear she's been sidelined for so long (two seasons in Braavos, one-and-a-half with the Hound) that anything short of taking out Dany or the Night King in the finale is going to result in a retroactive "Why was this even a story arc?" conversation in relation to her character.

[Maximum Taco]

Ugh that was frustrating. I hated so much about that episode.

Braavos - So Arya saves Lady Crane, and then gets her killed? Fantastic job Arya, you're a champ. And then the Kindly Jaqen says she's finally "no one"? Why? Because she killed some one who was trying to kill her? Even if he knew she was not 'no one' and it was just a bait line a better choice would've been "who are you?"

Riverrun - So now I hate Show!Edmure too, thanks for ruining another character D&D. In the books at least Edmure had enough of a spine to free the Blackfish and then taunt Jaime afterwards. I was really looking forward to a "Fish swim. Even the black ones." line. Instead he orders his uncle to be put in chains? Disgusting. Equally annoyed that the Blackfish didn't want to let Edmure in, no way Ser Brynden would do that. What happened to "Family, Duty, Honor"?

King's Landing - Ok this was pretty awesome. Finally got to see FrankenGregor in action. But the Faith convinces Tommen to outlaw Trial by Combat? That is so frustratingly maddening. The whole point of Trial by Combat is to leave everything in the hands of the gods. If the gods want the weaker champion to win, they'll manipulate the outcome. They are freaking gods.

Brotherhood - Aw, I liked Lem Lemoncloak. But I am happy to see the Lightning Lord alive and well. I would've been happier to see Lady Stoneheart, but Beric Dondarrion is one of my favourite characters in the entire series, and he's just so awesome and the legend of the unkillable man is just so cool. LOVED the Hound's "We all bloody die, except this one here." he's away in the background but I swear Beric even cracks a smile at that.

Meereen - I like these bonding sessions with Tyrion, Missandei and Grey Worm, although their budding friendship seems to have been fractured by his failure to see the Masters attacking them. I'm super annoyed that again Dany seems to be playing the savior, I would have found it much more satisfying if they had come up with a non-Dany solution. They have two Dragons in the pyramid, why not have Tyrion just release them?

Sigh. Largely a disappointing episode. I was hoping for so much more after 2 straight weeks of them just moving the pieces around.

Edited June 13, 2016 by Maximum Taco

[Gertrude]

11 minutes ago, Maximum Taco said:

I'm super annoyed that again Dany seems to be playing the savior, I would have found it much more satisfying if they had come up with a non-Dany solution. They have two Dragons in the pyramid, why not have Tyrion just release them?

Pretty much agree with all of your post, but especially this. That was one of my first questions after the ep ended. At least talk about it. I am disappointed that they haven't even mentioned the dragons since ep 2? after Tyrion makes a big deal about them not thriving in captivity. That scene was cool, but the promise of it has been left on the cutting room floor.

[Minneapple]

10 minutes ago, Maximum Taco said:

 

King's Landing - Ok this was pretty awesome. Finally got to see FrankenGregor in action. But the Faith convinces Tommen to outlaw Trial by Combat? That is so frustratingly maddening. The whole point of Trial by Combat is to leave everything in the hands of the gods. If the gods want the weaker champion to win, they'll manipulate the outcome. They are freaking gods.

This is Cersei's fault. Lancel probably ran straight to the High Sparrow after her little "I choose violence" show of power. And with the news of the great big strong man guarding Cersei, well. That was the end of trial by combat.

[ElizaD]

25 minutes ago, Chris24601 said:

He had his chance at redemption with Brienne, but now he's literally waved it goodbye. Go Brienne, you'd be better off with Tormund's worship of you anyway.

I know the showrunners have said they don't care about the viewer reaction, but I'll still dream that if Brienne and Tormund are fated to survive the series, they'll respond to the love by throwing the shippers a bone and giving them a couple of scenes of actual dialogue and mutual respect for Stark loyalty/mad fighting prowess so that we can imagine them getting together some time after the final episode.

Overall, what a nothing episode. I'm disappointed by the Riverlands, but even that's mild compared to some of the show's more ragingly hideous choices. And usually there's at least one plot in the episode with stuff that I enjoy, but this time even characters I like were meh.

[Gertrude]

That's obviously the reason, but I'd hope that people would see right past that bullshit. It's the High Sparrow essentially admitting that the gods are powerless and they are a lie. Well, we see that, obviously, but I'm hoping it blows back on the Sparrow somehow.

[Oscirus]

It's going to blow back on the sparrow because he keeps pushing Cersei into a corner and isolating her. I don't think the Sparrow realizes how dangerous he's actually making her.