S04.E08: The Mountain And The Viper 2014.06.01

[Coxfires]

Oh, Oberyn, you were too a fantastic character to live for this show, why did you have to get cocky! I knew this wouldn't fare well for him, but I'll admit, it seriously bugs this time. It'd better lead to Dorne getting involved and have serious consequences, because I feel like Oberyn went far too soon.

I never cared for Jorah, mostly because Denaerys bores me, but she made a mistake by sending him away. I get her reasons, but she didn't think this through as much as she should have. She lost a precious adviser here

Arya's laugh was awesome, between manic and desperate, and the Hound's face was priceless. I wonder if she will see Sansa. And where is Brienne, is she far?

Ramsay being honored was a weird moment. It is a fantastic victory for him, probably the best moment of his Life but the Boltons are such awful people and Ramsay being a twisted sadistic nut case, what should we get as audience from here? Particularly when the awesome Oberyn died 10 minutes later!

PS: the Mountain is definitely dead, right? Are we sure of that? Was Tyrion still convicted because Oberyn died first?

[Snowblack]

I think no matter what happens to Tyrion, Jaime's alienation from his family is now complete.  One way or another, Tyrion is out of Jaime's life.  The only positive thing he has left is Tommen, and the two don't seem particularly close.  I have the impression that this alienation will lead to some dramatic events, whether it results in Jaime's death or another Lannister's,  

[abcfsk]

Oberyn was killed (a few seconds) before the Mountain (seemingly) died, so I figured that was why the Mountain was awarded the W. 

 

Funny thing is I  thought the Oberyn storyline got a relatively positive end seeing as he did what he set out to do, kill the Mountain. That big asshole is dead. 

 

I did really like Oberyn as a character like the rest of you guys though. My fantasy now is that Dorne is full of these neat characters and that we'll get to see them. 

[stillshimpy]

Funny thing is I  thought the Oberyn storyline got a relatively positive end seeing as he did what he set out to do, kill the Mountain. That big asshole is dead.

 

But that's not even close to all he set out to do.  I don't think Oberyn bought, nor should he have, that Tywin lost the leash on his Pet Assassin and Monster and The Mountain just raped and murdered Elia.  Afterward Tywin scolded him with a rolled up scroll, for being a bad, bad boy and then let him live, rape, plunder and otherwise let him go about his business...because if the Lannisters are known for anything, it's being forgiving of those show they feel have gone against their wishes.  

 

So...yeah, Oberyn got to kill the cudgel, it would seem, but he was far from the head of the Hydra.  He did know that.  

 

If Revenge was a meal then Oberyn didn't even make it all the way through the amuse-bouche, he died before the first hors d'oeuvre were served.  

Edited June 3, 2014 by stillshimpy

[abelard]

I did really like Oberyn as a character like the rest of you guys though. My fantasy now is that Dorne is full of these neat characters and that we'll get to see them.

 

Well this would practically save the show for me.  I mean, if we got like three Dornish dudes or ladies next season coming to wreak havoc on the Lannister clan I would love that.  But I just don't think this story will be about Dorne that much, we've already got so many players at the table.  Maybe Dorne can figure a little bit later, like when Dany arrives with her dragons.  I do hope we one day get to har the tale of how the Dornish fought off Aegon's dragons, but maybe this time will be different - maybe this time, Dorne will side with the dragons just to overthrow whoever's sitting on the Iron Throne at that point. 

[Coxfires]

Well this would practically save the show for me.  I mean, if we got like three Dornish dudes or ladies next season coming to wreak havoc on the Lannister clan I would love that.  But I just don't think this story will be about Dorne that much, we've already got so many players at the table.  Maybe Dorne can figure a little bit later, like when Dany arrives with her dragons.  I do hope we one day get to har the tale of how the Dornish fought off Aegon's dragons, but maybe this time will be different - maybe this time, Dorne will side with the dragons just to overthrow whoever's sitting on the Iron Throne at that point. 

 

I hope that what we will get from Oberyn's gruesome death is that Dorne, the only kingdom which resisted the dragons, will not protect the Lannisters this time in retalliation. But before we come to that, Denaerys' story must go forward first, and it is pretty stalling and going nowhere currently, so that kind of payoff won't come before long.

[Morbo]

I thought that would be one of Lysa's dresses, too, since I'm pretty sure I remember Lysa wearing feathers...maybe.  What is the sigil of House Arryn?  Does it have a bird or bird feathers on it?  The Tully's in the Riverlands have armor that looks like fish scales, so it would have to be an Arryn/bird dress.

 

House Arryn sigil is a moon with a flying bird next to it. In S1, where Cat takes Tyrion to the Eyrie, there are some Arryn soldiers standing in the background with shields sporting the Arryn sigil.

[AlphaLine]

The black!Sansa outfit isn't one of Lysa's dresses. In fact, Sansa is sewing it herself and we see that in the scene.

 

Not really sure what to make of that. First time I thought Margery had somehow gotten into the Vale, but no its actually Sansa dressed and acting like Margery. I called it evil!Sansa first but now I think it's more about power rather than a turn to the dark side, because sexy = power. Apparently.

[izabella]

Sexy also equals grown-up, and adult.  She played that tearful and fearful girl in front of the Vale Lady and Lords, to her advantage.  But she wants LF to see her as an adult, and a sexy one at that.  She said she knows what he wants, so it seems she's trying to give it to him.

[Snowblack]

I just rewatched most of the episode, and it's a different experience the second time. First of all, Alfie Allen is brilliant as Theon/Reek.  The first time through, I didn't catch on that Bolton's forces were heading towards Winterfell in that last scene.  Ugh.  That's going to be heart-wrenching to see that flag raised over Winterfell.  Roose Bolton's smug proclamations about the North just set up the chaos I expect next season as Wildlings ravage the North.  The tables will finally turn, and he's going to have his hands full.  But as horrible as the Boltons are, they might be just the people who can strike fear in the heart of the Wildlings just as the Wildlings strike fear in the hearts of average northmen.  Both sides are utterly barbaric, and are well matched in that sense.  Who would think I would ever hope for Winterfell to get overrun (again)?

 

Even the second time, I laughed out loud at Arya.  She is delightful.  And the Hound looks to be in much worse shape than I noticed the first time.  He was resting the arm on his injured side on the pommel of his sword, but that whole side looked just a bit droopy.  I'm afraid the Hound won't be with us much longer. :cry: I'm not certain whether they got turned away from the Bloody Gate.  If I were the gatekeeper, I wouldn't let that pair pass.  So I think they're once again going to be wandering Westeros.  The question is whether they will run into Brienne and Pod, the Hill Tribes, or Sansa, Little Finger and Robin before the Hound's inevitable demise.  I've said before that I think Brienne would be a great mentor and influence for Arya, and I would love to see them meet up.  I don't think the two sisters will meet, but imagine Arya's face if they did.  Last she knew, Sansa was marrying Joffrey, and here she is with Little Finger, totally transformed.  What an incredible scene that would be. 

 

I was laughing out loud this time at the beetle story when I realized that Cousin Orson is GRRM.  He kills every living thing within reach without regard to merit, karma, beauty, good, evil...none of it matters.  He is going to smash the life out of it.  Gungh!  Gungh!  Gungh!  And if there's one you like, he'll wait till you're watching to smash it.  EXCEPT not Tyrion.  Tyrion let that little isopod go on its way, and I felt a certainty that Cousin Orson isn't going to squash him. 

 

Finally, Ellaria's cape is quite clever.  I hated it the first time I saw it, but then I realized that the peaks on her shoulders are meant to conjure a viper's ridges above its eyes.  Looking at her is like looking straight into the face of a viper.  "Don't leave me alone in this world."  "Never."  Ugh.  Heartbreaking.  I didn't watch the final battle.  I'll save that for a night when I don't want to sleep.  Lol.  Oberyn needs to be avenged.

[DemosthenesKey]

I comforted myself after watching it by rewatching S4 E2, a solution which I highly advise for anyone daring enough to watch the Trial by Combat again...

Sure made me feel a lot better afterwards, anyway. c;

[RimaTheBirdGirl]

 

[sansa] said she knows what [LF] wants, so it seems she's trying to give it to him.

I found that whole exchange between them Heavy with Inscrutable Significance.  And so scary.  I've just finished Gone Girl, where being understood was the heroine's romantic ideal.  When Little Finger's eyes were boring into Sansa, and he asked whether she knew him, I couldn't tell what he wanted.  Does he want her to know him?  Or is she in (more) danger if he suspects she does.

 

But good on Sansa, with her new, secret smile.  How perfectly played not to answer him.  I think inscrutability may be part of what she's giving him, izabella.  Along with feathers.

[stillshimpy]

've just finished Gone Girl, where being understood was the heroine's romantic ideal.

 

Without going into giant spoilers for that book, I think it was accepted as she really is vs. understood.  Not being Cool Girl! Or Shy Girl, etc.  

 

I know I found it really sort of "Oh thank the gods! Sansa finally has some Game of her own!" but that was swiftly followed by absolute dread because I don't think she could have picked someone more out of her league to play the whole head game with than Littlefinger.  It was kind of a case of "Oh thank God, you've wised up! And you are in over your head by a thousand leagues!!!" 

[DemosthenesKey]

Maybe so, but if she survives it then she'll definitely be over everyone ELSE by a thousand leagues for having survived Littlefinger.

[WhiteStumbler]

If Sansa finds ways to keep LF on her side, she has one of the most dangerous, ruthless, and intelligent men in Westeros on her team.

The only downside? See the sentence above. Talk about holding a tiger by its tail. Hang on, Red!

Edited June 5, 2014 by WhiteStumbler

[DirewolfPup]

If Sansa finds ways to keep LF on her side, she has one of the most dangerous, ruthless, and intelligent men in Westeros on her team.

The only downside? See the sentence above. Talk about holding a tiger by its tail. Hang on, Red

 

The first image I got was Balo holding on to Sheir Khan's tail from the Jungle Book movie. Turned out decent for him :/

[WhiteStumbler]

DirewolfPup: my first cat was named Shere Khan! Funny, and a great image/connection. Man I hope it works out well for Sansa. The girl has gotten ZERO breaks since Lady died (maybe one, depending on how her "rescue" by LF turns out).

[janjan]

Quoth the Stumbler:  Hang on, Red!

Didn't she dye her hair dark for the feathery descent down the staircase? Trying to look more like Cat? Uh oh. We haven't seen LF consumed by lust so far, but the very thought is beyond creepy. And juxtaposed to Grey Worm's purity in admiring WhatsHerName. Get out of there, Red! Now!!

 

Of course, where could she go? She's playing the hand she was dealt, but does even her sexuality give her a chance against the master card shark? Maybe it does. Margaery has done ok for herself, and Olenna even got to be Lady of High Garden.

[stillshimpy]

rying to look more like Cat?

 

I don't think that's what Sansa was doing there.  Cat's hair was actually a dark auburn, I think.  I don't think that Sansa was trying to look more like Catelyn, I think she was trying to look less like Sansa Stark.   Remember Baelish telling her to pull up her hood because of her distinctive hair color?  

 

Sansa definitely changed her look, but I don't recall Catelyn putting on anything with feathers.  Isn't she just back to masquerading as Littlefinger's niece?  Playing that game rather than looking constantly like she's three steps behind it?  Yes, she told the inquiry panel (such as it was) that she is Sansa Stark, but it's not like they can't let word of that spread throughout the land.  

 

I think it was just part of declaring herself an active player, rather than the satchel everyone has been lugging from place to place as they play the game. 

Edited June 5, 2014 by stillshimpy

[90PercentGravity]

Sansa has had a tendency to emulate other characters. Her mom, then Cersei, then Margaery. Maybe this is Sansa finally trying to be Sansa.

[janjan]

Sansa has had a tendency to emulate other characters. Her mom, then Cersei, then Margaery. Maybe this is Sansa finally trying to be Sansa.

Or trying to be Littlefinger.

 

Not a chance, Sansa. Out of your league. But maybe the ploy will buy her some time until the next plot twist lands her in even more trouble. Captured by Wildlings? Bride of WhiteWalker? Dinner for giant white spider?

 

Hey, that's not as far-fetched as it sounds. GoT seems to have its big spectacle in the next-to-last ep, and they've been prepping us all season for the battle at the Wall. What chance 102 Crows can hold off 100,000 Wildlings? And where are the WWs anyway? And isn't winter coming (ever since S1)? There's lots of grief still in store, although it's arriving in GoT time, i.e., whenever.

[Snowblack]

GoT seems to have its big spectacle in the next-to-last ep, and they've been prepping us all season for the battle at the Wall. What chance 102 Crows can hold off 100,000 Wildlings? And where are the WWs anyway? And isn't winter coming (ever since S1)? There's lots of grief still in store, although it's arriving in GoT time, i.e., whenever.

 

This is a good point.  The White Walkers are taking their sweet time.  I assumed that as winter swept south, so would they.  And we already have snow at the Aerie, so it seems like it's about time.  The show definitely needs to get the Wall battle done this season and get on with events in the north.

 

In the Roose and Ramsay scene, Roose Bolton is so pleased with himself and all the land he controls.  And the Boltons are presumably moving their base of operations to Winterfell (the "new home" comment to Theon implied as much).  It makes me believe that the Wildlings and White Walkers will be upon them next season.  One thing this show is good about is not letting anyone rest on their laurels enjoying the fruits of victory for very long, and the Boltons are no exception.  I think Moat Cailin may be the last victory the Boltons will have for the foreseeable future.  Roose talked about how far he controls to the east, south and west, and he's about to find out that the one direction he gave no thought to is the most important.

[gingerella]

Roose talked about how far he controls to the east, south and west, and he's about to find out that the one direction he gave no thought to is the most important.

Oh, this is a great point that I totally missed! Roose seems oblivious that he is now more or less Warden of the Hell That Lurketh Beyond The Wall. He acts like he won the Publisher's Clearinghouse prize or something like that, when instead, he's basically won the big prize of a completely smoldering and fucked Winterfell fortress with a LOT of dead bodies laying about, PLUS, he's now got Mance's Army of Crazy Fuckers and White Walkers and Wights and Zomponies and these alleged giant white spiders AND then there's the freakshow things that make babies INTO WWs, so like, what does he actually win? A big fat nada if you ask A Viewer! His realization that his "win" means zippo will be sweet to see, if we do get to see it. I can only hope that Roose and his bastard both get fucked big time, in a really ugly way.

[WhiteStumbler]

^^^ sooooo good, gingerella!

[WhiteStumbler]

I re-watched before the epic battle for The Wall last night (nooooo, I didn't watch the end of the TbC - I couldn't stand it!) and caught this from the interrogation / suicide inquest at The Eyrie...

 

Grumpy Bald-N-Grey (to Sansa, after she has "confessed" to being Sansa Stark): "Your father grew up right here in these halls. We hunted together many times. He was a fine man."

 

Huh?!? Why did Ned Stark grow up in The Vale? Did I miss something?

[gingerella]

I re-watched before the epic battle for The Wall last night (nooooo, I didn't watch the end of the TbC - I couldn't stand it!) and caught this from the interrogation / suicide inquest at The Eyrie...

 

Grumpy Bald-N-Grey (to Sansa, after she has "confessed" to being Sansa Stark): "Your father grew up right here in these halls. We hunted together many times. He was a fine man."

 

Huh?!? Why did Ned Stark grow up in The Vale? Did I miss something?

WS, I remember that comment as well, and also had a WTF moment because the Vale was not Ned's birthplace as I recall, though I don't know exactly where he was born. I thought that was Cat and Lyssa's birthplace so them running around growing up, yeah makes sense...but Ned and Robert? WTF indeed...

[stillshimpy]

Huh?!? Why did Ned Stark grow up in The Vale? Did I miss something?

 

Guys, we already knew that Robert and Ned grew up with Jon Arryn, that's information from Robert and Ned's Excellent Road Trip, complete with picnic :-)  We just didn't know that it was at the Eyrie until now, but we did know Ned and Robert were both sent to live with Jon Arryn.   They grew up together, it's presumably a big part of the reason Robert had absolute faith and trust in Ned, even after fifteen years in the Pit of Vipers that was the capital.  

Edited June 10, 2014 by stillshimpy

[WhiteStumbler]

Thank you, stillshimpy: I had missed that. I guess my impression had been that Robert and Ned grew up in their respective birthplaces, but got together for military training as teens (+/-) from Lord Arryn. I didn't know it was since they were (apparently) quite young. Sort of adds an extra layer of sadness to the Rob & Ned Show.

ETA: I think Lyssa and Cat were born in the Riverlands (Tully). No idea where they grew up.

Edited June 10, 2014 by WhiteStumbler

[Pallas]

With Robert and Ned, G.R.R. Martin appears to be alluding to the feudal practice of having young nobles fostered-out to be mentored by other respected lords, in a sort of apprenticeship.  I believe the idea was to cement alliances, and also offer the youngsters the chance to learn the workings of estates not their own.  (The custom may have helped abate some Oedipal struggles, as well.)  Though Theon was a hostage, Ned seems instead to have treated him as such a ward.

 

I wonder if Brandon Stark was fostered out to Hoster Tully at the Riverlands, where he first met Cat? 

[Llywela]

I don't suppose 'growing up' at the Eyrie would have been since they were very young - they were probably Bran's age or thereabouts. Living there through their teens would fall under the banner of 'growing up' there to the noblemen and women who watched them grow.

[gingerella]

Thanks for the reminder about Ned and Robert. FYI, I usually can only stand to watch an epi once, so if I miss something, I know you guys will fill in the gaps for those who do frequent re-watches...thanks!

I was also getting confused because Lyssa was at the Eyrie (as Jon Arryn's wife, yes?), and I got turned around with Ned and Robert growing up with Jon Arryn there and I thought, "wait a minute, they grew up around Cat and Lyssa...?" But yeah, the Tully's were elsewhere, DUH.

A Viewer finds A Show very confusing at times.

[stillshimpy]

See, I remember that stuff well simply because it's from back in the days where I still thought there would be an occasional hopeful or heart-warming occurrence.  It's also  part of why I liked Robert and Ned, they were certainly the odd couple, but they did talk about all the things Jon Arryn had drilled into their heads and the hell they gave him as young men.  

 

Pallas, that's what I assume too.  That it is reflecting a fairly common practice that actually didn't die out entirely (and really still hasn't) until after the first world war.  Children were sent off to boarding school at very young ages (eight was standard for a long time), by children, I do mean "boys".  It was considered part of their training to become men.  Prior to boarding schools, they were often sent off somewhere that wasn't home, as part of their maturation. 

 

It also helped keep the peace in ages where things could get heated very easily and kept estates from being too insular.  

 

In Ned and Robert's case and in the case of the story,  I thought -- although this wasn't stated -- that they were sent to live with Jon Arryn as a way of furthering their educations also.  That Jon Arryn was considered wise and learned.  Remember Ned at the Small Council meeting just being aghast?  "Jon Arryn wouldn't have let the Kingdom fall into debt to the Lannisters!" (or something like that).  It was sweet and truly sad. Even as a reasonably grizzled middle-aged dude, Ned still had the kind of "my dad would never do that!!" type of admiration for Jon Arryn.  

 

Also, just knowing that they'd grown up together always made that scene where Ned wakes up after being skewered in the streets and first the camera finds Cersei and then we see that Robert's standing next to her, that scene still has the most emotional resonance in the entire series to me.  Ned had thrown the Hand pin down and turned his back on the King, but what he woke up to was Robert saving him from a dungeon, giving him back the Hand pin, telling him he'd never loved his own brothers and that Ned was his brother.   It was essentially his last act as a whole man, since he was then off on the Stomp hunt to die, 

 

This show actually depicts love on a fairly regular basis, but it's almost always love that is tinged with something else.  Ned and Catelyn loved each other, but there was just no getting around that it was a love born out of almost unspeakable sadness.  As well as, "well, this is what remains to us now" so whereas it was nice to see that they both made peace with their duty and found happiness in it, it was love rooted in duty.  

 

Even if I'm willing to accept that Jaime and Cersei love each other -- and basically I'm not, what a grotesque love -- it seems to have come about as part of a pulling together against the arctic blast that is their father and their motherless state, as well as disappointed dreams.  

 

Littlefinger's "love" for Catelyn is the sort that makes me say in all sincerity, "EGADS! YIKES!"  

 

I could keep going here, but most love in this story is colored by something else, often something icky, but when it isn't, often something sad.  

 

Robert and Ned obviously didn't have a romantic love, but they had a true familial love for each other that endured, the way you actually do love a family member and their last acts towards the other bore that out.  That "You are my brother, and I risk my neck for you, not without a bit of an eye-roll on occasion, but still..."  

 

It was the only "what a warm, deeply human relationship that reflects the best that our ability to be attached to each other brings out!" relationship in the show.  It was almost entirely down to some righteous casting on the part of the show and just one of those accidents of acting chemistry in that (really surprisingly to me) Mark Addy and Sean Bean -- two men I would never describe as being born to sing a duet -- just brought it.  

 

I could totally believe that they had been balancing each other out -- Robert prone to have way.too.much.fun and Ned not nearly enough, from the time they were ten or so .   

 

So that was a ramble, but that's the reason I remember the stuff with Robert and Ned so much.  In a show where house and family is really touted as being the thing that defines a human being's worth and is a part of their very soul -- Robert and Ned created the most believable version of why anyone ever thought that was a good idea.  

 

Particularly important in this episode (Oh.my.god, it's the topic! Catch it!)  when Ramsay Snow becomes Ramsay Bolton (I hurl) and has what passes for a cousin of a human emotion, a distant cousin, by marriage only, possibly adopted in the first place, pass across his face.   Or when Theon Greyjoy has to pretend to be himself and once again we see evidence of the whole Iron Born bullshit (because man, are they ever depicted as a bunch of turncoats and weasels..shark on mountaintop my butt) .  

 

It's still the thing that gets the most lip service and press, "So and so of House such and such" and it's supposed to be impressive and honorable.  Laudable.  

 

But it was Ned and Robert who actually sold me on "Oh look, it's not just talk when it comes to bannermen....they aren't just fair weather friends....they are family".  Sure, the Starks seemed happy enough in Winterfell, but I am grading on a curve there.  

[Pallas]

Beautiful, beautiful post, shimpy.  

 

It is amazing to experience again how we fell in love with A Show.  How everyone in that first season -- adapters, actors. production -- brought it to what was a very chancy undertaking, an endeavor that risked being dismissed as a live-action video game or fanboy role-play.  And was, by the Times reviewer and others.    

 

Remember Ned at the Small Council meeting just being aghast?  "Jon Arryn wouldn't have let the Kingdom fall into debt to the Lannisters!" (or something like that).  It was sweet and truly sad. Even as a reasonably grizzled middle-aged dude, Ned still had the kind of "my dad would never do that!!" type of admiration for Jon Arryn.

 

I know! Maybe grizzled Ned was still able to believe in heroes, because he had lived in a life in which he had not, yet, ever compromised himself. And, so many of his boyhood crushes died young -- when Ned was younger yet -- while he was already busy with a grown man's life.  No time to re-examine his assumptions (if such a thing would ever occur to him), for better or for ill: he had dead family to honor, Rebellions to win, children to raise, lands to rule.  

 

Robert and Ned obviously didn't have a romantic love, but they had a true familial love for each other that endured, the way you actually do love a family member and their last acts towards the other bore that out.  That "You are my brother, and I risk my neck for you, not without a bit of an eye-roll on occasion, but still..." 

It was the only "what a warm, deeply human relationship that reflects the best that our ability to be attached to each other brings out!" relationship in the show.  It was almost entirely down to some righteous casting on the part of the show and just one of those accidents of acting chemistry in that (really surprisingly to me) Mark Addy and Sean Bean -- two men I would never describe as being born to sing a duet -- just brought it. 

I could totally believe that they had been balancing each other out -- Robert prone to have way.too.much.fun and Ned not nearly enough, from the time they were ten or so .

 

 

Sniff.  Wolf and Stag.  Brotherhood, with the vow always implied and then realized: "...Or die trying."    

[MrMicrophone]

Pretty sure Littlefinger fostered with the Tully daughters (@ the Riverlands), and Brandon just showed up at some point -- this was when Littlefinger challenged him to a duel.

[Llywela]

Pretty sure Littlefinger fostered with the Tully daughters (@ the Riverlands), and Brandon just showed up at some point -- this was when Littlefinger challenged him to a duel.

Would Littlefinger have fostered with a noble house? I thought he was low-born, a self-made man - that's his whole schtick, isn't it? I thought he was a commoner that the young Cat befriended, in much the same way that Arya befriended Mycah the butcher's boy. I'm prepared to be corrected on this point, though!

[Anothermi]

Not sure if it was this episode or another one, but some character (Lyssa? so perhaps last one?) spoke about Litterfinger "turning up" at their door in the Riverlands and being taken in.  Maybe his family sent him off to find someone to be the ward of - but without any formal process because, well, they were "nobodies" in the Westeros social scheme. Or maybe he ran away from his nobody-ness and decided on his own to take a chance with the Tully's? That's how I interpreted that brief statement anyway. PB turned up unannounced and managed to get himself a new home. 

[MrMicrophone]

Llyw,

Littlefinger says that he's of a noble house (when he's explaining his nickname to Sansa and Arya) -- he's just of a very, very minor noble house, holders of a scrap of useless land.

 

If the Arryns and Tullies and Starks are all up at Archduke status (Warden of the Cardinal Direction certainly says "commands most everyone"), then Littlefinger's down at the level of a Baron or so -- just barely at "inheritable title." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_and_noble_ranks

[gingerella]

*sniff* I still am in mourning over my beloved Oberyn. It's just not fair, it's just not fair! *stomps foot and pouts*

 

[WhiteStumbler]

A thought I had while re-watching this episode where Roose is showing Ramsay "The North"...

 

It is like a inverse Lion King, where Scar and his bastard son have defeated Mufasa and Simba (and have Mufasa skinned and made into a rug), and Scar says "Everything the light touches is our kingdom"

[gingerella]

A thought I had while re-watching this episode where Roose is showing Ramsay "The North"...

 

It is like a inverse Lion King, where Scar and his bastard son have defeated Mufasa and Simba (and have Mufasa skinned and made into a rug), and Scar says "Everything the light touches is our kingdom"

So you mean it's like Roose intimating, "Everything the darkness touches is ours..."?  If so, insert ominous organ chords here! oooEEEEoooo...But it would certainly parallel the fucked upedness of the Bolton Family.