S04.E10: The Children

[MrWhyt]

 

Why didn't Brienne show the Hound the bread?

what would be the point of that?

[Drogo]

 

Why didn't Brienne show the Hound the bread?

 

what would be the point of that?

 

Hounds love canine-shaped pastry.  He would have totes sat down and gave paw. 

 

Agree that showing it to Arya might have been the smarter move. 

 

Edited June 23, 2014 by Drogo

[Subrookie]

Westeros doesn't strike me as the kind of place preservatives are used. I can only imagine the Hound's expression if Brienne had held up a mold covered Chia pet.

[Lady S.]

what would be the point of that?

It'd be infinitely more likely to get Arya to trust her than saying "Oh, my golden sword? Yeah, that was a gift from Jaime Lannister." Just about anything would be better than admitting her friendship with Jaime, even noble Starks know when to not tell the exact truth.

[Pete Martell]

I think the only chance Brienne had was to ditch that sword before she saw Arya (which could have gotten her killed, I realize). Once she and The Hound saw the sword nothing was going to change their mind.

[MrWhyt]

 

It'd be infinitely more likely to get Arya to trust her than saying "Oh, my golden sword? Yeah, that was a gift from Jaime Lannister." Just about anything would be better than admitting her friendship with Jaime, even noble Starks know when to not tell the exact truth.

because it (the bread) has magical powers that prevent it from being wielded by those who oppose the Stark cause? it's a piece of bread, all it shows is that they met Hot Pie.

[Lady S.]

And that wouldn't matter to Arya? She'd assume Hot Pie was duped or in cahoots with the Lannisters or forced to make the wolf bread? Arya was actually being friendly enough to Brienne when they first met, The Hound was the one who pegged her as an enemy, and Arya only agreed with him and said she didn't care about Brienne's story when Brienne revealed how she got her sword. Ditching or at least hiding the sword would have been the best idea, since it was the problem, not Arya automatically thinking everyone was an enemy.

 

Well, it might be crap writing, or it might not. I don't take an actor's word as gospel, especially when, no offense to Sibel Kikelli, English is not their first language and they probably are just reading their scenes at face value without worrying about the bigger picture. When you have an actor who is already doing a great job with their role without a lot of backstory or extra information, why load them down with that junk when it's going to be up to other people to do that reveal?

And you really think this will be revealed by a 3rd party after Shae's death, when every other example you've listed on this show was revealed by the characters involved? Maybe Talisa really was a Lannister honeypot and Tywin just let her die then. She must have been. That theory makes more sense than Tywin suddenly deciding in the middle of starting the war that he needs to play matchmaker for Tyrion right before trying to have him killed in battle. He must have planned to pick Tyrion as acting Hand before Ned was killed to even think he needed to spy on Tyrion. Edited June 23, 2014 by Lady S.

[MrWhyt]

 

And that wouldn't matter to Arya? She'd assume Hot Pie was duped or in cahoots with the Lannisters or forced to make the wolf bread?

Does Hot Pie look like someone who'd stand up to enhanced interrogation? Yes the bread might have bought Brienne a bit more time with Arya, but it wouldn't mean a thing to The Hound.

[Conan Troutman]

It only means that Hot Pie thought Brienne was friendly. But Hot Pie couldn't possibly recognize the sword, so that he thought she was friendly means exactly nothing. It's still weird that we didn't get to see the bread again. Another dropped plot point? Fell on the cutting floor?

Whatever, I'm glad Arya didn't go with Brienne (although Arya & Pod could be out-of-this-world hilarious, she'd probably scare the shit out of him all the time). Brienne's honorable and honest - two "qualities" Arya absolutely does not need to learn, she's got way more than a healthy dose of that already from her parents. And I don't think Arya could learn a lot about fighting from someone two feet taller than her. The Hound taught her some dirty dricks, basic anatomy and pointed out some flaws, but not much more in terms of actual sword fighting. She needs proper assassin training ASAP and it's good to see she's actually going in that direction.

 

Hounds love canine-shaped pastry. 

 

I doubt he's a cannibal.

[MrWhyt]

 

It's still weird that we didn't get to see the bread again. Another dropped plot point?

or it's just a piece of bread. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

[Conan Troutman]

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

 

Sometimes, a dropped plot point is just a dropped plot point. Don't re-open the bread case.

[Drogo]

 

Hounds love canine-shaped pastry.

 

I doubt he's a cannibal.

 

I eat gingerbread men...  I'm not a cannibal. 

 

 

She needs proper assassin training ASAP and it's good to see she's actually going in that direction.

 

Why does she need proper assassin training?  Why can't she just go to Dorne and hang out on the beach?

[NoWillToResist]

 

Why does she need proper assassin training?  Why can't she just go to Dorne and hang out on the beach?

Dammit. I just realized that Arya never met Oberyn. :(

 

Man...the bonding they would have had over their shared hatred of the Lannisters....

[Drogo]

 

Dammit. I just realized that Arya never met Oberyn. :(

 

Man...the bonding they would have had over their shared hatred of the Lannisters....

 

And their shared love of integrating combat with interpretive dance. 

 

[Spidey]

How would they know to force hotpie to make the exact same design he made for Arya before? If he was forced to make something he wouldn't want to endanger her by making something so emotional to him and Arya. He would just make something random.  Pretty sure the fact that they'd have that same design bread by Hotpie would tell Arya they were on friendly terms with Hotpie.

 

I'm not saying it would have been enough to convince Arya, I'm saying it would have given them positive points, better than nothing, and for that reason they are imbeciles for not making the attempt.

 

Maybe they'll find her again later and remember to show it to her.

 

Or maybe they were hungry and ate it.

Edited June 27, 2014 by Spidey

[Constantinople]

How would they know to force hotpie to make the exact same design he made for Arya before? If he was forced to make something he wouldn't want to endanger her by making something so emotional to him and Arya. He would just make something random.

Or he'd make something to warn Arya of danger.

 

Like Ned Stark Cake Pops

 

[Hecate7]

Right now they seam to have dropped the ball on Shae with the drinking game unexplained. 

For all we know, some yet-to-be-introduced character in Braavos, Pentos, or one of the other Free Cities is going to turn out to know Shae and be very unhappy about her demise.

[CletusMusashi]

Not likely to be a problem. I don't think Tyrion plans to run around telling the story about how he fell in love with another hooker and wound up strangling her. And as for hearing it from other sources, who in KL would know or care that she was anybody? Cersei is blind with rage over Joffrey's death, her mother's death, just being a bitch in general, yadda yadda yadda. There's already gonna be such a bounty on Tyrion's head for killing Joffrey and Tywin that, even if Cersei knew the hypothetical big secret, it wouldn't really be worth pulling the extra strings when she has a whole kingdom to try and manipulate now. Varys is gone, Tywin is dead, I doubt Bronn ever knew more than Tyrion, Sansa never knew anything and is gone, nobody else at court really gives a damn. The news the next day was "Imp Escapes, KIlls Hand of King." Not a word about whores, much less any curiosity about who said whores might be or where they came from.

[Hecate7]

There are other ways for them to find out. I'm thinking more spy network, than news, songs, or Cersei. What, if anything, happens next regarding Shae, depends on who she was and where she came from. If she was just a dumb whore, then nothing will happen. But if she was a Sand Snake, or anything like that, then a great deal might still happen in response to her fate. No, of course no one in King's Landing cares, but the main action seems to have moved away from King's Landing.

[Conan Troutman]

Why does she need proper assassin training?  Why can't she just go to Dorne and hang out on the beach?

 

Not when there are names left on her list.

 

For all we know, some yet-to-be-introduced character in Braavos, Pentos, or one of the other Free Cities is going to turn out to know Shae and be very unhappy about her demise.

 

Even if there is somebody like that, he'd have to know everything first. I doubt Shae updated her relationship status on Ravenbook to "betrayed the Imp, now in bed with his daddy". And Cersei certainly won't make an official announcement that Tywin just slept with Tyrion's whore. So even if she had friends in Essos and told them about Tyrion, he could easily lay the blame on Tywin: "See, he killed her, that's why I killed him". And that's not even too far from the truth.

 

Besides, he's got far bigger problems than that now. Cersei will no doubt send every assassin available to hunt him down. So even outing himself as Tyrion Lannister is probably a pretty bad idea. I can only hope Varys has some kind of backup plan. It's made clear he has his little birds and maybe old friends back there, so the best move would be to hide somewhere until Cersei and Tommen are dead and/or the Lannisters lose their power, which really shouldn't take that long since Cersei's in charge now. Not sure what Jamie's reaction will be, he loves him and set him free, but in now way can he be cool with Tyrion flat out murderhing his father. That could be quite the issue if they were to ever meet again, which of course seems pretty unlikely now.

 

Speaking of potential old friends of Varys, what's up with that dude he met during season 1 while talking about Dany (when Arya was eavesdropping)? Is he still alive? If so, is he still with Dany? Haven't seen him since then, so I assume he's either dead or somewhere else. And this somewhere else could be the place where they're heading to next.

Edited June 30, 2014 by Conan Troutman

[Drogo]

 

Why does she need proper assassin training?  Why can't she just go to Dorne and hang out on the beach?

 

Not when there are names left on her list.

 

She didn't kill Sandor, and he was on her list. 

 

After the Mountain/Viper showdown, I won't assume a Clegane is dead until someone's drinking wine out of his skull.

[Hecate7]

Even if there is somebody like that, he'd have to know everything first. I doubt Shae updated her relationship status on Ravenbook to "betrayed the Imp, now in bed with his daddy". And Cersei certainly won't make an official announcement that Tywin just slept with Tyrion's whore. So even if she had friends in Essos and told them about Tyrion, he could easily lay the blame on Tywin: "See, he killed her, that's why I killed him". And that's not even too far from the truth.

 

Shae kept the names of her parents a secret. She may have been writing them, the whole time, just like Talisa wrote to hers. They may already know she's dead, from the fact that she's no longer answering their letters.

 

I don't think he'd have to know everything, to be upset about her death. He doesn't need to know who she slept with or what her relationship status was, to want revenge or demand satisfaction in the matter. In fact, he wouldn't really have to know anything at all, other than the fact that she went away to do spy work and ended up dead, and that Lannisters were involved in some way. And I really don't think Tyrion would be able to talk someone out of their anger or grief over a family member, no matter what explanation he gave them. Remember how Sansa reacted about her mother's plans to execute Tyrion? Her mother started the whole war, and Tyrion had saved her life once and had absolutely nothing to do with her death, but this does not stop anyone from feeling that Sansa ought to just cut his throat or something. So I don't think there's an explanation he could offer for Shae's death, that wouldn't simply infuriate an outraged family member even further.

 

Speaking of dropped threads, I'm kind of wondering if and when Talisa's family in Volantis are going to have any sort of reaction to her death.

Edited June 30, 2014 by Hecate7

[fantique]

So... I just watched the finale today. Probable have nothing particularly relevant but here where my thoughts.

I thought it was a great way to end the season. They did everything I wanted to see and more.

I remember thinking the opening scene needs to be at the Wall. It did so I was happy.

The Wall

• Jon: weird strategy to destabilise the enemy but I got what he was trying to accomplish. Looking forward to his storyline being less peripheral.
• Mance: I know it was covered earlier when Jon was spying on them but I liked the show reiterating the reason why the Wldlings were going for The Wall. I liked that he showed pride before Stannis and was less than impressed with "these southeners".
• Stannis: I will never like that guy. I just can't give a shit. I wonder if it will ever get out that the only reason Stannis was the one to rescue the NW was because his bitch, sorry witch, intercepted all other messages that asked for help at The Wall. I am interested to see what he will do now that the Lannisters have fallen.
• Melissandre: I saw her eye Jon and I just shuddered. I hope she keeps away from him.

Kings Landing

• Finally big baddie players die... I was getting annoyed with the loss on the "good guys" being so much more significantly damaging. Tywin I shall miss you. Charles Dance I shall miss you more.
• Cersei, while I liked her tearing down her own line, I just hope she is the next Lannister to die. I just can't wait for her to see the fallout next year. Boy is she going to understand what giant SHIT she is in.
• Jamie: everytime he does something to piss me off, he then does something to make him like again... I really want to see him get over Cersei.
• Tyrion; I saw his actions as a mental breakdown. We have seen him be less composed in this season than ever so while I was wondering why he changed courses and what was running through his head I was not that surprised at what he did. I love that he and varys are going to be the next traveling comedic duo.
• Varys: he never disappoints. I loved his double back when he realises it went to shit.

Meereen

• Growing pains. Drogon is officially out of control. I have been fearing that since the opening shot of the season with the farmer's child and then the bones at the council...
• Just like with Jorah I don't like her decision, neither do I think she does but the circumstances leave her no choice. It was beautifully heartbreaking. I liked the whole staging and the way she carried the chains; so small and contrite. The dragons crying out were tear inducing. My first teary moment in GoT.
• Next season promises to be tough for Dani. The tragic thing about her ruling is that both good and bad things are kind of accidental and she does what she has no choice but to do.

Eyrie

• Brienne and Pod: I am conflicted... It would be awesome to have these 2 unconventional "not-ladies" hanging out but the whole approach was clumsy and I understand why Arya was all walls up once she knew of the Lannister connection. Idk why the wolf bread was not there. Some people talked about bread going bad but actually proper bread (meaning not sliced sandwich bread) just goes really hard. It takes weeks before there is mold so... Unless they did indeed eat it.
• The Hound: so long my friend. I shall miss you and your quota of the words c*** and fuck. Will be in my heart for contributing "Fuck the king" to my top 5 quotes ever. I felt he was goading Arya to make her kill him out if anger and instead she let him die because he reminded him of the monster she hated and not the man she got to know. I will foolishly join those who grasp on to the flimsy hope that unless we see the lifeless corpse there is hope.
• Arya: while some seem to have reached that point, I am not yet put off by how cold she's become. In this particular instance, it still wasn't senseless killing. I think she let him die that way for 2 reasons I can think of. The first is mentioned above, she felt he did not deserve a merciful death. The second I can think of is that she might have reservations about actively killing someone who had become a companion. REALLY excited to see her go to Braavos.

All in all, really axcited to have major players like Tyrion and Varys in the Free Cities and close to Dani. Her story has felt too tangential lately. While it might be a different actor (sadly) I really want Arya to meet Jaqen H'ghar again. I like her becoming a more skilled killer story wise but I want her to keep some light to still like her as a person and that can be helped with being surrounded by people she cares about.

[Constantinople]

Shae kept the names of her parents a secret. She may have been writing them, the whole time, just like Talisa wrote to hers. They may already know she's dead, from the fact that she's no longer answering their letters.

 

"If, may, could" - Bronn

I don't think Shae's family history is necessarily a dropped thread. Her parents could as easily be dead. Perhaps they disowned her. And merely because she denied being low born doesn't mean she was necessarily high born. Perhaps her family was considered part of a small middle class. Unless/until something concrete is provided, I'm taking Shae at face value.

Speaking of dropped threads, I'm kind of wondering if and when Talisa's family in Volantis are going to have any sort of reaction to her death.

I'm wondering if they will too. I'd think they would have heard by now since Daenerys was notified of Joffrey's death around the middle of Season 4.

I'm not sure what her family could do.

Presumably, as slave owners, or, at least, as members of the socioeconomic elite of a city in which slaves were common, they won't look for help from Daenerys, Breaker of Chains & Crucifier of Masters.

The Lannister regime is obviously out, as are the Boltons.

Perhaps they might try to aid Stannis. Though Stannis considered Robb a traitor, aside from a certain leech, Robb's blood isn't on his hands.

I suppose they arrange for a few assassinations if they were so minded.

[annsterg]

 

I wonder if it will ever get out that the only reason Stannis was the one to rescue the NW was because his bitch, sorry witch, intercepted all other messages that asked for help at The Wall.

 

Huh? What? did I miss this -- Melisandre intercepted all the other ravens the NW sent (to the other lords) after Sam returned with the bad news about the Army of Doom?

Edited June 30, 2014 by annsterg

[MrWhyt]

 

Huh? What? did I miss this -- Melisandre intercepted all the other ravens the NW sent (to the other lords) after Sam returned with the bad news about the Army of Doom?

yeah there's no evidence of this on screen

[fantique]

Oh.. well I guess i jumped to conclusions. Because in episode 10 season 3, 43 ravens leaving and then Stannis decides to go North after no one else is seen receiving them so I assumed there was some kind of interference from Melisandre. In season 4, I don't remember anyone else reacting to news beyond the Wall not even to say that it's ridiculous and that there are no such things as White Walkers.

 

ETA: nevermind just rewatched the episode and Melisandre did not even know about the letter until Davos brings it up when they want to kill him.

Edited June 30, 2014 by fantique

[Constantinople]

Oh.. well I guess i jumped to conclusions. Because in episode 10 season 3, 43 ravens leaving and then Stannis decides to go North after no one else is seen receiving them so I assumed there was some kind of interference from Melisandre. In season 4, I don't remember anyone else reacting to news beyond the Wall not even to say that it's ridiculous and that there are no such things as White Walkers.

 

ETA: nevermind just rewatched the episode and Melisandre did not even know about the letter until Davos brings it up when they want to kill him.

Sadly, no one else gave three shakes of a rat's ankle about the news from the Wall.

[Drogo]

 

In season 4, I don't remember anyone else reacting to news beyond the Wall not even to say that it's ridiculous and that there are no such things as White Walkers.

 

Stannis has just realized that going around and telling anyone who'll listen "The Iron Throne is mine by right!" isn't getting him any closer to actually, you know, sitting on the Iron Throne.  Melisandre tells him that death marches on the wall, and only he can stop it, and he's salivating over the prospect of saving Westeros and the people rallying behind their hero.

 

We know the people of Westeros don't love the StannMan.  He looks like the constipated Prince Malagant from "First Knight" which is the worst movie, ever.  He doesn't know any cool card tricks, he sucks at story-telling, and he chops off his besties' fingers. 

 

For three seasons prior to the raven, Melisandre's been telling him every ten minutes (or every time she gets naked, whichever comes first) that The Night Is Dark And Full Of Terrors, and then suddenly for the first time in 100 years(?) White Walkers are spotted near The Wall. 

 

Everyone else is all "White Walkers went out with chastity belts, Aemon must be going senile" and they all believe that the biggest threat to the realm lies within Westeros, but Stannis has been waiting for his moment... and it's here.

[Totale]

Bumping up because it took me a month after the season was over to get around to binging it out.  So:

 

a) I called The Mountain not being dead and

b) I'm calling The Hound not being dead either because

c) I'm calling an epic battle between the two in Season 7, after Hound is nursed back to health by

d) The Lady Brienne, because I'm shipping them heavy.  Just like Nada and Frank got together after their epic battle in "They Live", they'll join forces to fight for the good.

[Conan Troutman]

Well, there is an out for the Hound if they really want to bring him back: If LF or Sansa hear the story of the crazy girl who broke out in insane laughter and called herself Arya Stark (and that story should spread around pretty quickly, even if none of the soldiers go directly to LF), he might send out some guy on a horse to look after her. Only to find the Hound instead, who LF might find useful enough to nurture back to health and keep around. Of course that's risky because there's a bounty on him and he can't hide him like Sansa, but now that Tywin's dead, LF might not give a crap about the Lannisters anymore.

 

It's a bit of a stretch, but we've seen worse on other shows. The problem is of course that if he's already dead in the books, he'll most likely stay dead on the show, too.

[Drogo]

 

Of course that's risky because there's a bounty on him and he can't hide him like Sansa, but now that Tywin's dead, LF might not give a crap about the Lannisters anymore.

 

With Tywin dead and Tyrion MIA, the Lannisters lose most of their clout.  

[Lady S.]

Oh.. well I guess i jumped to conclusions. Because in episode 10 season 3, 43 ravens leaving and then Stannis decides to go North after no one else is seen receiving them so I assumed there was some kind of interference from Melisandre. In season 4, I don't remember anyone else reacting to news beyond the Wall not even to say that it's ridiculous and that there are no such things as White Walkers.

Would such a scene really be necessary in the middle of a regicide trial? Obviously no one's going to stop what they're doing because some kook at the Wall thinks creatures that haven't been seen in thousands of years and probably never existed in the first place are coming back. I thought it was pretty well established that no one but the Starks cared about news beyond the Wall, and even they didn't believe at all in tales of white walkers. Having a scene every season where someone in the South reiterates not caring about the Watch could get a bit repetitive. It may be hard to root for Stan and Mel but no one else was ever going to even think of coming to the rescue.

[Oscirus]

With Tywin dead and Tyrion MIA, the Lannisters lose most of their clout.

 

Maybe in Casterly Rock. Cersei's still the kings regent and Jamie's still the kingsguard. If anything I'd say people in the know would be less likely to piss Cersei off since she now has nobody around to stop her.

 

Shae kept the names of her parents a secret. She may have been writing them, the whole time, just like Talisa wrote to hers. They may already know she's dead, from the fact that she's no longer answering their letters.

 

Shae lost her virginity at nine thanks to her mother, and doesn't know how to curtsy. I seriously doubt that Shae's highborn or that her parents even care about her.

 

The theme of this episode seemed to be new beginnings. For the first time, both Tyrion and Arya are off on their own Stannis has abandoned his pursuit of the throne to take care of the White Walker problem and for the first time since season 2 Dany doesn't have her dragons to protect her. Yea she has her army but it's just not the same without the dragons.

[Hecate7]

Shae lost her virginity at nine thanks to her mother, and doesn't know how to curtsy. I seriously doubt that Shae's highborn or that her parents even care about her.

 

UNLESS 1) she didn't learn to curtsy because she never needed to--ie, she was too highborn to need to curtsy to anyone where she was from, and 2) Her mother married her off to some king or prince at age 9, and she ran away because of that, and found prostitution more logical and convivial a lifestyle than the one she had been born into. Perhaps she preferred being paid by many men more or less of her own choosing, to being stored in a harem by one man, however wealthy or highborn. 

 

I see no reason to write off Shae's odd responses as just lies, just yet, or to assume that there will be no new revelations or discoveries connected with her character, just because she died.

[Oscirus]

UNLESS 1) she didn't learn to curtsy because she never needed to--ie, she was too highborn to need to curtsy to anyone where she was from.

 

If queen Cersei who at her lowest rank was the princess of Casterly Rock  had to learn to curtsy then I can't imagine anybody who wouldn't have to learn. There's too many social functions that a highborn would have to attend where that wouldn't be a useful skill to have.

[Hecate7]

Depends on the culture. Shae might be noble someplace where people bow and curtsy very, very differently. We haven't been to Volantis yet. Maybe they kowtow, or maybe they don't curtsy. She is not from Westeros.

[Lady S.]

Shae isn't from Volantis, and if they don't curtsy in Lorath, there's no reason to keep that of all things a secret, that would have been the perfect comeback to Cersei, since that whole thing started with Cersei recognizing her accent as Lorathi.

 

I see no reason to write off Shae's odd responses as just lies, just yet, or to assume that there will be no new revelations or discoveries connected with her character, just because she died.

The only response being written off as untrue is the unspoken implication that her parents weren't lowborn, since Shae said more than once after that she was lowborn. Not like Shae's family was the only thing retconned after 1.09, where the Frey squire and army promised to Robb Stark are never mentioned again and his betrothal is made all about the bridge. There aren't really any odd responses about her past after 1.09, so beyond that her responses aren't being taken as lies by anyone, and I see less reason to read unsubstantiated revelations into her responses to make them mean something entirely different than her words and tone suggest.

[Hecate7]

When did Shae actually say they were lowborn? I don't remember her ever saying that. I do remember her coming up with a noble lady off the top of her head that she claimed to have served, and Cersei seemed to know the name. I'm sure Shae never served her.....but probably knew her in some other way.

 

Unlike Tyrion, Cersei also recognizes Shae's accent. It's Lorathi. The only other character in the series that we know from Lorath so far is Jaqen H'gar. I think this is probably significant.

 

More on the book talk thread--not because there is any, but because I think the article I intend to post a link to has book talk in it.

Edited July 29, 2014 by Hecate7

[Constantinople]

When did Shae actually say they were lowborn? I don't remember her ever saying that. I do remember her coming up with a noble lady off the top of her head that she claimed to have served, and Cersei seemed to know the name. I'm sure Shae never served her.....but probably knew her in some other way.

 

Unlike Tyrion, Cersei also recognizes Shae's accent. It's Lorathi. The only other character in the series that we know from Lorath so far is Jaqen H'gar. I think this is probably significant.

 

More on the book talk thread--not because there is any, but because I think the article I intend to post a link to has book talk in it.

The only time I recall Shae mentioning a lady she claimed to have served was when Sansa asked Shae if Shae had ever been a handmaiden before. Shae said yes and mentioned Lady SomeoneOrOther. Sansa aaid she never heard of a Lady SomeoneOrOther in this city (King's Landing). Shae responded she served Lady SomeoneOrOther in some other, unnamed (I think) city.

During the drinking game after she first met Tyrion, Shae denied being low born. It's possible Shae has a different idea of what low born means, for example, someone who isn't a peasant, as opposed to someone who isn't a noble. It's also possible Shae just lied. It's not as Shae hasn't lied at other times during the series.

Perhaps someone should start a Shae thread.

[Happytobehere]

It's funny how rewatching Season One caused me to remember how much of the fuckery that has transpired including the now near decimation of the Starks is the fault of Kat Stark and that sister of hers. At least the sister had insanity as an excuse for her awefulness, Kat was just a hateful witch who was nowhere near as smart as she thought she was.

[millennium]

A tepid end to a lackluster season.

 

Too many storylines, some not getting the attention they deserved.  Did Danaerys rate even a half hour of total screen time this season?   On the other side of the coin, I am grateful that I didn't have to endure very much Ramsay Snow/Theon Greyjoy interaction this season.   I despise them both.

 

I was bored to tears by the whole Knights Watch vs. the Wyldlings contest.   Sam and Gillie are a snoozefest.  Jon Snow's brooding got old.  By the time the CGI war elephants and giants showed up, I had already seen all that 12 years ago in Return of the King.

 

I find that I don't care about Bran Stark either or his discovery of Merlin's understudy in the roots of the tree.   The Harryhausen skeletons brought back memories of Jason and the Argonauts

 

Part of the problem I think is that the show played its most dramatic moments too early in the season -- the death of Joffrey, for example.   That should have been a season-ender, with Tyrion's death sentence being the cliffhanger.   Then came Oberyn Martel's inglorious yet exciting death right on the heels of Joffrey's.   These episodes were followed by a whole lot of nothing.   It really messed up the pace of the show, IMHO.   Game of Thrones has groomed us to expect mounting spectacle with each successive episode -- Tywin getting skewered while taking a dump doesn't rate.

 

Almost the entire season felt like filler.   It left me restless and unsatisfied.   Now I have to wait until March for the Season 5 DVD's to come out.   Bleh. 

[supposebly]

So I guess Shae had some reason to think she wasn't in any danger. I would like to know when exactly Tywin got to her. As long as she was useful to him, she was safe. I can't be terribly angry for her, she was a plaything for everyone and it was somewhat fitting she would be killed by the one guy who actually cared about her.

 

Excellent end for Tywin! I'm glad Tyrion got to be the one to pull the metaphorical trigger. I'm sure Cersei will go batshit trying to keep it all together now. It will be interesting to see.

 

Varys' turnaround was giggleworthy. I wonder how much he guessed about Littlefinger's shenanigans? I should watch that scene they had at some point in an earlier season. If I knew when that was.

 

I hope Bran's story is getting more interesting next season beyond near-missing Jon. Why couldn't he just say hi after the battle? Give me something. At least let some of the Starks meet for a moment in this terrible place! I guess he'll hang out in a tree for a while.

 

Bye, Hound. I do wonder if Arya is going to have a code eventually. I wasn't terribly surprised when she let him die alone. I am wondering what would have happened if Sansa and Arya had met. It's a hard to imagine now since so much has changed and they know almost nothing about each other anymore. And they didn't like each other much to begin with.

 

I can't be the only one who kept wondering what Brienne was going to do with Arya and Sansa. They have nowhere to go, she has nowhere to go. It's too late to help them now. I liked how her sheer pigheadedness drove that point home.

 

I can't stand Stannis. He's like this robot who has another robot reiterate his right to rule. More like a puppet than an actual person. His hypocrisy when it comes to Melisandre is sickening. I do however wonder if he thinks if he saves the north, people will finally rally behind him and he can get rid of Melisandre striking fear into everyone's heart. I'm probably ascribing too much foresight to him. I'm very worried about his daughter.

 

I guess it's time to start worrying more about Jon now that he has found his inner badass. I loved that previous episode. It was all very messy and chaotic, just like I imagine battle to be. Although I could have done without Igritte's cheesy death scene. Her corpse was beautiful but I kept telling Jon to get a move on before she might pop up as a wight.

 

I want the White Walkers lay death and destruction to Kings Landing. Let Tommen get out first. Start with Cersei and Pycelle.