[TV/Books] Game of Thrones ***SPOILER Discussion***

[Sarethion]

This episode was mostly setting up the stage for the rest of the season. Which is absolutely fine for the first episode of the season

What I liked:

1. Arya meets Lannister soldiers - I think it was a great move by the writers. Arya got to see that not all who serve the Lannisters are evil (which seems obvious to us, but as far as I recall, pretty much everyone associated with the Lannisters that Arya met up until this point was a cunt and she might have instinctively thought that "Lannister = evil") and that realization might heavily influence what she does later in the season.

2. Brotherhood Without Banners - the Hound wasn't as funny as the last time we saw him (shame!), but the whole setting was amazing. And I'm not even talking about the foreboding vision in the fire that Clegane had. The part that really got me is that I think that he was here before with Arya and that these people were dead because of the Hound (and that's why he was so uneasy coming back to this house). This whole scene, especially the part where Clegane digs up the grave and is genuinely sorry for the dead shows how much he has changed since the start of the series. And I love it.

3. Tormund and Brienne scene - it was short, but damn the look he gave her (again!) is still so funny Also: "You are one lucky man" - lol One regret that I have is that Tormund and Brienne didn't spar at least for a while.

4. Euron Greyjoy comes to King Landing - we all knew that he'd ally himself with Cersei, so no suprise here. Kinda funny that it seems like the Ironborn managed to build a ton of ships very fast, but hell... What I liked about this scene was that it showed how crazy and evil this guy is. I know Cersei was meant to be "the worst villain ever", but right now I kinda want Euron to die a bloody death more than her.

5. Little Bear being a savage again - damn the writers, I now want to see Lyanna Mormont kill some White Walkers.

What I didn't like:

1. Arya killing the remaining Freys - it feel it was a waste of time as they could have easily just have the part where Jaime tells Cersei that someone killed lord Frey and all his kin and we all would have known what happened. I guess it was a little extra something for the die-hard Stark fans out there.

2. Samwell - honestly... Stannis already told him that Dragonstone = dragon glass, I was kinda disappointed that this was the big discovery that Sam made. I hope this is only the beginning and he actually finds more in the books. The whole training to be a maester thing was cool, but a little too dragged out considering that we only get 7 episodes this season and each minute is precious. The best part about this was Jorah being in Oldtown - it's interesting to see what happens to him next.


The rest of the episode was okay Neither bad, nor particularly amazing - pretty much the things that needed to happen to set the stage for the whole season.

For example, we had to see Danny land somewhere in Westeros, the beginning of Littlefinger/Sansa/Jon political game plot, Cersei and Jaime planning their moves, Jon making his first decisions as the king, Bran crossing the wall and so on.. There were also some cool little moments like Cersei saying that Tommen betrayed her - I think she's starting to go a bit mad already.

Overall, a pretty solid first episode of the season. Bar the two things I didn't like, I feel that it did a great job of reminding a regular viewer of where we are and what this season is going to be all about

[Thelxi]

5 mins download left I can't fucking wait

[Zayv]

This episode was mostly setting up the stage for the rest of the season. Which is absolutely fine for the first episode of the season


1. Arya killing the remaining Freys - it feel it was a waste of time as they could have easily just have the part where Jaime tells Cersei that someone killed lord Frey and all his kin and we all would have known what happened. I guess it was a little extra something for the die-hard Stark fans out there.

2. Samwell - honestly... Stannis already told him that Dragonstone = dragon glass, I was kinda disappointed that this was the big discovery that Sam made. I hope this is only the beginning and he actually finds more in the books. The whole training to be a maester thing was cool, but a little too dragged out considering that we only get 7 episodes this season and each minute is precious. The best part about this was Jorah being in Oldtown - it's interesting to see what happens to him next.


The rest of the episode was okay Neither bad, nor particularly amazing - pretty much the things that needed to happen to set the stage for the whole season.

For example, we had to see Danny land somewhere in Westeros, the beginning of Littlefinger/Sansa/Jon political game plot, Cersei and Jaime planning their moves, Jon making his first decisions as the king, Bran crossing the wall and so on.. There were also some cool little moments like Cersei saying that Tommen betrayed her - I think she's starting to go a bit mad already.


Overall, a pretty solid first episode of the season. Bar the two things I didn't like, I feel that it did a great job of reminding a regular viewer of where we are and what this season is going to be all about

I actually liked Arya's scene. And with Jaime corroborating it with Cersei later on, it almost added a mystique to Arya. I think it would be cool if we keep hearing about her exploits second hand like that.

But yeah the rest of the episode was basically like the trailers except longer. I always hear about how Euron is way more charismatic in the books - I think he showed more charisma in this episode than when he usurped the Salt Throne, so I enjoyed that.

The image of the dragons flying towards Dragonstone tho....that was such a cool sight. Almost was like a symbolic ushering of a new era - the return of Targaryen to Dragonstone - in line with the return of the dragons.

Did i just see Ed Sheeran? He just wants his castle on a hill.

He was apparently making another appearance though I didn't catch it. Most likely was him.

[Ilikegreenfire]

Theme of the week:

Nothing happened but its back!

Quite a bit happened actually,

We have Arya killing every adult fray male, throwing the riverlands into chaos again, and apparently headed south not north contrary to the supposed leaks.

Euron Hooking up with the Lannisters.

We see Jon being a Good king, and him starting to butt heads with Sansa.

We see the Brotherhood get a new quest.

We see Dany landing.

Bran crosses the wall.

We have Sam setting up a whole mess of future plotlines

[Nasukkin]

Lovely. https://youtu.be/ZOV6g-VDUOc

[Ilikegreenfire]

And THAT'S FUCKING NYMERIA IN NEXT WEEKS TRAILER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Sierra85]

When people ask you what happened here, tell them the North remembers.

SUCH AN EPIC OPENING

[Zayv]

Quite a bit happened actually,

We have Arya killing every adult fray male, throwing the riverlands into chaos again, and apparently headed south not north contrary to the supposed leaks.

Euron Hooking up with the Lannisters.

We see Jon being a Good king, and him starting to butt heads with Sansa.

We see the Brotherhood get a new quest.

We see Dany landing.

Bran crosses the wall.

We have Sam setting up a whole mess of future plotlines

Alot of important stuff happened, but if you were keyed onto the trailers, pretty much none of it was news except Arya & the Hound's stories.

[Champagne Supernova]

For those that missed it

[MrLachyG]

When people ask you what happened here, tell them the North remembers.

SUCH AN EPIC OPENING

cannot agree more. that is how you open a season. at first I thought it might have been a flashback to the Red Wedding, was very glad it wasn't

- - - Updated - - -

For those that missed it

and people were wondering why he was in the show at all - well now we know why!

wonder if she will kill all of them, I have a feeling that she might spare them; they did seem nicer than the usual soldiers

[apepi]

snip
For those that missed it

For those wondering, Ed is a huge GoT fan.

[Coeryn]

From a critical standpoint, as unbiased as possible, I do actually have quite a few problems with this opening. The only exception is the Clegane storyline, because that actually pushed both story arc and character arc forward.

For example where did Arya get enough poison for...30~men? Did she just casually harvest it in the river lands? I thought GoT was supposed to be 'realistic' in a fantasy setting, but they're setting up so many climactic scenes for the purpose of giving a bone to the fanbase, which is something I didn't think GRRM would, but then again this is D&D, and as we all know their writing is mediocre in comparison.

If you say this episode was a recap / build up episode then you are simply looking for an excuse. It was OK...Clegane pushed it from a 5/10 to a 7/10

[Leafcast]

From a critical standpoint, as unbiased as possible, I do actually have quite a few problems with this opening. The only exception is the Clegane storyline, because that actually pushed both story arc and character arc forward.

For example where did Arya get enough poison for...30~men? Did she just casually harvest it in the river lands? I thought GoT was supposed to be 'realistic' in a fantasy setting, but they're setting up so many climactic scenes for the purpose of giving a bone to the fanbase, which is something I didn't think GRRM would, but then again this is D&D, and as we all know their writing is mediocre in comparison.

If you say this episode was a recap / build up episode then you are simply looking for an excuse. It was OK...Clegane pushed it from a 5/10 to a 7/10

I could imagine a guy as shady as Walder Frey having a handy ammount of poison around

[Ilikegreenfire]

From a critical standpoint, as unbiased as possible, I do actually have quite a few problems with this opening. The only exception is the Clegane storyline, because that actually pushed both story arc and character arc forward.

For example where did Arya get enough poison for...30~men? Did she just casually harvest it in the river lands? I thought GoT was supposed to be 'realistic' in a fantasy setting, but they're setting up so many climactic scenes for the purpose of giving a bone to the fanbase, which is something I didn't think GRRM would, but then again this is D&D, and as we all know their writing is mediocre in comparison.

If you say this episode was a recap / build up episode then you are simply looking for an excuse. It was OK...Clegane pushed it from a 5/10 to a 7/10

Its directly stated that its been a fortnight between feasts, meaning Arya has been posing as Walder for around 2 weeks. The Twins itself probably had enough poison at hand given who their lord was, all she needed to do was poison the serving vessels. If she needed anything, which i doubt, it could have been gathered in said fortnight when she was gathering the Frey's to her. It seems like your hatred of D&D blinds you to the actual plot.

[Mascotte]

It was a decent first episode.
Took out the Freys so instantly ended that storyline (no more 'what happened to them after Arya killed Walder etc), and showed everyone landing on their feet.

[Coeryn]

I could imagine a guy as shady as Walder Frey having a handy ammount of poison around

If that's the case then that should've been set up as a fact earlier on; anything else is sloppy writing.

Its directly stated that its been a fortnight between feasts, meaning Arya has been posing as Walder for around 2 weeks. The Twins itself probably had enough poison at hand given who their lord was, all she needed to do was poison the serving vessels. If she needed anything, which i doubt, it could have been gathered in said fortnight when she was gathering the Frey's to her. It seems like your hatred of D&D blinds you to the actual plot.

Fanboy to the rescue. Not hatred for D&D but there's no understating that they have done mistakes; look at Dorne.

Arya does not have experience with poison, does she? SHe knows how to use it, but not where to find it etc? THat should've also been set up earlier to have maximum payoff for the Frey poisoning. Sloppy.

[Mascotte]

If that's the case then that should've been set up as a fact earlier on; anything else is sloppy writing.

You'd rather have her kill everyone 1 at a time like Xena the warrior princess in a massive brawl that lasts 15minutes?

[Elim Garak]

If that's the case then that should've been set up as a fact earlier on; anything else is sloppy writing.

No, it really shouldn't have. it's a non-issue.

[Coeryn]

You'd rather have her kill everyone 1 at a time like Xena the warrior princess in a massive brawl that lasts 15minutes?

No, you're comparing only to make a point, a weak one at that. I'm just criticizing their way of doing it, not the event itself.

No, it really shouldn't have. it's a non-issue.

For the average fanboy sure, but from a critical script / storytelling perspective it is a flaw.

[Apology]

It was definitely a better first episode than s5 or s6, but it wasn't perfect. The whole Arya in the Twins thing was silly at the end of s6 (she kills an innocent servant for her face? She knows how to mash up corpses and cook them into pies?), and it's still silly now. She has access to enough poison to kill 30-40 people AND is capable of getting it into every single one of their drinks with no one realising? She's a little girl with no experience ruling and is able to convincingly rule the Twins for two weeks and no one realises something is up? It's obviously meant to be a big fuck yeah moment, but I can only suspend my disbelief so much. It was just a little overkill.

Other than that and the ridiculously overt/distracting Ed Sheeran cameo, it was a pretty solid episode. Clegane's scene was fantastic, and so was Dany's landing. I love that Jaime seems to finally be breaking away from Cersei. His facial expressions were perfect in every scene he was in, even if he didn't outright come out and denounce her.