Winter is Coming: A Game of Thrones (SPOILERS)

[Sunsilver]

I never thought Sansa would have survived this long, given how naive she was at the start of the series!

Why is it that Tyrion always seems to get the best lines?

How did his line to Varys go again? Something like, "If I ever get a stupid idea like that again, I want you to punch me in the face!"

[WampusCat]

Episode 2 had some major plot advancement. And, in what may be a first for GOT, no nudity.

Alas, Jon Snow wore a loincloth.

[Sunsilver]

Binge-watching GoT on HBO to catch up....[urrrp]

Yes, there are other things I should be doing...but each episode leaves things hanging that make you want to watch the next one right away to answer your questions.

I am now most of the way through Season 4 (I have the first 2 seasons on DVD, so started with Season 3.) Tyrion has just been sentenced to die, and it looks like Sansa and Arya MAY be going to meet at the Eyrie. Though I seem to recall from chatter at the time this originally aired, this didn't happen.

Tyrion's speech at his trial - magnificent! I am sure Peter must have had a lot of buried anger that came out in that speech!

The acting performances are very, very strong. In addition to Peter's portrayal of Tyrion, I'd also like to call out the actors and actresses that play Jamie Lannister, Jorah Mormount, and Lady Tyrell as well as Petry Baelish.

It's hard to pick favourites, because all the characters are SO well acted, and we get to watch them grow as the series progresses. I am particularly taken with the growth I've seen in Sansa and Jamie, with Jamie being the biggest surprise. I didn't care for his rape of Cersi, though. It just felt so horribly wrong, given where they were and WHO they were.

Arrgh! MUST get some chores done!!

[Alatar]

Hodor!

[Sunsilver]

The parting scene between Danyers and Ser Jorah had me misty eyed... [sniff!] He is SUCH a good actor! I loved that very faint, understated smile he gave as she order him to leave and find what he needed.

[Sunsilver]

Putting this in spoiler tags, because it was such a HUGE surprise!

Hidden text.

UNCLE BENJEN!! Gosh, those Starks are hard to kill!

Wow, who would have thought??

I was glad that Sam found the balls to not leave Gilly with the Tarlys. However, after all he's been through with the Night's Watch, I would have thought he would have stood up for her sooner, while his father was insulting the two of them at the dinner table.

Hands up if you saw that coming with his father's sword.... He obviously remembered what happened when Jon skewered the Walker with his sword. Wonder if these swords are forged with dragon's breath or something like that?

[narya]

On Monday I went to a rally with tens of thousands of other people. Afterwards, we all headed to the light rail station to pack the trains. I distinctly heard someone yell, as he ran down the stairs just before the doors closed "Hodor!".

[Primula Baggins]

[Nin]

The battle of bastards.... Need I say more?

Sansa was my favourite character before she was cool!

[Griffon64]

That was quite the episode! I'm still decompressing a bit from watching it. It is great to finally see Sansa's arc come together and have her character break out as something more than a victim.

I'm really really glad that Ramsey out of the picture too - his character was too one-dimensional, too perfect. Villain version of a Mary Sue. I find the flawed evil characters ( Cersei, Joffrey, etc ) more interesting to watch.

Lots of pieces are in motion now. It feels like the far-flung storylines are finally contracting.

[Hachimitsu]

Well, Ep 9 of GOT went straight up cinematic. It was exactly what I was hoping the series would lead to, after some good friends convinced me to watch it, years ago.

While I know this thread says spoilers, I am still going to try and be spoiler sensitive as this episode had stuff people had been waiting years for.

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I don't have much time right now to say much, but I find the biggest thing people tend to ignore is poor Rickon. I actually shrieked, although I knew Snasa was right.

Also this does put house Stark under murky inheritance. John is a bastard, Sansa and Arya are female and Bran, while he is the heir now, can he have heirs depending on the extent of his spinal injury?

Granted we all know someone is coming who is going to change all those rules, but the North does not know that yet. I hope someone does not make a huge mistake and marry someone just before those rules change (I am looking at you Sansa).

Also, I will say here a part of me wants Lady Lyanna Mormont to avenge her mother and "deal with" Walder Frey. Even though it's really the Starks who should get that vengeance.

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i have tons more to say, but I got some work to do as I have a short term job right now.
Thank you to you guys here one of my offline friends for convincing me to watch GOT in the first place. In particular thanks to Sunny, who warned me not to get too attached to the characters and I did anyway. Damn you George R.R. Martin, Benioff and Weiss, you got me good. (Although I will admit Benioff and Weiss sometimes didn't get me. )

EDIT: Fixing spelling errors

[Sunsilver]

The best moment was seeing the Stark banners being unfurled on the castle walls again! YESSS!!

Looks like Arya picked the right time to head home!

There were a few things in the episode that strained my credulity, though, like Jon actually surviving to the end of the episode. Looks like he's arrow-proof now, as well as sword-proof. I was also fairly sure at one point that he was going to get crushed by his own men, as the Bolton army moved in.

Though I knew what was going to happen with Rickon, I also found it hard to believe that Ramsay was such a good shot as to save the kill shot until Jon had almost reached Rickon. But of course, that HAD to happen, for dramatic effect...

[Sunsilver]

Okay, the season finale....

Wow, Cersei - how COULD YOOU?? Well, you paid a price for it when Tommen proved his love for Margery by taking a leap out the window!

And Arya's murder of the Freys - avenging her family. Hmmm....isn't a certain Lannister ALSO on her list of people she wants to kill? Look out, Jamie! I hope Bronn has your back - I've actually started to like you!

What a wonderful performance by the young child who plays the Mormont queen! Well done!

And we finally get to see where Varys has wound up, when the Queen of Thorns goes to Dorne for aid in getting revenge on Ceresi for killing most of her family.

Interesting battle shaping up, featuring three queens, all of them without heirs: Cersei, Daenerys and the Queen of Thorns!

I wonder if Cersei will burn down the rest of King's Landing rather than let Daenerys have it?

[anthriel]

The battle of bastards.... Need I say more?

Sansa was my favourite character before she was cool!

I liked Sansa better before the last few episodes. While she has gotten stronger, her soul has changed... when Ramsey says "I'm a part of you now", he's right. What she did to him was far more a Bolton move than a Stark one.

And I don't like how sneaky she has gotten with Jon. While he lets her off the hook for hiding the Knights of the Vale knowledge, and even turns it into sort of a positive, I'm not impressed. It seems like Littlefinger is a part of her now, too.

[Griffon64]

Agreed - I was really put off by the sneakiness. I suppose a combination of Ramsey / Littlefinger would do that to you, and I was surprised at how lightly Jon let her off the hook. I mean, essentially her sneakiness condemned thousands of men to die. I'm surprised Jon didn't take issue with that.

Then again, in GoT characters who are honest and transparent always seem to lose ( most notably poor Ned ) so I can see why she had to change. Doesn't mean I have to like it. Sneakiness and dishonesty are two character traits I don't care for.

As for what happened to Ramsey - I suppose it is more of a Bolton move, but she could hardly wield the sword in the literal way. In a way it was a reflection of her Stark side - "(s)he who passes the sentence should wield the sword." As House Stark's heiress / head ( as far as the other characters on the show is concerned, since Bran is presumed dead and poor Rickon is confirmed dead ), she passed the sentence, and she was the one who fulfilled it.

Speaking of souls ... Arya seemed to enjoy her own personification of Ned's guidance a little too much. Wonder how her story arc is going to end up.

[anthriel]

Well, Sansa could have had Ramsey hanged.... even though she wouldn't have wielded the "sword", she would have given the order. That is a bit less personal and macabre than the hounds thing.

Not that he didn't deserve it, btw. But I worry about what his influence has done to her.

And Arya is frankly scary. I'm not sure ol' Ned would recognize his daughter...

[Griffon64]

Arya is scary!

To me the point of Ned's guidance was that it is personal to carry out the sentencing. If you condemn people to die, you should not then wash your hands of it and step away, letting others do the dirty work. Contrast this with Cersei, who calmly murders people in the Sept while sipping wine, or who smiles as The Mountain does it. But yeah, the hounds were certainly macabre and I didn't like that Sansa smiled a little to herself as she walked away from it.

I suppose one of the themes of the show is about just this: power doesn't leave people untouched, for better or for evil. Many of our favorite characters are becoming a little darker as time passes.

[Alatar]

And if they didn't, they probably wouldn't survive...

[CosmicBob]

I totally think that Sansa took personal responsibility for Ramsay's death-by-hound. She stood there and watched, she started to turn away before the dogs began to tear in to him, but then looked straight at him while that one tore his face off. She didn't turn away in fear or shame or for any reason other than she saw the job was done. And her little smile at the end was perfect, I thought, because it showed that she knew what she did and accepted it. Much like Arya when she said to Walder Frey that the last thing he will see was a Stark looking down at him.

The Stark women have become what circumstances have forced them to be to survive.

[Sunsilver]

Think of it this way: if you had been raped night after night, and (most likely) had a few bits of your body carved off, and seen people who tried to help you flayed alive, how would YOU react to seeing your tormenter eaten alive?

No, I don't have a problem with what Sansa did. Arya, OTOH...that was pretty shocking, especially her cooking the two Frey sons in a pie!