Game of Thrones Season 6 [Discussion of most-recently aired episodes]

[NeoGoomba]

Out of sheer curiosity, how many people who are likely to be competent to run a country has the show actually left alive? As noted, the Sand Snakes can't run Dorne, and Ramsay can't run the North.

Ramsay couldn't organize a drinking party in a brewery, he'd be too busy burning it to the ground and torturing the brewer.

Honestly? Littlefinger could probably manage, if he had the respect of his council/nobles. Possibly the combo of Varys and Tyrion. Other than that...I think they are all doomed.

I think Varys and Tyrion can do it; I actually cheered when Varys showed up last season, simply because it seems like things might not be so doomed with them.

Yeah same here. The best thing about them is that what little arrogance they have doesn't cross over into the other's sphere of influence/interest, if you get my meaning. I don't see any issues crop up between them that would be deal-breakers. Well, except maybe something to do with dragons.They really both care about running the kingdom, and running it well. And apart from the Maesters, that seems to be an exceedingly rare quality amongst Westeros nobility.

[Knife]

I'm not so sure that there is many left with the cunning or guile to not just see what they want to see that would benefit them and just latch on and go with it. Ramsey is hardly subtle and pretty much anyone left of import in the North I don't think have ever seen Rickon. No sure how many have seen a Dire Wolf either. Dead kid and dead wolf, granted the bigger the wolf the better, and I think you have a winner.

Everyone who was at Robb's war councils has presumably seen Grey Wind, that'd be most northern lords or their war-leaders I'd think, and no shortage of men at arms and knights.

Fair enough.

[Simon_Jester]

Yeah, and that includes Roose Bolton, who fought with Robb in the Riverlands. Sure, Roose just got offed by Ramsay, but anyone planning to pass off a fake Rickon to the Boltons can't count on that, at least not for a while longer.

[Elfdart]

Are these lords supposed to be evil dicks like the Boltons? I mean, taking one kid and handing him to someone you know is going to torture and kill him is pretty fucking vile, even if the one sent to slaughter is a substitute. Not only is this stupid (How many commoners can pass as nobles? How many nobles are willing to sacrifice their own kids?), but I've already seen this particular cliche in Pillars of the Earth and The White Queen.

[Ziggy Stardust]

Are these lords supposed to be evil dicks like the Boltons? I mean, taking one kid and handing him to someone you know is going to torture and kill him is pretty fucking vile, even if the one sent to slaughter is a substitute. Not only is this stupid (How many commoners can pass as nobles? How many nobles are willing to sacrifice their own kids?), but I've already seen this particular cliche in Pillars of the Earth and The White Queen.

Yeah, I really hope that this season they have the various Northern lords either plotting against, rising up against, or otherwise refusing to aid the Boltons. At least as far as direct on-screen events are concerned, the various Northern lords have been more cooperative with Ramsay than they ever were with fucking Robb.

[Vympel]

Are these lords supposed to be evil dicks like the Boltons? I mean, taking one kid and handing him to someone you know is going to torture and kill him is pretty fucking vile, even if the one sent to slaughter is a substitute. Not only is this stupid (How many commoners can pass as nobles? How many nobles are willing to sacrifice their own kids?), but I've already seen this particular cliche in Pillars of the Earth and The White Queen.

The show's done its own thing in this regard - Smalljon Umber (the guy in the trailer) - the Greatjon's son - was killed at the Red Wedding in the book, while the Greatjon (dude who got his fingers bitten off by Robb's wolf) was captured by the Freys at the wedding (to ensure Umber loyalty to the Boltons going forward). In the show, we have no idea what happened to the Greatjon save for one of the writers saying years ago he wasn't at the Red Wedding and was still 'alive and free'. However this is just a writer saying this and they could easily now say he's in captivity, was killed, or whatever.

So we really have no idea what the Smalljon's personality is or what his motivation is.

[Guardsman Bass]

I'm starting to think that "Ramsay in Winterfell" is the show's equivalent of the Mereenese Knot, with it dragging onwards because of the need to line everything up for the "all Stark roads lead to Winterfell" conclusion (i.e. the surviving Stark kids ending up back at Winterfell, Winterfell under siege by the Walkers until Daenerys shows up with dragons and an army, and so forth). I really don't want to watch him torturing Rickon and/or Osha next episode - maybe we'll get lucky and the "capture" and Umber acquiescence will be a ruse to get inside the Walls and wipe out the Boltons. Probably not, although the show-runners said they'd dial back the sexual violence this season.

. . . In any case, the rest of the episode was good, especially anything with Jon and Varys. Jon's out of the Watch, which I assume is probably going to happen in the books as well - looks like the people who figured that he'd loophole his way out of it because of death were right. And speaking of which, they finally did the Tower of Joy segment. Good way to do it, too, with Bran seeing it happen in the past.

Some massive foreshadowing over all of the members in that King's Council Room being killed by Gregorstein. That's how Tommen is presumably going to go as well, although I'm curious as to whether it will just be a straight-up accident (Cersei tells him to kill them all, and Tommen is killed accidentally while trying to protect Margaery) or a "be careful for what you wish for" where Cersei tells him to kill them all and bring Tommen back - but forgets to qualify that he should be brought back alive and unharmed.

[Guardsman Bass]

Well, after reading around, I may be wrong to hope for a double-cross on the Umber's part - at least for a few episodes. Apparently they filmed a big battle for this season involving Jon and Ramsay, which the extras nicknamed the "battle of the bastards". So several episodes with Rickon in Ramsay's clutches . . ugh. Hopefully they keep the torture scenes to a minimum.

[Elfdart]

Another episode like this one and I'm going to turn into Al Pacino in Heat:

[Guardsman Bass]

This could have been so much easier if they'd just had Stannis' forces take Winterfel (after coming across Sansa)l, but maybe Stannis himself goes down in the process. No bullshit involving Ramsay (who would die in the process), Melisandre can still have her crisis of faith, Jon can still be resurrected, and so forth.

[The Vortex Empire]

Well, after reading around, I may be wrong to hope for a double-cross on the Umber's part - at least for a few episodes. Apparently they filmed a big battle for this season involving Jon and Ramsay, which the extras nicknamed the "battle of the bastards". So several episodes with Rickon in Ramsay's clutches . . ugh. Hopefully they keep the torture scenes to a minimum.

This is David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. They absolutely cannot resist gratuitous torture scenes, all they care about is SHOCKING MOMENTS.

[Vympel]

Little things that make me irrationally happy:



That's the same sword Ned carried/ used throughout Season 1.

Thoughts on the episode later tonight.

[ray245]

Well, after reading around, I may be wrong to hope for a double-cross on the Umber's part - at least for a few episodes. Apparently they filmed a big battle for this season involving Jon and Ramsay, which the extras nicknamed the "battle of the bastards". So several episodes with Rickon in Ramsay's clutches . . ugh. Hopefully they keep the torture scenes to a minimum.

This is David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. They absolutely cannot resist gratuitous torture scenes, all they care about is SHOCKING MOMENTS.

Which probably means Rickon is going to die in some manner.

[Vympel]

Ok, so thoughts on the episode:

Things I liked:

- Every Castle Black scene was gold. Tormund's dick joke about Jon (HARR!) was 100% pure Tormund. I dug it. Also dug the Edd/Jon bro-hug.
- Davos continues to be the heart of the show and the ship to steer by.
- Melisandre is a lot more secure in her faith.
- Prince that was Promised! reference.
- Tower of Joy totally worked for me. I could've done without the dual-wielding and the reduction in numbers (6v2 instead of 7v3) but it ended pretty much as I always imagined - with the bonus of Ned giving Dayne a mercy death with Dawn.
- Arthur Dayne said to Ned what Mance Rayder said to Stannis.
- Qyburn and the little birds was pretty good.
- ZombieGregor death-staring Jaime was appropriately unsettling.
- Pycelle's doddering about whether the Lord Commander sits on the Small Council was funny
- Kevan telling Cersei where to go - but is he paying proper attention to the realm's problems?
- Arya gets her daredevil on and her eyesight back in the same episode - good. We can get her arc accelerated now I hope.
- Smalljon Umber was pretty cool, even though he is ostensibly a filthy fucking oathbreaker. I'm carrying the torch for FakeShaggy.
- I liked the different responses of each of the Night's Watch traitors. And watching Olly hang ... good.

Serviceable, no strong feelings:

- Sam & Gilly (cute, but really just a "remember them?" scene)
- Dany
- Tyrion and Co.

Things I didn't like:

-Varys and the whore - overlong. Could've been skipped entirely, really.
-Confirmation that the ridiculous Sand Snakes 'took over' Dorne. Absurd.

https://twitter.com/BryndenBFish/status ... 9404769280

[Guardsman Bass]

Sam & Gilly feels like they have to check off some plot point in the Reach. It must be important, otherwise they would have figured out some way to keep Sam closer to the action in the North (or wherever he's supposed to go).

[Knife]

The glacial pace of this season is grating.

[Iroscato]

Loved Oathbreaker.

Bran's arc is becoming increasingly interesting due to the snippets and snatches of backstory that we are able to see through him - which is good because I found his story rather dull up until now. Doubtless, a certain theory (although is it even really a theory at this point?) is going to be laid bare within the next few episodes. Also, the fight between Ned and co. and the two guards was some on-point baddassery. Not to mention the actor portraying young Ned had both the look and feel of the character down really nicely.

Dany's arc, meanwhile, took a pretty steep nosedive at the beginning of the series, purely for the fact that she got to a point where she was ruling over fuck-knows how many people and is now reduced to a helpless widow once again. However I'm kind of curious as to how she scrabbles back to power going from here. That's a helluva lot of potential Dothraki warriors she could have at her disposal...

I'm glad they finally did a montage for Arya to speed up her development a bit, though as with Jon's resurrection it does feel like a very early resolution to a pretty massive cliffhanger - though not really on the same level of course. Curious to see what exactly the Faceless Men have in store for her.

Poor, poor Rickon...

[Haruko]

'Fuck you, old man!' Me when the Three-Eyed Raven stopped Bran from climbing the steps.

Also, definitely a big fan of the flashback scenes.

And Arya's scenes.

And Lord Umber's interview.

[TheFeniX]

When this show shines, it shines. But it also kind of tosses aside some sanity in the process. I always liked how Jamie fought because he was brutal and smart and relied on the same "no honor" tactics like Bron. I expected the Tower of Joy to be 2-3 Kingsguard giving ground and forcing opponents to stay in front of them. Instead they channeled Equilibrium and while it looks cool, it makes me wonder why no one brought a fucking spear. Or how seasoned fighters, just out of a war, didn't fight together as a team and just wear down an obviously superior opponent.

Jon walking out of Castle Black was awesome. It's a good thing they cut the part where he walks back and is like "Cold out there, anyone got some furs? Oh yea, could use a horse too. Anyone spare some food?" Black isn't exactly next door to a shopping mall.

The rest kind of just bored me. I like watching Dinklage, but he didn't even make a crack at Worm or Missandei. Would have been nice to show they somehow responded to his drunken rantings. Council scene: yes, we all hate each other, but maybe put aside your bullshit to get the Queen out of fundie-jail? Oh man, Ramsey has another Stark to torture then kill. Frey at least kept a Stark alive somewhere. But the back and forth between Umber and Bolton was damn good. Sam exists and is still a rube. Tommen once again tries to be a King, once again he fails. Then is surprised when an old man tells him his mommy loves him when she's been pretty up front about it.

Arya learning blind-murder-fu, while a cliche montage, is still great and at least someone is getting something done.

[Crown]

I'm just gonna gripe about one thing; I swear the showrunners must be best buds with 'The Walking Dead' showrunners with that fucking cock tease they pulled with the Tower of Joy scene. I have no fucking idea why they think it's 'fun' or 'awesome' to jerk the chain of the readers in this instance. We all know that Brann will go back to that point and watch his father ascend the stairs and enter the Tower. We all know they will have to reveal the state of Lyanna start that Ed finds her in and we all know what consequences that will have on another character (vagueness for the sake of people not hip to the theory), so do they show it?

Noooo. They tease it. For book readers this is just fucking annoying, for non-book readers (and those that haven't heard the theory) it's just a fucking distraction.

Maybe they'll surprise me and pull off the execution really well and stick the landing, but if this pay off doesn't materialise it's just a cheap writing ploy to jerk my chain.

[Elfdart]

Little things that make me irrationally happy:



That's the same sword Ned carried/ used throughout Season 1.

Thoughts on the episode later tonight.

The guy they cast as young Ned was dead-on. If (hint, hint) someone makes new Sharpe movies (based on the books set in India) he would be perfect.

[Minischoles]

While I liked the Tower of Joy scene, it was a massive pointless cocktease - even the Three Eyed Raven was basically saying 'HAHA you all thought you'd get to see inside this episode? better keep watching as we tease this out'.

Outside of this however, the general pace of the show has stepped up now they've departed from the books (mostly anyway), the Nights Watch scenes were great - Tormund continues to be fantastic - and the Arya montage was nicely contained to one episode. Tommen continues to be manipulated with absurd ease and Qyburn talking to the little birds was creepy as all hell. The small council scene was perfect.

Downsides - as much as I love Tyrion and Varys, their scenes felt overlong and a little pained, same with Dany - their storyline needs to be hurried along. The sand snakes taking over Dorne, even if only mentioned in passing, is just stupid.

[streetad]

The Tower of Joy scene was frustrating for book readers but it was pretty explicitly there to convey the idea that you can't necessarily trust what people tell you about the past. Brann was shocked by the way the fight went down and had obviously been under the impression that his father bested Dayne in a fair duel.

So, whilst it's undoubtedly annoying to tease it out further, the scene wasn't completely pointless.

[Vympel]

The guy they cast as young Ned was dead-on. If (hint, hint) someone makes new Sharpe movies (based on the books set in India) he would be perfect.

Yeah, he got a young Sean Bean down pretty well. And fuck now I need to watch Sharpe again.

[Solauren]

Quite frankly, given how Bran has semi-affected his visions, I have to wonder if the Three-Eyed Raven has a point with keeping trips short?

For all we know, Greenseers like Bran, not used to their power and abilities, could affect time and history?

That would give new meaning to the entire 'risk being stuck there' explanation. Stuck in an alternate timeline perhaps?