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

[TheFeniX]

It looks to be less about protecting Jon's body than just where they ended up taking him when Davos had the body moved. They can't burn it now, indoors, even if they were considering it. They seem to be in Davos' quarters and that ended up being the place they've hold up to discuss their plan of action while Thorne gave his spiel then setup his ambush to have them all killed. Davos is probably betting on his own death being the Hand of a now dead king who showed a lot of respect for John and was prepared to give him the keys to Winterfell. If he were alive, Stannis would most certainly hang anyone involved in the assassination.

So, buying all the bullshit that got Thorne in power, he has to believe Davos or the Red Lady would come back with reinforcements. They have to die and it would be easy to say they did so outside Winterfell. Or they would actually make good hostages to leverage for more support from King's Landing or Winterfell. Either way, Thorne is unlikely to let them actually leave. The rest of the crew is involved because they showed their loyalty not by dragging Jon's body indoors, but by not attending Thorne's meeting. They probably could have left earlier (like.... shit, the one guy who left to get the Wildlings support) and just left Davos and Mellie to rot.

Thorne might try to have them killed later if they did so, but if they showed support for Thorne before-hand, he'd be hard-pressed to have them killed on principal since a lot of people (enough to get him elected as Commander) supported Jon at some point.

[FaxModem1]

Well, I enjoyed Brienne and Podrick saving the day for Theon and Sansa. Still wondering how they found out about where they were. Still, good to see heroes being heroes. It only took 6 years.

Tyrion and the Spider, wandering about. Tyrion glad you know how to disguise yourself. But you're probably the only Westerosi dwarf within 2000 miles. You're going to stick out. Especially since you're travelling with a eunuch. Guess there's no escape now, though, as people are burning all their ships. So, are the Lord of Light followers using Dany as their messiah, or liking her for the fire imagery to rally the people?

Well, easiest paycheck Kit Harrington's ever had. Just lie there for a few days of filming. Meanwhile, we discover that the Red Woman is old. Who cares? You mean the murderous witch who burns people is actually an old witch? Whoopdey doo. Is Davos's plan to fuck her so that they can have a shadow baby kill off the Nights Watch? Honestly, this should lead to open fighting in Castle Black.

So, the Sand Snakes can teleport, and kill the prince as well as Doctor Bashir. Guess Dorne really doesn't care about noble blood. Going by the show though, Dorne only consists of whores, guards, and the one noble family, so meh?

Are going somewhere with the Tyrells? Are Margery and Loras going to escape, recant, be executed? Where's Tommen? I guess the Queen Mother, now armed with her Gregorstein monster, didn't really feel like vengeance, but to sit on her ass for weeks until her brother Jaime said, "You know, maybe we should kill those who hurt us."

Now, in a standard fantasy show, we'd see Arya learning her blind kung fu martial arts, but does it really matter? All she can do is become a blind fighter, or if her sight is restored, become a hired gun for the Faceless God. Either way, she's on her own, affecting no one but herself.

Personally, I like Dany getting to see the ugly parts of the Khal culture. I've seen too many people fetishize Khal Drogo and think it was some epic romance, while the Dothraki are just a horde of conquerors who enslave, rape, and murder those different from them. I wonder if this was the writers trying to put a stop to that. Still, looks like Dany is on her own, until her white knight comes to her rescue before he dies of the fantasy version of leprosy.

I enjoyed it, but honestly, the whole show's tone seems to be that nothing is really going to change, except for the worse, and that it will all fall apart. Fair enough, but we knew that back in season 2. By now, in season 6, it seems like the show is just beating a dead horse.

[Knife]

I felt the same with the books. The first 3 were really good, but 4 and especially 6 just seemed to be marking time and resetting things back to book 4 to start over. The story is dragging a bit, though with season 5's little bit about the dead army attacking while Jon tried to get the wildlings out, was a step in the right direction as far as I'm concerned.

As far as the show, I'm still thinking they rushed through Dorne and wrapped it up to get it out of the way. Kind of glad no Bran either so far, that story line seemed a dead end as well. Perhaps if they use it to tell you where and what the Other's are, fine, but other than that I found Bran's story boring. If they really only want two or three more seasons, they better start moving towards resolving some of these plot lines.

[Guardsman Bass]

HE'S BACK, BABY!

. . . Seriously, though, surprising no one, Jon Snow came back to life. I was more surprised that it happened so easily - I expected that Melisandre would either have to sacrifice herself or Ghost to do it, considering the whole "only death/life can pay for life" element. But then again, Thoros kept reviving Beric Dondarrion over and over again without it (admittedly at cost to the latter's memory and humanity), so who knows? Maybe there's a time limit on it.

Good use of Bran, setting things up in flashbacks for the eventual revelation and (possible) Tower of Joy flashback.

Tyrion's sequence was pretty cool, although it feels like another set up for something to happen (namely, for someone to come down and try to kill the dragons, only for them to escape and go on a rampage).

Good old Gregorstein at work in King's Landing.

[Napoleon the Clown]

Apparently kinslaying is now an accepted manner of taking power in Westeros. That's neat.

[Vympel]

I loved this episode.

- Wun Wun for the Win!
- Carice van Houten knocks it out of the park - recall that Thoros of Myr too had lost all faith in the Lord of Light, and yet he listened to him when he prayed for Berric
- Ghost was so adorable in the resurrection sequence
- House Glover takes back Deepwood Motte! I did a fist-pump at that
- Euron had an awesome intro
- Yara's exchange with Balon was also good - especially liked the AFFC 'phat lewt of the North' reference
- I've been dreading Ramsay killing Roose since Season 4, but now that it's happened - that scene worked.
- The dragons responding to Tyrion was cool - I liked the way the second (we really need to figure out who is who since we can't make out their colours) presented itself to be released
- I would've loved to see Jaime actually kill those High Sparrow fucks
- Max von Sydow! Shit!
- Flashback was touching. Brandon giving Ned the same advice Jon did, IIRC?

Things I didn't like so much:

- Bob Strong smashing Random Flasher Dude's Head In. Like - how would Cersei / anyone else even know where to find him?
- Tyrion, stop it with the cock jokes

Questions:

- What's Lord Karstark's deal? Has he got a chubby for killing Jon Snow, which is why he immediately decided to back Ramsay up?
- Nice bit of continuity / book reference with the Umbers, Manderlys and Karstarks having more men than the other houses combined.

[Esquire]

As to the Karstarks - if I were them, I'd be remembering exactly how my house got its name. Ramsay will be a lot easier to outmaneuver than Roose; there must always be a Stark in Winterfell, after all, but there's no rule about acceptable prefixes.

[Ralin]

Apparently kinslaying is now an accepted manner of taking power in Westeros. That's neat.

Guest right Kin-slaying doesn't mean what it used to.

[TheFeniX]

Lady Bolton looks good for someone who just had a baby. Good enough to walk around unsupervised, in the cold, with a newborn. But hey, scared your psychotic step-son is going to murder you and your newborn, just stand there and don't make a run for it. Roose, do the same thing. You just got stabbed in the gut, not fatal (and least not instantly) maybe consider calling for..... oh sorry, Ramsay did the "grunt and push the dagger in the same spot again." I forgot, this is Hollywood code for "die instantly in surprise while your killer says something glib."

This is the second time in two episodes we had "convenient news comes in during an exposition scene and a Lord gets killed by family." But the director tells me Ramsay has been somehow planning this for a while.... under Rooses nose I guess. Amazing that Roose has no one loyal to him and Ramsay does. Honestly, who would realistically follow this man? Stannis seems to be the only person to suffer from desertion after doing something incredibly vile.

But really, I'm more pissed at wasting screentime showing how Ramsay offed his new little brother. He's already a monster, we have enough time dedicated to that. Feels like filler to me. I did have a laugh at how the last King of WInterfell went down after a thousand arrows THEN a knife to the heart. Meanwhile Bolton goes out like a bitch.

Also, meeting your crazy brother on a rickety bridge during a windy storm can in no way, in any universe, end well.

Is there some kind of "shroud of the Dumbside" in Westeros I don't know about? One that targets nobles and makes them forget where they are and act like lemmings? Maybe I'm blinded by first-world goggles, but I would think the amount of Lords of major houses getting offed would cause more panic than it is. The lower class may not like Nobles too much, but the idea that Lords are being constantly offed in their own homes has to cause some kind of reaction.

Max von Sydow! Shit!

Had the same reaction. I like him. He's like if my grandad was British: CLASSY and would buy me all the Hot Wheels I wanted.

[FTeik]

Apparently kinslaying is now an accepted manner of taking power in Westeros. That's neat.

Well, it has been a long established trend:
Lysa Arryn kills her husband Jon Arryn and takes over the Vale.
Stannis Baratheon kills his brother Renly and takes over the Stormlands.
Theon Greyjoy (pretends to) kill his foster-brothers Bran and Rickon Stark and takes over Winterfell.
Tyrion Lannister kills his father Tywin and his sister takes over (or tries to).
Peter Baelish kills his wife Lysa Arryn and takes over the Vale.
Alizer Thorne kills his "brother"Jon Snow and takes over the Nightwatch.
The Sand-Snakes kill Doran and Trystane Martell and try to take over Dorne.
Euron Greyjoy kills his brother Balon.
Ramsay Bolton kills Roose Bolton.

And a honory mention to Daenerys Targaryan, who doesn't lift a finger, when her brother Viserys gets his golden crown.

One could also argue, that Sansa betraying her father's plans to Cersei Lannister, which resulted in his death was also some kind of kinslaying. Now Olenna Tyrell only has to off her foolish son Mace and we've been through every major house of Westeros.

[Crazedwraith]

Only if you count Lysa as a Tully.

The first half of that list though. The person kept their identity as murderer secret precisely because dead man's shoes/kinslaying is not an acceptable way to gain power. Aside from Theon but he claimed Winterfell by right of conquest not inheritance from dead kin.

Not a show watcher but can't resist possible book spoilers. Even if I really should. I can only hope the book versions of Stannis, Doran and Roose fare better,

[Ralin]

It is sort of a theme that conventions like guest right are starting to breakdown under the constant warfare. Same goes for kin-slaying. Especially given that these are the goddamn Boltons we're talking about.

Speaking of which, goddamn it. I liked Fat Walda. She's responsible for my favorite bit in Book 5.

[TheFeniX]

It is sort of a theme that conventions like guest right are starting to breakdown under the constant warfare. Same goes for kin-slaying. Especially given that these are the goddamn Boltons we're talking about.

What was the last dust-up of the war of 5 kings? Stannis at Blackwater? After that, he ran North for "no reason" and dicked around till he died. The Red Wedding? How long ago was that? GoT is bad with time passage, but it has to have been at least a few years. Mrycella went from a little girl to getting macked on by Dornish Royalty and Tommen has put on a few years. Talks of a "famine" are done and gone since getting Tyrell food and the people seem pretty content aside from when the Boltons come knocking. KL is dealing with fundies as the current shakers.

The Greyjoys are about the last hold-out and they are getting wrecked with little issue. Maybe I've missed something, but aside from Nobles walking into death's embrace constantly and some religious whack-jobs being allowed to walk around with impunity*: Westeros has stabilized pretty heavily. There's no more talks of marauding bandits and the populace is being ignored completely by the writers.

I'm no history buff, but humans are pretty good about quickly beating swords into plowshares. Makes sense when armies aren't made up of bloodthirsty nobles. At some point, they'd just want to get back to normal and since the writers continue to ignore this: I have to assume it isn't a problem. This IS peace-time Westeros. As much as it was before Ned was executed.

*No one tried to stop the dudes in robes with clubs from entering the funeral of the King's sister. Oh yea, and the current King was right there, left only with a crippled Jamie to defend him. KL security is terrible. Must have been Tommen leaving all those king's guard to stop Cersei and Moutain 2.0. In retrospect: he was totally correct in keeping her inside the Red Keep. His mistake was not keeping himself there.

[Simon_Jester]

In the books it doesn't feel like events have taken years to unfold (a year perhaps, but not much longer). But the TV series is going faster.

Although I think part of that is because they're having characters who are canonically extremely young played by adolescent actors, who age at a fixed rate regardless of how much time has passed in the books. A similar problem affected the Harry Potter movies.

[The Vortex Empire]

In the books, it's been two years since the start of the series.

[Iroscato]

So...are spoilers ok in this thread now? This plebe needs an adult to say it's ok








Thorne and co are pretty much fucked, especially if my theory about Jon being a kind of adaptation of Lady Stoneheart plays out. Snow could be ruthless enough without having been a corpse for at least a day and betrayed by several of his brothers.

[Vympel]

So...are spoilers ok in this thread now? This plebe needs an adult to say it's ok

Yes, its ok, we talked about it a few pages ago.

[Pelranius]

- Bob Strong smashing Random Flasher Dude's Head In. Like - how would Cersei / anyone else even know where to find him?

I assume that Qyburn found the exhibitionist (he's the Master of Whispers in the show too, IIRC).

Speaking of Frankengregor, I hope the Sand Snakes run into him next episode, so I won't have to worry about them surviving into Season 7.

[Napoleon the Clown]

Oh, so on the subject of Ramsey... Did anyone else notice he had his dagger sheathed across the small of his back during the final scene with Roose? When I noticed that I thought "He's gonna stab Roose."

It's fun to see that Westeros apparently has adopted the Klingon methods of deciding who is in charge. Logical conclusion of a fight to the death determining innocence, I guess.

[Ziggy Stardust]

Even if Ramsay's murders this episode were gratuitous, at least it slims down that story-line a bit. That story-line has been, by and large, a drag for a very large portion of the show's run, so at least going forward it at least has fewer moving parts. Obviously trying to make GoT predictions tends to make a fool of anyone, but it feels like that plot arc is finally starting to build towards a conclusion (or, at least, build towards something concrete).

The only scene that really bothered me was the weird need to put the confrontation between Balon and Euron on a bizarre, perilous rope bridge apparently suspended between Balon's throne and the nearest crapper. At least the dialogue in that scene was good (recycling some good lines from the books), and I'm fine with them not drawing it out longer than necessary to replace Balon with a more compelling character. But, still, it just seemed so half-assed and pointless. I'm guessing the only reason they didn't have him drop dead from a mysterious illness/poison was that we only just saw the same thing happen to Myrcella and the show-runners didn't want to have two of those so close together, lest people think that Euron is in league with Dorne somehow.

[Vympel]

Even if Ramsay's murders this episode were gratuitous, at least it slims down that story-line a bit. That story-line has been, by and large, a drag for a very large portion of the show's run, so at least going forward it at least has fewer moving parts. Obviously trying to make GoT predictions tends to make a fool of anyone, but it feels like that plot arc is finally starting to build towards a conclusion (or, at least, build towards something concrete).

The only scene that really bothered me was the weird need to put the confrontation between Balon and Euron on a bizarre, perilous rope bridge apparently suspended between Balon's throne and the nearest crapper. At least the dialogue in that scene was good (recycling some good lines from the books), and I'm fine with them not drawing it out longer than necessary to replace Balon with a more compelling character. But, still, it just seemed so half-assed and pointless. I'm guessing the only reason they didn't have him drop dead from a mysterious illness/poison was that we only just saw the same thing happen to Myrcella and the show-runners didn't want to have two of those so close together, lest people think that Euron is in league with Dorne somehow.

Balon's manner of death is straight from the books, and its strongly implied that it was a Faceless Man in the employ of Euron who did it (we don't 'witness' the death ourselves). They didn't really have a good reason to change it.

[Guardsman Bass]

In the books, it's been two years since the start of the series.

I think it's more than three years in the books. Myrcella is "not quite eight" when Robert and court visit Winterfell, and "not quite eleven" at the beginning of A Feast for Crows.

[Knife]

When Ramsey and Roose hugged, I was waiting, and not sure which one would kill the other.

On the whole, just more set up with story lines, even with the resolution of the Bolton's and very ham fisted way they re aimed Ramsey at the Watch (good luck with that kiddo, I hope the giant squishes him). I realize we're just two episodes in, but really would like some movement on some of the main stories.

[FaxModem1]

When Ramsey and Roose hugged, I was waiting, and not sure which one would kill the other.

You kidding? Ramsay was going to survive, he still had babies to kill and women to torture. The writers can't let a character like that die.

[NecronLord]

So...are spoilers ok in this thread now? This plebe needs an adult to say it's ok

Edited to reflect this.