Guardsman Bass wrote:I was worried at the start of that episode, since it seemed to be a bit of a slow burn. But then everything picked up, and it was good (albeit not as great as "Blackwater" last season). I particularly liked the lead-up to the final betrayal, when Catelyn sees Bolton's chain mail and realizes for sure that her sense of foreboding is entirely justified.
My only real regret is that you don't get quite as much of a sense as to how deep this goes back as you do in the book. Frey likely saw Robb's betrayal of the wedding pact as the last in a long line of insults done to him by the Tullys, and one of the most serious (since Frey put himself at risk of treason by allying with Robb and letting them cross his bridge). And breaching "guest right" is a huge "no" in Westeros.
What insult was missing? The TV version of Frey makes it quite clear that the Tullys refused to show up to his last wedding and that there was no love lost there. Cat also provided a possible reason why: he was late to the Blackwater. He was definitely pissed at them as shown in his first appearance. The one thing that wasn't shown, Frey's reasons for hating Tywin, was still hinted at. When Cat realizes that Robb is going to marry Talia she points out Walder's nature and his problem with such a union as well.
But imo,the main issue was not that Robb had the gall to insult the Freys, it's that he did so while he was weak. Walder has been collecting grudges for decades, he's only ever gone overboard when he could get away with it.