Pssht, we all know Bolton is going to be offed by a White Walker and come back as a zommmmbiiiiiiie. I wonder if it will play out differently in the books... Will Stannis die? Will the King beyond the wall off Bolton? Or will the... whomever-it-was-that-was-hiding-Rikkon do it?
I am sure on the show it could go either way, but tbh I can't see them trying to immediately kill off Rickon just to show us still more of the That's so Ramsay show. I find it probable that this was a gambit by the Umbers - hence his refusal to swear any oaths, as is still holds some honour and is loyal to the Starks - and that the 'wolf' head was a decoy (the size didn't really seem to fit for one). This could come into play as either them joining with the northern rebellion, and the coming of Jon+Sansa, or simply taking the de facto place of the Manderleys on the show and playing the Bolton host for an eventual betrayal. That said, it is a big gamble, knowing the ways of Ramsay, to actually bring Rickon right before him - all it would take is a quick dagger. Sure, he needs a Stark to hold the north (in his thinking) but he also isn't exactly what you would refer to as being rational. On top of this, as he had no way of recognising Rickon from what we saw [or know], any substitute would have served the same role. Ramsay is definitely going to get his just deserts, likely served up Jon and co. I would say, but whether or not Rickon (and Osha) becomes the next needless flayed victim to display outside Winterfell remains to be seen I guess. Bringing the original actor back, when other roles have been recast multiple times, could point towards his playing a continuing role, but that might just be reading into it too. Who knows, maybe he is going to warg into his trusty unicorn and finish off the battle with a dish of Ramsay.
Hahaha, yep. I don't know if we will get to see any Frey pie, but who knows what those Skagosians (?) taught him, along the way. A couple other assorted musings from watching "Oathbreaker": - I wonder if the whole Ser Robert Strong is just for the public masses, to hide Qyburn's evil deeds, as in two situations they have now outwardly named him as Ser Gregor in the episode - is Jon going to be cold without his coat, or is he now partially undead, and thus invulnerable to the elements? does anyone think he could be sort or replacing Lady Stoneheart in attitude after his murder? The lack of healing or suturing required to his wounds would suggest some inherent zombie aspect to the walking Jon Snow - not that it is either here nor there, but MvS seemed to confirm he is indeed not the Bloodraven. So if he has been there under that tree for a thousand years, umm, shouldn't he be even more decayed as I had suggested previously? Makes sense to have him corporeal in the dream sequences, but outside of that, I would have thought not - I guess they are foregoing any warging with any of the Starks, outside of Bran. While the training montage of Arya was nice to finally get, I still am not sure it conveyed how much was involved to become one of the expert assassins of the faceless men - although people keep suggesting Cleganebowl, honestly, while having the Hound alive would be great, I really cannot fathom seeing him fight for the faith; there was a lot the character developed and grew, but I don't really see how they could bring this all together to justify him wanting to return to King's Landing and do any service for the High Sparrow oops, better cut myself off now
I was grabbing my boyfriend's arm and shaking it and saying "HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT" that entire sequence. Most badass thing I've ever seen... and that long shot at the end before the credits rolled. Oh, and Ramsay is a fuckadoodle. Spoiler The bf was like "holy shit Maddie, you called it" because when the scene opened, and he was peeling the apple, I said "damn that's one dull-ass knife. What's he doing peeling an apple with that?" ...sigh. Poor lady whose name I just can't seem to recall right now.
osha. Spoiler how convenient that it was a knife to the neck!? what goes around... at least Silicon Valley was good last night. Deng!
Her death was kind of an oddball, though not surprising in the least, given the situation. Does make me wonder what is going to be the endgame with Rickon. More Ramsay being Ramsay, so no surprises at all there. Lots of set-up this episode for what it is to come, so more just putting the pieces in place. I wonder how they are going to handle Theon being present at the Kingsmoot (if he plays any significant role at all in the tale anymore). I also find it a bit odd that TV Jaime is taking a backseat in a way, and still very much a love-struck servant for Cersei. Hopefully with the rebellion he will have more to play (and Bron will be part of it). What did people think of the Dosh Khaleen temple fire? I mean, besides the fact that Martin has gone out of his way to state (on a few occasions even maybe) that the whole 'unburnt' thing was a one-time deal, I was just kind of surprised they went with something so 'rehashing.' Especially all the worship bit. I mean, it is a massive plot convenience, tying up the whole captured by the Dothraki, being all alone, trapped for life- storyline, while also dropping an apparently completely loyal army at her feet. It was just a bit much, and considering the Dothraki don't even follow one single leader, and respect combat and strength above all else, this doesn't really seem to jive. I just feel like they how they built up this whole fake dilemma with Dany just to handwave it away and give her more numbers for the eventual invasion. I saw it coming, though I figured it would have been Drogon to burn the Khals and basically provide her an 'out' but it felt a little hamfisted and with few stakes. Kind of like the steps to writing themselves there weren't really thought out, they just wanted a conclusion. And the scene of her 'emerging' was equally pandering. Mereen was kind of a bust as well, I don't really see where they are going with it, other than to have a reason to quell the revolt and the Sons of the Harpy. Didn't really seem like a move anyone would have done, at least not with the seven year forgiveness period, nor would Daenerys have gone along based on her characterisation to this point. Again, it kind of just settles the point (quickly and very conveniently) for the purpose of moving the story forward.
I just can't tell you enough times; the word is jibe! http://grammarist.com/usage/gibe-jibe-jive/ I do agree with you about the head writer over at GoT central, though - Jive ass dude don't got no brains, anyhow! Hmmph! - June Cleaver
Love the Lady Olenna character, and am usually down with everything she says. As far as her comment last night however, she can shut the hell up.
Agreed that the character is super fun, but I'm always distracted whenever she shows up onscreen by a powerful desire to invent a time machine:
She had seemed kind of wasted lately. Did you mean the 'better them than us' comment? Or maybe that Cersei had nothing left to take away? Also, the TGB/Brienne scene made for a bit of an amusing sidebar.
Ah, gotcha. Well they could always have done another CGI/stunt double mashup, so I wouldn't feel too much loss over missing out on it. Who knows, maybe we would have gotten to see more of what Pycelle is rockin' under those robes.
I could not stop laughing at the dosh khaleen temple fire scene. That had to be the most flammable temple in the history of the universe. I mean seriously who would make a temple from dry kindling with floors made from some kind of solidified gas stones then use giant pots of fire standing on sticks to get the mood lighting just right? Even if she didn't flip them over the snap crackle pop of normal burning wood should have eventually sent a stray ember out onto that floor made of brown sterno and killed everyone anyway.
To be fair, I think that was where Jorah and Daario's 'help' came in, after she met them.... making water, i.e. they soaked the place in some sort of fuel/alcohol (presumably) or the like (horse dung? ), although they did not make this clear. At all. [There was also no explanation at all why she was accompanied by two, but only two Dosh Khaleen. Are we to believe they are her guards/security?] I understand that they wouldn't want to show them doing it for ruining the surprise of the act, but some allusion to it later or anything really (a subtle shot of wet sand, I dunno) would have helped. Even showing something spilling from the braziers (e.g. hot oil) would have been believable. But hey, bewbz, right?, that is all the audience cares about. re: Tyrion - I fully suspect that this could have also been a ploy or a way to buy time too - time will tell, but I miss the overt calculating of Tyrion & Varys since their appearance in Mereen. I also am not sure why he wouldn't reveal (at least some) of his plans to his cohorts in the ruling triumvirate. While watching though, I completely expected the three 'slave girls' to be assasins/have something up their sleeves in regards to their appearance at the meeting.
My main issue with this season is that everything moves way too fast. It takes away the gravitas of everything. No build ups, no development. Things just tilt from one side to the other. I feel like what we got so far would have been good for two or three seasons if they kept the original pace. I did not mind that things speed up a little at first but it is way too fast now. I just wish they would have kept it a little slower and put more tension and build up and character development into the episodes. I do not even want to speculate about possible outcomes anymore. I am still entertained though
^ Yeah... I've been calling it the armor soap since season 1, but it was a term of affection until this year. I'm not exactly sure if it's the speed of the storytelling that's bothering me, although that's part of it. More that I can see where all of the individual plot point make 'sense,' but the execution feels more like a writers' room white board come to life than compelling drama. It ends up reading like just TV, if that's not too reductive. It's a soap now.
