I don't know about you, but I'm damn excited about next week. I'm curious about how they managed with the budget they had...

Me too! A good friend of mine based in Berlin worked on the CGI for episode 9 and 10 and apparently a nice chunk of the budget went on the last two episodes... can't wait to see more. The three teasers look awesome!

You know what I hate about this show? It's already on number 8. 10 episodes isn't enough!

bet a bunch of that CGI budget went into the battle at Kings Landing. Hoping it's as epic as described in the book.

Here's an interesting article with the producers about next week's episode:
http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/05/20/game- ... D=20470532

yep, a major part went into the remaining two episodes. can't wait.

Which reminds me that sunday is coming up quick

What a fucking great episode!

This episode was intense, made up for the lack of action this season has had.
I can't wait to see how the season ends, with so many other open storylines going on.

SPOILER (don't read if you haven't watched it):

I was worried Tyrion might have been mortally wounded but he seems ok. Stannis has to be pissed....

I don't want to be "that guy" but the episode really did make me feel the gap between the books and the tv series. We didn't get nearly the same impression of mess, of dirtiness, of sacrifice (there -was- a fairly big naval battle in the books, and Tyrion basically sacrificed his own men, making him an even more ambiguous character)... His injuries and what led to them were also a lot more troubling in the book. He is left disfigured (lost his nose, part of his ear, etc.), which probably would have been a) a nightmare for make-up every week and b) after killing Ned last season, they probably didn't want to make their next lead man unrecognizable.

I enjoy the series, but its main effect is to make me read the books again!

I guess that's the effect that Martin hopes it has on as many viewers as possible

I actually wonder whether he makes more money from the books or series...

Some of the changes from the books to the show haven't bothered me, but the whole stealing the dragons thing is lame, I think.
Full of spoilers for at least some people, but interesting:
http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/list ... s-20120515

Also, I agree 100% with this article that Jack Gleeson, as an actor, is AWESOME as Joffrey...sometimes though, I have to laugh at how idiotic Joffrey, the character, is.

thanks for the link Katie. that was an interesting read.

It's hard to capture what the mind imagines in the book when it comes to the Blackwater battle. I pictured something like that scene out of Troy.

The change from the huge chain blocking their exit to a single ship filled with Dragonfire was interesting and provided for a big bang. Not sure why they didn't take more of that stuff and surround the castle with it so no one could land.

you're welcome...I kept waiting for the chain too...and I was wondering how they'd handle the loss of Tyrion's nose. It looks like he'll just have a giant scar instead.

oh...and I don't think you'd want to surround the castle with that stuff as its much worse than fire. I don't think water extinguishes it and it just burns and burns and burns.

Wow finally found a link to watch online for free (live) for once.

All I have to say is: What?! Undead Army wants a piece of that throne now too?

Highlight was seeing Daenerys get her balls (ahem... I mean dragons) back and finally kick some ass
Next season. The Walking Dead meets Game of Thrones?

Not sure if they're after the throne, for the time being seems as if they're more after the wildlings...

My personal highlight was Jaqen H'ghar's face change

Does that mean the acting will suck, the scenario won't make any sense and characters will get unidimensional?

Oh, I stopped watching WD after a couple of episodes of Season 2... did it turn out that bad?

I was just being saracastic about the White Walkers actually.

What I found weird was the fact that the white walker on horse looked like an undead Tywin Lannister...