Game of Thrones Season 4 (Spoilers)

[so sorry]

Good god...... Dinklage..... so.... fucking.... awesome.

From the heart-wrenching expression on his face when he saw Shae to his ending outburst.... just give the man another Emmy now. That shit was fucking awesome.


So much awesome.

Amen.

[TheBaxter]

Good god...... Dinklage..... so.... fucking.... awesome.

From the heart-wrenching expression on his face when he saw Shae to his ending outburst.... just give the man another Emmy now. That shit was fucking awesome.


So much awesome.

yes! loved Tyrion's outburst and speech, the whole trial was gold. truly a prime example of "born to play the role."
so will tyrion find another champion, or will he do his own fighting this time? (rhetorical question, please don't answer.)

[so sorry]

so will tyrion find another champion, or will he do his own fighting this time? (rhetorical question, please don't answer.)

Here's my rhetorical answer: .............


Haven't processed it yet, but I'm a little unclear over what the hell went down with Stannis and the Iron Bank. He went asking them to back him in the war despite their allegiance to the current King Tommen? I guess the Iron Bank gave him some coin, just in case he comes out on top as victor? Backing Stannis (secretly of course), so that if he wins he promised to pay the bank back somehow?

Dany: so they totally fucking pussed out with the slain goat scene. Its not a big deal spoiler, but I'll put it here in spoiler text anyway: the dragon kills goats, and she pays off the goat herders, until one of the dragons decides to snack on a kid, which sends Dany into a tailspin of sorts about what to do with her dragons. They had it set up perfectly with the goat herding kid and everything....

[Fievel]

Iron Bank - I took it as Stannis, by way of Davos kicking some verbal ass, pleading his way into more money by campaigning himself as the more "bankable" potential king in the mix. The Lannisters are up to their ears in debt and have no way of effectively ruling once Tywin dies, so that makes Stannis (in his own eyes) the more logical ruler.... and the one more likely to bring some coin back to the bank.

Dany - The goat herder left very happy at his compensation. I'm fully expecting him to return with another bundle and that will begin the shitstorm.

[Peven]

here is my theory, Tyrion chooses Oberyn as his champion, prearranged, Oberyn demands Tywin choose the Mountain as the court's champion to fulfill their agreement. Tywin agrees betting that the Mountain will be too much for a greying Oberyn. just my theory

[so sorry]

By the way, I really REALLY disliked the Yara rescue mission. Did they just conjure that up to remind us that she existed? Ramsey is a sadomasochistic psychopath, but to charge armor and shield wielding ironborn practically naked is just too far fetched. And then he just lets them fucking go? Stoopid I tells ya.

[Brit Pop]

By the way, I really REALLY disliked the Yara rescue mission. Did they just conjure that up to remind us that she existed? Ramsey is a sadomasochistic psychopath, but to charge armor and shield wielding ironborn practically naked is just too far fetched. And then he just lets them fucking go? Stoopid I tells ya.

Agreed... it was a bit Simpsons-esque..

Yara - "Everybody! OUT OF THE BOATS!!"

Ironborn - "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

(25 seconds later...)

Ramsay - "Release the hounds!"

Yara - "Everybody! BACK IN THE BOATS!!"

Ironborn - "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

[Lord Voldemoo]

Dany - The goat herder left very happy at his compensation. I'm fully expecting him to return with another bundle and that will begin the shitstorm.

agreed. This isn't over yet.

[TheBaxter]

By the way, I really REALLY disliked the Yara rescue mission. Did they just conjure that up to remind us that she existed? Ramsey is a sadomasochistic psychopath, but to charge armor and shield wielding ironborn practically naked is just too far fetched. And then he just lets them fucking go? Stoopid I tells ya.

Agreed... it was a bit Simpsons-esque..

Yara - "Everybody! OUT OF THE BOATS!!"

Ironborn - "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

(25 seconds later...)

Ramsay - "Release the hounds!"

Yara - "Everybody! BACK IN THE BOATS!!"

Ironborn - "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

yeah, that part did play out a little too close to this:

[so sorry]

Alternate ending to Tyrion's epic speech. Chilling stuff.

[Peven]

chillin' stuff is more like it

[TheBaxter]

he's gettin' joffrey wit it.

[Fievel]

My stomach hurts so fucking much....... holy shit.... was NOT expecting that!!!!

[Fievel]

[so sorry]

Plenty of raping in Game of Thrones...they could do the spin off Law and Order: SVU too!

[TheBaxter]

Plenty of raping in Game of Thrones...they could do the spin off Law and Order: SVU too!

i'm glad to see they finally managed to get a black guy on the show.
or at least into the credits.

[TheBaxter]

so, as soon as the moon door was mentioned i knew someone was going through it. i hoped it would be that annoying kid but i'll settle for his annoying mom.

as soon as they revealed that cersei's champion would be The Mountain, i knew tyrion's champion would be oberon. my only question is, is tywin really so dumb as to allow The Mountain to be cersei's champion, after oberon flat out told him that he would do anything to get his vengeance on him? you'd think he'd know that by naming The Mountain, they were guaranteeing that Oberon would volunteer to fight for tyrion. if tywin has some ulterior plan in letting this fight happen (which he must have or it wouldn't be happening), i can't see what it is. obviously he wouldn't mind seeing Oberon get put down, but if Oberon wins then what does tywin gain?

[so sorry]

so, as soon as the moon door was mentioned i knew someone was going through it. i hoped it would be that annoying kid but i'll settle for his annoying mom.

as soon as they revealed that cersei's champion would be The Mountain, i knew tyrion's champion would be oberon. my only question is, is tywin really so dumb as to allow The Mountain to be cersei's champion, after oberon flat out told him that he would do anything to get his vengeance on him? you'd think he'd know that by naming The Mountain, they were guaranteeing that Oberon would volunteer to fight for tyrion. if tywin has some ulterior plan in letting this fight happen (which he must have or it wouldn't be happening), i can't see what it is. obviously he wouldn't mind seeing Oberon get put down, but if Oberon wins then what does tywin gain?

If Oberyn wins, then the Martell's get their justice for their slain kin (Elia). Then they leave King's Landing, and more importantly for Tywin, they stop badgering the Lannisters (whom they partially blame for her death). The first episode of this season when Oberyn and Tyrion have their talk, he explains that the Martells have always suspected that Tywin ordered the Mountain to kill Elia and her children, but Tywin has steadfastly denied it, saying the Mountain killed on them on his own. So its a win win for Tywin: if the Mountain wins, he gets rid of a potentially serious threat in Oberyn (and gets rid of him thru the law of the land, so there can be no vengeance called upon him). If Oberyn wins, then he leaves Tywin alone. The Mountain is perhaps the most deadly of Tywin's army, but he's a wild card of sorts. When you tell him to take a castle or holdfast, he doesn't just kill the soldiers, he rapes the women, puts the children to the sword, slays the livestock, burns the crops, and razes the castle. He's pure evil. Tywin would lose a killing machine, but he would also lose a thorn in his side, because the Mountain presents some certain challenges when it comes to politics.

[TheBaxter]

i guess i didn't really think Oberon actually believed Tywin, or that he absolved Tywin of any blame after that conversation, and i wouldn't think Tywin would also think he was safe from Oberon's vengeance once the Mountain was killed. if i was Tywin i'd assume that Oberon would come gunning for me next, regardless of how hard i had tried to convince him i had nothing to do with what happened to his family, even if i was telling the truth.

during his conversation with Tyrion in the dungeons Oberon told him King's Landing was the perfect place to find justice because "everyone" he sought vengeance on was there. i took that to mean more than one person (a person who wasn't even there to begin with). like Arya, i think Oberon has a list of names, The Mountain is at the top of that list but i'm sure there's a few more names, and more than one of which that ends with Lannister.

[so sorry]

I'm befuddled at their handling of the Duel. All the build up, all the talk, and it gets, what, 10 minutes max? The fight was bad ass, the way it ended was too fucking cool, but shit guys, give me at least a few more minutes to flesh it out and let it all sink in. Instead I was treated to a 10 minute conversation about a mentally challenged beetle killer. Cripes.

[Fievel]

The fight made me think of The Princess Bride - both in the "My name is Inigo Montoya = Her name was Elia" but also the well-choreographed fight scene during all of that.

The beetle story nearly put me to sleep, even though I knew what was coming up. Having said that, I really do appreciate the genuine warmth being portrayed between Tyrion and Jaime during all of this. I'm getting a much better sense of that than I did in the book (where I thought their relationship improved during this time, just not to the seemingly dramatic extent of the show).

[TheBaxter]

yes, the fight was cool but too short. and once he started prancing around, demanding he confess to the rape and murder, etc. it was like one of those scenes with the bond villain where they talk to much and you know how that always ends up, so there wasn't much surprise that things ended the way they did. and i still think tyrion was a bit of a fool for letting it happen since he came this close to being on the losing side (and to a man who, as i figured, was not anywhere near being convinced that tyrion was blameless and any less deserving of his vengeance than the mountain was).

[Peven]

I had a bad feeling about how events were going to unfold last night, too neat for Tyrion to get off clean two times with the 'ol trial by combat trick. still, it did tick me off a bit when I was reading an article the other day about GoT and they were making references to Oberyn's daughters, and even included a few excerpts from the books that describe them. what I think they didn't bother to notice is that in a description about one of the daughters from the books it is stated her hairline had a widow's peak like her father HAD. I was pretty sure at that point Oberyn wasn't going to survive the duel

[so sorry]

So Sansa Stark is revealed to the Lords of the Vale. Someone wanted for potential regicide, and also the last (known) heir to the biggest kingdom in Westeros. Understanding that the Vale is pretty secretive, is very separate and closed off location wise from the rest of the kingdoms, but its not like gigantic reveals like this wouldn't make their way back to Varys thru one of his little birds. Wonder where they are going with this story...


Oh and by the way, her little sister whom the entirty of Westeros belives is dead just showed up on Sansa's doorstep and announced herself to the guards. Somehow I think that Brienne and Pod are going to cross paths (or come really really close) with Arya and Sandor. But how they are going to get out of the Vale after knocking on the front door and proclaiming who they are is beyond me.

[Peven]

the whole story just keeps getting more and more convoluted, I wonder how Martin is going to wrap all this up in the next few books. I mean, Westeros hasn't even really begun dealing with the Wildings or the White Walkers yet, Stannis is still raising an army, Khaleesi is bogged down far from Kings Landing, Bran still has little idea what his purpose is....there is a lot yet to do

[so sorry]

the whole story just keeps getting more and more convoluted, I wonder how Martin is going to wrap all this up in the next few books. I mean, Westeros hasn't even really begun dealing with the Wildings or the White Walkers yet, Stannis is still raising an army, Khaleesi is bogged down far from Kings Landing, Bran still has little idea what his purpose is....there is a lot yet to do

At about a 1000 pages per novel, I think he can get quite a bit done in two books. Provided he trims some of his own studly out of the stories (pun intended). And the show...well they really REALLY streamlined some stuff, and then turn around and add FILLER in other places.

[TheBaxter]

i doubt even GRRM knows how things are going to end. at least, as far as i know, he hasn't been pulling a Lost-style "i had it all planned from the beginning" scam. and it's not like there's mysteries to solve or things that need to be tied up with a nice bow. i think he just goes with the flow. for all we know, that punk little spoiled brat kid Robin could turn out to be trained into being a badass now that his mom's dead, and turn out to be the ultimate hero of the whole thing. the hound teaches him to fight, arya becomes his bride, they go off together to seek vengeance on the lannisters and unite the kingdom. and then they get burned to death by dragons because everyone on this show gets killed eventually. and don't forget the inevitable return of Zombie King Joffrey and his legions of galactic death knights

[Fievel]

i doubt even GRRM knows how things are going to end.

He has already told the HBO crew (showrunner/writers) how it all ends, so there is an end in sight. And, knowing that, if he kicks the bucket before he actually finishes, there's witness to his account on top of any notes he might have laying around (although the dude still writes in DOS, so who knows about any actual notes....) so that the story could be finished in both print and TV.

[Ribbons]

I know I'm in the minority here but I honestly wouldn't mind if this series never ended. Well, never say never. But to me the background mysteries (i.e., tracing the roots of all the magical shenanigans) are a lot less important than the political intrigue. And considering the glacial pace of each book, even another 2,000 pages probably wouldn't be enough to tie everything up.

[Lord Voldemoo]

[TheBaxter]

in retrospect (and after watching it again) i think the fight was just the right length. any longer and it would have gotten tedious, especially with oberyn's gymnastics and trashtalking. the fight hit all the beats it needed to hit, and when he goes into his james bond villain speech at the end, it doesn't go too long to where you're just sitting there waiting impatiently for the mountain to rise up like jason voorhees and take him down. it's quick enough to make it seem less predictable than it actually is.

now just wondering how tyrion is gonna get out of this.

also, indira varma is so frikkin hot. she was great in rome, but man, she's gotten even better since.

[so sorry]

in retrospect (and after watching it again) i think the fight was just the right length. any longer and it would have gotten tedious, especially with oberyn's gymnastics and trashtalking. the fight hit all the beats it needed to hit, and when he goes into his james bond villain speech at the end, it doesn't go too long to where you're just sitting there waiting impatiently for the mountain to rise up like jason voorhees and take him down. it's quick enough to make it seem less predictable than it actually is.

I think another 5 or so minutes would have been perfect. Oberyn's playing with the mountain during the duel. Despite his opponents near-impenetrable plate mail and surprising speed for a monster his size, the Prince knows exactly where to strike him to inflict damage. His trash talking is 17 years of pent up anger over the death of his sister, and the Lannister's refusal to admit their part in her death. He's proclaiming to all in attendance that the Mountain killed his sister and children at the request of Tywin, so he's not just boasting and trying to look badass, he's essentially putting Tywin on trial in front of the court, urging the Mountain to confess. All of which we see on the show, but just a bit too fast for my tastes. That said, the result of the duel, while slightly different than the book, is still fucking brutally perfect. And even though the Mountain confessed to killing Elia and her kids, he did NOT implicate Tywin, so he's still good (at being bad).

also, indira varma is so frikkin hot. she was great in rome, but man, she's gotten even better since.

True dat. And reports are that casting is underway for Oberyn's daugthers for next season (called the Sand Snakes). They are beautiful and deadly. Expect some hot ass women for season 5!

[so sorry]

GRRM wants to write you into Game of Thrones, then kill you off in grisly fashion

[DerLanghaarige]

Hodor In The House (A little NSFW and slighty season 4 spoilerish)

[Seppuku]

Last week's ep didn't quite gel for some reason. Maybe they were banking on people going away with the memory of the last ten minutes and forgetting that the previous forty contained more exposition than a dogging festival. That nu love interest doesn't look interesting, either though I guess that bit of pretty curvature was nice enough to see.

Better season overall than the third, though, fo' sho'.

[Fievel]

Wow.
Loved so much of the battle. I'm not a fan of how they handled Ygritte's death - I preferred the book's method of Jon finding her and not knowing whose arrow it was, but I get the need for drama.
Sam's kiss - probably the first (and only) "Awwww" moment of the show.

I'm 99.9% sure I know how next week is going to play out (knowing the books), but I'll refrain from posting a guess (to avoid the temptation of obvious spoilers)..... mostly.

I'm assuming the final scene this season will be the meeting of Lady Stoneheart.

[so sorry]

Wow.
Loved so much of the battle. I'm not a fan of how they handled Ygritte's death - I preferred the book's method of Jon finding her and not knowing whose arrow it was, but I get the need for drama.
Sam's kiss - probably the first (and only) "Awwww" moment of the show.

I'm 99.9% sure I know how next week is going to play out (knowing the books), but I'll refrain from posting a guess (to avoid the temptation of obvious spoilers)..... mostly.

I'm assuming the final scene this season will be the meeting of Lady Stoneheart.

Was this the first time an entire episode was devoted to one location? Just curious.

I wasn't blown away by the battle much, but there are enough differences from the books now that it did keep me engaged. I thought for sure that Sam was going to be the one to kill Ygrette, so kudos to the writers for not doing the (seemingly) obvious.
The giants and mammoths were awesome.

I'm still perplexed by how they use/don't use the direwolves, and I know its 99% due to budgets in the CGI. They release ghost (why Jon had the key I don't know), he goes all badass and rips a dudes throat out, then he's gone again just like that. Would have been awesome if we saw him (even in the background) ripping limbs off etc, and essentially helping the NW win the battle. And he certainly would have been with Jon when he left to treat with Mance.

Fievel, that seems like a good choice to close out the season!

[RogueScribner]

There seems like an awful lot of ground to cover for the finale if it's going to be akin to the book. I think some stuff might get pushed to next season.

[DerLanghaarige]

Was this the first time an entire episode was devoted to one location? Just curious.

If I remember right, the BLACKWATER one (also a huge battle episode from Neil MArshall) was the only previous case of "Hey, let's focus on only one story in one location, okay?"

[Fievel]

Okay, I can't stand it. I have nowhere else to post my spoilerific predictions, so I have to do it here.
Here's my full episode predictions from someone who read the books..... SPOILERS FOLLOW (although veiled the best I could):

Opening Credits
-A shitty way to go
-Dany gets more bones at her feet
-Crows see a deer on fire in the water
-Varys the travel agent
-Valar dohaeris!
-Wedding announcement
-Heart of stone
End Credits

[Ribbons]

Okay, I can't stand it. I have nowhere else to post my spoilerific predictions, so I have to do it here.
Here's my full episode predictions from someone who read the books..... SPOILERS FOLLOW (although veiled the best I could):

Opening Credits
-A shitty way to go
-Dany gets more bones at her feet
-Crows see a deer on fire in the water
-Varys the travel agent
-Valar dohaeris!
-Wedding announcement
-Heart of stone
End Credits

I have not watched any of this season yet and obviously the best way to find out what happens is to do that, but just out of curiosity, did Littlefinger kill Lysa yet?

[Fievel]

Yes

[so sorry]

That's how you close a season out. The skeleton fight was badass. But the Hound and Brienne fight was brutal with a capital B. I'm still not a fan of the fact that Brienne found Arya, but that nut kicking drag down battle royale made me forget. Fuck me we needed 10 more minutes to flesh out the Tyrion and Jaime parting. Such a missed opportunity. Sayanora you whore Shae, and happy Father's Day Tywin!

[Fievel]

Loved it.... despite the final scene I predicted not happening (Lady Stoneheart's introduction). I realize that still a lot happened, but for TV drama, that would have been THE ultimate spot for it - to get people talking over the next year. Now they'll either delay it for next year's finale (Somehow?) or put it in a regular episode, which would lose a lot of dramatic effect, giving the audience only a week (or two if it's Memorial Day weekend) to stew and discuss it.

Having said that.....
-Loved watching The Mountain get worked on
-Actually loved the fact that Tyrion didn't ask Jaime about Tysha/get in the argument/falsely confess to killing Joffrey. I always hated that part in the books, that Tyrion and Jaime left on bad terms. With GRRM working along with the show, I wonder what the meaning of cutting all that out. But then, so much has been cut as it is....
-Really missed Tyrion's line (thought?) from the book after he shot his father. Oh well. Happy Father's Day!
-Brienne/Hound was awesome. He kicked her in the vag! HE KICKED HER IN THE VAG!!!! I hope that actress wields a lightsaber (any color!) in the new Star Wars film!!
-I like the encounter with Arya helping push/spook Arya into leaving.
-The Hound was just awesome at his end scene.
-Jojen.....
-Walker Fight.....
-Arya's going to Braavos!!!!!

Disappointed we didn't see any of the Boltons. I would have liked to have seen the announcement of the wedding between Ramsay & Arya after Arya departed for Bravos. That would have been another excellent season-ending discussion topic. AND it would have built more tension.

Will probably have more later.

[DerLanghaarige]

The season finale left me on a so-so note.At first I have to say that season 4 made HUGE leap up in quality! If you remember, I was so ready to give up after the last season, but not just the stories became more interesting, they also found a less annoying way of telling them. Sure, the old problems are still there. Too many stories and characters at once, many of them often completely useless (and dead after at least 2 more episodes) although they were introduced as if they were the most important people in the world. But at least everything felt more focused! Last year we got each scene per episode for each subplot, this time we even returned several times within an episode!

About the season finale: As usual several potentially cool new subplots are introduced. I still hope that The Hound is alive, but considering how his little frienemy is now on a ship to somewhere, I doubt that they will meet again. Also cool was that Tyrion finally became a true Lannister, by doing true Lannister things. But I will miss those two actors and their characters. I'm definitely disappointed that Khaleesi's story ended kinda boring this year. She and her story are still my favourite parts of the show, but after all the awesomness that came before, I was hoping for a little more than "Leesi learns a very special lesson about being a ruler and must face a heart breaking decision about where to put her dragons."

All in all I would say that this was the best season since the first one.

[TheBaxter]

[so sorry]

I'm pretty confused at the whole birthday party thing, but I guess I shouldn't overthink it, huh?

[TheBaxter]

i think the birthday party was just an excuse to show little kids reacting to the cursing. not necessary, but seeing young children being corrupted is always good for a laugh.

[Peven]

one of the best 1 hour episodes of TV ever. clears the table for some new storylines and characters while further extending the arcs of the main players. the 5th season should be very interesting and open up the world where this takes place even more

[so sorry]

one of the best 1 hour episodes of TV ever. clears the table for some new storylines and characters while further extending the arcs of the main players. the 5th season should be very interesting and open up the world where this takes place even more

What'll be real interesting is the introduction of a shit ton of new characters next season. Oberyn's daughters, the Prince of Dorne, Arya in Braavos...there is going to be lots of new stuff. Despite some shocking deaths in earlier seasons, we've still been following the same core group of characters. I think next year will change that up a bit, and I wonder how fans will react, and how the writers/directors will try and create more storylines with existing characters just to keep them in the show. In other words, some main characters dissappear for the entirety of book 4/5. Clearly they aren't going to do that for the show, so now it'll be even more poeple to follow. These guys could really benefit from a few more episodes each season that's for sure!