A Game of Thrones (HBO)

[BillCable]

Yeah, to make it easier for the readers, he broke 4 and 5 into North and South.  One focused only on what happened in the South, the other only focused on what happened concurrently in the North.

[BillCable]

Another decent episode.  More consolidation of characters from the books.  And I guess we'll never see Aegon or Penny.

[BrentS]

Overall, I think this season has been a real snoozer... sort of like the majority of books 4 and 5 so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.   I still think there is too much dilution of the multiple characters and their storylines; however, at least the last couple of episodes have been a bit more streamlined in the character stories. 

I do constantly find myself checking with the internet sources for departures from the book (so that I don't think I'm going crazy and mis-remembering!)

At this point with the departures from the books, I'm almost looking forward to next season when all the stories will be fresh and I can just sit back and watch without comparing to the source material!

[BillCable]

I'm pretty sure Martin intends to get Winds of Winter out before the season premiere next year.

[Nicklab]

I haven't had a chance to see the whole episode just yet.  But the end scene?  Just fantastic!  The Stone Men were realized incredibly well.  And the ruins of Valyria looked fantastic.  It also seems that the role played by Jon Connington in the books has been consolidated into Jorah Mormont.  And that really does leave you wondering about Aegon, too.

[Scott]

By far, the creepiest TV character in a really long time (Benjamin Linus springs to mind) goes to Ramsay Bolton

[McMetal]

Yeah, his Dad is a real peach too. That was quite the heartwarming reminiscence about dear old Mom.

I loved the ruins of Valyria...I gather it was destroyed in some sort of epic Pompeii-type disaster? Is that Drogon's home away from home now?

I was disappointed by the Stone Men though after all the lead-up though. They just looked like guys with oatmeal on to me. I was hoping for something less human.

I hope we don't get 5 more episodes of "What Jon Snow is up to on the boats" because id prefer to see that wrap up sooner rather than later. I can't help but wonder what the White Walkers and the Army of the Undead are up to norht of the wall. Are they just kicking back and waiting for winter to arrive or what?

I liked the scene with Sam and Stannis. Some good info in there, especially that bit about The Children hunting with dragonglass.

Curious what Varys is up to now too.

[Jesse James]

Ramsay is like Alex in Clockwork Orange...  Even kinda looks like Malcom McDowel.

[McMetal]

John, Arya, Sansa, Rickon, Bran, Daenerys, Tyrion, Varys, Sam, Grey Worm. At this point, it's easier to name the people I DON'T want to see horribly mutilated/disemboweled/burned alive on this show. What a wretched universe of filth and depravity...they may as well subtitle the show "Or How the Stark family gets crapped on repeatedly with no recriminations" 

I don't think I've been so mad since the Red Wedding. You just can't do Sansa like that...that was super crappy. My wife and I were both shouting at the screen "someone DO something!" but Theon is a useless POS and I guess Brienne is content to just kick it back at the inn with Pod. Ugh, what a horrible downer ending.

And I guess Baelish is pretty much straight up using her just to position himself as Warden of the North. Some uncle.

I did like Tyrion and Jorah bonding over their Daddy issues.

After all the anticipation, it was hard not to feel let-down by the 5 minute Sand Snake fray. I was hoping they would have been a bit more bad-ass. At least kill Bronn or something.

Tommen is utterly and completely worthless as a human being. What a *****.

[Nicklab]

The end of the episode was really upsetting.  The show has always been a little rough at times, but this got to me.  Especially since the past several episodes have been building up Sansa Stark as Littlefingers protégé, and she isn't a silly girl anymore.  But I don't think anyone was prepared for just how depraved Ramsey Bolton can truly be. 

[Mikey D]

Honestly, that scene was way tamer than others we've seen - killing of babies, torturing of Theon, Joffrey's play dates with the sluts and sport hunting women with dogs come to mind right off the top of my head (and that's not even including the Red Wedding) - that I'm surprised at all the hate it's getting.  Yes, Ramsey is an sadistic ******* and yes, Sansa getting raped is horrible, but based on other things we've seen, it doesn't compare (and be glad they didn't delve into the sick and twisted **** that went on during the wedding/bedding in the book).

Everyone's talking about Sansa's horrible luck, but that scene was all about Theon and he needed something to finally stand up to Ramsey, and seeing Sansa abused by Ramsey was it.  That scene is the start of his redemption arc, or as much of a redemption he can have considering the dumb **** he's done.

And like Ramsey said - "If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention"
 

[Nicklab]

Agreed on the point that this was more about Theon.  That actually started when he referred to himself as Theon of House Greyjoy earlier in the episode when he was giving Sansa away at the wedding.  He's slowly starting to regain his sense of self.  But where things go from here is beyond me since things have diverged so much from the books. 

[Jesse James]

I'm with you Mike, this show's been filled with what I ultimately think of as worse, if we're rating things...  Rape's actually pretty frequently mentioned, implied, and outright shown at various points in the show.  I guess I was figuring this was somewhat inevitable really, since she was dumped at Winterfell and left to marry one of the craziest characters left on the show (at the moment).

Littlefinger never has all his cards on the table.  While Sansa's fate had to be understood, I'm not so sure he's abandoning her completely.  At least I don't feel that way yet.  He's easily one of my favorite characters because of his complexity.

I want to kick Cersie in the vagina.

I can't blame Tommen so much...  He's a child, and truly a child unlike his brother.  He's really just a kid stuck in all of the mess.  He's probably thinking he'll fix it later.

I hate the religious zealots now too...  such dickholes.

[Jeff]

Yeah, I can't add much more than what's already been said about the bad stuff that Sansa had to go through.   

On Cersei...  as I book reader, I kinda know what's coming for her.  But, even without that knowledge, I still can't believe someone with all her sins (like having THREE kids with her brother and having an affair with another family member) was dumb enough to put the armed faith into action to go after those sinners...   

Will be interesting to see how that plays out compared to the book...  same with Bronn and Jaime in Dorne.  Can't wait to see how Dr. Bashir reacts to them compared to the book version.

[Qui-Gon Jim]

OMG!  Dr. Bashir!!  One of the snakes is Jamilla from RotS.