^^ Noooooo, no more smoke and mirrors! I want 'arry back. I want needle back. If there's anyone on her list still alive, they need to die.
That bit of smoke isn't nearly so mirrorish as the theory about the true identity of the Waif... Myself, I'm just looking forward to the appearance of a certain Lady.
I s'pose I will spare everyone my length ramblings for once. I completely agree that McShane was totally wasted. I mean, really happy to see him on the show, and he was excellent as always, but man, could have given him so much more to chew on character-wise. Heck, can you imagine the conspiring and gravitas he could have brought to Westeros? As for the Arya stabbing, a lot of unclear things at this point, and I have some theories too, but it does seem pretty certain that whomever was on the receiving end of the attack like that, it doesn't seem very likely they could have survived, let alone swim + keep walking for some time after. The show is fantasy, but has grounded itself pretty hard in realism, so I dunno.... that seemed a bit of a, erm, leap.
I realize that I don't know exactly what's going on anymore and probably never will but that was a fun episode. Enjoyed it all the way through. That little girl queen was a great scene. And all the stuff with the giant guy who I thought was dead was pretty great too. I haven't felt invested in the show for a few seasons now and I don't think I will again but it's still pretty fun and that last episode was extra fun.
The waif isn't much of a faceless one the way she seeks to punish and to do so in an obviously personal way. To much ego. But I guess she has some past connection to Arya or the Starks or perhaps they, the assassins, were paid long ago to do all that to Arya. I am sure Arya will be kept alive as will the rest until the show is over (I thought it was this season?). I assume they are all headed to a great battle together against the coming winter lord. Each must be amazing if not have powers. She gained amazingness through determination. She's the young batman in this world. How far away collecting wood was the hound that he didn't hear a slaughter of many that he already assumed was coming? Has Ian grown so big that he can only make guest appearances now? Couldn't everyone else die and Ian join the world together to fight the coming storm? The opening scene reminded me of Conan walking up to the Temple of Doom. And then the siege looked like a Monty Python scene.
Great episode with a lot of good character work. I wonder where Sansa's incapability to achieve anything will lead to - they are clearly building up to something I think. I like the idea that she might have to realize that she has to become more ruthless and/or cunning to get what she wants?! I am getting annoyed by the constant name dropping of house Manderly. I do not believe they let Arya die like that - it would be a waste and also would not accomplish anything - she is dead/missing to the rest of the world anyway. I guess we won't get the Clegane-clash after all. I was convinced Sandor was going to be the Faith Militia's champion for Cersei's trial (btw - when is that happening, they have been teasing it for weeks). Oh, and I did not miss Dany. Not. One. Bit.
You are so right man. It was a fairly good episode too, I felt it went by quickly, which is a good sign I would say, even though it came in a bit shorter than usual. I could have done without some blatant exposition, but then, considering it was delivered by Ian McShane, I will most certainly give it a pass. I am a bit disappointed in resorting to the 'lone warrior stepped away from the group, to return to a mass slaughter', but then, this entire season has been all about pulling out all the fantasy tropes and becoming more tv-ish. Honestly, there is basically no more character development or showing the thoughts and struggles that made this show so good since they have gone off-book; everything that happens is only to advance the plot. But anyhow, it moves forward I guess. The killing was a bit extreme, especially to [apparently] have happened in a matter of minutes, yet somehow wiping out every single individual in Brother Ray's flock. Sure, the BwB as outlaws are getting more brazen and presumably this is to set up the gruesomeness of LSB leadership (perhaps), but it seems pretty random, especially if you have no idea where this is all coming from. I agree it is a shame we never got to get a small taste of Meribald's excellent speech, it would have been particularly good delivered by McShane I think. Speaking of sermonizing though, ugh, I was really put off by the HS speech at Margaery about her 'womanly duties' to Tommen. As if his religious fanaticism isn't enough to put up with on the show, boy did this come out terribly (I really hope by intent on the part of the writers... but I have to say, it didn't seem that way) and really makes me want to punch him in the face. Can't wait till he gets his just desserts. As for who is who in Braavos, well there are a lot of reasons why it might not be Arya (some more clear than others, and definitely hinted at before), and I look forward to seeing how this plays out. But I have the feeling the setup is going to be handled rather cheesily with the tone of the show going forward, and not going to feel like it earned this 'mystery.' I also am disappointed we will never get to see the full end results of the training of the Faceless Men, as I think this storyline is going to wrap up soon, and truly have accomplished very little in actually advancing Arya's development. Which is unfortunate. Part of the reason she has become such a standout fan favourite was because of her story, but since she left Westeros (on the show) not much of anything has happened to show us how she has changed, if she has. I think Moog summed it up well, it is not the show it started off as, and the one I loved, but I am still watching, and hold out hope for some amazing television. At least I can rely on it for entertainment; which kind of feels like a backhanded compliment for GoT.
Spoiler I'm still laughing at how everyone cooked up all these crazy theories for Aria's plotline, saying there's no way she was stupid enough to be that out in the open and get herself stabbed... Nope, she was that stupid. Or should I say... She's still a young girl, she's not some mastermind! But meh, I think it's kind of ridiculous how she could beat the "Waif" in one-on-one combat with an abdominal injury. I'm glad she didn't die, but I still think it was a bit silly.
That was a pretty interesting episode for all of the things it didn't show. All the build-up and theories resulted in a whole lot of non-crazy and standard plot-development. Considering the title, No One, leads one to believe this episode was all about Arya, I find it especially amusing how little that whole story actually gave us. Outside of a ridiculous chase through Braavos, and some incredible suspension of disbelief in terms of her wounds, I find it rather funny how in the end she, after all of this long, drawn-out training, build up of the FM mythos, multi-season arc, presumably Jaqen just wants her to find herself and go back to being Arya in Westeros. The Waif was nothing but a mere MacGuffin on the show, seemingly so with all of the FM's wisdom and skills. So she somehow gets all of her fighting skills back, is #1 ninja assassin in the dark, and cuts off the Waif's face. Case closed. Yuup. That leads me to point out how the entire episode was a giant FU to book fans screaming for certain things to happen, at one point with actual pissing [on]. I give you: Lem's completely meaningless death after his... ooOOOOhhh shocking reveal. The BWB still being led by a very sensible (and alive) Beric Dondarrion, ostensibly crushing any hopes for a murderous revenge-bent LSH reveal. This is highlight incredibly by the Hound actually relieving himself all over the river where LSH would have been rescued. I am not saying that the showrunners might not still pull it out at the end of the season as a shocking 'twist' but if that wasn't a visual cue aimed squarely at the LSH fans, I don't know what is. Further, probably no Cleganebowl, which I am just fine with. One, I would rather see the Hound head north anyways, for an eventual reunion with Sansa and/or Arya (and possibly fight off some WWs), then waste any time with foolishness in KL. And Zombie Gregor is much better served with proper menace taking on serious threats than more silly trial by combats eating up too much screentime. And for all the Brienne-Jaime 'shippers out there, I am pretty certain that was a final goodbye for those two; time to move on to other stories. All in all, actually a good episode, if a bit overly consumed by reflecting on its own intelligence (I can just see all the writers high-fiving themselves over their brilliance). What it ended up giving us was very much GoT, as well as wrapped up some storylines - even if you have to wonder whether those storylines added anything to the overall tale or not. assorted thoughts: - Dany walking through the door was highly anti-climactic; I am just so glad that they did not end with this scene for once - the 'good' actress Arya saved was clearly anything but, if he experience in repeated stabbings and whatever she did to her younger rival are any clue; I think the show missed an opportunity to give Arya some development and inner struggle more with how she was interpreting the coda of the FM - if Cersei goes full Aerys on KL now, will it turn to Jamie to stop her (thus possibly completing the prophecy, though Tommen's end would have to precede it) or will it be one twin rescuing the city from wildfire, only to have another burn it all down - while I wasn't exactly a fan of all the 'mystery' of who was who and whether that was the real Arya, it was still preferable to the contrived plot armour we ended up with I think; but man that chase scene.... - one other rumour that might finally have also been killed off was Syrio; though I thought that from Martin's words this would have always been a long stretch; I just think his character was far more effective and appealing on the show, and hence why he became such a crowd favourite. I give a lot of credit to Miltos Yerolemou for that. - if KL is about to go to hell by the end of this season, and we won't have any more trial by combat, I wonder if they will make use of the Mountain as a defence mechanism for Cersei, i.e. automatically coming to her aid against those around her in the city who are a threat [for whatever instant reason]; specifically Tommen. In his blind obedience, I could see it going this way, and the very tragic end this would bring would seem like a way the show would seem to 'fit' with punishing Cersei one final time. - logic. That pesky thing that writer's don't like to acknowledge.
Good points and I agree on all of them. I liked some of the smaller scenes quite a lot - Bronn and Podrick, Jaime and Brienne and especially Tyrion's group warming up to each other. This is what I want from the show - give me real people with real emotions that I can like and care for. Then kill them. When the waif said that there was yet another name on the list (intending to kill Arya) I was so hoping for Arya to say 'but I am no one' or something like that - immediately making the waif go away. One thing - that speech Jamie gave to Edmure was great. I was asking myself, whether he really believed it though or if it was just means to get Edmure to end the siege?! Especially with Brienne around Jamie seems to soften up quite a bit.
Indeed. It was always the little incidental scenes for me, that made GOT stand-out for a fantasy-based show. Interesting, believable and sympathetic characters. I'm very glad Clegane is back , along with Dennis Pennis and his re-generating friend. That scene where they were arguing over who got to kill the bandits was priceless. Oh, and who doesn't like to see the Mountain ripping-off normal sized soldiers heads? Thank fuck Arya finally gets to move on. That chase through the streets was so lame. That whole arc was stretched out far too long. They really ruined it compared to the book. Hell yeah, Daenerys return was completely underwhelming. It seems like they ran out of CGI money recently to do the Dragons and Direwolfs any justice. I thought the Direwolves were a wasted opportunity and died pointless deaths, purely to get them out of the show. Like a few of the other minor characters . . . .
I was under the impression the Mountain only separated that Faith Militant's jaw from his face, I didn't think he took his whole head off. So what do we think Qyburn's spies have reported, the combination to Daenerys' luggage?
Well, if you wanna split hairs . . . or face I reckon the High Sparrow abuses little boys . . . that wouldn't be unusual for an organised religion.
While Cersei instructs Qyburn to send the little birds out everywhere (including the city) to learn about people badmouthing her/the Lannisters, I suspect one possibility is that his surveillance in the city is what is possibly going to turn up the cache of wildfire Aerys originally had stashed around ("burn them all"), and that she will try and make use of this to destroy the sept and the Faith Militant, which might in turn result in the complete destruction of the city (think back to the burned out throne room in Dany's vision).
Amazing episode. Best of the last few seasons easily. I can't imagine how the finale next week can even come close. Annnd I can't find the spoiler tag so I'll shut up now.
Shoot, where is the spoiler tag here on mobile? Little silly icons, how do I interpret you all?!? But yeah... Wow. You all know that there's a battle from the episode title and the "Next Week on GoT" bit after last week's episode, so I'm not spoiling anything by saying the battle was INSANE. It apparently took 25 days to film, and the director studied historical calvary battles to make it feel authentic. He wanted to break from "glorious" overhead shots that have been used often in film and television because it didn't show war for what it really was... That's why we got a frightening view of things on the ground. Yeesh. Also, the horses kept peeing and farting in the middle of Jon's and Ramsay's lines. Ppppffftttt.
Amazing episode overall. Finally Daenerys getting SOMETHING accomplished in the beginning, I thought that was well done considering her horrible entrance the previous episode. That battle scene was gruesome to say the least, I don't think I've ever been as happy to see Littlefinger in my life!
