Winter is Coming (GoT is back)

[Eraserhead]

Arya's storyline this season has been pretty boring so far. It was much better last season.

[Mr. Morden]

Well, actually I enjoyed Bran's even less, so I'm glad he hasn't been in this season at all.

Much of Bran's storyline up to this point has been pretty boring.  However, his storyline is the one that I was looking the most forward to seeing what happens next, since now that he's met the Three Eyed Crow guy, we've finally met someone in the story who might know what the conflict with the White Walkers is all about.  What's their motivation?  Where did they come from?  What's their relationship with the Children?, etc.

Unfortunately, that's the one storyline that we ended up *not* getting this season.  Quite frustrating.  I fear that when we next see Bran, Three Eyed Crow guy will have already given him an exposition dump, and they won't rewind that for the audience to see.  We'll no longer really be seeing things from Bran's POV, because he'll have a bunch of info that we, the audience, don't have.  I hope this doesn't turn into Lost, where you start to get a growing number of characters who have critical pieces of information about the big picture, but the story goes through some silly gymnastics to avoid that information being communicated to the audience.

[dead0man]

Arya's storyline this season has been pretty boring so far. It was much better last season.

Indeed.  The stuff inside Boring Square Building of Many Faces and Murder was tedious.  I enjoy the Arya storylines, but where it's been most of this season is boring.


and the giant was freaking awesome!

[Citizen (The) Doctor]

They're played by real people too, and seem chill as f[inks].

[Cory]

I for one am glad there is was basically no Bran screen-time this season. They're just so boring.

Honestly I wish they could just disappear forever and the show could focus on the cool parts but I know there is some long-term major storyline from it or something.

[Negusa Nagast 🚀]

If the fan theories hold any merit on Bran, he will get a lot more interesting in the close of the series. Controlling/bonding with a dragon ("you will fly") etc.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Season needs more less Arya.

I've noticed that book readers really love Arya, but I've always thought her plotlines were the least interesting on the show.

Well, actually I enjoyed Bran's even less, so I'm glad he hasn't been in this season at all. (Also, I enjoyed Theon up on the X even less than both of them, but that's presumably over.)

This season hasn't had the strongest Arya storyline (although Maisie Williams' performance in Unbowed, Unbent, and Unbroken was Emmy worthy), but I'd argue that overall she's still the best character in a series filled with many excellent characters.  Even weaker storylines can sometimes work really well if the character and acting are good enough.

[Holmes]

Arya's storyline isn't exactly boring this season, it's just so horribly paced, which is a damn shame. The fact that she's only in every other episode certainly doesn't help. Her training should've been covered in the first 3 or 4 episodes of the season, not dragged on until the very end. It kills any momentum for her story going forward into the next season.

[Mr. Morden]

Here's a fun Hardhome mashup:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcNoB4O9Mg8

[Mr. Morden]

I'm hearing that tonight's episode has leaked as of just an hour or two ago, and it's being shared on some private invite-only Torrent sites.  A couple of spoiler-ific pics from the ep are circulating the interwebs.  It's being discussed on the IMDb board for Game of Thrones, among other places.

[RI]

The internet's on fire over Episode 9. Hard to blame them, honestly.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

The internet's on fire over Episode 9. Hard to blame them, honestly.

I see what you did there

[Cory]

Jesus dude I can't believe it. He's really that desperate to become King. Wow.

[7,052,770]

I'm not 100% sure he really did it. They did cut the scene away a little early.

Or maybe I'm just reaching. As my dad pointed out to me, Stannis has never been a sympathetic character. He already killed his own brother, so why not his daughter too?

If he really did it, though, he sinks to the rock bottom of characters in the show. I hope the Boltons kill him.

[Eraserhead]

Ugh, the show just completely ruined one of its best characters.

Junk episode! Hated it, hated it, hated it!

[Lumine]

Or maybe I'm just reaching. As my dad pointed out to me, Stannis has never been a sympathetic character. He already killed his own brother, so why not his daughter too?

This. I've always wondered why some people seem to forget about Renly's murder. Objectively speaking, Stannis has already killed his brother and actively tried to kill his nephew over his quest for the throne (and several other members of his family if you count Joffrey, Tommen and Myrcella), so what happened tonight doesn't really come out of nowhere (not to mention that the "Inside the Episode" video heavily implies that this is actually a GRRM plot point).

[Cory]

I'm not 100% sure he really did it. They did cut the scene away a little early.

No dude, it happened. Let's not live in denial. It's like those people in Season 1 who thought Ned Stark "wasn't really dead". We hear it in every series ever, and it's never true.

That being said I hope he defeats House Bolton (which I swear to God the battle better happen next Episode or it's the biggest bullsh**t ever) but then is defeated in turn by Petyr Baelish next Season.

So does anyone remember that Breinne of Tarth is camping outside WinterFell, with a death wish against Stannis? He is marching straight to her.

Again, if they don't at least resolve the Stannis VS Bolton storyline then it's the biggest bullsh**t ever.

[Lief 🗽]

The reason this show will never be as good as truly great shows like The Wire or Mad Men or The Sopranos is that the writers care more about SHOCKING TWISTS that'll get the internet talking than telling stories with consistent and believable characters. Stannis lighting his daughter on fire because it maybe might possibly give him an advantage (?? still not really sure what is supposed to happening from burning her) is completely out of character, and it ruins a great character just so they can squeeze out another SHOCKING TWIST.

Also it was already established in the show that you can just leach the blood out of someone with King's blood and burn the leach and apparently there's enough magic in there to CAUSE THE DEATH OF A KING, so immediately jumping ahead to BURNING HER ALIVE is again ignoring the reality of the show just so that the writers can be smug about how many SHOCKING TWISTS they're throwing at us.

[Citizen (The) Doctor]

The reason this show will never be as good as truly great shows like The Wire or Mad Men or The Sopranos is that the writers care more about SHOCKING TWISTS that'll get the internet talking than telling stories with consistent and believable characters. Stannis lighting his daughter on fire because it maybe might possibly give him an advantage (?? still not really sure what is supposed to happening from burning her) is completely out of character, and it ruins a great character just so they can squeeze out another SHOCKING TWIST.

Also it was already established in the show that you can just leach the blood out of someone with King's blood and burn the leach and apparently there's enough magic in there to CAUSE THE DEATH OF A KING, so immediately jumping ahead to BURNING HER ALIVE is again ignoring the reality of the show just so that the writers can be smug about how many SHOCKING TWISTS they're throwing at us.

It was apparently done at the behest of GRRM according to the short documentary. So that this was planned all along to happen anyway in the books (at least in some form).

This sums up how I feel about Stannis at this point.

[Dereich]

Ugh....I feel like this is a blatant attempt to force people who didn't like Daenerys to support her. The show's choices for the throne are now a Lannister puppet, a man who just murdered his daughter for a small advantage or Dany. It's too bad that the writers are going all in on this conflict being purely good vs evil; shades of grey and sympathetic villains (excepting the Boltons/Freys) have been one of the biggest draws for me.

[Lief 🗽]

Eh, the documentary just says that GRRM told them Shireen dies, not necessarily that Stannis kills her. In the book she's back at Castle Black with Melisandre while Stannis is attacking Winterfell. Melisandre probably kills her on her own in the next book. Stannis ordering the burning alive of his daughter just doesn't make any sense at all based on his characterization. He's an asshole, not a violent psychopath. It's profoundly sh[inks]y writing that values SHOCKING DEATHS over any consistent story-telling. And it's still garbage if GRRM came up with it.

Stannis, Day 1: "You are Princess Shireen of House Baratheon, and you are my daughter."

Stannis, Day 2: "She is my daughter. Get out."

Stannis, Day 3: Well we're out of supplies, better light my daughter on fire lol

[Spamage]

Well, I'm officially depressed

[RI]

I'm not completely on the Stannis hate train. I loved Shireen, but consider the larger picture. R'hllor is as good as confirmed, and because of Ramsay's (ridiculous) raid, not only might Stannis fail to capture Winterfell, but if he is Azor Ahai as Mel says, then his failure also means the end of the world. If he loses, who mines the dragonglass? What other ruler in Westeros gives a rip about the coming White Walker invasion?

The rub is he's probably not Azor Ahai, though he probably leads Mel to the real Azor Ahai.

The show's choices for the throne are now a Lannister puppet, a man who just murdered his daughter for a small advantage or Dany.

Except, of course, the one person who may have a better claim than any of them and who probably is Azor Ahai.

[Eraserhead]

Eh, the documentary just says that GRRM told them Shireen dies, not necessarily that Stannis kills her. In the book she's back at Castle Black with Melisandre while Stannis is attacking Winterfell. Melisandre probably kills her on her own in the next book. Stannis ordering the burning alive of his daughter just doesn't make any sense at all based on his characterization. He's an asshole, not a violent psychopath. It's profoundly sh[inks]y writing that values SHOCKING DEATHS over any consistent story-telling. And it's still garbage if GRRM came up with it.

Stannis, Day 1: "You are Princess Shireen of House Baratheon, and you are my daughter."

Stannis, Day 2: "She is my daughter. Get out."

Stannis, Day 3: Well we're out of supplies, better light my daughter on fire lol

I wish I could like posts on here.

[Joe Republic]

Between Melisandre, the High Sparrow and the creepy-ass Many Faced God murder cult, this season is resonating quite well with the atheist in me...