Such an excellent opener. In the previous seasons, it has always felt like it took three or four episodes for things to get moving. I’m sure the pace will accelerate in the next few episodes but this is the first time I have watched the first episode of a new season and not felt a bit disappointed at the lack of new developments. Perhaps it’s something to do with the showrunners being able to set their own pace now they’re ahead of the books…?
I’m anxious to go into more in-depth analysis but I think we should hold off on plot-heavy discussion until what, Wednesday? Does that seem reasonable to other people or should we all just steer clear of this thread until we’ve caught up?
SPOILERS BEGIN HERE. ABANDON ALL HOPE OF REMAINING UNSPOILED, YE WHO ENTER HERE.
So, am I the only one who didn’t put it together that [spoiler] the hound is literally marked and steered by the Lord of Light? The burns on his face have been his motivation to become the cynical, hard-bitten arsehole that he is and the fire at the battle for King’s Landing is what led him to not only abandon the Lannisters but also (somewhat inexplicably) rescue Sansa and later Arya; at every decisive point in his life’s journey, it has been the fire steering him.
So that leads me to ask: was he resurrected by the Lord of Light after Arya left him for dead? He looked pretty well by the next time we saw him and there’s no sign of the mortal injuries he sustained in the fight with Brienne.
Other takeaways:
“You’re not fooling anyone with that top knot, ya bald cunt.” Best line of the season or best line of the show?
The cold reveal at the start was one of my favourite bits of the show so far. “Leave one wolf alive and the sheep are not safe”: am I the only person who unreservedly likes badass killer Arya? I get the feeling that I’m supposed to feel sad for her loss of humanity or something but nah. Tiny mass murderer with an array of one-liners that are almost as sharp as Needle? Count me in!
Can’t help but feel that Jon and Sansa should have come up with a game plan before the big meeting, so they didn’t have to have a tiff in front of everyone. Also, Sansa was totally right and the kids will be killed by their bannermen, who will then betray the Starks at a decisive moment. Jon’s making the same noble mistakes as Ned and it will cost him just as much.
great points about the hound. i hadn’t noticed those dots, either, nor connected them that way. and yep, i’m 100% on board with Arya. she’s kick fuckin’ ass, and i love her.
[Slaps forehead] I totally missed the hounds many connections to fire you pointed out. I’m slow.
It seems to me one of the rules of this world is that every character will be tested. The two results are death or character growth. We watched Aria suffer through 6 seasons. It’s time for her to kick some ass without reservation. She’s earned it more than many.
Agree about Jon and Sansa but not planning ahead the meeting seems like the kind of mistake young people thrust into leadership roles might make.
yeah, also, it’s important to remember that they are siblings that didn’t really connect earlier on, and now they are trying to reestablish their personal relationship as family as well as figure out how to survive in a very hostile world. i don’t take Jon’s reaction to Sansa’s questioning of his judgement as misogyny on his part (but i’m a guy, so maybe i don’t even get to say). i DO think that he was correct that she was wrong to question his decisions publicly… she should have approached him privately and offered her perspective. he clearly does respect her and her experience, but he needs to show the rest of the houses that he’s a strong leader and that the Starks are worthy of standing behind. showing contention between them publicly definitely undermined that, but perhaps by the end everyone was more solidly on board. i dearly loved Sansa slamming the door on Littlefinger, though… “no need to get in the last word, Ser Baelish… i’m sure whatever you were going to say was ever so clever.” haha, ZING.
According to their medieval rules, Sansa is Ned Stark’s legitimate heir.
But the writers might be worried about putting too many queens on the board at once.
Never been a John Snow fan, honestly. IIRC his accomplishments amount to being saved at the last minute by other people.
And it’s not personally his fault that nobody in the far north ever covers their heads, but we see his magically-unfrozen head more often than anybody else’s. It’s a jarringly absurd wardrobe choice by the show.
[quote=“Cynical, post:27, topic:726, full:true”][…] (somewhat inexplicably)[spoiler] rescue Sansa and later Arya[/Spoiler] […][/quote]Do we have a spoiler policy for stuff that isn’t from this season? The above simply reminded me of a general observation not based on the recent episode.
I think it is interesting how there seems to be a certain pattern of Sansa inspiring chivalry. Early on we are very successfully set up to mock her for her romantic notions and then we see how the world she imagined collapses around her. She played her part in redeeming the Hound. She gave Ser Dontos Hollard an opportunity to die with his head held high (and not just because he was looking up the side of a ship). And she provided a positive purpose and a quest for Brienne. Sure, most of that wasn’t intentional, but perhaps she wasn’t as wrong about everything as she thinks.
So, was anyone else a little disappointed by this week’s episode? Lots of exposition of grievances, lots of fanservice but not much in the way of plot advancement. After last week’s stormer of an episode, this one felt distinctly anticlimactic.
UNCOVERED SPOILERS FROM S07E02 FOLLOW.
Yay! Hot Pie! I really, really want him to be OK in the end but that’s pretty much a death sentence on this show. Word of his delicious pies will spread across the kingdom and whichever keep he starts cooking at will inevitably be melted by the dragons, because irony.
On the subject of pies, the cut from Ser Mormont to the fish pie was the grossest thing I’ve ever seen. I had to pause the episode and go pee because Mrs. Cynical and I were laughing so hard at the deliberate grotesqueness.
Will Dany and Jon get it on? I have a sneaking suspicion that they might be related but that hasn’t stopped the show since pretty much the first episode, so…
Yeh but it happened off-camera and was part of a warg vision. I feel like taking anything as read without seeing it onscreen is playing into the script writers’ hands with GoT.
Graphic scenes of bloody childbirth followed by direct exposition or GTFO.
i loved this week’s episode. i loved the scene with all the women in Dany’s war room, plotting, and frankly any scene with Diana Rigg and Peter Dinklage in it will be good in my eyes.
i feel that Sam in GoT will end up being like Samwise in Lord of the Rings: ultimately heroism will come to him at the crucial moment, and he will be among the most honored for it. that being said, omg, that scene with Jorah Mormont… hurl (didn’t Sam have access to some milk of the poppy for him? JEEZ)
the Arya and Nymeria scene broke my heart, but after watching the short dissection after the show with the showrunners and cast, it made more sense and suddenly felt even sadder. i think Nymeria is going to be shadowing her, and will probably protect her at some point.
