Game of Thrones - Season 4

[MilliniumPrince]

A-bomb is the proper description of Shae's testimony. The last 15 minutes were a good as television gets IMO.

 

[SubbaBub]

When I first read about Mace I pictured Ned Beatty as Lex Luthor's sidekick. So maybe its not so far off

 

[ZooCougar]

Yeah, this season, save a few episodes hasn't been that satisfying to me merely because for a stretch we've just been skimming the surface in jumping around to all of the other stories. But this one actually had some sustained scenes with some good stuff in it.

I think Stannis is finally making some smart moves. What is the Lannister Center of Gravity? Gold. By going to the Iron Bank he is attacking their COG. If he only knew how bad off/vulnerable the Lannisters really are.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

One of the things I really like about Martin and in which I don't like with traditional fantasy and sci-fi storytelling is that the past matters very much in Game of Thrones. The Lannisters weakness comes from an idiotic drunken king followed by an idiotic sociopathic king that ruled in the midst of a multifront war. The Lannisters have won a crown that is not strong, and they are not handling that victory among themselves very well either.

This is a common theme in the book and show. Victory precedes defeat over and over. Ned Stark, Jaime, Renly, Robb Stark, Stannis, Theon and even Tyrion, have had their greatest victories right before crushing defeats or setbacks.

 

[Rocktheworld]

A-bomb is the proper description of Shae's testimony. The last 15 minutes were a good as television gets IMO.

My eyes and mouth kept opening wider and wider as she went. Definitely a great scene.

 

[partial]

Really interesting episode. It seemed as if Tywin had a sweet victory in hand with Jaimie reclaiming his birthright and Tyrion out of sight in the Night's watch. What's still surprising is Shae's testimony, i know woman scorned and all but would rage really lead her to testify against tyrion knowing it could mean his death and if it was greed it seems like she would have left when varys made his offer to her?

 

[Scalito]

A pretty funny "trailer" .....



Lots of good stuff in there, but nearest and dearest to my heart was the line that the writer of the series may eat himself to death before it's finished.

 

[Scalito]

What's still surprising is Shae's testimony, i know woman scorned and all but would rage really lead her to testify against tyrion knowing it could mean his death and if it was greed it seems like she would have left when varys made his offer to her?

I don't think Tyrion actually won Shae's heart Pretty Woman style. He paid her, and we saw the act she played in return. For all we know Shae was spying on Tyrion for Varys/Cersei/Tywin, and didn't want to leave because she knew she wasn't in any real danger as a result.

 

[partial]

Seems like a possibility and i guess tyrion's weakness is his need to be accepted/loved like when he married the prostitute Jamie got for him.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

The Oberyn and Tyrion scene in the dungeon was awesome, and better than the book. Great job by Dinklage to express his emotion at what Martell was doing for Tyrion without any dialogue. The scenes with Jaime and Bronn were well done too. Tyrion knew Jaime would have no chance against the Mountain, and Bronn may have been able to beat him, but it wasn't worth the risk.

That opening scene with the Mountain did not make any sense. Were they really letting the Mountain just execute random people for fun?

I had forgotten that Lysa went skydiving in ASOS. I thought she would be around a lot longer. It caused me to check the summary of A Feast For Crows and realize how little happens in that book. I liked the Lysa Arryn character a lot, and felt that Martin got rid of her too quickly. Felt the same way about Renly.

Arya is becoming a smaller version of the Hound. Maisie Williams is knocking the ball out of the park this season, and making the Emmy committee look sillier and sillier for nominating Emilia Clarke over Williams.

 

[Excalibur]

The scenes in Tyrion's cell have been the highlights of this season, and perhaps the entire series.

Agree that the scene with Gregor was gratuitous. As if the multiple references to his unfettered pillaging, murdering and raping aren't enough to convince us that he's not a nice guy . . .

I was surprised that they covered Lysa's murder so quickly -- almost as if Sansa's experiences in the Vale are an afterthought.

 

[John]

The Oberyn and Tyrion scene in the dungeon was awesome, and better than the book. Great job by Dinklage to express his emotion at what Martell was doing for Tyrion without any dialogue. The scenes with Jaime and Bronn were well done too. Tyrion knew Jaime would have no chance against the Mountain, and Bronn may have been able to beat him, but it wasn't worth the risk.

That opening scene with the Mountain did not make any sense. Were they really letting the Mountain just execute random people for fun?

I had forgotten that Lysa went skydiving in ASOS. I thought she would be around a lot longer. It caused me to check the summary of A Feast For Crows and realize how little happens in that book. I liked the Lysa Arryn character a lot, and felt that Martin got rid of her too quickly. Felt the same way about Renly.

Arya is becoming a smaller version of the Hound. Maisie Williams is knocking the ball out of the park this season, and making the Emmy committee look sillier and sillier for nominating Emilia Clarke over Williams.

I agree about Renly going too soon. I also thought that Joffrey should have stuck around, it was fun to hate on him.

 

[Deepster]

Agree that the scene with Gregor was gratuitous. As if the multiple references to his unfettered pillaging, murdering and raping aren't enough to convince us that he's not a nice guy . . .

I thought it may have been some sort of court-ordered thing. Like cut off your hand or go to The Wall on The Watch. You can fight for your freedom....except it's against the Mountain.

 

[SubbaBub]

Excellent episode. Thought they handled the Lysa thing well. They hit most if not all the high points. It works better condensed.

As for the Mtn, I don't think they could just intro him back during the trial and they already have one Glegane rampaging through the woods.

I would expect a heavy dose of Feast for Crows as the end of season 4 through season 5. We may see the Dornish characters added in a bit as lead up.

 

[Scalito]

I rewatched the episode for two scenes: (1) the prison cell announcement that Tyrion has a champion; and (2) Lysa flying through the moon door. Both were as good the second time around. I only regret that Sir Robin wasn't given a push by Peter too.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

The show needs its freaks like Sir Robin and Ramsey.

 

[ZooCougar]

The show needs its freaks like Sir Robin and Ramsey.

I can see why you say that, I mean, you must find the more balanced characters hard to relate to.

Sorry couldn't resist.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I can see why you say that, I mean, you must find the more balanced characters hard to relate to.

Sorry couldn't resist.

I keep meaning to start a thread of the 10 most disturbing things that have happened on Game of Thrones. I tried it twice, and couldn't edit below 15. Jaime forcing himself on Cersei against the dead body of their incest child is #1. Davos and Millesandre under Storm's End is #2. Pretty much anything that happens at Craster's keep makes the list. Margaery offering Renly a threesome with her brother, and Margaery laying some heavy sexual innuendo on an early teen boy, both make the list. So much to choose from.

 

[John]

I keep meaning to start a thread of the 10 most disturbing things that have happened on Game of Thrones. I tried it twice, and couldn't edit below 15. Jaime forcing himself on Cersei against the dead body of their incest child is #1. Davos and Millesandre under Storm's End is #2. Pretty much anything that happens at Craster's keep makes the list. Margaery offering Renly a threesome with her brother, and Margaery laying some heavy s e xual innuendo on an early teen boy, both make the list. So much to choose from.

the Theon/Reek dungeon stuff is tough to take.

 

[Deepster]

The mental breaking down of Reek is the hardest for me to watch. The sight of him twitching and cringing and limping around really disturbs me.

 

[SubbaBub]

Most of the stuff listed is base human, nee animalist, behavior and not uncommon in the feudal setting of the show. It's gratuitous and I take as that as its intended purpose.

The things I found most disturbing, other than every appearance by Robin, was the general treatment of Sansa by Geoffrey. It went beyond the "pulling the wings off of insects" analogy that I think GRRM was going for and crossing into Silence of the Lambs/Saw type manipulation. The other event was the red wedding, which again went beyond the Italian restaurant scene from the Godfather, in it's departure from civilized behavior.

Of course, there is the sheer volume of rape.

 

[John]

Most of the stuff listed is base human, nee animalist, behavior and not uncommon in the feudal setting of the show. It's gratuitous and I take as that as its intended purpose.

The things I found most disturbing, other than every appearance by Robin, was the general treatment of Sansa by Geoffrey. It went beyond the "pulling the wings off of insects" analogy that I think GRRM was going for and crossing into Silence of the Lambs/Saw type manipulation. The other event was the red wedding, which again went beyond the Italian restaurant scene from the Godfather, in it's departure from civilized behavior.

Of course, there is the sheer volume of rape.

forgot about the red weddding. Having read the books, I knew it was coming and was still shocked by the carnage of it. I really liked the Robb character too, so it also sucked to see him go. I haven't caught up with the TV version yet (doing the DVDs via Netflix and not an HBO subscriber) so I am assuming Lady Stoneheart has entered the HBO series by now?

 

[SubbaBub]

forgot about the red weddding. Having read the books, I knew it was coming and was still shocked by the carnage of it. I really liked the Robb character too, so it also sucked to see him go. I haven't caught up with the TV version yet (doing the DVDs via Netflix and not an HBO subscriber) so I am assuming Lady Stoneheart has entered the HBO series by now?

no.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Most of the stuff listed is base human, nee animalist, behavior and not uncommon in the feudal setting of the show. It's gratuitous and I take as that as its intended purpose.

The things I found most disturbing, other than every appearance by Robin, was the general treatment of Sansa by Geoffrey. It went beyond the "pulling the wings off of insects" analogy that I think GRRM was going for and crossing into Silence of the Lambs/Saw type manipulation. The other event was the red wedding, which again went beyond the Italian restaurant scene from the Godfather, in it's departure from civilized behavior.

Of course, there is the sheer volume of rape.

Pretty much every scene with Ramsey, anything at Craster's keep, and about 2/3's of the scenes with Joffrey, are nightmares.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Of course, there is the sheer volume of rape.

For real.