Hello and welcome back to The Wars to Come, the Game of Thrones rewatch where we wish you good fortune. And good fortune is needed as we travel back to an innocent time when we can remember why it was we watched this masterpiece in the first place. Last week was Bryan Cogman’s writing debut, while this week we are back in the loving embrace of David Benioff and Dan Weiss (D&D) with “The Wolf and the Lion.” Today’s guests are Kylie, Julia, Danzie, and Jana.

Episode Recap

It’s all about one-on-one interactions on this week’s Game of Thrones!

Up in Winterfell, Bran is getting restless with his mother still missing. Theon is finding better ways to pass his time by trying to get a sex worker to be his girlfriend. Meanwhile, we find out that Bran’s mother is taking her prisoner Tyrion to the Eyrie where her sister, Lysa Arryn, lives. They get attacked on the way by mountain clans, but Tyrion is able to help in the fighting to see the named characters to safety.

…Or is it? As it turns out, Lysa is a little bit paranoid and beyond reason. She assumes Tyrion to be guilty on sight, and vaguely threatens to kill him before throwing him into a dreaded sky cell.

Cat’s husband Ned is not having much better luck in King’s Landing. Ned’s decided to follow-up about Ser Hugh’s death last week, but the noble Barristan Selmy doesn’t have much he can work off of. Worse still, King Robert wants to relive his youth by participating in the Hand’s Tourney, until Ned talks him down. The Tourney itself is almost as dramatic as before, with Loras Tyrell unseating The Mountain in a joust (possibly due to dirty tricks), and The Mountain nearly killing him in return before his brother put a stop to it.

Ned gets no break from the action, however, as Varys pulls him aside to tell him Jon Arryn was definitely poisoned. Then Arya goes missing! Turns out, she was just chasing cats (and overhearing a very shady conversation between Varys and Illyrio), but no sooner is she found than Yoren arrives to warn Ned about Cat kidnapping Tyrion on the road. Ned rushes off to deal with it, but word just reached King Robert that Daenerys Targaryen is pregnant! He wants her and her unborn baby murdered before anyone can rally behind them, but Ned insists it’s not honorable. He resigns as Hand, refusing to do Robert’s bidding if this is what it means.

Elsewhere, Littlefinger and Varys have a pissing contest, Robert and Cersei commiserate about their lots, and Loras encourages his boyfriend Renly to… run for king?

Back to Ned though, it turns out that Jaime Lannister also heard news about Tyrion, and he is not pleased. His men surround Ned and his own guards, and when a fight breaks out, Jory and the others are killed. Ned and Jaime square off, but a Lannister guard drives a spear through Ned’s leg, leaving him lying on the ground.

Will Ned recover? Will Catelyn be able to control her sister and somehow see a just outcome to this situation? Will Theon be less of a “serious boy”? Find out next week with The Wars to Come.

Initial, quick reaction

Danzie: Honestly, watching season one again for the first time in a couple years has been a pretty emotional experience for me so far. The bad from later seasons is still there, sure, but the good things that made me fall in love with this franchise are too. Michelle Fairley! Sean Bean! Characters doing things that make sense! Getting pumped up instead of filled with dread when the theme song comes on. This was my life back in 2011.

It’s an incredible rush of memories.

Jana: Well, I’d argue that this is where things start to get a little silly. So many people monologuing and expositioning at each other, and the official beginning of Varys’s and Littlefinger’s pissing contests in front of the Iron Throne. I actually had to pause the episode on occasion because it got dumber and dumber, especially when Littlefinger was on-screen.

There were plenty of beautiful establishing shots, though! Of the Red Keep, of the Eyrie. The Tourney Scene again lacked in splendor, but the visuals there were very good otherwise. It also irked me that people called Arya a boy here, when her clothes were still quite feminine and she has, you know, long hair in a somewhat fancy hair-do? That just came off as ridiculous.

Kylie: I think I’ve spent too long with my brain in seasons 5, 6, and 7, Jana. You’re definitely right about Spy vs. Spy being cringey, but I’m still finding myself impressed overall. Even in the original scenes, Benioff and Weiss had the ability to write dialogue that didn’t sound horribly out of place. I’m also still kind of amazed how this show once had the ability to have episodes that weren’t go-go-go by any stretch of the imagination, yet didn’t feel wheel-spinning. This is all still definitely rising action, and the payoff at the end of the episode, while pretty small-scale considering what’s to come, felt like it really raised the stakes.

Also, no Dany or Jonny this episode. That was nice. Those two stories are definitely the weak links thus far.

Julia: Good thing too. I just saw Solo this week and I’m all Emilia Clarke’d out.

I think I agree with both of you. I spent a lot of time cringing, I feel. I really want to punch Littlefinger in the face. But I’m not sure how much I would feel that way if I hadn’t been suffering so since season 5. It’s still shocking how much happens every episode, while still not feeling rushed.

Kylie: Oh oh, before I forget, “Give me ten good men and some climbing spikes, I’ll impregnate the bitch” was said by Bronn here. It’s Season 7’s Season 1 callback #354! I wonder what they’ll binge-watch before the two days it’ll take them to write Season 8.

Highlights/lowlights

Jana: NED’S FACE WHEN LORAS GIVES SANSA THE ROSE! And, you know, Sean Bean’s face in general. Maybe I have a thing for faces involved in good acting. But Sean Bean tries. He tries so hard, you guys, to give us Ned’s inner struggles. The narrative and the need for Shocking Revelations™ just won’t let him! Not when his daughter gets roses at a tourney, not when Robert wants to kill Targaryen babies. But good effort, Mr. Bean, good effort.

My lowlight is Varys and Littlefinger discussing people’s sexual preferences in front of the Iron Throne. Nothing of value was said or came across, they just looked like two little boys trying to out-edgelord each other. This episode made it abundantly clear why my Unsullied father remains convinced Littlefinger is supposed to be stupid.

Kylie: Sean Bean’s face is likely my series highlight, the more I think about it. And he was just so charmingly Done With It™ this episode. Like, the scene where Arya turns up and is all, “I was chasing cats!” is adorable.

But I think I’m going to go with Mark Addy’s performance as my highlight this week. He just absolutely nails King Robert in a way that’s crucial. From his immaturity in wanting to participate in the tourney, to his bellowing orders with a hell of a lot of authority, to his “madness” about Targaryens, to even the weird original scene with Cersei Carol, you can just see every inch of this guy’s history and viewpoint in his acting. As much as I’ll bemoan the Carolization of Cersei, Robert always remained Robert. Though they did drop Ned pointing out how he barely knew Lyanna.

My lowlight is probably the Spy vs. Spy scene too…at least, that’s where I rolled my eyes the most. Though in the interest of being different, I’ll pick the Loras and Renly scene. I get what they were going for as a way of characterizing Renly, but I’m just so overly annoyed at the adaptational choices surrounding Renly (he’s all scared of blood now!), that it poisons the well for me. Also I have a major squick every time I watch Loras stabbing him.

Jana: Loras was a social-climby, ambitious, seductive, and manipulative Tyrell before it was cool. Though at least technically, he’s the underaged one here. Yay?

Julia: Mark Addy! Seriously, man. Brian Blessed called, and he says you should calm the fuck down. I loved him, though. He’s a horrible, feckless, self-pitying, violent asshole, but god, if I didn’t enjoy every second of that performance.

Also, can I point out that Loras left Renly with one hairy armpit?

Kylie: I’m sure there was post blowjob shaving to come, Julia.

Danzie: I’m going to show all of my Baratheon bias (and agree with Julia and Kylie) that Mark Addy was my favorite. A lot of book purists get after the casting choice because he’s “too short” compared to the gigantic behemoth that is book!Robert. But honestly, he could be two feet tall and still be born to play this role. In terms of writing, it also helps that Robert is the only Baratheon D&D actually seem to like. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Lowlight: Tyrion’s…cockney accent? At least as a nitpick. “OI GOVNA, DID I KILL HIM TOO?!” Also, I do have good things to say about the shaving scene, but Loras asking, “Are you sure this won’t hurt?” Was like… what? Um, so how do you shave your face, mate? You can’t be an adult man without realizing what shaving entails.

Julia: Ugh, people who complain about shit like how tall actors are give all of us book snobs a bad name! Tyrion is apparently too tall as well. Whatever.

Jana: The only actor who is actually significantly too tall is Aiden Gillen. Part of Littlefinger’s exceedingly clever nickname is that he is actually little. Good thing Sophie Turner’s growth spurt put him in his place.

Julia: Lowlight: I can’t go against the grain. That Spy vs. Spy scene was SO dumb. And the more you listen to what they’re actually saying, the dumber it is. There’s no way the actual Varys would put up with a Littlefinger who’s even a little bit like this. I did enjoy his eye rolling in the Small Council, though. Like, “We get it, you own a brothel.”

Kylie: I honestly think it’s worse knowing what it spawns later…

Quality of writing

Julia: Yeah, it’s going down. There are still some original scenes that are well-done, like the one with Robert and Cersei Carol, or even the Loras and Renly one, which at least sounded natural, but that Spy vs. Spy scene…. It was just D&D, fully formed, making me question all my life choices.

The exposition is also getting to that point. Not quite there but also a little… transparent. Bran’s lesson comes to mind.

Danzie: I think overwritten is the only way I can describe Spy vs Spy. It passes the eye test, it’s just… not how real people speak.

Kylie: At the same time, compare this time burner scene (which is literally why it exists) to later time-burners.

“Overwritten” is a good way of putting it, but at least this still feels like they’re making second drafts and giving vague shits?

Jana: And to be fair, they…tried to pepper that scene with lots and lots of background information? And given that we had just seen Arya eavesdropping on Varys and Illyrio, if you are Unsullied and/or watching with no idea what’s going to come off that, the exchange could pass for suspenseful. And omg so edgy, there’s pedophiles and necrophiliacs in this setting.

Kylie: I’m starting to suspect this brothel isn’t the finest establishment!

Our 8th grade book report (on themes)

Kylie: It’s loosely about the conceptions of justice and honor, isn’t it? We’ve got Loras pulling cheap tricks to win against the Mountain, Ned arguing why killing Dany is a very dishonorable thing to do, Cat trying to bring about a just outcome with Tyrion despite the conditions with her sister being not what she expected at all, and then Jaime and the Lannister knights more underhanded fighting styles that killed Jory and wounded Ned, respectively.

Julia: I think maybe also shedding overly idealized images of people? That’s certainly something that was going on with Ned, “I thought you were a better man than this.” And with Cat and Lysa.

Jana: My first instinct was futility (or stupidity), but that might just be because of hindsight. Everything Ned is doing—standing up for the honorable thing, trying to save Robert from himself—is ultimately futile (and he’s stupid for trying). Cat’s side adventure with capturing Tyrion is immediately shown to be completely pointless (and stupid). And when it all comes down to it, you can even apply this to the tourney scene, which was essentially “won” by someone who didn’t even ride in it (in contrast to the books, where Sandor did participate). I like your takes better, though.

Danzie: The idea of mob justice or “kangaroo courts” come to mind. The scene at the Eyrie and the scene at the small council echo each other in that way. Justice can never be delivered sensibly when emotions are running so high. Daenerys is deemed already guilty because of Robert’s lust for revenge, and likewise so is Tyrion because of Lysa’s Lannister paranoia.

Cracks in the plaster (the bullshit to come)

Jana: So many. Just so many. I’m going to start with the most book snobbish one first: they basically adapted the second day of the tourney 1:1. Well, okay, moved Loras handing out roses around a bit and apparently couldn’t afford Finn Jones last episode, but other than that.

But with the last episode omitting the scene with Sansa and Sandor, this entire sequence is entirely meaningless. It might be the first appearance of the checklist effect—these things happened, show them happening, move on. Any thematic significance about knighthood or honor is non-existent. There’s no reason or motivation for Sandor to step in to save Loras like he did, and Sansa’s standing ovation came off as being about the pretty boy getting saved rather than being about Sandor like it was supposed to be. Instead, the entire scene just serves as an introduction to Renly x Loras, with all the subtlety of a wrecking ball. To the face. Yes, Renly, when will you be having your friend? Ugh.

Julia: God, that line.

Yeah, they had the story about Sandor’s scar so they think they did their job. But it was the interaction between Sandor and Sansa that was much more important there, rather than an information exchange. Sansa here has no reason to see him as any less scary.

The Spy vs. Spy scene is a giant crack in the plaster. Like, I’m already seeing some brick. That one parody video where they talk about buying hats is not even a parody. Making Renly that much of a whiny wuss is a little foreboding for what’s going to happen to gay characters later on too.

Speaking of: this Loras has NOTHING in common with the Loras of seasons 5 and 6. Which I suppose just proves he was only ever Generic Gay Man.

Danzie: The thing about the shaving scene is that it could have been good if they had just switched a couple things around.

First of all, Loras’ dialogue was mostly fine. I like the emphasis on his prowess as a jouster. People assume he was lucky to be so naturally gifted, but in truth it was his work ethic. Even if that is Garlan being injected into show-Loras, it’s gotta be the only scene in the series where Loras’ identity is attached to something other than his sexuality. He’s an amazing tourney jouster first and gay second. Snaps to this from me.

…But then you zoom out and look at the scene as a whole? Why are we shaving Renly? Is he trying out for the olympic swim team? What’s going on?

No really, I want an answer to this, D&D. Because it adds nothing. You could have shown them laying in bed after sex, or sparring, or on a romantic ride through the woods and it would have achieved the same thing without being so distracting.

Also, while Loras gets Garlan’d, Renly gets… Sam’d? Renly in the books doesn’t ascribe to the same type of masculinity as his older brothers, but he still participates in activities that are deemed “normal” for a man in this society. Granted he’s not amazing at activities like partaking in tournament melees, but he wouldn’t start vomiting at the sight of violence or freak out over a small razor nick… and again, are we supposed to believe that he’s never cut himself shaving?

I think they wanted Renly to have a “weakness” that he “got over” to become king in season two, but at best it’s too silly, and at worst it’s damaging to have one of your very few gay characters act this way. So, whatever the… opposite of a snap is(?) to this, from me.

Kylie: And at the same time, they cut the rainbow guard because I guess that was “too gay” for them? (There’s an argument to be made that something like that can’t translate to today’s audience, I know.) It’s just so head scratching since they do seem to write Renly more favorably than Stannis in the following season, so they obviously want him to be sympathetic. I guess in their minds, this is really making the case for him as a king, what with his being sensitive and well-loved. Maybe it’s meant to contrast him to Robert?

This is all a very specific gripe, I know, but it’s a crack that turns into the gaping hole of D&D’s horrific writing surrounding LGBT characters. I’m suspecting going through their motivation is an exercise in futility on this one though. What stands out to me is that the scripting of Renly and Loras was instantly flagged as something that needed special attention—why else alter Renly? And that mentality in and of itself is telling.

Remember adaptation? (book readers only)

Julia: The good, I actually like they way they compressed the journey up the High Road. It was too bad that we didn’t get a sense of how long and dangerous a schlep it was, but all the important things happen.

Also good, there was one moment from the books I was glad they kept, though it may have been by accident. When Ned asks Varys who poisoned Jon Arryn he tells him it was “a boy who owed Lord Arryn everything he was.” Ned immediately jumps to the conclusion that he means Ser Hugh, and Varys doesn’t contradict him, but, like, 3 books later it dawns on you that he could just as easily have been talking about Petyr Baelish. But like I say, it may have been on accident.

The bad is also in the High Road scene. The way Tyrion just rode over Cat in the conversation, making her look like a giant idiot, is very in keeping with where they’re going with that character.

Also bad: those pesky minor word changes in the Small Council scene, where they say “honor” at least a dozen times and make sure the audience knows it’s only for dumb-dumbs.

The ugly: can people please stop calling King’s Landing “the capital”?

Jana: My only problem with the journey up the high road is how they completely flipped everything about Tyrion around. Book!Tyrion doesn’t nobly concede that Catelyn outsmarted him and compliment her on her cleverness. Book!Tyrion is furious. Book!Tyrion can’t deal with being outdone like that, and this is yet another omitted glimpse of his nasty streak. If I recall correctly, he also doesn’t end up arming the mountain clans just to fuck with Lysa, does he? This choice not only serves to present him in a better light, but also leaves out on of the strongest examples for how much he is his father’s son.

As a positive, I’ll add that I really liked the Eyrie and the general sense of uneasiness there. Lysa and Cat look like they could be sisters, the actor is excellent, and Robin is also spot-on, at least so far.

Danzie: There are definitely changes made that let slip which characters they blatantly favor. Tyrion has been touched on, but let’s talk about that Jaime/Ned fight. I run a series called Westeros Brawls on my YouTube channel and OH BOY has this scene caused more arguments in the “who would win in a fight” circles than any other. I need to make this clear. NED COULD NEVER, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES HOLD HIS OWN AGAINST JAIME IN A SWORDFIGHT.

If Jaime isn’t a top tier fighter, then you weaken the identity he feels he can no longer have after the loss of his hand. In the same vein, Ned can’t be more than an above average fighter, because it weakens the idea that he would have gotten creamed against Dayne without Howland Reed’s help.

I get that they just wanted a Sean Bean the badass(™) fight scene, but messing with power levels like this has a negative impact on my comment sections… I mean, uh, the story.

Kylie: Well how else do they show that ~honor gets you killed~? I definitely hear this complaint and agree, but at the same time I appreciate that action scenes used to, like, characterize the people in them. Compare to say, Brienne and the Hound. Again, not well-adapted or anything, but it’s an attempt at something. Wow the bar is low on this show.

Can we at least agree that had Game of Thrones begun with its season 5+ quality, it wouldn’t have seen a second year?

Danzie: Oh god, yes.

Julia: I’d like to think so. But I’m pretty cynical.

Jana: Absolutely. And, I mean, with his added swordsmanship excellency, poor stupid Ned can at least do one thing right, if nothing else. Hey, look, he’s just like Jonny later on!

Carol Watch: who is Cersei this week?

Kylie: Carol! She was pretty strongly our struggling super mom this week, right? She full-on told Robert that there was a time she wanted to make things work right after their firstborn (who was actually legitimate; no reason for her to lie to Robert here). Then, she asked him if he felt the same way, and when he said no, she got that sort of stoic, put-upon look of hers that comes to really define Carol. Also she was speaking very reasonably about military strategy and choices for Hands. I saw no Cersei here.

Jana: Right, I forgot how much “making all the right political choices but getting fucked over anyway because the script said so” is actually a key part of Carol’s character. I just never figured drinking wine and laughing about the dysfunctionality of her marriage with Bobby B was part of all that, but it does fit, come to think of it. Keeping up a good attitude about the marriage, mostly, is also a politically sound move. Wow. Carol definitely has the strongest and most consistent characterization of the show, even this early on.

Julia: I’m quite sure she’s going to contradict what she said about wanting to make the marriage work for so long in a couple of episodes… But I agree, the drinking scene was full on Carol. Cersei liked to throw drinking horns at Robert, if you recall. Carol never loses her dignity and is always the bigger person. What a hero.

Danzie: Yeah, the whole scene had a, “Yeah, my husband and I decided that it’s not working, but we’re staying together for the kids, y’know?” vibe to it. I remember actually liking this scene back in the day but now they both just look way too functional. But… I guess it’s nice that they’re both willing to overlook the years of abuse they dealt to each other over the years? Yikes.

Jana: Which is not at all an unreasonable sentiment given the setting, though the tone of the scene does gloss over, you know, all the rape and violence Cersei and Robert’s marriage actually contained and is explicitly stated to contain even on the show next episode. Though I guess Carol is just more reasonable about everything, so maybe it wasn’t as bad for her because she gave Robert fewer reasons to hit her? Excuse me, I just threw up in my mouth a little.

Kylie: I suspect D&D might be the types to completely gloss over Robert’s mistreatment of her. I’ll submit their scripting of Myranda as Evidence A.

Exposition Imposition: good or clunky?

Kylie: I liked when Bran’s pissyness was turned into a lesson on House mottos. I thought that was decent and characterized him as well. He’s so young…

D&D are no Cogman when it comes to exposition though. On the surface Theon and Ros’s scene isn’t super different from Viserys and Doreah, which we were raving about. But here we’ve got Ros intentionally antagonizing her patron. Granted, Theon taking facts as slights and being very insecure about his position isn’t exactly out of character, but there was just something bizarre about “Ward…that’s a nice word for it,” coming out of her mouth three seconds after talking about how great Tyrion was at cunnalingus.

Jana: I also don’t understand why we needed this scene, Tyrion’s history lesson last week, Jory and Jaime bonding last week, and Bran’s geography lesson this week to set up Theon and the Ironborn situation. Two of these scenes would have been enough, given that they won’t have any pay-off until next season. Sure, we spent the first three episodes having no idea who this guy is supposed to be, but this just seems a little overcompensating by now.

Julia: We finally know who Renly is too, so that’s nice. I suppose we knew he was the king’s brother, but he may as well have been a wall-sconce until now. His scene with Loras just had me thinking that, if Loras was some kind of spy, he would be a very successful one, because boy is Renly free with the details about matters of state with his boyfriend.

Danzie: Luwin can exposit to me anytime. That scene was off the charts adorable. Ros and Theon was…okay. I don’t think it was meant as exposition so much as Theon feeling like even in his private life, he can never get away from his feelings of inadequacy. This is something that haunts him everywhere he goes. But yeah, realistically, a sex worker isn’t going to know or care about the fine details of Theon’s daddy issues.

Kylie: Unless she knows the best way to get him to buy more services is to provoke him with detailed familial history, I suppose.

How was the pacing?

Julia: Still mostly good? But not as good as it’s been? The Spy vs Spy scene was clearly only there to fill in time. And as much as I hate to say it, that scene where Carol and Robert are being drinking buddies also probably only exists because they realized Lena Headey had to be in this episode.

Danzie: I agree that it was mostly pretty decent. Later seasons ended up switching gears so much that it’s a headache to follow. The worst thing I can say about this episode it that at times it slowed down a little too much, but I much prefer a slow plod with a destination in mind than running at breakneck speed into absolutely nothing (hi, season seven).

Kylie: I wasn’t nudged (noodged?) during any particular scene besides the one that’s taken up half of our complaints. But no Jon and Dany helps immensely to this end. My worst complaint about the pacing is Cat and Tyrion getting to the Eyrie so damn fast, with the road scene being like some weird afterthought. But that complaint is coming purely from a book-reader perspective.

Jana: Yes, the quick travel to the Eyrie adds a bit of screwyness to the timeline, but much like in the book at this point, the show is not exactly committing to an exact time schedule yet, and characters are crossing over at rates that make sense. That’s going to be harder with the comet next season and also Sansa’s 4 month period.

Speaking of pacing, I feel like maybe the scenes including nudity were sometimes a little drawn out with adding in more and more dialogue that wasn’t really necessary and doesn’t strike me as real pillow talk. But those still come off as genuine attempts to further the characterization of these characters, aka Theon and Renly, as misguided as said characterization might be in the latter’s case.

Let’s talk about sex, baby

Jana: A triumphant return of Ros! Who is very up to date on current political affairs and recent history, freely discusses her clients, is the first person to praise Tyrion’s dick on-screen, and is sassy with Theon.

Julia: Just like any low-born sex worker in a patriarchal feudal setting would be to a nobleman!

Also, did you hear? Littlefinger is involved in the brothel trade.

Danzie: Well I don’t know what y’all are talking about. We got male nudity this episode, so obviously #EqualRightsAchieved and now any future criticism of sex scenes is rendered totally invalid.

Kylie: Yeah, I forgot we got Alfie Allen full-frontal. Look, guys, this is the most tasteful penis shot we’re going to get on the show, since the others are 1) a wart examination and 2) someone peeing.

Speaking of #Equality, we got a gay blow job, too! Though it had the whole “I want you hairless” framing aspect. Seriously, what the fuck?

Jana: Are we sure Loras wasn’t just faking so Renly would let him shave down there, too?

Kylie: I hate that I’m now considering this as a possibility, Jana.

Jana: You’re welcome!

In memoriam…Kurleket, Willis Wode, Jory Cassel, Wyl, Heward

Jana: Honorable mention for Gregor’s horse.

Kylie: Is it bad if Gregor’s horse impacted me slightly more than Jory? I mean, it is impossible not to like the guy, so of course you feel bad when he dies. Not to mention the framing with Jaime’s dagger was really well done to show why that particular kill crossed a line.

I flat out forgot that Tyrion and Cat were attacked on the road to the Erie this episode. That chapter felt like it took so long in the books (not in a bad way), and here it was like a fun 2-minute aside culminating in a sex joke from Tyrion. Sorry, Kurleket and Willis.

Jana: I mean, people die on this show all the time, even just five episodes in. A horse getting beheaded, though? That was new.

Julia: The deaths on the High Road didn’t impact me at all. I suppose I feel something for Jory, but yeah… the horse murder. I guess it’s because it was so unnecessary and characterized Gregor so well as a violent asshole.

Danzie: Yeah, actually, other than Greywind this is the only onscreen animal death we see in the series, isn’t it? That’s practically an animal rights statement by D&D. 😛

Kylie: Lady too, right? I mean they cut away at the very end, but still.

Jory will be somewhat missed. He seemed like a mensch.

Jana: Ned also CSI’s his way around Ser Hugh’s dead body here, and we actually see Silent Sisters that are well-executed. Not really explained at all, but you know what they are if you… Know what they are.

Kylie: On that squicky note…we’ve gotta get out of here!

Thank you all for joining us again, and next week we can look forward to “A Golden Crown.” But what did you think here? Did you also notice the writing starting to slip, or are we over-scrutinizing everything knowing the folly ahead, in The Wars to Come?

Images courtesy of HBO