Game of Thrones 2.3 - "What Is Dead May Never Die" - Rate and discuss

Re: Game of Thrones 2.3 - "What Is Dead May Never Die" - Rate and disc

Yeah, When it felt like Theon was talking about being a boy abandoned by his father, you could see that those words hurt his father.

That was great exchange.

 

Re: Game of Thrones 2.3 - "What Is Dead May Never Die" - Rate and disc

I think the Asha/Yara name change was simply for clarity and to ease any possible Asha/Osha the Wildling confusion

 

Re: Game of Thrones 2.3 - "What Is Dead May Never Die" - Rate and disc

A female pirate called Yarrrrrrr-a ...

 

Re: Game of Thrones 2.3 - "What Is Dead May Never Die" - Rate and disc

Ratings are steady for GoT:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/hbo-game-thrones-girls-eastbound-down-ratings-312544

 

Re: Game of Thrones 2.3 - "What Is Dead May Never Die" - Rate and disc

I'm a book reader, first and foremost, so she is Asha to me. You all can call her whatever you want.

I was wondering how they would handle Tyrion's deceptions and they exceeded my expectations. The editing trick caught me by surprise and I think it was a great way to pull off that scene. On the other hand, the repetition of "The Queen must not know" seemed a little heavy-handed; it really telegraphed the deception before it came to fruition. (Although I obviously knew it was coming. When I read the books, I had to go back and reread that section once I realized that Tyrion had given three different stories to the three men.)

 

Re: Game of Thrones 2.3 - "What Is Dead May Never Die" - Rate and disc

Like Yara doesn't sound close enough to Arya to cause confusion.

I'm still not a huge fan of the Theon/Iron Islands storyline, I never have been, and I probably never will be, but I do think that everyone involved there did a really excellent job in this episode. And of course Tyrion's plot was great, particularly his scene with Varys. The actor playing Varys (I can't recall his name at the moment) is just spot-on every time.

 

Re: Game of Thrones 2.3 - "What Is Dead May Never Die" - Rate and disc

The one unintentionally funny moment was Tyrion and Varys gloating at their cleverness in how to get Shae into King's Land. Right, boys, you were so clever to disguise Shae has a handmaiden without the slightest indication of what her duties would be or how to do them.

 

Re: Game of Thrones 2.3 - "What Is Dead May Never Die" - Rate and disc

I'm a big fan of Theon. Mostly because he's a huge piece a shit, but remains fun to watch. I think it's because he manages to botch everything so completely. Because he's a such a horrible person, though, I enjoy watching him fail.

 

Re: Game of Thrones 2.3 - "What Is Dead May Never Die" - Rate and disc

Theon's story is like a Greek tragedy. He's caught between two worlds, doesn't fit in either, tries to go home again, and ends up... well, watch and see.

 

Re: Game of Thrones 2.3 - "What Is Dead May Never Die" - Rate and disc

An excellent episode, the best of the season so far.

Highlights:

- Tyrion smoking Pycelle out. I especially liked Varys's gleeful reaction to "the queen must not know."

- Varys's riddle to Tyrion about the nature of power.

- The uncomfortable dinner scene where Cersei delighted in twisting the knife in Sansa. Sophie Turner is conveying Sansa's emotions wonderfully well in scenes like that. The scene with Shae was less effective. I can see what they were going for (Sansa trying to reclaim a bit of control, a bit of her lost life, and being suspicious of a new handmaiden who might have been sent to spy on her) but it fell a bit flat.

- Brienne was perfect realized.

- Theon standing up to his father and then making his choice to stand with his family and betray Robb. The letter scene was a clever way of conveying that and it was very effectively shot.

- Natalie Dormer was great as the very practical, strategic and world-wise Margaery. Oh, and hellooooo, Natalie!

- Arya cleaning Needle in the same manner that Ned used to clean Ice was a neat callback. The scene between Arya and Yoren was very well played. And Yoren went out like a champ - great death scene.

 

Re: Game of Thrones 2.3 - "What Is Dead May Never Die" - Rate and disc

^^^ Agreed. I hated to see him die, but he did die a righteous death and he took a bunch of the Lannisters with him.

 

Re: Game of Thrones 2.3 - "What Is Dead May Never Die" - Rate and disc

yeah Yoren was a total badass
I liked his line about crossbows

Brienne is shaping up to be another favorite. I can't wait to see her journey unfold after Renly [redacted]

 

Re: Game of Thrones 2.3 - "What Is Dead May Never Die" - Rate and disc

Best episode so far this season - having Shae being Sansa's handmaiden is a change that makes a lot of sense, and Brienne turned out a lot better than I'd expected from the casting. Margaery Tyrell was also... actually noticeable and pretty good (she's a total blank to me in the book - in fact the whole business of making Renly gay and thus bringing a whole new character arc has made him and his bunch a lot deeper and more sympathetic). Yoren's conversation with Arya was great (especially the way his tale about saying Willem's name is presumably meant to inspire Arya's night-time death list from the book), as was his last stand. I'll miss him.

Shae is a lot more annoying here than either last season or in the book... At first I thought they'd recast her, but no it's the same girl.

Still, voted excellent

I'm looking forward to seeing how they'll show Qarth and the House of the Undying, and how they'll handle the battle of the Blackwater and siege...

 

Re: Game of Thrones 2.3 - "What Is Dead May Never Die" - Rate and disc

My favorite line of the season so far.

 

Re: Game of Thrones 2.3 - "What Is Dead May Never Die" - Rate and disc

Ryan and Ryan talk about Game of thrones with special Guest Alyssa Rosenberg:

http://web.me.com/mcgeeryan/The_Pod_Squad/Talking_TV_with_Ryan_and_Ryan/rss.xml

 

Re: Game of Thrones 2.3 - "What Is Dead May Never Die" - Rate and disc

These scenes are one aspect of the show that doesn't work as well as the books (well, to be fair, that's most aspects of the show, as good as it can be). Sansa's such an internal character, and she's supposed to be an amazing court performer - whereas in the show any statement she makes is painfully unconvincing, because they have no other means of conveying how distraught she is. But they continue to have some characters (like Tommen and Myrcella in that particular scene) act like her behaviour is remotely convincing (not that the major players are taken in, of course, but the more superficial people are supposed to be).

 

Re: Game of Thrones 2.3 - "What Is Dead May Never Die" - Rate and disc

I wish they would have spent more time talking about the show instead of the what is written in the books, though. I'm not a fan of this Alyssa, based in this.

 

Re: Game of Thrones 2.3 - "What Is Dead May Never Die" - Rate and disc

Best episode of the season so far. And that's even before I consider Natalie Dormer's thrupps.

 

Re: Game of Thrones 2.3 - "What Is Dead May Never Die" - Rate and disc

Renly was already gay in the books.

 

Re: Game of Thrones 2.3 - "What Is Dead May Never Die" - Rate and disc

This is true, but I'd argue it wasn't fleshed out as well, due to Renly not having any POV chapters.