The LF dialog in the last episode definitely seemed looped/dubbed after the fact. But this episode it sounded better, I thought.
Game of Thrones 2.2 - "The Night Lands" - Rate and discuss
- Thread starter Out Of My Vulcan Mind
- Start date
Rated it above average. Not as good as the premiere, but it's clear that they're doing a lot of set-up and exposition for the near future and they have to get some of the more mundane aspects of introductions and back-stories of new key characters out of the way. I just hope they get through the set-up quickly and get to the real meat of the plot, unlike what NuBSG started doing towards the end.
Actually the Stannis scenes are okay. But I do think the show's pacing is dull and they are focusing a lot on characters I don't find too interesting.
A bit of a mixed episode.
Best part again is Tyrion.. both his demotion of the baby slaughtering guard captain and his look of disbelief and maybe fear when he discovers that Bronn is a true sellsword without any morals but the true kicker was his scene with Cersei.. again. I just love how they hate each other and manage to find the weak spots in each armor and strike there where it hurts.. i adore their dynamic.
Other parts were interesting too in another way.. the buildup of two master schemers like Tyrion and Varys, Theon feeling up his own sister and her allowing it (big Yuck but also
) and others.
What i really don't care about is Stannis.. supposedly a key player yet i mentally tune out in scenes involving him.. just not that interesting (for now.. times and events may change that).
Best part again is Tyrion.. both his demotion of the baby slaughtering guard captain and his look of disbelief and maybe fear when he discovers that Bronn is a true sellsword without any morals but the true kicker was his scene with Cersei.. again. I just love how they hate each other and manage to find the weak spots in each armor and strike there where it hurts.. i adore their dynamic.
Other parts were interesting too in another way.. the buildup of two master schemers like Tyrion and Varys, Theon feeling up his own sister and her allowing it (big Yuck but also
) and others.What i really don't care about is Stannis.. supposedly a key player yet i mentally tune out in scenes involving him.. just not that interesting (for now.. times and events may change that).
Yeah, he is a bit of a cold fish, but as I understand it, he's actually playing the character as he was meant to be played. A completely joyless noble-born gargoyle with designs on kingship. He suits the part - almost too well.
he does have the coolest meeting table, though. Officially more bad-ass than the Sons of Anarchy church table. The symbolism and foreshadowing of the pieces getting knocked off while he was doing his red priestess was quite intriguing.
He broke his little ships...
Ohhh, I hadn't thought about the ships breaking off the table. If you haven't read the books (I have so I won't say too much), you might be onto something.
I voted above average for this episode. The season is still in set-up mode, with things about to kick off big time soon. The scene between Tyrion and Cersei was wonderfully played. Arya's scenes were good, too, with Maisie Williams continuing to excel in the role (although she's really shooting up in height). The Iron Islands were perfectly realized - I especially liked the Kraken fireplace. I liked the scene between Littlefinger and Ros. It was suitably chilling in the turn it took. For a minute there I thought he might have developed genuine feelings for her, but then his true colors were made plain once more.
Yay for the third season renewal. It wasn't in any doubt, but it's good to have official confirmation.
Yay for the third season renewal. It wasn't in any doubt, but it's good to have official confirmation.
Here's a quote from a recent interview with the producers that addresses this point:
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Yes it seems to be the growing understanding that the lines between the books and seasons will start getting more blurred in the future.
I finally got back home and saw this in HD. My vote would be 'Above Average', but not as good as the season opener.
Scenes that stood out (in a good way) on the 2nd viewing:
- Davos w/ Son & Salador Saan, great stuff. I like the added emphasis on faiths/religion this season, and how some characters don't believe in any of it.
- Stannis & Melisandre... Lots of good stuff to pick up here, like the jealous look that Stannis gives Davos' son when Melisandre whispers in his ear. She certainly does that on purpose as part of her seduction of Stannis.
- Theon & Balon... Also great.
- Tyrion & Cersei... Might be the best scene of the season so far.
Scenes that stood out (in a good way) on the 2nd viewing:
- Davos w/ Son & Salador Saan, great stuff. I like the added emphasis on faiths/religion this season, and how some characters don't believe in any of it.
- Stannis & Melisandre... Lots of good stuff to pick up here, like the jealous look that Stannis gives Davos' son when Melisandre whispers in his ear. She certainly does that on purpose as part of her seduction of Stannis.
- Theon & Balon... Also great.
- Tyrion & Cersei... Might be the best scene of the season so far.
Littlefinger wiping the semen from a prostitute's mouth and then sending her directly into a kiss with the complaining client was 
.
.I would imagine this to be a common occurance in brothels.
This isn't a new occurence, of course, but the show's constant softening of Cersei annoys me. They want us to like her, missing the whole point that she was one of the few major characters to be totally evil.
Anyway, good episode overall.
Anyway, good episode overall.
That was never my interpretation of her character.
And those are her good traits!!!!!
Doing bad things solely for their own sake isn't the definition of evil. She's evil because her actions are evil on a grand scale (and she does frequently do things out of pure malice). She's virtually the only major POV character whose POV doesn't make her more sympathetic; and there are things in her backstory that may make her more understandable, but Martin always keeps her essentially rotten personality front and centre.
Yeah, evil isn't the word I'd go with either. Viserys was evil while Cersei is, as you said, narcissistic and a sociopath.
I wouldn't even call Viserys evil. Every character has some redeeming feature.
Joffrey is probably the character dancing closest to the line of pure evil, but even he is deep down just a really screwed up kid. The Mountain is another.
The strength of ASOIAF is that there are so few absolute good and evil characters. Sure, the Lannisters seemed evil in AGOT, but the later books added some levels of gray for all of them.
I appreciate the show using some of that complexity developed in the later books to humanize the characters at an earlier stage. It makes for superior drama, IMO.
Joffrey is probably the character dancing closest to the line of pure evil, but even he is deep down just a really screwed up kid. The Mountain is another.
The strength of ASOIAF is that there are so few absolute good and evil characters. Sure, the Lannisters seemed evil in AGOT, but the later books added some levels of gray for all of them.
I appreciate the show using some of that complexity developed in the later books to humanize the characters at an earlier stage. It makes for superior drama, IMO.
I think Roose "Don't make me rue the day I raped your mother" Bolton is pure evil.
