Game of Thrones 3.5 - "Kissed by Fire" - Rate and discuss

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

Rate and discuss (with spoilers for the episode, but not for forthcoming episodes) "Kissed by Fire", airing on the 28th April on HBO and on the 29th April on Sky Atlantic.

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKrVhtki_Hw&feature=player_detailpage[/yt]

 

[Evil Twin]

Above average. Definitely a slower-paced episode compared to last week with lots of table setting, but I generally prefer that to when they try to cram too much into episodes and just bounce from scene to scene.

Seems a bit foolish that the show waited this long to introduce Selyse and Shireen Baratheon. Aside a minor mention in dialogue last season, it's like they didn't even exist before now. And geeze, they went and made Selyse even more of a nutjob than Lysa Arryn.

The Hound/Berric duel was pretty cool. Wasn't expecting it to be the first scene in the episode, but it left room for some nice quieter scenes with Arya later on.

Great monologue by Jaime in the tub. That was another bit I was looking forward to. Here's hoping he finally gets cleaned up and loses the beard next week.

Nice little nod to Patchface in the credits, though I doubt we ever see the actual character in the show, as we've never seen Moon Boy or Butterbumps either, but we did briefly see Ser Dontos jester-ing during the Battle of the Blackwater last season!

 

[Hyperspace05]

I gave this episode an excellent grade.

Seems a bit foolish that the show waited this long to introduce Selyse and Shireen Baratheon. Aside a minor mention in dialogue last season, it's like they didn't even exist before now. And geeze, they went and made Selyse even more of a nutjob than Lysa Arryn.

This is basic character economics 101. You don't introduce characters until you need them. This show already has more recurring characters (50+) than several other shows combined.

I thought the Dragonstone scenes were the highlight of the episode. Loved the fetus in the jar scene. So much of their backstory laid out brilliantly in just one scene. Magnificent writing.

The Beric/Hound fight was also more epic than it had any right to be. The same goes for the follow up scenes with Arya.

 

[Icemizer]

Another excellent episode for me. The fight with the Hound was perfect especially with his fear of fire. Yet he forged on and won the battle, great job with the choreography here.
I felt the scene between Tyrion and Lady Tyrell while good really didnt add anything to the show. It may have played better as a small council meeting where they discuss how reliant the kingdom currently is on the Tyrells for their continued existance. Fear could have played across the faces on the council members.
Arya was great here and I love when she recites the names of those she wants to have her revenge upon.
Tywin is one cold bastard and I wonder if he was this way before his wife died. Of all the characters I would like to see before the series started he would be the one.
I really hope Baelish dies horribly(yes I have read the books).
All the nudity on this show and no frontal for Brienne? I felt cheated.

 

[Evil Twin]

One thing occurred to me, in episode 3 Robb refers to Willem and Martyn (the two slain boys) as Tywin's "father's brother's great grandsons." In the book, they're the younger sons of Tywin's brother Kevan (and the younger brothers of Lancel) thereby making them Tywin's direct nephews. Both Kevan and Lancel are in the show, so why change this? I suppose they wanted to make Edmure's "victory" sound even more inconsequential, but it bugs me when the show messes around with the established lineage.

 

[Forbin]

Above average. Definitely a slower-paced episode compared to last week with lots of table setting, but I generally prefer that to when they try to cram too much into episodes and just bounce from scene to scene.

Seems a bit foolish that the show waited this long to introduce Selyse and Shireen Baratheon. Aside a minor mention in dialogue last season, it's like they didn't even exist before now. And geeze, they went and made Selyse even more of a nutjob than Lysa Arryn.

The Hound/Berric duel was pretty cool. Wasn't expecting it to be the first scene in the episode, but it left room for some nice quieter scenes with Arya later on.

Great monologue by Jaime in the tub. That was another bit I was looking forward to. Here's hoping he finally gets cleaned up and loses the beard next week.

Nice little nod to Patchface in the credits, though I doubt we ever see the actual character in the show, as we've never seen Moon Boy or Butterbumps either, but we did briefly see Ser Dontos jester-ing during the Battle of the Blackwater last season!

As someone who hasn't read the books, all these funky names are making me bounce between "Which one was that?" and hysterical laughter.

 

[Forbin]

One thing occurred to me, in episode 3 Robb refers to Willem and Martyn (the two slain boys) as Tywin's "father's brother's great grandsons." In the book, they're the younger sons of Tywin's brother Kevan (and the younger brothers of Lancel) thereby making them Tywin's direct nephews. Both Kevan and Lancel are in the show, so why change this? I suppose they wanted to make Edmure's "victory" sound even more inconsequential, but it bugs me when the show messes around with the established lineage.

Another reason I'm very happy I'm seeing this without having the books in my head. It's all so new and fresh and clean.

 

[Venardhi]

As someone who hasn't read the books, all these funky names are making me bounce between "Which one was that?" and hysterical laughter.

The names are pretty tame by Fantasy and Sci-Fi standards. Certainly no worse than DS9 or Star Wars. Hell, half the cast is named stuff like Jon, Robert, Brandon, Jaime, etc.

 

[Ayelbourne]

I loved how Roose Bolton totally trolled Jaime about Cersei's fate. Who knew he had a sense of humor?

 

[Evil Twin]

As someone who hasn't read the books, all these funky names are making me bounce between "Which one was that?" and hysterical laughter.

Heh, Patchface, Moon Boy and Butterbumps are all jesters so of course they have silly names.

Well, then I suppose you've got Hot Pie, who isn't one.

But yeah, as Venardhi said, the names in ASoIaF are pretty low key as far as fantasy names go. A lot of them are just one letter tweaks of real world ones. One of the deciding factors when deciding whether I want to read a fantasy series is how distractingly ridiculous/complicated the character names are. The simpler, the better in my book.

 

[CaptainCanada]

One thing occurred to me, in episode 3 Robb refers to Willem and Martyn (the two slain boys) as Tywin's "father's brother's great grandsons." In the book, they're the younger sons of Tywin's brother Kevan (and the younger brothers of Lancel) thereby making them Tywin's direct nephews. Both Kevan and Lancel are in the show, so why change this? I suppose they wanted to make Edmure's "victory" sound even more inconsequential, but it bugs me when the show messes around with the established lineage.

They were actually referred to as Tywin's nephews in this episode, suggesting Robb's earlier remarks were meant to be flippant.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Great quiet episode (epic opening swordplay aside) with lots of scheming. Lord Tywin trumped everyone with the final scene, however, going from setting up Tyrion to setting up Cersei without missing a beat. Brilliant!

All the nudity on this show and no frontal for Brienne? I felt cheated.

True, but we did get a lovely frontal of Ygritte.

 

[Forbin]

Which reminds me - cunnilingus with a woman who may never have had a bath in her life.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Which reminds me - cunnilingus with a woman who may never have had a bath in her life.

The guys in this show seem to get plenty of (at least implied) oral action, and most of them don't appear to be bathing regularly, either.

 

[137th Gebirg]

Which reminds me - cunnilingus with a woman who may never have had a bath in her life.

My wife said the same thing - "I'm sure she's very 'fresh' down there". And we chuckled how they took a dip in the water after they did their business.

 

[Lonemagpie]

That was another good one - lots of snarkiness abounding. Good opening fight. Damn shame we didn't get naked Brienne...

 

[Lonemagpie]

Which reminds me - cunnilingus with a woman who may never have had a bath in her life.

The wildlings will probably be cleaner than the average person in Westeros, for the practical reason of not wanting to let scent give them away when hunting/raiding/hiding...

 

[Forbin]

Keep tellin' yerself that.

 

[trekkiebaggio]

I think the poll only needs the ratings 'excellent' and above average'.

 

[Klaus]

Ygritte did know where the jacuzzi was and asked him about it first lol... and assuming the Westerosi are as clean as their medieval counterparts here, it's a wash, if you'll pardon the expression.


I think this was the first ep since the S2 Renly/Loras shaving scene with more male nudity than female.

Just rewatched it, and it is a very interesting episode... I found it notable that they didn't have Tyrion make a better showing against the Queen of Thorns - given the ease with which she's handled Varys and the Imp, I'd like to see her verbally overpower Littlefinger and get the hat trick.


...and do we know that the same actor is playing Walder Frey? It's been a couple of years and that might mean a recast but I thought he was appropriately sleazy, I'd like to see him back.