Game of Thrones: episode 8 , the Pointy End

[alexandral]

Can I express enough how much I loved this episode???????? It was the best episode of the show for me, and by far. I guess for me this episode highlighted the main shortcomings of the previous episodes, namely: gratuitous sex, general underuse of direwolves ( for they are not an accessory, but one of the most essential elements of the story, and it was finally revealed why - they are amongst few things that can successfully fight the Wights), and unbalanced focus , where some characters can have some arbitrary scenes added and some other equally interesting characters are sometimes forgotten. I guess for me as a viewer it seems as if the GoT screen writers like to sit down and think 'Ok, LET'S IMPROVE THIS BOOK" or "this is MY favourite character, there should be more of him/her", but really "improving" something that is already good can be a tricky business.



We had:

- The finger-biting scene that made it into the show, against all odds

- Barristan Selmy being absolutely full of awesome. I am so glad this scene was done well, because it is really important to the future story. Did you see how all the guards stepped back when he drew his sword? This was the best scene in the episode.

- No whores in sight. Yesssssssssssssssssssssssss!

- Just enough Littlefinger to make his every scene and his every gesture and his every word into pure gold

- Varys talking to Ned. This was the second best scene

- And we finally saw Rickon (aka the forgotten boy) for the first time since the episode 1!!!

- Personally, I am also glad that Hodor scene made it into the show as well

Comments

[dekyria.livejournal.com]

It was a good episode!

[queenofthorns.livejournal.com]

they are amongst few things that can successfully demolish the Wights

I don't think they can demolish wights - only fire can do that. But they can (or at least Ghost can) sense the presence of the creatures and warn his human masters.

[liamtheruiner.livejournal.com]

yeah, selmy's scene was just right. i love that line about being able to cut through all five of them. even in the books, i wished he would have.

[lydzi.livejournal.com]

*still fangirling over Barristan Selmy* He was WONDERFUL! Gosh, such a perfect knight.

It's interesting to notice that it's the episode written by GRRM himself actually. And apart from Hodor's full frontal we didn't had any whores or Roz or w/e and the episode was still even more brilliant!

And we had Rickon <3. Forever thanking GRRM for that scene XD.

[baleanoptera.livejournal.com]

This episode was so good, and the Barristan scene was indeed epic. (Though due to the books I actually smiled when Cersei named Jaime the Lord Commander. A few unexpected turns and twists due that will come out of that proclamation Cersei m'dear.)

Like you I also adored that the direwolves and Rickon were present. I also adored the last scene with Sansa, her hair in the southern style and kneeling in front of Cersei and Joffrey. It really brought home Sansa's precarious situation and managed to visualize her whole "Courtesy is a lady's armor" thing. Also there was Sansa and the Hound!

Varys talking to Ned. This was the second best scene

Agreed, and I managed to shed different perspectives on Varys than what the show had shown before. He thinks of the realm, "because someone has to." (and I'm glad that there is at least one person who does to be honest. Baelish certainly doesn't.)

[shapinglight]

It was a very good episode, and lack of Ros didn't hurt it at all. I rather hope we won't see her again.

[seven-trees.livejournal.com]

This was probably my favorite episode so far. Can I just say how much I love Varys? I find myself completely riveted with every scene he's in.

And we finally got some Wight Walker action (ZOMBIES!!!!!). I don't know why, but when Sam said that the corpse didn't smell, I got the biggest shiver up my spine. Somehow the fact that they don't smell makes them even creepier to me.

[stoopid-silly.livejournal.com]

This episode was greaaaaat, ahhh!! I was so excited to see Rickon again, poor bb. The Barristan scene was badass and you can just tell GRRM KNOWS these characters - everything was just pitch perfect.

But honestly, I don't care at all about the direwolves. I mean they're cute... but it kind of gets old having them jump out and attack people/wights. Like for instance, I was glad Greywind wasn't in the scene with Bran and the wildlings.

[roboticduck.livejournal.com]

Cersei politely firing Barristan, omg. I actually said aloud OHNOYOUDIDNT THAT IS SER BARRISTAN SELMY!!! (using full name is important).

Aww Rickon! It was like he almost aged another year since we last saw him, haha!

Off to comment on your other posts :D

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

I completely agree on how this *flawless* episode highlighted some of the issues the show has.

Barristan was indeed epic.

[heartshurt.livejournal.com]

I read this post on Monday, and had to wait the whooole week before I finally could watch the episode yesterday. It made me even more excited before I started watching it haha.

Anyway, this episode was full of epic. I forgot so much of what happens in the book, so a lot of it feels all new to me. I'm constantly on Wikipedia to read about what happens to Barristan Selmy for example. His scene was awesome.

When Rickon came into the scene, I was so confused. It took me a few seconds to realise who it was!
Loved the wolves in this episode. They make GoT just a little bit extra special to me ♥

Great episode anyway.