Game of Thrones Season 5 Ep 3 (the clueless about the books POV)

[shapinglight]

Watched this for the first time yesterday. Review behind cut.

Spoilers, of course.



Back to normal in GoT land this week, with lots of female nudity (and no, an old wrinkly bloke wandering around in the altogether does not constitute any kind of parity) and a greatly increased violence-based ick! factor, which I suppose is inevitable when one (let alone two) of the horrible Boltons are on screen.

I suspect I'm not alone in finding the idea of Sansa marrying Ramsey Bolton a bit (make that a lot) sick-making. I'd like to think that she's too important for him to be allowed to hurt and that she'll be all empowered and play him at his own game, but I suspect that she'll probably be used like some character in the books (can't remember which) who (so I read when I was spoilering myself about the Boltons in the vain hope of learning that they'd get their comeuppance) provided an incentive for Theon to break out of his (very understandable) funk. We'll see.

Either way, Littlefinger is a git.

Also, given their proximity to the aforesaid horrible Boltons with their whole flaying!yay! philosopy, I'm very worried about Brienne and Podric. Especially Podric. He's just too nice for his own good. The two of them work well together, though. I really liked their conversation where Brienne told Podric why she'd chosen to serve Renly Baratheon - though of course Renly's fate is an object lesson in what happens to 'nice' people in Westeros. Let's hope Podric took that in.

Elsewhere, the situation Arya finds herself in is weird. Very, very weird. Also, despite what she said, I don't think she wants to be a faceless man at all. She wants her enemies to know who killed them when she kills them. So I don't know how that's going to work out.

Also weird is Cersei making nice with Jonathan Pryce (didn't catch his character's name). It's clearly some sort of plan to outsmart Margaery and keep her influence in the kingdom, but I don't at all see what she's up to yet. If it's what it looks like, though, she'd hardly be the first powerful person to try and co-opt religious fanatics to her cause. Or maybe she is the first powerful person to do that in Westeros, and that's why she doesn't know that it never ends well.

Speaking of religious fanatics, interesting to see the woman preaching to the slaves in Volantis about the lord of light and pretty much saying that Dany is his agent on earth. Makes it a little less likely that Melisandre will try to set fire to Dany when (if) they finally meet. As for what else went on in Volantis, yay!Jorah, is all I really have to say. Though he looks a bit rough, have to say.

Finally, on the Wall, Jon manages to please everyone -Ser Alliser, Stannis, all the Night's Watch, even the audience- by cutting off someone's head.

Well, dunno about you, but I won't miss Wossisface anyway though I did feel a bit sorry for him in the end.

Comments

[mrs-underhill.livejournal.com]

SANSA!!!That was the only coherent though I could form after Episode 3. It was a big shock, it's not in the book and now all bets are off. And I can't abide the thought of book plot playing out with Sansa!
I hope it will be different with her! And I hope for at least some karmic backslash for Boltons and Littlefinger. It's not in the books yet but show is moving all the plots much faster, so there's some hope.

Another big shock was Margeory consummating her marriage with Tommen. It changed the book powerplay between her and Cersei (in the books Tommen is 9 and can't do it), but I'm not complaining. Cersei-Margeory plot was the most compelling one in books 4-5. So I'm looking forward to that.

Jon Snow beheading Janos Flint - great scene! And a mirror to Dany. Except in Jon's case, as you noted, everyone was pleased with it (except Janos...).

And yay - Tyrion and Jorah! Tyrion at least had decency not to get it up for that girl, after killing Shae. But even with the show softening him, I can't root for him anymore I'm afraid. So I'll be all for Jorah.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

They softened Shae quite a bit as well. She was far more mercenary in the book. Show Shae loved Tyrion (even if she wound up in Tywins bed). She just saw book Tyrion as a meal ticket. Not that she deserved to die because she didn't.

And I wonder what they'll do for Tyrion redemption with no Penny.

[mrs-underhill.livejournal.com]

Eh, Shae was a plaything of the powerful (Tyrion, Tywin, Cersei) in both the book and the movie, she was just trying to survive in their games and failed. Her motives toward Tyrion do not matter and "softening" doesn't really apply to her. She's at no fault in both books and the show because she didn't promise Tyrion anything (and neither did he to her - he would never sacrifice anything for her in both the books and the show), and so didn't betray him. It was all in his mind: he killed her because he could, and because she fell short of the dreams he made up in his head. He had the privilege, she didn't. They were not equals, Tyrion had all the power, and she had no agency - it was decided for her.

Do we know there will be no Penny? I didn't keep up with the spoilers. Maybe she'll turn up yet? But even without her, just being placed into Shae's place, without power and privileges, should be enough for redemption. We'll see.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I disagree about Book Shae. I don't have an issue with her going from Tyrion to Tywin. She was a survivor. But she was completely lacking in compassion for Lollys who had been gang raped by a mob and was suffering mentally for it and was pregnant because of the gang rape. Book Shae constantly made fun of Lollys and had no compassion for her. She never had compassion for anyone. I don't judge her for doing what she had to in order to survive but her lack of compassion for anyone else's tragedies meant that she was far harder than Show Shae. Show Shae had compassion. BookShae was never written with any depth and her inability to show any empathy for someone as tragic as Lollys made her less sympathetic as a character. So I do think Show Shae was softened. They softened her testimony against Tyrion in the trial as well skipping the humiliation of their sex life and the whole 'my big lion' bit. They also softened show Shae by having her suggest that she and Tyrion eun away to Volantis and by her turning down Varys offer. Book Shae never would have done either of those things. Book Shae was also never protective of Sansa like ShowShae was. They definitely expanded and softened show Shae.

Now, neither Book nor Show Shae deserved to die.

However they definitely softened the show version of the character as compared to the book version.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

No confirmation of a lack of Penny but no indication that one was ever cast either and set photos from the end of the season are pretty much the end of Dance with Dragons so if she hasn't been cast she isn't going to be. If she's going to show up they've kept it a massive secret and I can't see why they should.

[shapinglight]

And I can't abide the thought of book plot playing out with Sansa!

I don't know the exact details but what I do know of them makes me very much agree with you.

And I hope for at least some karmic backslash for Boltons and Littlefinger. It's not in the books yet but show is moving all the plots much faster, so there's some hope.

It would be nice - and don't forget Walder Frey. He deserves some payback too.

Cersei-Margeory plot was the most compelling one in books 4-5. So I'm looking forward to that.

It'll certainly be a contest. I'm not sure who my money's on. ;)

So I'll be all for Jorah.

I always am - even though I like Tyrion. I suppose when Jorah said he was going to take Tyrion to the queen, he was talking about Dany, not Cersei, though of course Tyrion will think he meant Cersei.