HBO: Game of Thrones

[Bright Eyes]

Iwan Rheon is giving everything to Ramsey. A brilliant actor. I was ignorant enough to believe/hope that Theon would stop the rape in a fit a rage. I will need to listen to Rheon's awesome music to calm my disgust at his beautiful being.

A sample:

At least we got Sansa back to gracing us with her gorgeous red mane. This show is so gifted to have the talents and the chemistry that Rheon/Allen/Turner all have together.

Please follow suit soon, Melisandre. Was it ever explained why the latter dyed her hair as well, because it's probably the only thing I truly hate about this show. Yep, I'm that easy.

I don't know if this is a popular opinion or not, but the Arya story is the most interesting to me this season. I have no idea where it is to go and it doesn't leave me with any sense of dread or merciless bloodshed, just intrigue (for now). A refreshing change from the rest.

I've been close to a Cersei stan for this whole series so far, but tonight I became hungry for her destruction. I am screaming out for Loras not to die. The traitor-spy-whore will need to immediately be killed to acquiesance my thirst for vengeance. Olenna must rage on in success.

Am I a damn fool to possibly believe that Cersei will spare Sansa if she learns of Ramsey's actions? That's okay, my bubble is very comfortable.

Fantastic episode with nary a slow moment. It was good to get away from the Wall and Dany for a bit. I can't believe in we're six episodes in and no major character has died. Should we expect a massacre? With everyone hating Littlefinger, I can't wait to see who gets the honour of doing him in.

[DRW50]

I'm not sure what Theon was supposed to do. I can't see him managing to do any real damage.

The show hasn't gone into it as much as the books, but Theon is a decrepit, incredibly maimed man. Shireen could probably knock him out.

Edited May 18, 2015 by DRW50

[DRW50]

I've always been a Cersei fan, but up to this season I've also been happy to root for her enemies. Sadly, Loras and Margaery are both so incredibly stupid, I can't do it. They set themselves up to be played, they were smug, tin-eared, and way out of their depth in KL. Why should I want them to live at this point?

Olenna is the one who helped cause all this to begin with. If I didn't have a lot of residual love for Diana Rigg, I would hate this character who mostly just swoops in for some one-liners and then leaves her family and the kingdom in chaos.

In other news, I still have no idea what the purpose of Dorne or the Sand Snakes are, other than pretty location footage. There's nary a personality between them. Ellaria reading Lena Headey's old scripts does not count.

[Bright Eyes]

To be clear, I was blaming him in any way. I just thought it looked like his anger and disgust was bubbling to the surface and we would see him take some random object and bash Ramsey with it repeatedly, until completion.

I know he is and always has been merely a pawn, but I love Loras indefinitely. I agree that the writing for him and Margaery this season has been weak, but I do not fear for Margaery at all. Every episode Loras survives is always a hugh relief to me.

The Dorne mother and daughters are not too interesting to me in terms of their own characters, no matter how cool it is to see Keisha Castle-Hughes all grown up. However, I still find Jaime/Bronn and what will happen to them and Myrcella interesting enough for it not to bother me. They are merely plot points/obstacles for me and I'm okay with that.

[DRW50]

I can see where Jaime or Bronn fans would enjoy it. Jaime is just sort of...there for me, and I don't care about Bronn (I feel like he's overused), so I can see where it's not the same for me.

I like Loras, and I like Margaery, but at this point it's like throwing Jan and Jace from Space Ghost into the pits of hell. They're just so naive, it hurts to watch. I really thought at one point that they, and Olenna, were smarter than this.

[quartermainefan]

Poor Sansa! Clearly she will have to light the candle in the top window in the near future so the northerners and Brienne can dispose of the Ramseys once and for all. Littlefinger's real goals remain unclear. He had to get the Ramseys to marry Sansa so Cersei could see this as a betrayal and name him Warden, but what about his backup plan of Stannis naming her Wardeness? I thought he might have actually had honest affection for Sansa but that seems hard to justify given tonight.

Cersei's schemes against the Tyrell's were interesting as it wasn't actually Loras she was after, but Margerey. I don't see this ending well for them in the clutches of that fanatic, and Tommen is clearly a king in name only. The whole Arya story is interesting but a little confusing Is it they are able to adopt the faces of all those dead people?

I love the Jaime and Bronn story. It's high adventure in cool costumes and great fights.

[DRW50]

The producers have said he had no idea the Boltons would hurt Sansa.

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/05/17/game-thrones-sansa-ramsay-interview

[ThePrinceOfSunspear]

What a load of bs. That's just them trying to cover their ass. I'm just glad there's some level of outrage online from what I can tell after this latest stupid episode.

And they are absolutely making Dorne look so useles and boring. That whole fight was just stupid. Sadly the only interesting thing was watching Trystane and Myrcella (they were both so adorable).

I'm utterly disgusted by the way the show is treating Loras. Not surprised Olyvar betrayed Loras but it still made me sad.

[DRW50]

Cogman seems to be selling this as a necessary evil for Sansa, not rape. I think this is yet another instance of the show not having any idea how scenes come across. I think someone at the show also believes we will only care about Sansa if she is raped, if she is made "strong" from this. I guess they had no real respect for the character if they think that's what it takes to make you strong.

I don't understand the point of having everyone in Dorne but Doran written as some unhinged whiner who hates Mycrella and blames her for a death that Oberyn himself was 100% responsible for.

Edited May 18, 2015 by DRW50

[DRW50]

I'm also tired of hearing some people say it was outrageous that Theon did not save his "sister."

Only in a land of happy AU fanfics was Sansa ever his "sister." I don't know what that has to do with the situation. She was being raped, she was suffering, whether she was his "sister" or not. She was the victim, even if the show may not see it that way.

What these people are saying is they would not have given a damn about a character in that situation if she wasn't someone they knew. And that's fine, that's logical, but don't rewrite the show to try to create some connection that was never there. Sansa didn't even see Jon as a brother...she certainly never saw Theon as one.

[ThePrinceOfSunspear]

Lol in the book Theon had hopes of marrying Sansa himself...he never thought of her as a sister like he thought of Robb as a brother.....

And you're right about Theon being utterly broken. Perhaps most viewers don't fully comprehend just what a monster Ramsay is (although I think the graphic torture scenes from seasons past was clue enough). The person that was there in the room was not Theon Greyjoy. Not even a glimmer of him. He's just a complete shell of his former self.

As for rape its not right in any instance but I think it was just multiplied a thousand times worse by having it happen to a character that was never meant to be in that situation in the books.

And at this point I have no idea who Littlefinger is really loyal to...I felt like he betrayed Sansa in the last episode but then again his scenes from beforehand had me convinced that he might actually be on her side?

[Juliajms]

I think I'm the only person on the planet who agrees with that. She knew she was going to have to have sex with him when she agreed to marry him. Baelish gave her an out, so I'm not sure what made that scene rape in people's minds. However, since it seems to be the universal perception, I'll have to accept that it's there.

That fight between Jaime/Bronne and the Sandsnakes was pathetic on every level. Poorly done and even the camera work couldn't save it.

[ThePrinceOfSunspear]

Just a little sampling of what I've come across...I agree whole heartedly.

http://www.themarysue.com/we-will-no-longer-be-promoting-hbos-game-of-thrones/

http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/game-of-thrones-is-gross-exploitative-and-totally-out-1705235364

The fact that this is all supposedly taking place in Winterfell...Sansa's ancestral HOME is just an abomination.

Edited May 19, 2015 by ThePrinceOfSunspear

[Skin]

This makes me nauseous, as I just see it as more Ramsey idealization by the writers who they have a hard on for. I don't understand how a person like this can exist and have fans, or worse have the writers and show runners root for someone like this. I was sickened when I heard the show runners say they loved the torture scenes between Ramsey and Theon, and now this just feels like more masturbatory fantasies for them.

I'm of two minds about this. While I agree she more or less consented to sex with him, that doesn't mean that she agreed to be physically tortured and brutalized during it. I would liken it to a BDSM relationship with the submissive being abused. Consent is given for sexual activity, but without context on what they are "willingly participating in." This is definitely in some form or way qualified as sexual abuse, and we have seen how much Ramsey delights in torturing people. Sansa doesn't have any frame of reference for how Ramsey likes torturing people. I don't believe Sansa would consent to being hurt in that way from what we know of the character.

[YRBB]

Just caught up with episode 4. A few quick thoughts:

Jaime and Bronn were amazing together. It seems Bronn just fits well with anyone. I laughed so hard at Jaime stopping the sword with his fake hand.

Stannis and Shireen was the absolute highlight. What a great scene. That little girl's face when Stannis said "to hell with all of them" and her tears. Beautiful.

I am still really scared for Sansa but it seems they're doing it right so far. I want her to really get her revenge and for the show to use the story to really 'grow' Sansa more.

Wasn't crazy about the gay butchering or the sand snakes. Even in reading the book, the sand snakes seemed a bit ridiculous to me but they did set things up and I hope they get better.

Melisandre trying to seduce Jon and then saying, "You know nothing Jon Snow..." Chilling.

OH NO. Grey Worm and Barristan.