Game of Thrones Recap: One Flew Over The Fighting Pits 

“There’s always been enough death in the world for my taste: I can do without it in my leisure time.”

While Tyrion Lannister inarguably gets the choicest line of

‘ second-to-last Season 5 installment, let’s be honest: If you found yourself cheering Daenerys’ dragon scorching a multitude of assassination-minded Sons of the Harpy, you probably don’t fully subscribe to his philosophy.

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Episode 9, “The Dance of Dragons,” provided a flaming hot counterpoint to last week’s head-spinning, frigid, north-of-the-wall battle scene — but as with “Hardhome,” there was at least as much tragedy as there was triumph.

I mean, if you came into the episode already possessing a Jon Snow philosophy toward Melisandre — “Girl, put those things away — I am not here for your milky-white brand of crazy” — then watching her sway Stannis into burning his delightfully poetic daughter Shireen at the stake probably put the witch at No. 2 on the “

Waiting for Comeuppance List” just behind Ramsay Bolton. (Oh, and Stannis, you’re Top 5, too, since you barely freakin’ flinched as your little girl’s screams of agony left even your most hardened soldiers on the brink of pledging allegiance to Tommen.)

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Yet while a few troubling questions sit in the back of my brain — Wait, The Dany and Tyrion Awesomeness Alliance isn’t already on hiatus, is it? Is this all there is when it comes to the Sand Snakes? And have we really gone another week without Cersei beating that Faith prison warden to death with her ladle? — this was nevertheless a pretty action-packed lead-in to next week’s finale.

recapper Kim Roots on vacation, please bear with me as I try to make sense of this week’s action. (I may need a quick Google search to help me spell the name of Khaleesi’s hubby, but I know enough to know I was stoked to see him take a dagger to the abdomen. Good riddance, duplicitous dude!)

FIGHTING FIRE WITH FIRE | Daenerys swallows her distaste and oversees The Great Games — AKA Dudes Lopping Off Other Dudes’ Heads Without Sullying Their Consciences — during which she must clap her hands to signal the start of each showdown. When Jorah returns to his queen — this time, he means… to spill his guts in front of her? Who knows? — her queasiness turns into a full-fledged Pepto Bismol emergency. But then, after he goes and prevails in a six-way contest, he points his javelin toward our blonde, braided ruler and… hurls it?

Fret not, Jorah didn’t spawn a dozen “Khaleeeeeeeeesi” supercuts on YouTube by being disloyal. Turns out he’s aiming for a would-be Harpy assassin. But when that dude falls, hundreds of other traitors rise up in the arena, stabbing spectators left and right and closing in on Daenerys, Tyrion and everyone else we like in Meereen. Dany’s hubby of convenience (nah, he’s not worth Googling, is he?) dies, and just as it looks like Daario, Tyrion, Jorah and Missandei (her hand-clutch with Dany broke my heart a little) are doomed, in flies Drogon — setting Harpies ablaze like Melisandre to a lineup of non-believers. Drogon, however, may be bad-ass, but he’s not invincible, and when the Harpies’ spears begin to weaken him, Daenerys climbs aboard his back, and off they fly to… well, I’m not sure where, exactly. And I’m not sure what this means for the fate of her inner circle — after all, they were still badly outnumbered last I checked.

[Final side note: Jorah touched Daenerys’ hand? WITHOUT SO MUCH AS A GLOVE OR PROTECTIVE ARMOR? I’m just gonna go on blind faith that Game of Thrones producers wouldn’t inflict Emilia Clarke with greyscale, but seriously, what the what was with that?]

ABSOLUTE TORCH-URE | That nasty little weasel Ramsay (and his 20 men) set Stannis’ food supplies and horses ablaze — how come Melisandre never sees all this bad s–t in a vision? — leaving the would-be king desperate to make his attack on Winterfell. Stannis conveniently sends Davos off to the Knight’s Watch for backup supplies — but it’s clear he just wants to get him out of their camp so he can do The Worst Thing Ever to the Sweetest Character on the Show (TM pending).

Shireen is reading an account of House Targaryen’s woes — and she shows some surprising political insight for one so young. But her philosophizing leads Stannis to double-down on Melisandre’s madness. If a man knows who he is, Stannis reasons, he has no choice at all — he must fulfill his destiny (by turning his child into a charcoal briquette?). Boring Selyse screams her objections — but only after Melisandre has lit the fire — and poor Shireen dies for a purpose that only the Red Woman seems to really know/buy.

THE GRIMMEST PLACE ON EARTH | Jon and the Wildlings arrive at The Wall — and shockingly, the gates are opened to them without any noisy objections. Alliser Thorne says he thinks Jon’s good heart is going to get them all killed, though, and that leaves me thinking

the situation might get a little more dramatic/horrific next week, yes? I mean, there’s an actual profanity-spewing giant in the mix now!

A IS FOR ARYA | Arya is off on her mystical “Oysters, Clams and Cockles” mission to kill the Seven Kingdoms’ worst bookie, but then she discovers someone on her kill list, Meryn Trant (sent to “guard” Lord Tyrell on his mission to the Iron Bank) is in town. After this, she follows her heart, or whatever internal organ has sent her into a carefully murderous rage, to the brothel where Meryn rejects prostitute after prostitute after prostitute on the grounds that they’re “too old.” He finally settles on a disturbingly young serving girl that the madame scrounges up — and it’s about as icky as 90 percent of the other icky moments of Season 5. Alas, Arya doesn’t use her bottle of poison to thwart the impeding horrors — but something tells me next week’s finale will find her learning a way to exact sweet revenge without the help of her precious Needle.

ZZZZZZZZZ | Doran Martell pardons Jaime and Bronn (though the latter loses a few teeth for his crimes), and in the spirit of keeping the peace, agrees to send Trystane and Myrcella back to King’s Landing (much to Ellaria’s disgust). Ellaria’s sole contribution to the episode seems to be telling Jaime, “We want who we want,” while her Sand Snake daughters do nothing more than play a game of slap-hand in their cell (from which they’re eventually released.) I’d have preferred 10 minutes of Brienne training Pod on proper sword technique, to be honest.

? Any predictions for next week’s finale? Sound off in the comments!

Favorite moment: Daenerys and her dragon flying off into the sunset. Can’t wait for next week’s season finale.

this show really hit a new low tonight. One young girl raped, another burnt at the stake. No idea why I watch this garbage. This is the end for me.

who is Felicia?? Safe to say your inability to read is just one of your rather severe issues. Combined with a severe hatred of women.

His post doesn’t indicate an inability to read, nor does it indicate anything about his thought of the episode, including his feelings towards women.

It indicates that he falsely assumed that you knew that “Bye Felicia” is a line from the movie Friday. People commonly and imo annoyingly use the phrase online to basically say “nobody cares if you go away, or if you stop watching something.”

You got that Zach has severe issues and hates women from the fact that he said “bye Felicia”? I’m actually speechless right now. Wow.

Bye then Sara… Sorry to see you go, but show’s such as this needs a strong stomach and love for adventure… It’s not like your regular prime time soaps or canned-laughter sitcom. This is not for the weak of heart, it’s exciting and a cover- your- mouth- to squeal type of show… So cheeriooo ol’ girl!!!!

This episode was so bad I now think I need more than the fingers on both hands to count how many characters are dead on the show that are alive (and still important!) in the books.

Shireen will be burnt in The Winds of Winter. Probably not by Stannis as she’s still at the wall, but it’s definitely happening.

It doesn’t really matter as it is horribly bad characterization to have Stannis burn Shireen while Selyse is the one upset over it. The show has essentially switched their characterizations because oh I don’t know, you can’t have a man worry about a child when a woman is around to do it for him? It only adds to the showrunners’ laundry list of misogynistic writing choices.

This is in addition to last week’s much-lauded episode which featured a wildling woman who was a fantastic fighter yet happened to be the only featured female fighter and happened to be the only one noticeably affected by the child wights, so much so that she lost her life because of that momentary weakness.

Can’t blame the showrunners this time. This was GRRM idea. But seriously people who can’t handle certain plots just need to stop watching

If you’re referring to that comment made by Weiss, it was intentionally vague to make you think it was Martin’s idea.

I think its assumed that Shireen will get burned in The Winds of Winter.. by Mel and Selyse while Stannis is assaulting the wall. Because that wasn’t going to happen w/ Stannis around. The thing I have a problem with in TV Land of GoT is that this action still doesn’t make sense. This guy held a siege at storm’s end by making everyone eat rats decided because of a setback that it was time to burn his daughter? Especially with his troops watching? That have been established as really not giving a F about R’hlor? Like burn whoever just make sure it make sense for the characters that are doing the deed. Stannis should have had the reaction, not Selyse the real religious fanatic. I can watch a show, enjoy it, and still point out its flaws.

I disagree. This is completely inline with stannis’s character – both book and show. Stannis has always been a hard black-and-white, duty bound, whatever it takes guy. He is king and his duty is to the realm – to protect his men, to protect the kingdom. He’s been convinced after Ramsey’s attack That protecting shireen is selfish. He makes this sacrifice because he thinks he has to in order to save his army and his country. I also think Davos knew….it’s why he begged to be able to take shireen with him and why there is that heart tugging farewell between them both

Considering that Shireen is safe back at the Wall in the books, and Stannis specifically told his men that of he dies they should not give up but instead fight to crown Shireen Queen of Westeros, I would beg to differ.

Sorry, but i would let the whole world burn before i willingly put my daughter to the stake. That makes Stannis a coward in my book, no one will follow a king that would burn his own daughter or a god that would request it. Let them all be damned

Joey – Shireen is safe back at the wall as of Book 5. Who knows what happens after that. Chris – in real life, as a parent, I’d agree. But GoT is not real life. :) It’s fantasy and there are stories throughout history and mythology of children being sacrificed by a parent who thinks it’s for the greater good or their own good.

Yes, like I said, Stannis is outside Winterfell and Shireen is at the Wall as of the end of the most recent book, so if Shireen is burned in the next book, I would highly doubt that Stannis would be there to consent.

“No one will follow a king that would burn his own daughter or a god that would request it” Abraham was prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac at God’s request (though God did give him a last second reprieve) Pretty much all Christians, Jews & Muslims follow that God.

Bloody H! GoT is intense… I don’t know why I still get upset & shocked by all these sadistic actions. Princess Shireen just broke my heart, and how Stannis just stood there in a ghostly state watching his daughter burn.

I’m sorry but Ramsay takes a back seat to Stannis and Melisandre’s cruelty at this point. I need Ramsay to flay both of them esp that witch.

For some reason I liked Hizdar (hope he’s still alive somehow), he was intelligent and very eloquent much like Tyrion.

I’ve come to realise there’s no hero/villain in GoT..it’s all just perspective. I can’t wait to see what Dani’s next move will be.

this is GOT not Full House if you can’t handle it stop WATCHING IT DUHHH

We will watch and we will complain if need be, people are allowed to express how they feel about a show just like you are expressing your petty one right now. Deal with it!

THIS IS NOT THE BOOKS ITS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SHOW, SO TIRED OF PEOPLE COMPARING THE TWO ITS BLOODY ANNOYING ALREADY WE DONT CARE

I suppose if the show were as complex as the books your brain would hurt too much and you would need to go back to watching The Bachelor.

People don’t share your opinion therefore they must be stupid. Gotta love the Internet. Please, Joey, just grow up. People are entitled to their opinions about the whole book versus show debate. As someone who enjoys both, even I have to admit that the argument has been run into the ground.

Actually it’s more about the fact that the user above us is whining like someone who barely has two brain cells to rub together but by all means tell me that I’m the immature one.

In fairness you can both be immature at the same time. In fact immature comments usually seem to inspire immature responses. It’s the power of the Internet to bring out the worst in all of us!

To be fair that initial comment & the one before it are very juvenile and you cannot blame someone for calling him/her out on that!

If someone’s tired of the book/series debate then he/she should simply ignore the comments or not visit the discussion pages.

And if people are upset about the events of an episode then they should be allowed to express themselves however they wish.

I can if they’re calling them stupid. When did it get to the point where people can’t have a discussion without regressing to name calling? Yes the comment is immature. But there are better ways of pointing that out than name calling. I come here to read actual interesting discussions and not have to deal with the name calling flame wars I see on almost every other discussion board. I guess I shall be finding a new place to visit.

Dude, just go away. No need to attack someone like that

FYI: all your comments about how crappy the show is because it doesn’t follow the books is getting very tiresome. We get it, but the show is not the books. Once you realize that, maybe you can begin to enjoy the show for what it is, or if you can’t, just give up on it. I have not read the books yet and I have no doubt if I had, I would not be enjoying the show as much as I am. That’s true of every movie/TV show I’ve seen that was based on a story from a book. The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, Shogun, Being There, Field of Dreams (based on Shoeless Joe, read it, so much better than the movie), The Lord of the Rings, etc. All of those movies/miniseries are award winning and much respected but none were as detailed or enjoyable as the books, IMO, because they cannot be, they’re two different mediums.

Every time someone mentions the books, the point being made is lost on everyone that has not read them. Perhaps your insights would be better appreciated on a site dedicated to literature, not a site dedicated to TV. You’re comparing apples to oranges. The books and the TV show are not the same thing. Calling someone names that makes that point is very telling about you and your view of a total stranger’s intellect that has not read everything you have read. I suspect having an intelligent discussion with you would be very frustrating because you seem to think you’re smarter than everyone else. Books, movies, TV, music, paintings, etc. are all different forms of artistic expression. They each have their own advantages and limitations. You do not appear to understand that basic concept.

Well said, KCC. This is the first series I have watched without reading the books first. I find the experience quite enjoyable! Knowing that you HAVE to separate the two mediums is a no-brainer!

I have already said above that within the show alone, burning Shireen makes no sense, but no, you had to focus on this specific comment in order to fulfill your desire to complain about “book purists”.

I think it makes perfect sense within the show alone. It shows to what extremes Stannis will go to gain the Iron Throne. Until that moment I did not now exactly how heartless he was. The fact you cannot see that rather obvious reason for it’s inclusion in the story, along with you’re inability acknowledge the point I was trying to make about books and movies being different and the confrontational tone of you’re response means I will just write you off as the troll you appear to be.

That’s just it though. Stannis has never shown ambition for the throne. He is about DUTY, first and foremost. He knows that with the laws of succession, it is his duty to be the King of Westeros.

Thank you for the civil tone of your response. This is where I think having read the books puts you at a disadvantage when watching the show, you have certain expectations of characters based on what happened in the books. Having not read the books, I have no such expectations and can only determine their motivation by what is seen on the show. Within the show all the characters are being developed in a logical manner, at least to me. Every character in the show that has claim to the throne feels it’s their destiny. I see it as being ambition in each of the characters. The books might have spent more time differentiating Stannis’ motivation from the others, but the fact that he’s willing to fulfill that perceived destiny by sacrificing his daughter shows how perverted that vision is and also the amount of sway Melisandre has over him. It also destroys any sympathy viewers might have for him and his quest for the throne. I expect it will be his downfall later in the series, not matter what happened/happens in the books.

You really need to get out of your mommy’s basement and grow the hell up.

They always seem to think that an epic action sequence at the end of an episode will somehow make up for evil always winning while the good suffer unendingly.

There are plenty of dead evil folk too – Joffrey, Tywin, (Frankenmountain aside – Gregor Clegane), Craster, etc. What goes around comes around. The appeal of Martin’s books and, as an outgrowth of that, the show, is that this isn’t prototypical “Good always wins.” This is life. Sometimes good gets screwed. Sometimes they prevail. Sometimes the bad-guy walks off into the sunset for at least a time being. Sometimes the guy you think his a hateful, awful beast has some redeeming qualities (aka Jamie.) If you want a show where you know it’s going to be ok for your favorite hero because the hero or main character can’t die – well there’s all that other garbage on TV for you. What makes GoT so good is that no one is safe.

This is an on-going story. The end of an episode is not the end of the story. Maybe “good” will prevail over “evil” in the end. We don’t know yet. The old adage “It’s always darkest before the dawn” is time honored in storytelling. The “good” guys have to suffer before they can rise up to defeat “evil” for a more satisfying conclusion. With the way everyone is conditioned that the good guy never dies, this show is one that has really drama and fear that someone you love in the show might die. I wouldn’t have been surprised if Jon Snow died last week, there was really tension developed during that battle with the White Walkers because of “good” guys dying throughout the series run. In traditionally TV storytelling the fight would have been exciting but you wouldn’t dare to think Jon Snow was in real danger of dying. At this point I’m not even certain the White Walkers won’t win in the end and take over the world. For all we know, they are as “good” as anyone that’s playing the Game of Thrones.

(The quotes around “good” and “evil” are to emphasize how relative those terms are in this show.)

I was worried about Jon last week. I kept telling myself, “they can’t kill Jon.” But I know that’s not true – they can, and DO, kill anyone they want!, so I was tense!

OMG seeing Shireen burn to death was just as horrific as the red wedding. The screaming was awful. My heart aches right now. I hope Davos murders Stannis when he gets back and set the Red hag on fire! Anyway… besides the horrible death and the ending, the ep was kinda a bore for being next to the last of the season.

For me a better ending to Melisandre would be for her to try and sacrifice Dany. Then Dany coming out of the flames nonchalantly brushing the ashes off and having a dragon flambe her.

Last week’s HardHome was superbly EPIC in all kinds of ways.. Tonight was subtler.. A quiet before the storm. I wish Shireen had some kind of dragon power from those flames (like Daenearys does). The new world order is on the way. Can’t wait until next week. I hope that wheel gets destroyed. VALAR MORGHULIS

Yes! Shireen’s death was about desperation. It was about a man who views his role as king as a duty that trumps all his own personal feelings and needs. It was tragic and it was horrific and heartbreaking. And the dragon ride at the end – perfect.

Don’t know why people keep bringing up Jorah touching Dany. Since his infection is on the left, touching her with his right was clearly not a problem

Not only that, but aren’t Targaryens supposed to be immune to greyscale?

i don’t knw, but if she was infected but immune, did she give the “virus” to the other girl when she took her hand? i hope not.. i love this show!

Jorah touched Tyrion as well in one of the last episodes after his infection. And I doubt that they would kill off Dany and Tyrion like that. I guess that Jorah is not infectious yet, maybe he will only be that when his condition gets worse.

I believe it’s only contagious if you touch the actual greyscale. Not sure exactly how that works in Shireen’s case except for the fact that she is just scarred now and not actually contagious any longer. The people that infected Jorah were completely covered in it so no matter what part of their body touched him, he would get it.

you are the morons that come here an post dumb crap how you hate the show and its so bad just trolling under bridges lol STOP WATCHING THE CRAPPY SHOW THEN you bunch of FROOTLOOP DINGUSES LOL

Look, it is the internet. You should just get used to reading comments where people talk about how much they either like or dislike something. You don’t want to hear people talkin’ smack don’t read the comments.

I assume based on the scene where Daenerys takes Jorah’s hand, that in order to inflict greyscale on another, you most likely must touch them with an actual part of the body covered in greyscale. Jorah’s hand is not yet affected.

I’m over Ramsay being so good at everything. Someone stab that bastard or push him into a volcano.

Stannis. What the heck. SERIOUSLY? Davos is going to be so disappointed. Bet he is going to get a boombox and play “we are never getting back together” on loop

And uh… WHHHHHYYYY would Doran let his heir and his political prisoner go nancing back up to king’s landing? (Book wishes: maybe he has Arianne hidden somewhere or maybe she is off to go visit danny being like.. you.. us.. burn some lannisters? sound good? y/y) All these people are supposed to be decent at political machinations and I feel like a lot of things are done “just cause”

Ah, well.. Whatever, Dany flew on her dragon. A thing I’ve always wanted to see since I read the first book years ago.

Doran is playing the game. He is trying to fix the screw-up Ellaria made by sending the threat implied by Myrcella’s necklace returned to Cercei the way she did. Giving someone as a “hostage” is acceptable only as long as they are considered safe. Doran can either return Myrcella or risk starting a war. He obviously wants this alliance with King’s Landing and having Trystane there will aid him in keeping tabs on what’s happening there.

All you young people were bored is beyond me. I am a 70 year old lady and loved a story well told. Yes, there was gore and fantasy. I loved the ending and the story line. You guys are upset but this is not real but entertainment. I liked the ending when she flies off with Drogon. I use read books like this but not violent and like someone finally with some imagination instead of same old same old. If you want to see Part II or III of same thing then do so but that is what I call boring.

Last week and this week were GREAT! I’m probably one of the newer viewers and I’m loving it. I don’t watch violence for violences sake and I could not believe that they actually burned her, thought someone would stop it. Somethings are really-really horrible and some things are mind blowingly wonderful.

I’m surprised those spears were able to pierce through Drogon’s skin. I thought they established that dragons are very difficult to kill with typical human weapons (which was what helped the Targaryen’s become so infallible).

Drogon’s not fully grown. Dragonscales harden when the dragon is mature.

It not real. It was suppose to add to the suspense that might kill him.

I loved the look on Tyrion’s face when he first saw Drogon, like OMGWTF?! Probably a lot like the look on my face too! The dragon stuff at the end was badass, but ummm Dany, you left your whole posse behind virtually defenseless surrounded by enemies. Unless we’re supposed to believe that all/enough of the Sons of the Harpy were torched so that the others were no longer in danger. Didn’t look that obvious to me. And where did all of those Sons come from?! Who knew there were so many of them?

The Shireen stuff was awful, in my opinion even worse than the controversial rape scenes a few eps ago. Her screams… so horrific and chilling. And regardless of the unfathomable heartlessness, is Stannis really that stupid? I mean at the very least, he has no heir now. Even if he were ultimately successful in winning the Iron Throne, then what? When he’s dead, the fighting for the throne would start all over again. And how can his troops continue to support him? He burned his own child at the stake for (from their non-witch-whipped perspective) no reason! His men were already on the verge of desertion over their living conditions. This can’t possibly reassure them of their king’s rationality. As far as GoT rulers go, Stannis is up there with Joffrey for most cruel and least logical. At least the Boltons have some sense of political strategy. Stannis is just dumb.

Except many of the men are followers of the god of light and others may become such once their conditions improve based on the previews for next week. Again, I think it was completely In character. Stannis would absolutely put his own desire above what he thought he had to do for the realm.

what an amazing episode. Last week they gave us something we’ve been waiting for … Dany and Tyrion together; and this week,Dany rides upon Drogon. How awesome. Looking forward to Arya taking out what’s-his-name, the pedophile Selyse. The contrast last week and this week with the two battles, one fire/one ice was perfection. ………… And after what Stannis did in the name of victory…..STANNIS MUST DIE (horribly, and after he frees Sansa of course).

definitely my hit list would be 1. Ramsey 2. Stannis 3. Melisandre 4. Cersei …who am I missing?

p.s. i thought Dany’s fiance was the head Harpy. I thought when he offered to lead her out “the safe way” that was part of the trap, but since a Harpy killed him, guess that assumption was wrong. He wasn’t a Harpy; he was just an a**.

My wish: Next week, could something good happen to at least one character (and I don’t include the death of anyone on my hit list …. something genuinely good to someone please… just one thing.. cause I think it’s gonna be a rough ride next week. Can’t wait)!

ps didn’t include Meryn Trant on my cause I’m sure Arya is going to take care of him next week. “Bout time!”

Doran Martel is pretty damn awesome. He’s such a benevolent ruler that he’s bound to die soon. Good people don’t last in GoT, damn it.

Also, have bad bad feelings about Olly and Jon.

I wonder if Davos will end up killing Stannis at some point because of Shireen’s death. He certainly seemed to love that little girl as much as I used to think her own father did.

I wouldn’t mind if Davos kills Stannis, but he probably wouldn’t make him suffer enough.

I so wanted someone to pull a “Jon Snow” and shoot Shireen with an arrow or spear or something. I dont’ wanna get into a fight with anyone here, but that was the most disturbing, ugly thing (so far) on tv GoT; not only because of how she died, but that her father gave the order after she so lovingly offered to do “anything” to help him. Death is too kind for that piece of wanna-be-king garbage.

The Sand Snakes were built up to be some bad*ss b*tches in both the book and the show and they’ve been equally disappointing in each. I just really hope we get to see Hotah kick some *ss in the finale. It’d suck if all he contributed to this season was an elbow to the very enjoyable and likable Bronn.

Recapper: Great points about Ser Joras greyscale and Melisandre being a bad psychic

Commenters: People come to comment sections to COMMENT. Telling people to stop watching the show if they comment about one aspect of the show that bothers them is immature and idiotic. The more logical course of action would be for people to just ignore the comments that don’t appeal to them instead of telling people to shut up or to stop watching the show.

It’s possible to like the overall show while disliking a small part of it. Where else should one comment on such things if not the comments section?

“The more logical course of action would be for people to just ignore the comments that don’t appeal to them instead of…” Commenting? I don’t get your point. You’re saying people come to the comments section to comment but don’t comment on comments that you disagree with? I would prefer intelligent, well expressed comments without name calling but with the everyone is welcome aspect of the internet you’re going to have some people that are impolite. Most of the “don’t watch” comments seem to be aimed at people that do not provide any sense of enjoyment in watching the show so the natural response to that is: don’t watch. Some commenters are, no doubt, trolls, which I agree should be ignored. But some are people that continually complain and that’s all they contribute to the discussion. Sure there are things to complain about and critique, but if that’s ALL you have to contribute to the conversion, why bother?

Didn’t like this episode. This season seems less intelligent and more into shocking one upping the vile deeds each episode. So I guess the next deed will be torturing puppies or killing a pregnant woman or something equally gross. Well I don’t want to end my relationship with the show cause I have invested time, and sat thru stuff I can never clean from my mind- so writers please shock us with complicated plot twists & less dumbed down shock crap. That’s just my opinion, and we all don’t feel the same about stuff so no skin is off my nose if you disagree.

they already killed a pregnant woman, stabbed her through the stomach too. and there was all that baby killing as well

Episode 1, season 1 closed with a young boy falling to his assumed death because he got shoved from a window when he witnessed a man having sex with his sister……and you got invested in the show anyway. Shireen’s death and all the other “vile deeds” are pretty much par for the course. I don’t understand why people are still shocked and offended 49 episodes into the series. The books ARE even more brutal.

Your post seems reasonable so this isn’t me “disagreeing” but just offering a different way for you to look at it.

The show is based on very visceral, brutal source material. I don’t think the show is attempting to *shock* people or one up each big moment with something even more awful and over the top. If anything they’re toning it down for the show.

I think the show is moving faster towards resolution and so events are going to get more dynamic and condensed. Not as much time for Tywin or Varys to ponder the philosophy of ruling so you may be reading that as less intelligent – but it’s the inevitable consequence of the show working towards a conclusion.

I thought it was a solid episode. Even though my initial reaction was “I want to punch Stannis in the throat” I do think his decision was very much a characteristic decision. Stannis is all about the greater good. He has consistantly put his duty and his kingdom ahead of anything else – in show and book. I don’t see his push for the Iron Throne as ambition as much as a sense of duty. He’s rightful heir (if you ignore Dany’s claim, which puts Baratheon anything in question.) What he reminds me very much of Ned Stark – he will do what he feels duty bound to do regardless of whether it’s right for him or his family. Now, is Stannis really duty bound to sacrifice his daughter? Of course not, but he’s also brainwashed by crazytown lady and, regardless of she did when push came to shove, his nutjob, cold hearted wife — who has been rather anti-Shireen for ages. Sacrificing a child to your god is not a new concept. It’s just awful to witness. I figured we’d get the fighting pit and Drogon this episode with a name like Dance of Dragons. So. Awesome. Loved it. As for the comments about how awful and brutal the show is, shock value, etc – the show is today, what it has been from the moment a couple of Crows got slaughered by a Wight and Ned Stark beheaded the deserter/survivor. It’s the same show i’s always been since Jamie shoved Bran out a widow. Since the Hound murdered the butchers boy…since Joffery had his men smack Sansa around. And it’s actually tamer than half the stuff in th books. This IS what it has always been and if it seems new and shocking…you haven’tbeen paying attention.

Michael Slezak, please stay on recapping GOT. You are so much better than whoever does it regularly.

The sand snakes could have been so amazing, and all we got are watered down teenage mutant ninja turtles.

Alright with the episode (especially the Mereen sequence), but Shireen’s death. I’ve always thought that Stannis was an equal man, since I read the books, but not only to the realm. After that dialogue with his daughter and the way he saved her from the plague, I would never imagine what happened. Just why? Why? I fear that Stannis has gone out of mind in his position.. though I like him as king!

Have we all been watching the same show for the last five years?!?! This season hasn’t been worse than the last four. As someone who’s read the books as well, I have to say the show is about even with death and violence.

And really, Stannis has already shown himself willing to kill his own family, i.e. Renly, and routinely burn people alive. Pretty sure they have been foreshadowing this happening to Shireen over the last few weeks. Also look up the story of Agememnon and his daughter. There is a lot of Greek tragedy to this death.

I agree about the Sand Snakes. The show runners aren’t giving them much to do.

I wouldn’t worry about Jorah touching Daenerys, she is the blood of dragons, she doesn’t ever get sick, I think her magic protects her pretty well from that.

So much has not made sense in the show. It’s baffling why an ambitious man like Stannis who is intent on capturing the throne would allow his daughter to be killed when she is his only heir. There are huge chunks of story and characters missing who would have made the story more meaningful. The show characterizations are all over the place – one episode has Stannis showing love for his daughter – the next has him coldly letting her be killed in the most terrible way. It seems to me that the TV show is just a series of sound bites spliced together in between shock and horror moments and that the only thing that matters to the producers is that their show makes the most money because it appeals to the lowest common denominator, that being the people who don’t read and love seeing only blood, sex and more blood for their entertainment.

Although I hated that Stannis let the Red Bitch talk him into sacrificing his daughter and found that scene very disturbing, the last 10 minutes of the episode were awesome !!. the look on Tyrion’s face when the dragon came flying in was priceless. And Dany flying away on the dragon’s back was something I’ve been waiting to see.

Sorry to say this, but bring back the regular reviewer.

It baffles me that everyone seems to have such hatred for Hizdahr, Dany’s fiance. His death shows that he wasn’t part of the Sons of the Harpy. And everything he did was in service to Mereen. He wanted to make things better and save Dany.

If you want to hate anyone, hate that stupid Daario…who seems to be the Fountainhead of all Bad Ideas! I can’t wait until he buys the farm.

I think Stannis needed to hear Tyrion’s speech to Dany about killing those that are loyal to you! What. An. Idiot. I had his back, until last night. Now I want Ramsey to get him (after he saves Sansa – who can THEN kill Ramsey). Oh, and I want to fly on a dragon too.

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