For me that duel was the tensest moment of the episode, just ahead of “they’re not promising Tyrion his freedom just to kill him, are they?” In a way the fight was sort of the George R.R. Martin outlook in miniature: it starts with an awesome-looking battle between two knights and ends with one fighter beating the other’s brains in with a rock. Brutal stuff- and yet it was upstaged by what came right after. I’d been wondering throughout this season how Arya would react if the Hound were in distress and the answer turned out to be “like a fucking sociopath.” I guess that shouldn’t be a surprise, but she couldn’t have been any colder about it.
I don’t know what to make of the Shae thing, but I don’t think Tywin put her up to it. I think he put too much effort into trying to stop Tyrion from keeping women around and too much was made of Cersei discovering her identity. One of the things we’ve seen over and over in this show is that sometimes women need to attach themselves to powerful men to survive. Shae did that with Tyrion - not that she didn’t care about him, but she was far better off after she met him - and when he dismissed her, she found someone else. What she called Tywin, by the way, was “my lion,” and that was the same thing she called Tyrion. So that was extra heartbreaking. I’m glad Tyrion’s alive, but I have no idea what’s next for him. (I assume they’re going to Essos because my theory is that Varys is working for/with some power in Essos, but what do I know?) Maybe Jaime and Cersei will take over House Lannister together.
Stannis took them by surprise and from a vulnerable side, so they had no defenses.
…they’re climbing the wall. He said they would be over by nightfall and they would attack Castle Black on his signal. So at the time of Jon’s sitdown and Stannis’ assault, they were still climbing and hadn’t been told to strike.
Right.
He didn’t know Jon was there, and I’m not sure Jon is really an heir. Even if he does, there’s the small matter of the Boltons.
Right. I don’t find that part very complicated: Tyrion broke her fucking heart and was very cruel to her. He knows, and we know, that he had good reasons for doing so. But she didn’t know any of that. What she knew was that they were in love, then he married Sansa, wouldn’t touch her, tried to get rid of her, and then said some awful stuff to her to make her go away.
No, they don’t know that. And really, I don’t know why they didn’t ask what was going on and why word wasn’t sent to the Aerie. That didn’t make much sense to me.
I don’t think so.
I think they’ll be looking for Arya. I don’t know what they’ll do next- but we haven’t heard from the Brotherhood lately.
I do, too. It was inevitable that the dragons were going to kill somebody and she reacted the right way, but between the new world she’s trying to create and her dragons - Ser Jorah was right about them, by the way - she’s looking at a lot of tough choices.
Right.
He didn’t know Jon was there, and I’m not sure Jon is really an heir. Even if he does, there’s the small matter of the Boltons.
Right. I don’t find that part very complicated: Tyrion broke her fucking heart and was very cruel to her. He knows, and we know, that he had good reasons for doing so. But she didn’t know any of that. What she knew was that they were in love, then he married Sansa, wouldn’t touch her, tried to get rid of her, and then said some awful stuff to her to make her go away.
No, they don’t know that. And really, I don’t know why they didn’t ask what was going on and why word wasn’t sent to the Aerie. That didn’t make much sense to me.
I don’t think so.
I think they’ll be looking for Arya. I don’t know what they’ll do next- but we haven’t heard from the Brotherhood lately.
I do, too. It was inevitable that the dragons were going to kill somebody.
