# Game of Thrones 5.08 "Hardhome" 5/31/15 \[Show discussion\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 1, 2015, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-5-08-hardhome-5-31-15-show-discussion/721309 "2015-06-01T02:12:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-5-08-hardhome-5-31-15-show-discussion/721309/241 "2015-06-04T12:38:47Z")
Given that we’ve seen the library of faces, my assumption is that Arya has taken on the identity and face of one of the people who died in the temple. My guess is that they’re just not showing us the face she’s using, or delaying showing it to us for dramatic purposes. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-5-08-hardhome-5-31-15-show-discussion/721309/242 "2015-06-04T12:39:36Z")
> [@grude](#): > > Yes I heard vanilla as well, and was like WTF? But nah vinegar on raw oysters sounds good, I like oysters. That’s the way they serve them at the sushi bars. A little rice vinegar and a bit of chili paste. Deelish. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-5-08-hardhome-5-31-15-show-discussion/721309/243 "2015-06-04T15:48:24Z")
> [@grude](#): > > …Basically all the details could be wrong here but two things I am sure of… How fortunate you are, to be sure of _anything_ about unaired episodes of this show! ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-5-08-hardhome-5-31-15-show-discussion/721309/244 "2015-06-04T16:00:39Z")
It seems like a reach that Arya would go from barely able to lie convincingly to being able to do face changing magic like that. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-5-08-hardhome-5-31-15-show-discussion/721309/245 "2015-06-04T16:06:40Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > It seems like a reach that Arya would go from barely able to lie convincingly to being able to do face changing magic like that. I agree with this > [@puddleglum](#): > > I thought it was just Arya making up a backstory for her character so she can play it more naturally and not tip anyone off that she is not Lana. Sometimes actors write a backstory for their character that has nothing to do with the plot so they can better understand the character. and this. ---
**Author:** ![MeanJoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanjoe/32/5693_2.png) [@MeanJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanJoe)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-5-08-hardhome-5-31-15-show-discussion/721309/246 "2015-06-04T17:21:44Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > It seems like a reach that Arya would go from barely able to lie convincingly to being able to do face changing magic like that. There was no face changing magic. Ayra was practicing her cover story or if you prefer her “undercover identity”, making it real internally and convincing to others should she ever be asked questions about herself. As a part of her training, she has been being sent out to the harbor docks to observe and report as Lana. Now as we see, she is becoming ready to carry out instructions under that cover to kill a man. Clearly as we saw in a past episode that Jaqen determined that Arya was not ready to learn to be like him yet but she was ready to be a tool used for something else… ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-5-08-hardhome-5-31-15-show-discussion/721309/247 "2015-06-04T18:33:29Z")
> [@MeanJoe](#): > > There was no face changing magic. Ayra was practicing her cover story or if you prefer her “undercover identity”, making it real internally and convincing to others should she ever be asked questions about herself. As a part of her training, she has been being sent out to the harbor docks to observe and report as Lana. Now as we see, she is becoming ready to carry out instructions under that cover to kill a man. > > Clearly as we saw in a past episode that Jaqen determined that Arya was not ready to learn to be like him yet but she was ready to be a tool used for something else… Yes, that was my point. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-5-08-hardhome-5-31-15-show-discussion/721309/248 "2015-06-04T19:44:27Z")
I’m wanting a remix of the giant in the snow with “You just put one foot in front of the other” playing. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-5-08-hardhome-5-31-15-show-discussion/721309/249 "2015-06-04T20:26:51Z")
Bumbles don’t bounce… but wights do, sort of. ---
**Author:** ![Frazzled](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frazzled/32/3368_2.png) [@Frazzled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frazzled)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-5-08-hardhome-5-31-15-show-discussion/721309/250 "2015-06-04T22:14:51Z")
With Arya - when she was going over her cover story with Jaquen she missed a detail which earned a small rebuke. It was that that made me wonder if she had taken on a separate identity. If she had built the business herself (in the guise of Lana) then she’d know the details very well, there’d be no need for a cover. But if she’d adopted the story of Lana then she’d need to get the details exactly right, hence the rebuke and the question of identity. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-5-08-hardhome-5-31-15-show-discussion/721309/251 "2015-06-04T22:36:33Z")
> [@Frazzled](#): > > With Arya - when she was going over her cover story with Jaquen she missed a detail which earned a small rebuke. It was that that made me wonder if she had taken on a separate identity. If she had built the business herself (in the guise of Lana) then she’d know the details very well, there’d be no need for a cover. But if she’d adopted the story of Lana then she’d need to get the details exactly right, hence the rebuke and the question of identity. I thought she was still working on her lying and trying to get one past him. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-5-08-hardhome-5-31-15-show-discussion/721309/252 "2015-06-05T02:34:02Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > I thought she was still working on her lying and trying to get one past him. Yes. Not only to improve her own deception skills, but also perhaps to see if he was still as perceptive as he’d earlier seemed to be. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-5-08-hardhome-5-31-15-show-discussion/721309/253 "2015-06-05T07:43:54Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > It seems like a reach that Arya would go from barely able to lie convincingly to being able to do face changing magic like that. She herself doesn’t necessarily have to be the one doing the magic, does she? ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-5-08-hardhome-5-31-15-show-discussion/721309/254 "2015-06-05T07:45:30Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > I thought the wight walkers could be killed by fire, but the one Jon was fighting was awfully cavalier about walking around the building that was on fire. White Walker. Not wight walker. Although White Walkers do walk wights.😃 > [@JeffB](#): > > I think it was established that burning corpses prevents them from becoming wights, not necessarily that it’s the only thing that kills them. > [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Jon stabbed the shit out of one in season 1 with no ill effects shown by the wight. Probably a continuity error, IMO. And Osha or whatever her name was told a story about stabbing her wight husband with no effect. So to sum up, fire for the wights, Dragonglass or Valaryn steel for the Walkers. I suppose you can hack wights to pieces rendering them immobile. > [@AK84](#): > > Was the White Walker who became Ice Cubes dressed as a Brother of the NightsWatch? The King of Ice at the end certainly was. I almost expected him to say “ah another Brother”. > 😃 > > Was the Lady Wildling taken down by her own daughters? She certainly seemed to freeze when she saw the kid’s corpses. No, her children were safely away on the boats. I think she just freaked at the sight of undead children. > [@DrCube](#): > > Jon had several swords at the beginning of the fight. The White Walker shattered them all, until he unsheathed his Valyrian sword, then the White Walker shattered instead. I can only assume he was keeping his best weapon for last. And the lesser swords were doing just fine against the zombies, it was the White Walker at the end who destroyed them. I thought ‘Longclaw’ got knocked out of his hands and fell outside and he just grabbed whatever weapon was handy until he was able to retrieve it. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-5-08-hardhome-5-31-15-show-discussion/721309/255 "2015-06-05T07:57:18Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > This is going to sound like a really stupid question, but here goes: How may different types of “being” were there in that crazy army? I get that there were White Walkers and Zombies (or whatever they are), but there seemed to be some “regular folk” as well. Or were they just in the early phase of being Zombies or WWs? The battle scene was a bit confusing, at least for me. What is the relationship between the zombies and the WWs? Do the zombies get killed (ala _Walking Dead_) if you shoot them in the head or rip their heads off? I suspect there are two “beings”. The White Walkers are tall and sort of petrified looking. The Zombies, Jason & The Argonauts Skeletons and Blue Eyed Wights are all variation of reanimated dead (AKA “wights”). Just with different mileage on them. I found the battle confusing too, but I think that’s ok. The army of the dead don’t wear uniforms. They’re just reanimated Wildlings, so it should be hard to quickly tell whose who. Which actually made it a lot scarier IMHO. > [@John\_Mace](#): > > I like how, at the end, the boat that Jon Snow was in kept moving out to sea even though no one was rowing. A few thoughts on that: A) Jon needs to screw their Nights Watch vows and get that coxswain laid or something. Because I certainly wouldn’t have held that boat for that long. B) I would NOT be just casually drifting away with the current at that point. Jon can have his staredown on the stern of the ship…as it heads across the Narrow Sea to South Essos at full sail. ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-5-08-hardhome-5-31-15-show-discussion/721309/256 "2015-06-05T08:23:54Z")
How many wights could a white walker walk if a white walker could walk wights? I wonder if we’ll ever see the ice spiders as big as hounds. My theory now is that they’re just a legend started by someone who saw a skeletal wight and didn’t know what he was seeing. ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-5-08-hardhome-5-31-15-show-discussion/721309/257 "2015-06-05T09:20:27Z")
I really hope there’s a mashup out there where the final scene of the reanimated dead rising morphs into the Thriller dance. Please, interwebs? ---
**Author:** ![nate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nate/32/13085_2.png) [@nate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nate)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-5-08-hardhome-5-31-15-show-discussion/721309/258 "2015-06-05T12:18:56Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Yep. And full of boats to take you to safety. > I like how, at the end, the boat that Jon Snow was in kept moving out to sea even though no one was rowing. After re-watching this episode last night, it looked to me like the boat wasn’t moving away from the shore (the distance from the shore to the boat remained constant), but that the wind along top of the water pushing small waves towards the shore made it appear as the boat was moving. ---
**Author:** ![davidw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c4cdca/32.png) [@davidw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidw)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-5-08-hardhome-5-31-15-show-discussion/721309/259 "2015-06-05T13:20:05Z")
> [@singular1](#): > > I really hope there’s a mashup out there where the final scene of the reanimated dead rising morphs into the Thriller dance. Please, interwebs? Well, there’s this: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODNc4LX5cac&feature=youtu.be](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODNc4LX5cac&feature=youtu.be) ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-5-08-hardhome-5-31-15-show-discussion/721309/260 "2015-06-05T14:16:34Z")
> [@nate](#): > > After re-watching this episode last night, it looked to me like the boat wasn’t moving away from the shore (the distance from the shore to the boat remained constant), but that the wind along top of the water pushing small waves towards the shore made it appear as the boat was moving. Pretty sure it was moving (after watching the _Thriller_ overlay), but it may have simply been the inertia of rowing to get away from shore initially. Dude may have just been catching his breath, having done sprinted to get out of reach. ETA: > [@msmith537](#): > > Jon needs to screw their Nights Watch vows and get that coxswain laid or something. Because I certainly wouldn’t have held that boat for that long. Technically, there is nothing in the vow forbidding getting laid. No wife and no children, yeah, but it is a loophole. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-5-08-hardhome-5-31-15-show-discussion/721309.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-5-08-hardhome-5-31-15-show-discussion/721309.md?page=14)