If so, that’s their choice, and their risk. The meme has entered the culture.
John Snow is alive. Oh my God. I did not see that coming.
Deus ex machina
Presumably it’s designed that way on purpose so that they can cut the bridges in the event the other keep is taken.
I suppose the short answer is that the Lannister’s hold over King’s Landing is not that strong. Tywin is dead. Tommen’s a nice guy but a weak and inexperienced king. Jaime’s hand still hasn’t grown back so he’s not the swordsman he once was. The brains of their particular operation - Tyrion and Varys - are in exile. Margaery and Loras are still hostages, so the Tyrells won’t be of much help.
Plus I assume the Lannisters still have a massive debt to the First National Bank of Braavos and reduced manpower from the War of the Five Kings.
The only thing they have going for them right now is Cercei has her giant new friend and she’s super pissed.
Tyrion did have a “I immediately regret my decision” moment after which he asked Varys to punch him in the face if he ever did that again.
When Robb went to war he sent Theon to try to convince his father to attack the Lannisters, Balon rightly figured this was a stupid idea and attacked the empty north instead taking several of their main castles (Moat Cailin which Theon helped Ramsay take back last season, Deepwood Motte which Yara had taken and apparently finally lost on last nights episode, and Winterfell). They are pirates, they get beat on land now that the northern armies are mostly back.
Me, too, and I think they staged the scene that was, so it was ambiguous at first.
Yeah, they were focusing on Ramsay’s face and he clearly had an “I just got shanked” look.
Same here. I was really excited that Ramsey was finally being put down, though also disappointed that he didn’t get a worse comeuppance. And then Roose fell down. Oops.
Ramsey is a good example of the Dunning-Kruger effect, isn’t he? He’s competent in certain areas, just enough to think he knows everything. But he’s not smart enough to maintain his grip on The North. I don’t think Roose had a great shot at it, and there’s no way Ramsey can do it alone, especially without Roose holding his leash. There’s no way Ramsey gets a happy ending, but I expect that he’s going to commit many more horrors before he gets what’s coming to him.
I think Roose had a good shot at it if Ramsay had behaved.
There’s no perfect real world analogy for the Sparrows, but let’s try one:
As large as 1973, Islamic fundamentalism seemed like a small, disorganized movement, one that almost nobody paid much attention to. The CIA had a huge presence in Iran at that time, and they monitored EVERY possible threat to our ally the Shah…EXCEPT the threat posed by Islamic fundamentalists. That’s PARTLY because, as educated, secular Westerners, most CIA analysts couldn’t imagine religious fanatics winning widespread support or attempting to usurp governmental power. The Ayatollah Khomeini was in power before the allegedly smart guys at the CIA even grasped the difference between Shiite and Sunni.
Now, in the real world, would smart, secular folks ever try to make alliances of convenience with Muslim fanatics? You bet! And have those alliances ever turned around and bitten us on the ass? Heck, yes. The U.S. agents who armed the mujahadeen sure didn’t foresee that our “allies” might one day destroy the WTC, did they?
Cersei and the CIA tried to make use of religious fanatics, thinking they were being smart. But the religious fanatics were smart, too. They took the weapons Cersei and the CIA offered, then turned on their “benefactors.”.
Wouldn’t take much, find some sellwords in fleabottom, pay someone enough money to take the head sparrow down with a poisoned cross bow bolt when he goes walking through the city. Then appoint their own candidate while using the Kinsguard to quell any disorder that follows in the city.
The sparrows are really the most powerful faction in Kings Landing right now. Your average mercenary might be sympathetic to them or at least fear their retribution.
I think we were meant to be confused over who stabbed who because at that point either of them could have done it. Ramsey had ceased to be helpful to Roose’s cause. Ramsey knew his days were counted.
Anyone has any idea what Ramsey’s gift will be. Will it be Rickon, Theon, a Samsa look-alike?
Sam, here’s a brief history of the Byzantine power-grab machinations in the Iron Islands along with an explanation of the Kingsmoot:
I definitely thought it was Ramsay doing the stabbing, as he was the one who went in for the hug and Roose looked like he wasn’t sure what Ramsay was about to do.
What’s interesting is the timing of the events. I don’t think Ramsey really wanted Roose dead, and was actually discussing tactics with Roose and young Carstark before the announcement of the son being born. If the baby was a girl, I don’t think he would have killed Roose. However, Carstark didn’t seem the least bit surprised which tells me that Ramsay must have already mentioned the possibility.
I think there was a mistake this episode. The Karstark guy said the Starks lost their loyalty when they executed his father, but the reason the Karstark lord murdered the Lannister captives was because his son’s died to Lannisters. Two during the battle and one during Jamies escape. If he had a healthy grown heir he probably wouldn’t have been quite so reckless in the first place.
Thanks **DigitalC **and Waltzes with Cacti, I think that catches me back up with things there.
Didn’t they discuss the urgency in the previous scene?
Two of their cities had fallen, their navy was soaked kindling littering the docks, and an entire district had switched allegiances.
Seemed pretty dire to me.
This whole show has been trying to teach the characters about the folly of weak security for their kings. No one has learned any lessons yet.
It’s possible this is genuine, but it’s so over the top that I think they saw the popularity of some of the Red Wedding reaction videos and wanted to create their 15 minutes of youtube fame.