Yup, I think so. Ultimately, what alternative was there vs. a fanatic who wouldn’t have accepted sexual favours. As soon as she saw her brother was useless - BOOM! she switched.
True, but he was used as a plot point in the last episode of last season. They lured Jon to the ambush by telling him they had found Benjen. They even showed his face in the previously on scenes that episode.
I did not remember him from the 1st episode so I had to go back and look him up. I recognized him in this episode since in between he played the evil Chief Inspector Shine on Ripper Street.
I think the Mountain would have an advantage because he’s a corpse and things like poison and pointy swords wouldn’t have much effect on him.
And he has a height and weight advantage of about five Aryas. Although I wouldn’t expect her to be able to get across the narrow sea too easily in the first place, the Faceless tokens are presumably one-way only.
Come on, don’t act like we don’t know yet who will be fighting Ser Gregor. 
There’s only one guy for that job.
And next episode is called “The Broken Man”. I think he’ll finally be making his appearance in it.
Gregor might have more than one fight left in him.
When did Jaime say anything about Riverrun? Jaime is at King’s Landing - we literally just saw him trying to save Margaery and tongue-fucking Cersei. I don’t remember Brienne saying that either (and we last saw her at Castle Black), but she’s just going to follow Sansa wherever she goes now.
With his dismissal from the Kingsguard, he’s being sent by Cersei to help the Freys retake Riverrun.
And from the previews:
We see him confronting the Blackfish there.
Sansa ordered her to go to Riverrun and make contact with her uncle, despite Brienne’s protests that her place was with Sansa. So Jaime and Brienne have the potential (probably the certainty) to meet again.
Do you think the Hound has joined the Sparrows? He would look pretty funny with his head shaved and the Sign of the Seven carved into his forehead.
Ah OK, I suppose I wasn’t paying much attention to those conversations. Thanks.
Ever since the first season, Sam has been reading very old books and dropping bits of knowledge about how they originally fought the white walkers. Just as Arya really doesn’t need to (and shouldn’t) graduate from assassin school because she’s meant to do greater things, Sam doesn’t need to formally become a maester. Yeah, the chain is cool, but “saving the realms of men from the Night’s King and the white walkers” will be just as impressive, if not moreso, on his CV. 
He might need to understand how to make Valeryan steel, and now he has a sword made of Valeryan steel. I believe the next crucial ingredient is, lemmesee, dragonfire.
Yeah.
The character Ian McShane is playing is the monk-type guy who will cause his transition.
It’s obvious that Marg was playing the Sparrow and Tommen, I’m not sure how anyone is considering otherwise. There’s no narrative material that suggests she was ever considering becoming a genuine convert. She knew Loras would soon break and so she had to go for a new plan. She’s going to manipulate the situation enough to get out of there, and then manipulate Tommen back into being under her control once she’s out.
The “Sam goes to Maester school” plotline never really made sense (except as a way of saving Sam from the rest of the NW). The threat at the wall is real and near and Sam is the closest thing they’ve got to a Maester - he’s familiar with the library and has the best shot of uncovering old knowledge needed to beat them. The idea that he’s going off to school for a few years to become an official maester is very silly. He’s missing all that valuable time studying the books at the wall, and the whole damn night’s watch is probably going to be wiped out during his first semester.
The Hound witnessed the Lord of Light raise a man from the dead. I can’t imagine why he would then choose to worship the Seven. Well, I guess there is that whole “fire” thing.
I’d father Sam’s brother serve as his father’s champion; if only to see the look on Lord Tarly’s face when he sees his favourite son & heir killed by the son he disinherited. Also it would be much harder for Sam to kill his brother than his father.
Thanks. I assumed it was CGI, at least as far as putting Coster-Waldau’s head on a stunt double; I just wanted to know if it was actually possible for a horse to do that.
Speaking of the Night’s Watch sending Sam to the Citadel; aren’t maesters required to renounce any prior loyalties and accept assignment where the Citadel sends them? Wouldn’t the Night’s Watch count as Sam’s House in this case? If that’s the case then wouldn’t he need to be released from his vows in order to train as a maester, or do different rules apply for the Watch?
Well the High Sparrow did tell Cersei that Maergery & Loras would be tried by judges of the Faith (ie a tribunal of septons & septas) like in ancient times. Of course the underlying principle of trial by combat is that the Gods will intervene to ensure the guilty party condemned/innocent party acquitted.
Margaery’s is obviously going to be a greater influence over Tommen than the High Sparrow now. Especially since in addition to the sex she now basically has unfettered access to him and can be alone with him without worrying about a septa listening at the door.
Well technically Sam has neither a wife nor a child, but that doesn’t matter (though Gilly probably is his wife by Wildling custom now). I agree it’s doubtful he’ll end up a maester for those exact reasons.
So does Jaime get his inheritance rights back now that he’s been dismissed from the Kingsguard? I’m assuming Uncle Kevan took over as Lord of Casterly Rock when Tywin died instead of Cersei inheriting in her own right.
Yeah, I agree that there’s not enough time for Sam to complete a maester’s training. But he may be at the Citadel just long enough to uncover some critical piece of information in some tome he hasn’t had access to before at the Wall. Like Arya, he’ll drop out of school before getting his degree.
Like the cure for greyscale (16-bit color?).
Also, can’t wait until Bran meets up with Jon*:
Bran: “Hey Jon, you won’t believe this, but I found our uncle Benjen!”
Jon: “Oh no, not falling for that shit again.”
- borrowed from Reddit
My friend brought up an inconsistency in the writing of the faceless men: The bitch girl told Jaqen “I told you. Can you let me kill her?”
Now, if these are faceless people (“a man” and “a girl”), with no personal desires clouding their judgement, why did the bitch girl want to be the one to kill Arya? It should be all the same to them, no matter who kills Arya.
Having personal feelings and desiring vengeance is against what these people have been touted as being: “faceless” and “no one”.
Is this indeed a lapse on the part of the writers, or is there some fanwanking to make this work?
Jaime offered Tywin that he would resign from the Kingsguard and take over as heir if Tywin would spare Tyrion. (Tyrion screwed the deal by insisting on a trial by combat.) So yes, Jaime should be the official head of the Lannister family now and Lord of Casterly Rock.