Yeah, this was the first episode I can recall that I didn’t like. Too much of what you describe above. A few more thoughts:
Ellaria and the Sand Snakes all hanging out at a pavilion near the beach seemed an odd setting choice.
The Sons of the Harpy sure made mincemeat of the Unsullied they fought. Sure, the latter were outnumbered, but only Grey Worm gave a proper accounting of his army’s legendary prowess.
Wondering if Sam will ever head to the Citadel…
Sansa still seems unconvinced by Littlefinger’s plans and her ability to carry out her part in them. She hasn’t turned the corner on becoming a conniving baddass yet. I don’t much like the current state of this storyline.
The Loras-for-Margaery trial swap seems like a good choice, although I wonder how Cersei will now be cornered into the accusations that lead to the Walk of Shame.
With Varys now split from Tyrion, I’m not sure it made sense for the show to have him accompany Tyrion. Varys’ plot in the books is much more satisfying.
My wife and I were both surprised by Barristan’s death. Though I hold out hope until I see his actual funeral my own eyes next week.
But it makes sense, narratively. In the books, Tyrion and Mormont are still at the circus of the freaks, right? Or wandering the desert for 40 years. Something like that. So Dani still needs an advisor from King’s landing.
But in this story, they’ve apparently made it to Mereen by next week, so there has to be some sort of movement on that front.
Oh and can I just say that the unsullied apparently suck ass at this whole fighting thing. Seriously unless the Sons of the Harpy happened to also be Unsullied in disguise, those trained-from-birth soldiers -who were on high alert and active patrol - got their ass handed to them by a bunch of townfolk.
Varys eventually ends up killing Kevan Lannister with a crossbow bolt. Kevan was named Regent to Tommen after Cersei’s imprisonment. He also kills Pycelle. More info here:
Indeed. All of this is spot on. In the books, the Sparrows were causing all sorts of problems all over the land - as the War of the Five Kings had basically decimated the country. The Sparrows were become quite a force of their own and the High Sparrow said they’d stop all of the stuff they were doing if Cersei re-instituted the Faith Militant. She was basically forced into it, but even then I think it was supposed to be considered a bonehead move.
re: Barristan - So… Barristan is dead, but in the books he’s still alive as of sample chapters in Winds of Winter - in fact he’s basically the Regent of Meereen (He’s officially “Hand of the Queen”) as Dany is out in the Dothraki Sea with Drogon. Maybe this means that when Drogon kills the fighting pits folk, she doesn’t go out in the Dothraki Sea to collect a new Khal? Or perhaps Jorah wins his way into Dany’s graces and takes Barristan’s role in the books?
In the books, Jorah and Tyrion are part of the army (mostly made up of sellsword companies and armies from Yunqai and Astapor, which have been retaken by slavers) that is gathered around Meereen, besieging the city.
Seriously. That was highly disappointing. When I saw the ambush I was expecting the townfolk to viciously attack while the 5 or so Unsullied join together in an impenetrable defensive formation and wipe the floor with the Sons of Harpy. What happened instead was quite a surprise.
Actually the high sparrow got elected high septon and then negotiated with Cersei to forgive the crowns debts to the church (i believe they owed the church several million gold) if she would agree to get the King re institute the faith militant. Cersei went back to red keep acting like she pulled of a huge coup by saving a few million, everyone else saw it as a huge huge mistake.
As far as the Unsullied/Sons of the Harpy go, eh. The Unsullied are soldiers, not policemen, they fight with long spears and in formations - I don’t think it’s a stretch to say they wouldn’t be trained for street fighting. Then again, if the Sons of the Harpy are a bunch of noblemen, they shouldn’t either.
I think Sam still will, they’ll just have Aemon die at Castle Black instead of on the trip.
I expect Cersei will get in trouble by way of Lancel telling the High Sparrow about their trysts.
Or maybe a certain dwarf with Hand of the King experience…
As much as Tyrion did well leading the City Watch in the Battle of the Blackwater, I’m guessing he’s not going to desire to do that again in the Second Battle of Meereen ;).
I’d also guess you’d need a decent figurehead for the city to follow. You could easily imagine the city of Meereen following Barristan Selmy. Tyrion Lannister? Nah.
Well, technically they have gotten rid of the Special Rule, and you can mention that the Books exist- but spoilers are completely verboten, and in general, it’s best to follow along with the OP’s requests in his Opening post. So, let’s not pee in his cornflakes, eh?
I guess I’m in the minority, for the most part I like the changes. The events are moving at a far brisker pace than in GRRM’s last book, which I found almost unreadable.
My only complaint is that Barristan’s (assumed) death diminishes his reputation as the hardest toughest bad-ass in the realm. It takes some of the shine off of the speculative philosophical discussions of “Barristan vs Batman” of “Barristan vs Rocky Balboa”.
I think it’s clear that he’s nowhere near what he was in prime, his perhaps-hyperbolic claim that he could still cut through the rest of the kingsguard like butter not withstanding.
Still, as a 65-year-old or so, he killed 7 or 8 guys before being taken down. He went out (if he in fact is dead) like a boss.
Much more disappointing was Loras Tyrell being arrested without a struggle, although that makes sense if the church militant guys are viewed as actually having some legitimate authority, which I guess is a bit unclear. After all, if cops showed up to arrest some MMA guy, there’s a good chance he would go along peacefully just because they’re cops.