2.09: Game of Thrones - Blackwater

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The aftermath of the Battle of the Blackwater sees the winner reward his followers while Tyrion finds himself in a strange situation. In Winterfell, Maester Luwin has some final advice for Theon. In Harrenhall, Jaqen H'ghar gives Arya a gift, and Dany visits a wondrous place in Qarth. Beyond the Wall, Jon Snow pleases Qhorin with his actions.

Directed: Neil Marshall
Written: G.R.R. Martin

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Apologies. The synopsis above is completely wrong and I should not have trusted the [explicit deleted] episode guide. But what you will see is the Battle of Blackwater mostly from Lannister's point of view. The highlights are Tyrion's battle scenes before Stanis sets hit foot on ground and after Joffrey runs away in crucial moment tail between his feet. And the Hound makes a suggestion to Sansa. Otherwise you won't see any of the other sides in this episode that GRRM were credited for the writing.

[Mouse]

I enjoyed this one. Bit grim in places, but aren't they all. So wish there was a woman there to kick some arse rather than them all huddled and hiding but that's 'realism' for you.

Love, love, love Bronn. And Loras looked foxy.

I do like Shae. Spoiler - don't read if you've not read the books: I never liked what happened to Shae in the books. I can't remember exactly what she did that made Tyrion do what he did, but I always thought it was out of character.

[Boaz]

Mouse, I also enjoyed Bronn's performance. I want to see more Bronn, but I don't want him to become too familiar, you know? I want him to remain enigmatic.

Towards that end, I thought having him boost the morale of his men before the battle was good. But I thought it was out of character for Bronn to go out of his way to purposely antagonize the Hound... that was a dangerous move and Bronn is all about cold calculations that add to his bottom line, not irresponsible adventures. That being said, it's always fun to watch two heavies square off.

The crew I watch the show with were all up in arms when Joffrey left the battlements. I hate Joffrey as much as the next reader, but that was a hard decision for a fourteen year old to make.

Lena Headey continues to do a good job with Cersei, even if she is not the full figured vixen of the books. She is vindictive to the end... I loved her moment with Tommen.

Ilyn looked freaky nasty.

[Mouse]

I really liked Cersei in this ep too. (I mean, I disliked her, but thought she was great.) The bit with Tommen almost made me bawl - showed her in a good light, I thought.

[Mesanna]

I absolutely loved this episode! It's the best thing I've watched on TV in ages. The wildfire explosion was effing awesome, and I wanted to cheer as Tyrion rallied the troops. (I think I may have bounced up and down on the couch a little, but I'll put that down to too much coffee.)

I loved the Hound's scene with Sansa, though I wonder if some non-book readers will be wondering why he offered to take her to Winterfell, as they've had nowhere near the interaction on TV that they have in the books.

They're certainly playing up Cersei as an alky (as we say in Scotland). Is this going to be the reason for her craziness? Too much booze?

And Tyrion's nose is still intact!

[southron sword]

Originally Posted by Mouse

So wish there was a woman there to kick some arse rather than them all huddled and hiding but that's 'realism' for you.
.

Seriously? 'Realism' to you is Highborn ladies with their servants fighting in a battle against crazed men with axes and swords next to a river of fire?

[Warren_Paul]

Originally Posted by Mesanna

They're certainly playing up Cersei as an alky (as we say in Scotland). Is this going to be the reason for her craziness? Too much booze?

I wonder if they are making her compare to Robert in a way. He turned into an "alky" under stress, and so is she, making her no better then him... in a way. Although Robert always was a bit of a drinker.

Originally Posted by Mesanna

And Tyrion's nose is still intact!

I wondered about this, and I think they made the right choice, even though it's changed. Loosing his nose is fine in the book, but this is a TV show, we would have to watch him walk around with no nose. It would be disturbing. This way he will still get a scar, but not such a disturbing one. Last thing they want is viewers feeling sick every time they see Tyrion.

We can't complain about changes made compared to the book with this episode because it was George Martin who wrote and directed it - his one episode per season as due him, and what an episode to choose!

Overall, best episode of the season, by far. Every character did their best in this episode. Loved it.

[Culhwch]

After talking up what a spectacle they were going to make of the Battle of Blackwater, what with the increased second season budget and all, it was very... meh. Everything bar the exploding ship was on such a small scale - and I know everyone will yell at me about it being a TV budget and what more could I expect, but as I said - they'd made a point of how epic it would be.

Didn't get the point of Bronn's scene with the Hound (except to squeeze in some flesh). Sansa's role has picked up nicely, just a shame the actress can't keep up. Davos didn't get to do much in the battle, which was unfortunate.

My wife (a non-reader) has said she is enjoying this season a lot more than the first, for two reasons - less flesh and a greater understanding of what is going on. It still took a deal of explaining and watching all the season one DVD history vignettes to get her to that stage, though...

[Keldaris]

Good episode overall. I'm a little sad about some of the things that were left out.
1:Tyrions chain >.>
2:Ser Mandon's death wasn't quite the same, was more dramatic in the book
3:Sing me a song Little bird,and a bloody kingsgaurd cloak
4:The antler men and the catapults
5:Renly's ghost
6:Not enough Davos!!

Not really complaining though, enjoyed the episode Tyrion's little pep talk with the troops was awesome. And I loved seeing sansa get abit of a reality check via drunken cersei.

[ctg]

Originally Posted by Boaz

The crew I watch the show with were all up in arms, when Joffrey left the battlements. I hate Joffrey as much as the next reader, but that was a hard decision for a fourteen year old to make.

I wished Tyrion would had given a wink to Hound, when Joffrey climbed up there to mock the little man and they would had tossed him down to the other side there and then, but guess, it wasn't going to happen, was it?

Sing up to Joffrey-must-suffer-before-he-dies club.

The other thing was when Hound came back and effed all down, I thought Joffrey would had jumped on his and tried to take him down, but guess there's some grey matter under that blond hair, eh?

[Mouse]

Originally Posted by southron sword

Seriously? 'Realism' to you is Highborn ladies with their servants fighting in a battle against crazed men with axes and swords next to a river of fire?

No. Read what I've written again.

And just in case I'm not clear, I'm saying realism is them hiding.

[Bugg]

Originally Posted by Culhwch

After talking up what a spectacle they were going to make of the Battle of Blackwater, what with the increased second season budget and all, it was very... meh. Everything bar the exploding ship was on such a small scale - and I know everyone will yell at me about it being a TV budget and what more could I expect, but as I said - they'd made a point of how epic it would be.

Didn't get the point of Bronn's scene with the Hound (except to squeeze in some flesh). Sansa's role has picked up nicely, just a shame the actress can't keep up. Davos didn't get to do much in the battle, which was unfortunate.

I agree with you completely, I was a little underwhelmed by the battle (but at least we got to see one, finally), and the lack of any real prior interaction between Bronn and The Hound rendered that scene totally pointless, imo.

[Boaz]

What was the gain for Bronn in provoking the Hound?

Joffrey's attention? No. Bronn does not want Joffrey angry at him. And even if he thought he could replace Sandor, he would much rather be Commander of the Gold Cloaks than wear a White Cloak.

Would he want Cersei's anger? No. At the moment Bronn likes flying under her radar as long as Tyrion is his benefactor.

Did Tyrion want the Hound dead? No. Sandor may be a brute, but he's a Lannister brute and sworn to Joffrey... Tyrion was happy to have him at Joffrey's side.

The only thing Bronn had to gain was the respect of his men. Yet I don't think that Bronn would just chance his life on fighting the Hound in a fair fight. He'd have waited for Sandor to get stinking drunk or else he'd have had three crossbowmen behind Sandor. Either way, his men will know it was not a fair fight.

If Bronn just needed to kill someone to impress his followers, he'd have picked a surer target.

Like I said before, I enjoy watching heavies square off (I'm supposed to avoid spoilers in the TV forums, yet just let me say that there are some duels coming up featuring heavies... and if you were not expecting these fights, then why are you watching), but this one did not make logical sense.

[Mouse]

Personally, I didn't think Bronn was purposely provoking the Hound. Or, rather, he was, but perhaps didn't think the Hound would be so easily provoked.

Either way, I wondered if that woman was cold was no clothes on. And I also found myself wondering if the actress was embarrassed. She didn't look it.