I actually appreciated Brienne's chapters a bit more from the perspective that she's seeing how 99% of the world really is - no honor, no loyalty - just people surviving and trying to get by. It takes forever for her to make those realizations, but I think it's setting her up to be part of Dany's honor guard once she hits Westeros. Brienne clearly feels more connected fighting and serving a woman - Catelyn, looking for Arya, Renly - and would be a great fit, particularly if Barristan Selmy isn't long for this world.

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Brienne clearly feels more connected fighting and serving a woman - Catelyn, looking for Arya, Renly

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Did you just call Renly a woman?

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I think society called Renly a woman.

I agree that Book 4 was much better the 2nd time around. There is a lot going on that you can easily miss the first time because it is hard to see where Martin is going, it has a lot of connection points for later parts of the story. Unfortunately without any Dany or Tyrion who are two of the most interesting characters it really suffers compared to the other books.

You can also tell that Book 6 is going to be the most action packed since Book 3, it has to be. You have the Battle of Ice in the North about to happen, the Battle of Fire in Mereen that has Victorian arriving, Dany meeting up with the Dothraki, Jon Snow's situation, Theon in big trouble, King's Landing about to blow up in a big way with the death of Kevan and Pycelle and the return of Varys combined with Cersei about to go to trial, Arianne going off to meet Young Griff who has landed in Westeros, and Jaime going off with Brienne to meet LSH. That doesn't count Bran or Arya or Sansa or Davos or whatever is happening in Dorne or the WW of course. Most of that will have to be addressed fairly quickly in Book 6. Wouldn't surprise me if Book 6 kills off major characters in a way to make the Red Wedding look tame.

I wonder if they are going to have Sansa play the part of LSH since it appear they wont actually have LSH come back. have darthSansa, thru Littlefinger start wrecking shop on Boltons and Freys as paybeck for the RW...

anyway, just a harebrained theory i was contemplating the other day

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I wonder if they are going to have Sansa play the part of LSH since it appear they wont actually have LSH come back. have darthSansa, thru Littlefinger start wrecking shop on Boltons and Freys as paybeck for the RW...

anyway, just a harebrained theory i was contemplating the other day

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very well could be...interesting. i might like a ruthless pissed off sansa...would be an improvement over whining, cowardly sansa.

ive said on many book threads books 4 and 5 are much more enjoyable read together. over half of affc takes place sequentially before adwd, but they can be read as a single volume since there is still much overlap.

http://boiledleather.com/post/25902554148/a-new-reader-friendly-combined-reading-order-for-a

I think Sansa will be a big role-player in the Starks taking back the North. Just a gut feeling.

This may sound odd, but I always kind of thought Sansa was screwed since she doesn't have her direwolf anymore.

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This may sound odd, but I always kind of thought Sansa was screwed since she doesn't have her direwolf anymore.

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I don't think its odd, but I think it's more symbolism than a direct result.

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I agree that Book 4 was much better the 2nd time around. There is a lot going on that you can easily miss the first time because it is hard to see where Martin is going, it has a lot of connection points for later parts of the story. Unfortunately without any Dany or Tyrion who are two of the most interesting characters it really suffers compared to the other books.

You can also tell that Book 6 is going to be the most action packed since Book 3, it has to be. You have the Battle of Ice in the North about to happen, the Battle of Fire in Mereen that has Victorian arriving, Dany meeting up with the Dothraki, Jon Snow's situation, Theon in big trouble, King's Landing about to blow up in a big way with the death of Kevan and Pycelle and the return of Varys combined with Cersei about to go to trial, Arianne going off to meet Young Griff who has landed in Westeros, and Jaime going off with Brienne to meet LSH. That doesn't count Bran or Arya or Sansa or Davos or whatever is happening in Dorne or the WW of course. Most of that will have to be addressed fairly quickly in Book 6. Wouldn't surprise me if Book 6 kills off major characters in a way to make the Red Wedding look tame.

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Don't forget the highly anticipated meeting of Davos Seaworth, Rickon, and Sh****dog!

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Yeah, i don't think they set up the glamour at all. It would come completely out of left field at this point. I'm guessing this is what GRRM meant when he said some people will die that aren't dead in the books. Kind of wondering who Jon will send to save fake Arya.

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Tormund? If they bother with that plot line at all.

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Can Tormund sing and play the harp?

If Jon does not send Mance and his girls to Winterfell, it completely changes the Pink Letter scenario, which in turn will change the NW mutiny.

I suspect that series-Mel and series-Jon simply promised Rattleshirt a merciful death. Mance is still with us.

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Don't forget the highly anticipated meeting of Davos Seaworth, Rickon, and Sh****dog!

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I wonder if they are going to have Sansa play the part of LSH since it appear they wont actually have LSH come back. have darthSansa, thru Littlefinger start wrecking shop on Boltons and Freys as paybeck for the RW...

anyway, just a harebrained theory i was contemplating the other day

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very well could be...interesting. i might like a ruthless pissed off sansa...would be an improvement over whining, cowardly sansa.

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That would make sense in terms of how the show is going. They are really combining characters en masse. The only thing I'm not sure if I buy is that LF would have to be in on it and really would be the one pulling the strings, Sansa has no resources of her own. I could see him doing so because he roots for chaos though and it benefits him to weaken the Boltons and Freys.

93, completely agree. we aren't supposed to talk about future leaked episodes though correct?

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That would make sense in terms of how the show is going. They are really combining characters en masse. The only thing I'm not sure if I buy is that LF would have to be in on it and really would be the one pulling the strings, Sansa has no resources of her own. I could see him doing so because he roots for chaos though and it benefits him to weaken the Boltons and Freys.

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Maybe LF gets her started, and if they are combining her with LSH, she gets carried away and takes LF out as well. Then she just runs wild

I could see her doing both things; but I think she realizes how valuable LF is, so she lets him stick around; I believe at first he is pulling the strings she requests, then becoming more comfortable in her new "skin" she takes over and starts with the orders etc. no one questions her because she'll tell LF.

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You can also tell that Book 6 is going to be the most action packed since Book 3, it has to be. You have the Battle of Ice in the North about to happen, the Battle of Fire in Mereen that has Victorian arriving, Dany meeting up with the Dothraki, Jon Snow's situation, Theon in big trouble, King's Landing about to blow up in a big way with the death of Kevan and Pycelle and the return of Varys combined with Cersei about to go to trial, Arianne going off to meet Young Griff who has landed in Westeros, and Jaime going off with Brienne to meet LSH. That doesn't count Bran or Arya or Sansa or Davos or whatever is happening in Dorne or the WW of course. Most of that will have to be addressed fairly quickly in Book 6. Wouldn't surprise me if Book 6 kills off major characters in a way to make the Red Wedding look tame.

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Okay, you've convinced me. I'll read book 6 when it comes out. That really was a great recap though. There's definitely a lot that has to happen in book 6 if book 7 wraps everything up. A lot of people need to travel, die, etc.

i think the close pass between Sansa/Litttlefinger and Brienne/Pod may be foreshadowing....hard to believe it was just a comical near miss....

i could see Brienne taking up for Sansa in revenge against the Frey's and Bolton's in memory of Cat - assuming Lady Stoneheart is really not returning and giving Brienne the ultimatum.

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i think the close pass between Sansa/Litttlefinger and Brienne/Pod may be foreshadowing....hard to believe it was just a comical near miss....

i could see Brienne taking up for Sansa in revenge against the Frey's and Bolton's in memory of Cat - assuming Lady Stoneheart is really not returning and giving Brienne the ultimatum.

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I did not like Catelyn Stark when she was alive. I like her even less now that she is dead.

I could definitely get behind Sansa taking on the role of LSH. She needs to get into some kind of action, been a fairly boring character thus far.

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I could definitely get behind Sansa taking on the role of LSH. She needs to get into some kind of action, been a fairly boring character thus far.

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I agree

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93, completely agree. we aren't supposed to talk about future leaked episodes though correct?

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Haven't seen the leaked episodes but the combining of characters is hardly a secret. They have to dumb down the story for show watchers so they can follow all the storylines and characters. I don't mean that in a "show watchers are dumb" way, just that it is impossible to tell the size of story that Martin has written on video without doing so (or without a truly unlimited amount of time and budget).

Kind of reminds me of an interview Martin gave on what the "Real Iron Throne" should look like. Essentially he said in order to do it properly they would have to use Westminster Abbey as a set and spend a year and a couple million dollars building a prop they wouldn't be able to move. As it is they shoot the Red Keep scenes in the largest set in the UK and have a massive thrown they have constructed that is already hard to move. It is kind of irritating though when they throw in scenes like LF talking about how the Iron Throne doesn't really have thousands of swords with the only reason for that happening is the show couldn't afford to do it, not because the story doesn't allow for it. Small thing but irritating.

interesting stuff tonight:
Sansa was outted as Sansa, gotta assume people at the inn overheard
Bronn/Lollys seems to be differing from the book
the house of black and white exterior was impressive

Good episode, but way too many Dany scenes. Anyone else hoping for splattered by rocks or crispy Dany at the end?

I agree about the no trial for that guy. Such a stupid decision by her, but that is par for the course for her current storyline.

This damn show has made Daario way too likable. Also, I guess jaqen isn't in old town? Or that part of the books isn't that interesting to hbo?

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I guess jaqen isn't in old town? Or that part of the books isn't that interesting to hbo?

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We do not know that the dude in Old Town is even Faceless, much less Jaqen in particular..

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I guess jaqen isn't in old town? Or that part of the books isn't that interesting to hbo?

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Book reader here, but PLEASE do not contaminate the Series thread with unproven Book theories.

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What are you talking about? This is the book readers thread and there's been ton of theories and speculation in every one of these each season.

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What are you talking about? This is the book readers thread and there's been ton of theories and speculation in every one of these each season.

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My bad. Forgot which Series thread I was on. Too many GoT threads.

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Did AggieHank86 just out himself as being a reader who goes to the TV only thread and pretends not to be a reader?

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WTF?

I like the Books and I like the Series. I read all of the threads.

Decent episode but they are playing a dangerous game. There was more new content that is outside of the books in that episode than there were things consistent with the books. That's fine but they are essentially saying they know better than Martin with that many changes. The amount of hopping between storylines also makes the show suffer. Think about it:

Arya arrives in Braavos but gets rejected and then accepted at House of Black and White? Don't understand what purpose that served. Obviously Jaquen is now back which is a change.

Dorne intro was ok but really didn't accomplish much.

Jaime and Bron are now heading to Dorne, Bron is dumping Lollys?

Jon gets elected LC but they foreshadow the hell out of it and make it anticlimactic. They did have the offer of "Jon Stark" which was good.

Brienne, Sansa, and LF are so different I don't know where that is headed other than some new combo of multiple characters mixed with new content.

They did manage to make me feel like the Mereenese Knot is in full effect (which is the one thing I wanted them to cut) but did it in a different way. Dario is unrecognizable to the books.

As I said it isn't all bad but it is truly becoming a different story. I'm almost ready for them to get past the books so it won't be distracting to me.

LIttlefinger's general idea in the books is to have Sansa revealed as surviving and have her rally the North behind her (with him as her puppetmaster). The only place he could possibly be taking her that is safe from Cersei is to the North to rally the troopss. So that's not too far off the books. But it's hard to imagine book Sansa not running to Brienne of Tarth with open arms once that she heard she had sworn an oath to Catelyn.

I liked the Arya part. In both book and show, it feels like everything that transpires with her once she gets to Braavos is a test by the Faceless Men. In the show, they're testing to see how she reacts to the initial rejection.

Thought Bronn was hilarious in his treatment of Lollys and a tip of the cap to bookreaders in what he had planned to do to get him and her into the big castle. Obviously you can't waste a character like Bronn on some insubstantial ending. He's got to go with Jamie to Dorne if only to keep the one-armed wonder alive for a while. I wouldn't mind a Bronn vs. Aero Hotah fight at some point.

While the Dany scenes took up a lot of time - especially since I don't give an eff about slave guy living or dying - I thought Barristan Selmy gave her a great piece of advice by relaying how her father was about power and justice, and it was a nice visual image of foreshadowing where she feels trapped in the pyramid, trapped in Mereen, only to watch Drogon soar off without a care in the world.

Looking forward to a return of Reek and Ramsay next week. Was watching some older episodes, Alfie Allen, what a friggin' transformation that guy can do with his body language as he goes from one to the other.