Game of Thrones 4.7 "Mockingbird" (spoiler alert)

[NewJeffCT]

Tyrion enlists an unlikely ally. Daario entreats Daenerys to allow him to do what he does best. Jon's warnings about the Wall's vulnerability fall on deaf ears. Brienne follows a new lead on the road with Pod.

should be interesting. From the preview, it looks like we may get that "only cat" moment tonight.

No show next weekend as it's Memorial Day weekend. HBO did this last year when they aired the Liberace movie, and we had to wait an extra week.

[NewJeffCT]

1. Interesting article on Sansa here

Don't really agree, though I do know there is a small, but vocal, group of book readers that hate Sansa - I think mostly because she's not Arya. Joffrey, Walder Frey and now Ramsay Snow are much more hated - not to mention Viserys from season 1. Heck, there's also Janus Slynt and Aliser Thorne as well, not to mention creepy Craster.

http://www.seattlepi.com/entertainment/tv/tvguide/article/Defending-Sansa-Why-Game-of-Thrones-Girly-Girl-5484091.php

[seaglass]

2. I think there is a lack of respect for Sansa but disagree that she is the most hated. For female

characters I disliked Cat way more than Sansa.

Not a fan of this author describing character traits as man-like or woman-like. The article is pretty much bs.

[NewJeffCT]

3. Cat, Sansa, Cersei and Dany

all have their detractors. Arya seems to be pretty well liked overall. And, some people think Brienne is boring, but I don't think there is a lot of hatred for her.

[seaglass]

4. Yes it's true. I think I disliked Cat more when I was reading the books than watching the show.

There are so many unlikeable characters, it's a good thing Martin has no qualms about killing them off.

[NewJeffCT]

5. true

even Tyrion from the books has quite a few detractors - the TV show has made both him & Dany a bit less grey in terms of their shading.

[OriginalGeek]

6. I've become a Sansa fan from the show

I didn't like her in the books - but I still haven't read the last 2 so maybe I would have come around...

[NewJeffCT]

7. I never hated Sansa

never a huge fan, either. I'm intrigued to find out where her storyline is going, though. Is she going to be a young female version of Littlefinger, or is she going to try to be that and fail? Or, something else altogether. We kept hearing how the Eyrie is impregnable, though, so I'm sure something will eventually happen where the castle falls - is it to flying dragons who melt it from the air, a la Harrenhal, or will it be to a handful of brave soldiers who scale the mountain and overcome the few guards in the castle proper?

[d_r]

26. I think Sansa is actually pretty tough

She keeps her cool and hangs in there in the red keep while all that crap happens to her.

[NewJeffCT]

8. Short interview with Owen Teale/Ser Aliser Thorne

seems like he's the opposite of his character on TV.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/game-thrones-actor-owen-teale-7132956

[NewJeffCT]

9. kicking off now

should be good.

[NewJeffCT]

10. nice scene with Tyrion and Jamie

and, then the cut to The Mountain as Cersei's champion

[NewJeffCT]

11. Bronn telling Tyrion he can't fight

he's going to marry Lolys Stokeworth...

[NewJeffCT]

12. Extended nude scene from Carice van Houten

rather gratuitous

[Yavin4]

13. It was gratuitos

Appreciated, but still...

[Baitball Blogger]

14. So, why did Arya kill the man?

They just assumed they were robbers and that's that?

[NewJeffCT]

16. Not sure

to put him out of his misery? Or, maybe because she told him she was Arya Stark?

[Liberal Veteran]

19. I thought it was because he threatened to shove a stick up her bunghole and....

...fuck her bloody.

[Baitball Blogger]

34. I missed that one.

Watching the replay now.

[Duer 157099]

43. ^^ this is why

he was one of the guys in the cage being transported to the wall when Arya left Kings Landing

[Blue_Adept]

46. Which was waaay back in season two

Show can be dense that you can miss a lot. I only recalled it since my daughter is watching for the first on Blu-ray and I'm rewatching with her.

[Duer 157099]

48. Yeah. Seems that it isn't only the Lannisters who pay their debts

Arya does too.

[TorchTheWitch]

25. She remembered them

It was Biter and Rorge who were locked up in the cage with Jaqen when they were all being taken to the Wall by Yoren. She never put them on her list because as she said she never knew their names. At that time Rorge had yelled at her that he was going to steal Needle and stick it up her bum. This was how she first met Jaqen when he called her lovely girl and asked her to bring him water while he was stuck in the cage with Biter and Rorge. She even saves them when the fight with the guards happened and the cage caught on fire by tossing in an ax they used to break themselves out. These were the three lives Jaqen says she saved from the Red God and why he owed her three other lives of her choice.

But after all that instead of being grateful to her Rorge and Biter hunt them down to deliver Arya to Cercei for the gold. Biter naws a chunk of flesh out of the Hound's neck, and Arya killed Rorge both for what he said to her back then and probably more because they're going to try to capture her to bring to Cercei.

The Hound kills the dying old man because he doesn't have the courage to do it himself, and was dying slowly and painfully from his wound. In the books it was called giving the gift of mercy. Friends would kill friends on the battlefield for the same reason, but even enemies would give the gift of mercy to a slowly dying enemy if asked. It was considered honorable to put someone out of their suffering by quickly killing them. It's also what Maester Lewin asked Osha to do for him when he was dying after being stabbed when Winterfell was taken. Though they didn't show her doing it you know she does before rejoining Hodor, Bran and Rickon as when he asks her to do it quickly she grabs hold of the handle of her dagger and looks at him for confirmation, and he nods to her. One of the saddest moments in the series for me even though the show didn't actually show him dying. By the end of the third season I was still more effected by his death than even Ned Stark or anyone at the Red Wedding.

I damn well nearly cried when the Hound was talking to Arya about what his brother did to him and admitting that it is why he's so afraid of fire and won't let her burn his wound to sterilize it. He knows that it's likely to fester and that it won't be long until he's in the same position that old man was that he gave the gift of mercy to by killing him. But will she do it. She hates him, but in a lot of ways she cares for him, too.

I also nearly boo-hooed when Oberyn was telling Tyrion about when he was a baby and what Cercei did to him and that she even wanted him dead back then. Though he had no lines during that Dinklage did such a great job expressing the pain he was feeling. He's such a good actor.

[Baitball Blogger]

35. Dang. I wish we lived close by so we can watch this show together.

So much detail that I missed!

[TorchTheWitch]

41. I save them and replay them

Every time I watch an episode I pick up something I missed before. I've never known any show that you have to pay attention to so closely. Sometimes it's just one line or one word or just a look that means volumes that's so easy to miss. I watch all the shows from every season over and over, and I STILL pick up on things I missed before.

And sometimes having read the books just complicates things. What happened to Rorge and Biter was a whole lot different than what happened in the show. I had really expected the Hound to die right at the beginning of this season since in the book he's drunk when that fight happens in the tavern and he gets a really bad leg wound and croaks soon after. But I like it better in the show that they didn't kill him off the same way and having him and Arya still traveling together with them learning that they care about each other more than they had expected. In the books I didn't care all that much about the Hound dying or how or even how it affected Arya, but in the show now I'm probably going to be all upset when he gets it.

I've been really liking how the show is so different in this season from the books so that I'm not even really sure that certain people ARE going to die or how they did in the books, so it's more exciting for me that way since I really don't know either what's going to happen next or why.

Sansa almost getting thrown out the moon door was a lot scarier in the book since it was sort of drawn out and she had one foot out in the air with the other one sliding out and really nothing to grab onto with her hands. In the show it just didn't seem as terrifying since she had that low wall to grab onto. It just didn't have the same impact really since you don't get the feeling that she's about to drop any second. I think it might have been better if they had her hanging down gripping onto the stone and Littlefinger pulling her out or something like that at the last second after he shoves Lysa out. And without the singer I don't see who he's going to blame it on or maybe he actually tells the truth that she went mad and tried to throw him or Sansa out the moon door. In the book there was a singer that was a real jerk but that Lysa adored for some reason that was there that it was easy to place the blame on. Since no one liked him everyone was happy to believe that he did it. So in the show I have no idea how they get out of this one or if they really do.

[Baitball Blogger]

42. I came across a synopsis for the Hound's end. Possible spoiler

I read so many reviews that I don't know if it's someone's best guess, or if it will happen in Season Four, but it does look like the Hound will meet his end, much like the books suggest it ends. I don't personally like it, because it means that he dies by choice because of his fear of fire.

[didact]

66. It's my guess the Hound won't die...

yet, and isn't dead in the books either?

[TorchTheWitch]

69. sorry to say he dies

I had expected him to go out this season right in the beginning. With the last episode it's pretty clear that he's not going to make it and he knows it all because of his acute fear of fire.

In the book he gets stabbed in the leg during the tavern fight, it festers and he dies. Arya just leaves him to die slowly and painfully deciding not to give him the gift of mercy (that's what it was called in the books when someone quickly kills a person that is slowly dying painfully usually because of a ghastly wound that is beyond help either because of the nature of the wound or there being no hope of getting medical help like how Maester Lewin has Osha do for him). It bugged me in the book that Arya doesn't give the Hound the gift of mercy and just leaves him alone in the forest to die slowly and painfully. Arya in the books isn't nearly as likeable as she is in the show. I hope they don't do that in the show.

According to the writers a ton of people die this season... many many more than last season which is true to the books. I expect that everyone that died in the books will die in the show though possibly in a different way and later or earlier than in the books. So far though every death in the books has happened pretty much the way it did in the books and by the same people. The only difference I see with the Hound's death is that rather than getting his death wound the same time and place as in the books they had him stick around more with Arya getting his fatal wound later and not in his leg probably to make his death more dramatic with them getting along and almost becoming friendly with each other. Actually, in the book he also got a wound to his neck but it wasn't that wound that was the one that killed him. With what happened in the last episode he'll be dying in the show because of his neck wound that festers.

The Hound is going to have to die since it's the reason that Arya's storyline goes the way it does. And besides, it's already assured how and when with the foreshadowing in the last episode.

I'm still uncertain about how one particular character is going to die though since even in the book it was rather disturbing mostly because of who does it and why. I still expect that character to die but possibly by someone else or in a different way. It would be really disturbing in the show since in the book the two characters weren't as close as how they were portrayed in the show.

The Hound is going to have to die since it's the reason that Arya's storyline goes the way it does.

[Hayabusa]

74. At the Quiet Isle.

Read that description of the Gravedigger again...

Get Hyped...

[Baitball Blogger]

76. I cannot wait for tonight's episode!

[NewJeffCT]

77. Forgot there was no show last night?

I was going through withdrawal, but I heard The Normal Heart was really good.

[Baitball Blogger]

78. Thankfully, I had plenty to keep me busy.

But, that moment when I realized there was no GoT, just awful.

[NewJeffCT]

79. Preview of this coming episode here

I really hope they keep Oberyn's reply to Ellaria's Sand's comment from the video, "You're going to fight that?"

[Baitball Blogger]

80. Hmm...Sansa has put herself in danger.

[NewJeffCT]

81. My guess is

that she's going to prove that she's a believable liar for the first time, but I can't say for sure.

[NewJeffCT]

45. yes, that scene with Oberyn telling the story about Cersei

that really was tough to watch on screen.

[NewJeffCT]

15. Oh Come On

They couldn't have Littlefinger say, "Only Cat"???

one of the most memorable lines of the entire series, and they change it and have him say, "your sister"?

[Liberal Veteran]

18. Yeah....I had a moment of nerd rage about that.

I wanted the whole hysterical:

“Tears, tears, tears,” she sobbed hysterically. “No need for tears… but that’s not what you said in King’s Landing. You told me to put the tears in Jon’s wine, and I did. For Robert, and for us! And I wrote Catelyn and told her the Lannisters had killed my lord husband, just as you said."


Ending with the "Only Cat."

And it looks like Marillion got a reprieve, although losing his tongue to Joffrey might be why they didn't include him in this scene.

[NewJeffCT]

22. Yes, that was another book change

No bard there for Littlefinger to blame. "Guards, this singer has just killed my Lady Wife..."

[Marrah_G]

62. I was wondering where the bard was too

How is he going to explain her death?

[TorchTheWitch]

70. I've been wondering that myself n/t

[Hayabusa]

29. I've seen a fandub of that scene

made just an hour of it airing, where it replaced "Your sister" with Ray Dotrice saying "Only Cat" from the audio book.

I don't see any reason for the change at all, save for the facts that most TV producers think TV viewers have the memory capacity of goldfish.

[NewJeffCT]

30. well, considering that she died in such a memorable fashion last year

I would hope not. Or, why not, "your sister, only Cat"

[Hayabusa]

31. I would have prefered

"Only Catelyn" instead of what we got.

[TacoD]

61. The TV show doesn't use the diminutives Cat, Dany, etc. very much. (nt)

[NewJeffCT]

64. True, but it has been used

I remember in episode 1, Robert greeting her with "Cat" and Viserys called her Dany. However, with Dany now Queen of Slaver's Bay, the Unburnt, The Mother of Dragons, etc, she's graduated beyond merely being Dany.

[NewJeffCT]

17. So, Tyrion has his champion

Interesting that they brought back Oberyn's intro to Tyrion in the books to the scene in the prison. In the books, Oberyn met Tyrion outside the city and told Tyrion how when they last met, he was a big disappointment, and went on to tell basically the same story, but in a humorous way, not the sad way from tonight. It worked well, though.

[Baitball Blogger]

20. It was very touching.

I don't see how it could be humorous. Tyrion was as down as I ever have seen him. So when he sparked up at the news that he had a champion, it hit the right chord.

[NewJeffCT]

23. It would take too long to set the scene

the humor was more from how Tyrion was a disappointment the first time, and how Oberyn & Elia had heard stories of the Lannister monster, etc, but when they got there, he was only a baby with a head that was a little too big and he was constantly screaming for a woman's breast to soothe him, and Tyrion commented how that part hadn't changed in him at least. So, it kind of made Oberyn like Tyrion from the start, even though he hated Lannisters overall. Then, he went into the story about Cersei pinching his private parts until Jamie pulled her off...

[Hayabusa]

44. I'm kinda sad the cut the "Baelor Breakwind" part of it as well.

About how a mistimed fart and a joke about it led to tragedy.

[Baitball Blogger]

21. Call me Peter.

I so know now who is going through that moon door.

[NewJeffCT]

24. Preview on the next episode in 2 weeks

[TorchTheWitch]

27. I'm never going to be able to wait for two weeks

I've never known any tv channel postponing anything because of a holiday, so I'm not at all happy about this.

[NewJeffCT]

28. They did it last year, too

They aired Behind the Candelbra last Memorial Day.

I guess in Season 2, they did not skip a week and the Blackwater episode only had so-so ratings.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

32. And the episode after that break was "Rains of Castamere"

Probably the biggest moment in television history. (At least for non-book readers such as myself).

I wonder if we'll be similarly shocked again this year?

[NewJeffCT]

33. Each of the last three episodes

Should contain some really big moments.

Maybe not "Red Wedding" big, but pretty damn important in the grand scheme of the show.

[Baitball Blogger]

36. I just realized that Tyrion is in direct path of Little Finger's plans.

Unless someone warns Tyrion of Little Finger's deceptive ways, he's got another misfortune awaiting him.

[NewJeffCT]

37. well

You never know, next episode could be Tyrion's last...

[Baitball Blogger]

38. That would just suck.

I refuse to believe it.

There are characters that make the story interesting. Remove them, and you just lose all interest. I would say that Tyrion and Arya are the two that are top on my list.

[blogslut]

55. I have a theory about fiction writers:

They tend to (possibly unconsciously) write at least one character that represents them. I think Tyrion is George R. R. Martin.

[Baitball Blogger]

56. I can see that.

[Ohio Dem]

68. I always thought the character that represents Martin

is Samwell Tarly.

[NewJeffCT]

73. I can see some of Sam in him, too

I'm going to feel strange tomorrow night - 8 weeks in a row of watching The Walking Dead, followed by 7 weeks of watching Game of Thrones... withdrawal symptoms tomorrow.

[TorchTheWitch]

71. I could swear I saw a question and answer session on YT

Where Martin was asked that question and he'd said that it was. It was one of those multi-cast member things including Martin and the two show writers in front of a live audience where the people in the audience asked the questions.

[TorchTheWitch]

58. I don't get it - how is Tyrion involved in Littlefinger's plans?

He can't marry Sansa... he's having her pose as his niece. He doesn't want a wife anyway. He wants her totally dependent on him with him having all the control of her. And he doesn't need to marry her in order do the rumpy-pumpy with her.

I so love that "rumpy-pumpy" phrase!

By the way, thanks for pointing out that "flip-wallop" thing that Charles Dance said in that interview... somehow when I watched it before I totally missed that one.

[Baitball Blogger]

59. You are probably right about Sansa.

All he needs to do is control her. Though, who do you suppose he plans to marry her off to? Since that potential alliance would have importance to Little finger.

[TorchTheWitch]

60. I actually don't remember who it was in the books

that he planned to marry her to. It wasn't any of the long time characters we know and love/hate. Which is probably why I don't remember. And of course, it was strictly for some sort of strategic value of benefit to him in some way.

[NewJeffCT]

63. Harry the Heir

no? Harrold Hardyng, next in line for the Arryn throne if something were to happen to little sweet Robin.

[TorchTheWitch]

65. something like that

All I really remember was that it was someone who was in line for the Vale but not Robin. Sine in the books he was a lot more sickly than the show seems to portray him I suppose he was bypassed because he wasn't expected to live very long and maybe his age as well.

[jakeXT]

39. We got a good a look at the new "Mountain"

starts at 12:30

[NewJeffCT]

40. He's about 9-12 inches too short

to be the Gregor Clegane of the books - described as closer to 8 feet tall than 7, so I call him 7'7"



He's certainly got the bulk to play The Mountain, though.

[Yavin4]

47. Why is she always smiling around him?

[jakeXT]

49. I think she always smiles

http://vimeo.com/90776927

[NewJeffCT]

50. Yes, she seems to be different than the people she plays

Queen Cersei, Queen Gorgo, etc

[NewJeffCT]

51. Book Spoilers

Did Lena Headey give away something on her instagram recently?

http://www.mtv.com/news/1828152/game-of-thrones-lena-headey-lady-stoneheart/

[Duer 157099]

52. I don't get it

Explain please? Spoilers ok for me. Thanks

[NewJeffCT]

53. OK

Please swipe below.
[font color=white]
The stones are arranged in the shape of a heart. At the end of Book 3, the epilogue to A Storm of Swords, a big turn of events takes places with the emergence of a new character that is dubbed Lady Stoneheart. [/font]

[Duer 157099]

54. Oye. Totally forgot about that.

Arrrrrgh!!! Thanks.

[didact]

67. Never liked Stoneheart...

of all the resurrections this one I thought was the most useless, but hey - I didn't write the story? The makeup and how she's done should be good though?

[TorchTheWitch]

72. I never liked her in the books

Made me sorry she was resurrected at all. Then again, I never liked her character much even when she was alive. I admit it, I wasn't all that sorry she was killed at the Red Wedding. There's things about Cercei's character that I actually like better than anything about Cat.

[NewJeffCT]

57. This week's "If Game of Thrones Took Place on Facebook"

http://happyplace.someecards.com/got-recap-season-4/if-game-of-thrones-took-place-entirely-on-facebook-season-4-episode-7/

[jakeXT]

82. Why ‘Game of Thrones’ needs more sex scenes

During this “Game of Thrones”-free weekend, I found myself thinking about the most recent episode of HBO’s fantasy epic.

Halfway through “Mockingbird,” Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) solves a problem that has been nagging at her since the beginning of the season. Daario Naharis (Michiel Huisman), the hunky mercenary who joined her entourage last season and has been pursuing her since, shows up yet again to profess his love. Amused, and maybe a little irritated, Dany tells Daario: “Do what you do best. Take off your clothes.” He obliges, dropping trou and doing a tiny bit to counterbalance “Game of Thrones” roster of naked ladies. End scene.

I suppose I should have been relieved that the show had demonstrated a little bit of restraint, given that “Game of Thrones” has never met a brothel scene or a disemboweling that the showrunners decide is better left off-screen. But the uncharacteristically chaste decision to skip over the love scene right to Daario’s departure from Dany’s chambers the next morning was actually a mistake. Maybe “Game of Thrones,” a program that features so much coitus during monologues that the critic Myles McNutt coined the term “sexposition” to describe it, needs more sex scenes.

Of course, by sex scenes, I mean something very specific. I am not referring to people having intercourse who happen to be in the frame while something else actually related to the core plot happens in the foreground. I am not calling for more scenes where significant male characters lounge around in brothels, checking out the naked merchandise, or hang out in hot tubs with prostitutes who are there to jiggle appealingly and flatter their clients’ egos.

..

Instead I wonder if “Game of Thrones” needs more sequences in which grown-up couples enthusiastically consent to mutually pleasurable sex.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/act-four/wp/2014/05/27/why-game-of-thrones-needs-more-sex-scenes/