God fucking damn this show. They make an episode about the Battle at the Wall and don't fucking finish it? What the fuck is the point then if it is just going to carry over into next episode. Now instead of Stannis' crowning moment as a legitimate King being at the end of one of the biggest episode. It's going to be relegated to the fucking middle of a final episode where everybody is going to be concerned with Tyrion and then fucking hyped beyond all imagination with LSH. For as well as the show has portrayed Tyrion it has done such a poor job of Stannis. And considering how their arcs go from here it's a massive mistake.
from a tv pov it makes some sense, though. having ygritte die *and* stannis arrive would give a sense of double ending syndrome
But now episode 10 is going to be a cluster fuck of stuff happening. How does Stannis saving the wall fit with: - Tyrion's escape. - Jon talking with Mance - Bran reaching the Tree. - Dany locking up the dragons. - Arya leaving the Hound. - Lady Stoneheart. All in 66 minutes. It's too much to fit into one episode without it looking rushed. Unless they plan on drawing out some of the about into the next season, which is just stupid on so many level. This episode ended 8 minutes short, and started with 5 or so minutes of Sam asking what sex feels like. It was utterly wasted and means a much more important scene is getting less time later.
nah they had to build up the humanity and shizz of the watch. we can't just be told "we're all gonna die", we need to be shown the characters dealing with it. sam wanted to know what it was like to get a root because he's going to die a virgin. i'm pretty surprised they split it as well but tbh the battle at the wall, if you're going to do it justice, doesn't really fit into one episode anyway. it's a huge chunk of Jon's ASOS arc which is why they had to make stuff up for him to do. in 20/20 hindsight they could have begun the siege earlier in the season then concluded it in one big episode. tbh my main gripe with the show is edd's character isn't as awesome as it is in the books. sansa, jaime and edd are the point of the series come on.
did ser alliser survive? they were dragging him away while he was shouting at them to defend the gate but we didn't see him die.
I was pretty disapointed at no stannis. Was kinda expecting something not too dissimaler to tywin at end of bsttle of blackwater
The way I'd do it would be to start with Jon alone and have him meet Mance, and thats when you bring in Stannis. All one continuation from the previous episode maybe 15 minutes long. Thats when we can bugger off everywhere else.
Needs a bigger build up of the wall being fucked before it gets saved. The cliffhanger for tv viewers is the fact that it seems like the wildlings will get through no matter what. Stannis can come episode 1 next season.
stay north and work your way vaguely south imo. jon -> bran -> arya -> dany -> tyrion -> Brienne -> lady stoneheart. that's 6 plotlines (brienne + LS together obv) in 66 minutes. that's over 10 minutes per character. easy. surprised pyp died. when he stayed seated during jon's call for volunteers to crasters i thought he would take the role of bowen marsh. looks like bowen is gonna pull a roose and show up out of nowhere in the season he matters. edit: im assuming stanstan tears are the reason behind westeros forums crashing.
i'm not necessarily disagreeing with this but the point remains that once they structured the episode such that ygritte dying was more or less near the end, they couldn't have another "ending" after such an emotionally heavy moment because that would just be horrible pacing. it's the fundamental issue when you're trying to turn a fairly continuous medium (a book) into a discrete one like an episodic tv series - you gotta pick your endings.
The other way to do it is to do it like the book. Cut out the shit bit with riding out to Craster's keep and have the wildlings attack castle black from the south in episode 2 or something. Then you can have Ygritte's dying done well, and have the siege done properly in 1 episode
Seriously worried with all the talk about the previews "showing" Arya and the Hound meeting Brienne. How the fuck would that even work?
I'm a believer in the Hound = Gravedigger theory. He left behind his old life (and armour), thereby letting the "Hound" die. And went with that Septon to the isle to live there.