Spoiler There's the other guy the show has been hinting would make the best ruler. Hasn't been subtle, so could be misdirection.
This is kind of a case of the show messing with the timeline of the books. In the books, the Siege of Riverrun happens shortly after the Red Wedding. One of the Lannister cousins is named Warden of the West and he leads the Lannister army that was already in the Riverlands fighting Robb Stark. Jaime travels with only a handful of men to Riverrun where he takes command of the siege. The debt isn't much of an issue at that point. Also, the Lannister's and Tyrell's are still on good terms (though still wary of each other) as this is before either Cersei or Margaery have their run ins with the Faith. Well, that's exactly what they did with Stannis. They funded Stannis' army on the promise that he would repay the crown's debts once he took the iron throne. The Iron Bank doesn't want revenge, they want their money back. So they'll put their money in someone to could take the throne, raise taxes, and resume payments. But they're not going to fund assassin's like the faceless men. And how many people know Dany is even planning to take the Iron Throne? She doesn't even need money. Her army follows her out of loyalty, not because they're getting paid. The Iron Bank needs somebody who needs them, who will be indebted to them and thus resume payments should they take the iron throne.
Seeing Lannister armor again made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside I hate to say it, but I'm glad that Ian McShane was killed off already. He was utilized very well and to keep the possibility of even his return alive would cast a superfluous shadow. I'm sure the book readers would agree that it was refreshing to see Yara (Asha) becoming more like how she is in the books: fierce, proud, ironborn. And of course Sansa is reaching out to Littlefinger/The Vale. I'm glad to see that she isn't on some crazy upward trajectory since finding her voice (aka Dany). Also, just a heads up: the books resolved the Blackfish-Riverrun-Jaime plot already so watch out for spoilers. It includes some solid dialogue, so I'm excited to see how the show depicts it.
Not just the tata's, most every scene in last night's episode was tremendously authentic looking, really rich in detail and scope, on par with the best movie cinematography. Really thought Ian McShane was offering hope and redemption in his green paradise of peace...... nope.
Solid episode. Loved the Queen of Thorns laying the verbal smackdown on Cersei. Setting up some big stuff (as has the whole season).
Right, Dany doesn't need one of those butterfly tattoos next to her hoo-hoo with the inscription "Aim C** Shot Here". EDIT: Check that. What was I thinking? In Dany's case, it would be a dragon tattoo, wouldn't it? Sort of an alternate version of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". Carry on.
The last two episodes have been all about moving things around, 3 episodes left. Can't wait to see how this all plays out in these last 3, should be an interesting resolution with some major battles.
I'm calling it. Cersi is going to die at the end of the season. Her character is all but useless now anyways in the grand scheme of things. It also helps that she stated over-confidently that she has no chance of loosing her trial by combat because she has the Zombie Mountain which in the Game of Thrones universe usually means she isn't going to win her trial by combat. I'm actually pretty certain now along with most here it's going to be the Hound who is going to fight the Mountain in Cersi's trial by combat and the Hound will finally get his revenge.
Last night was a little slow, but I understand we need some set up for the big finale. I had 2 major issues with the episode: 1) At the end of the last one, Arya had Needle at the ready -- and went to sleep in complete darkness expecting to be attacked. She went from that to just chilling in the streets knowing they had to be coming for her, and they could look like anyone...and she just walks right up to her would be attacker? What the ****? Seriously. 2) So, they were able to swoop in, kill everyone, and leave without a trace while Hound was in an ear shot. He just happens to hear the very last woman alive screaming, comes to check, and no one is there? Some pretty awful writing there. There's been a long standing fan theory that it would end up being the Hound vs the Mountain.
I'm expecting the Mountain vs the Hound in Cersie's trial by combat. I expect the Hound to win and Cersie to die or at least be sentenced to death. I'm looking forward to seeing Lancel die next week though (at least thats what it looks like in the previews).
Arya walking the streets of Bravos with her guard down was silly. She knows to be paranoid of any stranger coming up to her, but to be stabbed and sliced in the gut by surprise is the writers dumbing Arya down. It could all be her ruse, but I doubt it. We don't really know how far away the Hound was when the Brotherhood attacked, or how many men they brought. There were plenty of arrows all over, so I'm expecting a fair sized raiding party that would've quickly dispatched defenseless peasants. At least we didn't have to sit through 20 minutes of the Adventures of Sam and Gilly featuring Incest Baby or another Dany scene with her clothes on.
Yeah, I think he's a goner before she bites it. Personally, I thing she's got some plan going because she's been the cool collected one this season compared to how's she's been in past seasons.....
Seeing as how Season 7 will have only 7 episodes, it's no surprise that so much "setting up" is being done this season Edit: My mistake, season 7 will have 7 episodes, but there will also be a season 8 that could have 6 episodes.
That's incorrect. There's going to be a shortened 8th season as well. It's more likely that there are 17 more episodes left.
He didn't seem that far away from the way it was filmed. I'm not concerned about their ability to kill the people quickly, but the fact that no one was still around when he got there was a bit hard to believe. You're right about Sam and Gilly...yick.
I don't think that was really Arya - she set them up somehow by having some other girl posing as her, wearing her face - a skill she probably figured out how to do already.