On the Unsullied issue, keep in mind that the only one where they got outfought was the last battle of the show. The other ones were ambushes on unarmed men. The one with Grey Worm and ultimately Selmy, the Unsullied were seriously outnumbered and in a pincer situation with long spears. They messed up the Sons of the Harpy pretty bad, but eventually are just overwhelmed by numbers and the fact that they are using spears.
Also agree with everyone that the Sand Snakes SUCKED. Horrible. I like Bronn, but the whole bro trip to Dorne is kind of stupid in my mind. Jamie is useless. And how exactly would they rescue the princess? She is in the castle yes? One and a half men are going to do what exactly to get her out of a castle they don't know with no allies? LOL
Jamie really had to get out of the Capital on order for Cersei to really have her arc for the season. Also had no familiar face happened upon Dorne, they probably would have had to cut the entire location out of the show storyline. Dorne is such an important place to the world that it would have been crazy to not find a way there at some point. This is a family that was married into the Targaryan family so they are important. So Jamie and his daughter Marcella are plot devices, but necessary ones. I just hope that the conflict interactions they get in Dorne are from the Prince Doran who has an actor portraying him that I trust rather than the goofy Sand Snakes. Its a Game of Thrones so I doubt Jamie is really going to be successful with this mission as bad of an idea as it sounds. Jamie's best course of action probably is to broker some type of deal with their prince rather than shedding blood which they've already done. I guess we will wait and see if that story line is just a plot device or if it gets interesting at some point.
I did like the Bronn/Jaime scenes where Jaime can't do the rowing or digging because he doesn't have a hand. Nice touch. Eh, still not buying it. It just hurts the credibility of this narrative that the Unsullied are these badasses. They didn't look badass. They were outnumbered but not too badly. They apparently still choose to carry spears exclusively, even though veteran soldiers like these should know to pick their tools fit to purpose, or at least have a secondary weapon. And, though they were caught in a pincer movement, they showed no teamwork among themselves to counter.
I think they've commented before in the show that the Unsullied aren't as impressive as people think. Someone made a comment about how anyone with gold could buy some unsullied. They are badasses in the sense that they have no fear and are fiercely loyal and well trained, but you can't make people smarter. Selmy for example is a great fighter despite his age because of his brains. I also think you underestimate how outnumbered they were. I just did a quick review on HBOGO. It's 7 unsullied against somewhere north of 20 sons of the harpy. There's 11-13 on one side for sure, the other side it's hard to get a hard count on from the editing, but if you assume they went equal numbers, it's somewhere between 22 and 26 Sons of the Harpy against 7 Unsullied. So a better than 3-1 ratio. That's pretty badly outnumbered. You add Selmy to the pick and one old man and 7 Unsullied killed all of them.
I don't think it needs to be spoilered due to what you discussed. I don't actually know what's going to happen to Shireen but they've definitely been building up Selsye's willingness to sacrifice her. I agree with you that they're not going to kill her. Either the Red woman is just giving Selsye the Abraham-Isaac test or Stannis will intervene and kill one of them. Either that or the prophecy is harmless in some way... Another character could get grayscale and she could convince them that life's worth living. Somehow this seems plausible in the context of the show.
Spoiler below regarding fate of character in the show: (not a book spoiler, a show spoiler confirmed by an actor/actress) Spoiler Arggggggghhh...Thar be spoilers ahead! Spoiler Last warning, the spoiler is about Ser Barristan... Spoiler Ser Barristan Selmy is dead. The actor confirmed in an interview that the great Ser Barristan the Bold has fallen. He was very sad to leave the show, but the "demands of tv" require high points and surprise deaths.
I know the show and the book author don't like "happy endings" or whatever, but I do think they like to give us small victories. In that vein I hope they give us a scene where his wife is ready to kill Shireen, sacrifice her, and Stannis kills his wife instead, choosing his daughter. It might not mean much to the overall arc of the show, but it would be a minor victory, and we fans need those because the show as a whole deals a lot of defeat.
Aaaaaahhh!1! Spoiler that ish! (Actually, suggest that you identify the character in the first spoiler and then the fate in the next one, in case anyone wants to know who the spoiler is about without knowing the outcome.)
Are we not supposed to discuss the latest episode without spoilers? I apologize if that's what you were referencing. justtx, I'm sure the show will give us a happy ending for Shireen in establishing a secular society. Her refusal to embrace religious fanaticism is central to the show. Stannis is, will soon be fed up with all of this witchery. Her predictive powers are questionable at best. She did that whole leech ceremony to convince them that she had some mystical power. I don't think she can even see the future. Calling Rob Stark and Joffrey's deaths isn't too impressive. What do you guys think? Can she see the future in the fire but not cause it? Or does she just make obvious predictions, potentially based on inside info?
Wouldn't Stannis standing up to the Red Woman have more dramatic and character implications? Stannis' wife is really just a bi-product of Stannis using her anyways (or the Red Woman using him however you want to see it). Stannis dropping the religious fanaticism that none of us really buy (using it more or less to get power & retake the throne), probably has more redeeming qualities. Of course once he actually redeems his characteristics then its probably bad news for his longevity on the show. I hope nobody thinks of this as spoilery since I have no idea what is going to happen based on the books, and what little connection this story has in relation. I think we are getting pretty close to not having to use spoilers anymore for GOT anyways other than a few plot-lines that might get changed anyways.
It takes 3 clicks to get to the spoiler, but I did add a name to the last warning spoiler. LOL Reading interviews the actors have done is pretty exciting/nerve racking for the season. Is it considered spoilers to discuss something an actor/actress says foreshadowing tone of future episodes?
Based on GoT maxims (and no knowledge of what will actually happen), Stannis is = likable character ergo, Stannis = in deep ****. :grin:
Interesting posts guys. I think the Red Woman has proven that she has real magic. Add that to Thoros who revived the guy (can't remember his name) in an earlier season and we have no reason to doubt they possess real magic. Now it is certainly possible that she can "see the future but control it." But she does have power to manipulate it at the very least on a micro level with her shadow babies lol. Yeah, that is a way it could go. The wife and Mel are going to kill Shireen and Stannis picks Shireen over them. It's being foreshadowed with Mel asking Stannis if he would leave her behind again.
It seems like the "freaks", outcasts etc. are guaranteed to survive in this series. Is there a counterpoint to this? If you're a likeable character that lacks a deformity you are in trouble.
A lot of moving parts are working against Stannis right now: 1) He's about to go to war. Obviously that puts all lives in danger. 2) Littlefinger expressed supreme confidence in a Stannis victory. 3) Stannis winning gives a potential happy ending to Sansa 4) His daughter is an object of importance for Mel and scorn for his wife. This puts her in danger and his love of her puts him in danger. 5) Brienne of Tarth wants to avenge Renly Baratheon and is on a collision course with him at Winterfell.
Jojen Reed had physical ailments and died. The Hound is apparently dead. The Mountain is something close to dead. Crazy aunt Lysa was a freak and she died.
Ah yes, That big frumpy b**** taking out Stannis and inadvertently screwing Littlefinger and Sansa would make a ton of sense.
