I wonder if this will hurt ratings. One can only take so much let-down from a downed favorite standpoint. Not saying I would, but I was irate. I haven't read the books, and I've sated away from potential spoilers. On another note, does Jon Snow know that Ned was executed? I forget
I had just prepared breakfast before the last scene, and when it came along I just sat there unable to eat. God damn it, and when I thought Game of Thrones couldn't blow my mind any more, it just did. WTF is going to happen to all the politics then? In everybody's eyes (since Bran, Rickon and Arya are all missing), isn't Tyrion Lannister now technically in control of the north?
To your question, yes, Jon knows about Ned's death. As for the ratings, I really don't think it's going to hurt them. The people who kept watching after Ned's death are the kind of people who appreciate that kind of twist. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the ratings got a bump through word-of-mouth about the Red Wedding.
I just hope it's done at the hand of a Stark. If it does happen that is. Thanks I couldn't remember the third. Seems like a random name. Is there a reason why his name was chosen (that we should already know from the previous episodes)? Hmm. You would think he'd want revenge as much as the other Stark kids. Seems to be a Crow through and through.
honestly it was way more obvious in the show. Roose already betrayed them like 4 episode ago when he let Jaime go and the mistress said Robb's name when she threw the slugs in the fire.
I found it odd that they didn't have Catelyn observe out loud that the song was "The Rains of Castamere." Sure, Cersei talked about the significance of the song in a previous episode, but most viewers (myself included) aren't going to recognize the song just by how it sounds. It would have been as simple as Cat mumbling the title quietly to herself, or asking Roose Bolton what he thought about it. If I hadn't read the books I'm pretty sure I would have missed the significance. It was also too bad they couldn't have done the thing with the big tent outside being lit on fire and dropped on the soldiers. Probably it would have eaten through too much of their budget. But hey, pretty good for the most part. Now we're past the biggest spoiler of the series.
It all makes sense though. Robb made that one large mistake of breaking his word with Frey. If he had just listened to his mother a few times he'd be still alive. It's not like it came completely out of nowhere. You can understand why everyone did it. You can understand why Frey did it and Why Bolton did it as well. So it's not like he's just killing them off for shock value. At least I've never felt that way about it. I mean it's not like they are killing him for a few gold coins, but for control of the entire north. People have killed for less. Personally I hate stories where the 'good' guy gets in this horrible situation and he never once pays for the mistakes he made. In any other story for example Robb would have dodged the arrows, picked up a sword. Slew a few people, killed Frey, Bolton, saved his mother,wife and picked up Arya on the way out as he burned the whole place down.
If you had the closed captions on it said they were playing the song. Honestly I have kept the closed captions on the entire series to better understand what people are saying and certain underlying themes.
Because according to Melisandre, Stannis is the true king, and all the other men who claim to be kings are "pretenders." Balon Greyjoy (Theon's father, of the Iron Islands) is one of the guys who declared himself king. Along with Joffrey, Renly, Robb, and Stannis himself. Five kings, hence the whole conflict is called "War of the Five Kings."
BTW, one non-Red Wedding note: that fight scene with Daario and Jorah and Grey Worm was awesome. Very well-choreographed and well-cut. I thought it was the best fight scene of the series so far, despite it being a bit ridiculous that three guys took down all those guards.
I am a bit concerned about this, too. A lot of the reaction videos being posted on YouTube have people saying they're going to stop watching the show. My wife said as much (but I will of course force-feed it to her for her own good). I've read the books so it ain't no thang for me. They've already got the budget for a fourth season, and HBO is producing record revenue largely in part from Game of Thrones... still, a sudden drop in viewership could prove troublesome.
