I think the problem to me was they tried to recap and continue every plot line from last season instead of focusing on 2 or 3. They probably should've focused and spent more time on The north(Winterfell/theWall) and then the stuff across the sea(Dany/Mereen) and left the Dorne and King's landing stuff for the next episode.
I had my initial concerns over that before the episode aired and I think they handled it quite well. She was circled by an army of some sort on horses and the inner grass ring where they didn't trample her was where the ring was dropped. The most familiar army that worships horses viewers have been familiar with since episode 1 are the Doth'raki. Jorah has served alongside them so it'd make sense he'd come to the conclusion that it was the Doth'raki that have taken her. I think they handled that about as well as you could possibly do. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uOYTFqUhD9Q" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Guesses on Episode 2 and rest of season: Spoiler So looks like Jon Snow resolution with immediate conflict coming from Boltons. Sansa arrives at Castle Black with her cousin revived and ready to get back Winterfell this season. Looks like we get to see Bran next episode as well. Wondering if him having a vision will tie in with Jon Snow's revival. Not sure if Jamie and Cersei are going to fully usurp Kevan Lannister and fight the High Sparrow next episode or it's just the beginnings of it. I think the Greyjoy family are going to become convenient allies of Daenarys with her boats burned down and opens up that plot for more storytelling. The Season 6 trailers have Asha in Essos so you gotta figure she has some contact with Daenarys council at some point this season. Guessing it'll involve marrying the houses since they're introducing that new Greyjoy and have a new king now. Kind of think they're setting up Daario to be a bad guy with Sons of the Harpy. Dialogue between him and Jorah was kind of giving me that vibe with him this episode. Could easily see them rescuing Dany later on and make her pick which one is the traitor with her picking Jorah instead of Daario. Seems like something the writers would do.
You know, thinking more about it, I think I might change my mind on the Bloodraven thing. You'd have to think that GRRM, being a hippie (super fan of the Greatful Dead AKA Deadhead) who evaded Vietnam, would have some of his personality put into the ending of his story. The "HiveMind" theory with Bran and Bloodraven certainly puts them in position to be the "enlightened" ones if you understand how flower power was supposed to work back in the 70's. There is ALOT we do not know yet about him, but we certainly should know now more where this story is going. And I continue to think more and more how important Melissandre & her religion is to the overarching theme of the story & possibly show. Everyone here, like yourself, thinks that we are headed for a big showdown of Ice Zombies vs. Dragons, and I think we are WAAYYY off. Melissandre represents religious fanaticism causing war and death and destruction of innocence and overall being a huge fraud. She's made loving fathers kill their daughters, she's really if you think about it been the catalyst for the War of Five Kings (Stannis seeking the thrown at all cost was very much due to prophecy), and Bloodraven & Bran represent truth seekers with a connection to nature, and deep thinking. If I had to guess, I'd say that this Bloodraven fellow has a long history with Melissandre at opposition with each other with destroying her religion on some level. I don't know where her obsession with the "great battle in the snow" with her savior (Stannis or Jon Snow) has in her play against the powers beyond the wall (Bloodraven), but there has to be some sort of endgame here for her beyond winning the thrown. She said it herself "This War of Five Kings means nothing". Also we've now seen two red priests in the East essentially connection the Red god Religion and Danny. Our author would HAVE TO be anti-religion and fanaticism you'd think so will Danny have a role in the true theme of this story? I would say hell yes she will one way or another. And lastly - I would say the title "The Song of Ice and Fire" is really more of a nod to the Robert Frost poem about Fire & Ice that is very much an ANTI WAR poem. I don't know how GOT will end, but I can rest assured that the theme has to clearly be very much anti war. If not and HBO takes this away from the original theme of the author than it will be viewed almost as perversion of source material. You'd have to think the showrunners have some alignment with GRRM or he probably never would have given them the gig to begin with.
Honestly don't know much about that character, but I will say that I think she's close to Bloodraven and the wall for a reason. She wanted to put herself there (with power & an army) for a good reason... at least in her eyes. Also people around the show today seem to have been very much going out of their way to discuss her age in terms of 100 or hundreds and to say we don't know yet. That's obviously for a reason... if it wasn't important to align her timeline with another important character from the history why would 100 years vs several hundred years matter? I would say it absolutely matters based on what the folks around the show have said the past 24 hours.
Regarding Jon Snow: Spoiler I mentioned to my wife that resolution on Jon Snow's fate has to happen next episode as Snow's friends are on a timer with respect to his body. The Red Woman must resurrect him soon or they need to burn his body before he white walks. But since she is in a crisis of confidence and hasn't performed a resurrection before, then she will have to be very much moved to attempt and then for the first time "blessed" but the Lord of Light with the power to bring Jon to life. I said the story seems to be about Daenerys, Jon, and Tyrion and how they will combat the White Walkers, so GRRM must be brining Snow back somehow. But the story is sinking the Red Woman so low... But, I just don't buy that he is gone for good... The Mrs. then pointed me to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBwwyRGziLE&feature=youtu.be Seems like a great theory. Spoiler So, Jon is a Targaryen. Jaime said that he thought the Mad King believed he would survive both the back stabbing and the fire by burning and being reborn a dragon. We know Daenerys survives the flames. What if it isn't the Red Woman that resurrects Snow. But it is the fire from having to burn his body (after she fails, refuses to do so, or just doesn't try) that brings him back? If Jon is brought back this way, we get something way more badass than a resurrection by suspect powers AND we get the most Targaryen of returns. He may not come back a dragon, but he would return as Jon Targaryen and this time he would know something. Additionally, the Red Woman said she saw Jon in the flames fighting at Winterfell. Well, if he comes back, so should her faith. Because we know that is where Jon Targaryen will go to build his defenses. Could be wrong. But I could completely see it going down just as deduced in the video. Anyway it goes, it is fun speculation.
On those other examples, the show-runners got to piggyback off of Martin's careful story crafting so they were capable of doing some very subtle complicated stuff. Now, they're on their own -- and on a schedule -- and I don't think they're capable of anything nearly so intricate or subtle.
She might know Bloodraven, they might be have crossed paths in the past but all I'm saying is she most likely isn't Shiera Seastar as some in the interwebs have suggested and I thought erroneously that you were suggesting that as well. Melissandre would be much older than her and a slave, whereas, Sheira well was royal.
I really like that spoiler-within-spoiler theory you posted. I'm not going to make any judgement on the likelihood, but it's something I'd like to see happen, anyway. Incidentally... how could any of what you wrote be a spoiler? Everything at this point is just theories... right? A theory can't really be a spoiler, I feel.
Spoiler R+L=J. This theory is pretty much confirmed now, we seen the ToJ in the trailers is by the far the most popular theory out there... simply curious if this is knew to you? Regarding John... Spoiler Do want to mention though that the reason why Daenerys didn't burn in Season 1 wasn't because of her Targaryen blood but rather a spell by the maggy. Remember Danny's brother got burned
Spoiler Yeah but there's a chance that he burned "because he wasn't a real dragon". Not all Targaryens were "dragons" in that they wouldn't burn. Only some of them had that power.
Spoiler GRRM has connected Daenerys' unburnt status to the magic connected to the dragons being hatched. He said in an interview that she probably couldn't do it again. And Jon did burn his hand fighting a walker when he saved the Lord Commander. Still a fun theory. Maybe we get some more blood magic and another miracle? Did the re-birth of the dragons change the world or awaken new magic? Here is a take down of the earlier theory: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/17/game-of-thrones-theory-problem_n_7597862.html
The vast majority of the people watching this show have never read the books... myself included. Again, I just gave you examples of events that happened where every single subtle detail was not explained and yet a believable event happened... and simply because the mundane details behind it may or may not have been explained in the books, it means nothing to the typical TV viewer. Likewise, when an event happens now... the typical TV viewer can infer how that came to be... just like they can infer how the Red Wedding could have been organized/arranged (without implicit explanations or scenes showing the planning), etc, and there's actually an element of surprise/shock value provided. Also, the show-runners have always been on a timeline/schedule... its not their fault that GRRM has had 20 or so years to figure this thing out, and has yet to do it. Actors are getting older. Eventually the public will not find shows about fake dragons and excessive nudity all that interesting. Even the best acted, well-written shows have a shelf-life.
Spoiler Targaryens aren't immune to fire... This is clear in the books, Danny wasn't burned when her dragons were born because of magic. Furthermore, if true "dragons" were immune to fire then Jon would be ruled out as he got burnt when saving the Lord Commander from the wight. In case you want more proof- Granny: Do Targaryens become immune to fire once they "bond" to their dragons? George_RR_Martin: Granny, thanks for asking that. It gives me a chance to clear up a common misconception. TARGARYENS ARE NOT IMMUNE TO FIRE! The birth of Dany's dragons was unique, magical, wonderous, a miracle. She is called The Unburnt because she walked into the flames and lived. But her brother sure as hell wasn't immune to that molten gold. Revanshe: So she won't be able to do it again? George_RR_Martin: Probably not.
Sure, I agree with all that. I'm just pointing out that a lot of what's good about the show is the reflected glory of the books. Viewers could believe the logic of the backstory because there actually was one that made the whole thing hang together. When you don't have one and build your credibility on "just assume that..." it tends to show. That's all. So, in Little Finger's double-cross, there were a lot of little nuances that made it feel real. In this coup, it feels like they just didn't sweat the details. It's not a huge deal. I do think the early seasons were stronger for this reason though.
Ned was an outsider poking his nose where it didn't belong, and was warned numerous times. Ned's guards were killed and he was taken prisoner for treason. All of the Stark's allies were murdered when it happened. Didn't you see the huge battle going on at the castle? There was a large conspiracy. The motive to betray the Starks were Robb reneged on his engagement and the Freys were promised more power. That's easy to understand for the viewer. Again, it's a game of numbers. Jon had more enemies than friends in the Night's Watch. His band of friends are plotting revenge now. The reason so many viewers are upset with the Dorne coup is because there are so many details left out. We never get the notion that Prince Doran's guards and people are not loyal. The motive for the coup is also weak, and why would Dorne stand behind the Sand Snakes? What have they proven or promised the people?
I feel like it is a real stretch of fandom to defend the dorne coup. Probably defended windows vista as well
