Game of Thrones season 4 running thread

Didn't see anything elsewhere.

I missed out on the second half of Season 3, but caught up and am pretty stoked about picking it back up.

 

Sounds like the tone might be a little lighter this season.

http://youtu.be/KEursnYll7w

 

Gotta love Arya.

And of course, plenty of blood and boobs.

 

That was a pretty good start to the season. I liked Jon Snow's trial.
It didn't take long for us to get the first new HBO retread - Niobe from Rome.

 

I didn't care for it too much. Too much recap from last season and the story didn't advance enough. The previews for next week looked pretty good, though.

 

It's the first episode of the season. It needs to connect to the end of last season.

Also, it was important to show the impact of last season on the characters. I don't think we had seen Sansa dealing with the Red Wedding. Jon hadn't had a chance to learn about it. It was a huge moment that many fans are still processing and that was a good way to handle it.

They also followed up on the reunion of Jaime and Cersei, though you could see it coming in her reaction when she first saw him last season. The movements in the relationships between Arya and the Hound and Jaime and Brienne were small, but they were there. Plus, that last bit with Arya was worth it.

Also, the introduction of Oberyn and the behavior of the dragons were important points moving forward. I actually thought it was a good mix. They touched on most of the stories and addressed some loose ends (like Jon breaking his vows).

Not the best episode ever, but pretty solid for a season opener.

 

That's Sonny from "Treme" as the new Daarhio Naharis, by the way.

 

When they got to Arya, it got amazing. Her getting revenge for her friend who was killed was pure Bad Ass Mo Fo status.
The rest of it was clearly laying foundation for the rest of the season. It wasn't bad, but I can't wait to see where they're going with it (Yes, I know, I need to read the books. I'm getting to that.)

 

Absolutely loved the Arya + The Hound scene. The rest of the show was OK, but about what I expected. I figured they'd do a lot of connecting seasons with this episode.

Still, I thought it was a great start to the season. Only negative I could say is the casting of Sonny from Treme to be dreamboat Daarhio.

 

Lots of boobs and I thought, for a second, that they were going to go full frontal on a dude, which in HBO land is about as rare as a unicorn but, alas, it didn't happen.

Based on the previews and spoilerific knowledge from the books, it looks like next week is going to be an epic Twitter meltdown of a reaction.

 

People don't want to know that kind of thing.

 

Some do. Some don't. That's what it is to watch a show or movie based on a popular series of books or comics. The major story points are out there. As long as nobody is spoiling specific events, I don't think it is a big deal.

It would be like complaining if somebody mentioned that the identity of the Winter Soldier was revealed long ago in the comics during a discussion of the new Captain America movie. Not that it was a well-kept secret. My wife was surprised, but she may have been the only person in the theater who didn't know before the big reveal.

Jay's post didn't actually spoil anything. He just speculated that something big would happen next week. The only reason I have any idea what he is talking about is I have read the second and third books.