I follow oswalt on twitter, but rarely actually open twitter. I was unaware of her passing until I just read this here, and now I am sad.

I'd put my money on osha/rickon. Ramsey has no incentive to keep either alive for very long unless there's some convoluted logic in luring Sansa back. As karstark said last week, the bolton hold on winterfel is only strong so long as no stark walks through the gates. and guess who just walked through the gates.

smart people can be plenty dumb, which made Zach's jokes at the wine bar about confirming that they're smart visavie defense applications so damn good.

there was no stuart humiliation, so that gives it a one point scale upgrade, to my mind. b-.
I liked leonard's dad, but having his vulcan mom be so damn bitter and sensitive fell flat to me. It should have been his dad giving jabs and jibes, and the mom just kind of looking on saying 'let me know how that works out for…

Oh, I think he's the worst kind of self-aggrandizer. His humble pie is built entirely upon shoving it down the throats of those around him. I take him at face value as well when he says he can topple an empire. And who better than he, as undeserved as he will say he is, to then assume the mantle of ruler in the name…

I've sort of liked the flashbacks so far, but I wonder if they are going become a regular event each episode, as we gather some insight or expression of the present through the past. The show memory of Bran of the fight at the Tower is not exactly in alignment of the book story related by Ned Stark, but I suppose that…

so, who will play her during historical reenactment flashbacks?

rivals, but likely not surpasses. Dany is the daughter of a king. If R&L=J is true, that makes Jon the grandson of a king. Unless I'm misremembering, the targareons were not strictly patriarchy, so a female successor is possible, and they even had joint rule with brother-sister stuff happening

is that a beloved character, though? Probably qualifies since most folks who recognize his underlying villainy still respect him, or even like him. Calling the character beloved makes me think lady stoneheart, but I'd prefer the hound

Based on young Ned's statement that if Wyllis/Hodor ever learned to fight, he'd be unstoppable, I'm picturing an end-game battle between Hodor and FrankenMountain, perhaps with Hodor being warged into it by Bran.

but that is such a low bar

except those three cities are usually where the Dothraki sell their excess slaves, and generally too big for horde style sacking. But I wouldn't rule it out

yes, please let this be true. I don't know how it works as a good idea because we saw how well entering the beasts' lair worked for Sansa, but I relied upon the loyalty of the Umbers to the Starks to unseat Bolton and the Karstarks.

the sand serpents looked like they were moving through water. this was choreographed, but at least full speed

I think the following. That the boltons were put in power by the lannisters. That the karstarks, already embittered against the Starks, went along with it rather than try to assume power themselves. That the boltons decided long term they needed a stark marriage to hold power in the north regardless of Lannister…

the only thing I'd say you're off about is that Ramsey doesn't likely have the backing of the King. That was Roose's whole point. The Lannisters don't like that Sansa married Ramsey. They want her dead for killing Joffrey. Roose needed the North united under him to rule the north, and to deter an attack from the…

The Karstarks are related to the Starks, and they are a major power in the north, but not the only power. They don't give a shit that Ramsey is married to a Stark, but the houses do. They might even like it, since young lord Karstark likely knows how she's getting treated by Ramsey on a daily basis.

Regarding Ramsey and Roose: I figured there was going to be betrayal and death between them, but it came sooner than I expected. We already knew that Ramsey wouldn't tolerate a younger brother who could be seen as a more legitimate heir.

I don't know if Tyrion is the rape-child of the mad-king, but Tywin's 'you're a lannister' doesn't refute that, really. He would never be able to acknowledge the rape, officially. A baby born to a marriage is an offspring of that marriage unless you're willing to either charge the bio-dad with rape/seduction/adultery…

unfortunately, that would have to be a made up mtv award category. but the emmys should be immediately petitioned for similar themes