I think it’s really interesting how the “democratic” groups in Westeros — the Sparrows and the Brotherhood without Banners — are kind of repellent in their own way, even if they invoke the political ideals that are most clearly modern in nature. Both are somewhat egalitarian in nature, and both recognize the…

Well, I think Mace is her son, but otherwise, that's certainly an interesting idea.

It seems like women who don't have dragons gain power in this world through one of three ways:

Or watch 46 hours of it?

If Tommen dies, does Stannis just inherit the throne by default, regardless of previous coup attempts?*

I suppose Joffrey's cruelty is the cruelty of someone with complete immunity and authority and oriented toward showing how the rules did not pertain to him and that he could exercise complete control. Whereas Ramsay's convoluted tortures involving Theon were more intimate and sadistic, like he practiced growing up by…

I like to think that Joffrey's psychopathy stems from his privilege and that Ramsay's stems from his lower position relative to his father (until he was legitimated, of course). They certainly took two different pathways to psychopathy, and consequently, I think they have subtly different flavors.

Does "agency" mean in this instance "does whatever you want her to do"? Because she's still in a dangerous situation. She just married to a dude who flays people alive and who, it was related to her earlier, you do not particularly want to piss off. She entered this situation of her own volition, seemingly in order to…

Honestly, I'm just happy that they've all been taken captive, as that seems to promise some political maneuvering and character development rather than fight scenes involving people we don't have any particular interest in.

That probably says something more about others' proclivity to stigmatize victimization than anything about Sansa.

Lot of people are going to have to eat their words about Sansa being a victim when she takes out the Boltons, initiates a peace between Stannis and Brienne, greets a returning Littlefinger with the combined forces of Stannis and the North as punishment for abandoning her in the first place, and then marches on King's…

Favorite part of the Arya scenes by far was Jaqen's refusal to accept Arya's admissions of her hatred of the Hound. One of the more quietly sad parts of the episode, I thought.

I don't think Arya is capable of the kind of self-abnegation that is required. I'm curious as to what that means.

What's more, she's reactive — she doesn't foresee the danger she's putting people she actually cares about through her actions. She's turning her children into pawns, and she's oblivious to her role in doing so.

I'm trying to anticipate what the episode 9 shocker is going to be, and I've narrowed it down to:
1) Raid on Winterfell by Stannis, Brienne, and possibly Littlefinger
2) Execution of the Tyrells
3) Surprise incarceration of Cersei and takeover of King's Landing by the Sparrows

From that scene, you could even say that she's entering into her union with Ramsay with somewhat clear eyes. She knows he's going to be a Joffrey-like monster, but I anticipate that she suspects that she is improving her position through the marriage.

If the Boltons are planning to fight Stannis, they actually want to get Ramsay and Sansa hitched pronto so as to consolidate their power over the north and potentially persuade others to join their cause.

Feels like you're pushing a victim/empowered dichotomy that doesn't actually exist in real life.

To say that this is a rape scene is somewhat reductive. And to say that it denies Sansa agency is likewise reductive. Westeros/Essos is a world in which women are traditionally denied power and authority. To gain power, women, we have seen, have to capitulate to men sexually. We saw Dany eventually forced Khal Drogo…

Remember when the Hound got bit by that guy?