I wish that the show would have cut the Sand Snakes- or at least only kept one.

I think the opposite, Sinjun. To me, any book reader who denies that the last two books were messes in need of massive editing is in denial.

Agreed. There's the divide between book readers and show watchers. There's also the less obvious divide between book readers who think the books are flawless masterpieces and readers who think the books are overall good- with the first three being excellent but the last two being messes with bright spots.

I don't think they could sell Jamie as being seduced by Arianne. He isn't the naive, lovestruck puppy that Aerys was.

This is where you and I simply disagree. I think that GRRM himself failed to do what you're saying despite having no time or budget constraints. In the books, Ellaria is barely a character at all (at best, she's a tertiary character), and most of the individual Sand Snakes are somehow even less developed than…

Arianne could have worked in that capacity, I guess. But I think that if you're looking to (1) show Dorne but (2) cut down on the characters needed to do so, then it makes more sense to have Oberyn's grieving lover and his daughters than it does to cut them in favor of his grieving niece.

I thought that he had a good showing. He walked into a completely unexpected battle and managed to kill about a dozen men. Not too shabby for an old guy on his lunch break.

Yes, and no. Tyrion is definitely getting in to her inner circle. If not, the whole Tyrion in Essos story would be irrelevant. But I see Jorah as possibly stepping back in to the quasi-father figure role. We'll see how it plays out- maybe Dany doesn't need that role anymore.

The Sand Snakes were one-dimensional ciphers. The most memorable thing about Arianne was GRRM's creepy fixation with her nipples and their precise color. Darkstar is like the lamest 1990s version of a badass character. Areo Hotah was a black hole of boredom. Quentyn was a bland failure.

I think there's going to be chaos in King's Landing. Maybe the High Sparrow makes a power play, maybe Cersei steps in, maybe the Tyrells? Somehow, Tommen is going to die. Maybe it won't be until next season, but I get the sense that the pace is accelerating.

Did anyone else notice that Cersei summed up about half of AFFC in around 5 seconds in her discussion with the High Sparrow regarding the Silent Sisters being raped and the Spetons being slaughtered? Somehow we get the picture without 300 pages of Brienne asking for a maiden girl aged two and ten?!? Imagine that…

It does, however, create a void on Dany's council for Jorah to fill. I'm interested in seeing how this plays out. Maybe Varys comes back and speaks on Jorah's behalf?

I like that whereas in the book it's her stupidity that predominates in her decision to rearm the FM, in the show it's primarily her vindictiveness. She's so focused on humbling Marg that she commits an unthinkable strategic blunder.

I read the books. I know you're a fan of hers, but I have to say it- Arianne sucked too. She was a petulant sexposition princess. By the end of AFFC, I was skimming her chapters and almost missed the Quentyn reveal from Doran because of that.

Fantastic episode. As a book reader, it's fascinating to see that they're keeping with the spirit of the story while making many changes to thedetails.

I meant that it didn't resolve her story. You have a point, though. Maybe they just won't show Yara again.

Lysa Arryn and Oberyn Martell both died in book 3 (A Storm of Swords).

The botched Yara rescue mission didn't really resolve anything, she just retreated.

Speaking as someone who has withstood hundreds of hours of it, it's the least insufferable pre-K show I know of. Great musical guests, great guest stars, cool animated vignettes, memorable characters. Plus, there's no Elmo.

Nellie Oleson was the Joffrey Barratheon of Walnut Grove. She even looks like him: http://www.buzzfeed.com/kee…