To be fair, the Wildlings chose to go into that battle, they all voted for it and no one was forced. Also, the Northern forces and Stannis's leftovers were there alongside them. No one knew they were fodder, Jon would never have allowed that. But that's what you get with Littlefinger and Olenna and the like, they are…

YES! Best friends for life!

Well you know that the only thing Catherine's ever finished was a whole birthday cake! I feel that applies :)

Lagertha played this well. She had Kalf murder those were vehemently against her, she built up a stable of loyal shield maidens so she doesn't need to rely on Erlendur's trained forces, she can claim legitimacy through both the wedding and her unborn child. Kalf was waaaay out matched

Agreed, tacked-on faux Putin just oozes House of Cards so that's the one that I'm perfectly comfortable with.

Meh, some people are more comfortable with the suspension of disbelief than others. Its like Doctor Who, can you or can you not get beyond the camp and ridiculous plot holes? Those that can't think the show is ridiculous, and those who do actively love the show.

I'm very glad they didn't use a Trump like figure. Being too topical would be an anathema to a show like this in my opinion. House of Cards is made to live in a fictional vacuum so that it can tell the story it wants to tell, this isn't a serial like Law and Order SVU. Comparing the Republican contender to Rubio is…

I didn't even think of that but that's exactly how the pilot played out!

God that pilot was just so up my alley. That actor is just perfect for this role, it really does take a British man to be so smarmy even when not talking. Anyhow, if him and the angel don't make out eventually I will be very upset!

Apologies, I meant to say "Mexican-American standoff"

The belief that actions are necessarily selfish is silly, but that's beyond the point. If a person randomly trips and saves the world as a result, is he a good an heroic person? I would say no, the fact that he did good without the intention of doing good does not in itself fundamentally make him good. Intention is…

PC is merely bourgeois progressivism at its best. The fact that the poor and downtrodden have picked up its message is sad and undermines their ability to the be the revolutionary class that fights capitalism.

Absolutely, that's another masterpiece

After finishing this episode I went back and watched a Matt Smith episode. Jeez what a whiplash. Crazy how fundamentally different it all feels. I think of nu-who, this has been the biggest jump in tone between two actors and the fact that it all feels like the Doctor is really blowing my mind.

Well see, that's why I am not sure if I am reading to much into things but they did specifically point it out in the episode. I do hope it wasn't just some throwaway line as I though that that was a clever character point.

Oh its certainly the writing for her has changed, but I also feel that her energy clashes/meshes better with Capaldi's Doctor in the same way that Amy's and Donna's more assertive companions worked better with the silliness of Tenant and Smith to ground them.

There were a bunch of things I liked about this episode, and I don't know if some of them are me reading into things or are actually planned.

It was the worst of two-parters, it was the best of two-parters

Ooh, I like that. I know we all get sick of the silly twists that bring characters back to life, but if that twist is literally her bravery in the face of doom I could totally go for it.

I think we can all agree that she was a faaaaar better companion paired with Capaldi than with Smith. Looking back its hard to remember a time where I really disliked her character even though I remember that there was such a time.