Is it me, or did Euron get stabbed like 3 times in the battle and just shrug it off - once in the neck?!?

I'm sorry this episode wasn't perfect but how can you not be excited for a season of "the Mayor in the Green Hood"?!

Awesome bit of trivia: one scene was edited down as too scary. In the "garden party" the white soldiers see white ladies served by black waiters. The black soldier sees black ladies. Originally the waiters in the latter were white. Too terrifying to contemplate, the studio edited out the white waiters.

Anybody else really bothered by the loss of the Tyrion's wife storyline as the main motivation for patricide? It just kills - pun intended - one of the books' most satisfying plot lines…as well as not getting the line that "in the end Tywin lannister did not in fact…"

Agree that perhaps the most interesting part of this adaption is how they alter — and even improve — on the plotting in the source material. What I find most intriguing is that the show team has recognized that, book 4 being quite weak, they must move several events from book 3 into next season.

If things stay on track, I really like how they are pacing this season. The book moves rather quickly over Tyrion's time in jail, which is rich material for a fine actor to mine.

Section 31 in general — and this excellent episode — are part of the acceptance of reality over utopian fantasy that makes DS9 the best star trek show. The corruption isn't on some distant planet. It is in each of us.

Well said. You perfectly distill the reasons that I quit the show. Buck up — take in some Hannibal for laughs…

Excellent review! I planned on watching, but you made me excited….

I think you pretty much nailed this episode — which I just watched last night — but I think you missed the best line of the episode. Not surprising, because it came at the very beginning when Hank said something like, "You come to me, but there's a Bravermann around every corner." Classic!

Over all a good episode, but I'm still waiting for one of Julia's no-boundary family members to slap her in the head and say, "girl, this can't be all because you kissed some guy! There MUST be more to it!" And one of them to hit Joel in the head and say "dude! You have two kids! If this is all about a kiss, you…

Always enjoy your excellent commentary. Still, I actually find "Siege" one of DS9's most successful episodes. Yes, as with much of Star Trek — and, for that matter, most scifi in general — if one thinks about it too long, the interior logic falls apart. But that isn't really the purpose of the genre and…

Excellent analysis of two great episodes of a great show. I always so enjoy your thoughtful comments. DS( remains the ST gold standard.