The problem for Tyrion is Jamie's hot tub story from last season. Ned saw him standing over the Mad King with a sword and he's the Kingslayer forever — no one in Westeros saw fit to hold a hearing or anything, apparently.

Right. If you want to scapegoat someone, you have the assassin use Tyrion's dagger. Worked perfectly the first time.

It's her one good quality. That and her cheekbones. And something something about her children.

It would be pretty cool if Melisandre and the Brotherhood fellows both think they're serving the Lord of Light, but one of them is wrong. If so, chances are the guy who resurrects people is good, and the lady who burns people at the stake isn't.

Here's to hoping the props dept. just didn't glue that crystal on well enough.

I agree — I hope this isn't the answer. I thought her character was really well established as one who bends all the rules, but without breaking them. Seems like an extreme step just to undo the potential mistake of marrying Margery to Joffrey. Certainly not one she'd have taken without carefully weighing the costs…

Yeah, at that moment it was about all the power she had left. But now… looking forward to seeing where Joffrey's death leaves her.

"If it's not real, then what are you doing here, Jack? Why did you come back? Why do you find it so hard to believe?"

I guess I could see the Iron Bank as the ultimate source, but if so it seems more likely that they'd have recruited a character we already know in KL to actually do the deed — Ser Dontos, or Oberyn or one of the Kingsguard.

I expect we'll see him a bit more worked up if Theon's sister and her "50 best killers" follow through on their plan to row up to his castle.

Yeah. I guess we're supposed to take Cersei's earlier dismissal of it as the standard reaction from KL and elsewhere. Seems like only Stannis responds to pigeon distress beacons: Joffrey's not the real heir! White Walkers! Which, come to think of it, can't wait until he hears about Dany's army and dragons…

I guess that helps explain how it happened, but for me it still doesn't fix the problem of ending one season with a huge dramatic pivot and starting the next one — whether in episode 1 or 6 — with no mention of it.

I think you're right. I'm fine with the WW menace being a slow build that spans multiple seasons, but to keep using it as a cliffhanger with virtually no follow through or hook into the next season is disappointing — either careless or, as you say, bad craftsmanship.

So they get the ships from the people they burn as heretics? I guess that makes sense; just wish it had been a little clearer, or with a quick callback to their new goal. As it was, it felt like it was from another part in the timeline.

I'm not 100% ruling out Varys. For the good of the realm and all. But if not, and it happened without him knowing about it in advance, then good job, master of whispers.

Is it the Lannisters who are indebted to the Iron Bank, or the crown? I thought the crown borrowed money from both the Lannisters and the Iron Bank. The HBO guide needs some spreadsheets to help sort this shit out.

Also, it's probably now an open secret that Joffrey tried to have Tyrion killed in the battle for Blackwater.

I rewatched S3 last week, where Stannis's cliffhanger was to declare an about face and prepare to rebel the White Walker hordes. So, naturally, S4 on Dragonstone opens with a bunch of fire sacrifices and debate about proper parenting techniques, with not a mention of the North, the Wall, blue eyed zombies or Walkers.…

This is really interfering with my plan to spend the entire day here.

Yes. His own troops were just shown pillaging the countryside. At best Joffrey's peace would have been a slight pause between bigger wars.