I think that's the only rational response. It just bums me out that a show this immersive still has to leave loose threads like that, which make it feel less successful after the fact. If they did a Kickstarter for more dragons CG, I'd support it.

I'm trying to reconcile Tywin's two conversations about the Iron Bank, the one this episode with Cersei and the previous one with Olenna. Was he just bluffing Olenna when he acted like the debt was no problem, trying not to spook her away from making an "investment" in the crown? Because he seemed pretty damn worried…

I thought this review was pretty bad. Then I read the one on Grantland and realized this one is terrible.

The showrunners need to come up with some kind of gimmick to not make the dragons' absence so noticeable. More shadows flying over the landscape! A roasted goat on the doorstep! Some ominous off-screen snorting! Anything!

Any hour without him is worse for it. Even a ten second shot of him sitting in his cell looking pensive in a beam of sunlight would be better than nothing.

I agree. Dany wants the same thing as Littlefinger: "Everything".

Uhm… while I appreciate the attempt to keep spoilers in check, Cersei and Oberyn just had a detailed conversation about Myrcella in this episode. Remember the ship in the harbor?

This is so great. I really like imagining the events of the show from the Lannister perspective, especially Tywin's.

And even Robb was mixed: good general, honorable like his father, but a terrible leader. If he hadn't married Talisa, no Red Wedding. If he hadn't trusted his mother with Jaime, after she'd gone rogue and kidnapped Tyrion, no Karstark rebellion. If he hadn't trusted Reek, no Ironborn rebellion, Bran and Rickon are…

Yeah. And come to think of it, since Tyrion paid to have Ros sent to Joffrey, Littlefinger got the extra bonus of more animosity (or more perceived animosity by those in the know) between Tyrion and Joffrey. That's assuming Littlefinger was already planning to kill Joffrey at that point, and scapegoat Tyrion, but…

Yeah, that's a good point. If he died there, how does it serve either the story or the show's tendency to linger on the grisly deaths to keep Syrio's death offscreen?

It seems like yet another thing that was left deliberately ambiguous. Which, of course, now makes me completely paranoid that it was really Littlefinger.

Yep — that's why I think the reveal that Littlefinger started everything was so effective. In the larger narrative, they very effectively lead us to believe that the tangible threats to the realm were the other four kings, and the existential threats were the WWs and Dany's dragons. But the entire time, right under…

Yeah… wow. The what-if scenarios are fascinating.

True. But if there's anyone in Westeros with the arrogance to think he could keep it under control, it's Littlefinger. And unfortunately for everyone else, he's probably right.

Except maybe Olenna, right? I mean, she was right there giving him shit about his finances a few minutes before she killed his grandson.

This reminds me of the Cersei/Littlefinger scene (S1?) — "power is power". Ends up she was wrong.

It seems like Littlefinger's quest for "everything" is sincere and literal, which wouldn't leave a lot of options off the table. You may be right about how he feels about Sansa now, but I can't see him sparing her if there was something to gain from it. He seemed kind of keen on Ros up to a point, too.

Totally agree on #1. As for #2, I find it pretty easy to skim through the less engaging parts of the comments, and every week there's at least one comment that's better than the review at top, plus a few dozen other threads that I find really interesting. Also, it's policed for spoilers about as well as I can imagine,…

The A.V. Club
It reminds me of a literature class at a liberal arts college.