Because they filmed that in Ireland the animal laws are different. According to the post production report I read they actually did cut the horse's leg off in that scene. Worst part is they needed 3 takes.

Luckily, horses have 4 legs.

The simplest answer is that Bran is screwed in the head from having all of the knowledge he's experienced from the Weirwood and is constantly experiencing the present and the past all at once. Hence why he is creepily referencing Sansa's rape when speaking to her due to the fact he's not able to easily discern what's 'present'. This is a likely side effect from being an omniscient mortal like the original Three Eyed Raven.

What might be happening given he was a lot more lucid in speaking with Arya and Sansa but not necessarily with Meera was that he's intentionally acting aloof and disconnected because he thinks that's how he should act given his powers. Given the time he spent with Meera and her brother's sacrifice, he probably cares for her but instead remains cold and robotic in order to create distance between him and Meera to ensure she heads home and isn't in anymore danger from the White Walkers and does so with other people because he knows there's a big chance many people at Winterfell aren't going to make it.. if not outright can see their deaths as premonitions.

That's a great way to look at it.

What is everyone's take on the nods between Arya and Littlefinger, as well as the dissatisfaction from Sansa? That seemed odd.

Riiiight.

PITA would actually murder them.

I'm a "glass is half-full" kinda guy. :thumb:

Littlefinger was just in awe.

Sansa is struggling because while home feels comfortable she has NO IDEA who her siblings even are.

Great insight...

That was Jamie sinking at the end of the episode right?

Not sure. Little finger may have been nodding in fake deference.
Arya may have been adding his name to her list.

Yes. Jamie is becoming a likable person.

Dany may be turning into her father... :D

I'm not really sure of the full intent with Meer, but I just think he is so focused on what lies ahead, that feelings are the last thing he is afforded to consider. He is blunt because his mind is highly occupied at the moment.

Ever have someone trying to read your intentions when your mind is solely occupied with something else? Words come out quick and brash so you can get back to what you were so occupied with previously.

I can't take credit, but Emergency Awesome pointed out that Little Finger saw where his dagger ended up with Arya. That tells him Bran has no interest in Little Finger which likely hurts Little Finger's chances of getting what he wants. And I'm sure Arya doesn't trust him given he was in King's Landing so she probably has it out for him in some way.

Yup. I was just making an Apocalypse Now connection with Fields of Fire 2.0.

Pretty sure Bronn was the one who saved him from Drogon's morning breath, but it kinda looked like Dickon.

Speaking of which, I hope Dickon survived and bends the knee. He's clearly a lot more like Samwell than Randyll would be happy with. It also seemed like he knew turning against the Tyrells was probably a bad idea.

They'll resolve that by getting married.

They are definitely big enough to ride. Dany rode Drogon at the end of season 5 and he was still pretty small then. The other two would be much bigger than that by now.

And Drogon looked fine in the previews for next week. I noticed he came in roaring at Jon. I wonder if that's the first hint to the characters of Jon being Targaryan if Drogon gets friendly towards him.

I can't think of any previous interaction between them, nor do I see anything he has done within that sparring match to earn a roster spot on Arya's list. It was just odd to me.

Dickon is Billy Bones in Black Sails. I hope he makes it.

I laughed really hard at him and Brons interaction. Especially Anton laughing when Jamie called him Rickon. ROFL

Or he gets her to "bend the knees." Eh, eh!?

Great point. I forgot about the dagger.

Littlefinger told Varys in season 3 that Chaos is a ladder. His mind had to have exploded at that moment with Bran

Can the dragons mate?

Yea. I'm pretty sure I saw an eye flinch as a result of his bowels loosening.

I can't recall anything specifically saying they can't.

Like Tyrion, I was expecting Ser Jaime to get turned into ash. You ****ing idiot!

By the way, I expect Jon Snow and Tyrion to ride the dragons at some point. I suspect they have Targaryen blood.

Bran scenes are very interesting given that he's changed, as it was noted by mereen tonight. He sees everything and littlefinger dropped a deuce when Bran said Chaos is a ladder. Probably will end up regretting giving him the dagger. Arya will likely kill him with it.

OH SHIT.

"While you're here, I've got something else to show you, your grace"

*unzips pants*

At least they properly named the type of ballista, a scorpion. The Romans fielded many of them and were deadly accurate with them. They could also fire rather quickly, 3-4 bolts per minute with a trained crew.

I'm glad they didn't do this, but when they were in the cave I thought Dany was about to tell Jon his people would follow him and the alliance if he became her husband.

He is one of the more eligible political marriages around by process of death. The only other one is Rickon Tarly. I guess Dorne and the Riverlands are knee deep in civil war right now, though nothing has been mentioned.

Assuming Ser Jaime lives, is he going to end up killing Cersei?

I have always kind of thought he would become Queen Slayer. But at this point if he was going to do it based on anything we know it would have happened by now. She doesn't have any real secrets from him. So perhaps she still tries to kill Tyrion and Jaime then protects Tyrion by killing her. I can't think of scenario beyond that which would cause him to want to kill her. I just don't think he would do it based on a disagreement over any run of the mill military strategy.

Maybe Dany captures him and says you can end this war by killing Cersi?

Problem is, you know it's happening...

I took that Sansa is finally realizing that coming back from the dead, becoming a master assassin, and being able to see all things that have and will happen make her inability to do anything super-natural sort of uncool.

I think you're spot on here. Totally could see the assembled Lannister army survivors bending a knee, led by Dickon. That's the significance of the scene where Dick talks about killing men he used to be friends with -- he probably deep down resents the hell out of the Lannisters.

So how much of the Lannister and Southern forces were just consumed in Dragon fire?

Well, if Bran can see all, then he already knows who's going to get whacked with the blade and he just made sure he put it in the hands of the person who needed it to make those visions come true.

Littlefinger probably recognized Arya from being Tywins servant, along with the water dance she was doing with Lady Brienne. There was a lot of callbacks in this episode.

I really hate Dany.

Jon: "Yo, those demons we were told about as kids are real. I've seen them. They are coming for us".

Dany: "Pshhh.... those are just legends" /pets her ****ing dragon

Jon: "No, they are really real. Your Hand knows I'm not full of shit."

Tyrion: "He isn't full of shit"

Dany: "IDGAF, bend the knee"

----

Jon: "I want to show you something in this cave" /shows her absolute proof that blue eyed demons are coming to kill everyone"

Dany: "So... about that knee bending"

---

Dany: "My people are starving and my army is fighting in battle. Better blow up the wagons being hauled by the Lannister army. Surely there isn't anything of value there and a far more valuable target than the Lannister army."

---

Dany: "Holy shit... WTF just flew past my dragon's head? I'm gonna kill that shit. How would Rickon Stark stay alive in this situation? Yeah... go in a straight line! Arrows don't work against things going in a straight line... right?

could dannys outfit her dragons with some light armor to protect them from cersi;s dragon weapon?

Arya and Brienne's scene might legitimately be one of my favorites in the series. We watched the culmination of literally 7 seasons of training for Arya, where she learned from Ned, Syrio, the Brotherhood without Banners, the Hound, and literally two seasons from the best assassins on the planet (not to mention with blades given to her by two of her brothers). It was a kickass moment in the series.

Probably, which is another interesting point. Cersei's element of surprise in using the scorpion has vanished.

More likely though, Tyrion will probably look to have soldiers search destroy the scorpions before Dany and the dragons descend on the Lannister army.

Yeah. It was cool but carried no weight. There was nothing riding on the fight. Smoking off the frets was far cooler IMO.

LittleFinger = I think it moved! she's a little badass, and I am scheming something up to use her for. Or, maybe, I just want her to believe I am on her side for a clever plan I have yet to conjure up.

Arya = "I see you up there, and trust you not one ****ing bit. Looks like a snake, and smells like a snake, you're a ****ing snake.. and I am watching you."

Sansa = Damn my sis can fight. I'm jealous now to look so weak compared to her.

Definitely. I just wish Arya's path to it would have gone differently.

That whole faceless men, a girl is no one dipshittery was a long and weird journey... and I say that despite really liking the work of Jaqen H'ghar, the actor and character.

It would take plenty of work, but it seems plausible and smart to. Protect the vital areas of your most valuable weapons/companions, yes yes.

So Jaime is sinking, due to the heavy armor...Is Tyrion going to jump in and save him?

Yeah, that was irritating. Yeah, let's not sweep in behind him or anything. Couldn't possible utilize the speed of a dragon versus swinging that slow ass scorpion contraption around in time. Just make a nice loop around to the front and do that same shit again. :cuss:

lol, don't think Tyrion's been lifting weights enough for that.

Somehow, they will be saved, held as prisoners, and Tyrion will find a way to free them.... :(

Jamie was becoming likable while traveling with Brienne, but is dipping back down now under Cersei's control. Pretty much too late for redemption, to me. Same for Bronn. Funny guy, but he's nothing more than a self-serving merc that I am ready to see burned to ash.

Dany's getting pissed, but she has too many good folks around her to descend into darkness, so to speak. Jorah's on the way too.

Oh, Tyrion can help unlatch some armor underwater. Eventually, something is gonna give with those two and I think it will be Tyrion coming through for Jamie somehow.

I didn't consider that, but mainly because it appeared to me that Jamie would surely be dead by the time Tyrion could close the distance to save him.

The only thing I can see saving Jaime is literally Drogon himself, ducking his head under water to grab him (gently) and pull him out. WHY he would do such a thing I have no damn idea, and Tyrion couldn't possibly even GET there in time to tell Dany to have him do it even if he wanted to. But yeah, can't see Jaime dying by drowning so something has to happen.

Well, kind of figure it has to be the main Lannister army. The one used to take the reach, led by the Lannister's senior general, etc. etc, and then guarding the gold back to King's Landing. I'm actually a bit annoyed at how big the Lannister army is, but I'll get over it.

At the start of it all, I think someone reported to Jaime that the gold had been delivered to King's Landing, correct? So are we thinking that that attack was near King's Landing, not near the Reach, right?

Or did I mishear? If the gold WASN'T delivered to King's Landing, then the situation is pretty different vis-a-vis the Iron Bank backing Cercei.

Yes, the gold was successfully delivered, as reported by Tarly. It apparently went ahead. We actually saw this after Jaime gave Bronn the money.

In Martin's TV world, travel times are flexible. That would certainly stretch the concept though.

This morning:

Bronn is still crawling around the smoking battlefield looking for his bag of gold.

The Dothraki are asking pointed questions as to what they are supposed to eat for breakfast since Dany burned up all the godamn food.

LMAO

I'm not ready for Jamie or Bron to go. I would've much rather seen a dragon die before either one of them.

I wonder if Bronn will bend the knee to Dany with Tyrion there. I don't see why she wouldn't easily give up a castle to him to control. Maybe Casterly Rock.

So after watching that can someone refresh my memory? It showed a scene where that one hooker was hanging naked and dead from a bed with arrows through her. I guess I don't remember her getting killed. Was that Joffrey?

Yes, Joffrey. Little Finger sent her there to "mitigate his losses".

Yes, that was Joffrey. That was also the prostitute from Winterfell that I believe Theon was banging.

I have a feeling that Sansa is going to do something stupid. Jon is the King of the North. Bran is the Three Eyed Raven and Arya is a badass now. Sansa is probably feeling like she's not important at all.

I was rewatching season 1 this weekend and I've never quite understood Varys and his intentions. He claims he is on "the side of the realm" because "someone must" but that just seems like a cop-out answer to me. I think Varys looks out for Varys and aligns with whomever gives him the best chance for survival and a place at the table.

It won't 'even' any odds; it would wreck them. You can't defeat an army of zombies who can reanimate if you don't have at least one massive advantage over them. That advantage is dragons. Without them, the walkers would absolutely wreck everything.

I do think the writing was odd in this one. We were supposed to be unnerved by the scorpion but did anyone really think Drogon/Dany were dying in the first battle? I'm not saying it can't/won't happen, but they're not killing Drogon yet.

They needed Viserys or Rhegal out there as fodder to truly give the impression that a dragon might die.

Oh, and once again Dany demonstrates that she's A) and entitled shithead (seriously, isn't the kingdom worth your pride? Why does it have to be Jon's?) and B) A shit tactician. As has been noted - the day is won. In short order your Dothraki will have captured the scorpion or burned it down. Just get out of dodge.

This. Dany has done nothing but slowly get on my nerves more and more as the show goes on. As soon as that first shot missed them both.....she should have flown up to where Tyrion is and let the Dothraki wreck shit. They didn't need her at that point.

Pretty short sighted too. I don't understand why she burned all the food they were transporting. She has an army to feed too.

She may expect to re-take Highgarden. They would still have stores/crops there. Or she may make a move on Dorne. That's all far enough south to still be fertile.

True, Jamie was sending Bronn to urge reluctant farmers to give up their grain.

Agreed they are going to need more than one major ace in the hole to battle the dead army.
It looks like they may play up dragon glass as one of those weapons.
To date the dead army has been shown to be of massive scale, bigger than the hosts of Westeros combined. It will be interesting to see if they hold to that scale, which makes them almost impossible to defeat, or if they make them suddenly more sake to defeat for the sake of the story e.g. the Lanister army that stood there and shat themselves against the Dothraki.

I assume she was primarily trying to destroy the wagons carrying the gold.

Thanks! I just didn't remember her getting murdered. I thought the last thing I remembered with her she was forced to torture that chick with Joffrey there. I just assumed he was the one who killed her but didn't remember it.

In the books it certainly appears that the walkers can reanimate birds, etc...

So it gets back to the argument of "a horse sized duck or 10 duck sized horses." You telling me a swarm of 10,000 scattered zombie ravens dive bombing the shit out of a dragon (with only one source of firepower) couldn't harangue the dragon into inattention or accident? The Walkers already have tools at their disposal that could wreck dragons or at least render them less effective.

If the Walkers have a dragon, it's an end-game. There's just nothing else to it. Because if that dragon launches a completely Pyrrhic assault on another dragon and knocks IT out of the sky, now the Walkers have 2 dragons even if dragon one goes down because they can now just reanimate them both. That or they have to be somehow completely incinerated and that seems unlikely given what we know of wars between dragons in the past (again, book information).

Don't worry....Bronn will be there with the scorpion and dragon glass bolts to take it down.

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Some awesome memes out today.

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You wouldn't need an Army if you had Dragons breathing fire over their infantry. You would just continuously pass overhead, out of reach of the undead, raining fire down upon them. You could land in the South, feed the dragons, then return to the North to continue the onslaught. It wouldn't be much of a battle.

This made zero ****ing sense, and the producers made a point to illustrate it to us for a reason. Im curious to know why they decided Danny should make a poor decision and burn the food.