SPOILER ALERT! So am I the only one excited about a new round of GoT?

[Silent Invader]

I like the way it ended last night. It promises a way out of the whole tedious slavers bay going-nowhere-storyline Daenerys has been stuck in for the past manny seasons.

Now she might actually go somewhere and do something. Tyrion has also conveniently fixed the whole slavers bay domestic problem.

So now she can retur to Westeros leading a horde of Dothraki and her dragons.

I agree. I thought it was a good 'positioning' episode. I also thought the letter from Ramsay to Jon was an amusing device to set up the Wildlings vs the Boltons (which also just happens to be a central theme of my own GOT-derived wargaming project   )

[Silent Invader]

And basically a retread of the finale of series 1 where she emerges from the fire...

The best guide to the future is the past  

It was foolishly arrogant (but what can you expect from a bunch of mysoginists?!) to let her near fire

[Elk101]

I didn't mind the ending,  though it did highlight the Dothraki's appalling approach to fire safety. All those braziers and not even a fire bucket or fire escape!  They brought it on themselves really.

It was unintentional the first time she did it so I just saw it as her learning from what happened previously and playing her trump card.

The Ramsay Bolton thing is getting a little two dimensional though. He is just an out and out shit and that's all there seems to be about him. Roose should have had him done in ages ago.

[Hammers]

I didn't mind the ending,  though it did highlight the Dothraki's appalling approach to fire safety. All those braziers and not even a fire bucket or fire escape!  They brought it on themselves really.

It was unintentional the first time she did it so I just saw it as her learning from what happened previously and playing her trump card.

The Ramsay Bolton thing is getting a little two dimensional though. He is just an out and out shit and that's all there seems to be about him. Roose should have had him done in ages ago.

But how do you portray a man knowing fullhe has y well of what stuff your 'subject' is made but who has still not realized that you have pushed him one step too far.

[Silent Invader]

He's nice to his dogs

[Elk101]

But how do you portray a man knowing fullhe has y well of what stuff your 'subject' is made but who has still not realized that you have pushed him one step too far.

I suppose so. He just strikes me as to much of a liability for someone like Roose Bolton to tolerate. But perhaps that was Roose's weakness that made him more than a flat villian; Ramsay was still his son.

He's still a dick!  (Ramsay that is. I kind of liked the Roose character).

[Charlie_]

I'm starting to get tired of Ramsay myself. I kind of hope he gets killed soon. There really is not much emotional impact left when he kills someone or generally does something 'evil'.

Sorry to bring it back to the power of books over TV, but I think it's interesting. I'm finding a lot of the plots / characters on the shows starting to get dull, or stagnate. I think it's because a TV show has to give these things regular screentime. Ramsay is the best example. In the books, he doesn't actually get that much 'screentime'.... But through Theon's thoughts and recollections, plus various accounts of his actions going back (I think) to the first book, the reader knows all about him. In the show, to get the viewer to understand what he is all about, they need to constantly show him doing 'evil things', which starts to get stale after a while.
Also worth pointing out that he has been a regular in the show since Season 3, where he basically spent the whole time torturing Theon. And Theon has been a regular since the very beginning. In the books, after the sack of Winterfell, Theon is not seen or heard of for several books. Everyone thinks he is dead. When he pops up in the 5th book, it's a really shocking moment. "Holy shit, that crippled old man is THEON! What the hell happened to him?" And all the torture and abuse he has been to is detailed (or at least hinted at) though his thoughts and recollections, which is how the reader really gets to know Ramsay. In fact, there are I believe only 6 (I think?) Theon chapters in that one book, but they cover a hell of a lot of ground.
What else we know about Ramsay precedes the sack of Winterfell. He has a bit of a reputation before then. When Robb is off fighting and Bran is left in charge of Wintefell (so before Theon takes Winterfell), one of the domestic issues Bran encounters it 'The Bastard Of Bolton', so we know of him by reputation waaaaay before he actually appears. Lots of northern lords are wanting to marry the recently widowed Lady Hornwood with hopes to inherit her estate. Ramsay marries her forcibly, 'disposes' of her and claims all her lands for himself.
Anyway my point is, in the books Ramsay has been there since the beginning and is still a very interesting character. In the show, I am just bored of seeing him killing people.

[Hammers]

That was pretty good. I mean episode 5. A lot of revelations crammed into one episode though, something one is not used to.

[Hupp n at em]

That was pretty good. I mean episode 5. A lot of revelations crammed into one episode though, something one is not used to.

Yeah, one was especially emotional ("hold the door"  ) and one more interesting origin reveal...

[tomrommel1]

Yes episode 5 was very good indeed!!!

[manic _miner]

 Wonderful episode and pretty sad too  .

 Things seem to be picking up speed now.

[Elk101]

Will be watching it in a few hours time. Glad to hear it's a good one aftee last week's more general advancement episode.

[nic-e]

Just watched episode 5. I am not afraid to admit i had to hold back tears, something i was not expecting.

Also alot revealed int hi s episode but really it all played second fiddle to that ending.

[Hupp n at em]

Prior to last night, the episodes so far have been mostly setup and little payoff/action taking place.  This week changed that in a big way, and next week looks like the big event shaping up in King's Landing will take place, which as yet another event that has not happened in the books yet, I'm really excited for.  I have to say, regardless of whether or not we think the "how" is good or how we thought it would play out in the book timeline, the "what" of these events where the show has passed up the book timeline are making the show much more enjoyable for me.  I now understand how edge-of-your-seat great the show must have been for show-only watchers all this time.   

[Hammers]

Prior to last night, the episodes so far have been mostly setup and little payoff/action taking place.  This week changed that in a big way, and next week looks like the big event shaping up in King's Landing will take place, which as yet another event that has not happened in the books yet, I'm really excited for.  I have to say, regardless of whether or not we think the "how" is good or how we thought it would play out in the book timeline, the "what" of these events where the show has passed up the book timeline are making the show much more enjoyable for me.  I now understand how edge-of-your-seat great the show must have been for show-only watchers all this time.   

I was not very keen on the idea of the Children chucking mills bombs.