SPOILERS: Don’t read if you have not yet seen or don’t want to know details from E9 and E10 (the season finale) of the show.

Episode 9: A Dance of Dragons

Some will say this was a betrayal… of the contract that showrunners have with the audience.  Sometimes you can just go too far.  -Ben Mankiewicz (What The Flick?!) noting some viewers’ opinions of Sansa’s marital rape

This would never ever, ever happen in a normal TV show, and that’s part of the reason we watch this show.  -Cenk Uyger (Ben’s co-commentator) on Shireen’s death/sacrifice by burning

This was a VERY hard to watch ep (if you’re still watching)! We find out that, just before dawn, Ramsay and a few of the Bolton bannermen came and took ALL the horses.  Also, the sellswords (half of Stannis’ army) rode away in the middle of the night. Davos (LOVE him, as always) is sent away by Stannis to The Wall.  Davos wonders why HE needs to go when any other man would suit.  He gives Shireen a present (a deer he carved out of wood) before he rides away.  Poor little Shireen is walked from her tent to a pyre.  She cries and calls out for her father, but the soldiers just lower their heads and do nothing.  Suddenly, Selyse finds her motherly feeling (FINALLY), but it’s TOO late!  Melisandre has already set fire to the pyre.

The second half of the ep was like something you’d see in a feature film- WOW!!!  How cool was it when Jorah speared Dany’s would-be assassin!? (BTW, where did ALL those Sons of the Harpy hide their masks?) There was some heavy fighting, BUT finally Drogon flew in for the rescue.  It was a GREAT ending for the ep!

Episode 10: Mother’s Mercy

Go on.  Do your duty.  -Stannis’ last words (to Brienne)

There is no rightful heir right now to Westeros!  -Cenk Uygur

Cersei is (FINALLY) punished!  (FYI: They closed a lot of streets on location and used a body double for some of the shots, as Lena Headey is pregnant.  I didn’t know re: the double until I heard A Cast of Kings podcast.)  Yes, Cersei has done TERRIBLE things, BUT it was tough to see her treated in such a way.  What will come NEXT from her, I wonder!

Is he (Jon Snow) dead?  Is he alive?  Will he be raised from the dead by Melisandre? (We saw Thoros do that before, BUT maybe she can do that, too?)  And what about Theon/Reek and Sansa?  So many questions…