Tag: Drama

Game of Thrones: Season 5, Episode 3 (“High Sparrow”) – Best Quotes

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GOT503_091714_HS__DSC1881_1__0SPOILERS: Don’t read this review if you have not yet seen or don’t want to know details from Season 5, Episode 3 of Game of Thrones.

King’s Landing:

What is the proper way to address you now, Queen Mother or Dowager Queen? 

The alternate title of this scene could’ve been “Queen Margaery For the Win.”  She passive-aggressively asks Cersei a few questions the day after her wedding night w/ Tommen, surrounded by her retinue of young attendants.  And that dig about the wine was SO apropos… and funny!

Cersei’s face said it all, BUT she had to swallow her anger.  As Nina Rastofi (Vulture) wrote: “Is there anything scarier (or better) than Lena Headey’s fake-Cersei smile? It’s like she just pulls the edges of her mouth back and bares those chompers in order to distract you from her dead, cold, eyes. It’s a masterful face performance.”

So, you were administering to these devout prostitutes?

LOL!  Qyburn (skeptically) asks the High Septon when the religious leader comes to complain to the Small Council re: his treatment by the Sparrows in the streets.  He may NOT be a real maester, BUT Qyburn is becoming one of my fave characters on the show.  You MUST wonder what in the name of Frankenstein he’s doing w/ The Mountain!

HighparrowHypocrisy is a boil.  Lancing a boil is never pleasant.

The High Sparrow (Jonathan Pryce, a veteran of theater/film) explains to Cersei when she goes to visit him in his (smelly) part of town.  I was BIT surprised to hear that Cersei had the High Septon thrown in jail for his behavior.

game-of-thrones-cersei-high-sparrow-hbo-longThe faith and the crown are the two pillars that hold up this world. One collapses, so does the other.

Cersei explains the importance of BOTH government and religion to the High Sparrow.  Hmmm… will he be an ally for Cersei?

On the road/The North (Winterfell):

He didn’t love me!  He didn’t want me!  He danced with me because he was kind.  He kept me from being a joke… from that day until his last day. 

Brienne of Tarth (FINALLY) tells the origin of her devotion to Renly Baratheon.  This was a GREAT scene (that almost had me teary-eyed)!  The actor who portrays Pod did a good job w/ the way he was listening to Brienne speak.

Nothing’s more hateful than failing to protect the one you love.

Brienne concludes the scene, and we can tell from her eyes that she’ll do anything to revenge Renly’s death.

game-of-thrones-season-5-episode-3-the-high-sparrow-sansa-littlefingerThat marriage proposal… it wasn’t for you.

Sansa says to Littlefinger (Well, what  sort of behavior did you expect from a pimp!?) when they stop on the road to Moat Caillin, which is now held by Bolton bannermen.  In my mind, I shouted “NOOOOOO!!!”  Poor Sansa- she has been promised to Ramsay Bolton (shudder), now legitimized by Roose,The Warden of the North.

Stop being a bystander, do you hear me? Stop running. There’s no justice in the world. Not unless we make it. You loved your family. Avenge them.

Well, Lord Baelish (Littlifinger) isn’t completely wrong.  Sansa’s best way to get revenge would be getting close to her enemies by using her beauty, manners, etc.  After all, she can’t fight with swords (like Arya and Brienne), BUT she has learned a LOT from being at court and traveling w/ Littlefinger.

The best way to forge a lasting alliance isn’t by peeling a man’s skin off. The best way is marriage.  -Roose Bolton explains to his son Ramsay

1227430903071222373I need her name, not her virtue.

Roose Bolton (I LOVE this actor’s voice!) flatly tells Littlefinger re: Sansa.  I liked ALL the interactions between Michael McElhatton and Aiden Gillen; their characters are like two (rotten) peas in a pod.  The main difference- one uses his sword the other uses his words.

Welcome home. Lady Stark.  The North remembers.

Oooh, I LOVED this little scene w/ Sansa and the elderly maidervant who shows her to a chamber!  Now that she’s back in her home territory, Sansa has supporters (though she may not know them yet).

gameofthrones15_28_0_0The North (The Wall/Castle Black):

You’re as stubborn as your father, and as honorable.  -Stannis
I can imagine no higher praise.  -Jon
I didn’t mean it as praise. Honor got your father killed. -Stannis

You have to like ANY scene that mentions Ned Stark!

I heard it was best to keep your enemies close.  -Jon

Whoever said that didn’t have many enemies.  -Stannis

Stannis suggests that Jon send Ser Alistair Thorne as far away as possible.  Ser Davos (Liam Cunningham gets a meaty scene- FINALLY) later tells Jon that Stannis sees something in him.  Stannis’ respect for Jon is growing, as we learn from that silent nod after Jon executes Ser Janos Slynt (YAY!!!)

The South/city of Volantis:

Someone who inspires priests and whores is worth taking seriously.  -Varys

We saw a new place this ep- Volantis (home of the deceased Talisa, wife of Robb Stark).  Slavery is common, as Talisa explained before.  There is another Red Priestess and (a VERY popular) pro with hair and dress like Dany.  At the final scene, Ser Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen- LOVE him!) kidnaps Tyrion is such a smooth/expert way!

Game of Thrones: Season 5, Episode 2 (“The House of Black and White”) – Top 5 Moments

Emma2 Comments

SPOILERS: Don’t read this review if you have not yet seen or don’t want to know details from Season 5, Episode 2 of Game of Thrones.

5) The moment I was MOST awaiting was seeing Doran Martell (Alexander Siddig, who you may know from his role as Dr. Julian Bashir on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), the king of Dorne.  In the gorgeous water gardens, Doran, the older brother of Prince Oberyn Martell, is sitting down b/c he suffers from gout (you can see the pain on his face in the quiet moments). What an actor… and he’s still handsome and trim!  

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“Yes, he was my brother… long before he was anything to you!” Doran reminds Ellaria Sand (Indira Varma, now w/ her own CUTE curly bobbed hair) when she goes off on him re: getting revenge for Oberyn’s death.  Ellaria (who even looks amazing in mourning) wants to kill Myrcella, who’s betrothed to the king’s son, and “send her piece by piece” to Cersei.  Yikes!  However, Oberyn wasn’t murdered; he died in combat (as Doran points out). 

4) All of Brienne’s fight scenes w/ Littlefinger’s men-  I LOVED how it was all shot, too!  Sansa doesn’t know Brienne, so she refused her protection.  She’ll stick with the devil she knows (Littlefinger).  Hmmm… what’s with that “marriage proposal” talk? 

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3) Guess who’s (FINALLY) back?  The Faceless Man AKA Jaqen H’gar (Tom Wlaschiha)!  He’ll be a mentor to Arya Stark (Maisie Williams), as many viewers suspected.  We gals want to see more Jaqen, right?

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2) Dany has the young (and VERY adorable) former slave/advisor beheaded after he kills one of the Sons of the Harpy (awaiting trial in jail).  His fellow former slaves hiss and throw rocks at Dany, who’s whisked away by the Unsullied.

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Later that night, Drogon comes to vist her for a moment before flying off.

1) “He may be young, but he’s the commander we turned to when the night was darkest,” Sam said of Jon, who becomes (by 1 vote- Maester Aemon’s) Lord Commander.  YAY!  Many of his fellow men LOVE him, after all…

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Game of Thrones: Season 5, Episode 1 (“The Wars to Come”)

EmmaLeave a comment

SPOILERS: Don’t read this review if you have not yet seen or don’t want to know details from the Season 5 premiere of Game of Thrones.

GoT-Young-Cersei

The woods:

Who is this little blonde girl?  Is it Myrcella (who was taken to Dorne for her protection)?  No, it’s a pre-teen Cersei (notice the same hairstyle and nasty attitude)!  This is the first flashback scene in GoT, showrunner David Benioff notes. Cersei learns of her future from a witch (played by British actress Jodhi May) living deep in the woods.  Instead of marrying the prince she was betrothed to, Cersei will marry a kind and become a queen.  Her future husband (Robert Baratheon, of course) will have 20 children, but she’ll have 3 (as we know Joffrey, Tommen, and Myrcella).     

Gold will be their crowns.  Gold will be their shrouds.  -The witch 

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Queen Cersei Lannister & Ser Jaime Lannister in The Grand Sept:

Many lords and ladies are lined up to see/pay respects to Tywin (killed by Tyrion at the end of Season 4).  See those creepy stones on Tywin’s eyes?  Cersei (Lena Headey) doesn’t care, saying that they can wait a bit longer.  Inside the sept, a somber Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) is guarding the corpse.  He says that their enemies are outside, eager to see Tywin’s dead body.  Cersei says their enemy is Tyrion, who Jaime let escape from jail, and now “look at the consequences.” 

He loved you more than anyone in this world.  –Cersei

Lord Tyrion Lannister & Lord Varys arriving in Pentos:

There is a cool POV shot of Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) breaking out from the crate.  The fluffy beard on him shows us that a good amount of time has passed since the end of S4.  Varys (Conleth Hill) says that they are at the home of his old friend, Ilyrio Mopatis (who was an ally of the Targaryens and arranged the marriage in S1). Tyrion throws up, but then continues to drink (red wine, as usual).

Westeros needs to be saved from itself.  -Varys

Meereen:

The (main?) harpy statue is pulled down from a high pyramid and smashes to the ground.  An Unsullied visits his usual pro in the city, hoping for some cuddling, but gets his throat slit by someone in a creepy gold mask and shapeless robe. When Danerys (Emilia Clarke) and her council talk, Ser Barristan (Ian McElhinney) explains that the killer was one of the Sons of the Harpy, an “insurgent” group.  Dany declares that she’s “not a conqueror.”  Notice the young freed slave in her council? 

Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel) goes to ask Grey Worm (Jacob Andersen) about some of the Unsullied being seen in brothels (awkward).  He says that he doesn’t know anything about that. (Um, what’s the point of this scene?)

Castle Black:

That young orphaned boy (from S4) is training with Jon. Gilly (Hanah Murray) asks Sam (John Bradley) why he’s not fighting (oh, please).  He reminds her that he’s killed a Whitewalker and a Thenn- a rare feat for any man. (It’s cool to see Sam w/ some confidence!)  Gilly worries that she and baby Sam will be sent away if Ser Alistair (Owen Teale) is chosen as the next Lord Commander.

Melisandre (Carice Van Houten) comes to fetch Jon (Kit Harington, looking mature/intense).  She (sorta) hits on him on the long lift up to the top of The Wall, but he’s not amused.  Stannis (Stephen Dillane) asks Jon: “Don’t you want to revenge him [Robb]?”  But Jon has pledged himself to The Night’s Watch.  Stannis decides that Mance Rayder will either “bend the knee” or be burned at the stake.

They were born on the wrong side of The Wall.  They’re not monsters.  -Jon

GoT-S5E1-watchingRobyn

The Riverlands at Lord Royce’s castle:

We learn that Robin Arryn is now 13, but can’t fight worth squat (to the dismay of his new protector, Lord Royce).  Littlefinger (Aiden Gillen) says that some boys don’t need to fight- they have the right name/title.  He gets a message (via raven, of course) and Sansa (Sophie Turner, now an even more striking young woman) wonders what’s up.

Back on the road w/ Pod & Brienne of Tarth:

Brienne (Gwendoline Christie) is in a bad mood- she’s not really a knight, so Pod’s not a proper squire.  Pod reminds her that Sansa Stark is still out there somewhere, even if Arya refused her protection.  On the road nearby, Littlefinger, Sansa, and their retinue go by (irony).

The good lords are dead.  The rest are monsters.  -Brienne

GoT-S5-E1-Lancel

Lord Tywin Lannister’s wake (at the palace in Kings Landing):

Guess who’s back?  Cousin Lancel, now one of the Sparrows (a religious order), is wearing a threadbare robe and a very short haircut (which suits him actually).  When they are alone, Lancel asks her forgiveness for their “unnatural relations” and what happened w/ the King.  (Yes, I knew he had something to do w/ it!  Lancel probably poisoned Robert’s wine before he went out on that boar hunt in S1.)  Well, Cersei is not happy to hear this spoken out loud- watch out, Lancel! 

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Tyrion & Varys in Ilyrio’s garden:

A very depressed Tyrion wants to drink himself to death- calling himself a “coward.”  Varys disagrees, saying that Tyrion can have an important role in deciding who rules the Seven Kingdoms.  There is someone he should meet in Essos (Dany, of course)!

I will never sit on the Iron Throne.  -Tyrion

No, but you could help another to climb those steps… take that seat.  -Varys 

Meereen: Dany’s court, her chamber, & in the dragons’ cell:

We learn that many people in Yunkai want “the fighting pits” to be reopened, though Dany thinks it’s barbaric.  Later on that night. Daario (still don’t buy this actor, Michiel Huisman, in the role) tells her how he saw sold by his mother (a pro) into slavery.  In time, he became a good fighter (“I wasn’t big, but I was quick…”) in those pits, earned money for his master, and eventually was freed. Dany is worried about ruling, but also about Drogon, (“hasn’t been seen in weeks.”) When Dany visits the two other dragons, this huge head comes out of the dark and breathes fire at her (scary and effective)!

Castle Black: Mance Raydar’s jail cell, then the courtyard:

When Jon comes in to talk, Mance (Ciaran Hinds, underused on this series) already knows what Stannis wants.  “I’ll never serve him,” Mance says calmly.  Jon tries to change his mind, telling him to “think of your people.”  (Jon has become more serious- good to see!)  Mance explains that the Wildlings follow him b/c they respect him; they don’t care about Stannis. 

Oh, I am afraid… no shame in that.  -Mance   

Everyone is waiting/watching (even Gilly, the young boys, and Shireen) when Mance is brought before Stannis, then put on a big wooden pyre and tied up.  Melisandre says a speech about choosing “the true God or the false” (whatever, you nutjob) and sets the pyre aflame.  Mance begins to sweat and shake as the flames get higher/hotter.  Jon decides to end Mance’s suffering by shooting an arrow right through his heart.  (This was a heroic thing to do and also a great ending for the ep!)