[ClearCase_guy]

Well made episode. Enjoyable. But, aside from Cersei’s situation, not a lot of real progression. There are very few episodes left this season, and it feels to me that Stannis is not the only one stuck in place. Is Dany making progress? Olenna? Jon? Jaime? Sansa? Brienne? They are where they are, which is where they were.

OK, Aemon got somewhere, and Sam got somewhere. But that doesn't seem like part of the central theme.

This fifth season has largely felt like endless “positioning” and getting characters ready for the next big thing – which never comes.

And, oh, I somehow find the Sand Snakes absolutely annoying.

[martin_fierro]

Sam got somewhere.

AH, so that's what the kids are calling it these days.

[chris37]

I would say that, in the books, the only person to really arrive anywhere was Dany, and the place she arrived was simply different than the place she’s been at for far too long.

And her arrival there is most dramatic, and will no doubt be the season closer.

The only other character that experiences anything noteworthy is Jon Snow.

Otherwise book 5 is a very complex spinning of many new plots, most of which seem entirely absent from this season, because there are just way too many plots and characters for a tv show to manage effectively.

And the goings on with Cersei are leftovers from book 4.

[beebuster2000]

dwarf beat down of the guy with the chains was good.

i quit the books because i got tired of waiting on the dragons to do something . ettting the same feeling from the series.

and yes, the sand snakes are a big bust, err.. i mean disappointment.

[LeonardFMason]

I AGREE. This season has been pretty boring. Hardly must see. I stream episodes when it is convenient for me. My fear is the author is running out of ideas and a plan to end the story. By far the worst season.

[IDontLikeToPayTaxes]

This fifth season has largely felt like endless “positioning” and getting characters ready for the next big thing – which never comes.

They are deliberately dragging it out. George RR Martin
still has two books left in the series.

[ConjunctionJunction]

The focus of this season seems to be getting Tyrion to Daenerys (although in the books, Tyrion and Daenerys have not met yet). That was finally completed last night. Daenerys' story seems to be following her story in the books, but they have cut some things out or not gotten to them yet.

[rarestia]

I’ve not read the books, but I’ve re-watched previous seasons multiple times, and I’m seeing this season as a build-up to several big events.

Sam is in trouble, and I have a feeling he’ll be running away from Castle Black to either join Stannis or head back north of the wall to find Jon Snow. There was some foreshadowing between Stannis and Sam in a previous S05 episode, and this recent episode had Alliser warning Sam that he’s running out of friends.

I have to say that I’m genuinely interested to figure out where the Tyrion-Jorah thread goes. Could someone refresh my memory, what did Jorah do to Dany that she despises him? Her disgust for him despite vanquishing all of those in the fighting pits was palpable. And she seemed completely disinterested in the fact that Tyrion was there. I was expecting a bigger reaction. Poor acting or expected from the book?

I might have missed the thrust of the discussion, but what was the deal with Melisandre and Stannis? Was she looking to sacrifice his daughter?

And finally, the Cersei stuff was expected. As soon as she called on the the fanatics to seize Margarey’s brother, I said to my wife, “That’s going to backfire on her with all the skeletons in her closet.” Looks like her chickens have come home to roost.

As a writer and a fan of this genre, I love character development, and this season strikes me as a strong character development season. It’s a welcome reprieve from the standard bloodfest that GoT has been in season’s past, but I have a feeling there’s going to be some nastiness coming. They usually hit us hard in episodes 6-9 before ending on 10.