> ...I was being tongue-in-cheek with the "They almost made up for it" comment. Like I said there, the parts that stunk still and continue to stink. So the "And... They ruined it again" is a similarly tongue-in-cheek follow-up.

Doesn't change the tenor of my post though. I didn't want to go back and forth with you on the production logistics of incorporating Deepwood Motte or creating a new locale for White Harbor or incorporating killing Frey's or whatever in the other post. There are going to be changes, there have to be compromises, we have to acknowledge that. It's just contradictory when you bemoan divergences in one episode then praise divergences in another. The season has to be seen as a whole to really understand why they allocated resources the way they did.

> Lots of their awful changes make narrative sense in the context of the show, but that doesn't mean they aren't awful choices.

This is what I'm talking about when you can't divest your knowledge of the books from your analysis on the show. How is it an awful narrative "choice" unless you're leveraging your book knowledge? Based on show only, Stannis is a grim character. Burning random people for R'hllor when we first meet him. Shadow baby killing brother. Burning Mance for not bending the knee. Killing guards for dereliction of duty (if even that; they're in a blizzard in unfamiliar lands with no food and barely any shelter). This is Stannis' rockbottom scene. This is Sansa's wedding night and Tyrion's barrel voyage. Yes, we were built up to like Stannis but now we see why. Slow burn and all that.

> And yes, in the books, it does make a difference if Stannis is the one who burns his daughter or it's Melisandre or Selyse or some other Queen's men who does it. Especially in regard to Stannis' character (in the books).

You're awfully confident about this not knowing what happens in the actual books.

> It's crappy from the book perspective

Certain arcs yes, but other arcs have yet to play out.

> largely crappy from a TV story-telling perspective

Resounding disagreement. Other than the Dorne scenes (which are starting to come around), this has been a solid season. You could argue that it's the weakest of the series, then my counter would be it's based on the weakest books. Because really, Storm of Swords (and by association Seasons 3 and 4) stand tall above the rest.

> As a side note, I don't even know if they can do Jamie burning Cersei's letter. They missed the opportunity to set it up by not having Cersei ask Qyburn to send it when he visited last episode. I don't know narratively if they can fit in her sending the letter, Jamie receiving it and buring it, and her doing the walk of shame.

This is probably true. Hopefully they'll show some way of Jaime turning from Cersei, or else it would be a huge missed opportunity.


On a side note, I see you posting about the lack of Greyjoys this season, most notably Balon Greyjoy. It looks like they'll figure more prominently next season, so Show Narrative makes more sense if they mention Balon's death along with the whole of the Greyjoy storyline than as a throwaway line in a season where only Theon is relevant.