Episode 5x09 Poll

Or she could off Trant and the Kindly Man will blind her as punishment for a cliffhanger.

Not gonna lie - I bawled all the way through Shireen's death and then bawled again (in happiness) the minute Drogon burst into the air over the stadium in a ball of flame. That, his circling, landing, taking out a harpy by the head, flaming the rest - all great CGI. The flight was not so good CGI but I knew they could only do so much with that - it's one of the toughest things to do on film even in the movies which is why you rarely see a live actor in that sort of CGI work.

Here's my tally:

+ Davos heartfelt moment with Shireen
+ Doran and Dorne scenes were actually better than I expected. Ellaria's faking - just my bet.
+ Arya scene better than I was fearing since she didn't actually poison him and leave like spoilers suggested.
+ Jorah gladiator fighting was well done, well choreographed.
+ Dany accepting Jorah's hand in help/protection. Fuck you Daario.
+ Drogon arrival, landing, fighting all superbly done.

+|- Jon and Wildlings return to the wall was decent if a bit less than I'd hoped for in dialogue about what happened...
+|- Ambivalent about Selyse last minute attempt to save Shireen. Mostly lame.
+|- Dany's actual flight footage - meh ... at least make her hair fly a little more to give the feeling of fast movement?

- points off for that awkward shit with Daario and Hizdahr, wtf is this Mean Girls Essos style?
- Fuck Olly and his
-|- Fuck Obara Sand and her
-|-|- Fuck Stannis and his black heart I hope he rots in the ice with his red witch. :poop:

If the Daznak scenes hadn't gone overall better than I expected, I'd have rated this much lower considering it was a ninth episode and we just came down off a crazy high from Hardhome.

8/10

How will she get Needle in?

This episode quite frankly shows some problems the show has had for a while. They often have characters do and say one thing and then suddenly do the exact opposite without making it plausible. They did it to Stannis and Ellaria here. I cannot overlook that. I also thought that Daznak's was a little bit disappointing although still good enough. I just wished for better CGI. Oddly enough I liked Braavos best this week, even if there was no resolution to that part of the story yet. All in all, I give this episode a generous 7. I might go lower or higher, depending on the follow-up of team Dragonstone's and Dorne's storyline. Sometimes scenes make much more or much less sense in hindsight.

After a bit of sleep, I rated an 8,5, but I'll rewatch and see where I lean towards after that.
Not because of the Shireen scene, I'd give it an 8 without it. Everything happening at Stannis camp was tastefully done, the actors were outstanding and it still haunts me if I even think about it. Stannis downfall is coming and I want to see him losing everything he has left for burning his daughter. Davos will leave him, Melisandre will turn to Jon and all he will have left is Selyse, who will probably kill herself.

It just didn't feel like a episode 9 to me besides the shocker moment of Shireen and Daznak. Maybe because Winterfell and KL were missing. But we will see.

I rated it a 6, I feel I am being very generous.

The Shireen stuff aside, it really was not that great of an episode.

PROS:
Emila acts well with CGI
Iain Glen is one of the most underrated actors on this show
So is Liam Cunningham who does so much with so little screen time
Kerry Ingram was the best young actress on this show, last night's episode, she broke my heart
Tyrion comments at Daznak's Pit to Hizdhar about killing/too much death/you'd get along great with my father. Dinklage was good in that scene.
Alistar to Jon, "You have a big heart. You'll get us killed."
Best scene: Ellaria pouring the wine on the floor when toasting to Tommen. Indira Varma was great in that scene. I liked the scene where she has to kneel to Doran. Well done by both her and Alexander.
CONS:
I cannot get behind the plot choice for Stannis at all. Don't care what D&D say or that GRRM does it in the next book. It was out of character for show Stannis.
The CGI for Daznak's Pit took me out of the scene.
Unfortunately, Emilia doesn't act as well against people as she does CGI
I think the Wall should have sat this one out, Jon and company being let back in probably should have been closing last week's episode.
Dorne has been a waste of time.
I am going to call Olly ACME Anvil.  The foreshadowing is too heavy with this one.
Neutral:
Doran sending Trystane to KL with Myrcella seems like a dumb idea right now, I wouldn't trust anyone in KL if I am him.
I like the House of Black and White stuff, just didn't have enough screen time for me to get into it.

Eh, 8. Daznak was amazing but the narrative structure over the season leading to Shireen's burning was ridiculous

Even Drogon doesn't burn his family

I rated it lower than any other episode this season, but on the re-watch I decided I should have rated it one higher.  Even so, it's a lower than usual rating for me.  With hindsight (and a good night's sleep), I think that (a) being so astounded and absolutely blown out of the water with Hardhome and (b) just having a really hard time recovering from seeing Stannis watch Shireen burn both conspired to impact my rating for this episode.  One fantastic, one horrible, but just couldn't shake off either of them.