The Lions' Pride

Honestly the whole Harranhal plotline has me confused; need to go back and refresh from the books, because I cant recall what's "accurate" an what's new. Last night Tywin left for King's Landing, put Clegane in charge and told him Arya had been a good cup girl and that he should keep her; she tried to find Jaqen H'ghar to get him to kill Tywin; he of course said he couldn't because he was already gone; she then had him name himself, which upset him; she took it back only if he would help her, Gendry and Hotpie to escape. That night they escaped through the gate at midnight, after he killed all the guards.

This wasn't the way it went down in the books - don't think Clegane showed up until later after the Bloody Mummers (who were never referenced at all), and as you said earlier, they are making Arya out to be whiny and a bit petulant, far less strong than in the books. Same pattern last night.

Wow. This is terrible, and I don't know what they plan to do in the future so I'm afraid of spoilers by correcting the plot.

In the book, Lord Tywin handed control over to one of his knights with the Bloody Mummers there, as he rode to King's Landing - and the Bloody Mummere. The mountain is good enough, but where they lose me is when they let Arya go. This is when she really grows up. She didn't get jaquen to kill the guards on her escape, she murdered them herself. She also didn't escape at this time. Before then, some northerners were supposed to brought to Harrenhall as captives, and enables them to escape and take over the castle (with the help of Jaquen, and I believe this is when Amory Lorch should have died) and eventually becomes the cup bearer of that new lord. She escapes when that lord is set to leave the castle, and about to hand over control to Vargo Hoat, captain of the Brave Companions aka the Bloody Mummers.

good point. I guess I'm just annoyed because Arya is my favorite carachter.

Is Tyrion still alive? I thought it would have had to be a more significant cut to his face to make him go limp like that.

To answer that would be a bit spoil-ish. I will say that the blow as described in the book was much worse (he basically lost half his face).

As for the season finale, I am very curious to see how Dany's trip to the House of the Undying (HotU) turns out -- especially with respect to a certain other main character.

I read it, thanks for the info. Thought that was the case, interested to see how it looks next week.

Since I started reading the 1st book most everything has been portrayed pretty well by HBO, and a lot of the quotes from the book are word-for-word in the show. That said, I've heard people say this season Arya's character isn't portrayed as well, and Robb's relationship with that doctor person is really extended. R

She's actually the daughter of one of the minor liege-lords of the Lannisters (forget which one), but you are correct, the relationship is really glossed over in the books. The relationship does play a very pivotal role going forward, though, which is why I believe the producers expanded her role and gave her much more character development. It's definitely a departure from GRRM's source material, and one I am happy to see.

As for Arya, I think the actress playing her is doing very well to capture the character. I think those of us who've read the books and are expecting a stronger character are looking back with the knowledge of who she becomes. I was disappointed to see that she didn't kill the guard though. I view that as one of the pivotal moments in her character development.

By the way, GRRM wrote the Blackwater episode which I thought was bang on (except for the one missing implement of war -- minor complaint). He writes the screenplay for one episode per season.

Having heard what happens w many of the main characters down the line...not sure how much I'm looking forward to upcoming seasons. Seems like the whole thing deteriorates over time.

It actually should have been (if included) referenced a couple weeks ago around when Tyrion met with the Pyromaster. As part of the wildfire scheme, Tyrion had all of the blacksmiths in the city make giant links (each link as big as a man iirc) to create a chain that would stretch from one end of Blackwater Bay to the other end.

The idea was to raise the chain after Stannis's ships had advanced far enough up the bay to see the one ship filled with the wildfire in order to trap his fleet, prevent any ships from escaping, and cause as much havoc as possible.

I assume it was removed due to budget constraints.

Boardwalk Empire?

I'm re-watching The Wire.

I think the new season of BE will be more satisfying.