It's a relief map? I didn't notice that. The Lord of Light can cushion her as well as deactivate poison, I suppose.

Nice symbolism, in any case.

But I guess since she's magic, she doesn't feel pain?

I don't know, she didn't look too comfortable to me.

The last line of Cersei's? Jesus, she's a bitch.

Renly was even more foolish than I supposed in declaring himself king rather than allying with Stannis considering he's Stannis's heir. I never quite put that together until now.

I was almost halfway through the book when the show came back, and half the things we saw last night I hadn't come across yet. The back end of the book must be jam-packed with action, or they're trying to space everything out more equally.

I'm reading 100 pages a week because the book's about a thousand pages and the season is ten episodes. It doesn't line up exactly but enough events correlate to make me feel like the pacing is similar. Which is to say, without really remembering from my previous read (I have very little idea what happens in which book at this point, much less what part of which book, it's just a huge jumble of story in my head) I vote for "jam-packed with action".

Is this a good pitch for Sansa (thematically spoilery, I guess, although it doesn't refer to any precise events from the books, really). It's making a case that she's the best character, pretty much--not just in the book, but across a fandom deathmatch.

The showrunners told Martin they were going to move events around, at the very least, to help dissipate spoilers.

I think the things the person says about Sansa are pretty much true, ita.

Sansa still annoys the crap out of me and whenever I see her name atop a chapter, it lets me know it's time to take a break.

Time for a big GoT meara...

Janos Slynt doesn't seem sleazy enough to me - he's the only major casting misstep I can think of so far. Everyone else is spot on.

I think he's perfect, because he comes across as so not-sleazy. I always had the impression that for as much of a scumbag as Slynt is, it wasn't something you could tell just from his appearance or outward manner. I imagine it's why Ned Stark never saw Slynt's betrayal coming.

Cersei--I have no idea if she's cooler than in the books

Cersei is one of the more irredeemable characters in the books. Let's just say that Joffrey is his mother's son. And as mentioned elsewhere, the over-the-top-ness of Joffrey is spot-on. He's that bat-shit evil in the books.

and I do understand that Robb is getting extra time,

Meh, not really, AFAIC. So far, all of the stuff with Robb more or less happens in the books, it just happens primarily through Caitlin's eyes.

I don't think she's a POV character in the books until #3 and by then our view of her is so skewed by how she's perceived by others that it's hard to shake off.

Book 4!

Willingly participating in a gang rape of his own wife does not, to me, indicate a strong moral compass.

I hesitate to call that "willing". Nobody put a gun to his head, but he was targeted by a pretty serious mind fuck by his father. It was an outcome explicitly and knowingly arranged by Tywin Lannister. Tyron was a victim in that event as well, though not an equal victim by any stretch.

But I don't think you can look honestly at the actions of any of them and say Tyrion is objectively a better or nicer person than his siblings.

However, I agree with this completely. He does different things from his brother and sister, and his sympathies and empathies lie in very different places from theirs, but that doesn't really make him a better person, per se.

But I also think that the only truly honorable or good person as we generally understand it, lost his head to his own sword at the end of last season.

he spends a good amount of time trying to do the right thing (and mostly getting shit on for it).

I think any of the things Tyrion tries to do aligning with what we the readers/fans think is the right thing to do is purely coincidental. Tyrion is not motivated by goodness or honor and any other motivation that someone actually trying to do the right thing is operating from. Like Al Swearingen, do not mistake the character doing the "right thing" in any particular instance for the character actually wanting to do the right thing or be a good or even a "better" person.

Show!Joffrey is exactly as I pictured him in the books. He starts out as a sniveling little shit, and turns into a sniveling little shit with a crown. His excessive cruelty is noted in the books even by the other "evil" characters.

Yes, this. He was raised to be this person. He's a deliberate creation who grows well beyond the control of his creator (Cersei).

Is this a good pitch for Sansa (thematically spoilery, I guess, although it doesn't refer to any precise events from the books, really). It's making a case that she's the best character, pretty much--not just in the book, but across a fandom deathmatch.

It's an interesting take on Sansa. I started off not liking her very much, and continued that way for a while, but she's slowly won me over in the books. And I think she changes and grows a little more than that pitch might have you believe, but who she's becoming has yet to really be delved into quite as much as some of the other characters.

Oh, and I thought Balon Greyjoy was SUPER-FREAKIN' AWESOME!