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I love your recaps, and this is completely not to nitpick, but Robb isn’t paying his father’s debt by marrying a Frey, it’s a promise he made in Season 1 in order to cross through Frey territory.
I’m glad you love the recaps! And…that isn’t ringing a bell, so I’m just going to state again that I am NOT a book reader? So I don’t know the names in the books that aren’t on the show? And Catelyn Stark said on the HBO show that he has a “debt that is owed” after saying that Robb has his father’s responsibilities?
I hate that you were forced to nitpick when you don’t want to. I’m going off of the show’s words/actions without knowing all of the things mentioned in the book that don’t make it to screen.
Actually, Laura, I’m not a book reader and Melissa is right. In the same episode that Ned died, Catelyn negotiated passage across a river by promising Robb and Arya’s hands in marriage to two of Lord Frey’s children. (“Did you see his daughters?” “I did. One was…” *awkward silence*) That’s what Catelyn’s referring back to in this episode.
Please read my response above. I know what you’re talking about, promise. Is this really an important detail that I change one word? Note: I’m not going to, I’m just putting the question to you.
In season 1, episode 9, Catelyn has to go into the Twins (a pair of castles defending a bridge spanning a river) to negotiate with Lord Frey (creepy old guy with new young wife) to let Robb’s forces cross the bridge. She later describes his terms to Robb, including marrying Arya off to a Frey son and Robb himself marrying any of Lord Frey’s daughters.
Robb memorably asks if any of them looked pretty, and Cat replies “One” in a sort of way that suggests she is only kind of decent, and Theon chuckles at Robb.
Robb agrees, and this is what allows him to send the 2,000 men against Tywin (at the battle where Tyrion gets knocked out) to distract him while the bulk of the Northern forces take Jaime’s forces by surprise and capture Jaime.
All of that is from the show and requires no reading of the books.
DIRECT QUOTE FROM LAST NIGHT:
“You have inherited your father’s responsibilities-”
“I know.”
“-you are promised to another-”
“I know.”
“-a debt that must be paid.”
Please focus on important things. If it costs me readers to say this, then I guess it does. I do this for free, and the nitpicking is ridiculous. This isn’t the website for that stuff, period. I’m not wrong. You don’t like the shortcut I’m using, to which I say: this is almost 4000 words written overnight, as I don’t get screeners. (Also: Joffrey’s actual name isn’t Weaselteat.)
It’s enough, gang. Talk about something else, or choose to not read here – I’m fine either way. If you’re going to be miserable reading my recaps, then by all means: don’t make yourself miserable.
This is energy sucking. (As opposed to Roz power sucking, hey-o!)
Oh no, this is definitely going by the show alone, I absolutely refuse to be one of those “But in the boooooooook” whiners. Check out your recap for 1.9 (Baelor: http://heydontjudgeme.com/2011/06/13/game-of-thrones-1-09-baelor/) :)
Cate said there was a debt to be paid last night on the show. I mean…that’s what she said. The only reason why the Starks were on the Filch-Frey land was because of Ned being held prisoner by the Lannisters, so Robb gathered his men to go get him back. And the betrothal was the payment required for Robb and the Bannermen to cross the river to get to Ned – a payment for crossing the bridge.
When you don’t make a payment, you have a debt….?
I mean, I could change it to a Promissory Note, I suppose? (But I won’t. ;D)
I guess the issue is saying that it is his father’s debt he is paying. It is not, it is his own, that he agreed to himself.
If you mortgage your house in order to raise the money to bail your dad out of the pen, you may have done it for your father, but the debt is still your obligation to repay. Same principle applies when you agree to marry a troll’s daughter in order to cross the troll’s bridge, so you and your army can go get your dad out of the king’s dungeons.
Here you go.
tl;dr? This isn’t a forum for pedantic nitpicking. Laugh, have fun, or find a place that gives you bliss. *shrug*
Yeah this was pretty clear from the show that this is a debt that he acquired when he wanted to cross the river (I dont know how your not understanding this). She means your father’s debt as in being head of the house stark you have to uphold these promises you make to other houses- as a lord(what he inherited from ned) you can’t make promises to important people and then break them. You really shouldnt be so sensitive to people pointing out your error. I thought it was a good recap but cmon someone just brings one little error to your attention and you get all stubborn and deny it. Then, instead of finally just admitting the small mistake say whatever.
? Wow, dude. I know where the “debt” came from. I also don’t think this is a big deal, but evidently there’s a faction that does.
I’m glad you enjoyed the recap, and I’m kind of shrugging over the whole nitpick shit. I think there’s a lack of reading comprehension happening here. “I get all stubborn and deny it.”
Okay, then. This is officially crazy, folks.
I am an obsessive book reader and huge fan of the TV series.
This review made me laugh so hard I had to pretend like I was coughing so my boss would not notice me reading the internets.
Best recap of GoT that I have seen! You should work for TWOP
My goal: ACHIEVED. Glad you laughed! Oh, how I love this show. LOVE it.
Damn you, now I have “Kiss Me” in my head.
Why the hell didn’t I connect Osha with Tonks until just now? *headdesk* Thank you for that!
I like Sansa too, and I can tell you as a book reader, you will get to like her more. And as for the other Stark sister, I kinda wanted Tywin and Arya to be BFFs in those few moments. A Lannister/Stark spin off with just those two? No? Oh well *sigh*.
You are also going to seriously love Ygritte. There are so many awesome women in this series.
Ha ha! EAR WORM. ;D
I really like Sansa – she lit up the boards last week with the pro and anti Sansa fans, but *shrug* I haven’t been introduced to a character that I’ve not been interested in yet, truthfully.
One thing I keep telling my husband is how much I love the women on this show. All over the spectrum of what it is to be a woman, and all of them strong as hell and doing the best they can. <3
Oh my god, that almost rape scene. I’m still kind of freaked out by it. :(
I am totally with you re: Arya and Tywin! This is some awesome television here! There is some amazing tension in their scenes. I am also enjoying the way little details I wouldn’t think would make it from the book tend to make it into the show. (Tywin re: his dad.) These writers, so clever!
That scene was pretty awful to witness. I can’t even imagine how rough it was for the actress – what a trooper! :(
I could see a spin off with Tywin, Gendry and Arya like a twist on F Troop. :D Hell, I’d watch!
I really enjoy the writing on this show, as well. Since I have no idea what to expect or look forward to, I am along for the ride with whatever they’re giving me. And I get so miserable when the screen goes black. NOOOOOOO!! One more week!?
with his dear Ygritte (if you love old school LL Cool J, you know have been infected with that ear worm. You’re welcome.)
I’m glad she’s not his sister, too! Enough of that in this series!
As for the bad juju above, it’s the writers’ fault really – they put the wrong damn word in Catelyn’s mouth. It’s Lannisters who pay their debts. The honorable Starks are more concerned with fulfilling their obligations.
See – problem solved!
HAHAHAHAHA, leave it to you to be awesome. Yes, a Lannister always pays his debts! Even when it’s begrudgingly.
I mentioned last week that the “sibling” aspect of Arya and Gendry leave me to suspect they’re going to eventually hook up. (If so, please, writers, let the actress be legal age.)
Yo, Ygritte there’s a lot of rumors going around/so bad, baby you might have to skip town. (LL Cool J = Ladies Love Cool Jon.)
“Jon Snow” would make a really, uh, sad white rapper name.
Hey, OT: are you guys planning to recap “Sherlock”? Folks want to know…
MC Jon Snow – he’d be from Winnipeg, I bet.
We are planning on it! I have a new girl I’m hoping to bring on (Brit, longtime fan, hilarious.)
Excellent, thanks!
M-O-O-N, that spells Hodor! It’s wrong that I snorfled, isn’t it? No?
I really thought Dany should have put a bike lock on that dragon cage.
HA! It is right that you snorfled. Unless you were drinking Tabasco and got it up your nose, in which case: you have my sincerest apology.
I MEAN LOCK ON THE ONLY KNOWN DRAGONS IN EXISTENCE. This isn’t rocket science, Dany.
Thanks for another great recap! Loved the reference to The Stand :D
and don’t expend too much energy trying to argue with nitpickers who want to “correct” you.
I love that you got the reference! And thank you for reading! So happy to know you got some chuckles in. :)
Rowdy Roddy Piper is still alive and kicking, i believe you were thinking of Macho Man Randy Savage who endorsed Slim Jims.
Oh, no – he’s just dead to me. He knows why.
Excellent recap! I love Game of Thrones but think most of the recaps/reviews out there are ‘righteously’ serious. The only bad thing is that I wish I’d discovered your site sooner!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok I didn’t get all your references (different pop culture background I think) but still enough for the best chuckle of the week. I know how tough it is to crank out the blog post in just 1 day or night. Don’t let the nitpickers get you down, there are far more people reading your posts who love them. Gosh if there was any place to escape them I’d be there, but I enjoy GOT too much to let the negativity spoil my mood. They’re just very protective of their precioussssss.
Oh, there are a lot of serious folks out there (I mean, sure – the show is intense as can be – but all the more reason to get silly, I say).
We just got exposure to a bunch of new people all at once, I think, and they’re not familiar with this site. They’ll figure it out or they won’t. :) Thanks for the support, and thanks so much for letting me know you laughed! That’s my number one goal.
(And I promise – the serious-types won’t want to stick around. Or they’ll relax and join in. This place is for happy fannish interactions, period. We won’t allow it to go the other route.)
Wonderful recaps, hilarious. I’m a hardcore book reader and I totally support fending off the nitpicking – the show is nailing all the big moments perfectly imo, which for a tv adaptation is far more important than trying to get every little bit in.
Also, love the little Skyrim references popping in here and there. Arya’s succeeding at all her Persuade checks.
So glad you’re enjoying them, thanks! (My husband is a massive book fan and I have to duct tape him to keep him from spoiling me on things.) Re: adaptions from books, it’s just not possible. So much of a story is exposition, thought, narration, and it’s just not possible to get everything in. And from what I understand there are literally forty-three thousand nine hundred and twelve main characters in the books. That would be the biggest craft services table ever. ;D
Fellow Skyrim fen! (I just made the huh-hoo-HUH! shout in your honor.) Oh, do I love the Elder Scrolls.
Now, while all of the sniff-hem hem comments get tiresome, that’s not to say that excited discourse shouldn’t happen, because we love that. (Baelor had some pretty awesome discussions in comments. But then, it was Baelor, one of the best episodes for the entire series. So far…) Feel free to chat people up, should the mood strike you.
When the credits began rolling for “Baelor” (with that sad music), I remember turning to my wife and saying “That’s the best hour of television I think I have ever watched, period.”
Oh, without a doubt. It was up there with Hawkeye’s rooster and Starbuck’s freefall, for me.
I didn’t get to watch the episode. Thank you. Your recap filled the void. Thanks for the deets!
OH NO, J! D:
As always, this recap is awesome. Thanks! :D I have so much to say! But I’ll just touch on one thing: -lol-
When I read to the part about Robb flirting kinda hardcore with rather hawt field medic, I was like, all hmmm: “is that… is that Kiss Me by SNTR… di you… did you just put out some song lyrics?!” -oh I know! A great idea to confirm would be to TRY SING them along to the tune of Kiss Me, no?! while reading recap and visualising the scene again-”
And I now have this slash(fan)vid idea for the song Kiss Me in my head. It features Robb and Talissa. Obviously, doh. Haha. Laura, uh thanks? I think.
Ugh! :P
Oh oh, I don’t believe I the only one who screamed at my TV: DO IT AGAIN. COME ONNNNN AGAIN!!! SLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!! @ Tyrion & Joffrey.
(Can someone make a .gif of Joffrey getting *chain* slapped?)
Thank you for saying so! And YES I DID JUST PUT IN THOSE SONG LYRICS. Hahaha, YOU ARE WELCOME. :D
The slapping of Joffrey by Tyrion will never fail to be a fist pump of a moment. It’s always so gloriously unexpected, (but always wanted!) too.
Exactly! I was like “HELL YEAAAARRR” when it happened. I had thought there would be a Joffrey-getting-slapped-by-Tyrion dryspell, but no! THANK YOU SHOW.
You know what! I totally checked that raven out, too. (Oh, no. Whatcha thinking!? Not thaaat way, I don’t have a bird fetish or something :P) The three eyed raven dream, peeps. The eye thingy!!!
GMT+8er here. So it is time to head out and pretend to be all adultish @ work. Bai! I’ll see yaaaalll next week :D
I would like to point out way back when, Ned Stark showed us that a *real* man/king beheads someone with one fell swoop. Theon, fails at *real* anything other than asshole.
I read book 2 last summer and I swear to god, they’ve diverged [in some instances] so far from canon that I was honestly lost. Then I decided to forget what I read and it no longer mattered!
Theon…what a great character the actor is creating. So squirrelly and awful.
Oh, you absolutely cannot do the “but in the book” argument with anything sprawling or epic. There’s just no way they can a) put everything in and b) take into account POV exposition, etc. You just have to see the at two separate things.
William Goldman’s “What Lie Did I Tell?” is the best book out there for understanding why writers have to make them different. (Plus it’s a great read.)
I just found this site, and I LOVE your recaps. Lots of humor, lots of insight. Can’t wait for your next one!
Question: do you have a theory about the relevance of the tile “The Old Gods and the New” to this episode? It eludes me.
Hello! Glad to hear you’re enjoying the site, that’s always wonderful to get a new reader.
I don’t know how much of a theory it is, more than an assumption: We had the Old Gods with the fellas up in the (true) North as they fight to maintain their (younger) way of living, and a “clash of the old and new” happening in most other areas of the story. (Melisandre and her god, Joffrey and himself – I like to think he sees himself in a Kim Jong Il sort of way – and so on. Hopefully another puzzle piece will be set out on Sunday so I can get a better picture of where things are headed. Although, given the number of books there are, probably not. :)