FIRST TIME WATCHING: GOT S2E4!!

One of the best/worst things about Tywin is that while he's an absolute monster... he's so freakin smart

Tommy Ross

lol this is the first time she's noticed the intro changes based on where the episode takes place

john collins

The rat scene is not in the books. It was an addition by the show writers.

NationOf

A little background on Renly Baratheon, Ser Loras Tyrell and his sister, Margery Tyrell. Obviously Renly is gay and loves Ser Loras ("the Knight of Flowers"). The Tyrells are one of the big Seven (or Eight) kingdoms that make up the seven kingdoms and they are the second richest house next to the Lannisters. Renly knows that he is going to need their support to go up against the Lannister-financed Baratheon crown, so he agrees to marry Margery, ensuring that their male heirs would be kings of Westeros. Margery is absolutely brilliant, has been groomed for this her entire life and willing to do anything necessary to see it become a reality (don't try to read into her motives as you don't know her that well yet). Renly is far more popular than the dour Stannis and with the public backing of House Tyrell, the banners (lesser lords) who would oppose the current king flock to his side.

Ellis Hugh

But, this is one of the ones that IS expressly mentioned. Lord Commander Mormont specifically names Jorah as his son when he is giving his sword to Jon Snow.

Thomas Yanez

There's a long history of rat tortures. The Tower of London had a cell that was below the water line. When the tide on the Thames rose, the rats would go into the cell and would feast on the prisoners there. In the 1970s, Argentina would insert a rat up a prisoner's ass. George R.R. Martin may have gotten the idea from Edgar Allen Poe or George Orwell, who both featured rat tortures.

Alan Kobb

I mentioned this before, Nat, but you may have missed it - the old Bear, Lord Commander Mormont of the Night's Watch is the father of Jorah Mormont, Dany's lovesick advisor. There are a lot of connections like that which are subtle and exist but aren't expressly mentioned.

Ellis Hugh

lmao Nat's face when Melisandre gave birth. Same girl. Same

Cultured Degenerate

What's the point in commenting this, aha.

RationallySassy

I could never rewatch GOT again. Such a waste of time. Enjoy it while it last😞

Stoned Misthios

* "Hot Fuzz"

Thomas Yanez

You can find articles that talk about how the darkness was intended for thematic reasons, and complicated by compression methods used by streaming services complicated things, and that having nice, modern TV's/monitors with properly tuned settings and viewing environments (darkened room) would have made it more visible while maintaining their intentional "dark" to help us visualize the episode's title, but frankly I think it's bullshit. The vast majority of the audience was forced to squint at their screens for large portions of the episode and simply miss what was happening due to this directorial decision. I ended up just rewatching it with the brightness/contrast cranked up just so I could see what happened.

Thomas Yanez

Lol, I just found out the actor that plays The Hound also played the "Yarp" guy in The World's End.

Tomas

Michelle Fairley is good at this acting thing...what a performance!

Lukas G.

"You haven't seen her do, what i have seen her do"

Lukas G.

Thanks for the great work, as always. Also this blackout blind/lighting issue will, unfortunately, persist. There's a whole episode in the last season that I was squinting to try to see because it was so dimly lit.

Craig McIvor

nice pre-spoiler

warcrimes

Watching both episodes tonight. Chubby kid is named Hot Pie if I recall correctly. During the lead up to the final scene I had the biggest grin on my face lol. This episode was infamous cause of what happened at the end. So when you were talking about the lack of mystical stuff in the series, this is so when that mystical stuff does happen you know it’s a big deal. Magic and strange creatures are rare, as they should be. Back when I first read the books it was the main point that separated the series from everything else.

JediLounger

Ser Davos is called the Onion Knight because he was raised to knighthood by Stannis after smuggling onions to him during Robert's rebellion.

Valiant Thorr

When this is edited for youtube, whoever is editing it should autotune her disgusted yell at the head being put on a spike. just a thought.

Ethan Plumer

A girl must wait to see what happens next...

Joe Blankenship

Catylen opening the chest wasn't even up for discussion, because she knew immediately what was in it. You've seen people like the two ladies that brought the chest in, with their distinct clothing and headdresses. They have been seen caring for dead bodies, such as washing a dead person, or sewing up the wounds in a dead person. Their job is to clean up the corpses (and in cases of catastrophic damage, to render the body down to the bones) so that they can be presented to the family for proper burial. Littlefinger was actually doing Catelyn a service that is pretty standard in the land, by returning Ned's cleaned and prepared remains to his family. He's just a slimy fuck who was trying to use the opportunity to earn her favor.

Thomas Yanez

This info is revealed eventually in the story, so... kinda spoilery.

Thomas Yanez

Harrenhal being the place you were asking about where Arya and Tywin ended up. The reason it looks the way it does (a jumbled pile of ruins) , on both the intro map and in person, is something the story will reveal eventually.

Thomas Yanez

Ilyn Payne is Joffrey's executioner (the one who killed Ned, with Ned's own sword). He also has no tongue, which is why he's so quiet...

Ilsuk Yang

Aaagh it’s so hard to keep from talking about future events

Ben Wheeler

Pyke, in the intro is the stronghold of House Greyjoy, and is now being included as Theon returned to his homeland. The man talking with Robb, saying "Naked man has few secrets, but a flayed man has none" is Roose Bolton, one of the bannerman who sworn allegiance to the Starks. They are known for torturing enemies by flaying their skin off, and their sigil is a flayed man. Just a heads up, if you recall the scene from Season One where Deanerys' brother was with the "hired entertainment" in the tub, and she told him about the things she saw/heard about, with one of them being people who can change faces at will... that'll be relevant.

Paul C

Damn forgot how dark this episode is.

Episodes like this one are why I can't outright recommend the show to just everyone. It's painful for some to watch, myself included. Also, the intro changes quite often. It might change every week, but don't quote me on that. I think it depends on what's going to be in the episode. Also certain areas will change depending on plotpoints.

Troy B.

Not night walkers, WHITE walkers.

Ryan R

Drat... I was expecting F-bombs from you during that final scene. Nice restraint! Sorry I put so many comments. I'll retsrain myself better next time. Stay Golden. <3

MertzRocks

Ilyn Payne is the mute knight who is Joffrey's executioner. He was the one who chopped Ned Stark's head off. If you reall the previous episode, Yoren had told Arya of the murder of his brother and how he kept saying the name of the murderer before bedtime. Arya has taken that practice and decided to say the names of all the people she wants to kill. What were Stannis and Davos talking about on the ship? Years ago during Robert's Rebellion, Stannis had been ordered to defend the Baratheon family castle, Storm's End. Their enemies surrounded the castle and held it in seige for most of a year. At the time, Davos was a smuggler. He took the chance to get through to the castle on a rowboat and made it with a load of onions and salted fish which kept the castle going until the end of the war. As a punishment for smuggling, Stannis chopped off Davos' fingers, and as a reward for saving them he knighted him. Later he made Davos his Hand. To this day, Davos keeps the fingertips in a case around his neck. People occasionall call him the Onion Knight. I suppose that's OK. What if he had smuggled in chopped liver?

Alan Kobb

Note: before this episode, Tywin had never set eyes on Arya before. He has no idea who she is.

MertzRocks

BTW, I LOVE your predictions. Without spoilers I will say you are NOT batting a thousand (oh, that's a baseball metaphor for perfect) but you are better than 500...

MertzRocks

Catelyn would have opened it even if Baelish told her what it was first.

MertzRocks

Ilyn Payne is the royal executioner. The castle with melted towers is Harrenhall

MertzRocks

Filch's Girls, an all female metal band 🤘🏻

RustafanX

As others mentioned, not only does the intro change on a per-episode basis as new places are added to the show but existing places also reflect changes as the show develops as well. As more and more places get added, the intro will also only emphasize relevant locations for that particular episode.

Jomero

Thanks Nat, you're always on top! If only it was longer, I'm still hungry! 😆 Your reactions are so lively and sincere... I love how you hate Littlefinger (I hate him so much haha, but I like how sneaky he is haha) and Tyrion is so smart, I love him haha, he's in my top 3. And for you, what would be your top 3 characters so far? I'm a little bit curious 😜 I hope you'll continue to enjoy the rest of the show! As always, be safe and stay golden! 💛

Calo Grsf

Ilyn Payne is king joffreys executioner we all know why he's on aryas list RIP Ned

Ian

Filch or Frey, it's 6, 1/2 dozen, or the other. Works for me.

Matt O'Keefe

I'm sure this has been mentioned before, but the intro changes whenever we visit a new place. Pike was added when Theon went home, but this episode added Harrenhal to the map.

John Graziano

Same sword Ned swung in the beginning to execute the deserter from The Wall.

Luis Torrefranca

Ser Ilyn Payne is the royal executioner. The one who swung the sword, Ice, at Ned's execution.

Luis Torrefranca

The nurse is played by Oona Chaplin, daughter of actress Geraldine Chaplin, and is the granddaughter of Charlie Chaplin

Baron Imhoof

Intro changes to include some highlighted locations relevant to the episode.

Luis Torrefranca

Yes Nat, the intro does change in pace with where the story is happening. Look out for new places.

Nikolai

The difference between the Patreon header image and the Google drive thumbnail tells me this is going to be a good episode.

Tony Johnson

Getting this downloaded to watch tonight. 😊 We're moving right along with this season. Looking forward to watching your reaction this evening. Have a great day! Until the next video, Stay Golden! 💛

Randee Carreno

Happy Westeros Wednesday y'all 💛 Quite a gruesome episode. Grimaced my way through those scenes too Nat.

Darryl Low

Super excited as always your reactions are just the best 💛 let's begin

Ian