very good episode tonight.

The change of promising to marry Sansa to Loras instead of the older brother was totally understandable, it gets the job done with less explanations involved.
Varys opening the crate with the sorcerer in it was kinda weird, kinda makes me think the whole story was a lie to prove a point to Tyrion.
Also, are we supposed to think the guy who helped with Theon's "escape" has been Ramsay himself, or just an assistant following Ramsay's orders?

One problem I see though - If Sam and Gilly are split up from the rest of the NW, then he has lost the opportunity to earn his new nickname. That was a big moment I was looking for ...

When he killed those men who were chasing Theon the last guy said you bastard... or something along those lines. I think they were toying with us trying to make us think he was just calling the guy a bastard/asshole/etc. When in reality he was saying it's the bastard bolton. That's my thinking.

Quote of the night:

"What happens when the non-existent bumps against the decrepit? Question for the philosophers."

Holy Fuck.... Dat Stormborn...

love her

hd a feeling last episode she was going to do that

I find it strange that Sam didn't get to hear Jeor Mormont's "dying wish" for his son Jorah. That seemed like the kind of thing that would become an important detail later on, which the writers couldn't predict (because they're not GRRM) so they might as well include to be safe.

In Season 2, I thought they were going to just forego Varys telling Tyrion about his "story", but I guess they just decided to push it to Season 3. No matter, since Book 3 takes two seasons, it has plenty of space for things they couldn't fit in S2. Though the creative addition of the sorcerer actually being in Varys' grasp certainly came as a surprise. I don't remember what his fate was in the books (or if Varys even mentioned it).

To be honest, the format of the show, having 6-8 different scenarios in each episode, is really turning me off. I'm growing less fond of the pace as more characters are introduced. It's okay in the books, because one character can have plenty of pages to fully describe a long satisfying scenario for them. However, the very same scenario is generally broken up into 3-4 episodes in the show. The pace is really getting frustrating. I really wish they could narrow each episode to, say, 3-4 different plot arcs, giving each one some more satisfying coverage. They could do that and still get the same content out.

what was the old bear's dying wish? i read the books but forgot

For Jorah to take the Black.

Also to say he's sorry (or that he forgives him... one of the two, I forget)

I just watched episode 4 and oh my.. I really love how it all turned out with khaleesi giving the orders to kill all the slave owners.. and gace her dragon the order to burn him in hell
Like Anomander said, I didn't really like all the different scenarios, but right now it dosen't bother me at all. All my love has returned to this show