BATTLE OF THE BASTARDS

I thoroughly enjoyed the Battle of the Bastards.

Though Bolton should have been flayed alive, especially after having put an arrow through the eye of the giant. I had much hoped the giant would live. Of course I knew he would not. As I knew the Knights of the Vale would arrive too late for Jon’s Army to be fully preserved. It is Martin after all.

The dogs were a fine ending I thought, for Bolton, but he should have been flayed alive by the survivors of the men he murdered, both those of his own army and of Jon’s forces. Then set Bolton afire and burn all of the banners of the Flayed Man with his corpse and never speak of him, his house, or such a banner ever again.

I also very much enjoyed the way Dany dealt with the Slaving Fleet. And the Slave Lords.

More than time for that. Also a Queen who shakes hands, well, you can see where it will lead.

To either the Last Queen, or to far better than a Queen. And Jon Snow is no king, and neither should he ever aspire to be.

Though I do suspect that Euron Greyjoy by now has the Horn again (or on the show for once) and will attempt to use it to take control of Dany’s dragons. It’s just speculation on my part but he is widely traveled and it seems very likely to me that is his real motive in sailing to Meereen.

A singularly good episode. I hope the season finale is at least as good…

JON SNOW AND CONSEQUENCES

THIS SNOW DON’T MELT, OR HOW THE RED WOMAN MAY HAVE GAINED A SOUL BY REALLY TRYING

Yeah, well Kit, it’s not like nobody saw through it. It was as transparent as transparent aluminum..

What interested me most was not the Resurrection, saw that coming the moment you were killed. What was really interesting was the way.

I was right about the Red Woman. She was obviously different than all the other followers of the Lord of Light.

But is she now? She was obviously remorseful about her “failure of vision and foresight” (though who else might be resurrected in some odd way – Stannis – were all her visions false, or all true just in unexpected ways) though is she remorseful about her pagan sorceries and human sacrifices? Maybe so. Has she now learned a lesson? Will the Resurrection move her to becoming a Priestess of Light and not just a man and child burner, and a demon-birther? We’ll see I reckon. If she is really changed, and if so, exactly how.

And how will that influence the Truth of her real mission, what she is hoping to accomplish, and everything else that lies underneath her shell? The shell of her necklace that is…

Game of Thrones: Kit Harington breaks his silence — Exclusive

BY JAMES HIBBERD • @JAMESHIBBERD

Game of Thrones

Posted May 1 2016 — 10:03 PM EDT

This story contains a major revelation from Sunday’s Game of Thrones episode “Home.”

Jon Snow has returned to the land of the living.

As fans of HBO’s Emmy-winning hit Game of Thrones have now learned, Kit Harington’s murdered fan-favorite character Jon Snow was revived at the end of Sunday night’s episode. The Lord Commander was resurrected by the sorceress Melisandre, a reveal that caps 10 months of worldwide speculation following Snow’s death at the hands of his Night’s Watch brothers in last year’s finale.

During an in-depth interview exclusively with EW, Harington spoke about his incredible journey shouldering the show’s biggest secret. Actors typically only have to perform while in front of the camera. But to protect the Jon Snow twist, Harington was asked by the show’s producers to deliver an off-camera performance too — the role of an actor who departed a series that’s become a worldwide sensation.

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The first thing Harington wants viewers to know after seeing his revival: “Sorry!” the 29-year-old says in the above video excerpt. “I’d like to say sorry for lying to everyone. I’m glad that people were upset that he died. I think my biggest fear was that people were not going to care. Or it would just be, ‘Fine, Jon Snow’s dead.’ But it seems like people had a, similar to the Red Wedding episode, kind of grief about it. Which means something I’m doing — or the show is doing — is right.”

RELATED: Game of Thrones: 17 Biggest Changes from Books to TV

For months EW has been working on a top-secret cover story on the extraordinary behind-the-scenes tale of Jon Snow’s death and resurrection — including an exclusive conversation with Harington.Subscribe to receive the issue in digital format and exclusive online access the moment the story is posted. Or buy the issue right now here. Follow @jameshibberd for updates – and check out our recap of “Home” now. More coming Monday on the shocking episode, including our Game of Thrones podcast, where we’ll break down “Home” — plus talk about our Harington interview.

Check out our exclusive cover below.

THE DEVIL’S TONGUE AND KILL THE BOY

Verbis Diablo (Penny Dreadful) really bothered me.

You know I’ve seen a lot of evil things in my day. And studied a lot of evil men and even hunted my share.

And yeah, I know it’s just a fictional show… but baby butchery and Satanic voodoo?

I hope they behead those witches soon, then burn their bodies and scatter the ashes, because that’s going about as far as even I can tolerate in a show.

As for Kill the Boy (Game of Thrones) I thought that was a superb episode, especially the poetic recounting of the Doom of Old Valyria.