two swords is pretty difficult and was never common in history, compared to greatswords/longswords, which were very prominent. one of the two blades is basically always going to be a defensive tool and is worse for combat in a couple of different ways. you might eke out an advantage here or there but your center of gravity and maneuverability is way different. it looks cool on screen when choreographed properly - this scene wasn't, honestly - but is not effective or practical in actual sword fighting, afaik
As for the questions about Robert not noticing a pregnant Lyanna or the lack of a child.... I believe that Lyanna had been away from Robert for quite awhile during this. Remember, Robert's Rebellion/War of the Usurper lasted roughly a year, and it pretty much started with the "kidnapping" of Lyanna. By the time Ned gets to the ToJ, the war is practically over, is it not? Rhaegar and the Mad King are both dead at that point. So it is very likely that Robert last saw Lyanna several months before she became pregnant. Of course, Lyanna being kidnapped/raped was always an unproven claim by the Baratheons, which conveniently fit their narrative and provided justification for their war/uprising. This is the week we'll find out Lyanna wasn't actually kidnapped and raped (which should be a pretty big deal to Bran, in several ways), instead that it was a willful elopement and conception. We're about to find out Lyanna's side of the story (and with it the Targaryen side, presumably) and I believe that we see her convince Ned that her and Rhaegar were in love, and that she fears her half-Targaryen child will be murdered by Robert if Ned doesn't adopt it in secret as his own.
I thought it was a pretty good episode. Loved all of the stuff with Jon, I'm so glad we finally saw the end of Thorne and Olly. The small council scene was basically their version of "you can't sit with us", it was the best haha. Poor Rickin, I have a feeling this won't end well
they literally had ramsay get a baby eaten alive by dogs last episode lol this week we saw like a ten year get hanged in gruesome detail
Baby thing was implied, just like when they burned who they thought was Rickon back at Winterfell. I just mean they won't do what they did with Theon to someone that young, at least not on screen.
I've been wondering what Ramsay will do with Rickon. I mean, it'd be pretty lame if he just went and did the same things as he did to Theon... but I'd at least give him points if he renamed him Reekon in that instance. Logic would be for Ramsay to kill Rickon. I mean, a living Stark is very dangerous to anyone attempting to take the North. But why would they bother bringing him back into the show if they're just going to have Ramsay kill him? They could've just written him off some other way. So I think Rickon lives, although I'm not sure how well... at least long enough to serve a greater purpose.
Some people are thinking that wasn't shaggy's head and it's all a ruse to ultimately kill Ramsey. Who knows. This Umber family, Smalljon especially was pretty supportive of Rob.
I'm remaining hopeful that the Umbers are planning something against the Boltons/Ramsay, though I know hoping for things never goes great with this show.
I also don't think Jon leaves Castle Black before Sansa and co. arrive. even if he did, there's only one road there and they'd likely pass each other.
Would Sansa and Brienne be dumb enough to travel by road? Also, I was under the impression that Jon was leaving Castle Black right then. But that would be foolish. Surely he is going to leave with Davos, Mel, and free folk in his party... and with like, a plan of sorts I hope?
I kind of felt like Ramsay could hold on to Rickon as a bargaining chip for if/when Jon shows up, but maybe I'm way off
I thought the Tower of Joy scene was good and ended just the way I imagined it. I've read a few complaints saying they should just get it over with already, but I still believe the general audience isn't familiar enough with the history of L+R for the reveal to have the impact it should. Also, at this point, that information does not seem that relevant for what I assume to be Jon's march to Winterfell. (Well for the time being at least)
Even when it's a dialogue heavy episode, they still keep it interesting and things actually happen. Jon's return felt genuine enough, i'm glad it seems he's fully himself so far, and that Thorne and Olly are gonna burn. I was also a fan of Varys getting back into the game, and that someone earlier in this thread commented on Tyrion not being around people who give him interesting scenes. It seems to be directly addressed in his scenes haha. I too think Dany's parts right now seem redundant but I think they focus very well on pacing in this show. When one story line gets a big event, another one is a slow burn. This season overall so far though has me excited.
Seems like this season is getting people where they need to go before they begin heading towards the conclusion. The only concern I have is with Dany. She has been so detached from everything else that I'm unsure as to how they fit her into the ongoing conflicts in Westeros.
I'm guessing she's back in Mereen by Ep 6 or 7 at the latest, at which point Varys' birds bring whispers of something huge going down in Westeros that prompts her to move on and get in the game. What that huge thing is, I don't know....most likely scenarios seem to be Tommen getting got, Cersei burning the entire thing to the ground, or perhaps the White Walkers bringing the wall down. Not sure how that information would travel to Mereen fast enough though. Iron Islanders could play a role with it too, their story is wide open right now.
Ah, I never knew that. I just assumed because the weddings happen so quickly after it's been decided. I suppose that is an important detail that could be fleshed out in the show (the moment she is like "fuck this, I'm out of here").
I think in part it might have something to do with the dragons. As shown last season, Drogon isn't big enough yet to take on an army of a hundred, let alone thousands. If he really is the the reincarnation of Balerion the Black Dread, he will be a lot bigger.
On the subject of dragons what the deuce happened to the other two? They were unchained but did they leave? Are they too big to go through that door now? You'd think they'd be wreaking havoc. Or maybe they just flew away peacefully to find Drogon and mommy?