The House of Black and White

The episode starts where it last left. Arya is angry at the Black and White (CGI) building in pursuit of . Confused Snow, Conspicuous Unsullied mark this episode. In the previous episode we see Daenerys/ Mhysa (now) is confused and is afraid she is not able to control her dragons. Her woes continue. Extrapolating to her rule, it's tentative as well. She is weaker than ever and is confused on what to do. We get to see a bit of the water gardens.

What bothers me is they give very less screen time to the poor Arya Stark. Despite that fact this is a good episode. Something heavy is up for Cersei and Tyrion. An exciting episode 3 is on it's way.

Overall Rating - 8.5/10

When you think of opposites in Westeros, who do you think of? To me, there are no two characters who are more different than Littlefinger and Brienne of Tarth (except perhaps Pod and Brienne, but that's another story). Littlefinger is the most duplicitous person in Westeros; even by politician standards, he's a slimy little weasel who is perfectly suited for that smarmy little goatee and moustache and he's never met an opportunity he wouldn't milk dry. Meanwhile, Brienne is completely artless; were it not for her Lannister sword and armour, she'd be as plain as her haircut. As if that study of opposites wasn't enough, the episode also features the triumphant return of Bronn, his new intended Lollys Stokeworth (a great, hilarious performance from Elizabeth Cadwallader), and none other than the Kingslayer, Jaime Lannister, who needs Bronn at his back for a sensitive mission to steal his daughter Myrcella Baratheon back from the Dornishmen. The structure of the script works really well. Writers David Benioff and D. B. Weiss do a very good job of splitting things up and balancing them out pretty evenly between Westeros' rulers. We get a bit more of Dany's story, since she's the one learning first hand how ruling can be terrible, but she needs to learn the lesson that what is right isn't always popular, a lesson that Doran Martel (Alexander Siddiq AKA Dr. Bashir from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) knows quite well. Perhaps it is a lesson that Jon Snow, new Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, will learn in time. Snow's election scene was masterfully done by director Michael Slovis. Everyone knows that Sam is going to speak up for Jon Snow, otherwise we wouldn't get those reaction shots of him, but it's teased out wonderfully, with Samwell speaking up at exactly the last minute before Maester Aemon starts the voting process. The speech itself is a fun character moment for John Bradley's Sam-who is finally learning that his wit and his humour is a great weapon in his role as future archivist-and Kit Harington's Jon Snow-whose mopey expression works great as he celebrates his election to Lord Commander of the Night's Watch by looking like he wants to crawl into a tankard of ale and die. It doesn't really matter how well you're trained for leadership, to someone you'll always be Joffrey, and in a world like Westeros, political enemies are more dangerous than White Walkers. Maybe Sansa and Arya have it right; Sansa's learning to play the game from a ruthless expert, and Arya's not playing the game at all, instead learning to be a Braavosi assassin rather than a lady in a damp stone castle somewhere. On-the-job training tends to get rulers poisoned in this world, and a black-and-white world view is no match for the Faceless Men from the House of Black and White.

Came to 'Game of Thrones' fairly late in the game and due to being so busy the binge-watching was gradual. Have found myself truly loving the show, very quickly becoming one of my favourites. It totally lives up to the hype and not only does it do the brilliant source material justice (a rarity in television) it is on its own merits one of the finest, most addictive and consistently compelling shows in recent years and quality-wise it puts a lot of films in recent years to shame.

There are still signs of settling, understandably, with Season 5's second episode "The House of Black and White", but it is an improvement over the still very promising and well done season opener "The Wars to Come". It is a very daunting task living up to the consistently exceptionally high standard of Season 4 and this very early stage of Season 5 is doing a noble job on that front.

What makes "The House of Black and White" a superior episode is that there is a bigger and bolder approach to the storytelling, rather than the slower, quieter and reflective tone of "The Wars to Come". There are more and bigger character moments (especially with Jon Snow and Brienne), characters having moral complexities, intensity-building and there is more emotion and drama. A better job is done advancing the story and character progressions while building upon the events of "The Wars to Come". Loved that there was more of Arya and Bronn, neither wasted, and Dorne is a worthy addition.

All the acting is never less than very strong, can't think of a weak link here.

Visually, "The House of Black and White" looks amazing, as one would expect for 'Game of Thrones'. The scenery is throughout spectacular, the sets are hugely atmospheric and beautiful on the eyes with a real meticulous eye for detail and the costumes suit the characters to a tee. The make-up is beautifully done. The visual effects are some of the best of any television programme and are not overused or abused, the scale, the detail and how they actually have character and soul are better than those in a lot of the big-budget blockbusters. As well the cinematography and editing, which are cinematic quality as well.

One cannot talk about "The House of Black and White" without mentioning the thematically, orchestrally and atmospherically multi-layered music scoring and the unforgettable main theme. Again, worthy of a high-budget fantasy/action/drama film.

It is hard not to be bowled over by the quality of the writing, outstanding isn't a strong enough adjective to describe how good the writing is once again. It always has a natural flow, is layered and thought-provoking and demonstrates a wide range of emotions. The story is still riveting, with plenty of passion and sensitivity.

Summing up, the season has not quite settled yet but there is more than enough to make one convinced to keep watching. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Greetings from Lithuania.

Both first episodes of season 5 are 8/10 in my opinion. While the story haven't moved drastically or very intriguingly, it's still a show to wait and to admire. The production values here are like no other - you can simply watch this show for production values - they are truly create this rich world.

Acting was as usually very solid from everyone involved. Directing is good, but this show has seen better, as well as writing. It's good, but not as good as it gets and this show has featured some series that were as good as they could possibly be.

Overall, season 5 started good, but not great. I know that it's a slow burner start which will definitely lead us to a great and unforgettable moments, so it has to build it on something, and this "something" are these first two episodes.

Arya Stark sails to Braavos and arrives at the House of Black and White to seek out Jaqen H'ghar; however she is not welcomed to enter in the house and she throws her coin away into the sea. Brienne and Podrick are eating in a tavern and she contacts Sansa and Little Finger, but Sansa refuses to follow Brienne. The men that are escorting Little Finger and Sansa unsuccessfully hunt Brienne and Podrick down on the road. Cersei shows to Jaime that their daughter Myrcella is in danger and Jaime seeks out Bronn and makes an offer for him to travel with him to Dome. In Meereen, the Son of Harpy is captured and Daenerys has a meeting with her leaders to decide his fate. Barristan advises her to give a fair trial to the man; however Mossador disrespects her order and kills the Son of Harpy. Daenerys sentences him to death and there is a riot in Meereen. Jon Snow is invited by Stannis Baratheon to serve him; in return, he would give the North to Jon and he would be Jon Stark, Lord of Winterfell. But Job Snow turns the invitation down and he is chosen to be the new Commander of the Night Watch. Arya is finally invited to come to the House of Black and White.by Jaqen H'ghar.

"The House of Black and White" is the preamble of the Fifth Season. The destiny of Arya in Braavos is a mystery. Sansa seems to be lost following Little Finger. The journey of Jaime and Bronn will certainly be full of action. Daenerys is following the path of her father. Let's see how Jon Snow will deal with Janos and Alliser Thorne. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "The House of Black and White"