No, it will be elaborated upon.

What a great episode!! My favorite from last season was the "Barlor" episode....however they really went all out with this one. Last night's episode really set the standard for special effects on the small screen and it actually mattered because we care about the people fighting. Plus, I love to see big groups of men with swords and shields run into each other. I thought the shooting of the single arrow was brilliantly done directed. I also loved Tyrion's line "Oh, f**k me...." when thousands of Baratheon troops charged right after they stopped the ram at the gate.

The best part of it all, though, even better than the special effects, was that you really got to see the main players for who they truly were last night. Tyrion is a true leader stuck in the wrong body and last night's episode was a true display of his genius. Sansa would make a great queen someday. Stannis is a warrior, not a king. Joffrey is a sniveling coward better fitted to cleaning stables. The Hound is more than just a killing machine, even though he'd kill you if you said so. And Cersei is, well, a stunning ****....she's very beautiful and she's as smart as any man, and certainly more politically savvy than Jaime, but she gets treated like crap. Even as queen her power derives from the men around her, and she's rightfully pissed off. She tells Sansa of some very difficult truths in this episode....she has to grow up very fast in this world if she's going to make it.

My favorite characters in this episode were obviously Tyrion and probably Cersei. I wouldn't be suprised to see Peter Dinklage or Lena Headey win an Emmy for that episode....they were both fantastic! This episode to me, was easily the best hour of the series thus far, and it might not be a stretch to say its in the top 5 of all episodes of all shows....ever! Which is really a nice suprise but also a cure, because next week could do an insanely awesome job of tying up all this year's loose ends and setting up next year, but it probably still will not hold a candle to last night's episode. I do hope I'm wrong about that theory!

Stannis certainly was a warrior born. Watching the fleet blow up and then ordering the attack; riding on the prow of the first landing boat in; being first up the ladder and taking on all comers. He may be cold, but he's certainly not afraid.

Seeing as how Clash of Kings was, IMO, the weakest of the books thus far - that's probably fair. A lot of people thing a Feast for Crows is the worst of the present 5, but I think it's Clash in a walk.

This season covered most of the ground in Clash and set it up for a Storm of Swords. Swords is easily the best of the 3 in my mind.

If season 3 is seen as boring when all is said and done, it will be HBO's fault, because the source material is exceptional.

I think it depends on what aspects of the story you are into the most. If you're into getting to know the secondary characters from Game of Thrones in a bit more depth, then Clash is fantastic. If you're in it for sudden twists, Game is your choice. If you're in it for action, Storm will do it. And if you're in it for political scheming and maneuvering, Feast/Dance are probably pretty awesome.

For me, the first one will always be epic just because of how much it broke the mold for epic fantasy. Book 3 is probably my second-favorite, followed by Book 2. I didn't get much out of 4/5, but I can see where he's going with a few things, so I can live with it.

Outside of his commitment to the God of Light, it would seem he'd be a much better King than some of the other want to be's.

I am reading Book 2, but I am only in the first third, so I am not spoiling, only speculating. But, the obvious reasoning, to me, is that Cerci is behind it. She has motivation to see Tyrion dead, and she blames him for their mother's death.

I wouldn't put anything past Cersei, but doesn't compute in this case. Either Tyrion is needed to help win the war (which is more of an immediate threat to Cersei than Tyrion) or he'll be killed as a result of Stannis taking the throne anyway.

Boardwalk Empire, Dexter and Homeland.

That struct me as a little crazy -- Alexander the Great kinda crazy.

Yeah, that seemed pretty unrealistic to me.

No, no, and no.

I'm sure its just my tastes. Not really into the sword/socery/fantasy stuff. Gangster and modern day spy stuff is more in my lane. But, dont get me wrong this is quality stuff. Very entertaining.

The only thing close for me is Breaking Bad. Justified's another favorite, but I'd put it just a notch below.

I do like the 3 you mentioned.

Yeah, well, it's not realistic for a four-and-a-half-foot man to chop off a grown man's leg with one swing from a tomahawk, or for archers to hold their bows at full draw while a ship slooooowly sails by, or for experienced knights to charge into battle helmetless, or for a teardrop shield held an inch above someone to deflect a soccer-ball sized rock dropped from a great height without so much as dipping from the force and bonking the target on the head.

But it's heroic fantasy. You gotta just run with it.