It's good to see that after Episode 3 - which quickly turned TT's GoT from "forgettable fluff" to "tense thriller" - we've gotten an Episode with just as many nail-biting scenarios and brutal character moments. In my opinion, this series has been consistently getting better and better, and I hope Episode 5 keeps that up. Still doesn't approach the masterful work TellTale is doing with Tales From The Borderlands, but this series has become something i've seriously started looking forward to.

For some reason, I didn't get any kind of choice thing at the end of this episode. This isn't something i've ever seen happen in a modern TellTale game, so I dunno if it's just a bug or some kind of new mechanical change. In any case, here's what I figure are the important choices, and what I chose to do;

Guess this series doesn't have a ton of people talking here, which is shame because I think it's really good.

I didn't reveal that Sera was a bastard. The dude seemed like a creep and Sera is the only reason I actually got into the coronation. I couldn't sell her out like that, besides the dummy still gave me all the information anyway.

I fucked Gryff up. Beat him across the face with my crane, then poked his eye out, which was maybe a bit much, spit on him and locked him up. I probably went a little too far but for real, fuck that guy.

Took both Finn and Cotter, though Cotter got pissed at me after I shot one of the Wildlings in the back when they were running away. They had the food though and even though there wasn't that much left, we still needed all we could get.

I let Beksha kill the slaver. It seemed like the best thing for everyone if she was able to let go of her baggage and just focus on the mission.

I left the Archers at Ironwrath with Royland.

The scene with Ludd Whitehill actually annoyed me a lot because it felt like I was being forced into a decision. My first response was to attack, which lead to Duncan killing Ludd and then the Whitehill guards killing everyone and a game over screen. If you're just going to say "no, you can't do that" then why is it a choice at all? In the end, I ended up calling his bluff, which was obviously a better move but still, it felt like the game really undermined my decision making.

I really enjoyed this episode. Probably the best one so far in my opinion (with the possible exception of the first one)

I didn`t reveal that Sera was a bastard. I still got the information by lying to the guy and i think it`s in my best interest for me to be on Sera`s good side since Margaery is pissed at me right now.

I ended up punching Gryff a couple of times because i didn`t realize you could stop, but didn`t maim him.

I took Finn with me because he had been a solid bro earlier and defended me in front of frostfinger.

I didn`t let Beskha kill the slaver because i was afraid that Daenerys would get angry with me. I regret it in retrospect, especially since it seems Daenerys is going to go back on the deal according to the next episode preview.

I left the archers in Ironrath with Royland. Really hope they haven`t been massacred by Ramsay.

I called Ludd on his bluff because of what Gwyn said about the family earlier.

I think Telltale has been pretty bad at using smoke and mirrors to make me think my choices actually has consequence in this series. In The walking dead and wolf among us i think they were pretty good at making it seem like your choices mattered but in this series it feels like that if you pick the "wrong" choice they just force you to do the other thing anyway or for the consequences to be the same at least, like for example not sending Malcolm to Essos or drinking the wine with Sera. There were some really bad examples of that in this episode i thought, like for example Danearys telling me I was a liar even after showing her the dragon tooth and her seemingly believing me earlier in the conversation.

I finally got around to this this evening. I agree that Telltale isn't doing a great job of masking the strings behind the curtain on this series. I've been making choices that I wouldn't make in real life simply because I know that they aren't going to alter the plot significantly so I might as well not piss off the people that I consider friends.

I lied to Tarwick that I had met Sera's family because I wanted the info but figured there was no point in pissing off Sera.

Finn didn't show up for me, so he didn't join us. I suppose that makes sense because he told Frostfinger I'd killed that Whitehall guy in cold blood earlier in the episode. I wasn't really mad at him for saying that because it was true, but even so, I'm glad he didn't show up. I would have told him to screw himself if he asked to join us because he's been an asshole to me for the entire series.

I maimed Gryff and poked his eye out because he had it coming, and since I don't really think my choices have an effect on where this is plotline is actually going, I might as well take my victories where I can get them.

I called Ludd on his bluff because Gwynn told me earlier in the episode that Ludd cared about his entire family. I figured pretty much didn't have a choice though. There was no way I was leaving that room alive if Ludd didn't care about his son enough to back down.

I let Beska kill the slave master because there is no way that Dany is going to end up giving you any part of her army (in fact, we literally know that she doesn't from the books/show) so you might as well not piss off Beska.

I left the archers at Ironwrath because I figu red I had the trump card with Gryff locked up so I didn't think the Whitehalls would harm me. I will say that I fucking hate that plotline though. There is no way in hell that I would trade Gryff for Ryon but the stupid fucking game wouldn't let me make that choice. Mutually assured destruction would at least prevent the Whitehills from pissing all over you the way that they had through the series' first 3 episodes. But as soon as you give them back Gryff, you are back in the exact same situation that you were at the beginning of the series, with no hostages on either side and sitting there at a massive military disadvantage to both the Whitehills and the Boltons. If they really want Ryon and you don't have Gryff, the Whitehills could literally march right back into Ironwrath with the Boltons and take him. Fuck that. It's the same reason that Catelyn Stark is an idiot for releasing Jamie. There's no way that Tywin would have risked the Red Wedding if the Starks still held Jamie. You gave up the only thing that was preventing your entire family from being massacred. Congratulations.