Game of Thrones begins....

[Eddie Teach]

I've seen no indication that the Sons of the Harpy have any significant combat training.

They're sons of high lords, what else are they gonna do?

[Admiral Yi]

They're sons of high lords, what else are they gonna do?

Bang slaves?

[Solmyr]

I've seen no indication that the Sons of the Harpy have any significant combat training.

They're sons of high lords, what else are they gonna do?

These are nobles of the Slaver's Bay. I don't remember how exactly it goes in Meereen, but from the overall description I recall them using mercs/slave soldiers/Unsullied for all their fighting needs.

[Liep]

What's to stop them from getting out-of-a-job favoured slave soldiers to join the Harpies?

[crazy canuck]

I've seen no indication that the Sons of the Harpy have any significant combat training.

They're sons of high lords, what else are they gonna do?

These are nobles of the Slaver's Bay. I don't remember how exactly it goes in Meereen, but from the overall description I recall them using mercs/slave soldiers/Unsullied for all their fighting needs.

The Sons of the Harpy may be using mercs for the attacks.  What I find most surprising is that Barristan, who knows about the threat, is dumb enough to walk around the streets without an escort and dumb enough to enter into a battle without calling for assistance first.  Why would he sacrifice his life for the sake of a street brawl?  His purpose in life is to protect the Queen and help her rule.   Just one more example of the writers of the show having to dumb down the main characters to make their version of the story work.

[grumbler]

It's not the purpose of his death, it's who gets to kill him. Gangbangers with shivs killing the most skilled knight in Westeros is not believable in the slightest. In the books Barristan is still alive and pretty much running things in Meereen, and [spoiler]if he gets killed in the next book it'll be in a large battle against Yunkai.[/spoiler]

"not believable in the slightest."  You keep using that phrase.  I do not think it means what you think it means.  You may find it unbelievable, but it is entirely believable to most people who spend a moment thinking about it that a man with a sword can be swarmed by a bunch of guys with knives.  Guys with guns have been swarmed by guys armed essentially with knives.  Ever heard of the  Battle of Isandlwana?

[grumbler]

What's to stop them from getting out-of-a-job favoured slave soldiers to join the Harpies?

Indeed.  Mercs, all of the unemployed pit fighters... lots of sources of blades-for-hire.

[Jaron]

Just watched the episode. THIS IS SOME BULLSHIT.

[Eddie Teach]

Could you be more specific?

[Jaron]

Easy there, grumbler. We don't need two of you in this thread.

[Habbaku]

Or one of you, for that matter.

[Jaron]

Oh, stop. Don't make a nuisance of yourself.

[LaCroix]

They completely missed setting up the need for the arming of the religious orders completely. No mention, even in passing, of the desire for armed monks/priests/lay people at all. This would have taken about 2 minutes of screen time sprinkled throughout the last season and a half.

They have Cersei suggesting this to the head sparrow, as if he had never even thought of the idea. Why would SHE suddenly think of the idea, much less think it is a good idea, since she isn't getting anything for allowing it, since SHE IS THE ONE SUGGESTING IT!

This does not save any time from the way the book had it, and makes a LOT less sense, and makes

Cersei look even more stupid
Makes Head Sparrow guy look less clever, since apparently he is too dumb himself to think of the idea of arming his followers.
And makes the king looks that much weaker since he apparently cannot even handle these guys who are armed only by his own sufferance, and with no guarantee of any kind.

There is no sense of "Oh crap, what did I do allow here?" since it was the Lannisters who came up with the entire idea of arming them to begin with, and for no discernible reason or even justification.

it was pretty obvious she sought the high sparrow as a power play. she had no allies left, so she created a new one. king was always weak, in show and in book. the "oh crap, what did I allow here" comes in the following episodes.

[LaCroix]

I've seen no indication that the Sons of the Harpy have any significant combat training.

you've seen no indication that a rebellious organization that attacks soldiers via traps has no significant combat training?

The most important man in the city walking about without an armed escort when the Sons of the Harpy are on a killing spree?  Another example of the writers of the show taking sloppy short cuts.  Now that they have moved well outside the narrative of the books they are not telling a very compelling story.

has an important man ever walked the streets alone without an armed escort and been killed as a result? also, he did not know the sons were on a killing spree because his reactions when the bells rang and people were screaming indicates that. his first reaction was to go help, which is very fitting with the character shown on television.

[LaCroix]

good lord, there's loads of histrionics here.