Game Of Thrones Season 5 thread of windy words

[Phoenix Dark]

Let's be real breh. The Wire only lasted five seasons because of the generosity of HBO. The ratings were rather low outside of S2 (I wonder why!). A show as expensive as GoT wouldn't last two seasons with ratings like that. This show had to either be big or never be made. That meant they had to dumb things down, make it simple, and make it entertaining. You have to understand that.

That being said, I feel like the show had an opportunity to step out of that shadow once it became a hit. S3 is really what made the show what it is, culturally IMO; sure S2 did well but S3 took things to the next level thanks to the Red Wedding. By that time people were firmly in love with enough characters to really invest into the show, as long as it remained good. They did a lot of stuff I didn't like last year, and continued the obsession with wack action beats and questionable plotting (all the Locke stuff especially the "plan" to somehow carry a crippled boy over the Wall, Yara and her armored companions running away from dogs, etc). But hey, people liked a lot of that shit.

This season was always going to be tough due to the book content, I can't deny that. But they made it worse by not trusting in the characters and instead trying to stretch the recipe.

[I'm a Puppy!]

So the site called themarysue is boycotting the show After the sansa rape scene.

In other news, themarysue website is aptly named

[Himu]

Prince Doran the GOAT

[Phoenix Dark]

What a crazy fucing mess the last two books were.  I mean there's some cool stuff in there, but honestly had he just advanced the action with a quick recap it would have been the same fucking thing.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Tyrion's story is boring, Dany's story makes you want to kill yourself until the pit, Jaime does whatever can't really remember, there's tons of time spent on the psychotic Iron Islanders who are basically just chapter on chapter of shock scenes, Cersei, who the books have worked to make a cunning ruthless politician is just revealed to be an idiot because reasons, Arya is cool but again, fuck all happens, there's probably some other stuff I'm missing but who cares because it's not that interesting.  Great books.

[close]

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Honestly the only AFFC POV I really didn't like was Brienne's. Not only does it suffer from the fact that she's on a mission that fails before it starts, it also felt like a weak attempt at a Dunk & Egg type story. Those stories work because they're actual adventures. Whereas Brienne just rides around looking for someone we know is hundreds of miles away. Yea it gets interesting towards the end but it was too late by then.

Not a fan of Quentyn's shit either but at least that was brief, and had a couple interesting parts. Jaime has one of my favorite POVs in the series so of course I really liked his AFFC stuff. Seeing the Brotherhood infiltrate Riverrun under his nose...shit is about to go down brehs.

Theon has the best arc between both books imo by far.

Didn't like Dany's arc in ADWD obviously, even though it does have some interesting intrigue. Whereas Barristan's chapters are waaaay better. I'm pretty sure he's getting played. I liked Tyrion's arc. IMO the thing that hurt it is that everyone assumed he was going to meet Dany, and it never happened. But I liked seeing him hit rock bottom, manipulate Aegon so easily, troll Connington, etc.

One of the biggest problems with ADWD is that Martin took the wrong message from AFFC. It's as if he said "ok you complained about no Jon/Dany/Tyrion, well here's a shit ton of their chapters are you happy now. I feel like each of them could have had 2-3 few chapters, which could have been used for other characters. I would have loved to see more Davos, although his cliff hanger is one of the few good ones. Still...AFFC revealed that his ship crashed so why not give us 1-2 more chapters? Likewise I wish we got more Jaime instead of leaving on another cliffhanger.

[close]

[Steve Contra]

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I forgot about Quentyn and Brienne.  Fuck, why have two storylines that go nowhere?  Tyrion's story was just...boring.  He's the best written character, there's just too much moping around and traveling to end up where he was going to go anyway.  Davos is my boy so I gotta give him respect

[close]

[studyguy]

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Davos is the GOAT
I forgot what he was doing. Isn't he shacked up with that fat ass Manderly dude who at some point seemed like he was going to hang him?
That was like the one part of the book I was like shit this is dope af then they served up those frey boys, no?

[close]

[El Babua]

ADWD

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Guess they couldn't afford to cast those extra Frey members/Northern lords. No show of power and authority from the Boltons by marrying a Stark heir, no houses scheming under the blizzard snow, no pies, no Abel, no top 3 arc in the entire series brehs.

[close]

The wedding was so low key. It's as if they're making the world and the consequences of those in power smaller and smaller as the show goes on.

[Steve Contra]

ADWD

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Guess they couldn't afford to cast those extra Frey members/Northern lords. No show of power and authority from the Boltons by marrying a Stark heir, no houses scheming under the blizzard snow, no pies, no Abel, no top 3 arc in the entire series brehs.

[close]

The wedding was so low key. It's as if they're making the world and the consequences of those in power smaller and smaller as the show goes on.

Too much shit in the books with absolutely no payoff.  To do everything they'd have to do two booooooooooooooring seasons.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

But yeah, Manderly/Davos was  only reason Stannis is anywhere, because he's got a fingerless dude making plays for him

[close]

[Phoenix Dark]

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Davos is the GOAT
I forgot what he was doing. Isn't he shacked up with that fat ass Manderly dude who at some point seemed like he was going to hang him?
That was like the one part of the book I was like shit this is dope af then they served up those frey boys, no?

[close]

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Yea he's heading to Skagos to find Rickon. BTW Manderly has to be the MVP of the book. Not only does the man cook the Freys in a fucking pie, he eats a piece and THEN takes a second serving. All while demanding the bard sing songs that essentially give away the entire thing lmao. Dude was snitching on himself and didn't give a fuck

I also really liked Arya's chapters. Seems like she's quite a powerful skinchanger and warg at this point. The way she effortless skinchanges cats while still conscious seems to suggest she's very good. I can't help but think she'll be kicked out of the FM for that shit. She basically cheated to beat the Kindly Man by using the cat.

[close]

[seagrams hotsauce]

Show has taken a nosedive. I think I'm out. Also PD, I somehow doubt season 2 of the wire had a higher viewership than 4 or 5, but even if so I don't think it's because of the melanin deficiency as that is easily the most reviled storyline on that show by a wide margin

[I'm a Puppy!]

You know, this has gotten to like a bad jrpg that starts out great. Where you're like "I don't want to keep going, but I'm too emotionally invested to not know what happens." except there's no wiki out there to sum it up.

[StealthFan]

Goddamn I don't even think its that bad. Sometimes shows have poor seasons.

[dkdk]

Goddamn I don't even think its that bad. Sometimes shows have poor seasons.

it's really not that bad.

[I'm a Puppy!]

Yeah, as a show it's not that bad. What IS bad though is the wasted potential.
Jamie and Bronn having Shaggy/Scooby doo hour?
No Ironborne?
"Let's go save Theon!!! OH SHIT! HE HAS DOGS!!!! RETREAT!!!"

[StealthFan]

Didn't she retreat because she saw he wasn't her brother anymore?

[I'm a Puppy!]

Maybe. But the Ironborne. THE IRONBORNE!

No Euron, No Damphair, No Victarion

[Himu]

http://time.com/3886433/game-of-thrones-black-wedding-claire-mccaskill/

 

[Phoenix Dark]

Maybe Martin made AFFC/ADWD stale un-adaptable specifically to ensure low TV ratings and cancellation, thus ensuring he finishes the books before the show? A Doran-esque master stroke.

[Human Snorenado]

Fatty addressed the controversy.

http://time.com/3882827/george-rr-martin-black-wedding-controversy/

It's like he's talking to people DIRECTLY ON THIS FORUM or something:

Martin then went on to defend producers David Benioff, Dan Weiss and Bryan Cogman’s overall faithfulness to his novels. “There has seldom been any TV series as faithful to its source material, by and large (if you doubt that, talk to the Harry Dresden fans, or readers of the Sookie Stackhouse novels, or the fans of the original Walking Dead comic books),” he wrote. “But the longer the show goes on, the bigger the butterflies become. And now we have reached the point where the beat of butterfly wings is stirring up storms, like the one presently engulfing my email. Prose and television have different strengths, different weaknesses, different requirements. David and Dan and Bryan and HBO are trying to make the best television series that they can … but all of us are still intending that at the end we will arrive at the same place.”

Honestly, I'm to the point now where overall I'm more disappointed with the Dornish shit than what happened to Sansa. That and the fact that a major university gave Glen Shinobi a degree in literature.

[I'm a Puppy!]

I didn't know being hamfisted was a requirement of a TV show 

[Phoenix Dark]

It was clear Martin was rather agitated about the rape scene last season, whereas he's more diplomatic this time. I think he was mainly upset people were criticizing him for shit D&D did. Last year they literally edited that scene to look like rape; it was clear the director had no idea what happened and must not have seen a final cut. Then he got thrown under the bus for "defending" the rape scene when in reality he was just pointing out he didn't direct a rape scene.

In terms of adaption I don't sit around and complain about changes. I recognize every book required changes in order to be adapted on HBO. My problem is moreso braindead decisions on the writers part. It's like in Walking Dead when a character gets in a car with multiple people, you know he or she is going to magically drive into the middle of a herd of walkers. In broad daylight.

Lori  :kobeyuck

[studyguy]

Nah it's going down the shithole pretty hard at the moment.
Selmy getting jobbed looked awful.
Dorne looked awful and the scooby doo antics were laughable.
Every Tyrion scene at the moment is boiled down to comic relief.


Shit like that doesn't give me faith going forward.
Still think they need to hire a fucking fight coordinator, all the fights this season have been

[Shaka Khan]

PD, what rape scene are you referring to from last season?

[Phoenix Dark]

PD, what rape scene are you referring to from last season?

Jaime and Cersei.

[studyguy]

PD, what rape scene are you referring to from last season?

Jaime and Cersei.

Where no means yes, fuck me harder next to this dead kid.

Also shit lotta dudes out here defending the scene from last night.
Lots of it's not rape, it's consummating the marriage, what did you expect, this is GoT, book was worse, etc etc.

Honestly the grossest thing about the scene was how terrible they treat Sansa's character in the show. Removing her own agency in favor of Reek/Theon's is some fucked up shit. Putting her in a spot of desperation where only Theon can help, thus turning her rise to power into a retribution story for Theon, etc. Maybe she will go out of her way to cause a ruckus and take over Winterfell, maybe she will lead the north. All that still doesn't change the fact that she's still just treated as a cheap damsel in distress to motivate plot progression time and time again. It's annoying af to watch.

Worse yet is if it ends up being next episode where she was only playing a victim. Like lol I was only pretending to be terrified of rape, now it's gameface time.

[Steve Contra]

I'm not going to defend the scene, I'm just going to say that there's a lot of people pretending Martin is a master of subtlety and implication and the show is somehow ruining that

Also lol at anyone saying the show is going downhill and asking where the Ironborne are in the same breath

[StealthFan]

Ironborne

[Steve Contra]

The Ironborne are the Walter White of ASOIAF

[mormapope]

Soooooooo glad I only watched season 1. Feel bad for the people that invested their own time into this franchise.

EDIT: I've seen episodes from other seasons against my will.

[Phoenix Dark]

but contra-san you don't want this?

[studyguy]

[Steve Contra]

 

[Phoenix Dark]

troll your homophobic brother by waltzing around him in the nude brehs

[CatsCatsCats]

I just want fatty to finish the books so I can read those and then throw this whole franchise in the trash confidently

[Phoenix Dark]

We'll see. I'm not expecting a Wheel Of Time type situation. Most readers are familiar with the struggles Martin had with those two books; he basically had to re-write a 1000 page book. With that structural problem solved it should be smoother sailing, narrative wise. My only concern is whether he can wrap it up in seven books. He says he'll be busy killing people off so we'll see, I guess.

[king of the internet]

I've been a pretty big fan of the TV show so far but the Sand Snake scene was literally the worst thing ever.

[Phoenix Dark]

Now that I think about it brehs, wasn't the trial scene nearly as dumb too? A squire dresses his knight, which means a squire would no doubt see his knight nude at some point or another. Hell the show touched on this earlier with Podrick removing Brienne's armor. So why would a squire knowing intimate details of his knight's body be slam dunk evidence in a trial? Especially a trial for a religion that regulates knighthood.

[studyguy]

We'll see. I'm not expecting a Wheel Of Time type situation. Most readers are familiar with the struggles Martin had with those two books; he basically had to re-write a 1000 page book. With that structural problem solved it should be smoother sailing, narrative wise. My only concern is whether he can wrap it up in seven books. He says he'll be busy killing people off so we'll see, I guess.

I see it as essentially having the same issue. The show isn't perfect, but some portions of it have encapsulated the winding narratives of the last two books better than Martin had with less to say had it been translated to a book. I'm not a fan of overwrought narratives, the last two books definitely suffer it much in the same way Jordan did since his editor and wife never told the dude no. idk who the fuck GRRM's editor is but I'm not fond of them either atm. I don't care if your narrative piece has a million loose ends leading to a grand finale, you're already going so many directions within a set number of books and nothing is proving to me that you can lock it up. Maybe he'll prove me wrong, maybe he'll finish every side narrative with a neat bow. I doubt the fuck out of it though, he's not as godly a writer as his stans make him out to be by a long shot.

Now that I think about it brehs, wasn't the trial scene nearly as dumb too? A squire dresses his knight, which means a squire would no doubt see his knight nude at some point or another. Hell the show touched on this earlier with Podrick removing Brienne's armor. So why would a squire knowing intimate details of his knight's body be slam dunk evidence in a trial? Especially a trial for a religion that regulates knighthood.

Yes to all of that. Which is why most people are harping on that trial too. Margery got put in, not for being so suspect that she couldn't be trusted to sire a true heir, but rather cause she lied to some fucking cacs who got their shit in a bunch over her lying about her gay brother. It's all dumb and the proof was weak af.

[Steve Contra]

We'll see. I'm not expecting a Wheel Of Time type situation. Most readers are familiar with the struggles Martin had with those two books; he basically had to re-write a 1000 page book. With that structural problem solved it should be smoother sailing, narrative wise. My only concern is whether he can wrap it up in seven books. He says he'll be busy killing people off so we'll see, I guess.

 The majority of readers of any given title have absolutely no clue what's gone on with the creation process. They just know that 'wow, that guy is sure taking his time' or 'wait a minute, the new one's out'.And even if they did happen to know, no non-stan is going to sit there and be like " GRRM wrote 2 wack 1000 page books but it's okay because they were originally a wack 1000 page book that had too many flashbacks in it."

GRRM wrote a book that was bad, so bad that he knew it wasn't up to snuff and canned it. Then he wrote a bad book after that, having already formulated ideas previously for a now defunct book. And then the sequel to that was worse.

(Image removed from quote.) stans

PD acting like Martin isn't struggling with this book as well

[Phoenix Dark]

Compared to AFFC/ADWD, the 5 year gap, the "Meereenese Knot" etc? No. He's already on record as saying he hasn't had nearly as many issues with this book. I probably should have said "fanboys" not "fans." Those that followed the progress, basically.

My general point is that it took him longer to get where he wanted, the road was ugly...but he's there now. So I'm confident.

[Steve Contra]

I'll believe when I see it, but yeah, this is going to be 5 years as well.

[Phoenix Dark]

I'll believe when I see it, but yeah, this is going to be 5 years as well.

That's the thing though. He finished ADWD in 2011. Didn't write for the rest of the year, but had about 200-300 pages that were moved from ADWD. Didn't really write in 2012 due to the press tour and side projects. Got serious in 2013 but still had side projects. Finished those up last year yet has had conventions. The man is the worst fucking planner ever, schedule wise. But he's at least past 1000 MS now so I'm not worried. This wait doesn't feel anything like the AFFC/ADWD waits during which he didn't have much of anything positive to say about his progress. The man was miserable. Whereas he's been positive lately so hey, I can't help but feel encouraged.

[studyguy]

GRRM's output isn't even something that concerns me, Late 2015 - 2016 already has high profile releases like the next Stormlight (fuck even another Mistborn is dropping from the same dude) along with prob the next Kingskiller, Gentlemen Bastards, Riyria. I mean those are a different wheelhouse but they're still filling the fantasy genre. Bunch of other dumb shit too that isn't fantasy. As far as I'm concerned he can take however long he wants but the book's hype died for me a fuckload ago.

Oh hold up let me just

This needs a neckbeard

[seagrams hotsauce]

Gotta say, with how much the show has been irking me lately, I'd been considering reading the books just to see if they're any better than show, as I've heard it's gone pretty far off the rails in relation to the books lately. The talk about the books on the last couple pages makes me feel like I won't like them any better than the show though. Worth a shot? How many books in til they get lame?

[Steve Contra]

The first three books are incredibly tight for how much is going on, and they're really, really good in my opinion.  The fourth and fifth books are the trouble, they wander, the structure is terrible, lots of plotlines are introduced that don't go anywhere, and the books are obviously unfinished.

[studyguy]

Gotta say, with how much the show has been irking me lately, I'd been considering reading the books just to see if they're any better than show, as I've heard it's gone pretty far off the rails in relation to the books lately. The talk about the books on the last couple pages makes me feel like I won't like them any better than the show though. Worth a shot? How many books in til they get lame?

3 are decent. 2 will put most people to sleep, which is where we're at right now in terms of the show in a manner of speaking.

[StealthFan]

I loved season 4 Why they gotta do this? I burnt through 30 hours of television in a week to catch up and this is how they repay me? With mediocrity?

[Steve Contra]

Going from the end of book three to book four is   

[Steve Contra]

spoiler (click to show/hide)

What sucks is when you realize halfway through book four that all the AMAZING SHIT that goes down in the latter half of book three was just Martin pulling the wool over your eyes brilliantly.  There's clearly no direct route he had planned to get from building the finale, he was just making it up as he went along.  All the people who died, the big plans, a mystery character brought in at the end, it's all just kind thrown in there. There's some good stuff in the books for sure, but they're a huge letdown from the first three.

[close]

[Dickie Dee]

Now that I think about it brehs, wasn't the trial scene nearly as dumb too? A squire dresses his knight, which means a squire would no doubt see his knight nude at some point or another. Hell the show touched on this earlier with Podrick removing Brienne's armor. So why would a squire knowing intimate details of his knight's body be slam dunk evidence in a trial? Especially a trial for a religion that regulates knighthood.

Fuuuck, read the last three reaction pages and was so eager to bring this up.

How many times do a knight and his squire bathe on the road by no-homo skinny dipping in some river? Bet some knights have their squires wash their dicks just because they can. Scene made no sense.


I'd been seeing headlines about a rape scene for the past couple days and only caught the episode now so maybe I was expecting a lot worse but it seemed relatively tame, or at least non-graphic.

Still, Sansa should've insisted Reek leave and won that small battle. Maybe then have the shot end on her face, silent and distant-eyed or something.

[Steve Contra]

contra i was just about to post something like that

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Going three to 4 was one of the biggest book disappointments ever. It dropped when I was 15, i was so excited for the new book

You keep reading and reading and reading and you realize slowly that nothing's actually happening that's worth giving a fuck about. It's a 1000 page Westeros/Essos travelogue and by 80% through like everyone else who isn't a stan I was desperate for the smallest semblance of entertainment or something worth giving a fuck about

then 90 percent of the way through you realize, damn, i'm reading a wack book , hopefully this was just setting things up and the next one will be good . Maybe i missed some subtle stuff, or something interesting from previous books

[close]

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

Yeah, PD can pretend that Martin has some 300 page ace up his sleeve to quickly fix two big unfinished books and set up the big finale but honestly we're nearing 5 years and Martin hasn't even done that.  At least going into the 6th one I won't have any hopes and I'm pleasantly surprised.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I think the pit sums up the books the best way, there's lots of palace intrigue and scheming and boredom and suddenly a dragon comes down from the sky and we don't really need to worry about that anymore

[close]

[Dickie Dee]

Also, does Littlefinger's scheme make a bit of sense? Was there any hint of secrecy around him bringing Sansa to Winterfell and the Boltons that I missed?

I got the impression he was openly marrying her off as her Step-Uncle (or whatever), her closest living paternal figure.

[seagrams hotsauce]

I enjoyed the first 3-4 seasons a deal better than the latest, so I guess I'll dig up my library card.

[Kara]

AD&D

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Is more fun than this tiresome custom.

[close]

[studyguy]

Also, does Littlefinger's scheme make a bit of sense? Was there any hint of secrecy around him bringing Sansa to Winterfell and the Boltons that I missed?

I got the impression he was openly marrying her off as her Step-Uncle (or whatever), her closest living paternal figure.

I found it more an easy contrivance to get him out of Winterfell in order to set up Sansa.
I guess it plays into Cersei being thrown a lifesaver in the middle of her quest to fuck up everything around her. I mean he did basically give her an army to supposedly 'command' should it come to that. All the same I don't think it was meaningful enough to see it as much beyond making Sansa vulnerable for the next setpiece shocker.

[Human Snorenado]

PD defending books 4&5:



Walrus Martin stanning in general:

[I'm a Puppy!]

Also, does Littlefinger's scheme make a bit of sense? Was there any hint of secrecy around him bringing Sansa to Winterfell and the Boltons that I missed?

I got the impression he was openly marrying her off as her Step-Uncle (or whatever), her closest living paternal figure.

Actually I think it does.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Littlefinger wants to not just be in charge of the vale he wants the north.
Littlefinger can't have the north. The Boltons have taken it.
Littlefinger can't go and take it over. Even if he succeeds the crown can claim he's a usurper.
Littlefinger needs to have a reason to go and take it over.
Littlefinger knows that if Sansa is involved Cersei is dumb enough to give him whatever he wants.
Littlefinger leaves Sansa there to get info on the Boltons, see their strength while giving him an excuse to go to go Cersei and be made warden of the north.
After the battle between the Boltons and Stannis he goes in and takes over with the crown's approval

The only thing is, this only works if all he wants is to be warden of the north, he wants everything. He would hold the vale and the north. He could use Sansa to rally the north then take over Castly Rock (I mean who's there now?). But then why go through all this then? Cersei will demand Sansa be killed. And that would put Littlefinger's plot to an end after he was warden of the north.

[close]

[Bebpo]

So I never get around to watching these seasons until later, but since I've read the books I read all the discussion and get a feel for the eps.  Sounds like this Season is pretty sucky, I might just go for the internet message board discussion version over actually watching it.  The discussion is really entertaining!

contra i was just about to post something like that

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Going three to 4 was one of the biggest book disappointments ever. It dropped when I was 15, i was so excited for the new book

You keep reading and reading and reading and you realize slowly that nothing's actually happening that's worth giving a fuck about. It's a 1000 page Westeros/Essos travelogue and by 80% through like everyone else who isn't a stan I was desperate for the smallest semblance of entertainment or something worth giving a fuck about

then 90 percent of the way through you realize, damn, i'm reading a wack book , hopefully this was just setting things up and the next one will be good . Maybe i missed some subtle stuff, or something interesting from previous books

[close]

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

Yeah, PD can pretend that Martin has some 300 page ace up his sleeve to quickly fix two big unfinished books and set up the big finale but honestly we're nearing 5 years and Martin hasn't even done that.  At least going into the 6th one I won't have any hopes and I'm pleasantly surprised.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I think the pit sums up the books the best way, there's lots of palace intrigue and scheming and boredom and suddenly a dragon comes down from the sky and we don't really need to worry about that anymore

[close]

I liked books 4 & 5, but not enough to spend time defending them much.  I just like the characters and Martin's writing style.  So even just watching Jaime walk around and talk to himself or Tyrion doing the same is quite enjoyable for me.  Only things I didn't like in the books were all the fake death cliffhanger chapter endings and Dany, but I never liked anything Dany after the House of the Undying.  She's a shit character and the show has made my impression of her even worse because Clarke makes her even more awful with that cringe-worthy acting.

[Dickie Dee]

Also, does Littlefinger's scheme make a bit of sense? Was there any hint of secrecy around him bringing Sansa to Winterfell and the Boltons that I missed?

I got the impression he was openly marrying her off as her Step-Uncle (or whatever), her closest living paternal figure.

Actually I think it does.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Littlefinger wants to not just be in charge of the vale he wants the north.
Littlefinger can't have the north. The Boltons have taken it.
Littlefinger can't go and take it over. Even if he succeeds the crown can claim he's a usurper.
Littlefinger needs to have a reason to go and take it over.
Littlefinger knows that if Sansa is involved Cersei is dumb enough to give him whatever he wants.
Littlefinger leaves Sansa there to get info on the Boltons, see their strength while giving him an excuse to go to go Cersei and be made warden of the north.
After the battle between the Boltons and Stannis he goes in and takes over with the crown's approval

The only thing is, this only works if all he wants is to be warden of the north, he wants everything. He would hold the vale and the north. He could use Sansa to rally the north then take over Castly Rock (I mean who's there now?). But then why go through all this then? Cersei will demand Sansa be killed. And that would put Littlefinger's plot to an end after he was warden of the north.

[close]

But word of Littlefinger giving Sansa over to the Boltons would/should reach Kings Landing, Cersei would/should have him killed

[I'm a Puppy!]

Also, does Littlefinger's scheme make a bit of sense? Was there any hint of secrecy around him bringing Sansa to Winterfell and the Boltons that I missed?

I got the impression he was openly marrying her off as her Step-Uncle (or whatever), her closest living paternal figure.

Actually I think it does.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Littlefinger wants to not just be in charge of the vale he wants the north.
Littlefinger can't have the north. The Boltons have taken it.
Littlefinger can't go and take it over. Even if he succeeds the crown can claim he's a usurper.
Littlefinger needs to have a reason to go and take it over.
Littlefinger knows that if Sansa is involved Cersei is dumb enough to give him whatever he wants.
Littlefinger leaves Sansa there to get info on the Boltons, see their strength while giving him an excuse to go to go Cersei and be made warden of the north.
After the battle between the Boltons and Stannis he goes in and takes over with the crown's approval

The only thing is, this only works if all he wants is to be warden of the north, he wants everything. He would hold the vale and the north. He could use Sansa to rally the north then take over Castly Rock (I mean who's there now?). But then why go through all this then? Cersei will demand Sansa be killed. And that would put Littlefinger's plot to an end after he was warden of the north.

[close]

But word of Littlefinger giving Sansa over to the Boltons would/should reach Kings Landing, Cersei would/should have him killed

That's a risk he takes. But a reasonable one in that he can be pretty sure that any witnesses wont be able to get to King's landing before him or if there were they'd be Boltons and Cersei's not going to trust them after Littlefinger got to her.