 There was debate about the merits of the producer 's decision to avoid depicting the two battles between the Starks and Lannisters . Ryan criticized it and confessed being " a little disappointed that many of the major characters are caught up in a war and we 're not seeing it . " Sims regretted not seeing the fight , and although he claimed to understand the budget constrictions , he felt that " all this off @-@ screen fighting is just getting my blood rushing for some on @-@ screen fighting . " Sepinwall concludes : " Ideally , we 'd get a few epic , Braveheart @-@ level battle scenes at some point , but I also respect the demands of time and budget here . Those kinds of sequences cost a fortune , and they eat up a lot of screen time , and I think ultimately I 'd have rather had the time , say , that we spent in Tyrion 's tent the night before the battle , with the mortifying story of his ex @-@ wife , and then whatever it cost to make the execution sequence look as good as it did , than for the episode to have given us one or two long fight scenes . " 
