[identity profile] chavalah.livejournal.com posting in [community profile] scifi_rewatch
By now I think even non-GoT watchers might know that this is the double-take episode in terms of a shocking twist of fate for one of our main characters. In truth I think the previous episode was stronger overall, but this ending scene was just staged beautifully. Kudos to the actors, but also the cinematographers and editors!

Varys visits Ned with a final plea to bend the knee to Joffrey. Robb and Catelyn, meanwhile, must make an alliance with House Frey in order to meet the Lannisters in battle. Tyrion finds new companionship after a sudden proclamation from his father that sends him to the front lines. Jon struggles with his duty to his family vs the Night’s Watch and learns something interesting about Maester Aemon. Daenerys, the only character not connected to the main plot this episode, has her own trials to deal with as Drogo suddenly becomes very ill, compromising her position within the khalasar.

This episode is named for the religious site where they hold the trial for the Hand of the King.


As I said, there are definite high points to this episode, but I also find that there’s a certain lack of balance. Maybe because there are too many high-stakes things happening in almost every plotline (not so much Castle Black, and I think it worked well portraying Jon’s impending struggle.) Maybe because we really needed to see The Whispering Wood battle, I think…too confusing otherwise. Tywin’s camp is like “yay, we won this battle!” and Robb’s camp is like, “yay, we won this battle!” and I’m like…whaa?? We needed to see Jaime’s camp getting surprised by wolves, yup yup. Seeing him as a prisoner wasn’t enough…but it’ll have to do. (Jaime totally needs an ego-suck, yes…but not so much as his dipshit nephew/son Joffrey. >.< SEETHING HATRED.)

Ned dying…when I first read spoilers about the series, I was one of those silly people who tried to convince myself, well, maybe this is something that the producers will change. In the end, I’m glad they didn’t. Beyond the sheer originality of killing off Sean Bean; oh wait, that’s old hat, lol the principle character…Ned’s death is intensely integral to the story as a whole. I hope that upset fans realized that before cancelling their HBO subscriptions or what have you. This isn’t a mindless tale for entertainment, this isn’t a falsified world where the good guys always win and everyone with a POV is protected…this is about the Stark words: “Winter is Coming,” and how characters rise (or don’t rise) to that challenge. This is about mercy and hope in a world where it really counts…because there is so precious little of it. And this is about the Starks. :( And Ned; even gone, this story is about Ned. I’ll delve more into his character later.

Divvying up by location!

The Lannister Camp

Tyrion ambles up to his father and council for a nice bite to eat; they seem put out by his lateness. He talks about how the hill tribes are fighting amongst themselves (good news for the Starks? :D) and Tywin turns that around to be critical of sonny boy as an “army commander,” of course. He tells his impish son that he’ll lead his troops as part of the vanguard—which apparently means they’ll be in the front lines. /battle idiot. Tyrion is not happy about this. “If you want to kill me, surely there are ways that are not so detrimental to the war effort!” he complains. But unable to get the upper hand with his unloving father, he leaves the table.

Our favorite Lannister stumbles back to his tent…where Bronn is waiting with a lovely lady for him. Meet Shae; a prostitute who will actually play a big part in seasons to come, yup yup. So much for tv-original Ros taking that role…in actuality, I viewed Shae as more of a Ros, at least in temperament. I’m not sure if this smug, cocksure Shae will grow on me or not; I think the showrunners were trying to match her temperament to Tyrion’s, but honestly one of him might be enough. :P

The halfman lays out his terms—be my exclusive, personal concubine on the battle field, and I’ll offer you protection, good company (“did you hear you’re good company from the girls you paid?” a witty Shae asks,) and gold. Shae takes off her dress, which in HBO terms is acceptance of a contract. :P

After fornication, Shae, Tyrion and Bronn are playing college drinking games like “Never Have I Ever” (at least that’s what we called it at [livejournal.com profile] wac_attack. :P) It’s a great moment for the new romantic relationship, cos we find out that although the Imp can read most people like a book, Shae is largely closed off to him. I sense a certain Lannister’s intrigue, I do.

Shae also gets Tyrion to divulge a story about his first and only love affair/marriage. “I was 13 16, riding along with my brother, Jaime, when I saw a girl about to get raped,” he says. After scaring the men off, Tyrion and this woman, Tysha, hit it off, and for the first time, the halfman isn’t overlooked in favor of his dashing, older brother. The two of them get married, and are able to keep it secret from Tywin for a fortnight. (Whaaa? Makes me wonder how that’s possible, but perhaps the two Lannister Ts weren’t living together. Certainly that would’ve made them both happy. :P)

In response to this scandal, Jaime divulges that Tysha wasn’t a random happenstance—she was a whore whom older bro paid to give Tyrion his first rumble in the sack. Certainly not worthy of the Lannister name, no no. So Tywin had the marriage annulled, then he made Tyrion watch as he passed her around his men. :-/ (Change from the book: no reference that after they were done, the Imp raped her as well. I guess they thought it might make him too unsympathetic, but it definitely takes away from the complexity of his character.) Peter Dinklage delivered this scene beautifully…and it’s a memory that haunts Tyrion a lot throughout the series. Then, Bronn says something to the effect of “I’d kill the man who did that to me,” which got my modern feminist sensibilities in a tizzy—“the man who ‘did that’ to Tyrion?” >.< Though I do wibble for the halfman…and I think that was part of the purpose of this scene as well. We need a Lannister to feel for, lest we see their war with the Starks as too much of a black and white issue.

The next morning, Tyrion leads his men to battle against the Starks, but falls unconscious from a wayward axe swing almost immediately. Way to get out of showing the battle, guys…though in this case, seeing hill tribes go all hackey on some fallen northmen was enough for me. Tyrion is floating around a la Russell Crowe in Gladiator, so he’s either dead or a slave…turns out he’s neither! (Just being wheeled around on a wagon.) When he and Bronn talked about winning the battle, I actually felt a pang of relief for a second, before I realized…WTF?? That’s how good this series in, investing me in characters on both sides of the line. …although Starks always have to be my number one, so—*slaps self* Down with Lannister assholery; someone’s gotta put a stop to these people! *resolute*

Tywin rides up with more abject indifference about his youngest son still being alive…then he gives a bit of an update about the battle we didn’t see. The scout whom Robb sent back last week reported, as told, that 20,000 northmen were coming; turned out to only be 2,000. “Did we at least capture the Stark boy?” Tyrion asked. “He wasn’t here…he was with his 18,000 other troops,” a cold Tywin answers back. Uh oh...big question for the Lannisters, now…where the hell is Robb Stark?? :P

The Stark Camp

…He’s with Theon, shooting down ravens! OK, that was earlier. :P Following along last eppy’s predicament, Robb needs to cross the river at the Twins, which means he needs permission from the Freys. Apparently, they didn’t come up with a plan on how to appease the old man before coming to a rest in front of his holdfast and shooting down ravens that may or may not be telling the Lannisters of their whereabouts. The animal deaths are up this week. :(

Robb’s all about striding into the Twins himself for an audience with Walder Frey, but his bannermen object that he may become a hostage. “I can’t let other men do my bargaining for me,” says Ned Stark’s son. Well, maybe not men…how about your mommy? :P Cat’s known Lord Frey since she was a girl (he’s her father’s somewhat belligerent and unhelpful vassal. :-/) She’s positive he won’t harm her… “unless there’s a price,” Greatjon opines. Forces mouth shut/hates the Freys/spoilers spoilers >.<

The scene with Cat and the Freys is arguably the funniest in this very dire episode. Walder’s 3453290532653 children, grandchildren and bastards twitter around him, trying to get him to treat Lady Stark with courtesy, so he bitches and then kisses her hand to shut them up. (The look on Michelle Fairley’s face was priceless.) She asks to speak to him alone, so he dismisses his Frey crew and new 15-year-old wife (note: Walder Frey is a grizzled grandpa. GRRM called him “the Rodney Dangerfield of Westeros.”)

But he brings up a good point; yes he swore allegiance to the Tullys (arguably the Starks through marriage,) but he also “spoke oaths” to, say, the crown. “Your son’s a rebel…” runs in the family, it seems. :P Catelyn asks what keeps him from selling them out to the Lannisters, and Frey grumbles, “Tullys, Starks, Lannisters, Baratheons…why should I give a hoot about any of you?” AKA, what’s in it for me? We’ll have to see!

Later, Cat rides back to Robb’s camp to tell sonny boy how the bargaining went. Good news—Frey’s agreed to let him cross and will give him more men! :D But there’s a price that must be paid, oh yes. (One of the “prices” not mentioned from the book is that Cat had to ward two Frey grandsons at Winterfell…Bran will be a happy boy if that doesn’t come to pass! :P) What is in the cards is that a) Robb has to take a Frey on as his personal squire, b) Arya and a Frey boy have to marry when they come of age (“she’s not gonna like that,” an astute brother observes,) and c) Robb himself will have to marry a Frey girl of his choosing. Robb definitely looks put out by that. “Did you…see his daughters?” he asks awkwardly. “One was…” Cat falters back. Theon, meanwhile, is dying of chuckles. :P Richard, Michelle and Alfie really played this scene perfectly. But my inner feminist is once again irritated—I wonder if the fans are as angry at Robb for being “beauty conscious” as they are when it comes to Sansa. Just touching the tip of the iceberg called misogyny in this fandom, unfortunately. :-/

Robb accepts the terms, however, and we get a beautiful shot of them crossing the Twins. …now it seems to me that we see the Stark army splitting up…which is exactly what they do. 2,000 go to Tywin, and the rest (led by the young wolf) go to Jaime. I’m not sure how well this comes off on screen, really.

The next time we see Robb…well first we see Cat, on the edge of a snow-covered battlefield despite Rodrick’s protests. Cat refuses to leave, until see sees sonny boy riding out of the brush aside his men *family!swoon* “They didn’t know what was happening until it was already done,” Robb says, referring to his men beleaguering Jaime’s camp, not Tywin’s. Not only that…they’ve captured the Kingslayer. :D The right brother this time!

Cat demands her husband and daughters back, and Jaime snarks about not having them. “We should kill him,” Theon says, referencing that he cut through ten of their men. Robb knows that he’s useful as a hostage, however. “Why don’t we settle this now, boy?” Jaime challenges. “Save thousands of lives…you fight for the Starks, I fight for the Lannisters.”

A wise Robb refuses because “you’d win.” (Though it sounds less honorable spelled out like that. :P Still…I wouldn’t trust Jaime as far as I could throw him when it comes to keeping his word. He certainly didn’t to Aerys, after all!) Cat orders him in chains, and frankly, I’m glad the Starks have this bargaining chip. :D They’ll need it.

Robb’s char continues to impress. Haunted by “the 2,000 men I sent to death” (he angsts with Theon,) and knowledgeable that his father and sisters still languish in Lannister custody, this is not the time to celebrate. Ain’t no game with Robb Stark. He gets what war is. He’s from the north, after all. :)

Castle Black

Jon starts off by having a good day! :D (Burnt hand not included, but it was nice to have a reference about it, yup.) As a prize for killing the wight, he gets Mormont’s family sword, Long Claw! It used to be Jorah’s (most direct reference we’ve had to their relationship, yup,) but he left it when he fled Westeros, so Mormont Sr.’s removed the bear handle to replace with a wolf, and now Jon gets it. Booyah! (As an added bonus, Thorne’s been sent to King’s Landing for recruits, so Jon gets a bit of a reprieve from the snark. :P)

As he leaves to pick up Mormont’s supper, every Tom, Dick and Harry stops to give him a clap on the back, like he’s the jock student president in a teen flick. :P Jon is meant for life on the wall, yo!

In the kitchens, the Gryffindor boys Grenn, Pyp and other lads ask to see the Firebolt sword, while Jon obliges. Draco Malfoy Rast and one of his minions look on sullenly from a corner. And meanwhile, Hermione Sam has a perturbed look on his face, thanks to something he read about. :P And people say this series isn’t like Harry Potter. ;)

Jon is able to get the secret out of him about as easily as he killed that wight last eppy. Maester Aemon got a raven…the raven said that Robb was riding south to war. …well there goes Jon’s mood! :( “I should be with him,” he gripes.

Later on, Aemon requests Jon’s help with something…looks like feeding meat to ravens. But that’s not his agenda at all; turns out Sam couldn’t not tell Aemon that he told Jon that bit of news that he wasn’t supposed to tell. :P The Maester elects to have a friendly talk about family vs duty. There’s a reason the Night’s Watch is so Jedi-like when it comes to marriage, children and home (though frankly, the Jedi do it better by taking a kid when s/he’s a baby so s/he doesn’t know anything else…or have connections to parents and siblings, perhaps.)

“If your father had to choose between family and honor, what would he choose?” “He’d do what’s right,” Jon answers without hesitation. …interesting. Does Jon have the knack of Ned? And what determines what is “right”? More on all of that later, hee.

“There comes a time in every Night Watcher’s life where doing your duty isn’t easy,” Aemon continues. Jon, by this point, is seething. “I may be a bastard, but he’s my father and Robb’s my brother!” he proclaims in his usual “life sucks” mantra. "You don't know how this feels." …and dude, I feel for Jon, I really do, but stop your whining! Fortunately, no one on the wall lets him get away with that attitude.

“I was old already when I was tested,” Aemon counters, “when the news came from the south that my family was murdered.” …yup, he’s talking about the Mad King! He’s Aemon Targaryen, who gave up the throne to become a maester, then elected to watch, helplessly, as his family was slaughtered. …dude, discounting Daenerys, who technically wasn’t there anyway, we’ve heard nothing good about this family’s rule. But this actor was so powerful…I could feel his grief for these people and once again, there were shades of gray.

“You’re going to have to choose for yourself what to do,” is Aemon’s council, “and live with it for the rest of your life.” …well personally, I’m shocked that the Maester is allowing for the possibility that Jon could leave the wall, but I guess he’s being wise. Oaths have no physical restraining power, though desertion does mean death. In fact, if Robb really wanted to emulate his father’s honor, wouldn’t he have to behead Jon on sight? …I doubt he could do that, not to his own blood and not when he needs fighters, but still. Is it fair for Jon to put that roadblock in front of the bro? We may find out next eppy.

Across the Narrow Sea

Westeros ain’t the only place with problems…far to the east, Khal Drogo isn’t looking so well. :-/ Covered in a blanket, he falls off his horse, something a khal should never do. Dany rushes to his side, and ignoring the protestations of the blood riders, she calls to set up camp here, and accepts more of Mirri Maz Durr’s healing powers.

In the tent, Drogo continues to mutter and look ill. Jorah comes in to tell Dany, “yo, time to leave; it’s dangerous here, and there may be a port in Ashaii.” Dany refuses; she still carries the heir, after all! Jorah counters with, “this isn’t Westeros; blood claim doesn’t matter here” (well that’s entirely debatable; the first part, I mean. :P) Khals are picked based on physical prowess…and whoever wins the khalasar after Drogo’s impending death won’t want his sonny boy around. So once again, Dany…exit stage left!

This is the part of the series where Dany acts more like Ned and Viserys than as a person who can adapt and thrive in her new culture. Physical weakness is not to be coddled. And slave women are not to be trusted, especially concerning magic rituals! Fantasy though GoT may be…the Dothraki don’t like magic. But Dany is desperate to save Drogo’s life, to the point where she sacrifices his horse for “blood magic” that everyone hates her for (and OMG, that horse death looked so painful! Can horses act? :-/)

Dany has to leave the tent with her companions, cos the dead are coming in and it’s apparently dangerous to mingle. :P Just ask Jon! Outside, one of Drogo’s bloodriders pushes her to the ground and attempts to enter the tent. Jorah, hearing Dany’s command to not go in, challenges the dude to a duel and kills him. (Should be noted he’s wearing Westerosi armor, cos even Dany knows she’s pissing people off…like Ned, she just can’t stop! :P She’s on a mission of love, it seems.) As Dany says in Dothraki: “I’m your khaleesi. I decide what is forbidden.” Not you or your own cultural mores, apparently. :-/

Meanwhile the khaleesi is going into labor (a somewhat overused plot device, but eh, whatever.) None of the midwives want to attend to her, cos they think she be cursed now. (Sheesh, eat a horse heart and you’re a hero; witness a horse death and suddenly you’re an outcast? :P) Rakhraro has heard that MMD knows how to deliver babies, and Jorah has apparently forgotten Dany’s order to stay out of the tent; he picks up his delirious khaleesi and starts in. Though dude, if my tent were making all of those creepy-ass, wind noises, I’d sure as hell stay away! :P This was a wonderfully shot scene, it really was. And yet…despite the subplot importance, I kinda spent a little bit of time wondering, but wait, what’s happening to Ned in King’s Landing? :-/ Dothraki I can live without. Their aspirations are too bloody for my tastes anyway. But Ned… *sobs* Oh, Ned.

King’s Landing

…I’ve been harsh on Ned these past few episodes. His strict devotion to honor leads him down some dangerous, self-destructive paths, and I feel the need to lay “blame” where “blame” is due. But Ned would rather die with honor than live in shame, and I respect that, too. If the world were more like Winterfell and people were more like the Starks…we’d all be better off, I’m sure of it. :(

But that’s not the world we live in, or even the world Ned lives in. I gotta give props to Varys as well. His hippie attitude is probably where I would fall on the political spectrum. It doesn’t matter who rules by what blood claim (granted, Varys doesn’t know yet that Joff aims to emulate Caligula without the good years.) What matters is keeping the peace and avoiding the most death. He visits Ned to bring the news that a) Sansa pleaded for your life, and Cersei will likely let you take the Black, and b) your son, Robb, though “just a boy,” is leading men to battle. Ned won’t lie on behalf of his own life, but what of that of Sansa’s? Or a sitcom spinoff with him, Jon and Benjen at the wall fighting White Walkers? *sobs* *thrusts contract in Sean Bean’s face* :P

Next big scene…Arya’s alive! :D Still in the city, filthy (though could be filthier) and hungry, she kills a pigeon and tries to sell it for a pie, with no avail. Hard knock life. :-/ Meanwhile, a throng of people is rushing past her. “Where’s everyone going?” she asks kidlets as a bell tolls. “The Sept of Baelor,” they answer, “where they’re taking the Hand of the King.”

Dead pigeon forgotten, Arya rushes past them. She climbs up a statue of the dude, Baelor, to get a better look, and Ned (who looks far less bloody and pained than he did in some previews) sees her as he’s escorted out by guards. :-O Don’t remember this from the book…was from Arya’s POV. Passing Yoren, the Night’s Watch rep, he shouts, “Baelor, Baelor!” in an attempt that the Brother can grab Arya, which thankfully, he ultimately does. On the dais, Sansa stands hopefully with Cersei and Joffrey.

The crowd sees Ned as a traitor, and they sneer insults as he’s led through them. One throws a piece of fruit as Lord Stark confesses his “crimes.” (He looks towards Sansa beforehand and she nods encouragingly. Looks like you got your answer, Jon.)

After he’s finished “confessing” that he plotted to steal Joff’s throne, Pycelle looks to the young king for judgment. Jack beautifully (awfully) delivers his book lines: “My lady mother has suggested that Lord Eddard take the Black…Lady Sansa has begged mercy for her father…but they have the soft hearts of women. So long as I’m your king, treason will not stand. Ser Illyn, bring me his head!”

Pandemonium ensues. The crowd screams with glee, Sansa screams with terror. Arya grabs Needle’s hilt and dives into the fray, only to be stopped by Yoren. Cersei hisses angrily at her son, Varys also rushes towards them, but what’s done is done. Ser Illyn dons his mask and sears himself across Sansa’s memory for the next few books. Yoren makes Arya look away. Ned looks to his daughters…Arya is no longer on the Baelor statue, Sansa is restrained, falling to her knees, and not entirely seeing him. I’ve always been struck by the notion that Eddard’s daughters witness his death…but it makes more sense for him to be relieved that they don’t actually see anything. This isn’t Winterfell, where Ned takes his sons to witness justice being done. This is Joffrey, using Ned’s own sword and another man to do his cowardly act. It’s a message to all of the fans…Cersei may be a powerful and manipulative bitch, but her psycho!brat is no picnic on his own, either. :-/

On tv, I was struck by the marvelous sound editing, how everything became quieter and dulled as we entered Ned’s head for the last time. I remembered his words from earlier with Varys when he said “I’m a soldier…I’ve always known how to die,” and thought maybe he found a peaceful sort of acceptance. Wishful thinking, I know. :-/ I’ve also always envisioned a heaven-like place where Ned (and others) can look down on the action…but it’s mentioned once or twice this ep that “the dead hear no songs.” *sobs* (Come on, people, you live in a fantasy world! I’m still holding onto my assumption that the chars, as usual, just don’t like thinking about magic….but it’s there! And it’s about to be a whole lot more there very, very soon!)

Final shot was the cincher of win…Arya, pressed to Yoren’s front, hearing the whisk of the blade on her father’s neck, but her eyes are on a flock of crows flying overhead. Crows seem to have major significance when it comes to the Old Gods and the North. A fitting finale for Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell.

One thing I am disappointed about…we never got to hear about Ned’s Lyanna memories (honestly, I’d’ve swapped that with the Tysha story; we have plenty of time for that!) Book fans use Ned’s haunted promise to Lyanna to make a pretty huge assumption about Jon’s parentage (minor spoiler: I promise it doesn’t include incest. :P) Seems like the tv show isn’t taking sides. Honestly, what makes me sad is that Martin wrote a lot of characters with such rich inner monologues and it’s a shame we lose that in the transition. I’ll be especially sorrowful if there’s no reference at all to the fact that although Sansa has to play certain “games” as a captive at King’s Landing, we all know who she’s really rooting for. Well, at least the non-misogynists do. :P

What could possibly be left this season after such a stunning finale to this ep? Trust me…there are still surprises in store before the curtain falls on season one!

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