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scifi_rewatchThe title fits (especially for Jaime, Brienne, Theon and Arya, but even for some other characters on a more metaphorical bent,) but I can’t help but think about what the title refers to in canon—basically the public shaming of a woman who dares to defy the patriarchy. Might’ve done better to call this episode “The Bear and the Maiden Fair” but wuddaya know, that’s coming up in a few weeks. :P And I can’t fault that naming.
But back to this one! In my semi-private, preliminary recap when this ep aired a year ago, I called it “The Game of War Costs.” That definitely still stands. We have Robb and his uncle Edmure’s communication failure on the battlefield, Arya’s dubious situation as a hostage (to say nothing of Sansa’s, but she didn’t appear this episode,) the steep moral and financial price of warfare that Daenerys and Tyrion were dealing with respectively, war crimes like infanticide and rape, and the iconic closing scene.
Overall I enjoyed this episode, but there was an eyerolly porno stuck in the middle of it that really served no purpose. Some people, I know, appreciated the base humor, but if I wanted to see women act like barely animate sex toys, then I’d go find free porn on the internet. Not worth the price of HBO—joke’s on us. :P
Summary
King’s Landing
On the opposite end of base humor is clever humor—a la the small council “musical chairs” number. Tywin tested his members with the chair set up—of course Littlefinger dodged ahead of Varys to get in closest and Pycelle barely made it to the end. But his children refused to play by those rules—Cersei moved her chair right next to him and Tyrion took the opposite end of the table. :P Brilliant.
Onto the plotty stuff—the small council is just finding out that Jaime escaped Robb, but they still don’t know where he is. They do know that Robb is in Riverrun for his grandfather’s funeral, “which makes Roose Bolton Lord of Harenhaal, in practice if not in name,” Varys snips to LF. :P LF is on his way to the Vale to court Lysa Arryn—the “assignment” he mentioned to Sansa in episode one where he might be able to sneak her aboard his ship… *cough* Anywho. This leaves an opening for the Master of Coin, which Tywin gives to rich boy Tyrion, much to his horror and Cersei and Pycelle’s delight. :P
On the base side of humor, Pod gets to have sex with a bunch of naked contortionists who can’t act yet think he’s so amazing that they don’t even take their payment—porno 101 for the sexist men with small dicks market. The only truly funny thing out of the entire exchange was the “Meereneese knot” reference—nice inside joke for Book 5 readers. I refer to this whole tableau as “Pod the Sex God”—I’m sure I’m not the only one. :P
Plotwise, LF scopes Tyrion out on the whole Ros imprisonment incident from last season—he knows they aren’t in a relationship, but why was Cersei so certain that they were? Tyrion deflects the questioning, and they banter some politics. Later, he tries to explain moneylending to unlearned Bronn, and cues in the audience to the fact that not only is the crown in deep to Tywin (who apparently doesn’t give a shit that his own grandson is now on the throne,) but also to the Bank of Braavos. So file that away.
Beyond the Wall
The wildlings arrive at the First of the First Men, where Orell notes Jon’s discomfort with the idea that all of his old friends might be wights now. Also, a macabre tableau of gory horse parts in spirals. As Mance says about the White Walkers, “always the artists.” :/ Finally, Mance lays out his instructions—Tormund, Jon, Orell, Ygritte and others are going to scale the wall so they can let in Mance’s invading army. But you gotta wait til next season to see any of that. :P
The remaining Night’s Watch members—fortunately no one we know is a wight—arrive at Craster’s Keep. Craster obviously wants to turn them away, but he sees their dangerous desperation. Tensions run high inside about how little hospitality he’s showing them. Even Mormont gets a little pissy when Craster refers to himself as “a godly man” for sacrificing his sons. He’s not afraid of the long winter. He’s more irritated by Gilly who, off screen, is giving birth loudly. After Craster mocks Sam for his weight, suggesting cannibalism for the rest of the crew, our young Tarly goes and spies on Gilly’s birth, just in time to see that it’s a boy. Gilly and her sister-wives seem devastated.
Stannis and Theon
Meshing these two together cos there’s not a lot to say here. Melissndre prepares to leave Dragonstone for unknown purposes; just following her fire visions. Stannis is clingy and unhappy. He accuses her of abandoning him, then demands another shadow baby. Mel refuses—he’s too weak—but she has another idea for gathering sacrificial lambs with his blood in them; he’s not the only person with Baratheon DNA lurking about. Mel promises, as always, that his enemies will be vanquished and he will be king.
Theon’s rescuer unties the hostage from his post and painstakingly gets him to a horse. He tells Theon to ride east towards Asha/Yara and lets slip that they’re not on the Iron Islands. Theon doesn’t make it very far before he’s apprehended—and almost raped. But his rescuer, watching from the bushes, kills his attackers; the last one snarls at him “you little bastard.” He then helps Theon back up, presumably to offer more aid.
Astapor
This might actually be canon, giving extra weight to this episode’s name, but Jorah refers to the walkway with the crucified slaves as a “walk of punishment.” Daenerys tries to offer one of them water, but he refuses. Jorah and Barristan, meanwhile, are debating over whether Dany should buy the Unsullied or look for sellswords. Barristan’s argument seems a little weak—he is still a newbie—plus sellswords aren’t like knights who fight for loyalty and love. That’s how he remembers fighting beside Rhaegar during Robert’s Rebellion. Jorah points out, with the iconic line, “Rhaegar fought valiantly. Rhaegar fought nobly. And Rhaegar died.” He has some good arguments in favor of the Unsullied—they won’t rape or sack cities without orders. But meanwhile, Dany needs to accept that all war comes with innocent blood shed.
Inside with Kraznys and the other slavers Dany wants to buy ALL 8,000 Unsullied, plus the boys in training. Using her usual translating dexterity, Missendei explains that her ship, her gold and her Dothraki are barely worth over 100. Then, to everyone’s shock, Dany offers a dragon. :O She and Kraznys strike a deal over Drogon as Barristan and Jorah try to stop their queen. As a bonus, Dany gets Missendei as well. Outside, she warns her men not to question her judgment in front of strangers before going to talk to Missendei concerning the truth about the Unsullied, the Walk of Punishment and Missendei herself.
The Riverlands
Once again divvying up; most of the cast is here! :P
Robb and Cat
Hoster Tully’s body floats out on the river while his son tries, unsuccessfully, to make a traditional funeral pyre. Growing impatient, another member of the family, Hoster’s brother, pushes his nephew aside and does it himself. Later, nephew Edmure and uncle Blackfish talk with King Robb about recent battles. Turns out that Edmure took his men to drive the Mountain away from an old mill. Neither Robb nor the Blackfish are impressed. Robb states that he wanted Edmure to stay at Riverrun and draw the Mountain out so he would be surrounded and killed with minimal casualties to the Stark side. Robb’s frustration is growing palpable. He doesn’t have the manpower or money to keep this war up for long; meanwhile Tywin is simply waiting him out.
Later, Catelyn and her uncle reminisce about the past, and mother breaks down over the thought of never seeing her younger sons again. The Blackfish reminds her that Robb still believes them to be alive, and she must present that belief, too, in order to be strong for him.
Talisa mends the wounds of two young boys captured in the mill fight. They’re certain that Robb will turn into a wolf and eat them, and Talisa works playfully to soothe their fears. It’s basically a holdover until what happens in the upcoming episodes, so I won’t address it anymore for now.
Arya and Gendry
Unsurprisingly, the daughter of Ned Stark is now a prisoner, casting some doubt onto the honor of this Brotherhood without Banners organization. She’s none too pleased with Gendry for helping with their smithing, either. :P But she’s mostly taken with the Hound—still wracked with her feelings from season one, she demands to know if he remembers the last time when he was at this inn (where he killed Mycah.) The Hound obviously doesn’t get the reference. Meanwhile, Arya’s up for another surprise—Hot Pie is staying at the inn. :( He, Gendry and Arya share a bittersweet goodbye over some bread that he baked in the shape of a wolf. *sniffle*
Jaime and Brienne
The Bolton men sing “The Bear and the Maiden Fair” (also comes on during the credits,) which is what I meant about title issues. :P Anywho. Jaime and Brienne briefly argue over who was the best swordsfigher—Jaime does bring up a good point about being chained up for the past year. But Brienne obviously bested him. Their situation now, tied up back to back on a horse, is more dire. Jaime brusquely informs Brienne that she will be raped tonight and that she should just take it, lest she fight and they kill her. Brienne seems more amenable to that situation.
Sure enough, once the Boltons set up camp, the leader, Locke, has Brienne untied for said rape. She tries to defend her actions by taking Jaime on Catelyn’s orders, but no one cares. She’s dragged off where she starts screaming. We stay with Jaime and Locke; Jaime casually points out that Brienne’s father is the Lord of Tarth, an island known for its sapphires. He’d offer a pretty reward to have his daughter back, alive and “unbesmirched.” Locke considers it, then calls for Brienne to be brought back to her tree. Visually shaken, she seems more concerned as Jaime tries to gain more with Locke—join our side of the war; we’re richer and will win—and by the way, can I be untied? Locke plays along, even offering Jaime food, before smashing his head down on the table. He mocks and threatens Jaime over the fact that he’s a rich kid who expects to buy his way out of everything. Seems like nothing too serious until, on a whim, he brings his cleaver down on Jaime’s hand, slicing it off as the knight screams in horror.
Thoughts
Like I said, Jaime and Brienne are the meat and potatoes of this season. There’s little, in this episode, that deviates from canon, especially the shocking loss of Jaime’s limb. I know Nickolaj was very into this scene—it’s such a growth moment for his cocky character, who is used to throwing his money around to get out of jams. Today he learned that not everyone can be bought.
Though you have to give him credit for doing his part to save Brienne. Brienne deserves credit, too, for realizing before Jaime did how thin a line he was walking. Gwendolyn Christie’s acting around the rape attempt was great as well. She really made it seem real and horrifying, even if we didn’t get to see it “on screen.” In fact, that reminds me of some rapes that Arya “witnessed” in the books.
Speaking of Arya, this episode gave great opportunities for Maisie to play up on pain and loss, both with how she wants the Hound to emotionally suffer and how she will miss Hot Pie. The wolf bread was a very nice touch that added real dimension to this friendship. You can’t help but feel for this girl who is losing so many people as she tries to find her way home. Meanwhile, canonically, the Brotherhood without Banners hasn’t done anything altruistic in service of the war-beleaguered peasants, which is unlike the books.
I can’t say that I’m 100% happy with the Tully introduction, but part of that is just luck of the draw because they haven’t been around as long as they have in the books. The scene with Catelyn and the Blackfish served as a moving bit of backstory (and in terms of Catelyn’s grief, was much more moving and believable than that “motherless son” bullshit.) In the books, she’s able to internalize her grief more, but for the purpose of tv externalization, the Blackfish was a useful ally.
Much nicer to his niece than his nephew, sheesh. Edmure was put upon in the books (he received the blame there, too, for leaving Riverrun,) but on the show the Blackfish has already bullied him into the ground. It’s worth noting that he encouraged Edmure in the novel when he missed his shot once or twice. I also want to note that in both book and adaptation, I’m on Edmure’s side about this battle business. If Robb wanted Edmure to stay at Riverrun in order to draw the Mountain out, then he should have told him all of the details up front. War isn’t a gossip club, Robb! If you want to win, you need to entrust your generals—your uncle, no less—with the details.
Dany’s stuff is largely unchanged from canon, and I find it all very satisfying. Jorah lays out compelling war arguments and Barristan provides a pleasing picture of Rhaegar as they jokey for position. It’s obvious that Dany likes listening to them but with the slavers she has her own agenda—the Unsullied for a dragon! :O Obviously she’s keeping her reasons close to the breast, but expect to find out more! :P Meanwhile, her conversation with Missendei highlights interesting, if depressing views on slaves not fearing death—“there is no master beyond the grave.”
There’s not much to note about Theon and Stannis’s scenes, other than the fact that neither are canon. And Stannis definitely seems more clingy and lustful than his book counterpart. He had a lot more personal direction in canon. All of that being said, I enjoyed all of the foreshadowing about a king’s blood, and sacrifice.
Not much to say about Jon, either. His plot is moving slowly, so as to match the rest of the season. Minor changes from canon about characters, cos the books have so freaking many that are often combined on the show. But overall, Mance did send Jon to scale the wall for the wildlings, so cue his conflicted feelings.
The scene with the Night’s Watch showing up at Craster’s door is one of my favorites—definite canon. It explored the idea of how starved and war-torn men are desperate right beneath the surface. Could feel the tension simmering…meanwhile, Gilly giving birth to a son was short and heartbreaking.
In terms of the plot stuff that happened at King’s Landing, I enjoyed what the small council seating arrangement said about everyone (poor Cersei, still clinging to being seen as daddy’s right hand. She shoulda taken a leaf out of Tyrion’s book. :P) I also found it interesting, Tyrion’s attempt to explain moneylending to a man who doesn’t play by those rules. Otherwise, these scenes were largely perfunctory. Political planning and snarking about Robb’s whereabouts and Littlefinger’s attempts to woo Lysa. Tyrion and LF trying to get the best of each other. Seems like the only real deviation from canon is that Littlefinger’s ledger techniques are a bit simplified. Makes sense, really—this show isn’t about Ponzi schemes and the like. It was more important to introduce the idea that the crown is heavily in debt to the Iron Bank of Braavos, because that will have some repercussions. However, like a lot on this show, you might have to wait awhile to see them. Even with the adaptation, it’s good to have a long memory. :P
Expect more iconic moments to come next ep!
___
But back to this one! In my semi-private, preliminary recap when this ep aired a year ago, I called it “The Game of War Costs.” That definitely still stands. We have Robb and his uncle Edmure’s communication failure on the battlefield, Arya’s dubious situation as a hostage (to say nothing of Sansa’s, but she didn’t appear this episode,) the steep moral and financial price of warfare that Daenerys and Tyrion were dealing with respectively, war crimes like infanticide and rape, and the iconic closing scene.
Overall I enjoyed this episode, but there was an eyerolly porno stuck in the middle of it that really served no purpose. Some people, I know, appreciated the base humor, but if I wanted to see women act like barely animate sex toys, then I’d go find free porn on the internet. Not worth the price of HBO—joke’s on us. :P
Summary
King’s Landing
On the opposite end of base humor is clever humor—a la the small council “musical chairs” number. Tywin tested his members with the chair set up—of course Littlefinger dodged ahead of Varys to get in closest and Pycelle barely made it to the end. But his children refused to play by those rules—Cersei moved her chair right next to him and Tyrion took the opposite end of the table. :P Brilliant.
Onto the plotty stuff—the small council is just finding out that Jaime escaped Robb, but they still don’t know where he is. They do know that Robb is in Riverrun for his grandfather’s funeral, “which makes Roose Bolton Lord of Harenhaal, in practice if not in name,” Varys snips to LF. :P LF is on his way to the Vale to court Lysa Arryn—the “assignment” he mentioned to Sansa in episode one where he might be able to sneak her aboard his ship… *cough* Anywho. This leaves an opening for the Master of Coin, which Tywin gives to rich boy Tyrion, much to his horror and Cersei and Pycelle’s delight. :P
On the base side of humor, Pod gets to have sex with a bunch of naked contortionists who can’t act yet think he’s so amazing that they don’t even take their payment—porno 101 for the sexist men with small dicks market. The only truly funny thing out of the entire exchange was the “Meereneese knot” reference—nice inside joke for Book 5 readers. I refer to this whole tableau as “Pod the Sex God”—I’m sure I’m not the only one. :P
Plotwise, LF scopes Tyrion out on the whole Ros imprisonment incident from last season—he knows they aren’t in a relationship, but why was Cersei so certain that they were? Tyrion deflects the questioning, and they banter some politics. Later, he tries to explain moneylending to unlearned Bronn, and cues in the audience to the fact that not only is the crown in deep to Tywin (who apparently doesn’t give a shit that his own grandson is now on the throne,) but also to the Bank of Braavos. So file that away.
Beyond the Wall
The wildlings arrive at the First of the First Men, where Orell notes Jon’s discomfort with the idea that all of his old friends might be wights now. Also, a macabre tableau of gory horse parts in spirals. As Mance says about the White Walkers, “always the artists.” :/ Finally, Mance lays out his instructions—Tormund, Jon, Orell, Ygritte and others are going to scale the wall so they can let in Mance’s invading army. But you gotta wait til next season to see any of that. :P
The remaining Night’s Watch members—fortunately no one we know is a wight—arrive at Craster’s Keep. Craster obviously wants to turn them away, but he sees their dangerous desperation. Tensions run high inside about how little hospitality he’s showing them. Even Mormont gets a little pissy when Craster refers to himself as “a godly man” for sacrificing his sons. He’s not afraid of the long winter. He’s more irritated by Gilly who, off screen, is giving birth loudly. After Craster mocks Sam for his weight, suggesting cannibalism for the rest of the crew, our young Tarly goes and spies on Gilly’s birth, just in time to see that it’s a boy. Gilly and her sister-wives seem devastated.
Stannis and Theon
Meshing these two together cos there’s not a lot to say here. Melissndre prepares to leave Dragonstone for unknown purposes; just following her fire visions. Stannis is clingy and unhappy. He accuses her of abandoning him, then demands another shadow baby. Mel refuses—he’s too weak—but she has another idea for gathering sacrificial lambs with his blood in them; he’s not the only person with Baratheon DNA lurking about. Mel promises, as always, that his enemies will be vanquished and he will be king.
Theon’s rescuer unties the hostage from his post and painstakingly gets him to a horse. He tells Theon to ride east towards Asha/Yara and lets slip that they’re not on the Iron Islands. Theon doesn’t make it very far before he’s apprehended—and almost raped. But his rescuer, watching from the bushes, kills his attackers; the last one snarls at him “you little bastard.” He then helps Theon back up, presumably to offer more aid.
Astapor
This might actually be canon, giving extra weight to this episode’s name, but Jorah refers to the walkway with the crucified slaves as a “walk of punishment.” Daenerys tries to offer one of them water, but he refuses. Jorah and Barristan, meanwhile, are debating over whether Dany should buy the Unsullied or look for sellswords. Barristan’s argument seems a little weak—he is still a newbie—plus sellswords aren’t like knights who fight for loyalty and love. That’s how he remembers fighting beside Rhaegar during Robert’s Rebellion. Jorah points out, with the iconic line, “Rhaegar fought valiantly. Rhaegar fought nobly. And Rhaegar died.” He has some good arguments in favor of the Unsullied—they won’t rape or sack cities without orders. But meanwhile, Dany needs to accept that all war comes with innocent blood shed.
Inside with Kraznys and the other slavers Dany wants to buy ALL 8,000 Unsullied, plus the boys in training. Using her usual translating dexterity, Missendei explains that her ship, her gold and her Dothraki are barely worth over 100. Then, to everyone’s shock, Dany offers a dragon. :O She and Kraznys strike a deal over Drogon as Barristan and Jorah try to stop their queen. As a bonus, Dany gets Missendei as well. Outside, she warns her men not to question her judgment in front of strangers before going to talk to Missendei concerning the truth about the Unsullied, the Walk of Punishment and Missendei herself.
The Riverlands
Once again divvying up; most of the cast is here! :P
Robb and Cat
Hoster Tully’s body floats out on the river while his son tries, unsuccessfully, to make a traditional funeral pyre. Growing impatient, another member of the family, Hoster’s brother, pushes his nephew aside and does it himself. Later, nephew Edmure and uncle Blackfish talk with King Robb about recent battles. Turns out that Edmure took his men to drive the Mountain away from an old mill. Neither Robb nor the Blackfish are impressed. Robb states that he wanted Edmure to stay at Riverrun and draw the Mountain out so he would be surrounded and killed with minimal casualties to the Stark side. Robb’s frustration is growing palpable. He doesn’t have the manpower or money to keep this war up for long; meanwhile Tywin is simply waiting him out.
Later, Catelyn and her uncle reminisce about the past, and mother breaks down over the thought of never seeing her younger sons again. The Blackfish reminds her that Robb still believes them to be alive, and she must present that belief, too, in order to be strong for him.
Talisa mends the wounds of two young boys captured in the mill fight. They’re certain that Robb will turn into a wolf and eat them, and Talisa works playfully to soothe their fears. It’s basically a holdover until what happens in the upcoming episodes, so I won’t address it anymore for now.
Arya and Gendry
Unsurprisingly, the daughter of Ned Stark is now a prisoner, casting some doubt onto the honor of this Brotherhood without Banners organization. She’s none too pleased with Gendry for helping with their smithing, either. :P But she’s mostly taken with the Hound—still wracked with her feelings from season one, she demands to know if he remembers the last time when he was at this inn (where he killed Mycah.) The Hound obviously doesn’t get the reference. Meanwhile, Arya’s up for another surprise—Hot Pie is staying at the inn. :( He, Gendry and Arya share a bittersweet goodbye over some bread that he baked in the shape of a wolf. *sniffle*
Jaime and Brienne
The Bolton men sing “The Bear and the Maiden Fair” (also comes on during the credits,) which is what I meant about title issues. :P Anywho. Jaime and Brienne briefly argue over who was the best swordsfigher—Jaime does bring up a good point about being chained up for the past year. But Brienne obviously bested him. Their situation now, tied up back to back on a horse, is more dire. Jaime brusquely informs Brienne that she will be raped tonight and that she should just take it, lest she fight and they kill her. Brienne seems more amenable to that situation.
Sure enough, once the Boltons set up camp, the leader, Locke, has Brienne untied for said rape. She tries to defend her actions by taking Jaime on Catelyn’s orders, but no one cares. She’s dragged off where she starts screaming. We stay with Jaime and Locke; Jaime casually points out that Brienne’s father is the Lord of Tarth, an island known for its sapphires. He’d offer a pretty reward to have his daughter back, alive and “unbesmirched.” Locke considers it, then calls for Brienne to be brought back to her tree. Visually shaken, she seems more concerned as Jaime tries to gain more with Locke—join our side of the war; we’re richer and will win—and by the way, can I be untied? Locke plays along, even offering Jaime food, before smashing his head down on the table. He mocks and threatens Jaime over the fact that he’s a rich kid who expects to buy his way out of everything. Seems like nothing too serious until, on a whim, he brings his cleaver down on Jaime’s hand, slicing it off as the knight screams in horror.
Thoughts
Like I said, Jaime and Brienne are the meat and potatoes of this season. There’s little, in this episode, that deviates from canon, especially the shocking loss of Jaime’s limb. I know Nickolaj was very into this scene—it’s such a growth moment for his cocky character, who is used to throwing his money around to get out of jams. Today he learned that not everyone can be bought.
Though you have to give him credit for doing his part to save Brienne. Brienne deserves credit, too, for realizing before Jaime did how thin a line he was walking. Gwendolyn Christie’s acting around the rape attempt was great as well. She really made it seem real and horrifying, even if we didn’t get to see it “on screen.” In fact, that reminds me of some rapes that Arya “witnessed” in the books.
Speaking of Arya, this episode gave great opportunities for Maisie to play up on pain and loss, both with how she wants the Hound to emotionally suffer and how she will miss Hot Pie. The wolf bread was a very nice touch that added real dimension to this friendship. You can’t help but feel for this girl who is losing so many people as she tries to find her way home. Meanwhile, canonically, the Brotherhood without Banners hasn’t done anything altruistic in service of the war-beleaguered peasants, which is unlike the books.
I can’t say that I’m 100% happy with the Tully introduction, but part of that is just luck of the draw because they haven’t been around as long as they have in the books. The scene with Catelyn and the Blackfish served as a moving bit of backstory (and in terms of Catelyn’s grief, was much more moving and believable than that “motherless son” bullshit.) In the books, she’s able to internalize her grief more, but for the purpose of tv externalization, the Blackfish was a useful ally.
Much nicer to his niece than his nephew, sheesh. Edmure was put upon in the books (he received the blame there, too, for leaving Riverrun,) but on the show the Blackfish has already bullied him into the ground. It’s worth noting that he encouraged Edmure in the novel when he missed his shot once or twice. I also want to note that in both book and adaptation, I’m on Edmure’s side about this battle business. If Robb wanted Edmure to stay at Riverrun in order to draw the Mountain out, then he should have told him all of the details up front. War isn’t a gossip club, Robb! If you want to win, you need to entrust your generals—your uncle, no less—with the details.
Dany’s stuff is largely unchanged from canon, and I find it all very satisfying. Jorah lays out compelling war arguments and Barristan provides a pleasing picture of Rhaegar as they jokey for position. It’s obvious that Dany likes listening to them but with the slavers she has her own agenda—the Unsullied for a dragon! :O Obviously she’s keeping her reasons close to the breast, but expect to find out more! :P Meanwhile, her conversation with Missendei highlights interesting, if depressing views on slaves not fearing death—“there is no master beyond the grave.”
There’s not much to note about Theon and Stannis’s scenes, other than the fact that neither are canon. And Stannis definitely seems more clingy and lustful than his book counterpart. He had a lot more personal direction in canon. All of that being said, I enjoyed all of the foreshadowing about a king’s blood, and sacrifice.
Not much to say about Jon, either. His plot is moving slowly, so as to match the rest of the season. Minor changes from canon about characters, cos the books have so freaking many that are often combined on the show. But overall, Mance did send Jon to scale the wall for the wildlings, so cue his conflicted feelings.
The scene with the Night’s Watch showing up at Craster’s door is one of my favorites—definite canon. It explored the idea of how starved and war-torn men are desperate right beneath the surface. Could feel the tension simmering…meanwhile, Gilly giving birth to a son was short and heartbreaking.
In terms of the plot stuff that happened at King’s Landing, I enjoyed what the small council seating arrangement said about everyone (poor Cersei, still clinging to being seen as daddy’s right hand. She shoulda taken a leaf out of Tyrion’s book. :P) I also found it interesting, Tyrion’s attempt to explain moneylending to a man who doesn’t play by those rules. Otherwise, these scenes were largely perfunctory. Political planning and snarking about Robb’s whereabouts and Littlefinger’s attempts to woo Lysa. Tyrion and LF trying to get the best of each other. Seems like the only real deviation from canon is that Littlefinger’s ledger techniques are a bit simplified. Makes sense, really—this show isn’t about Ponzi schemes and the like. It was more important to introduce the idea that the crown is heavily in debt to the Iron Bank of Braavos, because that will have some repercussions. However, like a lot on this show, you might have to wait awhile to see them. Even with the adaptation, it’s good to have a long memory. :P
Expect more iconic moments to come next ep!
___
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