Game of Thrones Episode 4.01: “Two Swords”
Feb. 7th, 2015 11:37 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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scifi_rewatchIt’s that time of year again, when I count down the weeks to a new season of “Game of Thrones” by releasing my reviews here of the immediately previous one. These reviews will contain book spoilers, and hoo boy are David Benioff and Dan Weiss going further and further “off script” as we reach the end of Martin’s published canon—quicker in some storylines than in others.
The season also wasn’t without its controversy, both intentional and unintentional. The unintentional issues inspired a media backlash to rival Daenerys’s “white savior” scene that capped off season three, but more on the specifics in due time. For now, we open on the Lannisters’ terse reunion after winning their war against the Starks (but new!old enemies wait in the wings…) Jon returning to the Night’s Watch to tell the others all he learned from his study abroad with the wildlings, and Daenerys & co marching on a new city. Arya and the Hound are left to the war-ravaged Riverlands, but our re-intros to Stannis, the remains of the northerners and some others will have to be postponed.
Summary
King’s Landing
A smug Tywin watches as Ned’s Valyrian long sword, Ice, is melted into two new swords for the Lannister family. He gives one of the swords to Jaime, with the caveat that he will resign from the Kingsguard and rule in Casterly Rock. Jaime is still uninterested, and stubbornly clings to the fact that the Kingsguard oath is for life, even though he can’t even sheathe his sword with one hand. Tywin rather coldly disowns him when he refuses to play along.
Tyrion, Bronn and Pod are the welcoming crew for the very late Dornish party, arrived to witness Joffrey’s wedding to Margaery. The man explains the bad blood between the Lannisters and the Martells, which is later confirmed by the Martell bannermen brushing him off, and Oberyn (the younger brother, not the older and more important,) going into a soliloquy about his raped sister and her murdered children, which he lays at the feet of Tywin. First, however, Oberyn and his bastard lover, Ellaria, have a little bisexual fun in a brothel, before the Prince cuts into the hand of a “Rains of Castamere”-singing Lannister solider who talks smack to him.
Shae is worried about Sansa, who apparently hasn’t eaten much since the Red Wedding, but she’s also jealous of Tyrion’s attentions towards his wife. Tyrion attempts to solve Sansa’s problems, such as they are, with a compassionate but goals-driven mind, whereas Sansa can do little more but hauntingly recount the details of Robb and Catelyn’s deaths, and then escape to the godswood for alone time.
Alone in their chambers, Shae tries to entice Tyrion for some sexy R&R, but he’s just not feeling it, thanks to all the issues he went through earlier in the episode. This tips over Shae’s jealousy about Sansa, which only exacerbates things further. She angrily accuses him of trying to send her away, as Varys claimed at the end of last season, but Tyrion is obviously bewildered. Shae doesn’t seem to understand this before storming out; however she is noticed by one of Cersei’s spies.
Cersei herself is overseeing Jaime’s new golden hand fitting. She’s quite taken with Qyburn, who is administering it, and Jaime grows jealous. Especially since Cersei, who drinks more, he notices, is not interested in his advances, despite the fact that he stayed in the Kingsguard and risked being disowned for her. But Cersei is too freaked out by past deeds herself—living through her brother’s imprisonment and mutilation, being forced to send Myrcella away, the Blackwater siege that she didn’t expect to survive, and now having to marry Joffrey to “that little bitch,” before marrying “the renowned pillow biter” herself. :P Maybe Cersei needs some alone time too, but here comes her spy.
Margaery, Olenna and some other Tyrell ladies look over some wedding necklaces, though the fashions aren’t to the matriarch’s liking. She sends the ladies away to fetch better ones, and Marg briefly lets down her guard with a caustic remark about Joffrey’s cruelty. It’s back on, though, as Brienne arrives to speak with her, after Olenna raves at this “singular” woman. Brienne recounts how Renly died, and vows to make Stannis pay for murdering “their king,” but Marg has to gently remind her that Joffrey holds that title here.
Joffrey, meanwhile, is disinterested while Ser Meryn and Jaime discuss body guards for the wedding. Meryn sucks up to Joff, leaving Jaime to make dry statements about how the war really isn’t over and it’s not the Lannisters who are feeding the poor and keeping them happy, it’s the Tyrells. Joffrey responds rather mildly for him—he passive aggressively mocks Jaime for his lack of knightly accomplishments, a sore spot. But later, while he and Brienne watch over Sansa at prayer, he sidesteps his companion’s insistence that he keep his vow to Catelyn by getting her remaining daughter the hell out of there.
Ironically, once Jaime and Brienne stomp off, Sansa finds herself in danger from a hooded figure. She tries to escape him by walking quickly deeper into the godswood, but once there is nowhere else to go the man reveals himself as Ser Dontos, the knight she saved in season two at Joffrey’s tourney. He’s a drunk fool, but he’s grateful that her kindness saved his life, and in return he gives her a priceless necklace from his family to wear at Jofrey’s wedding.
The Night’s Watch
Well, technically Yigritte and company aren’t there yet; they are waiting for reinforcements and growing antsy. Tormund accuses her of letting Jon go rather than killing him, but they are interrupted by the Thenns, a rival wildling clan of cannibals. They came from the south because they stopped for a bite to eat, which we get to see in the form of a human hand burning over the fire.
As younger recruits practice slinging arrows into straw dummies, Jon fondly recounts his memories of Robb while mourning his passing. Sam comes to take him to what remains of the authority in the Night’s Watch—Thorne has taken over as “Acting Lord Commander,” with Slynt as a skeevy second in command. But Aemon is there to keep things fair, as the others don’t want to believe Jon’s story about the wildlings being a united threat under Mance; they’d rather kill him for sleeping with Ygritte. But Aemon maintains that Jon is telling the truth about everything, a la being a spy for the Night’s Watch, which is most important.
The road to Meereen
Daenerys sits with a bigger Drogon on a rock while a bigger-than-they-were-but-not-bigger-than-their-bro Rhaegal and Viserion bring food in the form of a mutilated goat. Drogon very quickly turns from being a mama’s boy into something with the capacity to be quite dangerous, prompting Jorah to remind his young queen that dragons cannot be tamed, even by their mother.
Within her human ranks, Dany faces a machismo problem in the form of Daario and Grey Worm arm wrestling for her favor. The former khaleesi responds to this by demoting both of them to walk in the back of the line as they march towards their next slave city. Later, Missandei gives Dany a brief rundown of the Meereenese, only to be interrupted by Daario. The former sellsword suggests that she get to know the place first, speak to the locals from a place of understanding, though his style is very flirtatious. But all of this is interrupted when Barristan and others discover that the Meereense masters have responded to Dany by crucifying slave children, who now serve as signposts leading to the city. Dany stonily decrees that she will look on the face of every child, before having their collars removed for burial.
The Riverlands
Arya and the Hound ride through the viscerally war-torn countryside; dead bodies rotting in the sunlight and all. The girl wants her own pony, rather than being treated as a package on Sandor’s horse, eliciting a friendly!combative banter between the two that lasts throughout their time together. Arya’s feeling pretty glum about her future prospects but the Hound shares his plans for her—he’s going to try and sell her to her aunt, Lysa, Lady of the Vale.
They stop at and spy on an inn, as Sandor is hungry but too wary to fight off all the men who are obviously inside, looking at the horses tied up in front. (He's fine with killing little boys, but is penniless because stealing is beneath him, his companion cynically notes.) Arya is shocked to see Polliver exit to take a piss—the Lannister soldier who killed her friend, Lommy and took her sword, Needle, an artifact that he still has hanging from his belt. Before the Hound can stop her, Arya is striding towards the entrance, in plain sight of others, so they go in.
Inside, Lannister soldiers force the innkeep to serve them for free, all the while passing his terrified daughter between them as a form of foreplay to rape. The men stop and stare at Sandor’s large, disfigured state, but they leave him alone until Polliver recognizes him as the Hound. He comes right over, talking blithely about torturing people with the Mountain, and having his way with people like the innkeep and his daughter, because Joffrey’s enemies are dead and they wear “the king’s colors.” Sandor doesn’t play along, except to imply that Arya is some plaything he’s taken on the road; then he stonily demands chicken and ultimately offends both Polliver and Joffrey’s characters. After a little bit of a tense back and forth the room turns into a blood bath, with the Hound brutally cutting through his former comrades. Arya, shocked, stays out of it for a little while, until she sees a chance to smash a jug over a soldier’s head, grab his sword and slowly run him through with it. Then she goes straight for Polliver, cutting his legs out from under him, and then impassively reciting his last words to Lommy to the bewildered man, until he recognizes her seconds before she kills him the same way—Needle in his throat.
Outside, we see Sandor on his horse, finishing up a chicken, and a quietly smug Arya on a new pony, the two of them riding into the burning countryside.
Thoughts
Let’s start with Arya. Shortly before the beginning of the season, GRRM released a chapter of hers from the still unpublished “The Winds of Winter.” Not to get too much into spoilers, but that scene with her and Polliver closely resembles something from the chapter, which is probably why he did it. Guess the show runners are on track in that way!
Canonically, Arya kills the Tickler at this point, while in a fit of PTSD stabbing him as she screams out the questions he used to torture people at Harrenhal. Of course, on the show the Tickler was one of her Jaqen kills in season two. Maisie didn’t play the trauma off so big here, but there was a sort of cold satisfaction in taking revenge and winning the game the only way she’s seen how. It’s kind of slower, too; like she doesn’t immediately jump into the fray, like in the book. She does get Needle back, (in the books Polliver had Needle, but didn’t kill Lommy—combined with another brute for efficiency on the show,) which I always thought was convenient—oh, look, randomly running into it again! But I should cut the girl a little slack; she’s lost so much. She doesn’t seem too optimistic about the promise of a reunion with a removed family member as she rides through the destruction of the Riverlands….wonderful reminder at the true cost of war, as was the caustic way that the soldiers physically and sexually abused defenseless people in their path. The fight scene was good, too…the building tension, the gory deaths, if you’re into that sort of thing. :P (I was mostly just relieved for the girl, though who knows what might happen to her next.)
In contrast to Arya retrieving her sword, we have Ned’s sword, the Stark heirloom, becoming a spoils to give to the Lannister victors post-Red Wedding. Love how the music plays into this--Stark theme to Lannister theme. Everything’s true to canon here, (I think some finicky differences about who the sword smith was, plus specific lore about how Valyrian steel doesn't retain it's magical, noteworthy properties when reforged. Also, Tywin isn’t as forthcoming about it’s origins,) but of course the important thing is Jaime refusing to leave the kingsugard and therefore being disowned. The rest of his family reunions (though on the show he’s apparently been back for weeks) go in a similarly bad vein—Cersei is angry and distant (not true at all in the book, but her character in general on the show is more wary and introspective) Joffrey is mocking (couldn’t have happened, given timeline differences,) and Brienne lectures about his unfulfilled duty as they watch Sansa (see before); he even accuses her of being a Lannister because she’s pissing him off. It’s a nice build up because all of these scenes question his duties and desires, which are at the forefront of his existence now that he’s returned physically and mentally changed. Also, he’s much older on the show than in the books, but that’s just par for the course.
Let’s skip to Jon and Ygritte, because their senses of duty are also in question. Tormund, our most recognizable male wildling from season three, basically accuses Ygritte of the love vs duty thing, which is an issue even in the face of Jon’s betrayal. We don’t get this as much in the books because no one here is a POV. The Thenns arrive later than in the books and culturally are much different—they’re not the cannibals, though there’s apparently some other cannibal cultures in the north. Overall, meh I’m probably getting ahead of myself, but they’re pretty one-note bad guys. That’s relatively rare on this show, and kinda disappointing, except that we do have so many other nuanced issues to sink our teeth into. :P I really disliked how Ygritte immediately became a sexual spoil, which I suppose macho men always tend to do, despite the fact that Ygritte isn’t supposed to be quite the anomaly that she is on the show—more women wildlings are like her and Osha (I miss Osha and Rickon!!! Uh, moving on. :P) And of course she stood up for herself, because that’s what she does. :P
Jon is physically healing from Ygritte’s season three assault, and nostalgically mourning Robb. Should be noted, in the books, that Robb wasn’t better than him at anything; that the boys had a more even mix of better and worse at the manly arts, but Jon’s emo jealousy seems true to form. :P OK, Sam is a little emo jealous, too, but he’s mostly here to be Jon’s friend before leading him into the lions’ den (or whatever the den would be for Night’s Watch hearings, I guess? :P) The Robb nostalgia was short and bittersweet—and it reminded me that more than either of his sisters, Jon has to keep it brief because he has a life to get back to (the two of them are far more adrift. Anywho.)
Thorne isn’t acting commander of the NW, because they don’t really have such a post, plus he and Slynt aren’t back yet—Castle Black, at the moment, is largely empty except for those least able to fight, yay. (Tangential sidenote—I like how Slynt is so obviously ignorant of the north that he scoffs at the existence of giants to a stony audience. :P Though his King’s Landing shrewdness is obviously positing him as a yes-man for Thorne.) They ultimately want to punish him, but at the moment in the books that’s not really an issue, unlike Jon’s personal guilt over breaking his vows—not only sexually but also because he fell for her. But the external drama lends for great, if hero-leaning tension, where Jon is obviously right about the wildling threat, but his competitors don’t want to hear about it because they’re jealous of him. But meh, that can be kind of true to life, too, where petty jealousies get in the way of getting to work. In fact, that’s one of the broader themes of the books—those damn White Walker/Others being the biggest existential threat, but no, let’s just fight amongst ourselves, political families. :P
Speaking of warring political families, back to King’s Landing! There’s immediate tension between the Martells and their posse, vs Tyrion as a Lannister and his posse, which is mostly true to form, except that Oberyn is actually present, and not in the show’s favorite hangout—a brothel. :P Meeeeh, well at least the sexy times are getting M/M/F as well as F/F/M bisexual, much to the consternation of the tit-drooling fanboys. I love the introduction of POCs as Dornish folk—accepted by much of fandom to be accurate, given the way that Martin describes these people as based more on Moorish Spain. We also get a hint that the Dornish are less classist when it comes to chumming with bastards, though we DON’T get much by way of women are allowed to travel in public; in fact the “Lord Blackmont” who speaks to Tyrion is based off of a “Lady Blackmont” in the books. Oh, show. Stop thinking of background women as just sex objects, and think of them in more human ways, too. Meh.
I had mixed feelings on Pedro Pascal’s performance here—not so much the fight he got in with the soldiers, which is laced with standard, Westerosi violence (plus a nice reminder that the Lannisters won a war but aren’t universally adored,) but his long soliloquy to Tyrion about Tywin’s misdeeds against his family; started to feel a little Inigo Montoyaish. (It’s worth noting that in the books, they were promised the Mountain’s—who directly raped/murdered Elia and killed her children—head, as part of the marriage pact with Myrcella. On the show, Oberyn is more outwardly after the Lannisters as a whole.) And yet…I always liked this about Oberyn, here and in the books, that he was completely obsessed with his sister. Because dammit, someone ought to be (particularly given Martin’s obsession with William Faulkner—time to roll out “The Sound and the Fury”-type relationships! :P) It’s a stupid, futile obsession that leans on vengeance but won’t bring Elia or her children back from the dead, but…oh hell, it may even be more about the family honor than Elia personally, but so far, other than the cultural (moreso on the show than in the books, even,) way of visiting whores, so far his relationships with the women in his life appear to be quite…intimate. :P Is taking your lover to the brothel to partake, rather than cheating behind her back a sign of Dornish progressiveness? Hee.
(I’m going to go briefly into Brienne here…again, nothing that happens to her this episode could have happened in the book because of timeline differences. But the Margaery scene, of course, was a nice reminder of her personal love of Renly and vengeance against Stannis—largely taking a back seat as she works on fulfilling her oath to Catelyn. It’s a nice contrast between Marg and Brienne, too—Marg knows how to keep it politically savvy (though she does allow herself one caustic remark against Joffrey,) whereas Brienne does not—the scene was so great in highlighting how Brienne doesn’t fit into the political capital. Also, tangentially, I can’t WAIT to see Natalie Dormer and Gwendoline Christie together in “Mockingjay, Part 2.” :D Maybe Francis Lawrence will have Diana Rigg cameo to give Cressida shrewd political advice while fawning over Commander Lyme for being a “singular” woman. :P Of course, military ladies are far more common in Panem’s rebellion than anywhere in Westeros, but MOVING ON.)
Like his brother, Tyrion is facing mounting tension with those he interacts with, which is kinda true/untrue to canon. The breakfast scene didn’t exist in the books, and neither person is so forthcoming with the other. Sansa, as a form of personal protection, refuses to speak to Tyrion at all, except in matters of personal courtesy; Tyrion resents this, because he wants to be Mr. Helpful (not to mention that he wants Sansa to love him—he also physically desires her, which has been muted on the show.) Visual medium require exposition—if the audience is to know that Sansa is mourning her family, she has to talk about it. I’ll get more into it later; the big thing is that Tyrion’s desperation to help is rebuffed. Tension is more fraught in his relationship with Shae—continuing from last year, where he’s worried Tywin will find out about them and hang her—also because he’s so distracted by his familial troubles. Things aren’t so strained in the books because their relationship is more ecumenical than based on actual affection—in the book, Tyrion attempts to get Shae married to someone else, so as to save her that way and provide for her future, financially—and Shae is never really jealous of Sansa. Presumably on the show those feelings are complicated by the fact that she cares for both members of the married couple, but they never really explore it that well, except to have her grouse about it. The uncanonical Varys thing from last season just adds to the tension spot, so that it finally spills over and one of Cersei’s spies is onto it. Uh oh. Meh, I dunno, these scenes are hit or miss for me, maybe because they’re telling, more than showing, that these people have relationships beyond the current soap opera—though they established that in seasons past. Now we are obviously dealing with the fallout, but meh, shouldn’t there be more to Shae than her screaming jealousy? I’ll put it out there right now, cos I think I’ve said it before, anyway—I resent that the show didn’t offer more of an arc for her and Sansa, considering that we are told that these characters care for each other.
I liked Sansa on her own, though, even an interesting divergence from canon—her first post-Red Wedding action is to have a dream about being reunited with her dead family in Winterfell; on the show she isn’t much of a believer anymore; she tells Tyrion that she no longer prays. In fact, mostly when she goes to the godswood in the books she is conspiring with Ser Dontos, who has been largely missing from the show….UNTIL NOW. :D
With much bias I’m sure, I’m naming this my favorite scene of the episode. The Sansa I love is on display here—the one who believes in simple acts of kindness and compassion, which are NOT well-documented on among other characters, despite the girl’s humility. “Anyone would have done the same…” aka saved your life…”but only you did,” Dontos points out. When he gives her the necklace I believe in the medieval world that Martin loves—where families fall into ruin but these heirlooms stand as permanent reminders of the good old times—the poetic “one last day in the sun” moment. The music and lighting were both soft and soothing for this rare, friendly moment in Sansa’s life…gah, and Sophie’s smile. A small dip into the life that Sansa wanted and deserved. (Tangentially, I loooove that this scene—and the music—immediately melded into an Arya scene, because it’s all about the Stark siblings for me. :P Anywho.) Of course, things aren’t really that simple, but I’m dipping into spoiler territory, so I should hush except to tease you with the fact that the necklace was something else in the books. :P Sansa also receives it much earlier, but without Dontos to give it to her on the show, we obviously had to wait.
So finally, we end on Daenerys. She, and an impressive band of CGI extras are on the move, but first we need a poignant reminder that the dragons are growing—and to be a “mother” to these fierce hunters (or supernatural atom bombs, as I think of them,) is far different than being a mother to humans. Dany’s relationship with her babies is changing, and it’s awesome to see it in that small scene. I don’t think this is a direct scene from the novel, but it’s certainly apparent at this stage.
Dany’s relationship with a lot in her life is changing…last year she was a conqueror and liberator; this year, what will she be? The Meereenese slavers know that she is coming, and they taunt her by killing child slaves and desecrating their bodies. Because she is a believer and maybe a bit of a masochistic empath, she doesn’t just want to bury the bodies—she wants to acknowledge them as people. (In the novel, it’s Daario who first tries to bury them to spare her the ugliness…anywho.) Of course this also speaks to the fact that she doesn’t want to be seen as a “mere woman” who can’t handle the ugliness of the world—she can handle it, all right, and she’s here to change it. Gotta admire her goals, if not her methods, but more of that to come later. This is all pretty true to canon, and Emilia does a great job with it.
The Daario/Grey Worm thing seems pretty childish (which is how Dany treats it as well,) though maybe it’s a welcome change from the more sadistic competitions between men on this show. Meh. Definite divergence from canon is that Grey Worm and Missandei are sharing a moment…Missandei is 9 in the books, so thank goodness he doesn’t, (plus he’s not much more evolved in the books beyond being Dany’s eunuch henchman. I’m liking this change.)
Daario’s actor is new, and although I didn’t like the old one much, it took me a little while to grow to this one, too. :P Gah, I’m picky with the boy toys. The blue rose scene is accurate to some of Dany’s remembrances from the books (and a nice geeky moment for book readers who know the significance of blue roses. :P) My favorite thing about this scene is that it’s a teaching tool (as well as obvious flirtation); Daario is reminding her that to relate to folks on a person-to-person level, she ought to know a little something about their world. (I think it’s a little less spelled out in the book). It’s one thing to just conquer a place, but…what happens next? The fact that Dany’s storyline is starting to ask these questions is why her arc is suddenly much more interesting to me. Onward and upward!
___
The season also wasn’t without its controversy, both intentional and unintentional. The unintentional issues inspired a media backlash to rival Daenerys’s “white savior” scene that capped off season three, but more on the specifics in due time. For now, we open on the Lannisters’ terse reunion after winning their war against the Starks (but new!old enemies wait in the wings…) Jon returning to the Night’s Watch to tell the others all he learned from his study abroad with the wildlings, and Daenerys & co marching on a new city. Arya and the Hound are left to the war-ravaged Riverlands, but our re-intros to Stannis, the remains of the northerners and some others will have to be postponed.
Summary
King’s Landing
A smug Tywin watches as Ned’s Valyrian long sword, Ice, is melted into two new swords for the Lannister family. He gives one of the swords to Jaime, with the caveat that he will resign from the Kingsguard and rule in Casterly Rock. Jaime is still uninterested, and stubbornly clings to the fact that the Kingsguard oath is for life, even though he can’t even sheathe his sword with one hand. Tywin rather coldly disowns him when he refuses to play along.
Tyrion, Bronn and Pod are the welcoming crew for the very late Dornish party, arrived to witness Joffrey’s wedding to Margaery. The man explains the bad blood between the Lannisters and the Martells, which is later confirmed by the Martell bannermen brushing him off, and Oberyn (the younger brother, not the older and more important,) going into a soliloquy about his raped sister and her murdered children, which he lays at the feet of Tywin. First, however, Oberyn and his bastard lover, Ellaria, have a little bisexual fun in a brothel, before the Prince cuts into the hand of a “Rains of Castamere”-singing Lannister solider who talks smack to him.
Shae is worried about Sansa, who apparently hasn’t eaten much since the Red Wedding, but she’s also jealous of Tyrion’s attentions towards his wife. Tyrion attempts to solve Sansa’s problems, such as they are, with a compassionate but goals-driven mind, whereas Sansa can do little more but hauntingly recount the details of Robb and Catelyn’s deaths, and then escape to the godswood for alone time.
Alone in their chambers, Shae tries to entice Tyrion for some sexy R&R, but he’s just not feeling it, thanks to all the issues he went through earlier in the episode. This tips over Shae’s jealousy about Sansa, which only exacerbates things further. She angrily accuses him of trying to send her away, as Varys claimed at the end of last season, but Tyrion is obviously bewildered. Shae doesn’t seem to understand this before storming out; however she is noticed by one of Cersei’s spies.
Cersei herself is overseeing Jaime’s new golden hand fitting. She’s quite taken with Qyburn, who is administering it, and Jaime grows jealous. Especially since Cersei, who drinks more, he notices, is not interested in his advances, despite the fact that he stayed in the Kingsguard and risked being disowned for her. But Cersei is too freaked out by past deeds herself—living through her brother’s imprisonment and mutilation, being forced to send Myrcella away, the Blackwater siege that she didn’t expect to survive, and now having to marry Joffrey to “that little bitch,” before marrying “the renowned pillow biter” herself. :P Maybe Cersei needs some alone time too, but here comes her spy.
Margaery, Olenna and some other Tyrell ladies look over some wedding necklaces, though the fashions aren’t to the matriarch’s liking. She sends the ladies away to fetch better ones, and Marg briefly lets down her guard with a caustic remark about Joffrey’s cruelty. It’s back on, though, as Brienne arrives to speak with her, after Olenna raves at this “singular” woman. Brienne recounts how Renly died, and vows to make Stannis pay for murdering “their king,” but Marg has to gently remind her that Joffrey holds that title here.
Joffrey, meanwhile, is disinterested while Ser Meryn and Jaime discuss body guards for the wedding. Meryn sucks up to Joff, leaving Jaime to make dry statements about how the war really isn’t over and it’s not the Lannisters who are feeding the poor and keeping them happy, it’s the Tyrells. Joffrey responds rather mildly for him—he passive aggressively mocks Jaime for his lack of knightly accomplishments, a sore spot. But later, while he and Brienne watch over Sansa at prayer, he sidesteps his companion’s insistence that he keep his vow to Catelyn by getting her remaining daughter the hell out of there.
Ironically, once Jaime and Brienne stomp off, Sansa finds herself in danger from a hooded figure. She tries to escape him by walking quickly deeper into the godswood, but once there is nowhere else to go the man reveals himself as Ser Dontos, the knight she saved in season two at Joffrey’s tourney. He’s a drunk fool, but he’s grateful that her kindness saved his life, and in return he gives her a priceless necklace from his family to wear at Jofrey’s wedding.
The Night’s Watch
Well, technically Yigritte and company aren’t there yet; they are waiting for reinforcements and growing antsy. Tormund accuses her of letting Jon go rather than killing him, but they are interrupted by the Thenns, a rival wildling clan of cannibals. They came from the south because they stopped for a bite to eat, which we get to see in the form of a human hand burning over the fire.
As younger recruits practice slinging arrows into straw dummies, Jon fondly recounts his memories of Robb while mourning his passing. Sam comes to take him to what remains of the authority in the Night’s Watch—Thorne has taken over as “Acting Lord Commander,” with Slynt as a skeevy second in command. But Aemon is there to keep things fair, as the others don’t want to believe Jon’s story about the wildlings being a united threat under Mance; they’d rather kill him for sleeping with Ygritte. But Aemon maintains that Jon is telling the truth about everything, a la being a spy for the Night’s Watch, which is most important.
The road to Meereen
Daenerys sits with a bigger Drogon on a rock while a bigger-than-they-were-but-not-bigger-than-their-bro Rhaegal and Viserion bring food in the form of a mutilated goat. Drogon very quickly turns from being a mama’s boy into something with the capacity to be quite dangerous, prompting Jorah to remind his young queen that dragons cannot be tamed, even by their mother.
Within her human ranks, Dany faces a machismo problem in the form of Daario and Grey Worm arm wrestling for her favor. The former khaleesi responds to this by demoting both of them to walk in the back of the line as they march towards their next slave city. Later, Missandei gives Dany a brief rundown of the Meereenese, only to be interrupted by Daario. The former sellsword suggests that she get to know the place first, speak to the locals from a place of understanding, though his style is very flirtatious. But all of this is interrupted when Barristan and others discover that the Meereense masters have responded to Dany by crucifying slave children, who now serve as signposts leading to the city. Dany stonily decrees that she will look on the face of every child, before having their collars removed for burial.
The Riverlands
Arya and the Hound ride through the viscerally war-torn countryside; dead bodies rotting in the sunlight and all. The girl wants her own pony, rather than being treated as a package on Sandor’s horse, eliciting a friendly!combative banter between the two that lasts throughout their time together. Arya’s feeling pretty glum about her future prospects but the Hound shares his plans for her—he’s going to try and sell her to her aunt, Lysa, Lady of the Vale.
They stop at and spy on an inn, as Sandor is hungry but too wary to fight off all the men who are obviously inside, looking at the horses tied up in front. (He's fine with killing little boys, but is penniless because stealing is beneath him, his companion cynically notes.) Arya is shocked to see Polliver exit to take a piss—the Lannister soldier who killed her friend, Lommy and took her sword, Needle, an artifact that he still has hanging from his belt. Before the Hound can stop her, Arya is striding towards the entrance, in plain sight of others, so they go in.
Inside, Lannister soldiers force the innkeep to serve them for free, all the while passing his terrified daughter between them as a form of foreplay to rape. The men stop and stare at Sandor’s large, disfigured state, but they leave him alone until Polliver recognizes him as the Hound. He comes right over, talking blithely about torturing people with the Mountain, and having his way with people like the innkeep and his daughter, because Joffrey’s enemies are dead and they wear “the king’s colors.” Sandor doesn’t play along, except to imply that Arya is some plaything he’s taken on the road; then he stonily demands chicken and ultimately offends both Polliver and Joffrey’s characters. After a little bit of a tense back and forth the room turns into a blood bath, with the Hound brutally cutting through his former comrades. Arya, shocked, stays out of it for a little while, until she sees a chance to smash a jug over a soldier’s head, grab his sword and slowly run him through with it. Then she goes straight for Polliver, cutting his legs out from under him, and then impassively reciting his last words to Lommy to the bewildered man, until he recognizes her seconds before she kills him the same way—Needle in his throat.
Outside, we see Sandor on his horse, finishing up a chicken, and a quietly smug Arya on a new pony, the two of them riding into the burning countryside.
Thoughts
Let’s start with Arya. Shortly before the beginning of the season, GRRM released a chapter of hers from the still unpublished “The Winds of Winter.” Not to get too much into spoilers, but that scene with her and Polliver closely resembles something from the chapter, which is probably why he did it. Guess the show runners are on track in that way!
Canonically, Arya kills the Tickler at this point, while in a fit of PTSD stabbing him as she screams out the questions he used to torture people at Harrenhal. Of course, on the show the Tickler was one of her Jaqen kills in season two. Maisie didn’t play the trauma off so big here, but there was a sort of cold satisfaction in taking revenge and winning the game the only way she’s seen how. It’s kind of slower, too; like she doesn’t immediately jump into the fray, like in the book. She does get Needle back, (in the books Polliver had Needle, but didn’t kill Lommy—combined with another brute for efficiency on the show,) which I always thought was convenient—oh, look, randomly running into it again! But I should cut the girl a little slack; she’s lost so much. She doesn’t seem too optimistic about the promise of a reunion with a removed family member as she rides through the destruction of the Riverlands….wonderful reminder at the true cost of war, as was the caustic way that the soldiers physically and sexually abused defenseless people in their path. The fight scene was good, too…the building tension, the gory deaths, if you’re into that sort of thing. :P (I was mostly just relieved for the girl, though who knows what might happen to her next.)
In contrast to Arya retrieving her sword, we have Ned’s sword, the Stark heirloom, becoming a spoils to give to the Lannister victors post-Red Wedding. Love how the music plays into this--Stark theme to Lannister theme. Everything’s true to canon here, (I think some finicky differences about who the sword smith was, plus specific lore about how Valyrian steel doesn't retain it's magical, noteworthy properties when reforged. Also, Tywin isn’t as forthcoming about it’s origins,) but of course the important thing is Jaime refusing to leave the kingsugard and therefore being disowned. The rest of his family reunions (though on the show he’s apparently been back for weeks) go in a similarly bad vein—Cersei is angry and distant (not true at all in the book, but her character in general on the show is more wary and introspective) Joffrey is mocking (couldn’t have happened, given timeline differences,) and Brienne lectures about his unfulfilled duty as they watch Sansa (see before); he even accuses her of being a Lannister because she’s pissing him off. It’s a nice build up because all of these scenes question his duties and desires, which are at the forefront of his existence now that he’s returned physically and mentally changed. Also, he’s much older on the show than in the books, but that’s just par for the course.
Let’s skip to Jon and Ygritte, because their senses of duty are also in question. Tormund, our most recognizable male wildling from season three, basically accuses Ygritte of the love vs duty thing, which is an issue even in the face of Jon’s betrayal. We don’t get this as much in the books because no one here is a POV. The Thenns arrive later than in the books and culturally are much different—they’re not the cannibals, though there’s apparently some other cannibal cultures in the north. Overall, meh I’m probably getting ahead of myself, but they’re pretty one-note bad guys. That’s relatively rare on this show, and kinda disappointing, except that we do have so many other nuanced issues to sink our teeth into. :P I really disliked how Ygritte immediately became a sexual spoil, which I suppose macho men always tend to do, despite the fact that Ygritte isn’t supposed to be quite the anomaly that she is on the show—more women wildlings are like her and Osha (I miss Osha and Rickon!!! Uh, moving on. :P) And of course she stood up for herself, because that’s what she does. :P
Jon is physically healing from Ygritte’s season three assault, and nostalgically mourning Robb. Should be noted, in the books, that Robb wasn’t better than him at anything; that the boys had a more even mix of better and worse at the manly arts, but Jon’s emo jealousy seems true to form. :P OK, Sam is a little emo jealous, too, but he’s mostly here to be Jon’s friend before leading him into the lions’ den (or whatever the den would be for Night’s Watch hearings, I guess? :P) The Robb nostalgia was short and bittersweet—and it reminded me that more than either of his sisters, Jon has to keep it brief because he has a life to get back to (the two of them are far more adrift. Anywho.)
Thorne isn’t acting commander of the NW, because they don’t really have such a post, plus he and Slynt aren’t back yet—Castle Black, at the moment, is largely empty except for those least able to fight, yay. (Tangential sidenote—I like how Slynt is so obviously ignorant of the north that he scoffs at the existence of giants to a stony audience. :P Though his King’s Landing shrewdness is obviously positing him as a yes-man for Thorne.) They ultimately want to punish him, but at the moment in the books that’s not really an issue, unlike Jon’s personal guilt over breaking his vows—not only sexually but also because he fell for her. But the external drama lends for great, if hero-leaning tension, where Jon is obviously right about the wildling threat, but his competitors don’t want to hear about it because they’re jealous of him. But meh, that can be kind of true to life, too, where petty jealousies get in the way of getting to work. In fact, that’s one of the broader themes of the books—those damn White Walker/Others being the biggest existential threat, but no, let’s just fight amongst ourselves, political families. :P
Speaking of warring political families, back to King’s Landing! There’s immediate tension between the Martells and their posse, vs Tyrion as a Lannister and his posse, which is mostly true to form, except that Oberyn is actually present, and not in the show’s favorite hangout—a brothel. :P Meeeeh, well at least the sexy times are getting M/M/F as well as F/F/M bisexual, much to the consternation of the tit-drooling fanboys. I love the introduction of POCs as Dornish folk—accepted by much of fandom to be accurate, given the way that Martin describes these people as based more on Moorish Spain. We also get a hint that the Dornish are less classist when it comes to chumming with bastards, though we DON’T get much by way of women are allowed to travel in public; in fact the “Lord Blackmont” who speaks to Tyrion is based off of a “Lady Blackmont” in the books. Oh, show. Stop thinking of background women as just sex objects, and think of them in more human ways, too. Meh.
I had mixed feelings on Pedro Pascal’s performance here—not so much the fight he got in with the soldiers, which is laced with standard, Westerosi violence (plus a nice reminder that the Lannisters won a war but aren’t universally adored,) but his long soliloquy to Tyrion about Tywin’s misdeeds against his family; started to feel a little Inigo Montoyaish. (It’s worth noting that in the books, they were promised the Mountain’s—who directly raped/murdered Elia and killed her children—head, as part of the marriage pact with Myrcella. On the show, Oberyn is more outwardly after the Lannisters as a whole.) And yet…I always liked this about Oberyn, here and in the books, that he was completely obsessed with his sister. Because dammit, someone ought to be (particularly given Martin’s obsession with William Faulkner—time to roll out “The Sound and the Fury”-type relationships! :P) It’s a stupid, futile obsession that leans on vengeance but won’t bring Elia or her children back from the dead, but…oh hell, it may even be more about the family honor than Elia personally, but so far, other than the cultural (moreso on the show than in the books, even,) way of visiting whores, so far his relationships with the women in his life appear to be quite…intimate. :P Is taking your lover to the brothel to partake, rather than cheating behind her back a sign of Dornish progressiveness? Hee.
(I’m going to go briefly into Brienne here…again, nothing that happens to her this episode could have happened in the book because of timeline differences. But the Margaery scene, of course, was a nice reminder of her personal love of Renly and vengeance against Stannis—largely taking a back seat as she works on fulfilling her oath to Catelyn. It’s a nice contrast between Marg and Brienne, too—Marg knows how to keep it politically savvy (though she does allow herself one caustic remark against Joffrey,) whereas Brienne does not—the scene was so great in highlighting how Brienne doesn’t fit into the political capital. Also, tangentially, I can’t WAIT to see Natalie Dormer and Gwendoline Christie together in “Mockingjay, Part 2.” :D Maybe Francis Lawrence will have Diana Rigg cameo to give Cressida shrewd political advice while fawning over Commander Lyme for being a “singular” woman. :P Of course, military ladies are far more common in Panem’s rebellion than anywhere in Westeros, but MOVING ON.)
Like his brother, Tyrion is facing mounting tension with those he interacts with, which is kinda true/untrue to canon. The breakfast scene didn’t exist in the books, and neither person is so forthcoming with the other. Sansa, as a form of personal protection, refuses to speak to Tyrion at all, except in matters of personal courtesy; Tyrion resents this, because he wants to be Mr. Helpful (not to mention that he wants Sansa to love him—he also physically desires her, which has been muted on the show.) Visual medium require exposition—if the audience is to know that Sansa is mourning her family, she has to talk about it. I’ll get more into it later; the big thing is that Tyrion’s desperation to help is rebuffed. Tension is more fraught in his relationship with Shae—continuing from last year, where he’s worried Tywin will find out about them and hang her—also because he’s so distracted by his familial troubles. Things aren’t so strained in the books because their relationship is more ecumenical than based on actual affection—in the book, Tyrion attempts to get Shae married to someone else, so as to save her that way and provide for her future, financially—and Shae is never really jealous of Sansa. Presumably on the show those feelings are complicated by the fact that she cares for both members of the married couple, but they never really explore it that well, except to have her grouse about it. The uncanonical Varys thing from last season just adds to the tension spot, so that it finally spills over and one of Cersei’s spies is onto it. Uh oh. Meh, I dunno, these scenes are hit or miss for me, maybe because they’re telling, more than showing, that these people have relationships beyond the current soap opera—though they established that in seasons past. Now we are obviously dealing with the fallout, but meh, shouldn’t there be more to Shae than her screaming jealousy? I’ll put it out there right now, cos I think I’ve said it before, anyway—I resent that the show didn’t offer more of an arc for her and Sansa, considering that we are told that these characters care for each other.
I liked Sansa on her own, though, even an interesting divergence from canon—her first post-Red Wedding action is to have a dream about being reunited with her dead family in Winterfell; on the show she isn’t much of a believer anymore; she tells Tyrion that she no longer prays. In fact, mostly when she goes to the godswood in the books she is conspiring with Ser Dontos, who has been largely missing from the show….UNTIL NOW. :D
With much bias I’m sure, I’m naming this my favorite scene of the episode. The Sansa I love is on display here—the one who believes in simple acts of kindness and compassion, which are NOT well-documented on among other characters, despite the girl’s humility. “Anyone would have done the same…” aka saved your life…”but only you did,” Dontos points out. When he gives her the necklace I believe in the medieval world that Martin loves—where families fall into ruin but these heirlooms stand as permanent reminders of the good old times—the poetic “one last day in the sun” moment. The music and lighting were both soft and soothing for this rare, friendly moment in Sansa’s life…gah, and Sophie’s smile. A small dip into the life that Sansa wanted and deserved. (Tangentially, I loooove that this scene—and the music—immediately melded into an Arya scene, because it’s all about the Stark siblings for me. :P Anywho.) Of course, things aren’t really that simple, but I’m dipping into spoiler territory, so I should hush except to tease you with the fact that the necklace was something else in the books. :P Sansa also receives it much earlier, but without Dontos to give it to her on the show, we obviously had to wait.
So finally, we end on Daenerys. She, and an impressive band of CGI extras are on the move, but first we need a poignant reminder that the dragons are growing—and to be a “mother” to these fierce hunters (or supernatural atom bombs, as I think of them,) is far different than being a mother to humans. Dany’s relationship with her babies is changing, and it’s awesome to see it in that small scene. I don’t think this is a direct scene from the novel, but it’s certainly apparent at this stage.
Dany’s relationship with a lot in her life is changing…last year she was a conqueror and liberator; this year, what will she be? The Meereenese slavers know that she is coming, and they taunt her by killing child slaves and desecrating their bodies. Because she is a believer and maybe a bit of a masochistic empath, she doesn’t just want to bury the bodies—she wants to acknowledge them as people. (In the novel, it’s Daario who first tries to bury them to spare her the ugliness…anywho.) Of course this also speaks to the fact that she doesn’t want to be seen as a “mere woman” who can’t handle the ugliness of the world—she can handle it, all right, and she’s here to change it. Gotta admire her goals, if not her methods, but more of that to come later. This is all pretty true to canon, and Emilia does a great job with it.
The Daario/Grey Worm thing seems pretty childish (which is how Dany treats it as well,) though maybe it’s a welcome change from the more sadistic competitions between men on this show. Meh. Definite divergence from canon is that Grey Worm and Missandei are sharing a moment…Missandei is 9 in the books, so thank goodness he doesn’t, (plus he’s not much more evolved in the books beyond being Dany’s eunuch henchman. I’m liking this change.)
Daario’s actor is new, and although I didn’t like the old one much, it took me a little while to grow to this one, too. :P Gah, I’m picky with the boy toys. The blue rose scene is accurate to some of Dany’s remembrances from the books (and a nice geeky moment for book readers who know the significance of blue roses. :P) My favorite thing about this scene is that it’s a teaching tool (as well as obvious flirtation); Daario is reminding her that to relate to folks on a person-to-person level, she ought to know a little something about their world. (I think it’s a little less spelled out in the book). It’s one thing to just conquer a place, but…what happens next? The fact that Dany’s storyline is starting to ask these questions is why her arc is suddenly much more interesting to me. Onward and upward!
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