By Zane Bixby
Overall
Grade: B-
Honestly,
this episode is hard to review on any real objective level. Being the follow up
to an episode like last weeks is almost impossible to do, at least on a shock
and awe sense. Then again, this episode never really strives to reach those
levels, instead opting to act as a piece setting episode. Variably, this
episode also acts as an almost classic movie trope of “getting the team
together” and in that sense, it actually sort of works. The problem with that
though, is that it just doesn’t make for a very exciting episode all things
considered.
Winterfell
While
the rest of the episode definitely acted in a way to advance the overall plot
of the rest of the season, everything about Winterfell this week felt like it
was in its own little world. Arya is an interesting character in a lot of ways,
and due to the advanced nature of what she does and what she has experienced, a
lot of people forget that she is still a kid. Over ambitious and way over
confident in her own skills. This has worked out for her overall this season
and to some degree last (though her plot line last season was a bit
ridiculous), but in this episode it actually goes to show how out of her depth
she is. True, the writers could throw us for a loop, after all, maybe it’s
Littlefinger who is being overly confident, but it seems unlikely knowing their
own experiences in scheming.
Sansa
on the other hand has matured in a way that her sister seems to have lacked.
When we get their first real conversation of the episode, Arya seems to have regressed
to her childhood, quick to bring up old feuds between her and Sansa in a way
that is overall a bit annoying to the story. This all comes back to Arya’s
character as a whole. While Bran seems to have a reason for being so far out of
it and inhuman, Arya’s character is going there more out of a desire to seem
like a merciless killer. Whether it’s all an act or just what she has turned
into because of the horrors she has experienced is certainly up for debate, but
for a character that I once counted among my favorites, it’s sad to see her
character turn into a bit of a trope.
Jaime and Cersei
There
are a lot of plot lines that have seriously changed from the books, but this
one might be the most annoying to me. For those of you who haven’t read the books
you might want to just jump to the next section because there are some spoilers
afoot. You’ve been warned.
In the
books, Cersei is still awaiting her trial by the faith and she desperately sent
a raven to Jaime who was in the Riverlands helping to clean up the residual
efforts from the war. He had slowly been becoming disillusioned from Cersei’s
madness. This is made all the more evident when Jaime burns the letter from her
requesting that he return to King’s Landing for her support. It’s an interesting
scene and returns to Jaime’s huge character growth during his time with
Brienne, but for some reason the show seems to be glossing over his time with
her in ways that leave me frustrated and upset with the overall flow of the
story.
Now, a
friend of mine did point out how distressed Jaime seemed to look while hugging
Cersei after she claimed she was pregnant. Sure, that look could have been
happiness, and that may have been what they were going for. But it is possible
they are finally returning to that plot line and are planning on having the
disillusion reset into Jaime. At this point we are stuck waiting to see.
Dany and Dragonstone
This is
another location that things just sort of… happen. I’m more convinced than ever
that they are trying to set up the eventual Jon/Dany romance and honestly I
still can’t tell if this is a good thing or not. True, the book series is
called “A Song of Ice and Fire” and thus it sort of makes at least a little bit
of sense, but still the whole incest thing is still a bit off putting. Sure, in
those times it might have been a bit more normal, but it’s not something I can
see Jon quickly signing off for once (if) he learns the truth of his heritage
(something I’ll dive a bit more into in a bit.) Now we could argue that Drogon’s
seeming trust of Jon is more in line with acknowledging that heritage, seeing
as they have been hammering that into our minds more and more over the last few
episodes (possibly more subtly than most people realize).
Jon and
Dany’s little meeting is interrupted by the reunion everyone was expecting
since Jorah was cured. And honestly, I was left horribly underwhelmed by all of
it. Not only does Jorah never mention how he got cured (Jon might have found it
interesting that Same had a hand in that) but we never actually see any rising
conflict between Jon and Jorah either. Noticeably, Jon still doesn’t have
Longclaw in his possession during his time on Dragonstone (due to it being
confiscated when he got there) and thus we never get any rise from Jorah seeing
his family sword in the hands of the bastard of the man of exiled him. It was a
scene that could have been milked for some sort of emotional reaction, even if
Jon’s true lineage isn’t evident to anyone.
Otherwise,
when it all falls onto Dany, I can’t help but wonder when others will start
seeing her as the bad character that she really is. Okay, I suppose I’m not the
only one, but the hate toward Dany really seems to be a book-reader only issue.
In the recent episodes though, as that same friend of mine (screw you Jordon)
pointed out, they seem to be accentuating her cruelty to more obvious levels.
Yes, it’s impossible to be a monarch in those times without a certain level of
cruelty, but burning them alive? That’s a bit much
Oldtown
Can we
just start calling Gilly “Mrs. Exposition”? Because that’s all she has really
been good for this season. Both times we have seen her, something of an Easter
Egg has come up and revealed a little bit more of the backstory for the astute
listeners. This week was probably the most important to the overall plot
though. That being, Rhaeger and Elia Martell had an annulment to their marriage
and he was secretly rewed. This all ties back into the final episode of Season
6 showing Jon’s birth. Now I’ve been explaining to friends and non-book readers
for a while now the Targaryen’s views on marriage and how the King’s Guards
members actually work. All to prove the undeniable fact (no longer just a
‘theory’) that Jon is a Targaryen.
Gilly’s
little bit of exposition put the nail in that coffin and it was all just
brushed aside by Sam who simply has a penchant for getting ahead of himself.
This is another difference from the books, but in a way, that may circle back
to meeting the books plot. In the book, Sam doesn’t want to be a Maester, and
only goes to Old Town on Jon’s orders, his abandonment of becoming a Maester
may fall in line with the book due to their refusal to heed both his and Bran’s
warnings of what is to come.
Old
Town is where the timeline becomes the most disjointed comparatively though,
and without knowing when Sam left the Citadel, it’s hard to tell when he will
show back up in the rest of the story.
Gendry
Yeah,
I’m just going to ignore talking about the rest of King’s Landing in favor of dedicating
the top spot to the return of Gendry. Now this is something that easily was
spoiled by those who recognized the actor’s name in the opening credits
(granted that’s something that doesn’t apply to a lot of viewers) but the
reveal was immensely satisfying regardless. Davos has quickly become one of my
favorite characters of the entire show, his brutal honesty has been a
refreshing addition to every scene he is in and he almost acts as a sort of
comic relief/audience stand-in to point out different things. Granted his “A
thought you would still be rowing” comment was a bit meta even for me.
But
that’s all the preamble needed to bring back Gendry, a character that has been
gone for several seasons but bares his own relative importance to the world of
Westeros. In an episode where Tyrion mentions how great houses are being wiped
off the map, Gendry acts as a possible link and rebirth of the house Baratheon.
For those who haven’t read the books, Gendry is a character that nearly
everyone thinks is a spitting image of Robert Baratheon at his age. They hammer
this point in (no I don’t regret that pun) by having him show off that he’s
much more skilled with a hammer than a sword, something that his father was
very well known for.
There’s
a lot of humor that gets left in for his character too. Probably my favorite
part is the introduction between Gendry and Jon. Davos spends his time on the
approach trying to craft an elaborate story for his meeting with Jon and Gendry
basically just says “Fuck that” and announces exactly who he is to Jon. Now
this does come back to Jon’s lineage too. Yes, Rhaegar is Jon’s father, but for
every reason that matters, he’s a Stark and Ned did raise him. So it’s
interesting to see the son’s emulating their parents in so many ways and coming
back to show off the new generation of the world.
While I was initially skeptical
about them bringing Gendry back, thinking they might be using our ties to him
for some sort of cheap emotional effect of killing him off in the upcoming
battle, his blunt introduction to Jon actually made me reconsider this,
bringing me back to Gendry’s lineage. If I were to guess, I’d say by the end of
all of this, he’s going to be given the name Baratheon and that great house
will be reborn.
Side-Notes
-“What do I know, I’ve only lived to a ripe old age.”
Seriously, Davos is killing it with these one liners.
-For everything Tyrion and Bronn have been through, you’d
think they would have been given at least some sort of small scene together
this week.
-On that same note, Bronn just setting up the meeting
between them suggests that Bronn’s loyalties may actually still lie with Tyrion
in some form or another. Even though they did spend the initial scene of the
episode reaffirming that he is only in it for the money, Bronn’s character is
more complex than they are trying to let on.
-For someone who knows a lot about the lineage and histories
of Westeros, shouldn’t Tyrion know that Randall and Dickon aren’t the only two
male members of the Tarly household? This might have been left open for Sam to
show up and be freed of his oath too keep the Tarly family alive, but I’m not
gonna bet money on it.
-A side note to the Tarly family, why didn’t Randall or
Dickon ever mention their missing Valyrian Steel blade? Sam hasn’t mentioned it
at all this season either and I didn’t notice it during his time packing up the
wagon to abandon Old Town.
-I didn’t really talk about it in the review, but where do
we fall on the whole team up at the end of the episode? I mean it’s a cool
scene and all but which of these characters is going to die before they get
back south of the wall again? Obviously one of them has to, but it all comes
back to the whole “ending a character arc” thing. It has to be someone that
will invoke some sort of emotion in us, so Beric and Thoros might die but they
wouldn’t be the big death of the episode. I’m still holding out hope for
CleganeBowl so I don’t think they would kill The Hound just yet. Tormund seems
like a possibility but then who will keep the Wildlings tied to Jon. On that
note, Jon is definitely out because he’s still has to learn about his heritage
and Gendry is possibly out because of my theory from above. Really that only
leave Jorah. Did Jorah have enough of an emotional scene with Dany for this to
be the end of his arc?
-Speaking of Jon’s lineage, the marriage between Rhaegar and
Lyanna technically makes him the rightful heir to the throne. Anyone want to
take a guess at how this will play into the rest of the story? I have one
friend who thinks Dany is going to die in order to free up his claim, while the
most prevalent theory I have heard others say is that Dany and Jon will just
get married. There’s a lot to get wrapped up and only so many episodes left for
them to do it.
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on Twitter @ZaneBixby where I tweet inane things about comics and
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