The latest episode of
Game of Thrones gives us one of the long-anticipated Stark
reunions, with Sansa, Brienne and Pod meeting Jon at the wall. What I
liked about Sansa reuniting with Jon was that it was not exactly the
reunion one would have expected. We've never seen these two interact
before, and one would think that Jon and Bran, or else Jon and Arya,
or Sansa and Arya would have been more appropriate, given that we've
seen those character interact before. This odd pairing also made the
emotion of their reunion all the sweeter. With all the grim
happenings of late, this show has been begging for a little
happiness.
Jon and Sansa's dynamic
here gives a glimpse into the past lives of the Starks, building on
last week's flashback to the Tower of Joy. Learning his family is not
completely dead gives Jon a purpose again, as he struggles with his
second chance of life. But it's Sansa who's shown to have changed the
most in this episode. This isn't just shown through her regret for
looking down on Jon before, but also through her demands that they
return to Winterfell with arms to save their home and their little
brother. With Jon, Davos and Melisandre all adrift, not knowing what
to do with their lives, it's Sansa who tries to provoke them to
action. This suggests that Sansa may become more a political force in
the future.
The ground is also laid
for plenty of complications: how will the Watch react to the call to
march south, when they know a much greater threat is building to the
north? How will Sansa take it when she learns Jon has been
resurrected through magic (it's unlikely she already knows, given
that she's yet to encounter any supernatural forces, unlike her
siblings)? How will Brienne react to Jon being a product of the same
magic that killed Renly?
Meanwhile, there's
another force preparing to march on Winterfell to the south.
Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen) returns to the Vale to persuade young
Robert Arryn to mobilise to “save” Sansa, while also carrying out
Littlefinger's plans to spread his influence to the north. Watching
his standoff with Lord Royce made me wonder “What the heck is up
with these guards?” First Dorne and now the Vale! What's with this
sudden scourge of disloyalty guards have towards their employers? I'm
starting to wonder if the Others cleansing Westeros would be such a
bad thing, given how there's only about ten sympathetic characters
left there.
I'm hoping the clash at
Winterfell provides the catharsis denied in last year's anticlimactic
Baratheon-Bolton showdown. Odds are at least one unpleasant
character will be offed, perhaps Sansa killing Ramsay or
Littlefinger, or Ramsay killing Littlefinger or Sweetrobin.
In King's Landing, we get
another uncomfortable audience with the High Sparrow, this time as he
tries to persuade Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer) to confess her
crimes. Pryce's benevolent smile throughout this whole scene
continues to be one of the most unsettling things about this season,
moreso than Ramsay in all his eye-bulging glory. The fact that his
arguments about the nobility's debauchery carry a lot of weight only
adds to the insidiousness of the character.
It's also a great scene
for Dormer, who conveys through her huge doe-eyes that she's starting
to be taken in by his arguments . . . only to show her real mettle
when she tries to talk Loras into staying strong. Margaery's balance
of firmness and humanity has made her one of the most fascinating
characters on the show, and I hope she gets to do a lot more this
season than just sit in a cell being lectured to.
From Cersei and Jaime
alas, it's more of the same sniping with the small council and
generally being ostracised by everyone. There is one tiny exception
with the possibility of a brief alliance between the Lannisters and
the Tyrells to undermine the Faith Militant's authority. These are
two other characters that I hoped are utilised better in the second
half of this season.
In Meereen, Tyrion is
finally back in the saddle as he cuts a deal with the slavers to wean
them off of slavery, rather than snatch it away from them like
Daenerys tried to do. This subplot is based around the gap between
compromise and ideals, with Tyrion being the pragmatic foil to Grey
Worm's dogged loyalty to his queen, with Missandei mediating between
them.
I have to say, I found
Grey Worm and Missandei far more interesting in this one episode than
I have in their three seasons on the show. For them, the deal with
the slavers is of greater emotional significance, yet Tyrion (who's
had plenty of experience working with and for people who
despise him) can see the bigger picture and knows that compromise is
sometimes needed. We never had this sort of ideological conflict when
Daenerys was in charge. By being placed at odds with Tyrion, Grey
Worm and Missandei are forced to assert themselves more, leading to
more of their personalities being enforced into the show.
And speaking of Daenerys
(Emilia Clarke), whom I've avoided up until this point due to the
lack of momentum in her subplot, well . . . it looks like we're back
to the Season 1 finale all over again. Of all the characters in this
show, Daenerys is the one I'm the least invested in. This is
partially because all the show's attempts to make her impressive feel
like Telling not Showing, and partially because Emilia Clarke just
doesn't sell it for me. When she's supposed to look powerful and
frightening as she burns the khals alive, she instead comes off as
weirdly detached from everything.
I didn't dislike the
climax to this episode, but I didn't feel much of anything else
either. It was just a thing that happened. But I suppose the fact
that Daenerys' plot is once again progressing could form some
interesting conflict down the road.
My prediction for the
rest of the season is that Daenerys will try to retake Meereen, and
will be shocked and angered at Tyrion's compromise. Daenerys will try
to have Drogon incinerate Tyrion, but Rhaegon and Viseryon (whom
Tyrion released whereas Daeneys imprisoned them) will fight for
Tyrion, leading to a showdown between the three dragons. Last season,
Shireen Baratheon mentioned the bloody Targaryen civil war known as
the Dance of the Dragons, which may have been a setup for a second
Dance.
And no, that does not
mean I hope Tyrion is secretly a Targaryen, although it might look a
lot more likely if my prediction comes true.
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