What They Say:
The Laws of Gods and Men – Stannis and Davos set sail; Dany meets with supplicants; Tyrion faces down his father.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With the series diverging at different times to change things where needed both to keep book readers surprised but also to adjust to some characters and storylines being cut or shortened, there are those moments where you get some great visuals. Those are actually kind of few and far between overall, but this season is upping it a bit with what we’ve seen with Dany and the places she’s been and now as we get Davos and Stannis hitting the seas to go to Braavos i order to secure what they need. This has a different kind of grand feeling within the architecture of it all, but it’s the initial exteriors that briefly shine in a way that draws you in. Of course, having them going to the Iron Bank after all that we’ve heard of it from Tywin and others recently, it certainly has the right kind of feeling about it that you’d expect with a kind of stillness.
Those of the Iron Bank are certainly aware of what’s going on in the world and there are curious moments to be sure as Stannis makes clear that he feels he’s the rightful heir of the throne, though you can see that the men of the Iron Bank are figuring that what they’re owed by Tywin trumps his words of blood and oaths. It’s all certainly interesting when you get down to it as the talk of money, needs of armies and so forth as we’ve had varying aspects of it across the series so far. The Iron Bank certainly has its investments in Westeros through the Lannisters, who are facing their own crisis back home with what they’re able to produce, but it’s really fun to see how Davos can put enough of a wedge into their story about their faith in Tywin. With age and unclear lines ahead of Tywin on top of the stories that circulate about Cersei and Jaime, you can see why that small wedge ca make a difference.
While Davos is making his progress, events are changing in the North in an interesting way as the plans that Ramsay has put into play, much to his fathers distaste, are starting to shake things. Ramsay has made the declaration clear to Theon’s people – and his sister Yara specifically – that the Ironborn are not any that he has a true care for. And with Roose Bolton firming up things in the North, making it clear that the Ironborn don’t belong there definitely is a simple and clear declaration. One that Yara returns in kind with bloodshed as she intends to bring back Theon and have Ramsay and his ilk pay the proper price. It’s interesting to see how far gone Theon is at this point with the way that Ramsay has dominated him and it’s played quite well, making for a great moment of danger for a rescue mission. Closed quarters fights are always interesting if done well and without a heavy use of quick cuts and fast editing, we actually get a good look at the brutality of it all mixed in with the utter fear within Theon.
Seeing how far gone Theon actually is, which we got a taste of before, really does make it clear what kind of taskmaster Ramsay is. When, after events have played out, he rewards Theon with a bath and forces him to strip down, the scale of the damage done to his body is certainly apparent – and that’s without taking into account the loss of his manhood. The two men certainly have a curious relationship of sorts that plays out here and you have to admire the way that Ramsay completely puts himself as Theon’s entire world, ensuring that everything revolves around him and nothing else. And that makes it so that Theon will do anything and everything to please him. Even going so far as to take on a role in taking a castle for him. It’s a really interesting kind of control and manipulation that plays out that really has you feeling very, very sad for Theon.
Control is a piece coming into play with Dany as well as she attempts to become more of a ruler in Meereen in order to secure her position better so that progress can be made towards returning to Westeros. Some of her problems are a bit amusing though such as her dragons torching goats in the plains, which is causing some livelihoods to be ruined. There’s some caution to be taken from what she does and that factors into a different supplicant who has come to tell her that someone she had crucified was one that had spoken out against what the masters had done. She doesn’t back down from what she did, but you can see the edge of worry creeping into her over what she did even though she knows it was the right thing. The son of the father who was killed is looking to bring the masters down from the crucifixes in order to give them peace, his father specifically, but she has some dark things to correct considering what the masters did prior to her arrival with the children they staked along the way. There’s a weariness growing on her, one that comes with true rule, and as she begins to feel the weight of it you can see how it will change her.
King’s Landing has its own weight of rule as well, especially with the small council and what they do, particularly with Tywin orchestrating things. It’s definitely interesting with the way Oberyn provides his commentary during it as it’s guarded but languid, allowing him to get his point across. Oberyn, being from far away, certainly has things to bring to the table about how the world works and seeing how Cersei is so dismissive about Dany, well, it makes him want to jab her all the more since he sees sport in it. The really interesting bits come afterward though as Oberyn has realized that Varys comes from the places far away as well, even as he’s eliminated his own accent, and that makes for some great dialogue between the two as Oberyn tries to see what the man is truly about and what he has to contend with by his presence.
While not exactly the spectacle that it could be, the trial for Tyrion gets underway here with Tommen recusing himself. Setting those that will stand in judgment of him, It’s a mock trial to be sure as witnesses are called in to speak against Tyrion with all sorts of stories to be told that certainly don’t make him come across well, though he’s obviously not able to provide any context for it. Everything is of course made to be as damning as possible for Tyrion with enough cover for it to include Sansa as well just to make it all the worse. It’s interesting to watch it unfold more for the way others watch and react to it. With Tyrion simply slumped within his stand since he can’t say anything, you get Jaime watching on and you can see the concern there for him. In a way, you can see it also being tedious to listen out while also tense because you can’t be sure if something accidental will be revealed. Tywin’s keeping things in control but nothing can ever truly be controlled in a situation like this.
And Tywin is certainly controlling things as we see how he has utterly manipulated Jaime into getting what he truly wanted using Tyrion as the bait for it. It’s a truly beautiful scene with the way Jaime sets things in motion as best as he can to save his brother, revealing what he’d give up for it, and then finding that it’s given far easier than he expected. You have to love and hate Tywin at the same time but also see this as another small redemption on Jaime’s part as he continues to try and do well by his brother, something that he has done his entire life. But no matter that there may be an out, Tyrion is in such a terrible place amid the testimony that when Shae is brought in to testify against him, it just utterly demoralizes him. She dances a fine line herself and has found the right out to get what she needs to survive at this point and in her own way to get the revenge she wants for how Tyrion had treated her since being married to Sansa.
While Peter Dinklage has a kind of downbeat approach to his portrayal here that works well as he knows everything is against him and he just can’t do anything to change it. But when Shae is brought in and she goes through and simply destroys everything they had, it just brings him to life in a beautiful way. He calls it all out in a huge way with a bit of dialogue that simply is powerful. Dinklage really works the scene well, chewing it up in a big way, and seeing the reactions to it is just as powerful since it’s completely unexpected after the way he was so roundly defeated for much of the trial. You can see the conflict in others, particularly Jaime when you get down to it, but the intensity that Tyrion has is a thing of beauty and makes for one of the best sequences of the season so far. Which is no surprise as Dinklage is simply owning this series.
In Summary:
Game of Thrones doesn’t do much in terms of action this time around as it’s all about the intrigue and manipulations going on. Those that we’re involved with this time around are going across a range of things and it’s hard to pick out one that really is the best. It’s easy to go with Tyrion and his trial, but I loved the way we saw Jaime being taken in by his father and I seriously loved and hated the way Ramsay has worked over Theon. And you have to love what Yara sees in her brother and the realization of what’s happened. But you can’t ignore what Oberyn is up to as well as you have to figure that he’s playing his game in his own way and it’s uncertain how that will impact things. It’s no surprise that there’s a lot going on here and while there are no radical changes in terms of who is going way, the nature of things are changing and the realities are coming in as well.
Grade: B+
