While the infighting continues in Westeros, Dany continues to solidify power.
What They Say:
Oathkeeper – Dany balances justice and mercy. Jaime tasks Brienne with his honor. Jon secures volunteers while Bran, Jojen, Meera, and Hodor stumble on shelter.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With a fairly controversial episode in the previous week that people focused on when it came to the events around Joffrey’s tomb with his parents, a lot of other things got obscured in the long view. But what we saw with a lot of the episode is that there are a lot of twists and turns being put into play, especially as Tywin continues to orchestrate his control over the Seven Kingdoms, now through Tommen. The small movements are the interesting pieces here though as we see how Sansa’s fate is changing, how Arya is changing the Hound and how she’s changed by him as well. And, of course, everything is coming up roses at the Wall where it’s just a waiting game until Mance Rayder and all that he controls makes their way close and storms the gates. Seeing the preparation for that fight is definitely shaping up nicely, but it’s still missing some of the intensity that it needs, which figures in to how so many are oblivious the real and larger threats that exist there.
We also got some good time with Dany at the end of the last episode with her creative approach to trying to get the slaves of Meereen to stand on their own, with a bit of help from her and those she’s freed. That gave Daario a chance to show off and have a spot of fun but it also in general provided a greater sense of power going on here that Dany sweeps into the places she visits. Interestingly, this episode starts off with events outside of Meereen as Grey Worm is being taught to read a bit by Missandei and it shows some of the deeper training that went into those that were Unsullied and how their lives were nothing beforehand. You can see how Missandei really wants to break through with that, but Grey Worm is pretty much in the expected state of mind that comes from one who was put through the process at such a young age that any thought of those days as a child of the Summer Isles would be meaningless to him.
Complementing that with his secret strike into Meereen’s lowere levels from the outside works nicely since it reminds us of his skill and competence that came from being an Unsullied. Tying it to them coming into the lower levels where all the other slaves are of the city that are talking about what their best approach may be in these troubled times. Grey Worm manages to command attention well, being far more talkative than one might expect, which shows his growth once again under Dany. The truth is there in his words though that you cannot be given freedom but must take it. And providing them with the tools definitely helps but it sets things into motion that must happen. And like any good uprising, it’s brutal, bloody and returned upon the masters tenfold.
This provides a big piece of what’s going on overseas and a change in the dynamic for Dany as she gains more power, power she needs to achieve her larger goals. To balance that, we get some more personal material from Jaime as he continues to work with Bron to build his skills a bit. The two definitely play well off of each other and it’s interesting to see the banter that comes up with it. But it’s the smaller moments when Bron talks about Jaime and what Tyrion had done about him back at the Eyrie that really hits hard for Jaime. The two brothers have a bond that’s just as strong as Jaime and Cersei in a way, so when they do spend time together in his cell, it has an almost comical effect. Jaime at least has a smart thing to say about the quality of the confinement considering his own previously, but also the way they talk about what they know the other has truly done and hasn’t done. There’s some great brotherly banter of sorts here with a bigger scale to it because of what they’re tied up in that you have to laugh, particularly since there’s such an ease between the actors here.
Darker in its points is the story that’s now following Sansa and Littlefinger as they’re moving along in the ship. She’s intent on trying to suss out what his involvement in Joffrey’s death and her trust of him is minimal at most, especially after he killed ser Dontos, but Littlefinger does reveal a few things here with what he’s done regarding the necklace and poison. But Sansa is a fair bit sharp here in that she’s certain that he’s not completely telling the truth about what he did, though it may just be a shade of a truth rather than the full truth. Littlefinger has completely thrown his lot in with some other group now having realized that events with the Lannisters were not going to go well and that definitely fits his character. It’s simply that it feels bigger and more of a gamble than he might do based on what we’ve known of him so far, but since he’s looking to win everything in the game, he’s at a point where he has to start playing big rather than playing safe and careful as he has.
Events in King’s Landing are definitely intriguing to watch, especially when seeing how Jaime and Cersei interact when alone after their episode in the tomb. She’s pushing back against him in so many ways after all that’s happened and questioning his loyalty to family and to her specifically. With Jaime having gone to see Tyrion, that has her very distrustful. But it’s made worse by the fact of what he promised Catelyn in order to be brought back to Kings Landing by Brienne as it has her wondering about whether he’s beholden to a dead woman. The tension between the two is quite interesting to watch as you can see Jaime being kept further and further away. Amusingly, all of this tension is balanced by a more interesting scene in some ways as Tommen, a young boy that he is, is approached in his bed by Margaery as she does her best to win him over to her side through sweet words and understandings. It’s all filled with little secrets of no consequence, but it builds a bond between the two and she can certainly make a young boy smile.
These events all push Brienne towards a new path in a really good way, giving her new purpose. With Jaime looking to fix a few things that need taking care of, she gives her the sword that was reforged from Ned Stark’s in order to protect his daughter. She’s being sent to find Sansa and make sure she’s safe, which allows Jaime to feel like he’s fulfilling his promise. He’s also helping Tyrion out in a great way as Podrick is being assigned as her squire, which adds a little levity to the moment and a new path for him as well. But the best is just the way that Jaime and Brienne say goodbye as you get a real sense that it is goodbye for them. THe look on his face is one that has you thinking a few different things, as there was obviously potential for more between them, but also that her leaving is the leaving of the one person that was making him a better person. An admittance that he has to be the flawed person he has to be in order to survive in King’s Landing.
Jon Snow’s arc has a difficult piece to deal with, on top of the way that he’s still getting a verbal beat down by Alliser. With the mutineers that have holed up at Craster’s after all that was said and done is something that they would naturally deal with, but with Mance and his army out there bearing down on them, if they’re taken they could spill a whole lot of secrets on the strength of the Wall to the enemy. And that’s something that even Alliser has to admit, making it so that Snow will go and deal with it if he can get any volunteers. Which he gets quite a few of, which is a testament to the growing respect he’s getting from those he serves with. But there’s also that sense that it is something that has to be done for a few different reasons since the betrayal by their brothers was profound.
While we had an idea of what was going on at Craster’s Keep, we get a good view of it as the mutineers have definitely taken it over and are abusing the women there in much the same way, just on a bigger scale with more cruelty. But there are also some issues cropping up along the way as the last of the male babies has been borne and one of them has to take it out as an offering to the white walkers. What’s surprising is that Bran and the others are pretty close by overall, having heard the cries, and that has Bran using Summer to get a better look at what’s going on. Unfortunately, Ghost gets caught in a trap along the way but they learned that Ghost is in a cage there and that gives them even more impetus to go and figure out what’s going on. It’s a pretty dangerous plan in general just in getting close, but you can also see how it’s going to tie a few things together in time.
And not surprisingly, the final minute or two of the episode is one that is the most fascinating of all as it teases so much of what will be coming with the true enemy of all.
In Summary:
Game of Thrones is a bit more focused on King’s Landing this time with some of the machinations going on there, but mostly in regards to Lannisters rather than some of the others milling about. Some secrets are revealed that explain what happened at the Purple Wedding while other secrets are a little simpler in nature but are signs of a new relationship forming. Some of this is really engaging and once again it tends to focus on Jaime, whether it’s with Bron or Cersei but especially with Brienne. Dany’s storyline doesn’t get a lot of time here but it definitely provides a shift in her storyline as power is really coming into play in a fun way. But a lot of what really wins over this episode are the events at the Wall and north of it as we see how a couple of storylines are going to come back to each other again. Add in those last two minutes of tantalizing material and there’s a lot to like here.
Grade: B+
