by throneslifeblog

SEASON 7, EPISODE 2: STORMBORN

Disclaimer: There are no spoilers in this article. I have no knowledge of what is to transpire in this story. Any views or content expressed are solely personal theories, opinions and insights.

STORMBORN

Since the end of last season, one thing was clear: Winter Is Here. Now, just as quickly, war is here. The premiere episode last week more than set the stage and made clear the alliances that were being formed in the war to come. Just one week later, first blood has been drawn and the war is officially on. The first battle came rather abruptly and it is clear that there will be several more battles to unfold before this war is decided. And while the epic sea battle might be what is most remembered from this episode, there were several other significant developments, from Arya turning back for Winterfell to Sam Tarly attempting to save the life of Ser Jorah. Another consistent theme throughout this episode was past events and relationships affecting present day decisions, from Jon Snow’s decision to head to Dragonstone because of the relationship he developed with Tyrion in the first season, to Samwell’s willingness to risk his life to cure Jorah because of the relationship he had with Jorah’s father, Lord Commander Mormont. The dots continue to be connected as characters continue to move closer and closer towards one another. And as these characters continue to be pulled towards one another, the stage is set for several key reunions and also some powerful first meetings.

DRAGONSTONE

The episode opens up at Dragonstone as a powerful storm sends waves crashing upon the towering Targaryen castle. It is this storm that the episode, entitled Stormborn, derives its name from. The opening dialogue of the episode have Varys and Tyrion talking about the storm 20 years ago that came across Westeros as Daenerys was birthed at Dragonstone. Now, 20 years later, another storm is upon the land as Daenerys and her advisers plot their next move. Daenerys shifts her attention to Varys and attacks him for the manner in which he has conspired behind the backs of previous rulers. In response, Varys delivers an impassioned speech to defend his actions, telling that he has always been a man of the people who refuses to pledge blind allegiance to incompetent rulers. Daenerys seems to work past her distrust of Varys after he pledges his loyalty and promises to tell her directly if he ever disagrees with the manner in which she rules.

Moments later, The Red Lady, Melisandre, arrives at Dragonstone to speak with Daenerys. We saw her last in season six, ordered by Jon Snow to ride south after having learned about the role Melisandre played in sacrificing and burning Princess Shireen. Ironically, it was Jon Snow’s order that would send Melisandre to Daenerys, where the topic of conversation would be Jon Snow himself. Melisandre tells Daenerys that she believes she is the Prince (or Princess) That Was Promised. As we’ve discussed before, The Prince That Was Promised is a prophecy in the religion of the Lord of Light, which says that the ancient warrior, Azor Ahai, who fought back the White Walkers during The Long Night, will eventually be reincarnated to fight back death and darkness once more. At first, Melisandre believed Stannis was the Prince That Was Promised, which turned out to be incorrect. Since then, many have argued that it will either be Daenerys or Jon Snow that will turn out to be TPTWP.

Beyond this, Melisandre tells Daenerys of Jon Snow and how he is now the King in the North. She also tells Daenerys of how Jon Snow has done something nobody else has ever done — he let the Wildlings south of The Wall and successfully united the Wildlings with the great houses of the North. Melisandre encourages Daenerys to summon Jon Snow to come to Dragonstone so that she can hear first hand of the things that Jon Snow has seen. So, while Jon Snow may have banished Melisandre, in reality, it is Melisandre who is advocating for Jon Snow and setting up the meeting between the two. While she often slips off our radar, it is important to remember that Melisandre, perhaps more so than any other character, is well aware of the war against darkness that is coming and will do anything within her power to win it. She knows that Daenerys and Jon Snow must meet, and thanks to her actions, it seems as though this will happen sooner than later.

WINTERFELL

Right on queue, Jon Snow receives not one but two ravens, each carrying an important message. Samwell Tarly has passed along the valuable information that Dragonstone is built upon a cache of Dragonglass — an important material that they will need to turn into weapons to battle the White Walkers. This message is juxtaposed perfectly against the next, which is raven from Tyrion, inviting Jon to meet Daenerys at Dragonstone. To no surprise, his supporters react adversely, stating that neither a Targaryen nor a Lannister is to be trusted. What they do not realize is that Daenerys and Tyrion are outliers — they are not typical Targaryens or Lannisters. Jon Snow argues that he must go to Dragonstone, as they are in great need of both Dragonglass and a powerful ally. So just like that, after six years of Thrones, in just one episode, Daenerys is made aware of Jon Snow and Jon Snow is made aware of Daenerys. What neither of them have been made aware of yet is that Daenerys is Jon’s aunt and Jon is Daenerys’ nephew. Of course, Jon is not yet even aware that he is half Targaryen. But, with the way ravens have been flying around and dropping knowledge in these first two episodes, it might not be much longer until he finds that out.

As I often try to do with these recaps, let’s dig a little bit deeper into this plot-point and acknowledge some of the amazing development that has led us to where we are today. Rightfully so, the Northerners argue against Jon Snow going to Dragonstone as they do not trust a Targaryen or a Lannister. But Jon Snow does not listen to any of them, not even to Lyanna Mormont who has been his strongest advocate to date. Why doesn’t he listen? Sure, in part, it is because he knows the threat they are facing and is willing to take a risk to acquire the Dragonglass and the powerful ally that he needs. But it is more than that. It is also because he trusts Tyrion, the very man who sent him this raven. And six years ago, we witnessed the establishment of their relationship, the very basis for why Jon Snow will decide to trust him and head to Dragonstone six years later. In the very first season, Jon and Tyrion travel to The Wall together and develop a real bromance. In many ways, they were both bastards, even though in fact, neither actually are. At the time, Tyrion empathizes with Jon Snow and tells him, “All dwarfs are bastards in their father’s eyes.” Six years later, these are the same words he adds to the raven he sends to Jon Snow, referencing the connection they made many years back. Now, at the time, not a person in the world could have thought the casual trip they made together could have had any sort of significant impact upon the future. But as we’ve seen time and time again, it is this kind of development that makes the Thrones story so beautiful and ingenious. That George R.R. Martin had this kind of foresight to establish a relationship between the two unlikeliest of characters, only for it to turn out to be extremely meaningful so many years later, is nothing short of brilliant.

So now, Jon Snow is headed to Dragonstone, despite the pleas of everybody around him, including his own sister. Sansa reminds him of what happened to their grandfather the last time a Stark was summoned by a Targaryen. She is referring to an event that was the catalyst for Robert’s Rebellion. After Rhaegar Targaryen “captured” Lyanna Stark and rode off with her, her brother, Brandon rode to King’s Landing to demand her release. The Mad King arrested Brandon for treason and sent raven to Lyanna/Brandon’s father, Rickard, demanding that he ride to King’s Landing to answer for his children’s crimes. When Rickard arrived at King’s Landing, he was also arrested and then burned alive, while his son Brandon was forced to watch, before eventually being strangled to death. With this in mind, it is no surprise that Sansa does not want Jon to RSVP ‘yes’ to the next invitation that has been extended to a Stark by a Targaryen. But Jon knows the odds they are facing and departs for Dragonstone, leaving Sansa in charge of Winterfell. This of course leaves the door wide open for Baelish and whatever his next move might be.

KING’S LANDING

At King’s Landing, Cersei continues to develop her army and has assembled many of the powerful lords to the Throne Room. She manipulates them with a fabricated story of another mad Targaryen that is coming to bring destruction to Westeros, and asks them to join her fight against Daenerys. Most of these lords have pledged fealty to House Tyrell, so while they may be willing to join Cersei’s side to oppose a Targaryen invader, this will by default also position them against House Tyrell. One man that appears unwilling to break his oath is Randyll Tarly, father of Samwell. He is a proud and powerful man who has known Olenna Tyrell since birth. Jaime tries to persuade him to join their side by offering to appoint him as a key general of the Lannister army, and also offers him position of Warden of the South after the war is won. It’s unclear whether Randyll will join or not, but it seems as though he can be convinced. Separately, we see Dickon Tarly, Randyll’s son and Samwell’s younger brother. He is heir to House Tarly and will likely have an important role to play. Again, this is another example of sides being chosen, and this decision will have interesting implications down the road. One thing we know is that Samwell will not be on the side of Cersei, and it is entirely possible that at some point, Samwell will come face to face with his father and brother, potentially in a time of war.

SAM & THE CITADEL

Randyll is not the only Tarly who has a critical decision to make in this episode. Again proving to be one of the more knowledgable characters in the story, Sam shares with the archmaestar his awareness that Princess Shireen was cured of her greyscale disease as a baby. However, the archmaestar dismisses Sam and gives Jorah one more day before sending him off to Old Valyria to join the others afflicted with greyscale. Looking over at his sword, Jorah considers taking his own life before accepting the archmaestar’s scenario, and we see Jorah preparing what was likely a goodbye letter to his Khaleesi. But then enters Sam, with a plan to perform a risky procedure to save Jorah’s life. Once again, we see a relationship from many years ago having significant impact upon the decisions being made by characters in present day. Years ago, Sam joined the Night’s Watch and served under Lord Commander Mormont, for whom he developed tremendous respect and admiration. When Sam learns that Jorah is the Lord Commander’s son, he is willing to risk not only being exiled from the Citadel, but also his own life, in the attempt to save Jorah’s. We do not see how things play out, but it seems as though Jorah may have found his lucky star and could be back in action sooner than later.

At the end of last season, when Samwell finally reached the Citadel, I wrote an interesting piece about the significance of the Citadel and what Samwell’s role could be in the future of this story. You can read more about that here. In that piece, I explored the idea that it is possible that it is in fact Samwell that is the narrator of the entire story we are being told today. First, we know that Sam is obsessed with books and storytelling, so if there is any character that recognizes the importance of recording and retelling history, it’s Sam. His arrival at the Citadel only strengthens this theory, as this is the very place where history is recorded and eventually retold to those who care to listen. When you consider this, coupled with the fact that we know the war against darkness is coming, this theory starts to seem even more possible. If you are open to the idea that it is possible that the humans lose the war against darkness, or at least a large percentage of humanity is wiped out, then it follows that somebody will need to be around to tell the story we are seeing today. Who better than Sam? And, in this most recent episode, there was another tidbit which strengthens this theory. When the archmaestar told Samwell of the book he was writing about Robert’s Rebellion, Sam responds that he would personally choose a title that was “a bit more poetic.” Perhaps something like “A Song of Ice and Fire” or “Game of Thrones.” As we have seen time and time again, there is no coincidental dialogue in Game of Thrones — things are said for a reason, even if we don’t find out that reason for many years to come. The writers would not choose to randomly include a line in this episode where Sam comments on the title of a story which recounts the events of recent history, unless it was supposed to mean something. I believe that this is a subtle hint which points to Sam eventually recording and retelling the story that is unfolding before our eyes today.

THE WOLVES REUNITE

On her way for King’s Landing to take out Cersei, Arya stops at the inn where she last split with her good friend Hot Pie. The relationship that developed between the two many years ago would prove to be quite valuable, as Hot Pie informs Arya that the Boltons no longer occupy Winterfell. He tells her of how Jon Snow defeated Ramsay and reclaimed Winterfell. Learning she now has a home to return to and family possibly waiting for her, Arya looks ahead at the road to King’s Landing, before deciding to turn back to head home. This moment again speaks to the ongoing development of Arya’s character and the question of who she wants to be. Is she Arya Stark of Winterfell, or a cold-blooded assassin whose sole purpose is to cross names off her list? With each episode, it appears more and more that she is some combination of the two. In this episode, we see that she values being Arya Stark and returning home to Winterfell more than she does the pursuit of avenging those she has lost.

In one episode, Arya reunites with her old friend Hot Pie, and the information he presented her with now presents the opportunity for her to reunite with her family. But the reunions did not stop there. Sitting over a fire in the woods, Arya is surrounded by a pack of wolves. She is outnumbered and out of luck, until the leader of the pack emerges. Two or three times the size of all the other wolves, this must be a direwolf and Arya immediately recognizes her to be Nymeria. Nymeria was Arya’s direwolf who she set free all the way back in the first season after Cersei ordered for Nymeria to be executed for biting Joffrey. For many years, Arya and Nymeria have been separated, and just like Arya has emerged a much more powerful version of herself, so too has Nymeria. Demonstrating the clear connection the Starks have with their direwolves, Nymeria appears to recognize Arya and looks deeply into her eyes. Arya pleads with Nymeria to come back to Winterfell with her, but Nymeria backs away with the rest of her pack. Arya whispers “That’s not you,” maybe trying to convince herself that it was a different wolf, but we all well know that it was in fact Nymeria. And though they did not immediately join together, Nymeria is out there, with a pack of wolves and it’s a safe bet that we’ll see them again.

“BE A DRAGON”

At Dragonstone, we see Tyrion’s role continuing to grow by the week, as too is his influence over Khaleesi. Tyrion tells her that she is not meant to be the queen of the ashes, a line that she directly repeats to the Greyjoys and Martells who are encouraging her to attack King’s Landing now. And when these allies question her, it is Tyrion that puts forth their military strategy. His strategy is for the Tyrell and Martell armies to surround King’s Landing, while Greyworm and the Unsullied attack the Lannister stronghold, Casterly Rock. The Greyjoys, Martells and Tyrells are amenable to this plan and it appears to be a sound strategy. But while Tyrion continues to put forth a more diplomatic and peaceful plan, Lady Olenna has other advice for Khaleesi.

Sitting alone, the wise Lady Olenna tells Khaleesi that Tyrion is a very clever man and that she has been around many clever men in her life, all of whom she has managed to outlive. She has done so by simply ignoring these clever men, a strategy she is subtly encouraging Khaleesi to employ with Tyrion. More explicitly, she tells Khaleesi that all the others are sheep, but that Khaleesi is a dragon. She tells her to “Be a dragon.” As usual, Lady Olenna shows her wisdom and offers a new vantage point. Khaleesi has been so concerned with being a fair, peaceful and diplomatic ruler, that she has perhaps suppressed the dragon inside of her. While nobody wants to see her repeat the madness or cruelty of her father, at the same time, it is important that Khaleesi remembers who she is. She is the Mother of Dragons, and to get to where she needs to be, she will have to be willing to embrace the fire, even if that fire produces ashes.

WAR HAS BEGUN

Without warning, battle breaks out and the Cersei vs Khaleesi war has officially begun. As the Greyjoys and Martells follow Tyrion’s plan and ride to Dorne to bring the Dornish army back to King’s Landing, Euron Greyjoy attacks and all hell breaks loose. Suffice it to say, nobody does battles scenes like Game of Thrones, and the last few minutes of this episode delivered heart-pounding action. First, it was very cool to see a landless battle. We’ve all seen dozens of portrayals of battles that have taken place on land, but much less have we seen battles that have taken place on the sea. It was powerful to see Euron’s fleet descend upon the unsuspecting Greyjoy fleet and the all-hands-on-deck (pun intended) battle that would ensue.

We got first look at Euron’s fighting skills and see that he not only talks the talk, but can walk the walk. He takes down dozens of Ironborn, followed by taking out two of the three Sand Snakes. He was badly wounded several times, but continued fighting and seemed to embrace the bloody chaos — a true pirate. We also saw the Greyjoys, both Theon and Yara, show off their fighting skills. Below deck, Euron’s men surround Ellaria and the remaining Sand Snake, at which point Ellaria begs for death. But Euron has other plans for her, and she will likely be the gift that Euron promised to bring Cersei. Above deck, Euron has his blade to the throat of his niece, Yara, giving Theon the opportunity to protect his sister as he has pledged to do. As he looks around and sees death and destruction all around him, he is reminded of the torture he inflicted at the hands of Ramsay. He reverts back into his oldself — Reek — and jumps overboard.

And just like that, Euron has delivered the decisive first blow, weakening Khaleesi’s position. In one battle, Khaleesi has lost both of her Greyjoy supporters, their Iron Fleet, as well as her Martell supporters. Tyrion’s proposed strategy is now in serious jeopardy. They do not have the ships to bring back the Dornish army, nor do they have the Martell leaders to lead the Dornish army. Additionally, she’s lost the Greyjoy support and ships she had. Nobody is feeling too bad for Khaleesi with her three dragons and thousands of soldiers, but this definitely was not the start she wanted. As the episode comes to a close and Theon floats away like a piece of driftwood, Lady Olenna’s advice rings loud and true. Khaleesi must be wary of listening to the wise advisers around her and instead must embrace her inner dragon.

HONORABLE MENTION

Missandei and Greyworm finally get together. Not sure what this is about.

Qyburn has worked up another one of his mysterious inventions and shows Cersei a giant dragon-killing weapon.

Through two episodes, we’ve still not seen much from Bran, other than his brief arrival to The Wall.

Last, but certainly not least, there is a very significant reveal in the season seven intro segment. As you can see in the pictures below, The Wall was built to span the entire width of Westeros, blocking off the White Walkers from traveling north to south. There are seas to the east and west of the land, where the Night’s Watch has castles to ensure the White Walkers cannot pass by water. But now that Winter Is Here, the White Walkers have actually frozen over the seas, allowing them to simply walk around The Wall. This revelation can be seen in the new opening segment. (See below) The White Walkers have brought winter and frozen the entire sea!! This is what The Hound saw last week in the fire when he said “It’s where The Wall meets the seas. The dead are marching past it. Thousands of them.”

06.28.16

by throneslifeblog

SAMWELL TARLY & THE CITADEL

Disclaimer: There are no spoilers in this article. I have only read the first three books and I have no knowledge of what transpires in the show moving forward. Any views or content expressed are solely personal theories, opinions and insights.

SAMWELL, THE CITADEL AND WHAT IT ALL MIGHT MEAN

There is always so much going on in Game of Thrones, that we often miss over smaller points of an episode, because they simply don’t stick out in our mind after we think about all the bigger things that happened in a given episode. And often, parts of an episode which may seem insignificant, later turn out to be very important breadcrumbs that were left for the viewers to pick up on. For instance, as we talked about in the finale episode recap, the most perceptive viewers might’ve noticed that the wildfire explosion that consumed the Sept of Baelor was actually already shown to us in a quick glimpse of Bran’s visions many episodes earlier this season. Of course, with everything else that happened in that episode and the other more obvious visions he had, most of us probably did not recognize this, much less think about it at the end of the episode.

Well, this very same thing may have just happened in the finale episode, perhaps in a larger way than ever before. When we reflect back on the finale, we are thinking about Cercei’s wildfire explosion and ascension of the Iron Throne, Arya’s return to Westeros and murder of Walder Frey, Jon Snow becoming King in the North, and Khaleesi’s grand departure for the Westeros. Each one of these events were hugely significant and powerful to watch. What may have slipped through the cracks, though, was Samwell Tarly’s arrival to the Citadel. After all, it was sandwiched between so many other huge revelations, most of us probably forgot it even happened. No doubt, some of your questions have gone unanswered. What is the Citadel? Where is the Citadel? What happens there? Why is Sam there? What is the significance of what he saw there? And so on… For starters, let’s try to answer some of those questions. Then, let’s move on to a deeper analysis of why this event might be so incredibly significant.

For the basics… The Citadel is located in the city of Oldtown, which is located in the far southwest of Westeros, next to Dorne. Oldtown is actually the second largest city in all of Westeros, and by far the oldest, dating back thousands of years to the First Men. As such, there is immense history and culture to be found in the ancient city of Oldtown. But, the most important feature of Oldtown is that it is the home of the Citadel. So what is the Citadel? The Citadel is where the ancient Order of the Maestars train and study to become Maestars. Think of it as an ancient and sacred university where men from all over the world come to learn the disciplines of science, medicine, astrology and so on. Most of these Maestars then go on to serve various houses of the world, so that each house may have a wise man who can treat the sick and offer scholarly advice across the many areas they’ve been trained.

The ancient city of Oldtown

In addition to training new Maestars, the Citadel is also the seat of the council of archmaestars, the wisest and eldest Maestars which provide knowledge and wisdom to the rest of the Seven Kingdoms. For instance, in the finale episode, the archmaestars sent a white raven to Winterfell (and presumably elsewhere), officially advising that summer has come to an end and winter is now here. The archmaestars have been around for thousands of years, providing invaluable knowledge and wisdom to every corner of the Seven Kingdoms.

In the books, Oldtown and the Citadel is a major location where a lot more of the story takes place. In the show, we did not see this location until the very end of the sixth season, when Sam arrives with Gilly and the baby. The show could’ve left this location out altogether like they have with many other parts of the books, but they chose not to, which means it has an important role to play. And that they chose to include it in the finale episode, alongside all the other significant things that happened, only underscores the importance of Sam’s arrival at the Citadel.

So where does this leave us, what else can we takeaway from the glimpse we got of the Citadel and how does Sam play into all of this? Well, for starters, we know that the Citadel houses tens of thousands of books which cover the history of the known world. We see the massive library that Sam walks into, and it was a magical moment to say the least. To think of the rich detail of the history of the world that is contained inside those books is pretty powerful. Point is, this is where history is recorded and ultimately retold.

But upon further analysis, there are some even deeper takeaways for those who really look very close. As Sam walks into the grand library, he sees giant hanging objects which appear to reflect light into the library, but also look to serve some other purpose of measurement or science. These objects are called astrolabes and are used to measure the movements of the stars to understand the change in seasons. They probably serve other purposes as well. What’s more interesting, is that upon comparison, you will realize that these objects that Sam sees are the very same objects that are so prominent in the opening credits of Game of Thrones (see below).

ball citadel circle

Now, for an even closer look:

closeup

For quite some time, you’ve probably been wondering what that glowing object was that you’ve been seeing for six years throughout the opening credits. Well, now you know. So while larger and more obvious reveals were thrown at us, like Cercei ascending the Iron Throne, a much quieter, but arguably more significant one was whispered for us to hear, if we were listening. And no doubt, you can bet that if this object is so prominent in the opening credits, that there is a great significance to finally finding it in the show.

So now we know what this object is and we’ve also connected it to the opening credits of the show, so we know it’s important. But is there anything more? Well, if you dig a bit deeper into the opening credits, you’ll notice that many of the areas of the maps are being looked at through some type of lenses. It gives the feel that we are not just looking at locations on a map, but rather that somebody is adjusting several lenses which allow us to then see these locations. See below:

73584a79cb84e3d82d81abb8e7d3cd9e

Well, it just so happens that we saw a bunch of lenses surrounding these objects as well:

sam citadel 2

So, in the opening credits, there is some sort of astrolabe figure which appears several times, and there are also clearly lenses that are focusing in on the different parts of the map that we see. In the finale episode, Sam encounters what appear to be these very same objects, with lenses surrounding them. The opening credits tell us that that this object and its lenses allow us to see the different parts of the world. Applying this to the real-life objects that Sam sees, perhaps these objects and their lenses can be manipulated by the Maestars to see the different parts of the world as well. Perhaps this is how they know what’s going on around the world, and maybe even beyond the known world.

But yet, there is perhaps another layer to it. These were not the only lenses we saw in the finale episode. The photo below shows another set of lenses, and these lenses allowed a Maestar to better view and understand the history of whatever he was reading:

lens maestar

So, another interpretation of the opening credits could be that somebody is looking through another set of lens to understand the history and story that is being told. Now, one more time, let’s look at Sam’s position relative to all of this:

sam citadel

Clearly, Sam is positioned right in the thick of all of this, even if we don’t yet understand what it all means. So, when you connect all of these dots, my hypothesis is that these objects are some way of not only understanding, but also recording the stories that are happening around the world. And, if you now subscribe to the idea that Samwell is going to be in the middle of all of this, it leads to an interesting conclusion: Samwell Tarly will be the Maestar to record and ultimately retell the Game of Thrones story. Perhaps, today, it is him adjusting the lens that we see in the beginning of the Thrones credits and it is he who is telling us the story as it unfolds. Who knows how this story will end. Maybe with glory, maybe with defeat…But however it ends, there will need to be someone to tell it. And we may have jus discovered who that person is.

05.30.16

by throneslifeblog

SEASON 6, EPISODE 6: BLOOD OF MY BLOOD

The Mad King, Aerys Targaryen, seen for a glimpse in Bran’s vision

In the season six primer I wrote before this season started, I discussed the importance of understanding the context of where the Thrones story currently is in its timeline. In that post, I wrote “For many of the earlier seasons, it always felt like there was so much of the story that still needed to unfold — there was a feeling that we were still just scratching the surface of the story and that it would be a very long time before we really started to near the climax of this magical journey. Well, my Thrones loyalists, I am here to tell you that the time is here…now. As we embark upon Season 6, it is crucial to understand that there will likely only be about 10-12 more episodes after this season. So, in short, we are in the homestretch…The 4th quarter…The final act… There will be no filler episodes or slow-moving plots. We are arriving at our final destination, and it will be a fast-moving and bumpy ride, so buckle up and savor every minute of what’s left.”

Well, six episodes in and we can definitely confirm the above to be true. Things are moving faster than ever, with major advancements in each episode of many of the storylines. Most of the episodes have been action-packed, and each seems to get better than the one before it. After such a busy episode last week that included the major reveal that the Children of the Forest created the first White Walker (the Night King), and learning the reason behind Hodor’s condition while simultaneously viewing his tragic death, I figured that this episode would be an opportunity for the show to pull back a bit and offer up a slower-moving episode. After all, that’s how the show has always been in the past — generally following up an action-packed episode with a more subdued one. But not this season; not when we are so deep in the thick of things like we are now. And with four episodes to go this season, don’t expect things to slow down now. The show’s foot is pressed to the gas pedal and it’s not coming off anytime soon.

BRAN’S VISIONS & UNCLE BENJEN

Bran’s storyline continues to be the most facinating and enjoyable for me as it continues to offer a glimpse into scenes and moments that predate the start of this story. In short, Bran’s visions are allowing us to see things that we’ve only heard about through other characters. And we aren’t just seeing any old scenes — we are seeing flashes of hugely momentous and history-changing events. And while it’s quite interesting and exciting for us to see these as viewers, it’s important to remember the person these visions are really intended for — Bran. As Bran now continues along his path towards becoming the Three Eyed Raven, he is being downloaded on more knowledge than ever before. If he is to fulfill his destiny and play a major role in saving the world, he’ll have to be equipped with a weapon greater than all others — the knowledge of everything that is happening all around him, past, present and future.

So let’s freeze-frame some of the visions Bran saw, most of which only appear on the screen for one second, and could be easily missed. Let’s start with the things Bran saw, that we as viewers had already experienced. Bran got first-hand glimpse of Khaleesi and her dragons, the execution of his father Ned in King’s Landing, the executing of his mother Catelyn at the Red Wedding and the Night King turning a baby into White Walker — all pretty significant learnings (see below). And not only is Bran getting to learn about these happenings, but he’s getting to experience them…He’s getting to relive them…

So now that Bran has seen a lot of the things we’ve seen, let’s talk about the visions he had of things that we had never seen before…Most of which were extremely significant events in recent history. For starters, we got first glimpse of the Mad King as he sits on the Iron Throne and screams “burn them all!” To date, we have heard a lot about the Mad King (Khaleesi’s father), and know that he began to lose his mind and became obsessed with fire, to the point he was burning a lot of people alive. He was the object of Robert’s Rebellion and overthrowing the Mad King was really the event that set in motion most of the story that we are watching today. After all, it affected so many characters so greatly (Jaime murdered the Mad King, Robert/Ned were central to overthrowing him and Robert became king, Khaleesi and her brother had to flee King’s Landing, etc…) So after all of this time, to get first glimpse of the Mad King, to see the last Targaryen king that ever sat on the Iron Throne as he screams to “burn them all” was powerful to say the least. In conjunction with seeing the Mad King, we see his maestars pouring the green wildfire that he often used to burn people alive (the same wildfire that we saw Tyrion use to fend off Stannis during the Battle of Blackwater Bay). And as if all of that was not enough, we actually got to see the moment that Jaime earned his infamous nickname of Kingslayer as he puts his sword into the back of the Mad King.

These were pretty incredible images to see and it cannot be understated the importance that these events had upon setting in motion the story we are seeing today. The overthrowing of the Mad King changed everything for just about everybody, and set up the Game of Thrones. One last image we saw that was less clear is an image of what looks to be a bloody hand touching a wounded body. We saw this image just after Bran saw the young Ned Stark ask where his sister was at the Tower of Joy. I’m guessing that this is an image that we’ll see more of, as Ned arrives to his sister Lyanna to find her dying. This would also add more firepower to the R+L=J theory, assuming that Ned may find his sister dying (along with the baby that she had with Rhaegar Targaryen), and decides to save the baby that will go on to be Jon Snow.

Another significant vision that Bran has, which we’ve seen before, is the shadow of a dragon flying over King’s Landing (seen below). We’ve seen this in Bran’s earlier visions from seasons past, so it seems like it’s just a matter of time until Khaleesi makes her way to Westeros and sees her dragons fly over King’s Landing.

And as if all of that amazingness isn’t enough for the opening scene, there’s much more to come. Bran regains consciousness and tells Meera that they’ve been found. What I loved about this moment was the calmness with which Bran tells Meera. He was not panicked or scared — those are mere human emotions. And while Bran is of course still human, he’s on his journey to becoming something much greater. He is taking steps towards becoming all-knowing, and even as they are found by the wights, Bran is calm and seems to know that everything will be okay. And boy was he right.

Just like that, a dark figure wielding a fire-mace weapon comes out of nowhere to fight off the wights and save Bran and Meera. And who else could it be but Uncle Benjen — or at least a semi-alive/semi-wight version of Uncle Benjen. But before we get into what happened to Uncle Benjen and what this might mean, let’s refresh on who Benjen was. Benjen Stark was the younger brother of Ned, and in Bran’s visions we’ve recently seen him and Ned as young boys. After Ned came of age and became Lord of Winterfell as the eldest Stark, Benjen joined the Night’s Watch to protect the realm. He quickly rose in the ranks and became First Ranger, a position responsible for leading explorations north of the Wall. 63 episodes ago, in the third episode of the first season, Benjen goes north of the Wall to investigate claims of White Walkers, but he never returns. He is presumed dead after this much time, though many of my posts have hypothesized that he is still out there somewhere and will return at a significant time. 63 episodes later, Benjen makes his return to save his nephew Bran…Though he’s not the same Benjen.

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This Benjen has a cold, white face, looking semi-dead. Well, that’s because he is kind of somewhat dead. He explains to Bran that he went north of the Wall to find the White Walkers, only the White Walkers found them first. One of the White Walkers plunged his icy sword into Benjen, which would’ve resulted in his death and his turning into a wight. But the Children of the Forest intervened and saved Benjen by inserting dragonglass into his heart (the same magic in reverse as when we saw them create the first White Walker by inserting dragonglass into his heart). This is a very important piece of information, because it teaches us that there is a way to perhaps stop the White Walkers from growing their army of the dead, and to even perhaps bring those who are already dead back to life. The Children’s magic resulted in Benjen staying alive, and presumably working with the Children of the Forest and the Three Eyed Raven over the last five years to become some sort of White-Walker assassin. Benjen seems to know what’s going on, and tells Bran that when the Night King comes for Bran, Bran will be ready.

Finding out that Benjen is still alive all this time later was a huge reveal. Finding out what happened to him, and learning that he will now join Bran in his mission is even bigger. It’s also very significant, as it comes at a time when Bran really needs some support besides just Meera. I am very excited to see Bran and Benjen join forces to take down the White Walkers. But before we totally move on from Benjen, let’s talk about Cold Hands. For non-book-readers, you’ve never heard of Cold Hands, so allow me to share this tidbit with you. And for book-readers, seeing Benjen emerge and appearing to be Cold Hands gives his presence in this episode whole new meaning.

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Very early on in the books, a character emerges in the deep north called Cold Hands. He is a dark, shadowy figure that appears to be somewhat dead, and earns the name Cold Hands…well due to his cold, deathly hands. He is a significant character as he helps Bran on his journey much earlier in the story, assisting him in finding the Three Eyed Raven. He also intercepts Sam and Gilly early in the journey north and helps them as well. He was one of the more mysterious characters in the books, but the show completely left him out altogether. Bookreaders have often wondered who or what Cold Hands was, and if he’d ever return. Some hypothesized that Cold Hands could be Benjen, as it would make sense since Benjen disappeared in the deep north and could be this dark mysterious character that is helping Bran in his journey in the north. Well, it seems like there were some pretty clear answers here. Though the show did not mention the name Cold Hands or explicitly connect the dots, Benjen’s appearance and also the fact that he is semi-dead matches the description of Cold Hands perfectly. Maybe Cold Hands will turn out to be Benjen in the books. Or, maybe the show, as it often does, is taking some liberties and blurring the lines between the two characters by turning them into the same one. In any event, it’s pretty clear that the show is confirming Benjen as cold hands, that dark and mysterious character that had helped Bran along his journey much earlier on in the books, and is now doing so in the show. I am very interested to learn exactly what Benjen has been doing for the last five years and how advanced his White-Walker-killing powers are.

SAM & GILLY

Further south, Samwell and Gilly arrive to Sam’s home of Horn Hill. As Sam had mentioned many times throughout seasons past, his father is a powerful man and House Tarly is a prominent house of Westeros. Things appear well at first, with Sam’s mother pleased to see them both. But everything goes sour pretty quickly as Sam’s father does indeed appear to be the hateful and cruel man that Sam had cracked him up to be for many seasons. Watching him treat his own son with such cruelty reminded me scenes between Tywin and Tyrion, where it was unfathomable how a father could loathe their own son to such a great extent. I was really hoping that Sam would stand up for himself — after all, as Gilly pointed out, Sam killed not only a Then wildling, but also a freekin’ White Walker! What have you done Lord Tarly? Hunt a few boar?

Anyway, that didn’t happen, and Sam got chewed out pretty bad by his dad. But at least Sam took a stand, and decided that he would not split with Gilly or the baby, and that they’d stick together. Before leaving Horn Hill, Sam made a bold move and decided to take Heartsbane, the Valyrian steel sword that has been in his family for many centuries. As we know, swords in this show are very significant, especially ones that have names (and are generally Valyrian steel). Ice was Ned Stark’s sword, which eventually ended in the hands of Lord Tywin, who melted it down into two smaller Valyrian steel swords, one of which Brienne now has (Jaime gave it to her). Longclaw was Lord Commander Mormont’s Valyrian steel sword and he eventually gave it to Jon Snow. Heartsbane is one of the other significant Valyrian swords, and these swords should become all the more important as the war against the White Walkers becomes more prominent (we know that Valyrian steel can take down a White Walker after Jon Snow killed one at Hardhome last season). So, keep an eye on these beautiful Valyrian steel swords, and take not of who possesses them.

KING’S LANDING

In my least favorite storyline, things take an interesting turn in King’s Landing, as Margaery comes around to the High Sparrow and starts to see things his way. What’s more, she is able to convince Tommen to do the same. My money says that Margaery has not actually become a devout woman, and that she is manipulating Tommen to buy into the High Sparrow’s rhetoric. By doing so, and bringing the crown and the High Sparrow together, Margaery is weakening the position of House Lannister, which ultimately still remains an enemy to House Tyrell. Her reasoning worked out well for her, as we see Tommen relieve Jaime of his rank of Lord Commander of the King’s Guard. Needless to say, Jaime is furious and wants to kill the High Sparrow, though Cercei reminds him that he will probably die if he does this, and they need to stay alive for each other so they can strategically take down their enemies and restore glory to House Lannister.

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Cercei reminds Jaime that her trial is coming up but that she will demand a trial by combat and the Mountain will be her champion. The trial by combats we’ve seen to date have all been highly entertaining, most notably the last one that included the Mountain (vs the Red Viper), and actually was the reason that the Mountain is the way he is today. It should be quite exciting to see the Mountain fight in another trial by combat, assuming he does. It will also be interesting to consider who the hell would step in to fight against him?

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Last, but not least, Cercei tells Jaime that he should follow the orders of King Tommen and go to retake Riverrun from the Blackfish. We also see Walder Frey, in the same hall where he executed the Red Wedding, telling his sons to do the same and to take back Riverrun from the Blackfish. Walder Frey also mentions that the Brotherhood Without Banners has been raiding the Riverlands, causing additional difficulty for House Frey. We haven’t seen the Brotherhood Without Banners, led by Thoros of Myr and Beric Dondarrion, in quite some time, so it was exciting to hear their mention and hopefully we’ll see them soon.

Thoros of Myr, saving Beric Dondarrion, both of who lead the Brotherhood Without Banners

The Frey sons tell Walder Frey that they do not have enough men, so it’ll be interesting to see just how large Blackfish’s army is. In any event, it seems like the Freys and Jaime are both headed for Riverrun. But they aren’t the only ones — let’s not forget that in last week’s episode, Sansa sent Brienne to Riverrun to speak with Blackfish and to hopefully unite forces. Which makes us wonder — will Jaime and Brienne reunite at Riverrun? If so, it should be quite interesting, consider that they’ll be on opposite ends of this fight. Brienne will be going to Riverrun as an ally of Blackfish, while Jaime will be going there as an enemy to retake Riverrun from him. Brienne and Jaime became quite close, Jaime even risked his life to save her, so perhaps there will be a middle-ground that can be found and the microcosm of the relationship between these two characters can bring a greater good to the sides that they represent. Oh, and one more note — we saw in this episode that Walder Frey still has Edmure Tully alive and has been holding him prisoner since his wedding night (the Red Wedding).

WHO IS A GIRL?

Talk about an identity crisis… Is Arya more confused than ever? Or has she perhaps finally found clarity as to who she wants to be? It seems like the latter. For a very long time, Arya was having trouble shaking her identity of Arya Stark, even as the Faceless Men trained her to do so. And finally, we saw a major breakthrough, as Arya was offered her vision back if she would say that she was Arya Stark, but she refused to do so, insisting that she was nobody. Then, going even a step further, to truly become nobody, Arya was willing to drink the poison and risk her own life. So, it seemed like after so many seasons of training to rid herself of her identity, she finally had done so and was willing to become nobody.

Then, just like that, Arya decides otherwise and doesn’t go through with her orders to execute Lady Krane. The dialogue between Lady Krane and Arya was very important and made Arya realize who she truly is. When Lady Krane asked Arya how she would change the play, Arya responds that the queen (Cercei) wouldn’t just be sad at the the loss of her son — she would be angry and want revenge against those who took him from her before she got to say goodbye. Of course, we know that Arya is really relating this back to herself, and the father, brother and others whom were taken from her before she got to say goodbye. Lady Krane then tells Arya that she has “very expressive eyes” and asks her if she likes to pretend to be other people (alluding to becoming an actress). Arya, who for quite some time had lost her eyes due to the Faceless Men, is now realizing the power of seeing things through her own eyes. And perhaps Lady Krane’s question about whether Arya would enjoy being other people made Arya realize that she did not want to wear other peoples faces and pretend to be other people. She wants her own face. She wants to see things through her own eyes. She wants to be herself — Arya Stark.

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I am definitely not complaining. Arya was one of my favorite characters and it was Arya’s identity — her sense of self — and her desire to avenge those who wronged her, that made her such a great character. Slowly, most of that had been stripped away from her as she stepped closer to becoming nobody. But who wants to be nobody? So now, it seems like Arya is on track to become Arya again. Maybe a different, smarter Arya — but Arya none the less. An Arya that now has more advanced training in the ways of the Faceless Men. And what could be more symbolic of this than Arya going back to retrieve her trademark sword, Needle. As Jaqen learns that Arya has failed in her mission, he gives the girl the green light to kill Arya, but tells her not to make her suffer. Little do either of them know, that Arya is waiting in the dark with Needle, prepared to take down the girl that has beaten her for so many seasons now. It seems that the real Arya has reemerged and remembered who she truly is — after all, she still has names on her list and Stark siblings in Westeros that could use her more now than ever.

KHALEESI THE CONQUEROR

In the final scene, we see Khaleesi riding next to Daario, with all of the Khal’s at her back. Each Khal leads thousands of Dothraki, and you add that to the army of Unsullied and Second Sons that she already has, plus three dragons, and you can’t blame Daario for telling Khaleesi that it is time for her to be the conqueror that she was meant to be. But, Daario also points out that Khaleesi wasn’t meant to just sit on a throne, which begs the question — what will Khaleesi do after she conquers? In any event, Khaleesi mentions riding across the Narrow Sea to arrive at Westeros, and Daario tells her that she’ll need about 1,000 ships, the same exact number that Euron Greyjoy has set out to build. Maybe they will join forces after all, as Euron has planned. Khaleesi’s time on Easteros could be winding down, and my guess is that we may see her cross the Narrow Sea this season, perhaps in the finale episode.

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Before the episode comes to a close, Khaleesi rides off, seeming to apparently sense that Drogon was nearby. And after a moment, she returns, on the back of Drogon who appears larger than ever. I’m not quite sure where Drogon came from, or how Khaleesi knew he was nearby. And I was kind of left scratching my head, thinking to myself “why now?” We’ve seen Khaleesi ride on the back of Drogon before. We’ve also seen Khaleesi give a similar speech to inspire her followers. Both times we saw these things, they seemed to have more purpose. So why show us all of this again? It was kind of an anti-climatic finish to an action-packed episode. But, I guess the fact that Khaleesi is getting closer than ever to reaching Westeros was the main takeaway here. I hope she doesn’t take anymore steps backwards or get sidetracked with the slave cities of Easteros — time to look to the west.

05.26.15

by throneslifeblog

Season 5, Episode 7: The Gift

THE GIFT

The most recent Thrones episode, entitled The Gift, let viewers know that we’re coming into the stretch of season 5. That is, after this episode, there’s only 3 left — so buckle up, because things are really going to start picking up. The title of the episode, The Gift, has a couple of meanings. Most literally, The Gift is the name of the piece of land that was carved out for the Night’s Watch thousands of years ago by Brandon Stark aka Brandon the Builder. This land has much historical significance and plays a role in what is happening today between Jon Snow and his attempt to unite the Wildlings… But we’ll touch on that in just a moment… But that’s not the only thing The Gift refers to… This most recent episode seemed like Hanukah, Christmas and a decade’s worth of birthdays combined into one, because gifts were being given out all over the place. Some characters welcomed the gifts they received while others were unpleasantly surprised. But one thing is for sure — these gifts have quickly changed the landscape of where each character stands — and will play a large role in what is to come in the final three episodes of season five.

JON SNOW’S GIFT

In the Game of Thrones series, The Gift is the name of the piece of land that was carved out in the North thousands of years ago by Brandon Stark aka Brandon the Builder. Forget who that is? Brandon Stark lived thousands of years ago and was not only the founder of House Stark, but also credited with building the Wall as well as Winterfell (hence the the nickname Brandon the Builder). He’s arguably the most important Start character to have ever lived and one of the most significant characters in Thrones’ history. Anyway, after the Wall was constructed and the Night’s Watch was created to defend it, in exchange for their service, the Night’s Watch was given a very large piece of land south of the Wall, not far from Winterfell, as a gift for their service. This piece of land would go on to be known as “The Gift.” In the years that followed, this land was often raided by the Wildlings, since it was the first chunk of land they would hit south of the Wall. Because of this, the land known as The Gift played host to many battles between the Night’s Watch and the Wildlings.

A map of Westeros, showing the land known as The Gift, just south of the Wall

Interestingly enough, thousands of years later, it is Jon Snow who is now trying to unite the Wildlings and Night’s Watch and offering up the gift of peace. The way he sees it, without this peace offer, the Wildlings will die north of the Wall. After all, the snow is falling harder than ever before, and we feel that winter is closer than ever. And just like the Wildlings need him and the Night’s Watch, he too needs them. Without them, he does not have enough men to achieve any of what he’ll need to, such as defending the Wall or reclaiming the North lands from Roose Bolton. As we continue to see, many of the brothers of the Night’s Watch, namely First Commander Ser Alliser Thorne, do not agree with Jon Snow’s vision of uniting with the Wildlings. With Jon Snow gone, what will the other brothers do? Will they obey his commands or rebel as we’ve seen before?

AEMON’S GIFT (OF DEATH)

In life, death is usually a sad occurrence. And in the Thrones world, it is almost always a heart-wrenching fatality. Heads getting chopped off, painful betrayals, the good guys dying while the bad guys live on — death is almost always a curse in this world. And this is what makes Maestar Aemon Targaryen’s death a beautiful gift. Having lived over 100 years, Aemon Targaryen was not only the last living Targaryen that we know of (outside of Khaleesi), but he was also a man that we know lived a life full of rich experiences, which he often spoke of. He was content with the live he lived and the services he was able to offer. And when it was his time to die, he died peacefully, with Gilly’s beautiful baby by his side, who offered him memories of his baby brother, Aegon Targaryen, who he lovingly referred to as “Egg.”

Aemon Targaryen

If we peel back another layer, we see even further why his death was such a beautiful gift. In a world where nearly everybody is jockeying for position and battling for power, Aemon was a rare specimen — a man who did not care for power. Not only did he not engage in “The Game (of Thrones),” but when he was actually next in line for the Throne, he passed on the opportunity to rule as king. Yes, that’s right. He actually was next to sit the Throne — he didn’t have to lie, kill or scheme to win the Throne — it was his by right. All he had to do was say the words. But in his heart, he knew he was destined for a life of service, and he passed on the sitting atop the Iron Throne. When we think about this, the kind of man he was, he himself was a gift to the rest of the world, especially the Night’s Watch that he served for nearly 80 years. Though not a main character, we must not overlook what an absolutely rare and wonderful man Aemon Targaryen was, and the rare gift that we witnessed in this last episode — a peaceful death that happened exactly when it was supposed to.

SANSA, RAMSEY & THEON

Elsewhere in the North, Sansa is dealing with a far less desirable gift — her new husband, Ramsey Bolton. We learn that her situation has somehow gotten even worse, and that Ramsey comes to pay her a visit every night, while keeping her locked up by day. We are starting to question Baelish’s advice to Sansa in which he counseled Sansa to get close to Ramsey so she could exact revenge — it’s starting to look like Ramsey might be too smart for her and might not allow her the opportunity to get her revenge. Sansa pleads with Reek to help her and to simply light the candle in the watchtower so that help will come. Sansa reminds Reek that he in fact still Theon Greyjoy, and for a moment, it seemed like Sansa might’ve successfully convinced him. But like any good lapdog, Reek crawls right back to his master and tells Ramsey what Sansa had been planning. Will Sansa ever be able to get message to Brienne? And even if she does, how will Brienne be able to successfully rescue Sansa from the heavily guarded castle of Winterfell? Either way, it seems likely that the relationship between Theon and Sansa is not dead, and that Theon will likely find himself having to make a crucial decision of who to side with when the moment arises.

Sansa and Ramsey

STANNIS’ GIFT

Still in the North, we see that the harsh realities of the imminent winter are taking its tolls on Stannis’ army. Horses and men are dying, food rations are low and they are already fighting a battle against the elements before they even arrive to Winterfell. Davos offers Stannis the advice that they should turn back and march back on Winterfell when the weather passes; but Stannis is wiser than this and knows that winter is near and this will be a winter unlike any seen in many many years. They must attack now or risk never being able to ever again.

As Davos exits and Melisandre comes into focus, Stannis again questions her Red God, the Lord of Light. She reminds him that she saw the great battle in the snow that has yet to take place and, more importantly, that he is the one true king that must lead the living in battle against the dead — the battle that ultimately will decide the fate of all men. But the Red God requires a gift of his own and Melisandre suggests that they must sacrifice Stannis’ daughter, Shireen, as she too has king’s blood running through her veins. Coming on the heels of last episode where Stannis declared his love for his daughter and told the story of how he protected her when others wanted to discard her due to her Grayscale as a baby, Stannis will once again have to decide whether to protect his daughter. But this time, it will be a much more difficult decision, as he may have to decide between saving the life of one versus the lives of thousands.

THE GIFT OF TYRION

Finally, Jorah is reunited with Khaleesi. And better yet, he has a magical gift for her — the gift of Tyrion Lannister. But jeez, what a terrible job the show did at setting this whole thing up. After Khaleesi banished Jorah in heartbreaking fashion last season, there should have been a much more climatic reuniting of these two characters, who deep down care for each other very much. And add the fact that Jorah is now with Tyrion, and this should have been an epic scene between Khaleesi, Jorah and Tyrion. Instead, we got a half-baked setup with a relatively unexciting reveal. Khaleesi decides to visit a local slave fight — not even the grand fight that a queen would attend — but the uneventful fight that happens before that to decide who fill fight in the greater fighting pits. It made no sense that she was there in the first place. And of course, of all the fighting pits she decides to visit, it happens to be the very one that Jorah and Tyrion were brought to. And even worse, Jorah happens to be the one guy who is not originally entered in the fight, only for him to realize that Khaleesi is out there so he can come up and kill all the other guys before removing his helmet and anticlimactically reveal himself to Khaleesi. And with an equally unexciting reaction from her, she tells him to get out of her sight, just before he reveals his gift of Tyrion. I can’t help but think of 10 different ways they could’ve set up what should’ve been a powerful reuniting of Jorah and Khaleesi with Tyrion making it all the more exciting.

Khaleesi watching the fight

And with all that said, we’re now in for a very interesting dynamic between Khaleesi, Jorah and Tyrion. First and foremost, House Targaryen and Lannister aren’t exactly buddy-buddy. It was Tywin Lannister who was largely responsible for the execution of her entire family, which would ultimately force Khaleesi on the less-than-smooth journey that she is on today. So, she probably isn’t too thrilled to see Tyrion and there’s a very good chance she jumps the gun and sentences him to prison or death, before he inevitably talks his way out of it. But as we know, Tyrion is not your typical Lannister, which should setup a very interesting dynamic between he and Khaleesi. In many ways, they are characters that share many characteristics, namely wisdom and compassion. We are also left to wonder how Jorah will fit into this — will she forgive him? And how might his Greyscale play a factor? And will Varys somehow find his way back into this situation? After all, it was he that was escorting Tyrion to find Khaleesi to support her in her claim of the Iron Throne.

BRONN’S GIFT

In Dorne, Jaime comes face to face with Myrcella, who tells him that she does not want to be rescued and she is intent upon marrying Trystane, the Dornish prince. Jaime is at a loss for words and it’s unclear how things will shape up here.

Jaime & Myrcella

In another cell, Bronn engages in a seductive conversation with one of the Sand Snakes, only to learn that her spear which cut him was laced with a deathly poison. Going back to last season, we recall that Oberyn’s spear was laced with a similar poison, which badly wounded The Mountain, who is currently still on Qyburn’s operating table as some dark science experiment — will we see the Mountain before this season comes to an end? I digress… Before it’s too late, the Sand Snake throws Bronn the antidote for his poison, which will presumably keep him alive — maybe a play to win Bronn over to their side?

BAELISH, THE GREAT GIFT GIVER

And finally, we end with the greatest gift giver of them all, Baelish. And once again, there are some major reveals that expose the continued scheming that Baelish has been up to behind the scenes. As Baelish meets with Olenna Tyrell in his now-vacant brothel, she reminds him that if House Tyrell goes under, she will have nothing to lose and will expose the part he played in the murder of King Joffrey. Baelish alludes to the fact that his allegiance is in fact with the Tyrells, and tells Lady Olenna that he has a gift for her. When she asks what the gift is, he tells her that it is the same gift that he gave to Cercei, “a handsome young boy.” You might have been scratching your head trying to figure out what handsome young boy he was referring to and when he gave this gift to Cercei. Furthermore, what handsome young boy is he now offering as a gift to Lady Olenna?

Well, as for his gift for Cercei, the handsome young boy he gave her was the blonde-haired young man who had been manning Baelish’s brothel for him while Baelish was away. As we know, this young man engaged in sexual intimacies with Loras Tyrell. And for some time, Loras had been accused of being gay, but there was never any proof against him. And this — proof — is the very gift that Baelish gave to Cercei. This boy testified against Loras and confirmed the crimes that Loras had committed in the eyes of the High Sparrow. In short, Baelish helped Cercei put away Loras (and Margaery after she lied about having witnessed their sexual encounter).

But at the very same time, Baelish’s gift giving was not done. He had another gift, another handsome young boy, which would now help Lady Olenna. And, as we see at the end of the episode, this gift was Lancel Lannister, the once longhaired Lannister boy who slept with his cousin, Cercei, as she used him as a spy. Baelish facilitated Lancel turning against Cercei and providing all the dirt to the High Sparrow about her sins. And in an unexpected turn of events, we see that even Cercei is not free from judgment of the gods, and she too will be judged for her sins. Though she thought she was the cleverest of them all and was using the High Sparrow as her pawn, in reality, she misjudged the entire situation. The High Sparrow, unlike most, is indeed incorruptible, and he had every intention of judging all those who have sinned.

Lancel Lannister, before and after joining the High Sparrow

And just like that, Cercei gets the gift she had coming for quite some time… And Baelish emerges once again as potentially the wisest character of them all. He was able to gain the trust of House Lannister, while weakening House Tyrell by getting Loras and Margaery thrown in a cell. He was then able to regain footing with House Tyrell, while getting Cercei herself thrown in a cell. He has weakened two of the most powerful houses, all while leaving little trace of him having any involvement whatsoever. And perhaps that is the greatest genius of his character — his methodical ability to operate in the shadows — to make significant moves while nobody is looking — and to always ensure that there is no trail leading back to him. What’s next for Baelish? Who knows…But he’s taken another step closer to achieving his self-proclaimed desire of “conquering everything.”

05.11.15

by throneslifeblog

Season 5, Episode 5: Kill the Boy

OLD VALYRIA!!!

The last 10 minutes of the most recent episode, Kill the Boy, immediately made it one of the most significant to date. The fact that we arrived at Old Valyria, completely unexpected, is a total game-changer and offers perspective into the world of a time long gone. And unlike some of the other more significant Thrones episodes to date, this one is so important not because of the implications it has on what is to come, but because of the ideas it offers about the past.

The ruins of Old Valyria

What we saw tonight were the remains of the greatest civilization to have ever existed; the home to a people long extinct; and the ancient relics of the most magical land that ever was. Today, they say no man can sail to the ruins of Valyria and make it back to tell the story. Many travel to these mysterious lands in search of valuable relics such as Dragonglass or Valyrian Steel, but no man that reaches Old Valyria makes it out alive. And as a result, there is mystery and magic surrounding the tales of what is left of Old Valyria. But tonight, we got first hand glimpse of this land — a lagoon of ruins entrenched in a foggy cloud of mysticism — and we are left to wonder what life thousands of years ago was like on Old Valyria.

So let’s rewind… 5,000 years ago, Valyria was no more than a small village on the continent of Easteros. The Valyrians were an ordinary people; a peaceful tribe of sheep-herders — nothing special or magical about them. But that quickly changed when the Valyrians first discovered the existence of dragons beneath the Fourteen Flames, an enormous chain of volcanoes located on Valyria. Along with the discovery of these dragons, it is told that the powers of magic began to appear on Valyria, and that the Valyrians used this magic to tame the dragons. Once tamed, the Valyrians attained an unrivaled power that the world had never before known. And, in the coming years, the Valyrians would use the power of their dragons to unite many of the smaller cities of Easteros, establishing the Valyrian Freehold.

Valyrians use magic to tame dragons

The Valyrian Freehold was a collection of city-states under the control of the Valyrians. Some of these city-states were governed directly by the Valyrians, while others were granted autonomy to govern themselves independently, thus earning the name The Free Cities. Today, we often hear many of these cities still referred to as the Free Cities, such as Pentos, Braavos and Volantis, a term that dates back 5,000 years to the establishment of the Valyrian Freehold. Established as the capital of the Freehold, Valyria develops into the greatest civilization that ever existed. Magic flourishes, towers are built to the heavens, dragons fly the skies and great swords made of Valyrian steel are forged.

Over the next 5,000 years, Valyrians used the power of their dragons to conquer the majority of Easteros. They defeated the two greatest and most powerful civilizations that existed at the time — the Ghiscari Empire and Rhoyne — showing that even armies in the millions were no match for dragons. After defeating the two most powerful civilizations, the Valyrians would go on to unite several more cities of Easteros until their Freehold covered almost the entire continent of Easteros. The Valyrian culture would spread across Easteros, and to this day, High Valyrian is still spoken across all of Easteros as a result of their conquest of the continent and widespread influence.

More recently, approximately 500 years ago, the Valyrians set their eyes further west and claimed control of a small island just off the coast of Westeros. This marked the most western piece of land that is claimed by the Valyrian Freehold, and is only a few miles off the coast of Westeros. The island is controlled by one of the strongest Valyrian families, the Targaryens, who go on to build a castle with towers that look like dragons, earning it the name of Dragonstone.

Dragonstone, the castle where Stannis resided at in the first few seasons, was originally built by Targaryens

Shortly thereafter, we arrive at the Doom of Valyria, perhaps the most legendary historical event in the entire Thrones world. Though the exact cause is unknown, the Doom of Valyria was a cataclysmic event that involved the eruption of the Fourteen Flames, the chain of Valyrian volcanoes where dragons were first discovered. Mountains exploded, volcanoes shot molten rock to the sky and the earth opened up to swallow entire land masses. In just one day, most of Old Valyria was destroyed and sank below the sea, as did most of the Valyrians and their dragons, bringing end to one of the greatest civilizations the world had ever known…just like that. What took nearly 5,000 years to build was wiped out in just one day, with only ruins left behind to tell of the once great civilization that existed. But there was one Valyrian family that would survive The Doom.

The Doom of Valyria

While all other noble Valyrian families perished in The Doom, House Targaryen survived, making them the only living family that could trace their bloodline back to that of Old Valyria and the Valyrian Freehold. 12 years prior to The Doom, Aenar Targaryen had a daughter, otherwise known as Daenys the Dreamer, who had a prophetic dream in which Valryia was destroyed. Moved by his daughter’s dream, Aenar left Valyria and relocated his family to Dragonstone, becoming henceforth known as Aenar the Exile. 12 years later, Daenys’ vision would come true, and as the Doom wiped out all of Valyria, her Targaryen family would be the only major family to survive Old Valyria. And their five dragons would be only dragons left in all of the world. Over the next 100 years, the Targaryens would live at Dragonstone and engaged in incest to grow their bloodline. But with Old Valyria gone, magic began to disappear, and their dragons began to die. All died but one — Balerion the Dread — a dragon that would grow to be the fiercest dragon ever known. And 300 years ago, Aegon the Conqueror, perhaps the most important man to have ever lived, would decide it was time to leave Dragonstone, and set his eyes on Westeros. Like the Valyrians did thousands of years prior with the Valyrian Freehold, Aegon Targaryen would ride on the back of his dragon Balerion during Aegon’s Conquest, and unite the independent kingdoms of Westeros, establishing one united realm henceforth known as the Seven Kingdoms.

Drogon flies over the Valyrian ruins

And now, 300 years after Aegon’s Conquest, all that is left to know of Old Valyria are its surviving ruins — a glimpse into an ancient past — a mystical land where dragons were discovered, magic was practiced and Valyrian steel was forged. And as Jorah and Tyrion approach the foggy ruins, the eerie magic that still surrounds the land is unmistakable — a clear feeling of “we’re not supposed to be here.” And just like that, Drogon flies over the sky, and not only do we see where Drogon has been hanging out all this time, but we see a dragon fly over Valyria — a throwback to several thousand years ago when dragons roamed the sky of Old Valyria, the place where they were first discovered.

And finally, we learn why many of those who travel to Old Valyria might not make it out alive, as the Stone Men attack Jorah and Tyrion. As Stannis spoke about in the previous episode to his daughter Shereen, the Stone Men are a people afflicted with Grey Scale, and sent to the doomed lands of Old Valyria to live out their days in isolation. Stannis tells Shereen that when she was a baby, he was told to send her to Old Valyria to live with the Stone Men, though he refused and found the best care to mitigate the effects of her disease. While she was lucky, we see that the Stone Men of Old Valyria are not, as they add to the dark magic of Old Valyria. And though Jorah successfully fights them off, he has been infected by the disease himself. It is unclear whether we will ever see Old Valyria again, but we should consider ourselves lucky to have gotten glimpse of the place where it all began — a place that would give shape to all the world we know today.

The Stone Men

EVERYTHING ELSE

In the North, the plot continues to thicken, and though we haven’t seen the White Walkers in quite some time, it feels as though winter is closer than ever. And as winter is coming, desperate times call for desperate measures. Stannis tells Davos that winter could come any day now, and without further notice, he leads his army towards Winterfell to take back the North from House Bolton. But Roose Bolton is anticipating his arrival, as he tells his son Ramsey that Stannis will arrive at Winterfell any day now, and implores his son to help him defend the castle. We are left to wonder how Roose Bolton will fend off the much larger army of Stannis and defend the North. Stannis also commands Samwell to continue reading his books to try and find a way to defeat the White Walkers.

Elsewhere, Jon Snow pops onto the scene just as Maestar Aemon is telling Samwell Tarly that Khaleesi is the last Targaryen with no family, stranded halfway across the world– another possible supporting piece of evidence of the theory mentioned in last week’s recap, positing that Jon Snow might in fact be a Targaryen, son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyana Stark. As the new Lord Commander sits with Maestar Aemon, who is dying, the wise Maestar tells him that it is time to kill the boy, and become the man who must make difficult decisions. He takes these words to heart as he devises a plan to make peace with the Wildlings. He convinces Tormund Giantsbayne that peace is best for all, and that with the White Walkers looming, they must all fight together if they want to live. But Tormund insists that the new Lord Commander come with him to convince the Wildlings himself. And so we see the difficult decision that Jon Snow must make, one for which he must kill the boy inside of him to transform into the powerful Lord Commander that he must become.

At Winterfell, Sansa is reunited with the almost-brother who she knew has Theon, who has now become the decrepit Reek. Over dinner, Ramsey makes Reek apologize to Sansa for killing her brothers, something Ramsey and Theon both know he did not actually do, concealing the fact that Bran and Rickon are in fact still alive. As Theon was forced to pretend he committed the murders of Sansa’s brothers, it appeared as though he was particularly averse to this command from Ramsey, and could potentially turn on him to help Sansa. Another potential threat to Ramsey is Miranda, the kennel master’s daughter who expressed her jealousy of Sansa. We also saw the message delivered from Brienne to Sansa, telling her to light a candle in the highest window should she ever need help. Sansa still has people looking out for her…The North Remembers…

And finally, in the never-ending saga that is Khaleesi in Mereen, as a result of the death of Ser Barristan, we see her first threaten punishment of the masters by having her dragons kill one of them, only to later acknowledge the error of her ways. She tells Hizdahr zo Loraq, that she will not only heed his advice and reinstate the fighting pits, but that she will also marry him…What?? When did that become an option? Oh, and let’s not forget the kiss between Grey Worm and Missandei, which is such an irrelevant waste of time that we won’t expand on it further. It’s unclear what Khaleesi’s plan is, whether she will actually marry him, or what the hell is going on in Mereen, but we are again left scratching our head and wondering when the hell she is going to get her eye back on the prize — the Iron Throne of Westeros!

06.09.14

by throneslifeblog

Episode 9 Recap: The Watchers on the Wall

Disclaimer: There are no spoilers in this article. Any views or opinions expressed are based solely on where the Game of Thrones TV series currently is and no other knowledge or information is presented in this article.

THE WATCHERS ON THE WALL

The episode leading up to a season finale is often more significant than the finale itself. Whereas the finale is tasked with the focus of bringing an end to season, the episode prior has the opportunity to still deliver a some poignant messages, before things come to an end in the finale. And in The Watchers on the Wall, the second to last episode of this season, a powerful experience is exactly what we got as we were immersed in the greatest battle scene of Thrones history. So powerful a battle that it commanded every second of the episode, quickly making most of us forget about the extraordinarily heart-wrenching death of Prince Oberyn from last week. But why was this battle so significant that it needed to consume the entire 50-minute episode?

For starters, battle scenes are extremely rare in the Thrones world. Although battle may always seem present and the prospect of war is always lurking, it is is a very rare occurrence to actually see the battles that go down. In fact, in nearly 40 episodes, we’ve only seen one true battle — the epic Battle of Blackwater Bay, when Stannis nearly sacked King’s Landing. So, when we do see battle, it is a rare, and generally massive experience.

And all the more so when the battle has been building up for such a long period of time. In this case, the progression of the Wildling siege on the Wall has been developing for dozens of episodes — dating all the way back to early last season when Jon Snow infiltrated the Wildlings to learn of their plans. Compared to how immersed we are in other plot-lines, perhaps we felt removed from the build-up of this battle, probably due to the fact that this entire season we have not seen or heard from Mance Rayder or the army he has been uniting. Yet, episode after episode we were reminded that war was coming as the Wildlings inched closer to the Wall. And tonight, the multi-season development of the Wildling attack on the Wall reached climax and quickly became very real.

But, beyond the rarity of actually seeing a battle scene in this world, and beyond that this battle had been building up for so long, this episode was meaningful for more profound reasons. As with most everything in this world, the significance of this battle was not the battle itself — but rather the ways in which each character was exposed by the battle. Whether revealing men as cowards or providing them a platform to become heroes; whether demonstrating a man’s purpose or taking from them the person they love — this battle provided a lens through which we were able to see deeper into the soles of each character.

IN THE FACE OF DEATH, WHO WILL WE BECOME?

Most of us will never face imminent death. But what if we were faced with the prospect of realizing that death was so likely and so close for us, how would we react? Who would we become? Death is the great revealer and for the brothers of the Night’s Watch who faced imminent death, these were questions they were forced to answer. And, in the face of death, we saw who each man became — we saw the truth of each character. And therein lies the magic of this episode.

Men like Jon Snow proved their heroism and bravery — the prospect of death was unimportant compared to the duty of protecting the Wall. Fear was not an option and Jon took lead from atop the Wall as he shouted out his first commands. And when it was time to join the fight at the bottom of the Wall, we saw just how skilled a warrior he has become, taking down many Wildlings including Styr.

Ser Alliser Thorne was another of the episode’s heroes, proving himself a worthy commander of the Night’s Watch, at least in battle. As unlikable of a character as he has been, perspective is offered in an episode like this and we see the truth of his character; we quickly forget about his unlikability and only care to respect him for his valor in leading the Night’s Watch and courageously fighting back in the face of death. He took the fight to the much larger Tormund Giantsbane, though he sustained a deadly wound before being dragged away.

Grenn was another hero of the episode, serving Jon Snow loyally and obeying his orders to protect the inner gate. Facing down a giant, Grenn quelled the fears of his brothers and kept them united to fight. And though we do not see the fight scene, we learn that Grenn and the others fought valiantly and gave their lives to protect the gate, while also succeeding in killing the giant. In the face of death, when everything else was stripped away, we saw true greatness in the soles of these men.

On the other hand, we saw the ways in which certain characters were completely crippled by the fear that overtook them. Truly believing that death was so close for him, Pip was unable to fight, and as result, he took one of Ygritte’s arrows to the throat before dying in Samwell’s arms. Even worse, Ser Janos Slynt, a man who was once Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, completely deserted the fight and took cover behind a locked door. He abandoned his vows and his brothers, showing the truth of what he was made of.

THE WILDLING ARMY

For nearly two seasons, we have been hearing about the Wildling army that Mance Rayder has assembled. And we finally got to see it, or rather a small portion of it. We see the giants that Mance was able to get to fight for him and the giant mammoths that they ride. To unite over 90 clans of Wildlings to fight together as one united army is something that nobody has ever been able to do before Mance Rayder. We are reminded of the dialogue last season when Jon Snow asked Mance how he did it, to which he responded, “I told them we would all die if we didn’t get south. It’s the truth.” So, while this battle for the Night’s Watch was about fighting back the Wildlings, for the Wildlings, it’s not really about fighting the Night’s Watch, but rather doing what is necessary to get out of the North. That Mance was able to unite all the Wildlings of the North in their quest to march south is an alarming reminder that Winter is Coming and perhaps the threat of imminent death is coming on a much larger scale.

DEFENDING THE WALL

Another layer to the episode that was particularly gripping was getting to actually see the reality of being The Watchers on the Wall — the absolute last hope and line of defense between the Seven Kingdoms and all the threats that lurk north of the Wall. It was amazing to see the intricacies of the top of the Wall — intricacies that were built by Brandon Stark over 8,000 years ago, using the help of giants and the magic of the Children of the Forest. It was equally special to actually witness the way the Night’s Watch defends the Wall, using tactics and strategies that have been practiced for thousands of years. Prior to this episode, we had understood that this Wall was a defense structure and that the Night’s Watch defends the wall, but we had no idea exactly how the Wall was constructed, especially atop, or the way the Night’s Watch actually protects the Wall. We finally got to see the Night’s Watch defend the Wall from the rare position of being 700 feet in the sky.

LOVE IS THE DEATH OF DUTY

Even in an action-packed episode depicting a bloody battle, love finds its way in. Samwell is discovered reading about the Wildlings, fearful of what they have done to Gilly after they raided the brothel in Mole’s Town where she had been staying. Maestar Aemon tells Samwell that “Love is the death of duty,” suggesting that one cannot love a woman and also be dutiful to the Night’s Watch. Maestar Aemon goes on to speak of a girl that he once loved and the vision of her that he still holds on to. As a man who cannot see the world around him, Maestar Aemon tells Samwell that the visual memory of the girl he once loved is in fact more real to him than is Samwell. Maestar Aemon also re-reveals that he is a Targaryen and that he was next in line to be a Targaryen king, yet he passed to become a maestar. Though this had been subtly revealed to viewers already, most were probably unaware that he was a Targaryen. Maestar Aemon was the uncle of the Mad King and is great uncle to Khaleesi, but he is so old and has been so far away at the Wall for so many years that most are completely unaware that he is a living Targaryen. For viewers, previously, it was thought that Khaleesi was the last living Targaryen — it is interesting to consider the potential implications of the reveal that she in fact has a great uncle alive on Westeros.

At that moment, Samwell has chosen love over duty. Or rather, love had chosen him. But perhaps Maestar Aemon’s wise words change this, as he tells Gilly that he must go join the fight after the two reunite. What is most revealing is his reason for joining the battle with the rest. He tells Gilly, “I made a promise to the brothers of the Night’s Watch. I have to keep it because that’s what men do.” In this one line, the entire truth of Samwell’s character is established — he is merely a boy on a quest to become a man. He does not join the fight out of bravery or wanting to defend the Wall. He joins because honoring an oath is what men do. And he is desperately trying becoming a man. Once he has this realization and kisses Gilly, everything has changed for him. He tells Pip that in the moment he killed a White Walker, he had no fear because he was nothing — and when you’re nothing, you have nothing to lose or fear. But now, in this battle he has fear, as he tells Pip, “I am no longer nothing.”

Unlike Samwell who at moments chose love over duty, Jon Snow has chosen duty over love. Sadly, Ygritte has chosen love over duty, and for this love, she gives her life. Despite all her talk of killing Jon Snow, when faced with the opportunity, she was unable to kill the man she loved. And with the kind of irony that can only be found in the Thrones world, we see that the arrow that kills her is shot by Olly, the unlikeliest of people — the young boy who had picked up a weapon on Samwell’s recommendation. And as Jon Snow holds the woman he loves and she takes her last dying breaths, the entire scene makes a powerful shift from a massive battle being fought by hundreds, to the world of just two people. We are brought into Jon’s consciousness as everything around him is faded out and we must watch the sadly beautiful scene of him holding the woman he loves as she dies in his arms, telling him that she wished they just stayed in the cave.

The death of Ygritte is particularly heart-wrenching because of how special the love was between her and Jon Snow, and the opportunity they had to act on their love and leave everything else behind. After meeting her, Jon Snow could have, and should have disappeared to spend the rest of his life with the woman he knew he loved. But, in a world where most people would fight for love, Jon Snow’s nature was to fight for duty over love. Sadly, Ygritte would have abandoned her duty to the Wildlings in a heartbeat to live a life with the man she loved. Though brave and valiant, Jon Snow was naive in the way he believed he needed to honor all the codes and oaths — things that Ygritte viewed as just words. How could these words be more important than love? And it was this naivety that Ygritte was probably referring to all the times she said, “You know nothing, Jon Snow.”

A DEPLETED NIGHT’S WATCH

In the aftermath of this bloody battle, we see just how undermanned the Night’s Watch truly is, and how unprepared they are to fight back the Wildling army. Once a great and powerful order, at the time of its formation, the Watch is said to have had 10,000 men that manned 19 castles along the Wall. Today, their numbers have dwindled down to less than 100. Though the Wall was built after the Long Night, over the next 8,000 years, the White Walkers never really came. Over time, people began to doubt the true existence of the White Walkers and the danger of their threat. The Long Night became more myth than truth and the Night’s Watch found themselves defending the realm from Wilding raids, rather than a White Walker invasion. The Seven Kingdoms began to forget the true purpose and importance of the Watch and they received less and less support each year from the rest of Westeros. And now, today, the Night’s Watch, with less than 100 men, is tasked with keeping out the Wildling army of over 100,000. Jon Snow tells Samwell that Mance Rayder was merely testing their defenses and that they have no chance at defeating the Wildlings, who will attack again at nightfall. Jon Snow leaves the Wall to seek out Mance Rayder, as he believes this is the only chance of defeating the Wildlings. Before he leaves, he gives his sword, Longclaw, to Samwell for safekeeping.Where he is going, his sword will do him no good, and he wants to protect the family sword given to him by Lord Commander Mormont.With Jon Snow gone and Ser Alliser badly wounded, who will take leadership of the Night’s Watch? And what is even left to lead?

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