* Spoilers ahead if you haven’t seen “And Now His Watch Is Ended.”
Another great episode. Loving the show (and the books) so much, it’s almost impossible for me to take an objective look at each episode, but I think this season has been extremely well paced so far. In the past, there were some episodes that seemed too talky or were too focused on characters I wasn’t all that interested in. None of that so far this season, though.
Brienne & Jaime
I can’t think of a clever heading here, and especially not a snarky one, considering the situation these two are in. Here’s the thing about George R. R. Martin’s characters: he’ll have you loathing them one minute, then pitying them the next. Before A Storm of Swords, I hated Jaime and every smug, arrogant word he ever said. Then he helped Brienne. Then he got his hand cut off. His sword hand. Jaime’s a very, very broken man, but Brienne is there to tell him to stop crying like a bloody woman and pull himself together! You go, Brienne!
Lady Olenna & Varys
Hahaha! The interaction between them was too funny! Poor Lady Olenna—it sounds like there’s a Tyrell rose painted on everything she owns, including, apparently, her chamber pot. It also looks like there are wedding bells in Sansa’s future. There’s a departure here from the books—Loras is actually a member of the Kingsguard now, and as such, cannot marry. In the novels, the plan was to have Sansa marry Loras and Margaery’s oldest brother, Willas, the heir to Highgarden.
Parenting 101 with Lord Tywin
Hilarious. Cersei does not like Margaery, Margaery’s influence over Joffrey, or Margaery’s blatant hunger for Cersei’s place as Queen, and she goes to her father to complain. Lord Tywin, in a fantastic verbal smackdown, reminds his daughter that the Tyrells helped save King’s Landing from Stannis and that Cersei has never been able to control her son. I loved the expression on her face as her papa told her off.
The Nights Watch Goes on a Rampage
Well, some of them do, including Rast, the turd who’s been ragging on Sam. The chaos starts when Craster is accused of hoarding his food, an accusation that he totally does not appreciate. Swords, axes, and knives all come out, and Commander Mormont is killed in the melee. If only he’d been able to finish strangling Rast before he died.
The Worst Game Ever
So we find out that Theon’s rescuer is NOT that at all (I’m almost positive that he’s really Ramsay Snow, the sadistic bastard son of Roose Bolton). As part of some twisted hunting game, he’s led Theon straight back to torture. Here’s yet another case of me despising a character and then having to do a 180 with my opinion. That line about how his real father died in King’s Landing was gut-wrenching. Look, I wanted Theon to pay for what he did at Winterfell, but Ramsay is one sick, sick, sick psycho, and if you thought things were already bad for Theon, they’re about to get a lot worse.
The Hound on Trial
It’s meet-and-greet time with Lord Beric Dondarrion, aka the Lightning Lord, aka the guy who was sent by Ned Stark wayyy back in the first book/first season to bring the King’s Justice to the Mountain. Now a worse-for-wear-looking Lord Beric leads the Brotherhood without Banners, and the recently captured Hound stands accused of murder. The Hound is, unsurprisingly, defiant, using the old “But I was just doing my job as King Joffrey’s sworn shield” defense. Arya reminds him how he killed her friend, the butcher’s boy, but with no other witnesses, Lord Beric calls for trial by combat. Things are about to literally light up in that cave.
Dracarys
I have to admit, this was a badass scene! First, though, I’d like to say that Ser Jorah, who didn’t actually say anything in this episode, was looking especially hot, just standing there in his armor, all ready to fight. Mmmm. Anyway, everyone, and I mean everyone, gets the surprise of their lives when Daenerys starts rattling off commands to her newly purchased Unsullied in perfect Valyrian. GASP! She understood every insulting word that chrome-domed Kraznys said! The whole freaking time! Dany commands the Unsullied to slay the masters but harm no children, and then, in a moment of sheer epicness, commands her dragon (I assume it’s Drogon) to barbecue Kraznys. By the time all is said and done, Astapor is smoking. Like I said, BADASS!
Things We Learned from This Episode
- “Growing Strong” is not a very fear-inducing house motto.
- I don’t think I want to be around when Varys opens up his daily UPS/FedEx deliveries.
- Cersei is not as clever as she thinks she is. (We all knew that already, but it’s worth repeating.)
In the Next Episode
The Hound and Lord Beric spar; Jaime is taken before Roose Bolton; Jon had better not lie to Tormund Giantsbane.