Sunday, April 21, 2013

Discussing Game of Thrones: Walk of Punishment

* Spoilers ahead if you haven’t seen “Walk of Punishment.”

Sorry, no vlog this week. :( Ally hasn’t even had a chance to watch last week’s episode yet—thank goodness for DVRs! We hope this week won’t be as insanely busy.

All Hail the Blackfish!

This episode opens at Riverrun, seat of House Tully, for the funeral of Catelyn’s father. We meet her brother, Edmure, who is as much of an arrogant moron in the books as he is on the show. I did not feel sorry for him when Robb upbraided him for capturing one lowly mill, and losing invaluable troops in the process, instead of waiting for Robb and the rest of his men to arrive so they could join forces against the Mountain. Let’s forget about Edmure-I’m-Total-Crap-at-Archery, though. We finally get to see Catelyn’s uncle, Ser Brynden Tully, aka the Blackfish! His role in the novels is quite significant, so I’m a little surprised that it’s taken so long for him to appear on the show. Better late than never, I suppose. I loved his scene with Catelyn where he tried to offer some words of comfort as she cried over not seeing Bran and Rickon again.

Musical Chairs at the Small Council Meeting

Tyrion, Littlefinger, Varys, and Pycelle arrive at a council meeting with Lord Tywin. Once Lord Tywin sits down, Littlefinger, dressed as if to broadcast “I’m the Lord of Harrenhal!” quickly brushes past Varys to sit next to Lord Tywin. Cersei marches in, grabs a chair, and plops it on the other side of her father. Not to be outdone, Tyrion drags another chair to sit directly opposite his dad at the other end of the table. I found this whole scene hilarious! Littlefinger is maddeningly smarmy these days, particularly with his remark about how titles bring more titles. He and Lysa Arryn should make a great match. *Eyeroll*

Bye Bye, Hot Pie

Thanks to the Hound’s announcement in the previous episode, the Brotherhood Without Banners knows Arya’s true identity. I’m really liking Anguy, the archer; I laughed when he banged the Hound’s head on the wagon. And how sweet was it that Hot Pie baked Arya wolf-shaped bread as a parting gift? She is a Stark of Winterhell, after all. That line cracked me up! I’ll miss you, Hot Pie; as Gendry said, don’t burn yourself while baking the bread.

Beyond the Wall

Lord Commander Mormont and his remaining men make it back to Craster’s Keep, where creepy Craster is reluctant to allow them to stay there again. Did I mention that Craster is creepy? I think someone should make sure that he isn’t one of the Others because he certainly looks like one. Meanwhile, wth Mormont and most of the fighting men of the Night’s Watch away from Castle Black, Mance Rayder plans to march on the Wall. Jon, in a big test of his loyalty, is sent with Tormund Giantsbane to lead the way. Jon’s appearances have been all too brief the last two episodes. This might have been due to Kit Harington’s recovery from a broken ankle during filming. All I know is, I need more Jon Snow and fewer scenes at Littlefinger’s, ahem, place of business.

Run Theon, Run!

If I remember correctly from the books, after being captured at Winterfell, not a peep was heard from Theon until the fifth book, A Dance with Dragons. It’s interesting to see how the show handles a character disappearing from the novels for a while. I don’t, however, want to see Theon tortured/making a run for it every week just so the actor portraying him has something to do. Oh, and that dude who’s been helping Theon? My Spidey sense says not to trust him, either.

Sometimes Things Get Lost in Translation

Daenerys’s negotiations to buy the Unsullied have amused me greatly because of the HUGE difference between what the translator, Missandei, tells her and what Kraznys, that seedy-looking bald guy, is actually saying. Dany is one of my least favorite characters in the books, and watching this episode reminded me why. She gets all huffy with Ser Jorah and Ser Barristan for warning her in front of Kraznys against trading one of her dragons for the Unsullied. Um, they were trying to help you. That bit where Barristan talks about her brother, Rhaegar, annoyed me in the novels because she got this saintly, uberheroic portrait of him in her head, and I don’t think he was quite that.

Sapphires are Blue

Whoa! Jaime! Dude! I am a squeamish chicken, and once I realized what was about to go down, I couldn’t watch. The buildup to that moment was fantastic, with Jaime thinking that he had become buddies with his captor. Oh, Jaime. Yeah, that guy is totally going to cash in on your ransom, but knocking you off your pedestal trumped even gold and titles.

Things We Learned from This Episode

  • Stannis and Melisandre apparently bicker like an old married couple, though he already has a wife (who isn’t Melisandre). I cringed when he mentioned “another son,” because seriously, one shadow baby was enough for me. Eeeewww. I wanted to bleach my brain after reading/watching that scene.
  • Westeros is a very musical realm. We’ve already heard a snippet of “The Rains of Castamere,” and in this episode, we were treated to a hearty round of “The Bear and the Maiden Fair.”

In the Next Episode

Cersei complains to her daddy about the Tyrells; the mysterious Lord Beric Dondarrion appears; things look like they’re about to go bad at Craster’s Keep.

8 comments:

  1. I love Tyrion even more after that chair maneuver. It was a great episode, can't wait for this weeks!

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    1. That scene was brilliant! Tyrion had some great lines in that episode, but then again, he pretty much always has the best lines!

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  2. I loved this episode. It had so many amazing things. The badass Blackfish. Cute Hot Pie and Gendry/Arya feels. The chair play was hilarious, I was laughing so hard XD Who'd have thought sliding chairs around would be so funny! :D
    As for Theon and Iwan Rheon's character, I'm a little confused. I am still not sure what's going on but I look forward to today's episode so much...
    Amd Stannis, well he got a bit possessive. :X
    And I ship Jamie and Brienne so hard it hurts. :D

    Like I said, amazing episode!

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    1. This season has just been awesome so far. I LOVED the Blackfish- hope he's in a lot more episodes.

      If you've seen tonight's episode, the Theon mystery gets cleared up a bit . . . .

      Yay! A fellow Jaime/Brienne shipper! George R. R. Martin had better make my shipping dreams come true in the books!

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    2. Same. I have so many Gendrya and Jamienne feels. OMFG. He better deliver. And fast! :D
      And I'm JUST watching the episode.

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    3. Here's hoping that GRRM is hard at work on Book 6. I worry about the show catching up with the books. Hope you enjoyed last night's episode! About halfway through the show the cable went out, and I missed about 15 minutes. Good thing they repeat the episodes multiple times.

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  3. Replies
    1. GAH!!!!! I knew it was coming, and I still freaked out!

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