Friday, May 27, 2016

Discussing Game of Thrones: The Door

* Spoilers ahead if you haven’t seen “The Door.”

Way to break my heart in new and cruel ways this week, GoT! Whenever the episode titles are announced, I try to take a guess at what they might mean (and am usually so wrong, lol). This one totally had me stumped, but it all comes together at the end of the episode . . . .

Ughhh, It's Littlefinger

Sansa receives a letter from Littlefinger asking her to meet him in Mole's Town. I was proud of Sansa for 1) ripping Littlefinger a new one for marrying her to Ramsay, 2) bringing Brienne along for backup, and 3) threatening to have Brienne kill Littlefinger. He denies having known that Ramsay was a monster when he brought Sansa to Winterfell and offers her the help of the Knights of the Vale, who are camped at Moat Cailin. He also brings news that her uncle, Brynden Tully, the Blackfish, has retaken Riverrun.

This Play Is Not Funny

At the House of Black and White, the Waif soundly beats Arya's ass again and sneers that Arya will never be one of them. Jaqen, however, is willing to give Arya a second chance but warns there won't be a third. She scopes out her target, an actress named Lady Crane, who's playing Cersei in a comedic satire that's not hilarious at all to Arya because it portrays Ned as a complete buffoon. Back at the House of Black and White, Arya reports back to Jaqen and figures out that the younger actress in the troupe has hired the Faceless Men to take out Lady Crane. Arya seems to balk somewhat at the idea of the Faceless Men essentially being killers for hire.

So THAT'S Where the White Walkers Came From!

It's time for another vision, and this one sees the origin of the White Walkers. It was the Children of the Forest who created them—to help defend themselves against humans.

Those Crazy Greyjoys

The kingsmoot—or should we say, queensmoot— gets underway in the Iron Islands, with Yara putting her name forward and Theon throwing his support behind his sister. But then batty Uncle Euron has to show up and ruin everything. Euron tells the assembled Ironborn that he's going to take his ships and join up with Daenerys. While Euron is busy taking a dunk in the water he loves so much, Yara and Theon steal his best ships and sail away, leaving their uncle to rebuild his fleet. Well, order the Ironborn to rebuild it for him, more like.

Confession Time

Daenerys is deciding what to do about Jorah. She still can't accept him back, but he also saved her life, so she can't send him away. He says he'll send himself away and shows her his arm. He goes on to say that he'll end his life before his condition becomes bad and then admits that he loves her. With tears in her eyes, Daenerys commands him to find a cure and return to her, his queen.

Melisandre II

Back in Meereen, Tyrion and Varys greet Kinvara, the Red Priestess of Volantis. Tyrion asks her to use her influence to help spread the word about Daenerys. A skeptical Varys brings up Stannis, who was also supposed to have been chosen. Kinvara creeps Varys out by talking about his past in very, very eerie detail.

This Is Why You Shouldn't Touch Stuff

Everyone is asleep inside the cave, so Bran decides to go vision questing on his own. He touches a branch and finds himself surrounded by snow. Then there's a horde of wights. Then there's the Night's King and his White Walker buddies. Then it seems like all of the wights are looking at Bran, and when he turns around, THE NIGHT'S KING IS STANDING THISCLOSE TO HIM! AND TOUCHES BRAN'S ARM! Bran wakes up in horror, and his yelling wakes everyone else up. There's a mark on his arm where the Night's King touched him, and the Three-Eyed Raven says they all have to get out because the Night's King knows where to find them because of that mark.

Strategy Meeting at Castle Black

I LOVE this ragtag war council: Jon, Sansa (who's pretty much leading it!), Davos, Brienne, Tormund, and, lurking in the background, Melisandre. I'm not entirely sure that Mel is trustworthy with this kind of stuff, but she did bring Jon Snow back. Anyway, there's some major strategizing going on, as the group tries to figure out which northern houses might still be loyal. Sansa pipes up with the news about the Blackfish and Riverrun but lies about the source, saying that Ramsay had received a raven before she escaped. Later when the two are alone, Brienne questions Sansa about her lie and also says that she doesn't feel comfortable leaving Sansa to go recruit the Blackfish's help. Brienne calls Jon brooding and says not to get her started on that Tormund fellow. BAHAHAHA!

In Which We Learn the Meaning of This Episode's Title

Meera is getting ready to leave and is happy to be doing so. As she's talking to Hodor, she notices that their breath has suddenly become icy, which means one thing: THE NIGHT'S KING AND HIS ARMY ARE HERE! All hell breaks loose as the wights descend upon the tree and the Night's King and his associates walk straight through the ring of fire that Leaf and her companions create. Inside the cave, Bran is in the middle of a vision back at Winterfell, where a young Ned is saying goodbye to his father before departing for the Vale. Meera tries desperately to wake Bran up so he can warg into Hodor and carry Bran out. Meanwhile, the wights are EVERYWHERE, and they swarm around poor Summer. Not Summer, too! :'(

The Night's King strolls into the cave and kills the Three-Eyed Raven. At last, Bran wargs into Hodor, and they make a mad dash for the door that leads outside. Leaf sacrifices herself, trying to buy them some time to escape.

After Hodor struggles to get the door open, he, Meera, and Bran are finally outside the cave, but the wights are right behind them. Back in his vision, Bran hears Meera screaming at Hodor to hold the door. The Raven tells Bran to listen to his friend, and just as the Night's King and the wights could see Bran in that other vision, the young Hodor in this vision can see Bran. Bran tells young Hodor to hold the door. The latter collapses and starts screaming "Hold the door" over and over again, until it just becomes "Hodor." So it seems that Hodor was destined to save Bran all these years, and now his sacrifice has been made. I teared up at the end of this episode, which I don't think has ever happened before, even after the Red Wedding, maybe because I'd read the books and knew that it had to happen eventually. But this—this was a total surprise, and it knifed me right in the heart like Valyrian steel. RIP Hodor. RIP Summer.

In the Next Episode

Sam takes Gilly home to meet his dad, and the meeting doesn't look very pleasant. Margaery is set to do her walk of atonement—with possible bloodshed in the streets of King's Landing (again).

8 comments:

  1. I hear you on the episode titles. I was like- The Door? Whatever does that mean? Um, now we know :( I'm not really a fan of the show Little finger. Do you think he was telling the truth about Riverrun? Obviously that hasn't happened in the books yet- will it?? I thought the play was well done and I'm VERY curious whether Arya will go ahead with being an assassin basically.

    I liked the war council too, that's an interesting mix of allies. Jon, Sansa, Davos, etc. And I agree about Summer. Ugh. Interesting that Leaf sacrificed herself- so they created the walkers but are now on the side of the human. I wonder if we'll see more children down south (maybe Isle if Faces). That Hodor moment (and reveal) was very powerful- I agree w/ you. I think this was one of the most consequential of the whole show- we learned the secrets behind several important mysteries this week.

    Very anxious to see the fallout this weekend! And like it or not we're getting glimpses of where the story is going, even if he does it somewhat different in the book.

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    1. I was trying to figure out if Littlefinger told any truths in that scene, and I'm still not sure, lol. I do hope that he wasn't lying about the Blackfish, and that Brienne isn't leaving for nothing!

      The play did a really good job of telling the story of GoT in a nutshell, lol. I think in Arya's mind, the Faceless Men were more killers with a cause than killers for hire. She does seem a bit hesitant about joining them now.

      I'm very excited to see the battle for the north, although it looks like we're going to get a showdown in King's Landing first. I wonder if there will be any fighting, or if they're saving that for the north story line.

      I'm still so crushed over Summer and Hodor! The whole time travel/destiny thing still has my brain spinning, too. That was some incredibly profound stuff, and the aftermath definitely has me intrigued!

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    2. I agree, I wonder if Brienne will meet Jaime in the riverlands. I know he's in KL now but I thought I saw someone say he goes to the riverlands later in the season? Not sure. And I had the exact same thought. Is she viewing the FM differently now, or are they testing her yet again?

      I agree about the battle in the north. I've been waiting for that in the books and now we're going to get it on screen first apparently. Go Jon and Sansa!! lol

      And yes Summer and Hodor. So sad... The time travel thing seems to be opening up lots of fan theories that seemed too bizarre before, now I'm wondering...

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    3. I was wondering the same thing- if Jaime and Brienne are going to meet up in the Riverlands, like in the books.

      I've heard that this season's huge battle is going to be on an epic scale like none before it. I'm really excited, since the show has been consistently raising the bar on the battle scenes. They've come a long way from season 1, when Tyrion got knocked out before the fighting started because they didn't really have the budget to stage a big battle, lol.

      Without having any new books to refer to at the moment, I feel like any fan theory could become a plotline on the show, lol! Looking forward to tonight's episode, for sure!

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  2. This episode. Hodor. My gosh, how heart breaking! So much happened and I loved it so much. I am shipping Brienne and Tormund haha, their scenes of looks and glances are hilarious to watch. This better happen before this season is over. Something HAS to happen. So much tension!

    The whole red priestess stuff confuses me a lot. Like how can one of them say one thing and another completely believe and say the same thing to someone else?

    I haven't watched today's episode yet, so I'll probably watch that tonight. So excited!

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    1. Yeah, the Red Priestesses can't seem to agree on whom exactly the Lord of Light has chosen, lol.

      I'm still not over what happened at the end of this episode! As much as it broke my heart, though, I have to admit it was some brilliant plotting and storytelling!

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  3. This episode....man! This episode devastated me! I'm just unable to can right now.

    First Littlefinger. Isn't it past time somebody killed this dude? I don't like him, never have since he betrayed Ned. And what i hate about him most is that you NEVER know where he stands. He is out for himself and himself alone. He better not have been lying to Sansa about the Blackfish. the only reason I do believe him is because I know in the book Brynden did get away. It looks like the events involving the riverlands that happened way back in the 3rd and 4th books is finally about to play out.

    I've always wondered the origin of the white walkers and now we know. My only question now is if it will be presented the same way when the book finally comes out.

    I love that Sansa has grown up and realizes that life is not a fricken fairytale. She is resolved in her next course of action and doesn't seem to be wavering. As for a Brienne and Tormund ship, I am sooooooo here for it! I think those two would be great together.

    As for Bran...I know he must be a very integral part of this story but that does not stop me from wanting to slap the piss out of him for his unauthorized shenanigans! Just lead the white walkers right to you, why don't ya!? And good, loyal Summer jumps into the fray to protect his master and doesn't make it. Heartbreak one here for me. I had to watch this twice to be sure Summer was gone because I was in denial.

    And poor, sweet, gentle, Hodor!! Imagine living your life from that time in the past on knowing one day you would have to sacrifice yourself in such a way. Ughhh and when young Wylis started seizing and shouting Hold the Door...Hold Door...Hodor...I was just done. My throat was all tight, tears in my eyes. Ghatdamb George for that!!! We ain't cool, we ain't friends, and he ain't invited to the family reunion no more! I just want to fight him in the face for this tragedy.

    RIP Summer, RIP Hodor!

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    1. My mind is still completely blown away by the final minutes of that episode. I got teary-eyed, too! :(

      I'm also kind of mad at Bran for going into the vision by himself, just because he had nothing else to do. The repercussions were severe, not to mention fatal for poor Hodor and Summer, and now he only has Meera, whom I feel sorry for because she's got such overwhelming responsibility now.

      Littlefinger is long overdue to be taken out. I wish Sansa had just let Brienne get it over with because he's still a wildcard. He'll betray anyone to anyone as long as he benefits. We're definitely getting a Riverlands story line; I'm looking forward to it, but my main investment is in the events in the north!

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