*BOOK SPOILERS AHEAD*
George R.R Martin’s Westeros is a Darwinian fantasy in its purest sense, a world where the fittest or as Cersei once famously put to the doomed patriarch of the Stark family (‘When you play the Game of Thrones, you either win or you die.’), survival is a matter of choice. More often than not, it is the choices these characters that we’ve come to love and hate make that determine their future in the Seven kingdoms. Lying too, for that matter. Whether it is Tyrion lying to save his skin (and a lot more) from the Slavers or it is Theon hiding the truth about Bran and Rickon from Sansa, it is as determinate as any other factor of such character’s survival in the books (and the show). And yet, for all the delicacy of the over-arching theme of this week’s episode, ‘Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken’ struggles to find the right balance and drama which was characteristic of the first half of the season.
KING’S LANDING
Perhaps the Capital taking a break off last week was a good thing as Cersei and gang stormed back as the most interesting storyline of the series. With Ser Loras, heir to Highgarden under arrest by the Faith Militant, and now Margery, Queen Margery in custody as well, it would seem that the Lannister-Tyrell alliance has reached its breaking point.
The Cersei-Margery dynamic has always been one of the longer running personal enmities in the series. And now, with the Queen of Thorns in the mix as well, it would seem that the show is all set to begin another chapter in the cat-fight. The one-time Bond girl Diana Rigg is always a great delight as the Tyrell matriarch, and this week, she also gets the best re-introduction of the series yet. Remember book-readers, she was not in King’s landing during the Faith insurrection in A Feast of Crows, so to see her in the midst of it is a novel idea. The last time she went all Mama Bear was when she conspired with Littlefinger to kill Joffrey. And even though, I think the producers will mostly stick to the script in the books, it will be interesting to see where they fit her in.
Speaking of Littlefinger, the sneaky guy is back to the Capital at Cersei’s call, confidently telling the Queen Mother of Sansa’s presence in Winterfell. To be honest, I think I had the rudimentary gist of where Littlefinger was headed with his grand plans. But, with today’s reveal I am not too sure of the same. Is it a bluff? Maybe. But, either way, I wouldn’t trust him with anyone’s life, let alone mine own.
BRAAVOS
Arya too gets a show-in after her absence last week on the show, with her ‘assassin’s training’ with the Faceless Men taking the next step forward. Now personally, I was apprehensive about how the show would handle Arya’s arc in the 4th and 5th books considering the fact that unlike in the previous books, she is now handicapped by geographical and demographic limitations. Having said that, they’ve done a decent job so far and the re-emergence of Jaqen H’ghar has only helped their cause. Maisie Williams is great as always, especially when she ‘lies’ to get a sickly child to drink from the Pool. Now that she’s ready to change faces, if not become a faceless one, I’d like to see her stick people with the pointy end. (I call Ser Meryn Trant).
SOMEWHERE IN THE SMOKING SEA
It would seem that oddball companions traversing the countryside has become a staple of Game of Thrones every season. Whether it was the Hound-Arya or Brienne-Pod, this time around we have Tyrion and Ser Jorah Mormont, recently afflicted with Greyscale. And they make a fine company on-screen, one a nice foil to the other. Slavers capturing the pair makes sense, and is also more importantly (to some at least) only a minor aberration from the books. It was also great fun to see Tyrion ‘selling’ himself and Mormont to the Slavers, with Tyrion for once forgetting about food and wine to care about something he actually cares about. With the duo on their way to Slaver’s Bay now, it would seem that their meet with Dany is coming closer.
Random thought: Can dragonfire cure Greyscale? I wonder. With Daznak’s Pit coming soon, perhaps Meereen may well be the place Mormont must be at.
DORNE
If I was apprehensive about Arya in Braavos, I was excited (to put it in the simplest of languages) about Dorne finally entering the show. And yet until now, all of it has been underwhelming, to say the least. Doran Martell and Areo Hotah do nothing but glower, with the former seemingly robbed of the frail determination and calculative mind from A Song of Ice and Fire. Even the Sand Snakes have been a disappointment, with none of their duels with Jaime and Bronn this week really winning us to their cause (Badly edited and choreographed) like Oberyn did so well last season. In a show full of people trying to find a place to make their stand, they feel strangely like outsiders. Not to mention, I failed to understand why the Water Gardens, a resort of sorts for the Prince of Dorne was so poorly guarded. (Wage strikes anyone?)
*whisper* Is it just me or does anyone else think that Bronn has been poisoned by Tyene’s double-daggers?
WINTERFELL
Sansa Stark or rather Sansa Bolton was destined to be Jeyne Poole on the show the moment Littlefinger turned his carriage up the North Road. I knew it then that contrary to my earlier expectation (and hope) of Sansa becoming Lady Stoneheart overnight, she was going to take the heir to the Dreadfort in marriage. Which is why I knew what was coming for Sansa once she agreed to the betrothal. And yet, I was surprised that the producers agreed to go forward with the rape scene, considering the backlash they received last time around. Like Jaime and Cersei in Season 4, rape and its picturization has divided viewers once again. Now, it is not my place to debate on the necessity of using sexual violence and gender politics but, if the intention was to make the scene as disturbing as possible, they succeeded. That said, the wedding itself was beautiful, even though I wish the show had introduced us to Lady Barbrey Dustin.
That was all the action this week on Game of Thrones. No Jon Snow, no Dany or the dragons and no Stannis the Mannis, the one true king of Westeros.
For the first time this season, the show especially in its storyline down South is showing signs of wilting, not under its own ambition or self-indulgence, but its failure to make the characters count. This week’s episode may have had a lot of stuff happening across the chess board, but the reticence of the arc down South may just be endangering the entire balance of the show. It’s all up to Ser Jaime Lannister now. Jaime and Bronn, if the latter is still alive that is.
Until next week, Hodor!
