“Blackwater” was about convergence. It was the inevitable collision between Stannis’ claim to the throne and the Lannister powers controlling it. In truth, Stannis’ side of the battle was pretty thin, sketched in without a whole lot of detail beyond Davos and his son. It was really about how Stannis’ attack changed the power dynamics at King’s Landing, whether through Cersei’s steely resolve, Tyrion’s ingenuity and intelligence, or Joffrey’s cowardice. At a stage when this was still ostensibly a show with the Stark family as its protagonist, it was an early example of the richness of stories in King’s Landing, capable of carrying an entire episode on its own.
“The Watchers On The Wall” wants to be “Blackwater.” Neil Marshall has returned as director. Mance Rayder’s not dissimilar to Stannis, in terms of development at this stage in their respective narratives, an…
SPOILERS: Don’t read this review if you have not yet seen or don’t want to know details from the latest episode of Game of Thrones.
I will answer injustice with justice. -Daenerys tells Ser Barristan after the slave city of Meereen is freed
Dany (Emilia Clarke) is badass here! She’s going Old Testament (“an eye for an eye”) by having 163 of the slave masters crucified. In the previous ep, we learned that this number of slaves marked the way to Meereen.
I liked the scene between Grey Worm (Jacob Andersen) and Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel). I hope they’re going to become friends (or maybe more?) in the future. But I still need more Jorah (Iain Glen)!
You were his first choice. He [Tyrion] named you as his champion, because he knew you’d ride day and night to come fight for him. You gonna fight for him now? -Bronn tells Jaime
The roguish, yet effective, Bronn (Jerome Flynn) just gets the best lines! And who didn’t love the (slapstick) scene where he beat Jaime with his own golden hand!?
You really asking if I killed your son? -Tyrion says to Jaime
You really asking if I’d kill my brother? -Jaime replies
“The Kingslayer brothers” sounds catchy, right? Peter Dinklage shows his leading man chops in this scene (as Roger Ebert said of his performance in The Station Agent). See his eyes? He’s so into the character! Nikolaj Coster-Waldau continues to show more shades of Jaime.
A man with no motive is a man no one expects. If they don’t know who you are or what you want, they can’t know what you plan to do next. So many men, they risk so little. They spend their lives avoiding danger. They they die. I’d risk everything to get what I want. -Littlefinger explains his motive for helping to kill Joffrey to Sansa
And what do you want? -Sansa asks nervously
Everything. -Littlefinger replies, sliding a hand down her arm
Let’s face it, we missed Littlefinger (Aiden Gillen)! Who knows what he’ll get up to next? And it looks like naïve/young Sansa (Sophie Turner) is finally getting how devious/dangerous he can be! I loved the “Who’d trust you?” line!
The following morning, Luther never made it down the stairs to propose to my sister, because the boy couldn’t bloody walk. And when he could, the only thing he wanted was what I’d given him the night before. I was good. I was very, very good. -Lady Olenna admits how she seduced her future husband, who was a better choice (for her) than a Targaryen
You don’t think I’d let you marry that beast, do you? -Lady Olenna (nearly) confesses to Margaery re: killing Joffrey
Awww, Lady Olenna (Diana Rigg) is prepping to leave King’s Landing! But, she still has some words of wisdom for granddaughter, Margaery (Natalie Dormer). What weapons can a mere woman use in Westeros society? Her body, of course! And Margaery’s got wit, charm, and cleverness (thanks in part to Lady Olenna).
That will be all, Lord Commander. -Cersei coldly dismisses Jaime
After that scene in the sept, what can we say re: Jaime and Cersei (Lena Headey)!? It’s a very touchy subject. Many viewers were deeply disturbed by how Jaime forced himself on Cersei. George R.R. Martin blogged that “I didn’t write the scene that way.” It was the choice of the showrunners and the director. This show operates in shades of gray, keep in mind!
We see Cersei drinking (not a shocker) and generally being bitter and formal with her twin. Jaime is confused and hurt. They are officially broken up now.
Before we spend our lives together, we ought to get to know one another. –Lady Margaery says to Tommen, the young king-to-be
This scene could’ve been creepy, but Margaery kept it sweet and innocent. And how cute a name is Ser Pounce!? Tommen (Dean-Charles Chapman) seems like a great little guy- so unlike Joffrey (thank the Old Gods and the Seven).
I’ll find her [Sansa] for Lady Catelyn… and for you. -Brienne says to Jaime after he gives her his Valyrian steel sword and presents her with a new suit of armor
Brienne (Gwendolyn Christie) is very humbled and surprised when Jaime gives her his sword. He explains that it was forged from Ned Stark’s sword, so it’s fitting that she use it to protect Sansa. Maybe Brienne will meet Arya, too? That would be cool!
They say the best swords have names… Any ideas? -Jaime asks Brienne before she departs (w/ Pod as her squire)
Oathkeeper. -Brienne replies earnestly
Dressed in her new armor, Brienne looks more formidable than ever, but there is vulnerability in her eyes. She and Jaime exchange some wistful looks before she rides off. Is this romantic love? No, I think it’s something beyond that. They just seem to get each other, though one of them is a tarnished knight, while the other is pure of heart and still honorable. Though she doesn’t use that title, Brienne is the classiest “lady” in the realm!
Not sure what’s going to happen with Jon, Sam, the psychotic brothers at Crastor’s Keep, and Bran’s crew. I’m esp. worried re: Meera- being a young woman in that place (shudder)! Did you see Locke (Noah Taylor) among the new recruits of the Night’s Watch? He’s one sneaky guy; he gets chummy with Jon right away.
SPOILERS: Don’t read this (reblogged) review if you have not yet seen or don’t want to know details from the most recent episode of Game of Thrones (Breaker of Chains).
SPOILERS: Don’t read this review if you have not yet seen or don’t want to know details from the most recent episode of Game of Thrones. 10) Tyrion toasts himself and the Lannister siblings:”…the Imp, the cripple, and the mother of madness” at breakfast w/ big brother, Jaime.
9) Jaime and Bronn (who has graduated from common whores to the wife of a knight- “she’s a screamer, that one”) practice swordplay on a secluded cliff. Jaime uses his left hand (of course); Bronn treats Jaime just like anybody else. (Jerome Flynn continues to get some of the best/funniest lines!)
8) We may’ve been happy to see Ramsay being dressed down by his father, Roose (“My banners not yours. You’re not a Bolton- you’re a Snow.”) However, as that (tense) scene goes on, Ramsay gains some points via Theon (who has revealed that Bran and Rickon Stark are still alive). Roose, now Warden of the North, listens intently to his bastard, and gives him another task (“…maybe I’ll reconsider your standing.”)
Theon now looks like a completely broken man. He finally learns that Robb (who he thought of as a big brother) was murdered. Alfie Allen will have some (more) acting challenges this season, I’m sure!
7) Varys tells Tyrion that Shae has been found out (we know by one of Cersei’s spies), but he can help her escape across The Narrow Sea. At the wedding breakfast for Joffrey, Cersei points out Shae to Tywin (who warned Tyrion in Season 2 that he’d kill “the next whore I find in your bed.”) Then we have the break-up scene- Tyrion tells Shae that she’ll “have a comfortable life in Pentos,” how he wants to be true to his wife (Sansa), then cuts her down so much that she starts to weep loudly (though she’s a tough gal)! Peter Dinklage surprised me in this scene, since I didn’t think Tyrion could be so harsh with someone he loved. 6)At Dragonstone (Stannis Baratheon’s stronghold), we see few men being burned at the stake for not converting to The Lord of Light; such occurrences were mentioned in Season 2.Melisandre presides over the event. One of these men is the brother of Selyse, but she doesn’t care, being a total fanatic. My favorite character is back! Ser Davos (Liam Cunningham), looks away while they’re burned. He tells Stannis: “He worshipped the gods of his fathers, and his fathers before him. They were the gods of your fathers, too.” Stannis doesn’t like such comments, since he’s also devoted to this new religion.
We learn more about Selyse later on in a dinner scene, where she tries to connect w/ her husband over their shared struggles during the war. She misses, of course, as Stannis is a man cut off from his emotions. Selyse calls their daughter, Shireen, “a stubborn little beast.” Stannis commands: “She’s my daughter. You will not strike her.” Hmmm… maybe he’s not all bad?
Melisandre wakes up Shireen and tells her more about her religion: “There is only one Hell, Princess, the one we live in now.” Carice Van Houten has such a screen presence!
5) “Bastards are born of passion, aren’t they? We don’t despise them in Dorne,” Prince Oberyn Martell coolly explains to Tywin and Cersei after introducing his “paramour” (lover/companion) Ellaria Sand. This reminded me of one of Edmund’s speeches from King Lear:
Why brand they us
With “base,” with “baseness,” “bastardy,” “base,” “base”—
Who in the lusty stealth of nature take
More composition and fierce quality
Than doth within a dull, stale, tirèd bed
Go to th’ creating a whole tribe of fops
Got ’tween a sleep and wake?
Perhaps George R. R. Martin (who wrote this episode) was inspired by Shakespeare there?
4) “And neither will you,” Loras Tyrell one ups Jaime with these words, when Jaime says he’ll never marry Cersei. Good one!
3) “But you love him” Cersei replies to Brienne, who’s surprised by this accusation. Jaime, the topic of this tense conversation, is watching both ladies (but can’t hear them). Gwendolyn Christie reveals more of Brienne in this episode with just a few looks: social unease, innocence (of politics), and good manners (even toward King Joffrey, who cuts down her beloved Renly).
2) All the insults, looks (inlcuding reactions of other guests), and tension between Joffrey and Tyrion involving the cup of wine 1)Joffrey choking and eventually dropping dead- just what we wanted for so long! (Twitter folks cheered with happiness, too.) But what killed him? The wine? The pie? And who planned it? So many suspects…
…this gentle and thoughtful director shows human nature running a very natural course.
It had humor, seriousness, lessons, insight, beauty, love, family, decision-making, sadness, reflections, invisibleness, self-doubt, invention, perseverance, respect, aging, determination, coming to terms when enough is enough and genuine affection in how feelings grew by words alone…
Here is the perfect film (from a first-time director) for smart/sensitive viewers who want an alternative to Bollywood. Neglected middle-class housewife/mother, Ila (Nimrat Kaur), yearns to win back the attention and love of her husband Rajeev, one of the many strivers in the new India. Rajeev barely looks at Ila, is glued to his cell, and often comes home late at night. With the help of her (unseen) upstairs neighbor, she creates delicious (vegetarian, as she’s Hindu) recipes, and packs them in his tiffin (lunchbox).
This lunchbox is supposed to be picked up each afternoon and delivered (via rickshaw, truck, and bus) to his office. However, it goes to a Sajaan Fernandes (Irrfan Khan from The Namesake, Life of Pi, etc.), a lonely/Christian government accountant just a month away from retirement. He likes the food, so an empty lunchbox is delivered back to Ila. Feeling appreciated, she decided to write him a thank-you letter.
The two lonely people begin a correspondence, bringing (much-needed) hope and optimism into each other’s lives. They share thoughts in their letters that no one else knows, from the mundane to the deeply personal. Are they just pen pals? Or is there possibility for more?
Saajan is dreading retirement, and postpones the training of his replacement, Shaikh (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), a younger Muslim man eager to learn/succeed. I enjoyed the slow reveal of Shaikh’s life- he’s got a fascinating story under that big grin. His character’s struggles and yearnings embody that of many modern, urban men. Siddiqui (still in his 30s), played a pivotal role in Midnight’s Children, and is an actor to watch. Nimrat Kaur is very easy to relate to; I’d never seen her before. She had a make-under for this role; she’s a very glamorous woman in real life. Irrfan Khan continues to (quietly) create magic- he simply becomes the character! He still has a long career ahead (only in his mid-40s). This is a must-see!
Knightleyemma 