SPOILERS: Don’t read if you have not yet seen or don’t want to know details from E9 and E10 (the season finale) of the show.
Episode 9: A Dance of Dragons
Jorah (Iain Glen) surrounded by the Sons of the Harpy.
Some will say this was a betrayal… of the contract that showrunners have with the audience. Sometimes you can just go too far. -Ben Mankiewicz (What The Flick?!) noting some viewers’ opinions of Sansa’s marital rape
This would never ever, ever happen in a normal TV show, and that’s part of the reason we watch this show. -Cenk Uyger (Ben’s co-commentator) on Shireen’s death/sacrifice by burning
This was a VERY hard to watch ep (if you’re still watching)! We find out that, just before dawn, Ramsay and a few of the Bolton bannermen came and took ALL the horses. Also, the sellswords (half of Stannis’ army) rode away in the middle of the night. Davos (LOVE him, as always) is sent away by Stannis to The Wall. Davos wonders why HE needs to go when any other man would suit. He gives Shireen a present (a deer he carved out of wood) before he rides away. Poor little Shireen is walked from her tent to a pyre. She cries and calls out for her father, but the soldiers just lower their heads and do nothing. Suddenly, Selyse finds her motherly feeling (FINALLY), but it’s TOO late! Melisandre has already set fire to the pyre.
The second half of the ep was like something you’d see in a feature film- WOW!!! How cool was it when Jorah speared Dany’s would-be assassin!? (BTW, where did ALL those Sons of the Harpy hide their masks?) There was some heavy fighting, BUT finally Drogon flew in for the rescue. It was a GREAT ending for the ep!
Episode 10: Mother’s Mercy
Stannis (Stephen Dillane) realizes that he is defeated.
Go on. Do your duty.-Stannis’ last words (to Brienne)
There is no rightful heir right now to Westeros!-Cenk Uygur
Cersei is (FINALLY) punished! (FYI: They closed a lot of streets on location and used a body double for some of the shots, as Lena Headey is pregnant. I didn’t know re: the double until I heard A Cast of Kings podcast.) Yes, Cersei has done TERRIBLE things, BUT it was tough to see her treated in such a way. What will come NEXT from her, I wonder!
Is he (Jon Snow) dead? Is he alive? Will he be raised from the dead by Melisandre? (We saw Thoros do that before, BUT maybe she can do that, too?) And what about Theon/Reek and Sansa? So many questions…
Jon (Kit Harington) lies wounded from the MANY cuts inflicted by the Night’s Watch.
Killing and politics are not always the same thing.-Tyrion explains to Dany
My concern is that The Faith does not adhere to the same standards of proof as The Crown. If you’ll excuse me for saying, belief is so often the death of reason. -Qyburn says when visiting Cersei in her jail cell
I rose him up. I made him. I will not kneel before some barefooted commoner and beg his foriveness! –Cersei says of The High Sparrow
They weren’t Bran and Rickon! It was two farm boys. –Reek reveals to Sansa
So here we sit- two terrible children of two terrible fathers. -Tyrion says to Dany
I’d given up on life until Varys convinced me that you might be worth living for. -Tyrion explains to Dany
Sometimes a man has to make hard choices. Choices that may look wrong to others, but you know are right in the long run.-Sam explains to Ollie
I’m not asking you to forget your dead! I’ll never forget mine! – Jon replies to the female elder
As noted last week, my reviews of Game of Thrones have shifted to The A.V. Club, but I will continue to link them here for regular readers. Warning: These are reviews intended for book readers, so if you want to know absolutely no small details about the story as told in the books, you may want to steer clear.
Game Of Thrones’ investment in gender roles is crucial to its storytelling, but it also tends to struggle at times through lack of context. If I were to describe Sansa as a sexual prisoner depending on men to help save her, that sounds some alarm bells—but when you consider it’s a woman waiting outside the gates to save her, and when you see how she works over Ramsay psychologically in their walk on…
SPOILERS: Don’t read this review if you have not yet seen or don’t want to know details from Season 5, Episode 6 of Game of Thrones.
So many faces, so little time:
A girl is not ready to become No One, but she is ready to become someone else. -Jaqen H’ager concludes to Arya Stark
Arya (still sweeping/washing dead bodies) is once again tested by the other girl she has been working w/ in The House of Black and White, then later, by Jaqen. He hits her w/ a branch whenever she tells a lie about her past life. When she gets the dying little girl to drink the (poison) water of the well, Jaqen sees more of Arya’s potential. I LOVED how naturally Arya related to this girl. (I didn’t know that this well was the last resort for people who drank from it, but it makes sense now!) Jaqen leads Arya down through a tunnel to a long room- there are faces EVERYWHERE! Arya is speechless as she looks over these faces.
Unlikely Traveling Companions:
Do you ever stop talking!? -Ser Jorah Mormont exclaims to Lord Tyrion Lannister
Jorah (FINALLY) learns from Tyrion that his father, Lord Commander Jeor Mormont, is dead at the hands of some his own men. Iain Glen (one of my faves on this cast of FAB actors) quietly lets us know how his character is feeling. Later on, the two men are captured by a band of pirates led by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, who you may know from HBO’s prison drama Oz or ABC’s Lost. (This was a nice surprise- I didn’t know he’d have a role on this show!)
Take me to Slaver’s Bay. Put a sword in my hand. I’ll prove my worth. -Jorah tells the pirate leader
Tyrion does what he does best- talking his way out of getting killed and convincing the pirates that Jorah is a great warrior (of course, we know he IS). Jorah joins in by explaining that he killed one of Khal Drogo’s bloodriders (which he did to protect Dany and her then unborn child).
Young love (probably won’t end well):
What was up w/ the rescue/kidnap plan of Myrcella (looking so pretty/sweet) in the Water Gardens!? Talk about a hot mess! Neither Jaime and Bronn nor the Sand Snakes had a good plan. Bronn got a cut on his arm. (Joanna Robinson and Dave Chen of A Cast of Kings wondered if he was poisoned. Oberyn said that he put poison on his weapons in S4.)
Some viewers were happy to see that Myrcella and Trystane (son of the king of Dorne) had fallen in love. Tyrion arranged the match to protect the girl in case war came. But, come on people, do you REALLY think a couple will be allowed to be happy on THIS show!?
Littlefinger runs into Lancel, then meets w/ the Queen Mother:
We’re both peddling fantasies, Brother Lancel… mine are just more entertaining.-Lord Petyr Baelish (Littlefinger) explains to the young Sparrow
I absolutely LOVED the above line- who else but Lord Baelish would have the gall to compare religion (albeit a very extreme from) to pimping!? LOL!
Hmmm… why exactly did Cersei call Littlefinger back to Kings Landing? He works his magic w/ his words (as usual), and eventually reveals that Sansa Stark is alive. Well, THAT gets Cersei’s attention! Of course, he never says anything about HIS role in helping Sansa out. And can you imagine Littlefinger trying to rally the lords of The Vale in a battlefield!? Hey, it might happen if the Martells remove their support.
The Tart-Tongued vs. The Tart:
I didn’t trust your father, or particularly like him, but I respected him. He was no fool. He understood that sometimes we must work with our rivals rather than destroy them. -Lady Olenna comments
House Lannister has no rivals. -Queen Mother Cersei Lannister retorts
The scene w/ Cersei and Olenna was just perfect! And did you see how comfortable Cersei looks in the office of The Hand (where her father Tywin used to sit)? Olenna pointed out that House Martell has been providing “gold, wheat, and troops” to the capital, so she can’t have her house’s “future” (Ser Loras) locked up in jail. But the above remark about the Lannisters having no rivals was just dumb, even dangerous.
Faith, Lies… & (GASP!) Olyver:
…neither kings nor queens are exempt from testimony at a holy inquest. -The High Sparrow explains to Margaery
Next up- the inquest (NOT a trial) which involves Tommen, Cersei, Lady Olenna, Margaery, Loras (looking FAB w/ that beard), and the High Sparrow/High Septon (still in threadbare robes) and a few of his attendant Sparrows. This scene was pretty predictable, as Dave Chen noted. Loras denies that he and Renly Baratheon were lovers, even though we Loras mourned his death deeply and wore his king’s green/gold armor at the Battle of the Blackwater (see clip below).
Queen Margaery sticks up for her big bro, even saying that she swears to the gods that she’s telling the truth. I knew that the pro/procurer, Olyver, would testify against Loras (who should’ve been more discreet). But why should his testimony be held above that of a noble family!? It doesn’t make such sense. Shockingly, Margaery is taken away by the Sparrows, while Tommen just sits silent (powerless/clueless).
The third time is NOT a charm for Sansa:
…the last thing we needed was to have a powerful young woman brought low in order for a male character to find redemption. No thank you.-Joanna Robinson (A Cast of Kings podcast/Vanity Fair magazine)
I’m sure we ALL felt very sorry (yet again) for poor Sansa! She has been through SO much, but come out as a survivor. The dirge-like music as she prepared to go to the wedding was a superb touch, as was the dark/snowy nighttime setting of the ceremony. Sansa took her time to agree to the alliance (this is political, after all). Notice the evil/gleeful look in Ransay’s eyes? It was creepily apropos.
I agree w/ Joanna that focusing on Theon’s/Reek’s quivering/crying face as Sansa is being raped (yes, marital rape is real) by Ramsay was NOT a good choice. Why does it have to be about the man’s pain!? I expected BETTER!
Knightleyemma 