Game of Thrones - Season Three: Mhysa

In the aftermath of the Red Wedding, the consequences are felt all over the realm of Westeros. Additionally this episode does what previous season finales have done, and sets everything up for the next season. There are resolutions to certain storylines, but more often than not these resolutions are merely temporary: we’ve not seen the last of any of these characters.

In the immediate aftermath of the massacre at the end of last week’s episode, Roose Bolton overlooks the carnage from the roof of The Twins, as Stark banners are burned and Stark men are butchered. Arya and The Hound get themselves out of there, but not before she catches a glimpse of the Frey’s grotesque insult to The King In The North: Robb Stark’s headless corpse, with the head of his direwolf attached. If killing Robb and his people wasn’t enough, this image truly hammers home the cruelty of the Freys.

Joffrey is more smug than ever upon learning of Robb’s death. Anyone who thought that Robb would eventually kill Joffrey (especially during the Season One finale, in the scene when Sansa said “maybe he’ll bring me your [head]” to everyone’s least favourite king) will find this development hard to process. Even worse was Joffrey’s threat to have Robb Stark’s head presented to Sansa during his wedding feast. Once again Tyrion was the voice of reason, standing up to Joffrey and even threatening him by pointing out that “kings are dropping like flies”. Pycelle chastised Tyrion, stating that Tyrion’s remarks were “in very bad taste” which is rather ironic, considering the bad taste of Joffrey’s idea.

Tywin takes control of the scene, never having to raise his voice, and always maintaining a level head. Tywin masterminded the entire Red Wedding, all in the interest of ending the war and preserving the honour and prestige of his house. Joffrey is almost completely oblivious to how much Tywin has done to preserve his status as king, and gets angry. Tywin’s level-headedness, and calm tone does so much to undermine Joffrey in this scene, which is needful, otherwise Joffrey would be acting as though he had killed Robb Stark himself.

There is a nice call-back to the first season finale when Tywin sends everyone away, except for Tyrion (“not you”). Unlike their confrontation back then, Tyrion has grown in confidence when speaking to his father, and even challenges his decision making. Tywin responds to this by telling his dwarf son that he intended on drowning him as a baby, but because he was a part of the family he relented. This may be the first time Tywin has shown any sort of weakness, as there were some slight trembles in his expressions and his delivery. This was nicely underplayed by Charles Dance who continues to excel in the role.

Also during this scene Tywin explains why he devised the Red Wedding, and also proposed an interesting question about the nobility of killing men on the battlefield, weighed up against killing men at dinner. The response to this does not come straight away, but when Bran is telling the story of the Rat Cook (which has the style of a Greek Myth) he states that the Gods could not forgive the murder of guests at ones table. People have their rights to revenge, but to butcher guests who are under your protection is another matter altogether. Robb Stark broke his oath to Walder Frey and was killed for it, but he was killed after having undergone the ‘guest right’ tradition. The Freys have played their part, but their actions will not be forgotten (or forgiven).

Elsewhere in Bran’s scenes, his paths cross with another storyline, this time with Sam and Gilly. After all of the terrible things that have happened, it was nice to actually have something go right for a change. Sam’s recognition of Bran due to his direwolf, as well as having heard about him from Jon, was a moment of rare sweetness as the overall show continues to get darker. I couldn’t help but laugh when Sam offered to help in any way he could, and Bran asked to go north of the Wall. I also liked the interaction between Sam and Hodor. Sam fortunately had a hidden cache of dragonglass (although I’ve no idea where he kept it) and gave some to everyone in Bran’s group. They then made their way beyond the Wall, whilst Sam returned to Castle Black.

The Red Wedding resulted in some changing of the guard, now that the Stark rule over the North is at an end. Roose Bolton has now been named as Warden of the North – once Ned Stark’s title – and Walder Frey claimed himself to be Lord of Riverrun, although Roose pointed out that Blackfish escaped the Red Wedding, so that title cannot truly belong to him. This scene also revealed the identity of Theon’s tormenter (in case you hadn’t figured it out yet) to be Roose Bolton’s bastard son Ramsay Snow. This was then followed by an unpleasant scene concerning Theon’s castration whilst Ramsay ate a large sausage. This scene also saw Theon take on a new identity, no longer a lord, no longer a man, he is now simply known as Reek.

Surprisingly there was a scene at Pyke for the first time all season, involving Balon Greyjoy and his daughter Yara (known as Asha in the books). ‘We Do Not Sow’ are the Greyjoy words, but in this scene Balon comes to reap what he has sown. He decided to play a part in overthrowing the Starks, by capturing the North, but now the North is ruled by House Bolton, who are much crueller than House Stark would have ever been. A threatening letter is sent, along with a box containing Theon’s “favourite toy”. Balon decides that he no longer cares about Theon, but Yara decides to rescue him and rallies a band of killers and a fast ship as a part of this cause.

Jon was confronted by Ygritte, who angrily fired arrows at him, although none of them made fatal wounds, as she still has feelings for him. Jon eventually returned to Castle Black, falling off his horse upon arrival, from the exhaustion and also the wounds. It was nice to see that setting again, as the timeline of the past 19 episodes has been spent beyond The Wall. This also meant there were appearances from Pyp and also Maester Aemon. The old Maester (who actually looks less blind than when we last saw him) allowed Gilly to stay at the castle, and also sent ravens to all the lords of Westeros concerning the death of Commander Mormont, and the threat of what lies beyond The Wall. Such proclamations had already been made, but now they are harder to ignore. After spending time in the company of lascivious old men like Walder Frey, it was quite nice to see an older character who is wise and insightful.

This leads to Dragonstone, where Davos’ reading lessons come to fruition. Shireen made another appearance, albeit a brief one, pleading the case for books as opposed to scrolls of dull letters. Davos began to read the letter from The Night’s Watch, but was interrupted by the tolling of a bell, which rang to announce the death of The King In The North. Melisandre claimed that it was her blood magic that lead to the death of Robb Stark, but would now have to sacrifice Gendry in order to bring Stannis to the Iron Throne. Davos pleaded the case for Gendry, but the command was given anyway.

Davos and Gendry had bonded earlier in the episode, when they realised that they were from the same low-born background. Davos then used his smuggler’s tricks to help Gendry escape, telling him that he’ll be safer in King’s Landing than he would be around Melisandre.

Once Stannis learns of this, he orders Davos to be put to death. At this point Davos reveals the message from The Night’s Watch, and finally someone in Westeros realises that the petty wars raging throughout the Seven Kingdoms are nothing when compared to the greater war that is to come. Davos is not put to death, and will remain the Hand of the King to Stannis, although he will also have to ally himself with Melisandre.

Two scenes made use of silences, and facial expressions, as opposed to dialogue. First of all, Tyrion came to tell Sansa about what had taken place, only to discover that she already knew. This was conveyed by the sight of Sansa crying was she looked out of her window. Another moment was the reunion of Cersei and Jaime, who returned to King’s Landing looking rather different to when he was there last. Cersei’s expression was an interesting one, quite difficult to read, as she would undoubtedly be pleased to have Jaime back, but will have to grow accustomed to the changes he has undergone.

Some retribution for the Red Wedding was attained by Arya, when she and The Hound chanced upon a small group of Frey bannermen who had a hand in the slaughter. Upon overhearing them gloat about Catelyn’s death, and the mutilation of Robb’s corpse, Arya approached. She offered the iron coin given to her by Jaqen H’Ghar, before dropping it on the floor and using that distraction to stab one of them in the neck. Before the others could retaliate, The Hound stepped in. This is a scene worth re-watching a few times: Valar Morghulis!

The episode – and the season – then closed out with a scene involving Daenerys in Yunkai. Having overthrown the city, the slaves were all set free, and Dany walked amongst them, as they all showed her their love and admiration. No other ruler in Westeros has become as loved by their people as Daenerys has. I was a little surprised that this was the image to close out the season, especially when compared to the birth of dragons, or the white walkers and their undead army which closed out the previous seasons. This season is a little different, as the events of the third book have been divided in half. I had speculated over what the final image would be, but needless to say none of my theories were correct. The show-runners are saving a lot of big events for the fourth season, which makes sense. The only problem with this is that we now have to start the lengthy waiting process all over again until Season Four.

Upon recounting this episode I have only just come to terms with quite how much happened. A lot was packed into the hour-long running time, and there are several small scenes that I haven’t even mentioned here. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching this season of Game of Thrones. Maybe before the next season is released I may try to cover the first and second seasons here on my blog – I’ll need something to pass the time before the next season comes out!