Bookreaders have always been able to enjoy a sense of
smugness when it comes to knowing what’s going to happen next. Recently we had
the Purple Wedding, and people who had read the books had their cameras at the
ready to record the reactions of their unsuspecting friends. Well it seems that
changes are now in motion, as this week’s episode made several significant
deviations from the books, throwing a cloud of ambiguity over next week’s
episode.
The last third of the episode, based at the Wall and beyond,
are where the most significant deviations occurred. Some of them were smaller,
and carry more weight in book-form anyway (such as Sam telling Jon that he met
Bran, whereas in the books he keeps it a secret – at Bran’s request) but the
sudden addition of Locke to the Night’s Watch, and the enhanced involvement of
the Night’ Watch deserters, is entirely new. Not to mention the capture of Bran’s
group.
I can entirely understand why these changes were made, it
raises the stakes for Jon’s planned assault on Craster’s Keep and gives a bit
more development to the villains. With that said, I didn’t exactly enjoy the
lengthy scene of Karl, Rast and the rest of the deserters. The scene did its
job of making me hate these characters and wanting to see them die, but they
aren’t interesting or compelling villains; something the show otherwise thrives
in.
I’m also really intrigued by what’s now going to happen with
Bran and his group, now that various storylines are set to converge. Jon seems
poised to be reunited with his younger half-brother, and Locke (clearly up to
no good, as we last saw him set out to find the youngest Stark brothers) will
be caught in the mix too. The stakes are high for the showdown at Craster’s
Keep, and are raised even higher by the fact that this event is entirely
manufactured for the show. I can make some fairly safe predictions about how
this will all play out, but the fact that I don’t actually know what will
happen is very intriguing. For the first time since I watched the first season,
I actually don’t know what’s going to happen.
Elsewhere in this episode, we were given an answer to the
mystery of who really killed Joffrey. Of course it wasn’t Tyrion, although it’s
not the first time Tyrion has been framed for murder, for which he’s had to
face a trial. And there was more than one perpetrator, both characters who have
waited around the peripherals of the major storylines, avoiding suspicion while
influencing the Game of Thrones. Littlefinger played a part, demonstrating the
effectiveness of his methods (“I’m not going to fight them, I’m going to fuck
them”) manipulation, persuasion and ruthlessness, as opposed to strength in
battle. He also appears to have intentions for Sansa, as he was in love with
her mother, and as Catelyn is now dead he will likely keep Sansa close. When he
put his hand on her arm, after she asked him what he wanted was a very loaded moment.
But since Littlefinger was nowhere near the capital around
the time of the Royal Wedding he can’t have been the only one involved in the
death of the king. And as Littlefinger talks about his “new friends” the scene
transitions to the gardens at King’s Landing, where Olenna reveals (without
ever needing to state outright) that she played a part too. The dialogue between
Margery and Olenna also set in motion a new phase in the Tyrell’s power-play:
that Margery should get closer to Tommen, the boy king. There is nothing sexual
about the relationship between Margery and Tommen – although the show could
deviate from this – but she treats him very well, much to the ire of Cersei.
There was a significant backlash to the rape scene in last
week’s episode, and the writers seem to have realised that it was an error. Nevertheless
it happened, and we can’t pretend it didn’t; although it seems that the writers
want to ignore it now. Jaime was at the core of many of the King’s Landing
scenes this week, developing his left-handed swordplay, consoling one sibling,
confronting the other, and then redeeming himself for his release by gifting
Brienne with his Valyrian steel sword, and setting her the charge of seeking
out Sansa Stark and defending her. This is something we’ve seen before, but now
that the show is more established and we’ve spent more time with these
characters we can appreciate the significance of certain actions more: in Season
One Commander Mormont gave Jon Snow a Valyrian steel sword, now we see a
similar gesture again with Jaime and Brienne. Jaime has changed from the man
who pushed Bran from a tower, and attacked Ned Stark; now he’s giving up a part
of his legacy to protect one of the remaining Starks. Perhaps the rape scene
was one last gesture to demonstrate who the character used to be, further
highlighting the man he has become. I can’t justify the action, but that’s my
speculation.
And strangely I conclude my synopsis with the beginning of
the episode. Grey Worm received an impressive moment of glory, rallying the
slaves of Meereen to join Dany’s cause, and just like Drogo before him, proving
that a made up language can be surprisingly effective. There was also a scene
between Grey Worm and Missandei where they gave a brief insight into their
pasts; lives of slavery and oppression. One thing that I found unusual about
this scene was how suspicious Missandei looked when Dany entered, just after
repeating the phrase “kill the masters”.
Daenery’s won another impressive victory, without needing to
lose any of her army, liberating more slaves and winning more support. Everything
is going pretty well for the mother of dragons, but she is running the risk of
becoming more like the people she hates, which I think is the reason Ser
Barristan offered her the counsel to be merciful (be the bigger person, don’t
become the thing you hate), after all he knew her father: the Mad King, which legitimizes his concerns.
Another strong episode that really emphasised the ways in
which the show is changing, characters are finding themselves in new surroundings,
or amongst new companions. The show once again succeeds in making me feel
impatient to see the next episode already!
Oh, and we received another reminder that the White Walkers
are still out there, and are still a threat!
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