Game of Thrones, Season 6, Episode 2: Home
Well, that was a helluva eventful episode! A lot of characters return after several seasons' worth of absence. A couple of politically important players (if neither of them were particularly prolific nor iconic) kick the bucket, both of them gigantic assholes, and, a record for Game of Thrones, someone cheats death. And, yes, it's the one you were thinking about.
Let's get the big revelation at the end out of the way. It's a big twist, for sure, because Game of Thrones is the farthest you can get from the definition of an 'optimistic show'. The two precedents for a dead character coming back to life has been Khal Drogo, who came back a vegetable and ended up being mercy-killed. And Beric Dondarrion (mentioned in this episode), whose entire purpose in this show seemed to be to give the Hound a kickass fighting scene and to demonstrate that, yes, revival is a thing.
And, well, the Castle Black bit was resolved, quite predictably, with Dolorous Edd rallying up Tormund Giantsbane, Wun Wun the giant and an army of wildlings. Thankfully, as to not make Edd and the wildlings too unsympathetic, only a couple particularly aggressive Night Watchmen got killed. Though to be fair the sight of Wun Wun whacking a dude onto a castle wall probably dispelled all notions of fighting. Plus, as Edd notes himself, Alliser Thorne was the man who murdered the commander of the Night's Watch. So, yeah, it makes sense. Thorne and Olly don't bite the bucket, which is surprising, but considering Jon Snow goes around executing people that fails him, well, I don't see their long-term survival to be good.
We get a nice, sweet moment as Ser Davos and Melisandre confront each other, with Melisandre losing faith in herself and Ser Davos gaining faith in Melisandre. Granted, Davos has no idea Melisandre convinced Stannis to burn that poor girl Shireen, which I think might be a big contender for a conflict point in a future episode. Melisandre ends up being convinced to at least give it a shot, and while everyone ends up leaving the room after the ritual, what do you know, Jon Snow wakes up.
Honestly, was there any doubt? Episode 2 is really the only nice point where you can do Jon's revival without making it feel too soon and like they've chickened out (and honestly it still kinda reeks of chickening out), or drawing it out for like half a year or whatever. I'm... not convinced whether this will be a nice good get-out-of-jail-free card, though. It felt way too easy and way too optimistic for Jon Snow to return without any real repercussions, but who knows? All we saw was his eyes opening and gasping. For all we know it could be Bran reanimating Jon Snow's body or something.
Speaking of Bran, we finally see Team Bran after a season's worth of absence, and, boy, puberty hit Bran Stark's actor like a truck! We get a short flashback showing young Ned Stark and the previously-unseen Benjen and Lyanna Stark, with Bran and his guide, the Three-Eyed Raven, walking through the flashback before the Raven pulls him out and scolds him for almost 'drowning'. Bran also learns that Hodor used to be a totally sane kid (punctuated with a welcome reappearance of a younger version of Old Nan, who was absent ever since season one thanks to her actress passing away) with a real name and the ability to talk properly and everything. (Hodor's original name was changed from 'Walder' in the books to 'Wyllis', but considering Walder Frey existing in the TV show it would be too confusing I suppose.)
We get a short scene with Meera, who's just pouting, and that fairy forest girl, talking about an upcoming war, but honestly the White Walkers don't really feel like the big threat. Okay, they've got a big zombie army which includes a lot of Jon's wildling buddies, but the politics in Westeros are all so much more interesting!
We don't get to see Daenerys at all this episode, nor do we see her rescue team, but we did get to see Tyrion Lannister and Varys trying to tackle the dragon problem. While Drogon is happy flying around the countryside re-enacting Skyrim, Viserion and Rhaegal are still chained up in Mereen's basement, and Tyrion recognizes the need for superior firepower if they're going to face off against the Sons of the Harpy and indeed practically the rest of the world. The problem is, the dragons are acting like teenagers and refusing to eat. Also, y'know, they're dragons that can breathe fire and eat men.
Tyrion has enough balls (though technically he's the only person in that room who actually does physically have balls) to go down and try to talk to the dragons. Which just sounds insane if you don't know that Tyrion has a morbid fascination with dragons, something mentioned as early as like the fifth or sixth chapter of the first book. We did get an offhand mention back when Tyrion and Jorah saw Drogon flying in the ruins of Valyria, but other than that... it's not improbable for Tyrion to try something insane, though, and that scene when he just talks to the dragons is just pretty insane and awesome at the same time. Tyrion raises a point that attempting to domesticate dragons and chaining them up is kinda dumb, so he lets their chains loose at least, though he has enough sense to beat it after showing his friendliness and good intentions to Viserion and Rhaegal.
Meanwhile, in Braavos, we get a short scene of Daredevil Arya fighting the Waif, and then confronted by Jaqen H'ghar. Or the Faceless Man currently using the Jaqen identity. Jaqen II tries to play good cop, telling Arya to tell him her true name with promises of shelter and food, and eventually sight, an insanely horrific method of indoctrination and unpersonification, and Arya, well, passes with flying colours. "Jaqen" offers her shelter anyway, though just what the Faceless Men want with Arya beyond recruitment, well... It's nothing particularly as interesting as the other plotlines, but it's nice to see this.
Equally nice is seeing Sansa, Brienne, Theon and Pod just hanging around. We get a nice conversation with Theon admitting his guilt to Sansa, Brienne and Sansa catching each other up regarding what's happening and giving Sansa a much-needed update on the status of her family. Nothing much to really note here, though.
Nah, the biggest things that go on are in three seats of power. Last week we got the upheaval in Dorne. This week, several other kingdoms get torn apart as well. Where to begin? Let's go with King's Landing. King Tommen finally shows up after being absent last episode and the last few episodes of season five. He's... not indoctrinated as I initially thought, but he's just a super-confused little boy thrust into a responsibility he's not ready for. He's nowhere as ironclad and cocksure as Joffrey, and gets pulled in all directions by his sense of duty to his wife and mother as well as the fact that he also feels a sense of duty to uphold religion.
He keeps demanding to see his wife, so he's not keeling over completely, but the High Sparrow is like the hobo version of the Pope and, well, easily cowers the little naive boy-king. This leads to some friction like Cersei not being allowed inside the sept (though she mercifully chooses not to pick a fight), and Tommen only really reconciling with Cersei in this episode, apologizing for not doing enough to get her back. Cersei forgives her son, of course, because for all the shit Cersei pulls, she is a mother through and through.
Jaime Lannister, thankfully, is in not such a forgiving mood. He threatens the High Sparrow, clearly not giving a damn about redemption or upsetting the gods or spilling blood in a holy place, but the High Sparrow is a dictator in all but name, because he's all like, 'kill me, but hey, look at this army of fanatic cultists all around you just hiding in the shadows'. Jaime is cowed for the moment, since he is outnumbered and he's still fighting with his lesser arm, but you can bet that the clock is ticking until Jaime and Cersei lead an army of Kingsguard to burn the holy palace down. Honestly, this could actually lead to a team-up with Lady Olenna Tyrell, awesome old lady that she is. The High Sparrow is like chill and all, but I'd argue that he's only one step away from being Joffrey or Ramsay level of megalomania and douchebaggery. He's just more subtle, polite and hides it under a veneer of religion.
Also, the Mountain (or Robert Strong, or Frankenmountain) is going around bashing the head of some random peasant who flashed Cersei with his dick back during her walk of shame. Good job, Mountain!
Meanwhile, in Winterfell, Roose Bolton's son is born! And, well, the fact that Walda Frey-Bolton is pregnant has been a constant piece of friction between Ramsay and Roose, with Roose continually making 'well, I'm having a proper heir soon' threats to Ramsay all throughout recent episodes. It's just a question of who kills who first, and, well, is it any doubt that it was going to be Ramsay? And right after Roose was all overjoyed and went all 'you're always my firstborn, Ramsay'. Nope, knife through the gut. As if Ramsay Bolton will settle for any less. The Boltons' Karstark allies seem totally fine with that, though, as long as they don't serve under a Stark after Robb Stark executed their father so many episodes ago. So, yeah, Sansa Stark might be alive but a good chunk of the Northern powers are still Bolton loyalists.
Despite Roose's death prior to it, and the baby's death all but assured considering it's Ramsay we're talking about, it is extremely disquieting and nerve-wracking to see the events leading up to it. When Ramsay took the baby in his arms, is he going to squish the poor thing's little head? Is he going to bash him on a rock in front of his mother? The fact that this is Game of Thrones makes it doubly more likely that some gruesome scene like that was going to happen. Mercifully the show gives us a still-brutal but far less graphic scene. Mostly because it took place off-screen. Ramsay locks Walda and the baby in the hound kennels and basically set up mother and son to be torn apart alive... off-screen, thankfully. It still made me squeamish, but at least we don't get Ramsay smashing the baby's head on the ground.
Man, Ramsay, why you gotta be so psychotic? Stuff the baby's face with a pillow and be done with it. However Ramsay Bolton dies, it's not quite going to be enough because he can only die once.
And finally, the Iron Islands! Absent since... oh, season three, I think? Yara Greyjoy showed up a couple of times trying to rescue Theon. Balon Greyjoy is being a jackass, not caring that their troops are failing to hold the mainland castles now that the Northerners have returned after the War of the Five Kings. Instead Balon has the troll logic of going 'the other four contenders are dead so I win!'. Well, Melisandre's prophecy back in season two or whatever finally comes true, since Balon kicks the bucket this episode.
That was an awesome scene, by the way, with that rickety bridge in the rain, a very atmospheric scene. Balon is blocked by a hooded man claiming to be the Drowned God himself, rising from the depths because 'the dead may never die'. Euron Greyjoy, brother to Balon Greyjoy, is apparently a delusional madman with a god complex according to Balon, but damn if he isn't a smooth operator. He throws Balon off the side of the bridge, a long, long drop down below. This bits are apparently actually from the books and not entirely original, but hey, it's all new content to me.
Yara Greyjoy wants to assert command, but, well, apparently the Iron Islands operate on some kind of democracy and they'll elect a leader on a Kingsmoot... an election that Yara is almost assuredly not going to be able to win on account of her gender. Euron Greyjoy, though, has the credentials and the awesomeness to back it up, so I'm sure he's going to be a big player.
It would be a bigger impact if, y'know, the Iron Islands had been an actual contender and an actual nation in the past two or three seasons instead of just being part of Theon Greyjoy's backstory. It's not like Dorne or the Boltons where the events that transpired there are all still fresh. Still, it's nice to see yet another faction finally making its move, and I've always loved the nautical Cthulhu-cult-esque aspect of the Iron Islands and always wanted to see more of them while watching this show, so yay for that!
Overall, definitely a great episode. Looking forward to see what they're going to do with Jon Snow, but, well, basically everything else as well. Game of Thrones is firing on all cylinders baby!
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