After the mic-drop battle at the end of last week’s “Hardhome,” it seemed as though Game of Thrones was trying to warn us that it would be breaking from its established tradition of crazy-ass ninth episodes. Luckily, that’s not the case; “The Dance of Dragons” was a hell of an episode: thrilling, gut-wrenching, and further proof that the show is course-correcting. After “Kill the Boy” and “Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken” I was having serious misgivings about GoT‘s fifth season – which remains uneven, all things considered – but I’m gaining some of my optimism back. Ironic that it would take such a dark episode.
Let’s start with Stannis, who is quickly losing me. And I was OG Team Stannis! From season fuckin two I’ve been Team Stannis. Anyway, it looks like Ramsay was right: he really did need just twenty good men. Now I’ll allow that Ramsay knows the North better than Stannis does, but this just adds credence to Vox’s theory that Ramsay is becoming an unstoppable supervillain. What have we seen Ramsay do that would lead us to believe he’s some tactical mastermind? He’s a sadist, sure, but so was Joffrey, and I can’t see either one of them spearheading some stealth infiltration like the one Ramsay pulled off. But let’s just accept it for the sake of narrative and move on, I guess. Ramsay is a problem for another day.
What his attack did was force Stannis’s hand. Shireen’s life has been in danger, one way or another, since Melisandre used the leeches on Gendry. As soon as Stannis sends Davos back to Castle Black, you know where this is going, especially after his sweet scene with Shireen, which firmly establishes Davos as one of the few truly decent men in Westeros. Shireen’s sacrifice is one of GoT‘s harder to watch scenes; it was bad enough watching Mance Rayder get burned alive, but this is a small child. It’s awful, quite frankly, but that’s the point. And here’s where Stannis lost me. I’ve always liked Stannis – he has the legitimate claim to the throne, he’s an asshole about grammar…you know, classic Trevor stuff. But he can’t come back from this, awesome beard notwithstanding.
My friend brought up an interesting point while watching “The Dance of Dragons”: characters seem to change their hair in some way when a major change has happened, or is about to. Arya chopped off her hair after Ned’s execution; Stannis grew a beard then sacrificed his daughter; Jaime cut his hair after his redemptive arc with Brienne; Jon Snow got a haircut right before joining the Night’s Watch; Dany’s hair was burned off when her dragon eggs hatched (this was in the books, but it didn’t make it to the show); and now Tyrion has a well-kept beard. The only other major storyline of “Dance” took place in Meereen; I’m not counting the Dorne subplot, because that’s more or less fizzled, sadly.
It’s hilarious watching Tyrion, Daario, and even Dany take turns needling Hizdahr zo Loraq, probably because he’s an entitled douche with a Drake ‘fro. Anyway, the Sons of the Harpy attack the fighting pits, and I have to ask, does Dany travel with, like, eight Unsullied? She is under constant threat; her wardrobe of exclusively blindingly white dresses just makes her an even easier target. Also, why not just search people when they come in, and execute anyone found with a golden mask? I just invented stadium security, you’re welcome.
I need to point out how much I’m enjoying Jorah’s story. Iain Glen finally gets more room, and he doesn’t disappoint. His facial acting is notably expressive; that look he gives Dany while taking out enemies in the pit is wounded and defiant all at once. Tellingly, she takes his offer of help when the attack starts. The attack itself is brilliantly directed by David Nutter (a Game of Thrones vet who most famously directed “The Rains of Castamere”) – it’s fluid, brutal, and intense. There’s a real sense of peril, which is saying a lot considering we’re supposed to be fearing for the lives of the Internet’s two favorite characters. Tyrion has always been great, but, as I’ve said a hundred times by now, Dany has had fuck-all to do this season. Drogon’s appearance changes that significantly, and seeing her ride away astride an actual dragon is a pretty awe-inspiring shot. We’ve been waiting for this since season one (at least I have), and GoT didn’t disappoint. It helps that the dragons look amazing.
To wit: look at Tyrion’s face as Dany flies away. He’s amazed.
A Few Thoughts
- Obara called Tyene a slut. Can’t wait for all the think pieces about that. A lot of Splatoon will go unplayed today so people can whine about Game of Thrones needing a trigger warning. Keep in mind, these whiny articles will be written by the same people who derided Tyene for showing her breasts. Maybe stick to ABC Family
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“You have a good heart, Jon Snow. It’ll get us all killed.”
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Great little moment between Jon and Ser Alliser, when it was unclear if Alliser was going to open the gate. Alliser’s grudging respect for Jon is one aspect of the story that GoT has absolutely nailed
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Good lord, I didn’t even talk about Arya’s plot. In case you don’t remember (I didn’t), she wants to kill Meryn Trant because he killed her swordfighting instructor, Syrio Forel. Meryn is also a weird pedophile type, so that should make the kill pretty cathartic. Also, it’ll be nice to see Arya cross someone off her list herself, instead of circumstance taking care of it for her. The list is badass, but if you don’t actually kill anyone on it, it’s just wishful thinking
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Ramin Djawadi’s music was fantastic this episode
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