I’m filling in this week with Game of Thrones, as regular reviewer T. Dawson is off gallivanting across Great Britain on vacation.
Last nights episode, which begins in the immediate wake of what fans have dubbed, The Purple Wedding, felt a bit, well, less impactful than the show previous episodes. Of course, no one could have hoped to match some of the insane happenings as of late, so this episode served to give viewers a brief respite in the wake of madness, while still putting added focus on the troubles within House Lannister.
After the quick recounting of events the show begins in earnest inside the Great Sept of Baelor. It is here we are offered a number of scenes that show just how dysfunctional and morose the members of House Lannister truly are. And all of this is happening with the young, now dead, kings body on display in the center of the Great Sept.
While I am new to the series, (I’ve read the books several times) the work of Charles Dance as Tywin Lannister, is exceptional, and he manages to easily steal every scene he’s in. That is saying a lot, as the cast of Game of Thrones are all at the top of their game.
Tywin is always thinking of the family, more specifically the Dynasty that he is trying to create, even if this means being cold to the feelings of those closest to him, including his own daughter. While we watch as Cersei and her youngest, now next in line to become king, Tommen, look upon Joffery’s body lying in royal garb in the center of the Sept, we see just how concerned Tywin is with his idea of a Lannister Dynasty.
Tywin begins speaking with young Tommen, questioning him about what it takes to be a good king. As Tywin is still the king’s hand, and Tommen is now to be king, the lessons have already begun even though Joffrey’s body is still freshly dead. Ignoring Cersei altogether, Tywin gives a history lesson on a number of the past kings, asking Tommen what in fact makes for a great king. We hear of Robert Baratheon (Tommens late father) and other who ruled before, expunging on why each failed to become a truly great king. Tommen finally says that a great king must be wise and Tywin agrees, saying that his brother Joffrey was not a wise king which is why he died so young. This is all of course part of the plan, as Tywin is manipulating young Tommen into trusting his advisors, thus giving him the power to mold the future of house Lannister, while Tommen grows into adulthood.
As Tywin leaves the Sept with Tommen in tow, we see Jamie enter and offer a hand (his good one) to Tommen, proclaiming that he will protect him. As Jamie is descending the steps to met with Cersei we get what is probably the most powerful and brutal scene of the episode, and perhaps any so far. With the two siblings alone, and looking down at their son’s cold, lifeless body, Cersei demands that Jamie kill his brother Tyrion because she believes that he is responsible for Joffrey’s death.
This is the point where emotion gets the best of both siblings, as they kiss passionately over the corpse of their son. Cersei does pull away, mumbling about them being in their son’s presence, but Jamie loses all control and proceeds to take his sister right there on the floor of the Sept. Cersei tries to fight Jamie pleading, “Stop, stop” multiple times, but Jamie dosen’t even bat an eye of remorse in his actions. The scene closes with Cersei calling out, “It’s not right.” as Jamie retorts, “I don’t care.” We then cut as Cersei’s hand clutches the sheet that Joffrey’s body has been laid on causing his corpse to violently shake as Jamie continues the rape of his sister.
While the Red Wedding, and the subsequent Purple Wedding were both brutal in their depiction of wanton death and murder, this small scene in the Sept may in fact be the most brutal of any scene earlier in the series. With Jamie still dealing not only with the death of his son, but with the loss of his sword hand, he has been left in an impotent state. That, coupled with the fact that his sister, the one person he loves above all others, has been spurning his sexual advances since his return, puts Jamie over the top. That’s what Game of Thrones does with characters, no one in the seven kingdoms is black or white. Everyone is just shades of gray, and because of that we see Jamie, a man who the audience have seen go through a sort of self-redemption, turn back into the monster that he always was.
We then jump to Tyrion sitting in his cell as Podric enters, bearing a number of small smuggled gifts to help comfort his master. We get a nice scene of Tyrion explaining how killing Joffrey would do him no good, and that if he did poison him he sure as hell wouldn’t be standing there with a dumbfounded look on his face as the king choked to death. Podric explains that a trial is to begin shortly with his father as overseer to Tyrions amusement. We then learn that Podric was bribed to betray his master and in return earn a higher rank and status within the kingdom. He tells Tyrion that he refused, but Tyrion demands that he accept and make a better life for himself, saying that if his does not, they will kill him, and Tyrion won’t be responsible for his death. It’s a short but touching scene between the two, and shows that while Tyrion may be considered the freak and monster of the family, he is in fact the only one with any true redeeming qualities.
There are a number of other smaller moments that happen in the episode that serve to build other characters for future plot lines. We get Sansa being stolen away from King’s Landing to safety by Joffrey’s fool who ends up leading her to the safety of one, Lord Petyr Baelish who engineered her escape for his own purposes.
We also see Sam moving Gilly from Castle Black to a nearby village for her own protection. Sam states that the men of Castle Black are his brothers, but that many of them were violent criminals and rapists before they took the black and therefore can’t be trusted, as she is the only woman surrounded by nearly one-hundred men. While Sam may be doing this for noble reasons, the village in reality seems a bit more dangerous and less safe than the walls of Castle Black.
Tucked among all these new plot strings we see Arya Stark and The Hound as they are taken in by a man and his daughter, thinking The Hound a former soldier who fought for his side in the war. This of course leads to The Hound taking advantage of the hospitality by beating the man and taking what little coin the bandits in the area haven’t already taken. Arya is of course angered, but The Hound states angrily that the man is weak and that he and his daughter would be dead soon. As that is the case, The Hound took the coin telling Arya that dead men need no coin before the two depart.
The episode ends with Danerys approaching Mereen as a liberator of it’s slaves. After a quick on-on-one battle between a Mereen warrior and one of her company, Danerys gives a long speech about freedom before launching a volley of chains and restraints so that the slaves can shackle their masters and be free to join Danerys. I am aware of the love that fans have for Danerys, but so far she has yet to do anything truly worthy of that fandom in my opinion. She is more the conquer that topples cities without doing much ruling of anything at this point. She is living more on a reputation than on being an actual leader. One hopes that future episodes will show her struggles with the role she has taken, but until then, I only see her taking part in a side story at best.
There is a lot to digest with this episode along with a number of new plot thread to contend with. Save for the scene in the Sept between Jamie and his sister, the episode seemed more interested in being a set-up to bigger, much grander things. That being said, I think the route taken here helps viewers slow down from the events of previous episodes, while still getting a lot of meat to contend with.
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