“Home” is a ludicrously strong episode of Game of Thrones. It’s not only enthralling, it’s actually invigorating, as if the show just all at once realized how many great stories it has the opportunity to tell. It’s a remarkable achievement on the part of writer Dave Hill, who wrote last week’s “The Red Woman” and shows a real flair for getting inside this world.
To wit: how do you make Bran’s plot interesting? I’m on the record as being a huge fan of it, because I love when GoT embraces its weirder side (see also: Arya being blind and crazy). But at the end of the day, Bran is a paraplegic who has visions, notoriously difficult to make visually interesting. But goddamn does “Home” pull it off. It’s great to see Isaac Hempstead-Wright again, and he and Max von Sydow (playing Brynden Rivers, the Three-Eyed Raven) have an easy, lived-in chemistry that makes it easier to see Bran again after he sat out last season. But beyond that, Bran’s vision – of a young Ned and Benjen Stark in Winterfell – is genuinely compelling television. A big reason for this is because we get our first glimpse of Lyanna Stark, indicating that a long-standing fan theory will be confirmed this season; a bigger reason was a glimpse at a young Hodor, going by Wylis and fully able of coherent speech. Do I want to know how Wylis became Hodor? Kind of, but also I don’t give a shit; just the fact that there is a story there is a smart bit of world-building.
Season six is so successful this early on that it amazes me that the least interesting plot is in King’s Landing – and the plot in King’s Landing is actually pretty kick-ass. Cersei is gearing up to declare war on the Faith Militant, which engenders more confrontations between the High Sparrow and various people around the capital. In “Home” Jaime squares off against the High Sparrow, and Jonathan Pryce’s performance continues to impress me. A pissed-off Jaime Lannister is still intimidating, six seasons in, but the High Sparrow has this wonderful manipulative streak where he can get you to do what he wants while making it seem like your idea. It’s a complex, nuanced performance that rivals the character’s portrayal in the books (speaking of which, Dean-Charles Chapman is so good as Tommen that his character is now better than his counterpart in the books).
Other than that – and a nice scene of Tyrion unchaining Daenerys’ dragons after delivering a heartbreaking monologue to them – most of “Home” revolved around two big revelations.
Ramsay’s murder of his father isn’t exactly a surprising turn of events. Roose constantly reminded Ramsay of his status as a bastard, so it was all but inevitable that he’d kill the old man. I will miss Michael McElhatton’s casually nihilistic performance, but it provides some much-needed character growth for Ramsay, who, let’s face it, was always more of a garden-variety sadistic rapist. But killing his father, stepmother, and newborn brother is a good way for Game of Thrones to show Ramsay’s increased ambition. The crazy bastard wants to storm Castle Black! (I did like that Lord Carstark was immediately on board with this. Weirdly, darkly, funny.)
So: Jon Snow is still alive. I’m still really impressed with the way GoT handled this cliffhanger and its resolution; on the heels of The Walking Dead‘s dumpster fire of a finale, it’s even more impressive. But here’s the thing: even if Jon hadn’t been resurrected, the story wouldn’t have suffered. He left a real legacy, evident in the way the wildlings stormed Castle Black to avenge him. What a great sequence – that shot of the giant ripping the doors open, the Watch surrendering after only looking at him, and Tormund delivering a hall of fame “fuck you” to Alliser Thorne:
For thousands of years the Night’s Watch has held Castle Black against the wildlings.
Until you.
But Melisandre does resurrect Jon, in a great sequence that shows off Carice van Houten’s facilities with the language on this show. But what really sold me was her plaintive, almost meek “Please.” GoT‘s portrayal of Melisandre is a master class in moral ambiguity. She’s shaken after the deaths of Stannis and Jon, to the point where the audience is rooting for her – but let’s not forget, this is a woman who birthed a shadow baby that murdered Stannis’s brother, and who burned alive a little girl just last season. And yet we want her to succeed. It’s episodes like “Home” that prove Game of Thrones to be more than thrilling – when it wants to be, it’s really fucking smart.
A Few Thoughts
- I didn’t even get to the Iron Islands! Shit, “Home” was a busy episode. I’m enjoying the portrayal of Euron Crow’s Eye, and the Greyjoy subplot was always one of my favorites from A Feast for Crows. Plus, it’s a nice visual break from the rest of the show.
- Great detail: Brienne telling Sansa that she’d seen Arya alive.
- Tyrion had one scene tonight and destroyed it. “It didn’t even have to be a big dragon; I said it could be small, like me.” Peter Dinklage’s way with lines like these are why he has two Emmys for this role.
- Also, lines like these: “He makes dwarf jokes, I make eunuch jokes.” “I don’t make dwarf jokes.” “But you think them.”
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