We all knew it was going to be hard for Game of Thrones to move on past Tyrion’s speech last week, and Peter Dinklage’s mic drop of a performance. But “Mockingbird” tried its damnedest, and for the most part it delivered. After the breathless conclusion of “The Laws of Gods and Men,” GoT had to catch its breath.
“Mockingbird” opens with Jaime chastising Tyrion for essentially throwing his life away. He demanded a trial by combat, but who’s going to fight for him? Jaime insists he can’t, saying he can’t take out a stable boy with his left hand. Next up is Bronn, who doesn’t feel like pitting himself against Gregor goddamn Clegane, aka the Mountain. “We’re friends,” Tyrion reasons. “Aye, we’re friends,” Bronn responds, “but how many times have you risked your life for me?” Peter Dinklage is quickly becoming the master of face acting. Tyrion is desprate, sanguine, but mostly scared, truly scared for maybe the first time in his life. Even as a prisoner at the Eyrie, he could bank on his name; here, he shares a name with two people determined to see him die. Tyrion’s unlikely savior is Oberyn Martell, who volunteers to be his champion, mainly because he wants to kill the Mountain. I’ve said it before, but Pedro Pascal is absolutely killing this role, and having a great time doing so. Oberyn is one of the best characters introduced in A Storm of Swords (the source material for seasons three and four), and I can’t imagine him being played by a better actor than Pascal.
Dany, meanwhile, is still holding court in Mereen. Daario shows up in her room, and explains his presence thusly: “Your door is well-guarded. Your window is not.” So you scaled a fucking pyramid to get up here? Holy shit. He asks Daenerys for permission to do what he does best: kill people. But she’s more interested in the other thing he does best, which is why she tells him to take off his clothes. Emilia Clarke and Michile Huisman have nice chemistry, and it’s nice to see Dany stop acting like a queen for one second and act like a woman.
Brienne and Podric meet Hot Pie. Two things are established here: 1, Brienne and Pod resolve to look for Sansa in the Eyrie; and 2, Hot Pie has gotten much better at baking bread in the shape of a dire wolf.
But this was an episode titled “Mockingbird” (the sigil that Petyr Baelish gave himself), and it included multiple references to the Eyrie, so something had to go down there, right? Yes. Hell yes. Sansa, looking more beautiful than ever, is building Winterfell in the snow, before Robyn wrecks it because it doesn’t have a moon door. Uh, that would be about twenty feet off the ground, you little dickbag; we don’t all live in the goddamn sky. Anyway, Sansa slaps him and he runs away. Littlefinger shows up and congratulates her on slapping Robyn, then he kisses her. This isn’t intrinsically creepy – older dudes kiss younger women in Game of Thrones all the time, you get used to it – but he did it right after saying that she could have been his daughter. Worst pickup line ever. I must have missed the episode of The Pickup Artist where Mystery taught that to everyone.
Robyn narcs out Sansa to Lysa, who holds Sansa over the moon door, threatening to throw her out. This is Chekhov’s moon door at this point; someone has gotta go. Petyr attempts to fix the situation, assuring his bride that there is only one woman he’s ever loved. “Your sister,” he says, and throws her the fuck out.
I’m a firm believer that Petyr Baelish will end up on the Iron Throne at the end of A Song of Ice and Fire. He’s the craftiest operator in Westeros, loyal to none but himself. A few episodes ago, he laid out his ethos: “I’d do anything to get what I want.” I think we’re looking at King Petyr of the House Baelish, first of his name.
A Few Thoughts
– Melisandre showed up tonight, mainly to show her tits
– Is there a better duo than Arya and the Hound? Since GoT separated Tyrion and Bronn, it wisely put its eggs in that basket, and Maisie Williams and Rory McCann continue to have some of the best chemistry on TV
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