It certainly isn’t getting any easier to write about this show, that’s for damn sure.
It doesn’t seem as if there’s any element of being a Game of Thrones fan for me these days that isn’t awash on contradiction. Even as the show makes progress, it retreats. As it offers me what I want from it, it forces two things down my throat that get stuck there and won’t let go. The Night King (or “Night’s King”, as George Martin prefers to call him) is destroyed. While that was a bit of an anti-climax (and not because Arya offed him instead of Jon, just generally) I don’t think that was avoidable. It’s freed the show to return to the far more interesting villain, and the far more interesting battlefield – that of politics and betrayal. With the White Walkers there could be no betrayal – only life or death. And truthfully, that’s kinda boring.
The trouble is, the showrunners have written themselves into some nasty corners with the human side of the story, and I see no reason to think they’re going to be able to worm their way out of them. My biggest gripe is tied in with my biggest satisfaction – the latter that the change in theme has allowed characters like Tyrion and Varys to move back into the spotlight. They’ve been cruelly underutilized as the fight with the dead has taken precedence, but we can see a shift occurring before our very eyes here. Beric is dead, Tormund is returning to the “true” North – characters like them as vestigial in the world the narrative is entering as Tyrion and Varys were in the one it wrapped up last week.
The problem here is that in order to make their machinations play out, Benioff and Weiss have to make smart people – like Tyrion – act dumb. This has been a recurring issue for the TV version – characters bent to conform to the needs of the plot and not leading the plot organically. Much of how one views this week’s developments and indeed the final arc of the series depends on how one views the worthiness of Daenerys to sit on the throne. Varys has the right of it here, obviously (as he’ll surely pay for with his life) but Tyrion persists in his idealized faith in “my Queen”. Not only that, he keeps acting in ways that rely on Cersei’s humanity to succeed – and how many times does he of all people need to get burned (pun intended) before he realizes that’s a fool’s errand? Fitting, as he’s acting the fool at the moment.
Maybe we’re set up for a “mad queen vs. mad queen” finale here, and that would be a real shame for Dany – not because she was ever a particularly good character or prospective ruler, but because she’s not Cersei at the very least and it would be a terribly anti-climactic (that word again) way to end her arc. I can’t imagine the death of Missandei playing out the way it did for any reason besides justifying Dany’s turn to the dark side once and for all. Will she forget her pledge to Tyrion not to become “Queen of the Ashes”? I hope not, but I fear the worst.
Then there’s the matter of Jon, for whom acting at the very least naive is at least in character. The pivotal scene of the episode came as Daenerys pleaded with him not to tell anyone his true parentage. It showed her true colors – she’s desperate to rule at any cost – and that Jon finally told his sisters in the scene that gives the episode its title shows his lack of understanding of how the world works. It’s hardly a surprise that Sansa turned around and told Tyrion within a day, despite swearing secrecy – after what she’s been through, a vow like that can hardly hold much sway over her.
That scene in the Godswood was a good one, a last chance for the remaining Starks to lay their cards on the table. Bran may as well be dead for all he contributes – the changes the TV show has made to his character and arc have basically rendered him a NPC at this point. But Arya and Sansa still fiercely fight to hold their family together, which in their eyes still includes Jon. What Jon wants doesn’t matter – he can’t hide from the truth, nor can he suppress it. He can either be king or he can die, but there’s no middle ground. Of course once he becomes king he can do away with the position and the throne, but that’s a matter for after the razing of King’s Landing.
A few other observations:
- Sansa seeing Theon off as a member of the Stark family was a nice touch. I think he wanted to be a Stark more than he ever wanted to be a Greyjoy.
- Jon not giving Ghost even a pat on the head goodbye? That was cold, even for the North.
- Dany giving Gendry his name and domain officially was intended to show off her political acumen, surely. But I wonder if there might be a bit of Chekov’s Gun to that.
- Gendry, poor slob, of course immediately thinks to propose to Arya. She did both of them a huge favor by turning him down – we all know that couldn’t possibly have worked out.
- Brienne and Jaime hooking up was a foregone conclusion, to be sure. But it can never be serious between them, no matter what she might want.
- Clegane Bowl is definitely on. I can’t imagine anything else possibly making The Hound happy. I give Sansa credit for acknowledging what he tried to do for her, just as she did with Tyrion. As for the dream team reuniting, I’m OK with that – he and Arya are good for each other, and one can be sure they’ll make it to King’s Landing in time to weight in at the moment of decision.
- I actually felt sorry for Daenerys (which is rare for me) when she noted how no one on this side of the sea looks at her the way people look at Jon. She’s of Westeros, but her seat of power lies elsewhere – she’s an outsider in the realm she seeks to rule, despite her birth. And one by one those closest to her (including Rhaegal) are being taken away. I can’t imagine her becoming increasingly isolated and alone is going to improve her state of mental well-being.
- Bronn… I’m still sour on this whole subplot. He deserves much better than this (and I don’t mean Highgarden).
- Gilly pregnant? Sam is a busy lad, that’s for certain.
- Seriously – you couldn’t see those ships from outside firing range? Or circle around behind them and have a BBQ before they get their massive crossbow cannons swung around 180 degrees?
In the end, really, it’s only Varys that makes much sense here, and he’s destined to be murdered as a traitor for it. Everything he says to Tyrion is right – the nameless masses who “don’t care who sits on the Iron Throne” are just as real as they are, and deserve to live just as much. And of course someone who doesn’t want to rule is better suited to ruling. The fact that they couched it in sexist terms makes me worry that Benioff and Weiss’ sympathies may lie with Daenerys here, but gender has nothing to do with it – she’s temperamentally unsuited to be Queen. Maybe Jon isn’t perfect, but he is – as Varys says – temperate and inclined to moderation. I don’t know that his qualities would make him a good ruler, but his flaws are considerably less terrifying than the Dragon Queen’s.
The problem is, in highlighting the fact that Varys is still smart and gets it, the show is simultaneously highlighting that Tyrion isn’t and doesn’t. And as for his brother’s decision, well, at the very least I can’t argue with his self-analysis – he’s not a good man, even if he’s grown as much as anyone in the cast. He probably needs to be facing Cersei when everything comes to a head in order to feel any sense of closure in his life, since responsible for so many developments that have led us to this point. I just hope that is why he’s riding south, and not because he plans to die standing at Cersei’s side. Even for an adaptation that’s severely mangled several character arcs, that would be beyond the pale.
JJ
May 6, 2019 at 7:21 pmSo Varys reckons that someone who doesn’t want to rule is best for the job? Worked out well when Robert Baratheon was on the throne…
Try as I might, there were too many pitfalls to ignore. Euron the literal lethal joke character, time skipping Arya & Sansa finding out, seven seasons of Jaime’s development possibly down the drain, and Brienne crying for him, Bronn letting a Lannister talk him into something again. Even Dany’s turn has been poorly handled – I left this episode feeling sorry for her given how quickly things have turned against her. Whether that was W&W’s intention remains to be seen but if I had to guess, I’d doubt it.
Even with the extended episodes, there’s been too much to do, this series and last. As you said, the writing has painted itself into one corner too many.
Guardian Enzo
May 6, 2019 at 7:31 pmIn defense of Bronn, I sort of buy the “talk him into” part, because I think he went to Winterfell hoping to be talked into not killing those two. He actually likes them, and he doesn’t like Cersei.
LGrey
May 6, 2019 at 8:00 pmSpeaking of Chekov’s gun, did the giant crossbows appear first in this ep? I don’t remember seeing any signs of King’s Landing building such harpoon-based anti-dragon toys. I was expecting something more chemical based, like a variation of that green fire.
Guardian Enzo
May 6, 2019 at 8:11 pmI don’t remember TBH. Wasn’t there some mention of a secret weapon at some point?
jaja
May 6, 2019 at 8:32 pmLast season Cersei went underground with Qyburn and they talked about how he was building weapons that could pierce the dragons scales. There was remains of dragons etc
Orion Taylor
May 6, 2019 at 10:13 pmBronn used an earlier version of the scorpion to successfully injure one of the dragons last season.
Guardian Enzo
May 6, 2019 at 10:29 pmDamn, that’s right.
Shady
May 6, 2019 at 8:36 pmDon’t agree with a lot of stuff that happened thus week. Hope Jamie’s development wasn’t for nothing and rather convenient they found Missandei… I just hope it doesn’t end with John on the throne miserable and having lost more loved ones if not all.
Arabesque
May 6, 2019 at 10:53 pmI honestly thought I was at the stage where this show no longer could upset me and that I could just watch it for the spectacle/beautiful battle episodes and seeing what Martin had in mind for the (general) ending main plots, and that no matter how dumb things got I could just gloss over them.
But the bit with Jon giving away Ghost like that and not so much as giving him the time of day before running back inside legitimately upset me. I actually shouted “What the actual fuck Jon!?” at my screen when it happened.
I mean, I know the show pretty much did nothing with the direwolves and after Summer’s (unceremonious) death and non-return last episode, I realise there was no serious consideration to include them in the over arching plot of the TV series. But Christ, give your pupper a hug Jon before you exile him, you idiot.
It stands out more when you consider how Theon’s funeral went, with Sansa giving him the Stark sigil (the only good Sansa scene this episode, whereas all the others are pretty awful). Jon told Theon that he was both a Greyjoy and a Stark, and he went into the grave accepting those duel identities as being who he is. Meanwhile, Jon now turns back to throw away the symbol of his ties to House Stark and then tries to cut ties with his actual family because he’s not blood related to them.
I have no idea what was the point of the Bronn scene outside of the gag of him being constantly promised by every Lannister under the sun throughout the show from start to finish to work for them if they pay him more. The justification for Sansa getting rapped making her stronger made me roll my eyes, Bran letting us all know of his favorite wheelchair collection was sad for what he become. As for Daenerys, I don’t have as much distaste for her quest for the throne in and of itself, but I did wish that if they were planning on giving her this turn to darkness, they could have made it better drawing clearer parallels between Cersei and the different trials she had faced during her time in Essos and freeing the slaves/killing the slave masters.
But all of this is really beating a dead horse. At least we will be getting an ending for this tale, since we will not get another one from the books anytime soon if ever.
Guardian Enzo
May 6, 2019 at 11:34 pmI’ve more or less given up hope on getting an ending out of GRRM at this point.
ibtachi
May 7, 2019 at 3:17 amI agree with you. For every great scene you had one frustrating one.
+ Jon departing for the South (away from his home & loved ones) under oath to a questionable monarch, was a nice mirror to the circumstances that Ned left.
+ Peter Dinklage’s superb acting- you can see the conflict making gears in his mind turn.
– Peter Dinklage having to compensate for Tyrion’s plot mandated idealism by showing us conflict on his features.
+ Jamie & Brienne
– Jamie & Brienne
You get what I mean
Marty
May 7, 2019 at 4:36 amBesides the fact that Jon could’ve had a beautiful scene with Ghost highlighting their struggles as the outsiders of their respective litters, there’s a question that been nagging me ever since Danny sailed off to Westeros, what’s going to happen to her domains in Essos? Like, does she forfeit them? Does she add the Iron Throne (if she were to win) and Westeros in with her other domains? Why doesn’t she go back and raise new troops? Why doesn’t she just let Jon have the throne and rule her lands in Essos while allying herself with a Jon-ruled Westeros?
I’m sure none of these questions will be answered by the show, but they still bear asking.
Yann
May 7, 2019 at 3:34 pmThe whole boat vs dragon thing was so nonsensical that it took me out of the story for good.
The acting is great, but the story is just straight up stupid now… what a shame.
Dein
May 8, 2019 at 6:12 amThat Euron surprise attack scene was truly hilarious. They even did the little close up of him smirking as he aims for down the sights. It’s a shame they didn’t have some lackey operating the machine first, just so Euron could push him out of the way Sunday Morning Cartoon style, twirling his moustache and getting the killing blow in one perfect shot.
It needs to be said that I was sad to see the other dragon kick the bucket. I was never particularly interested in Danny or her side of the story, but nevertheless it was some journey she and her dragons went through. Seeing one of them get killed by Dick Dastardly with no character depth or build up was a huge, huge shame.
And speaking of things that I wasn’t very into – I always felt that Bran plotline was pretty dull but I figured there was gonna be a huge impact at the end, somehow. Having all that screentime dedicated to him becoming the Three Eyed Raven and then… What exactly? We’re almost at the end of the road here and there’s a solid chance we might not even see him on screen ever again.
Guardian Enzo
May 8, 2019 at 7:58 amI guarantee you’ll see him again, but whether he does anything of consequence I’ve no confidence.
I won’t spoil, but the Bran storyline is one of the most radically changed from the books. His connection with the Night’s King is much more direct and well fleshed-out. He also retains some of his human emotional state.