Wheeee! So after a spiffy episode last week where there were amusing deaths and I felt seriously pandered to, this week feels a slight drop off. This is isn’t to say it’s a bad episode or sod all happened, but it wasn’t terribly interested in moving along the story of most of my favourites, so I cared less.
However, Season Six has done a magical thing and Made Bran Scenes Interesting! Strange weird feelings of yay are being experienced as soon as I realise it’s Bran time cause I’m loving these flashbacks to young Ned and his family. It’s doing wonderful things in fleshing out and reminding viewers of events that were perhaps only briefly mentioned in the series, and happened long before it started, and it’s making where we are now (though it may have been a long, very slow route) feel rather more meaningful as we’re connecting it to the past. Also, there’s Max Von Sydow in a tree! Marvellous.
Arya can see again! Presumably something interesting will now happen because watching Arya get hit with sticks is really not. And I do like Arya, but having her alone in another city away from all the other main characters. MEH. The payoff had better be shiny. As had whatever they’ve planned for Dany because this getting captured by Dothraki and having all her power stripped away (though she now has pride and confidence, dragons, and, one hopes, A PLAN) has been done already and it’s boring. AND I LOVE DANY. Don’t make her scenes boring show, this is v distressing!
Not boring was Cersei and Jaime being smacked down by their Uncle, Ser Kevan. That was pretty awesome. I LOVE the contrast we saw here between Kevan and Tywin – Tywin would never have left the room (though it seems doubtful Cersei would ever have challenged him like that) but Kevan still effectively retained control and authority, and made his contempt and sheer unimpressedness at Cersei’s antics quite clear, in a way that would be pretty alien to Tywin. Great Lannister character work all round. Also, UNEXPECTED DIANA RIGG. Win.
Less good was Tyrion doing sod all in Meereen. Yay for Missandei, but omg, give them something to DO. Slightly better was the Varys scene, but still. You let the dragons go last week, folks? What’s happening with that? Tell us a dragon story or something, yes?
Ah, the Jon Snow stuff. That was great. I’ve switched back and forth a lot on Jon Snow – I like him in the books, found him emo boy on the telly, but sort of got won over when he started having more interesting people to talk to? Like, it’s really hard for a character to be in a scene with Liam Cunningham and not look better (oh, Ser Davos, so good this week “It’s all fucking mad”). The reveal of Jon Snow being alive and the stupid joke with the wildling whathisname and then him doing his duty and hanging the people who killed him. OH. That was good. Love Thorne was unrepentant, and believed till the end he wasn’t betraying the Night’s Watch, he was doing his duty. And, yeah, he was, in any year that didn’t have a fucking huge army of ice zombies keen to destroy mankind.
Jon walking off at the end and saying his Watch was done? Kind of perfect. He swore to serve till he died, and he did. And I do believe I *almost* said “fuck yeah, Jon Snow!” Almost.
What else was happening? Sam and Gilly. I DON’T CARE. I cared even less when Sam started throwing up. Oh, Tommen had a chat with the High Sparrow, and I flailed slightly cause Tommen said about half a second after I did “That’s what Tywin said!” And, oh, the Church wants to put Cersei on trial after putting her through an ordeal to purify her? WILL THEY NEVER BE SATISFIED. (Actually, give how much I agree with the High Sparrow, it’s nice to be judgey at them because all the characters I love are very much not on their side.)
And Rickon came back, or got dragged back, to Winterfell. I assume we didn’t see him for however many years it’s been because his hiding was even duller than Bran’s. Mostly I shall be a bit distressed if Tonks is back only to be killed horribly next week, and Rickon’s awesome plan isn’t to stab Ramsay Bolton in the face.
Till next week!
Lizbeth Myles 