‘No one.’
‘What is the number of people who will watch if Arya is really dead?’
Oh, Johnny Carson, how we miss thee.
It looks like a Lannister episode with Cersei, Jaime, and Tyrion in play. Anyone else notice how quickly we stopped caring about Bran once Hodor died? We get The Hound teased and start out with…
Arya. Don’t let her suffer. If an avatar of the Many Faced God says don’t let your target suffer and instead of killing her instantly, you stab her multiple times in the gut… let’s just say I predict Arya has more to play here. It seems I am right and we really do start with Arya. Remember, I write these as I watch live, so there is some guess play done in order to hand this in on time.
Does the old actress save the girl? Does this mean she will become one more wheel in this Game of Thrones? Further, will the god just let her go or is it really just one big Jedi training session?
Speaking of letting go, these red god schmucks are about to let go of their heads, courtesy of the Hound. Called it! Ouch. I should have specified which head they would lose.
Shifting gears, we see a happy Tyrion and a cautious Varys. It seems to be a short set up of exposition. No pun.
Cersei and The Mountain meet the High Sparrow’s men who are rather scared witless of The Mountain. She chooses violence, and I can’t wait to see the rest of the religious zealots ruling the city get their heads ripped off too. Oh, and I wouldn’t mind seeing it happen on the show, too. The thing that really sets the tone is how the man dies. Even in after death, The Mountain outdoes his brother. Also of note, this is what was missing in the new XMen (or most XMen) movie. How many more times do we have to see Wolverine tickle his enemies to death? Oh, Old Man Logan, you better have a hard R.
Brienne has a talk with Jaime, and Podrick has a reunion of sorts. There is a bit of good natured tough love that really makes me smile. It reminds me of when they were with Tyrion. Ah, happier days of seeing prostitutes and swords play. Brienne drops the Tully bombshell that wasn’t a bombshell. Her idea of playing the Blackfish against what he wants and what he must do, is rather interesting. Also, we are about to see what the word of Jaime Lannister is worth. With him giving Oathkeeper to her permanently, we do see a bit of growth in his character. I have to admit, the first time I saw him, I wanted him dead. Now, I think he’s worthy of Magneto size redemption.
I wonder if Lady Stone Heart would have made this parlay with the Blackfish smoother. Brienne’s failure here might be the death of her. However, that sword makes me think she still has a role with the war against the dead.
Cersei gets blocked by her uncle, something that would never happen in the book. I have to say, I rather look forward to seeing how the book would handle this. My guess is that the broad strokes are the same, but the finer points are missing. The chubby faced king just made trial by combat illegal much like a corrupt despot would. I wonder if the bastard son comes back if he would be the king? How far is Cersei is ready to go to secure her son back in the fold.
Tyrion makes two welterweights drink. The Imp’s Delight. Now, that’s a marketing ploy if I’ve ever seen one. And I can’t wait to try some. As Tyrion tries to rebuild the humor of his previous camp, the Masters arrive towards the shore.
Jaime’s word is once again brought up. Oddly, also his looks. It seems that the attack is against the character that Jaime has tried so hard to build. With all the talk about sisters, and how much Cersei will do for her kids, it makes me wonder if this is a set up to foreshadow Cersei’s move more so than the current situation at the siege.
Does the Blackfish let the rightful Lord in or does he ignore him? How about the men? At what point does the Blackfish lose the faith if his men by being unyielding, yet wise. It looks like the answer is not in favor of the Blackfish. The tension builds, but is it just a red herring? If it is a red herring, will the Blackfish ride north? Assuming he can avoid being put into irons. Brienne gives him one more chance and he goes down with the metaphorical ship instead of on the actual ship.
The last scene of the ended siege is rather telling. Two star crossed ‘lovers’ salute each other. This was rather touching.
Almost as touching as Tyrion making the decision to… open the door and have Daenerys save the city?! I’m not convinced. At this point, Daeny might as well have her name be changed to Deus Ex Machina and/or MacGuffin, depending on the coin toss.
And, The Hound finds the red priest and the risen Beric about to hang his prey. This is something I’ve been waiting to see. How about I chop off one hand? The sound of one hand clapping was almost taken literally by The Hound.
It’s a story of redemption today. Arya. Jaime. The Hound. It looks like they are getting together to join the army in the North. Some, a bit quicker than others. Does this new shift spell the end is nigh? We all know this season is wrapping up soon, but is season 7 the end?
Oh snap. The actress and the Many Faced God. Is this how Arya pays her debt? It starts out as run, rabbit, run and ends up me wondering where her sword is. Down a trail of blood we hunt. Is it Arya in the shadow or the Many Faced God? A quick candle and we see the aftermath. I am hoping Arya sent a message. And boy does she. The message is, My name is Arya Stark and I’m going home. Now, that’s some Yoda training right there. Although it does give me wonder enough to think if the Many Faced God is rather real and busy, and the Lord of Light also seems real and busy–what happened to the old gods? Will the High Sparrow have his head ripped from out of his buttocks and put on a spike? Only time will tell…
Note: The following is something about a Game of Thrones actor that bothered me–a lot. The TL;DR version boils down to, ‘Telling men or women to take their shirt off in order to work isn’t cool. We each make that choice for ourselves–but it has to be our choice. Anything short of that is just abuse. HODOR!’.
I wouldn’t be doing me job if I didn’t mention that Jon Snow does look to have a wee showdown with Ramsay Snow. Speaking of Jon ‘don’t call me 12 inches of’ Snow (seriously, wasn’t that guy ALSO from ‘The North’? I am sensing a trend here. I always thought he was a bastard, but how literal my words were, eh?), I have to mention an ‘article’ about Kit Harington. Kit, in an interview, gave a response about wanting to be valued as an actor and how hard it was to audition when everyone basically just wants to see him naked and not act. The article then quoted someone I won’t even mention by name, and she said that Kit should ‘shut up’ because ‘white men’ have it too good. She further went on to say that he should not only just ‘shut up’ but ‘take that shirt off.’ Yeah. So, about that sexism thing here. Can you imagine someone in the press telling that to Sophie Turner?
Hollywood has a rather long and continued history of being users, but let’s take this parallel another way. I remember when MLK had his speech about a dream. He definitely said the struggle was for only black men and white men should shut their mouths. Oops, wait. No he didn’t. He knew the only way to fight his particular ‘ism’ was to welcome–with open arms–all people. Any other way it would just play into a binary structure created by the ruling class. Ask Corey Feldman (or any random male child star) if ‘white men’ aren’t abused. On same front, my hats off to Maisie Williams for her rather brilliant burn against the same twisted Hollywood press ego.
