Dragonstone
In another example of history in Westeros repeating itself, a Targaryen has landed on Dragonstone with their eyes set on taking the neighbouring seven kingdoms. Unlike her predecessor, Aegon the Conqueror, Daenerys does not want to turn the continent in to cinders and become “the queen of the ashes”. Though she still does need tempering by her council and advisors – particularly Tyrion – to reach that decision. Daenerys has been known to want to unleash fire and death upon those she sees as undermining her rule, such as during the assault on Meereen when her immediate desire was to burn the entire enemy fleet, their armies and cities to dust until Tyrion wisely gave her a better solution. While it is highly unlikely that the Dragonqueen would ever be as unilaterally evil as her opposite number Cersei, the off kilter smiles she gives when talking about burning people alive is discomforting to say the least.
True enough, Varys did help King Robert locate, track and ultimately attempt to assassinate her but smiling at the prospect at burning alive another person has some “mad king” vibes to it. Varys defends himself well enough to avoid the barbeque, standing firm in his commitment to the people of Westeros not to any king or queen. He does believe that Daenerys is the only available leader that can end the present turmoil and restore peace to the realm but adds that “Incompetence should not be rewarded with blind loyalty”, to which the queen asks that if the time comes he believes she is failing the people to bring it to her rather than conspiring behind her back. It’s a significant moment for the character of Daenerys, accepting her own fallibility and willing to accept she might not always be the perfect leader. It’s a little odd that these characters rode on boats together for who knows how long and didn’t have these conversations but such is the nature of the show, particularly this season.
Another one of those conversations that didn’t happen is between Tyrion and Illaria Sand regarding the murder of one Marcella Baratheon/Lannister. Tyrion is quick to bury the hatchet due to the impending threat of his sister and her forces. Tyrion also makes what is surely a personal sacrifice in choosing to send the unsullied to his own family home, Casterly Rock, highlighting once again his commitment to the cause. It was also good to see that the seeds sown in the first season with Jon and Tyrion traveling to The Wall bore fruits when the two finally crossed paths (via raven letter) again, with each vouching for the others moral fortitude. Even Sansa was able to judge Tyrion a good Lannister when reflecting on how he actually was protecting her in Kings Landing.
Before we leave Dragonstone, a familiar face arrives to bestow their wisdom upon the Dragonqueen – Melisandre. The red priestess seems still to be taking the steps needed to aid in the battle against the dead, even advising that Jon Snow is a key part of that. Melisandre also looks to believe that Jon is Azur Ahai, the prince that was promised, despite the revelation that in its original Valyrian the term “prince” is gender neutral. She skilfully, as usual, avoids directly answering the question as surely telling Dany that she is, potentially, only a part of someone else’s prophecy would not go over well or get the arrangement she seeks to encourage.
The North
Winterfell sees another moment of history repeating itself when the reigning Lord of Winterfell is summoned to come south by a Targaryen monarch. Jon sees this as an opportunity to gain an ally against the dead but Sansa reminds him of the previous 4 or so Starks who ventured South never to return but as bones. Its good to see the show including its own history to give the world that extra lived in feeling, like the world of the show existed before the cameras started rolling in Season 1. Perhaps Jon could have broken the news to Sansa before the meeting with all the lords to avoid her lashing out in front of them but all is well that ends well I suppose. Things do seem to end well for Sansa as she is finally put in place as Lady of Winterfell during Jon’s absence – a move that Littlefinger has been desperate to see come to fruition and now we can only wonder what the next stage of his plan is.
Littlefinger makes another mistake, though, in the form of interrupting Jon during a moment of quiet reflecting in the Crypts of Winterfell, before Ned’s bones. In surely what must seem like the strongest Déjà Vu for Littlefinger, his blatant attempt to steer and manipulate Jon results in a very Ned like strangulation. The anger portrayed by Harrington here alludes to the change in Jon since his resurrection that the show seems to have elsewise forgotten about. It’s also another intriguing factor for a later story beat surely to come when Jon finds out his true lineage, having seemingly moulded himself in the image of Ned Stark – honour bound and loyal to fatal fault – would he see this instead as a trait inherited from his biological father who was renowned for his peaceful and likeable manner?
A little further South another Stark is reminded that they are not the person they used to be. Arya first of all reunites with prison break buddy and all round nice dude Hotpie. Two key things are said here – first Hotpie gives Arya the information that not only are some of her family alive, they have retaken Winterfell and pronounced Jon King. Maisie Williams gave a nice subtle shift when hearing this – having become cold and stoic, when she hears the news a light seems to come back in to her eyes and seems to become a little anxious. Second, more important from a show-kayfabe position, is that even Hotpie knows that Cersei purposefully blew up the Sept of Balor. If Hotpie knows this, then surely every knows this which begs the question as to why there has not been any kind of uprising against this tyrant by either the peasantry or some of the lords. Sure, it would be highly unnerving knowing that Cersei would not hesitate to blow you up but you can fight her without ever stepping foot in kings landing. Hopefully this is a thread that will get pulled on more as the season wears on.
The South
The closest we get to this is when Cersei gathers he banners and begins weaving her narrative to them of a foreign queen with a horde of foreign barbarians, with traitors to the throne in her council. In this regard, Cersei is not wrong. However, Randall Tarly is not fully convinced on several fronts – even when Jamie tells him he wishes to name him the lord of Highgarden and a general in his forces. Tarly lightly resists reminding Jamie of the oaths he has sworn to some of the crowns new enemies. This is nice little throw back to a Jamie line in season 2 – “So many oaths, which one to keep?” – but ultimately Jamie is persuasive enough to get Tarly on his side which helps get some of the other lords in line. The Dragons are obviously the Lords most grave concern but Cersei assures them that her non-Maester has devised a weapon capable of taking down a Dragon. In the dungeons of Kings Landing Kyburn unveils a ballista which, via his demonstration, we see can easily pierce the giant skull of a dragon. The feeling that one Dragon will be lost before the season ends is unshakeable at the moment.
In Oldtown with the real Maester’s, we Sam’s continued development. The timid cry baby we met in season 1 would never have been able to do anything that present Sam does. He shirks the orders of the authority, making decisions based on his own moral fortitude, violates restrictions and attempts a stomach-turning surgery on Jorah Mormont. Pouring through the old scrolls and texts Sam believes he has found a way to save Jorah but Maester Broadbent prohibits him even trying. Then, in the midst of the shroud of night, he does it anyway. And in another moment of dialogue being reminiscent of lines from earlier seasons, we see Sam tell Jorah that “Today is not the day die” much like how at the start of Season 3 when marching back to the wall, Sam collapses and is motivated by Mormont Senior with the line “Tarly, I forbid you to die”. The transition shot of the puss filled wounds to pie is a clever one also.
Finally, we see the iron fleet sailing for Dorne. Perhaps it is fitting that the one episode in which the Sandsnakes are likeable is also the last time we see many of them. Rarely in the show do we get deaths we enjoy watching but watch Euron descend is berserker mode and laying waste to two of the sandsnakes was very cathartic. The abortion that was the Dorne story line in season 4/5 warranted this kind of butchery, in this reviewers’ humble opinion. Euron now seems to be the character he should have been from the get go, a swashbuckling psychopath, grinning from ear to ear amongst the blood and carnage. There’s also another nod for book readers as we see Euron’s men cutting the tongues of those he captures to serve in his crew. The battle ends with Yara jumping in to battle Euron and being easily captured. Theon is presented with the choice to try and save her or jump from the ship and save himself. Alfie Allen’s acting of the PTSD Theon is still solid, showing that sometimes you can’t overcome certain traumas, mirroring real life. One hopes that Theon will rally later in the season and launch some kind of rescue mission but we’ll have to put a pin in that for now.
The balance has shifted now in the battle for the iron throne as Daenerys has lost her Westerosi forces and a good deal of her fleets. Cersei has gotten lucky that Euron is a vengeful as he is deadly, keeping her on the throne. The question now is, will Cersei accept his offer of marriage now he has killed her enemies and brought her the murderer of her daughter? Come back to Reel Talk next week (or watch the show, I guess) to find out!