“Risky scheme. One might even say desperate,” Tyrion says to
Jorah Mormont once he realizes why Jorah has captured him and whom he’s taking
Tyrion to, but the Imp’s assessment could go for practically anyone’s scheme
this week, don’t you think? In this fourth episode of our fifth season, “Sons
of the Harpy,” practically everyone is trying to reclaim something they’ve
lost, and yet nothing seems to be going to plan – or planned that well from the
beginning.
Jaime and Bronn are sneaking into Dorne, but they’re
immediately found out, discovered by and raising the ire of Ellaria Sand and
Oberyn’s bastard warrior daughters, the Sand Snakes. Cersei allows the High
Sparrow to recreate the Faith Militant, a religious paramilitary group sworn
only to him, as a way to isolate and cripple Margaery, but really just
infuriates her to what could be her breaking point. Melisandre tries to seduce
Jon Snow to make him go to Winterfell with Stannis, but she miscalculated
exactly where his loyalties lie – and it’s not in the flesh. Petyr is thinking
that his schemes for Sansa will empower her, but he’s not aware of the depth of
the Boltons’ cruelty – and his carefully laid plan may go horribly wrong. And
finally, there’s Dany, who thought that her ending of slavery and her force of
Unsullied could protect her and transform Slaver’s Bay – at the cost of two of
her most loyal men, Grey Worm and Barristan Selmy. Rest in peace, Ser
Grandfather, and get better soon, Grey Worm. My mourning is still fresh.
Let’s consider each of these subplots a little more
in-depth, shall we? We shall!
+ “I’m not sure you
understand how much people hate your family on this side of the world.” Jaime
and Bronn are a great comedic duo, no doubt, but we also get the sellsword
delivering some harsh truths to the Kingslayer this week. As they sneak into
Dorne on a merchant ship, Bronn warns that this won’t be easy: “The Dornish are
crazy; all they wanna do is fight and fuck, fuck and fight,” and he scoffs at
Jaime’s proclamation that “I don’t want to start a war.” It’s clear to Bronn,
and to all of us, of course, that Jaime is saving Myrcella firstly as a way to please
Cersei and only secondly as a way to step up as a father. What’s murkier,
though, is whether Jaime really feels as strongly anti-Tyrion as he tells Bronn
when he says “I’ll split him in two” if they ever meet again; sure, Jaime
wanted Tywin to accept him, but did he ever really love his father? And how
could he not understand where Tyrion was coming from? Honestly.
So yeah, Jaime and Bronn end up in Dorne, where they get
almost immediately found out and then have to fight through four men on
horseback. Upside: Jaime can use his golden hand as a weapon! Downside: The
captain of the merchant ship that smuggled them in was captured and tortured by
the Sand Snakes, the Red Viper Oberyn Martell’s bastard daughters. In the
books, the Sand Snakes are some of my absolutely favorite characters, and there
are far more of them – eight in total, the youngest four of whom are mothered
by Ellaria Sand – and while they all seek their vengeance for Oberyn, they’re
not all the Xena-warrior-types we see in the show. Obara is the most masculine
and vicious with her spear; Nymeria uses daggers and her sex appeal; and Tyene
hides under a guise of innocence and virtue but is excellent with poisons –
here, it seems like Nymeria will use the whip and perhaps Tyene will use the
daggers, and Tyene is also Ellaria’s daughter.
So we have some rearranging of weaponry and personalities
here, but overall I have really high hopes. The Sand Snakes’s intent is clear,
and Obara probably phrases it best: “My father pointed to the spear and then to
my mother’s tears. I made my choice long ago.” But how will Doran, the last
remaining Martell sibling, who watched Elia and Oberyn both die at the hands of
the Lannisters, react to this news? How can Jaime and Bronn prepare for a threat
that they don’t know is coming? And Myrcella is at the centerpiece of this,
with Ellaria and the Sand Snakes planning to hurt her and Jaime and Bronn
planning to save her – does she have no say of her own? Questions, questions.
Oh, and by the way – has Ellaria Sand’s accent somehow
gotten worse? Or did it just seem more pronounced along with the Sand Snakes’s
also troublesome accents? I just … have some concerns.
+ “Aren’t you and
Mother getting along?” Oh, silly, sweet, stupid Tommen. He stays stuck in
the middle of mother Cersei and wife Margaery this week, but the stakes are
far, far higher as Cersei makes moves to isolate Margaery as much as possible.
It’s an understandable move for the Queen Regent, I suppose, but how she gets
there – eh, I can’t help but feel like this was hastily written overall.
It goes down like this: First Cersei sends away Margaery’s
father, Mace Tyrell, who she had named Master of Coin on the Small Council. The
Iron Bank (who gave Davos and Stannis that loan a while ago) wants 10 percent
of the crown’s debt back, and so Cersei sends Mace to go meet with them in
Braavos – but she sends with him human trashbox Meryn Trant, who you may
remember for replacing Barristan Selmy as head of the Kingsguard (because Cersei
and Joffrey are idiots) and beating Sansa at Joffrey’s command (because Cersei
and Joffrey are idiots). Chances are Mace Tyrell might not survive the trip,
but Meryn Trant might not, either – don’t forget that Braavos is where Arya is
training to be a Faceless Man, and Meryn Trant is still one of the names on her
killing list.
After the dispatching of Mace, Cersei turns her attentions
to Loras. As a further bid to get the High Sparrow on her side, she suggests
the recreation of the Faith Militant, essentially a fanatically faith-driven
paramilitary group that does whatever the fuck it wants because it’s not
controlled by the crown, but by the religious leader. She banks on the fact
that they will arrest Loras Tyrell for all the rumors about his homosexuality –
and in fact, they do, as well as kill other brothel employees and customers and
generally act like violent assholes in one of Petyr Littlefinger’s
establishments – but perhaps she didn’t guess that cousin Lancel would end up
as one of the Faith Militant. And isn’t underestimating Lancel, who knows so
much about Cersei, a horrendously stupid move at this point? Yes. Yes, it is.
So the tension between Cersei and Margaery grows, but think
of what else Cersei has done with this move: She’s given more power to the High
Sparrow, a man whom she doesn’t really understand yet. She’s put Tommen in
danger, and perhaps created some self-doubt in him about his parentage. She’s
angered Margaery, who as much as Cersei discredits her, has survived two murdered
kings – she knows how to play the game. And she’s also introduced to the High
Sparrow the idea that “too often the wicked are the wealthiest, beyond the
reach of justice” – and if Cersei doesn’t realize that description fits her,
too, she’s very foolish indeed.
+ “You know nothing,
Jon Snow.” What motivates Jon as he’s settling into being Lord Commander?
We get a few answers this week that further move him away from his Stark family
but reaffirm the kind of man he is now, and the kind of man he is now is not
having sex with Melisandre. Those moves might have worked on Stannis, but on
Jon – not so much.
Instead, Jon is writing letters to the Northern houses and
families asking for support of the Night’s Watch, and that means even reaching
out to the new Warden of the North Roose Bolton, the man responsible for
killing Robb and Catelyn (even though there was no love lost between her and
Jon). His signing of the letters Sam places in front of him is disgusted and
declarative, but it takes Jon a little longer to muster up a negative reaction
for a naked Melisandre hopping on his lap. Kit Harington’s sometimes-blankness
works well here, as he lets his hand linger on Melisandre’s breast before
finally rejecting her; with his mind clearly still on Ygritte, he says “I still
love her.” But that smirk when Melisandre mirrors Ygritte’s favorite line and replies
“You know nothing, Jon Snow” – there is promise in that smirk, and knowing,
too. And what Melisandre knows about Jon Snow (“There’s power in you. You’ve
resisted, and that’s your mistake … power to make life, power to make light,
power to cast shadows”) may be very interesting indeed.
Also, gotta love how Melisandre consistently rejects the
characterization of her relationship with Stannis as romantic. When he tells
her, “I need you,” she responds with “You only need faith, my king,” and when
Jon tries to guilt her away from sex by bringing up Stannis, she says, “Then we
shouldn’t tell him.” Will she go with Stannis when he marches on Winterfell, or
will she stay at the Wall? I could see it going either way, honestly.
+ “The North will be
yours. Do you believe me?” A brief check-in with Sansa and Petyr this week
in Winterfell’s dungeons, where the two discuss Prince Rhaegar (Dany’s older
brother), how he chose Lyanna Stark (Sansa’s aunt) as the prettiest woman in
the realm above his own wife Elia Martell (Oberyn and Doran’s sister), how he
(supposedly) abducted Lyanna and (supposedly) raped her, and how that led to
Robert’s Rebellion, which overthrew the Targaryens and set the Baratheons and
Lannisters in power. Lots of exposition here but it’s necessary, I think, to
reinforce the history that keeps guiding these families and how often
characters seem to be referring to or even repeating the mistakes of their
ancestors.
Also, it’s kind of rich of Petyr to say of Rhaegar and
Lyanna, “How many tens of thousands had to die because Rhaegar chose your aunt?”,
when all know that Petyr has caused the death of additional thousands by
setting up Jon Arryn’s death, betraying Ned Stark, and attempting to claim Sansa
as his own because of his lingering Catelyn issues. I mean, if we’re going to
talk about selfishness, let’s talk about that shit.
+ “I think I can protect
me from Hizdahr zo Loraq.” Goddammit, what is there to even say? Book
readers get one of our biggest blows this week when G.R.R.M.’s warning that
characters will die in the show who haven’t died yet in the books come to pass;
rest in peace, Barristan Selmy. Ser Grandfather was a welcome, wonderful
presence on the show, and even though he felt more often like a knowledgeable
purveyor of Targaryen history than the most-feared knight in the land, his
final scene was a great one, and his advice was always appreciated by Dany, and
I gasped enough when he was fighting those Sons of the Harpy that my boyfriend
actually came into the living room to check that I was OK. BUT I AM NOT OK. I
WILL MOURN YOU, BARRISTAN THE BOLD.
Grey Worm is also drastically wounded, and all of this went
down in a rather brazen attack by the Sons of the Harpy in the middle of broad
daylight. Again coordinated with Meereen’s citizens – note that the fake-crying
prostitute was the same one from earlier this season who helped in the murder
of Unsullied member White Rat – this attack by the Sons of the Harpy will be
impossible for Dany to ignore, and again raises questions about how she is
ruling, if at all, in Meereen. When will Jorah and Tyrion reach her? And who
will replace Barristan as her most-trusted advisor? I would vote for Lannister
> Mormont, personally.
And again, more evidence for my theory that Daario is
working against Dany: When Barristan offers to help Dany stand court, Daario
intervenes and sends him away, saying that he can protect Dany by himself, and
Barristan leaving the protection of Dany’s pyramid draws him into the fight with
the Sons of the Harpy and to his death. Don’t forget the prophecy of Dany’s
three betrayals: once for blood, once for gold, once for love. The witch in the
first season who killed Khal Drogo was quite probably the betrayal for blood. Jorah
spying on Dany could have been for gold or for love – I would say love – and maybe
Daario is for gold? He is a sellsword, after all. Hmm.
And, some final
thoughts:
+ Loved the pervading
the-Lannister-twins-aren’t-as-slick-as-they-think theme, with Jaime and Tommen
both getting sarcastic responses this week. The doubt toward Jaime comes from
Bronn, who gives a wonderful line reading of “Your niece?” when Jaime explains
that they’re not “kidnapping” Myrcella but “rescuing” her; of course Bronn is
no fool, but keep in mind that he could never speak to Jaime that way a few
seasons ago, when Jaime still had two hands. The Kingslayer’s personality is
profoundly different now. Also great were the shouts of “bastard,”
“abomination,” and “spawn of sin” at Tommen when he tried to get into the Sept
to see the High Sparrow – was that a flickering of self-doubt passing across
his face? One of the beneficial parts of aging up Tommen may be that he finally
can stand up to Cersei, and maybe demanding answers about his parentage could be
down the line.
+ Also, some great Jaime moments: His smile when he sees
Tarth, the Sapphire Isle, and presumably thought of Brienne; and his smirk and
raising his golden hand when Bronn complains about having to do all the rowing
to Dorne’s shore. The Kingslayer has some excellent facial expressions, it’s
true.
+ So when Lancel was getting the seven-pointed star carved
into his forehead, did anyone else think of Inglourious Basterds, with Brad
Pitt carving the Nazi symbol into Christoph Waltz’s forehead? Or was that just
me?
+ “You’ve already given us … too much.” Cersei’s bitchiness
is excellent as always, although sometimes it feels wasted on Mace Tyrell, who
is the most clueless motherfucker alive.
+ Although, her face at the High Sparrow’s “I don’t like the
taste” response to the offer of wine? It was an excellent, “WHO DOESN’T LIKE
WINE?” panic face. Maybe you and the High Sparrow don’t really have that much
in common, Cersei.
+ The show is really spending
a lot of time with Shireen, which I enjoy so far because a. she’s so adorable
and b. any humanization of Stannis Baratheon is time well spent. But I
especially enjoyed this exchange of theirs, about Shireen coming to the Wall
from Dragonstone:
Shireen: “I know
Mother didn’t want to bring me.”
Stannis: “How do you
know that?”
Shireen: “She told me,
‘I don’t want to bring you.’”
Is it Shireen’s innocence that makes her sadly
matter-of-fact delivery that much better? I’m going with yes. Also, notice that
the Stone Men of Valyria get brought up again this episode – is that perhaps
where Jorah and Tyrion end up instead of directly reaching Dany, as planned?
+ Also, cue up some tears: “You do not belong across the
world with the bloody Stone Men. You are Princess Shireen of the House
Baratheon, and you are my daughter.”
+ Related: WHEN STANNIS HUGS SHIREEN BACK, THOUGH.
+ “That wasn’t Lord Stark’s way.” Glad to know that Stannis
is also a Ned-Stark-as-Jon-Stark’s-father denier. Ahem, L + R = J, obviously.
+ A few different mentions of Dany’s older brother, Prince
Rhaegar, this week, as Sansa and Petyr talk about him choosing her aunt Lyanna
as the Queen of Love and Beauty and starting Robert’s Rebellion and the whole
war, and Dany hearing stories about him from R.I.P. Barristan Selmy. “Rhaegar
never liked killing. He liked singing,” is Barristan’s story, and I want to hug
Ser Grandfather a million times. All the times. Every time.
+ Tyrion only has a few lines this week, but obviously, this
wins: “I was drunk through most of the Small Council meetings, but it’s all
coming back…”
+ FOR BOOK READERS
ONLY: So character motivations felt very rushed, and kind of off, this
week, right? Cersei suggesting to the High Sparrow that they restart the Faith
Militant instead of getting tricked into it, like in the books, felt like a
weird move. Why would she willingly give someone so much power when she’s
attempting to consolidate it for herself? I understand that this is a stupid
move on Cersei’s part and we’re supposed to correctly read it as stupid, but
the show has dialed down her insanity for the most part, so this felt strange. Why
not figure out another way to drive Loras away from Margaery, like playing on
his courage and vanity, as demonstrated in the books? Or is his defining trait
in the show now only his gayness, as opposed to his battle prowess and bravery?
Also strange was how rapidly the Faith Militant was created and then turned to
violence – has the show really built up the disenfranchisement of followers of
the seven gods yet? That felt like a particularly fast development, like Cersei
gave the High Sparrow her permission and then literally minutes later there was
a crew of branded guys in the streets bashing up whorehouses. And finally,
Melisandre trying to seduce Jon … eh. I know she enjoys making him
uncomfortable with her sexuality in the books, but jumping from that to
seduction felt so abrupt in this episode. It’s crazy to think we’re already
nearing the halfway point of this season, and yet it feels like most of these
storylines are either spinning their wheels or moving forward at an uneven
pace. Sigh.
