We're back! Get caught up and lets get into it:
Last season, I had a dedication for each recap, and I will continue the tradition. This is dedicated to:
This week's dedication:
Ellaria Sand
Because Paramour sounds so much better than Lover, right?
I thought about dedicating it to Oberyn Martell, aka the Red Viper, but he'll have one later. I loved her attitude and well, just everything about her. She and Oberyn have been together for a long time, and clearly they are keeping their love alive, as we find them at the brothel. And hey, they love to make out after he stabs a Lannister, and has blood shooting out of his wrist.
Is she fabulous, and more? YES SHE IS.
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| Oberyn: "You like?" "Timid. Timid bores me" |
Before I begin, I must mention that I am so impressed with Pedro Pascal. I was wary at first, as when I heard the news, he was an FBI agent on USA's "Graceland". But he is absolute perfection, so kudos again to the amazing casting, and fantastic writing for summing up a complicated character in five minutes.
Tyrion, as a slight, was sent to meet Oberyn, and was greeted by his Bannermen. Oberyn, wanted it known that he was there, but too busy for a meet and greet. So, Tyrion went to the brothel, and spoke with Oberyn, regarding vengeance, as there is will be much this season. Apparently Oberyn has waited 20 years to avenge his beloved sister, Elia of Dorne, wife of Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, brother of Dany.
I always found it interesting how many men on this show have "beloved" sisters, right? Only one is actually sleeping with his "beloved" twin sister. Plus, they seem to do a lot of damage, like starting wars, and giving birth to insane children.
Continuing on....Prince Rhaegar named Lyanna Stark, Ned's beloved sister, the "Queen of Love and Beauty", at a famous tournament, which was an insult to his wife, Princess Elia of Dorne. He gave her a crown of blue roses, which were Lyann's most favorite ones. The war "Robert's Rebellion" began, as a result of Lyanna disappearing with Rhaegar a year after this event. Brandon, Ned's older brother, went to the castle and accused Rhaegar of raping and kidnapping his sister, and to release her immediately. I believe Lyanna went with Rhaegar willingly, but that's just my opinion, and apparently HBO Oberyn thinks so as well.
However, the story of Elia's murder is a heartwarming story, by our favorite writer, King Tywin. He does not do his own dirty work, most recently seen in the Red Wedding. It is no surprise he sent his favorite pet monster, the Mountain, to find the the royal family. So, he finds Elia, kills her son in front of her, (threw him against the wall and smashed his skull) and dragged her daughter out from under the bed, and stabbed her to death. He then raped Elia and stabbed her to death. Lord Tywin presented the bodies of the children in a red cloak, to assure Robert of his loyalty to the crown. So, needless to say, Oberyn has waited a long time for the chance to avenge his sister. Oh, and Ned and Robert got into a huge fight over it, but they made up.
Oberyn is not here for the party.....
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| "Tell your father I'm here. The Lannisters are not the only ones who pay their debts". |
Kings Landing
Here we are, back in the land of vipers, weasels, where Sansa is still having nightmares and grieving over the loss of her mother and brother. I know that she is all alone, but I have always thought that she was the weakest of the Stark children. Yes, it's not fair, and I know that if Arya and Sansa switched places, they each would have been dead long ago. Remember Ned warned Arya that she needed to be less impulsive, as she was too much like Lyanna. But I do think that Arya would have tried really hard, to find a way out of that castle.
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| Shea tries to convince the devastated Sansa to eat |
Tyrion goes to his room, and a jealous Shea, tries to seduce him. Tyrion tells her that she must leave, lest she be found out. Naturally, she is not smart enough to realize that he is actually saving her life. She stomps out, as one of Cersei's minions is hanging outside the door.
Speaking of Cersei, let's go watch King Tywin insult Jaime, and then she does a quick follow-up.
Jaime
Jaime has been back for several weeks, and you can see how the past year has changed him physically and mentally. One of the great things they do with the camera, is how they highlight his cheekbones, to show that he is thinner, and darker. Remember how he looked in S1?
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| S1: Jaime did not want to rule the world |
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| S4: Jaime still does not want to rule the world |
King Tywin: This is the larger half of the Valryian sword that I stole from Ned Stark. I know that you have one hand, and you are Captain of the Kings Guard, but King Sociopath changed the "stay in it until you die" rule. But this is excellent news! You, my gorgeous almost perfect son, will be Lord of Casterly Rock. You will be married and have lots of beautiful Baby Lions, and I will live forever.
Jaime: This sword is amazing, and I will pretend that I have no idea where you got it, but thank-you. But I am not going to be Lord of Casterly Rock, and I am not going to have a family. I have to be Captain of the Kings Guard, so I can be with my girlfriend, I mean my sister, Cersei.
King Tywin: Fine, keep the sword, but I disown you, as you clearly are not Lannister material.
Jaime leaves, smiling to himself.
Jaime and Cersei
Cersei is consistently cruel to Jaime when he returns home. In the book, he returns after Joffrey dies and Cersei is at the Sept, mourning, and they have sex for the last time, next to their dead son's body. I know, ick, but I'm thinking we'll be seeing that in 4.3.
But she says to him frequently "how he left her", "he's such a loser because he has no hand", "why does he have to be in the Kings Guard?''. She is finally becoming her selfish, psycho self, and as I just saw, it has begun to bloom in full force.
Jaime is being his sarcastic self, but it's not the same.
Jaime: The hand is great, very real, and well, you're the best Qyburn.
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| Jaime, Cersei and Qyburn |
Jaime: You are drinking way too much, oh, and PS, I am no longer a Lannister. I don't really care, as I just want to be in the Kings Guard and be with you forever. And have you been cheating on me?
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| You have been cheating on me, with other people who are related to us? (remember Lancel?) |
Jaime: You would blame me for having my hand chopped off, after all the people that I have killed for you. I pushed a kid out the window! I killed one of our cousins! I thought we were together forever.
Cersei: It took you way too long to come home, and now you ruined everything!
She will sound crazier as time goes on, and cruel to Jaime, throughout all of the books. Thankfully, as you see here, he does have Brienne, who he can actually talk to.
Jaime & Brienne
The Jaime and Brienne show has been some of the best parts of this series. Their relationship is very complicated for Book Jaime, but that is for another day. The very short version, is that we know, Book Jaime hates himself, but is gorgeous. Brienne, is not too fond of herself either, but she's a good person, and is not even close to being gorgeous. She, like losing his hand, is the best thing to happen to him. I know that he does dream about her, and she is not ugly in his dreams. But the dreams always involve other feelings of guilt and loss regarding people from his past/present, and being the Kingslayer. However, HBO Jaime and Brienne sound like an old married couple:
Brienne: What is your problem? Sansa is here, still in danger, and we have no idea where Arya is, or what she is doing. You made a vow, so you had better keep it.
Jaime: Sansa is safe, and Arya is probably dead, so we're good.
Brienne: We are not "good", and we don't know if Arya is dead or not. Oh, and just because Lady Catelyn is dead, does not mean your oath is no longer valid.
Jaime: Sansa is a Lannister, so she's safe here, as where would she go? Plus, Cersei broke up with me, and I am going to try to make myself feel better, and protect the King, as Captain of the Kings Guard. So, I can't talk about this now, as I have to go deal with King Sociopath.
King Sociopath
Well, King Sociopath is being his usual disrespectful, stupid self, and is making fun of his Uncle, wait, father, because he has only one hand. As usual, he is enjoying delusions of grandeur and telling grand tales about how he won the war. Jaime reminds him that the war is not over, because Stannis is still alive. But King Sociopath, is like whatever, and says some more mean things to Jaime.
Margaery and Lady Olenna Tyrell
Lady Olenna is throwing necklaces into the trees because they are not that pretty.
Lady Olenna is throwing necklaces into the trees because they are not that pretty.
Lady Olenna: I hate all of these necklaces! I need you to look perfect at your wedding and a necklace is the perfect accessory. Girls, Girls! Go find a necklace, and whoever wins gets to keep one.
Margaery: Grandmother, I am so over this wedding and this necklace, let's just pick one. Joffrey will be thrilled, if I just wear a necklace of dead sparrow heads around my neck.
Lady Olenna: Watch your mouth, spies are everywhere. OMG!
Margaery: Brienne! Let's go for a walk and talk about Renly.
Margaery is smart, ambitious, and she knows that she must win hearts and minds, and is gracious to those who serve her. Do not forget! She wants to be THE QUEEN and Cersei knows it, she becomes obsessed with Margaery.
I was so excited that they chose a woman, and not a teenager, to play Maragery. Book Margaery is 16, so we can see her go toe to toe with Cersei. It is always written from Cersei's perspective, and I always wondered what Margaery was thinking.
Brienne & Maragery have a quick catch-up chat:
Brienne: My lady, I will avenge our King, as I saw what killed him. I swear that it was a shadow of Stannis, dark magic, that killed him.
Margaery: I know that you did not kill Renly, as you were in love with him, but I have moved on. You need to move on, as King Sociopath is insane, and he will kill you, in about five seconds with his cross bow. But I am going to be THE QUEEN, and I want you to remain in the land of the living.
Jon Snow
My boy has finally become the man that he should have been all along. I have been so disappointed with the portrayal of his character. It was not Kit Harrington, who I really see as Jon Snow, as Jon is very serious, and a lot like Ned, in that respect. But everything else? Jon was never whiney, he was very strong and brave when speaking with Mance, and actually begins to like being with the Wildlings, aka, the Free Folk. He has longer hair, and scars from Orel. There are people who describe him as being scary as he wears black, a huge scar, the sword, and Ghost, w/his red eyes. So, basically a bad ass, who really is not meant to remain in the NW. In fact Tormund, who he is very close to, is always saying that he is actually one of them and not a man of the NW. He is also a great swordsman, and Kit Harrington makes it look really easy, and of course, it's kind of hot.
He also had Ghost for part of his time with the Wildlings, which was important as it gave him an edge, as Ghost is damn scary. They also knew that he was a warg, even though they never say it, and never told him, but Orel? He knew, before Jon killed him, and then scratched his face/eye area as an eagle.
I am assuming the writers were going with Jon already having let Ghost go, and he should be showing up very soon. I keep saying it, as there is no Jon, without Ghost, and if they change that? I will have no idea who Jon is anymore.
On a side note: This show has great difficulty showing us what it means to be a warg, and the importance of prophesy through dreams and visions. These are really important to characters like Jon, Dany, Arya and especially Bran. It has done the most damage to the characters of Jon and Bran.
Admittedly, I forget that the reason that I love Jon, is from his POV's, and I forget that he actually does not speak very often. I know as a book reader, his guilty feelings of loving Robb, and being jealous of Robb, are not new, and are very confusing as he is trying to discover his own identity.
So, when he is telling Sam about his conflicted feelings regarding his brother, they may seem out of left field, but they are not. It is also why, I think it was in S2, that I was really annoyed when Cat gives this whole speech to Talisa, the fake character, about her feelings regarding Jon. Cat HATED Jon, and treated him like crap, and he was severely traumatized by it. He hears her words many times in his head, when he thinks about Robb and Winterfell.
Jon, Sam and the NW version of justice
We come upon Jon getting dressed, and is clearly still feeling his wounds and talking to Sam about his brother. He is very confused about his grief and his jealousy of Robb when they were growing up. He is also trying to deal his own actions over the past year. Sam, being the best BFF ever says;
"I hate you sometimes, because you can do everything better than me too. Well, except for reading."
Jon gives him such a thankful look, and off he goes to see the tribunal, that is the NW version of the council of vipers and weasels of Kings Landing.
NW: Their council of vipers and weasels + one good guy (Aemon), in Kings Landing it was Ned.
Meanwhile, Maester Aemon informed the two weasels on the council that chopping off Jon's head for having a girlfriend was totally stupid, as they would lose their heads as well. Oh, and Jon's not lying. How does he know? Well he grew up on Kings Landing, because he is a TARGARYEN, and they have no idea.
The Wildlings
Ygritte is making many, many arrows, because she is still hurting, and angry about Jon.
Tormund stops by, and says she need to get her shit together for the fight against the 1,000 men waiting at the NW. Ygritte says Mance is not coming, as they sent for him a while back, and he has not shown up. Plus, they should just go on their own, because Jon Snow is a liar. Tormund realizes that Jon is still alive, and well, they are in big trouble because he knows all of their battle plans.
The Thens show up, and are completely different than they are in the book. Here, they seem like crazy cannibals and monsters who Tormund hates and Magnar is a complete psycho.
In the book, they are actually the most civilized of all the Wildlings, as the have their own laws and their own society.
Dany
We check in with Dany here:
So, Drogon, the largest, scariest, of the dragons, has now shown Dany, and Ser Jorah reminds her, they cannot be tamed. The Targaryens did it for centuries, but she has had no training and has no idea about how to do it. I have not read enough about the Targaryen's history to know how they connected and rode their dragons. But George RR Martin did say in an interview that the dragons keep growing, unless they are chained and locked up.
Dany is preparing to take on Meereen, and goes to find our new Daario Naharis who is having a "who can hold up a sword the longest" contest with Grey Worm. She walks through her army, and the slaves that she has freed, who are all saying "Mhysa, Mhysa", and some are bowing to her and Missandei. She smiles here and there, like "whatever", and keeps walking.
This is exactly why by the end of ADWD, I began to hate Dany. I loved her up until her shenanigans in that book. She is becoming more and more of a megalomaniac and narcissist, as she thinks that she is so amazing because of the "Let's Free all slaves and start Civil Wars" tour. She has no idea of what she is doing, but thinks that freeing slaves makes her so amazing, that she forgets that you actually need to do teach them how to be free. I will talk about this in greater detail as we go through the season.
When she returns from meeting with Daario, they have found a child slave, who is crucified and pointing a finger on the way to Meereen. Naturally, being "Mhysa" she gets her crazy on, as she says that she is more determined to conquer Meereen.
My feelings about Daario:
At first glance he looks more Westerosi, than the Tyroshi, darker skinned man, that he is supposed to be. The other actor had this dangerous, dark sexy look going on, that culminated with the bath scene, when he presents her with the heads of his fellow mercenaries. Seriously, I was totally into him, as he was 100% positive that he was going to be having crazy sex with Dany in the very near future.
Yes, he's hot, and I do not watch Nashville, so I am not familiar with the actor. But, Daario doesn't
court Dany, he brings her severed heads as she bathes. But I am willing to give him a chance, as we
have not seen him enough to get a good read on him quite yet. And the blue rose? I am not sure why
they added it, because the series has not mentioned the blue roses. Book Dany sees a blue rose
blooming out of ice, in one of her visions at the House of the Undying. But as I mentioned earlier, who loves blue roses? Lyanna Stark.
Arya and the Hound
Our girl is on the road with a name on her kill list, the Hound. She wants out, but apparently there is one family member left who might buy her, Lysa, her crazy Aunt from the Eyrie.
Anyway, Arya wants a horse, and the Hound is hungry. But, Arya sees a name from her kill list: Polliver.
So she is down the hill, the Hound runs after her, and they end up going in, and we have a tense discussion about the Mountain, and chickens, and being thirsty. I loved this scene, as you see Arya wrap her hand around the hilt of the Hound's sword, and then let it go...damn that girl has guts. The tension in that scene was amazing. They were sitting there, Arya was so still, that I was literally counting, 3, 2, 1, my money was on Arya moving first, but then the Hound pushed over the table.
The way she picked up that sword, and slowly pushed it into that man, was chilling, as she had no emotion whatsoever. But then we see her get Needle, and play out the death of Lommy as she slowly pushes Needle into his neck.
Arya has officially become our little sociopath. She has discovered a sense of power from killing, that began at Harrenhall. One of my favorite scenes is when she sees the body of the Tickler, and they have this great music playing, and you see a slight smile, as she looks up at Jaqen. The music played at the end of this episode as Arya has that smile, her horse, and Needle (it is also a symbol of Jon), is a variation of that music.
My thoughts on Arya for S4:
Arya always wanted control of her own life. If you recall,she told Ned that she did not want to have her own castle. She is beginning to enjoy the power of killing and the control it gives her over who lives or who dies. Remember all the people she has loved or cared about were taken from her, and she could do nothing to stop it; thus the list. Killing becomes like breathing to her, and I am so excited to see her journey to the Faceless Men this season.
I leave you with the destruction left in the wake of this war:
That's it! 4.2 is around the corner...
*All images are owned by HBO, "Game of Thrones"
* All quotes from 4.1, "Two Swords"
He also had Ghost for part of his time with the Wildlings, which was important as it gave him an edge, as Ghost is damn scary. They also knew that he was a warg, even though they never say it, and never told him, but Orel? He knew, before Jon killed him, and then scratched his face/eye area as an eagle.
I am assuming the writers were going with Jon already having let Ghost go, and he should be showing up very soon. I keep saying it, as there is no Jon, without Ghost, and if they change that? I will have no idea who Jon is anymore.
On a side note: This show has great difficulty showing us what it means to be a warg, and the importance of prophesy through dreams and visions. These are really important to characters like Jon, Dany, Arya and especially Bran. It has done the most damage to the characters of Jon and Bran.
Admittedly, I forget that the reason that I love Jon, is from his POV's, and I forget that he actually does not speak very often. I know as a book reader, his guilty feelings of loving Robb, and being jealous of Robb, are not new, and are very confusing as he is trying to discover his own identity.
So, when he is telling Sam about his conflicted feelings regarding his brother, they may seem out of left field, but they are not. It is also why, I think it was in S2, that I was really annoyed when Cat gives this whole speech to Talisa, the fake character, about her feelings regarding Jon. Cat HATED Jon, and treated him like crap, and he was severely traumatized by it. He hears her words many times in his head, when he thinks about Robb and Winterfell.
Jon, Sam and the NW version of justice
We come upon Jon getting dressed, and is clearly still feeling his wounds and talking to Sam about his brother. He is very confused about his grief and his jealousy of Robb when they were growing up. He is also trying to deal his own actions over the past year. Sam, being the best BFF ever says;
"I hate you sometimes, because you can do everything better than me too. Well, except for reading."
Jon gives him such a thankful look, and off he goes to see the tribunal, that is the NW version of the council of vipers and weasels of Kings Landing.
NW: Their council of vipers and weasels + one good guy (Aemon), in Kings Landing it was Ned.
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| Janos Slynt, Alliser Thorne, Maester Aemon |
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| Yes, I killed the Half-Hand, Yes, I broke all of my oaths and I had a girlfriend. You clearly did not know the Half-Hand, and if you did, you would know that he was more committed to the NW, than anyone in this room. Oh, and since I infiltrated their group, I know their battle plans. |
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| Are we finished? Because I am going to try to save us from the Wildlings, who are on their way. |
The Wildlings
Ygritte is making many, many arrows, because she is still hurting, and angry about Jon.
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| Ygritte: broken hearted and a woman scorned |
The Thens show up, and are completely different than they are in the book. Here, they seem like crazy cannibals and monsters who Tormund hates and Magnar is a complete psycho.
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| WHAT? Magnar of Thenn? WHO? |
Dany
We check in with Dany here:
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| Staring dreamily at her other babies, as Drogon, lies on his Mom's lap UNTIL |
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| BACK OFF MOM! I'M EATING! |
Dany is preparing to take on Meereen, and goes to find our new Daario Naharis who is having a "who can hold up a sword the longest" contest with Grey Worm. She walks through her army, and the slaves that she has freed, who are all saying "Mhysa, Mhysa", and some are bowing to her and Missandei. She smiles here and there, like "whatever", and keeps walking.
This is exactly why by the end of ADWD, I began to hate Dany. I loved her up until her shenanigans in that book. She is becoming more and more of a megalomaniac and narcissist, as she thinks that she is so amazing because of the "Let's Free all slaves and start Civil Wars" tour. She has no idea of what she is doing, but thinks that freeing slaves makes her so amazing, that she forgets that you actually need to do teach them how to be free. I will talk about this in greater detail as we go through the season.
When she returns from meeting with Daario, they have found a child slave, who is crucified and pointing a finger on the way to Meereen. Naturally, being "Mhysa" she gets her crazy on, as she says that she is more determined to conquer Meereen.
 |
| There it is! We get that look of Targaryen crazy setting in |
At first glance he looks more Westerosi, than the Tyroshi, darker skinned man, that he is supposed to be. The other actor had this dangerous, dark sexy look going on, that culminated with the bath scene, when he presents her with the heads of his fellow mercenaries. Seriously, I was totally into him, as he was 100% positive that he was going to be having crazy sex with Dany in the very near future.
 |
| New Daario, sexy? Yes. Courting Dany? No. |
court Dany, he brings her severed heads as she bathes. But I am willing to give him a chance, as we
have not seen him enough to get a good read on him quite yet. And the blue rose? I am not sure why
they added it, because the series has not mentioned the blue roses. Book Dany sees a blue rose
blooming out of ice, in one of her visions at the House of the Undying. But as I mentioned earlier, who loves blue roses? Lyanna Stark.
Arya and the Hound
Our girl is on the road with a name on her kill list, the Hound. She wants out, but apparently there is one family member left who might buy her, Lysa, her crazy Aunt from the Eyrie.
Anyway, Arya wants a horse, and the Hound is hungry. But, Arya sees a name from her kill list: Polliver.
So she is down the hill, the Hound runs after her, and they end up going in, and we have a tense discussion about the Mountain, and chickens, and being thirsty. I loved this scene, as you see Arya wrap her hand around the hilt of the Hound's sword, and then let it go...damn that girl has guts. The tension in that scene was amazing. They were sitting there, Arya was so still, that I was literally counting, 3, 2, 1, my money was on Arya moving first, but then the Hound pushed over the table.
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| I am waiting, 3,2,1 & you are a dead man |
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| You remember me now, don't you? |
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| That's one down! A lot more to go...... |
My thoughts on Arya for S4:
Arya always wanted control of her own life. If you recall,she told Ned that she did not want to have her own castle. She is beginning to enjoy the power of killing and the control it gives her over who lives or who dies. Remember all the people she has loved or cared about were taken from her, and she could do nothing to stop it; thus the list. Killing becomes like breathing to her, and I am so excited to see her journey to the Faceless Men this season.
I leave you with the destruction left in the wake of this war:
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| The smoking remains of the river lands, courtesy of King Tywin's minion, The Mountain |
That's it! 4.2 is around the corner...
*All images are owned by HBO, "Game of Thrones"
* All quotes from 4.1, "Two Swords"
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