Game of Thrones 3.04: "And Now His Watch has Ended"

Well, I am super behind and I was going to combine 3.4 & 3.5, but I would have had to make 2 posts anyway, but tonight was awesooome! As usual You might think that I would choose Dany, but this is the one bad thing of having read all the books: there are new stories, and stories have either ended or close to it. In my case, a character you love, you now hate, and I loved Dany until about midway through ADWD.

This episode is dedicated to 
Brienne of Tarth
Why?  because she is truly "Selfless, Brave and True", just like the episode of that same name from the show "Once Upon A Time". Cheesy, but inside she kind of is right?

Brienne jumps off her horse, to help Jaime in the mud

Seriously, it's because she told Jaime to cut the crap, and be a man.

I am really enjoying how they are depicting their relationship in this show. I had mentioned in an earlier post, there was a brief moment, I felt like there was some sexual tension. It is very difficult to gauge this in the books, because it is happening, but it is very subtle. But Jaime does grow to have enormous respect for her, and well her, you can probably guess.

I believe that she is a POV in this book and continues in "Feast of Crows". But she was so ugly and large for a woman, the men to whom she would have perhaps been betrothed, played cruel tricks on her. Even her father was cruel to her, and I can't remember how she came to be such an amazing swordsman, but it was the only place where she could at least have some dignity and an identity of her own. It was Renly, who I believe was the first man (in the book, I thought he was not as wimpy as he was depicted on this show) who treated her kindly and with respect. This was one of the main reasons that she was in love with him. She, like Ygritte, is much more attractive on the show, than in the book.

So, she is watching Jaime very closely as he is wearing his hand necklace, and starts yelling that he is going to fall off of his horse, and someone has to do something.  I love how she just jumped off that horse, and with no hands, btw, did a head butt or two. So, Jaime fell off his horse and into that gross pile of mud and manure. It was awful to see him sick, dying, being beaten up in all the muck, and being tricked into drinking horse piss. It really reiterates how far the beautiful, glowing Jaime Lannister has fallen from high, to being dirty, maimed, unable to fend for himself, to being defended by an outcast, Brienne.

Oh Jaime, you have fallen so low....but you have Brienne

So we have Jaime wearing a necklace of rotting hand, and is also truly beginning to die (without trying, because the wound is becoming infected), refusing to eat. Brienne, who is tied to a tree, has been watching him like a hawk, but not because of her oath, but because she is actually worried about him.

Brienne about to tell Jaime to be a MAN

I love how you could see how angry and disgusted she was, and then we have this conversation:
B: "Eat, what are you doing?"
J: "I'm dying."
B: She was looking at him like "OMG, what is wrong with you", but she says "You can't die, you need to take revenge." I loved this line.....it gave her a strength & conviction that she does not have in the book. As we all know, she has, or maybe it has diminished a bit, due to more pressing matters, has dibs on killing Stannis.
J: "I don't care about revenge". (old Jaime, would have been all over that)
B:"One misfortune and you're going to give up?"
J: "Misfortune?
B" "You lost your hand."
J: "My sword hand..I was that hand."
B: she is actually hissing at him, she was so angry "You have a taste of the real world, where people have important things taken from them and you whine and cry; you sound like a bloody woman."  Oh, and PS, I know that you know Tarth is know for the sapphire color of its' water, not for the gem stone, so why did you save me?

Are you kidding me with this? Get over yourself

Well, there was just a look, and no comment, from Jaime.

Whatever, I'm dying; yet you are so right.

Yeah, he's pretty damn lucky that he has a woman like Brienne, who yeah she's honorable, but more importantly, she is a good person. As we know, and he knows, that he does not deserve her help, after the way he has treated her.

So, speaking of being a prisoner....

Theon
Again, we could have waited for this reveal in 3.10, but Theon has been tricked by defcon 5 psycho Ramsey Snow. However, prior to being returned to his cell, he still thinks that Ramsey is from the Islands, and suddenly has a conscience. BTW Theon is much worse in the books than he is depicted in the show. I think of his confession, if it can be called that, equates to the moment, when he talks back to his father. He asks him, why is he mocking him for being a Stark, when he was the one who gave him up in the first place.

When we meet Theon after/during his torture, I believe that what he says here, is actually what he is thinking in ADWD, but it is never put into words. He tells Ramsey about how Robb always reminded him that he was not a Stark, but not because he said it, but just because he was being "him". He says how his father gave him a choice, and he chose wrong, even though his father gave him nothing but disrespect since he went home. He let (his sidekick) kill these orphan boys, and burn their bodies, so he could keep Winterfell. But it was too late: "My real father lost his head in Kings Landing. I made a choice, I chose wrong, and burned everything down.".

KINGS LANDING (was very busy this week)
Ros & Varys
I thought that we'd get through this quickly, as Ros is a fake character, who as we all know is a waste of screen time, as far as I'm concerned. Naturally, they have a quick review of the awesome gifts of Podrick, and then to how Littlefinger has planned for two feather beds on the boat to the Eyrie. This means that we have to see some more plotting involving Sansa, because everyone thinks that she will ultimately be the heir to Winterfell. Oh, and I still think that she is the least bright and resourceful of all the Starks, no matter what her situation.

Tyrion & Varys
I enjoyed this scene because it seems that revenge is all the rage in this episode. So, Tyrion has stopped by to see Varys, who PS, would be an odd person for him to visit because he is certainly not the most trustworthy, right?  Anyway, Tyrion needs the goods on Cersei, so he can prove she tried to have him killed with her weapon of choice, Lord Meryn or the Knight of the KingsGuard who beat up poor Sansa.

However, as we notice, Varys is very busy trying to open a very large crate, and can't really help Tyrion in his fact gathering mission. So, instead he gives Tyrion excellent, advice that will come to fruition in Season 4. He tells the story of how he became a Eunuch, which  humanizes Varys in a way that never really came through in the book.

I think that Varys has mentioned his humble beginnings in the slums of Myr, and here he describes a horrific experience that turned him into the man we know as "The Spider". He said when he was sold to this particular man, who he assumed was going to use him as his sex slave, gave him a potion that paralyzed his entire body, but he could still feel pain. So, when he cut him, he felt it, and he threw them into a fire, chanting all the while to the Lord of Light (you know Mel's god?). Varys swears he saw the fire turn white, and he heard a voice. He never says what the voice said, but it is the one thing he has always remembered, not the pain.

Varys gives him some advice about revenge; the same advice that Papa B on the Borgias, gave his son Cesare in season 2: revenge takes patience. So, as Varys is in the process of opening the crate and revealing the sorcerer w/his mouth stitched shut, rotting away in the crate he says:
"Hello my old friend, its been a long time, I have no doubt revenge will be yours in time, if you have the stomach for it.".
I think Tyrion does, don't you?

Lady Olenna and Varys
Lady Olenna, who just totally rocks, is talking to one of her grandchildren about her needlework. It seems the sigil of Highgarten is the golden rose, and their saying is not half as cool as "Winter is coming", or "A Lannister always pays their debts".  

So Varys shows up and says that he knows that she met with Sansa, and she was like, okay, like that's news. I loved how when Varys remarked on how interesting Sansa is, and Lady Olenna was just like, yeah, but not really. They have some more fun banter about how Sansa is  a "beautiful girl with a famous name", and sadly an important piece on the chess board.

I have to add, that Lady Olenna talks about Ned Stark quite frequently. She specifically seems to mention, and she does it again here, how Ned was a good, honorable man, everyone loved him, but where were all those people when he had his head chopped off? She makes an excellent point, as I said in season 1, Ned has the same infamous problem, of my favorite character Lee Adama from BSG. He is unable to see the grey, and in this case, while playing the game of thrones, it is not the smart thing. Lee learned it the hard way, but unlike Ned, he did not lose his life. But we already know that Lady Olenna, knows her way around town, and knows doing the smart thing, is how you win the game.

So, she and Varys are chatting about how to keep Littlefinger from taking Sansa out of Kings Landing. This is exceedingly dangerous because he cannot become Lord of Winterfell. Varys also says that he does not dislike Littlefinger, but "he would see this country burn, if he could be the Lord of the Ashes".  HBO Littlefinger is definitely like this,but even through ADWD, I was quite sure that his goal was not to be King of Westeros, but something to do with the Eyrie and making Sansa his wife.

Margaery and Sansa
Sansa is praying, and Margaery stops by to play the "who will marry Sansa" game, and also gives Sansa a demonstration about how she could have managed the guards.  I have said this before, but I believe that the Tyrell's were truly trying to help Sansa, by marrying her off to Loras' older brother and live in Highgarten. I think that the emphasis they have put into Lady Olenna speaking of her admiration of Ned, while at the same time downplaying it and her opinion of Sansa, is to indicate that they were legitimately trying to take her out of play.

Irregardless, Margaery links arms with Sansa, and asks what she was praying for, and Sansa keeps her mouth shut. So, as they walk down this path with this spectacular view, she  tells Sansa a fake story, and that she wants them to become good friends.  She also tells her how she would love Highgarten, and she wants her to come and see it. As much as I dislike Sansa, I do feel sorry for her, and it was nice to see her think that she could actually have a friend and end up with her fairytale ending, after all. She is still so foolish, as she clearly missed, what everyone else knows about Loras & Renly. But all she sees is how "gallant" and "gorgeous" he is, so a perfect life in Highgarten, sounds wonderful.

Sansa smiling with what will be a short-lived joy

Margaery does the standard "I used to be ugly, and my gorgeous cousin who used to rub it my face all the time story", so that they will be on the same "level" so to speak. I LOVE when Sansa says that the Queen will never let her leave and go to Highgarten, even if Margaery wanted her to marry Loras. And Margaery says "The Queen? Oh, you mean the Queen Regent? well I will be Queen.....", so basically whatever Cersei wants is moot at that point. We love you Margaery!

Margaery/King Sociopath & Lady Olenna/Cersei
Well it is a beautiful day in the Sept of Baelor! Margaery is on a super fun date with King Sociopath, where he is showing her all the locations of where the Targaryen's "ashes" were "buried" so to speak. There are a variety of charming stories about the Targaryens. They are most gruesome and have to do with burning people with their dragons or drinking wildfire  so that they would be reborn as a dragon. The penultimate moment, is the story of the exciting death of the Mad King, accomplished by his amazing Uncle, wait Father, Jaime.

They come upon Cersei and Lady Olenna, who have been discussing that this is the perfect place for the beautiful royal wedding. Cersei mentions how 700 people will comfortably fit in the sept. So, as they are discussing wedding plans, Margaery all giggly, shows up w/King Sociopath, who is now turned on by talking about death and dying. He wants to show her more dead Targaryen stuff, and Cersei says that perhaps this is all a bit "macabre"? But Margaery says no! I love this, let's go see more. So off she skips w/Joffrey to see more of the sept, which was built by the Targaryens. Margaery says it is so beautiful, and "sometimes severity is the price we pay for greatness", while King Sociopath is drooling all over the floor.

Suddenly we hear the crowds outside, and Margaery convinces King Sociopath, who is afraid of the people, to come outside with her and greet the people. She says that he is a hero, and that if he gives them his love, "they will return it 1000 fold". Damn she's good! So out they go, as Cersei watches in horror, not only because Margaery is so masterfully maneuvering King Sociopath, but she is afraid that the crowd might try to kill him. They are already chanting Margaery's name, and she waves, and gets King Sociopath to do the same, much to Cersei's chagrin.

While this is going on, Lady Olenna and Cersei talking about how foolish it is that men rule the world, and Cersei says some crap about how the gods have willed it so.

Cersei & Tywin
Cersei, apparently thinking that she would be treated with more respect by King Tywin, than Tyrion, is wrong. Tywin is once again writing letters,  planning the death of the King of the North. Finally, when his hand gets tired, Tywin is like "what do you want, I'm busy planning how I can rule the world" and Cersei asks why she has never received  his confidence and trust, as even though she is a woman, she always listened to his lectures.

Cersei gets angrier, and crazier as the books go on, and she believes that if she were a man, she would rule the world. Oh, and be the best Queen ever! She knows Jaime has no interest in politics, and is too caught up in what Tyrion looks like,  too realize that Tyrion did and will rule the world; and he did not need any lectures.

She also discusses the Tyrell's and how they are going to be a problem. She states that Margaery is putting her claws into Joffrey, and is manipulating him.

Smackdown #1 for Cersei this season by King Tywin! Tywin's like, well at least someone is doing it, because you let King Sociopath start the freakin' war.  He reminds her that the Tyrell's saved all of their collective booties, and her children last year, thus reinforcing how she has no idea what she is doing. Cersei thinks that because she is a woman that he will not trust her! And he says: "You're not as smart as you think you are. You've let that boy run roughshod over you and this city." Wait, I think we have heard something like this before....well that would be Tyrion in not so many words in 3.1, and a few times last season to his beloved sister.

In addition, and this does not occur until "Feast of Crows", but their Aunt tells Jaime, "Tyrion is Tywin's son, not you".  She had also informed King Tywin of this revelation long ago, and he was having none of it. So, do not think that King Tywin does not know who should be his confidant. He just hates Tyrion and the fact that he is his son so much, that he is blinded by it. But actually, as Cersei points out, he does not care about anything but the Lannister name. King Tywin will never be father of the year, right? See the recap for 1.07, if you would like to read more about how King Tywin feels about world domination and the Lion.

I have had issues in the past with how Lena Heady's been playing Cersei, as she is very passive aggressive. Cersei Lannister was manipulative, and most certainly not passive aggressive. She was always taking action: either about someone, or talking to someone or sleeping with someone to get things accomplished. Yes, she does follow HBO Cersei's comment about how ruling requires pulling out all of the weeds around you, with no regard for the people. I loved to hate her in the books, and even more so as she starts going nuts, but this Cersei? She is just so annoying everytime she is on screen, she is just plain unlikeable. But I love her when she is either getting a smackdown by Tyrion or best of all, by King Tywin.

The Nights Watch
Well, there is not much to say except:

1. Craster got what was coming to him.
2. The men are starving, freezing and little seeds of mutiny are being sewn.
3. Lord Commander Mormont is killed by some of his own men. Oh, but there is a funeral for one of the Rangers.(thus the title of the episode). RIP Lord Commander, you put Jon on the path to fulfill his destiny.
4. Sam runs away with Gilly & her newborn son, as soon as all hell broke lose.

Arya
Our girl was taken to the hideout of the Brotherhood of the Banners, although she and Gendry have been riding with hoods over their heads. She also gets to meet Beric Dondarrion, who if you remember had been tasked with bringing in the Mountain by Ned Stark in season 1. If you recall the Hound has also been taken prisoner, and on Arya's kill list.

There is this whole chanting of the Lord of Light mantra "The Night is Dark and filled with Terrors", and that is when Beric makes his big entrance. There is some discussion about how House Clegane was built on dead children, adnd the killing of the Targaryen children by the Mountain. The Hound having endured his own torture by his brother, as is evident by his face, reminds them that he did not kill the "Targaryen babes". So just as there was going to be no reason to kill him, Arya yells out that he killed her friend Micah, and that she is the one who hit Joffrey with the sword, and not Micah.

Arya is checking names off her list, 
and The Hound will be the first.

The Hound says some gross stuff about how he was a bleeder, and he should have killed Arya , not Micah. Well, to Arya's glee, Beric has challenged The Hound to trial by combat.

Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen
As I had mentioned in the beginning of my recap, I no longer have respect for Dany after ADWD, but that does not exclude the fact that there were so many reasons that I did love her. 

However, it is moments such as 3.03, when she informed Ser Jorah, and Ser Baristan that they would be fired if they spoke against her in public. She starts sounding annoying like last season, and in ADWD. Sure it sounds badass, but Dany, who the hell would be advising you and helping you achieve your goals? No one. And you would probably be dead without Ser Jorah. A man who is clearly in love w/her, (it is very creepy in the books because she is 14 and he is the age we see in the show), and although he was a spy before he became a member of her khalasar, has been unflinching in his loyalty to her. Ser Barristan, the best swordsman in the realm, and honorable to a fault, as dear Ned was, will also be unflinching in his loyalty to her, ie. would also die for her. Two men who would die for you? Mmmm, not seeing too many of those around these days. 

Okay, so now to the cool stuff.

Team Dany

The scene that I have been waiting for has taken place! Dany proves that she is a badass, burned Astapor to the ground, all while taking and freeing her new army, The Unsullied. The way she did the reveal about who she was, and said "Dracarys", was perfection.

"Dracarys"

"A dragon is not a slave"

Emilia Clarke killed it with this scene, and made it even better than in the book. The way she spoke High Valyrian, a fake language, with such power and conviction, was nothing short of spectacular.  Dany is becoming a cruel and ruthless Queen, proven by the fact, she burnt an entire city because it had slaves, w/out blinking an eye.

Dany faces her new army

Oh, and they gave her another white horse? Her silver and a gift from Khal Drogo, does not die in the book, so I never knew why they killed him in the first place.  The end of the episode was amazing as she treads over "The Whip", as you see her army, and the three dragons screaming in the background.

And so it begins.....

Another amazing episode, see you for 3.05 & 3.06!


**Images and quotes courtesy of HBO "Game of Thrones" 3.04