Sunday, June 28, 2015

Game of Thrones 5.08: "Hardhome"

This week's dedication: 
Lord Commander Jon Snow


He convinced the Wildlings to ally with the Nights Watch, and ran head first into an army of the dead.
Yeah, that's my boy.

Lets get into it.

Meereen
Dany
We are in the Pyramid Throne room, and Dany, with Missandei by her side, is looking down at Jorah and Tyrion. Jorah is not allowed to speak, and Tyrion is being clever and manipulative. 


Tyrion & Jorah await Dany's judgement
A good Queen stays true to her word.
Remember when I beheaded one of my first freedmen
and loyal council member?
Tyrion informs Dany, that she will have to earn the right for him to become her advisor. What is his first task? He must decide the fate of Ser Jorah. He reviews the pros and cons, namely that he could have told her the truth at any time, and that he is in love with her.  Dany was visibly upset, as losing Ser Jorah was a huge blow for her, as he was her first trusted advisor and friend. However, he should not be at her side if she wants to win The Iron Throne. So, he is exiled once again, and we see him outside the walls looking at his greyscale, and up at the wall. 

I am still confused about how greyscale works, and how it gets transmitted. I remember that Jon Connington said that it came from being touched by the stone men. I am doing an ADWD reread, and Illyrio tells Tyrion about how he burned some ships, and the people, who had the grey death, to keep it from spreading. He said that rats got ashore, and killed 2000 people. We also have Val who says it goes into some type of remission, ie. Book Shireen, but HBO Shireen is supposedly cured.  Irregardless, I was waiting for him to rub his arm on the wall; which may or my not do something, but you never know with this show.

Ser Jorah returns to the place of the "c" version of Gladiator and Spartacus, and tells the boss, aka the slave master, that he wants to fight in the pits for the big day.  Jorah knows that he is going to die, and all he wants is Dany's forgiveness. Since the dragons will clearly be freed, and Drogo will be stopping by next episode, I think that he will die, in what he will believe is an attempt to save Dany. Either way, he will commit suicide in one form or another.

Tyrion and Dany 
If you read my recaps, I repeatedly write about Dany and how the Targaryen crazy is settling in, as time passes.  Take a look at Targaryen history, it's in their DNA, and she is a child of incest. She did recently feed one of the Master's to Rhaegal and Viserion, and we can't forget the crucifixion of the Masters. She views herself as a savior, the people call her "Mhysa", and she wears white when in public, and pale colors when at the palace. She very often has the appearance of an angel, with her long, flowing, blond hair, and more so here, with a sunrise behind her:
The False Angel: Dany Targaryen
But we all know that Dany is not a liberator, she is a conqueror, and in grave need of  a reality check. 

The Reality Check
"two terrible children of two terrible fathers"
Dany has her crazy face on and Tyrion is drinking, and running circles around her, i.e. linking their worse qualities, while at the same time, revealing they have much in common(see above quote).  Tyrion asks what Team Dany's strategy is to gain the Iron Throne. 

Dany: The common people, who can't even remember who a Targaryen is, will rally to me, their one true Queen. I have three dragons and a large army, and I will crush the Great Houses. The common people, will hail me as their Mhysa, and the Iron Throne will be mine.

Tyrion says that the support of the common people is lovely,but you need the wealthy on your side, as she has seen with the rise of The Sons of the Harpy. He informs her that none of the Great Houses will support her, and that she is the only remaining Targaryen. 

Dany's response is to make one of her powerful proclamations, which sounded great in the trailer, but means nothing.
Dany getting her crazy face on
"Lannister, Baratheon, Stark, Tyrell, they're all just spokes on a wheel. This one's on top, and that one's on top. And on and on it spins, crushing those on the ground."

 We can't forget the big finish:

"I am not going to stop the wheel, I'm going to break the wheel."

Tyrion, had reminded her that dragons are great, but politics are necessary to avoid unnecessary bloodshed.  Sadly, she could actually read a lesson about this very thing, in the story  "The Dance of the Dragons", (and you can too: "The Princess and The Queen" in the"Dangerous Women" anthology, and the amazing "The World of Ice and Fire), if she bothered to read about the history of her family.

Let's leave Meereen and go to a far more interesting place.

Braavos
Arya
One of the most successful story lines this season, is Arya and the beginning her training as one of the Faceless Men.
Arya telling Jaqen about her day
We see Arya with Jaqen recounting her time as Lana, in great detail, until she makes the mistake of messing up one of the turns on her route. I would have liked to see more interaction with her regular customers, besides the woman from the whorehouse. It is very clear that awareness of your surroundings is essential to her training, so it would have been a nice addition. But Jaqen has a new assignment:  keep observing your surroundings and make a change to her route. 

We get to see Arya in her new look, roaming the streets of Braavos, which are amazing. They really nailed Braavos, because it is exactly how I pictured it would look on screen. D&D even threw us nerdy book readers a bone, with having a cat cross her path. We watch her yelling the now infamous: 
"Oysters, Clams and Cockles!"

She finally comes upon the show's version of The Thin Man, who we see screwing over some poor soul. Arya speaks so few words, but still manages to look like she's ready to start some killing, after she sees this transaction. She gives the Thin Man four oysters, "best in the city!", with vinegar (poison anyone?), and a nasty look, which means he has just made her kill list. 
My kill list has gotten very short for some reason,
so I will happily add you to it. 
She returns to The House of Black and White, and tells Jaqen of her encounter with the Thin Man. His gambling scheme is confusing, but all that's important is that he cheats the poor of their money, and according to Jaqen their only choice, is to receive the gift of The Many Faced God. He hands her a vial of poison, which is disappointing, because the way the Thin Man is killed in the books is so cool, as it goes through several steps. She also has a little smile as she leaves, which means that Arya is still not "no one", and she is super excited to kill someone. I do not like this change, as Book Arya made mistakes in her training, but she is 100% dedicated to becoming a Faceless Man. 
The waif, telling Jaqen, Arya's not ready
The waif  tells Jaqen that Arya is not ready, and he says whether she is or isn't, "It's all the same to the Many Faced God". 
Finally! I get to kill someone,
 it's been far too long.
We leave Braavos, as our favorite girl skips away to her first official kill, as an apprentice to the Faceless Men. 

Kings Landing
Cersei
Oh, how far the mighty have fallen:
The Septa using water to force Cersei to confess
A Septa has been visiting Cersei and asking her to confess, and then she will receive some water. I assume this has been going on for weeks, so she must have been allowed to drink some water or she would be dead. Anyway, she is still refusing to confess, and threatening the Septa, even though it clearly has not worked along the way. 

Qyburn stops by and Cersei is very concerned about Tommen. She wants him to visit her, but Qyburn says that he refuses to eat, and locked himself into his chambers. What else does she learn? Maester Pycelle called for Kevan to return to Kings Landing. He is the Hand of the King, and taken control of the council. Cersei, still in denial, thinks that she has the power to command her uncle to visit her. But Kevan has refused, which is not surprising, as we know how he felt about Cersei and her council. 

We also learn the charges against her: 
Fornication 
Treason
Incest
Murder of King Robert

Cersei denies them all, because she has forgotten that Lancel, "warned" her at Tommen's wedding (5.01). Qyburn says confessing is her only recourse, and Cersei's response is laughable. Why? She goes on a rant about how she gave the High Sparrow power, and she won't kneel to a commoner. So Cersei continues to be the least intelligent person in the room, and she has no idea, that she got played by the High Sparrow. He always had power, she just legitimized it and gave him permission to wield it. 

The North

Winterfell
Sansa

Sansa is very unhappy, and is sitting at a table waiting for Theon. She confronts Theon, regarding his betrayal about the "candle in the tower" S.O.S..  I know that she was desperate, but Theon was a traitor before becoming Reek, and she's seen how he interacts with Ramsay, so I was never quite sure why she thought that she could trust him. Anyway, she is screaming at him, and Theon, who we know is so far gone, says that Theon Greyjoy did those things to her family, not Reek.  He does  breakdown, and is briefly Theon, when he confesses that he deserved to become Reek after his betrayal of Robb, and the Stark family.
However, Sansa keeps going after him, and he cracks under her aggression. He reveals that Bran and Rickon are still alive, but he has no idea where they went.  Sansa realizes that she is not alone, and that she still has family out there in the world.

Roose "Traiterous Ass" Bolton, and The Sadist Ramsay


War Council
Roose Bolton is a seasoned war commander, unlike his son. and is outlining the plan to defeat Stannis. We know that winter has come, and they have six months of food, so they can outlast Stannis. He seems to forget, snow or not, Stannis is the man who kept Storm's End from defeat until they were eating books, and ultimately saved by Davos.  It's a smart  move, and Ramsay who thinks that he is smarter than his Lord Father, asks to take a small group, and go after Stannis. 
Dad, you didn't know that I command
Winterfell's infiltration unit?
The Wall

Sam and Gilly
They are in what appears to be Sam's room, and she is tending to his wounds. They have a brief chat about the events in the stock room and Gilly says that she is okay, which I assume is a reference to her almost being gang raped. I'm tired of talking about women and violence, but this scene was odd, because it seems as if they are hiding out, but they are actually in Sam's very spacious, quarters. 

You know, I like these two together, as even before they were having sex, Gilly was often speaking to him, as if she was his wife.  I will be interested to see what will happen next season as per casting news, Sam's family may be in Season 6. The last time we see them in ADWD, she  is supposedly on her way to Sam's family, and he goes to Oldtown, and The Citadel, where he will begin training to be a Maester. 

Olly and Sam
Wow, Olly is just such an interesting young man, and who has had one purpose this season: " I am going to stab the Lord Commander".  He arrives at Sam's room, with some food, and he wants to talk about his boss, aka, Jon. I hated this scene, because it is so painfully lacking in originality, that it hurts. 

Sam, is completely oblivious, and not really listening to what Olly is asking him. He forgets that Olly is an impressionable 13 year old kid, and has given him permission, so to speak, to do what he thinks is right; even if other people do not understand his motives.

It's time to watch Jon become, for one episode, Book Jon.

The Massacre of Hardhome
There is so much to say, that I decided to follow the old saying as my guide "This is the beginning of the end",  and start with the end, because this is the truth.    

Lets get into it:
Hardhome: The Calm before the Storm
First, let's understand the purpose of Karsi.


I am so happy that she was not the new Val, for so many reasons, but that's for another day.
Her true purpose was the following:
  • Humanize the Wildlings
  • Ygritte is not the only Wildling woman who is a fighter.
  • Women are mothers and leaders, and can also be badass. 
  • The tragedy of children becoming wights, and that no one will be spared in this war. 
  • She tells her children that she must go back to find the old, which means that most of the Wildlings saved, were not those who will be able to fight. 
  • She knows that their situation is dire, and this was before the battle. She asks Jon who will let them through the Wall, when he doesn't return. (foreshadowing anyone?)

Jon and The Night King
There is no doubt, that there was a connection between the Night's King and Jon. It clicked for me, when Jon, after killing the Lieutenant, looked up at the NK, as if he knew that he was looking at him, and then collapsed.  It was brilliantly shot, as it was from the NK's perspective, as you could see this arrogant leader, watching the little black spot, Jon, falling to the ground. The NK knew that it was only a matter of time for someone of significance to appear, perhaps a nemesis? We don't know, but  after observing Jon lead his men, and kill one of his lieutenants; he determined this person was Jon. 
  
The Night King watching Jon as he collapses.

Many people believe that the Night King, who was cooly observing Jon, was due to the fact that he was unaware that Valyrian steel could kill his people. I think that he knows, but he did not know, nor did the Lieutenant, that Jon would be the man who would be wielding it. 

I agree that the NK's  stroll out to the end of the docks was a show of strength, that was clearly directed at Jon. I was mesmerized by him staring at Jon, and Jon, who has having a million emotions going on, locked eyes with him.  But the question is: Why? Jon is just one man, who killed one of his lieutenants, with a sword, that I am pretty positive, he knows are few and far between.  It makes no sense, unless Jon is someone of consequence. However, I believe that the person at whom the threat was aimed, will be whomever Jon becomes after his resurrection. 
The Night King threatening Jon: 
I know WHO you really are.....
Jon horrified, watching the dead rise,
and a terrifying feeling that
the NK was speaking directly to him.

Take a deep breath.....
I was afraid that the writers had decided to kill Jon here, instead of at The Wall. The writers have been messing with his character throughout the series, so making such a huge change, would not be farfetched. 

I was worried, as soon as I saw Wun Wun, and Jon was trapped in a small area. I thought that he could go crazy, like in the books, and then the Wildlings would kill Jon. We also hear the haunting music (it sounded familiar) playing as we see Jon fall to the ground, and we watch the hopelessness of the battle.

It was almost like a dry run of the stabbing of Jon, which should be  in 5.10. 

Let's do a play by play: 
Jon is thrown around by the Lieutenant in the hut, and he put up a fight. Kit Harington, even before the training for "Pompeii", was always very agile and amazing at swordplay, so it was awesome watching him dodge the White Walker's weapon. He even got a punch in before his sword was shattered, and he was pushed down a few feet, to the ground. Kit Harington was great in this moment, as Jon was briefly paralyzed and clearly thought that he was about to be run through, but the Lieutenant got cocky, and did an Oberyn. 

Jon was badly injured and it was brilliant to have him shut out the world, as he ran for his life. He did the same thing, after Ygritte died, and I knew something huge was going to happen. He grabbed Longclaw, and was sprawled out in the snow, struggling and he managed to get up, and swing at the Lieutenant:
WTF?
WTF?
Jon kills the Lieutenant, who shatters into ice and falls to the ground:
Book Jon also falls to his knees,
as he pulls the first knife out,

so I thought that this was it...
Jon was spitting up blood, gasping for air,
and I thought that he could possibly die from these wounds. 

I was thinking holy shit, there's no Mel or Ghost, what is happening?? But, Edd finds him and says they need to leave or die:
Jon and Dolores Edd paralyzed,
as they watch the dead roll off the cliff, and
start running with Tormund to the boats
Jon turns to watch the carnage,
and then the NK appears.....
Now, let's go to the beginning: 

Jon and the Wildlings
Meet and Greet

It's go big or go home, because we need
each other for the upcoming war
I am certain that the relationship between Jon and Tormund, is out of the blue for a non book reader. Amongst the many issues I have with Jon's character development, it is how the the writers screwed up his relationship with the Wildlings. Mance is a totally different character, as is Tormund on the show. Jon has a relationship with these two men, even though he betrayed them. It is especially strong with Tormund.

Rattleshirt, ( he hates Book Jon), The Lord of  Bones on the show, confronts them. There is a back and forth regarding loyalties, and it ends with Tormund bashing his head in. So, we get our council meeting, and Jon does his pitch for joining Team NW, and it was pretty awesome.

The Meeting
Jon gave an amazing speech to the Wildlings, which was the one that he should have given to the NW. It was brilliant, as he was honest, smart, and proved why they end up following him. It also bears mentioning that this experience at Hardhome, also bonded Jon more closely with the Wildlings. 

Jon reiterates that they are at Hardhome as allies, not as friends. Mance brought them south of the Wall, so they could have a chance to survive the White Walkers.

He proposes a DEAL:
Return with him to the Wall, and join the fight in the war to come. 
He will share the dragonglass
He will give them lands, south of the Wall,

He also does a clever move by saying that he killed Mance, which made everyone go crazy, as expected. Tormund backs him up by explaining the real reason that Jon killed Mance. It also proved to the Wildlings that he is trustworthy, and that there is no question that he will honor this alliance.

"I'm not asking you to forget your dead, I lost 50 brothers that night.(and Ygritte, which is heartbreaking, because he can't say it out loud, or to anyone at this point) Mance attacked The Wall. But I'm asking you to think about your children now. They'll never have children of their own if we don't band together. The Long Night is coming, and the dead come with it. No clan can stop them. The free folk can't stop them. The Night's Watch can't stop them. And all of the southern kings can't stop them. Only together, all of us, and even then it might be enough, but at least then, we'll  at least give the fuckers a fight."

Oh Jon, why didn't you say this to your brothers? It would have been the same thing, just tweaked for a different audience. But then I remember, that the NW needs a reason to think HBO Jon is a traitor. ugh.

Continuing on....Loboda, the new leader of the Thenns, is having none of it, and stomps off with his crew. But Tormund backed Jon up, saying that he is young, and a good leader, which is very true for Book Jon, and I wish HBO Jon acted like that every episode.

The Thenn's take off, and the remaining members agree with Tormund, and the next time we see them, the boats are filling with Wildlings.

Jon's worried that too many are being left behind
.....and then this happened
 
The dead arrive on an avalanche of snow,
and everything goes to hell

And we see the proof of Jon's words, when Loboda looks at  him  and says that they will get the dragonglass. He goes to face the Lieutenant, who freaks both of them out, and told Jon to find it. We know he gets killed, Jon is thrown across the room, and we go to the play by play.

Intel on the White Walkers/The Others
Honestly, I am at the point, that I am not sure what will be a book spoiler or not, except for the obvious few, which I will leave for the final posting. I am sure that we will see a Night King, and I find the possibility of learning more about this magical race, very exciting. 

The White Walkers/The Others
  • The Wights appear en masse as snow and ice drifts
  • There was that screeching sound that we heard at the end of S2, which means there is a language being spoken, and this is some kind of command. Thousands of the dead began running and rolling over the cliff after we heard that sound. We knew they had one, as we heard via another character's eyes, their language in the prologue to A Game of Thrones. 
  • We know from last season  that there is some type of Council of Thirteen, with the Night King turning babies into one of them. One of the many, many questions about the them, is how does this male child grow into an adult? 

  • The White Walkers are not affected by fire. In fact, when the Lieutenant walked in, it was if the ice froze the fire. I loved that effect, as it really reinforced that they are a magical race.
  • They have armor, and can be killed with Valyrian steel, and dragonglass. We have seen evidence of the dragonglass in the book, Sam thought Valyrian steel might also work, and I thought this was confirmation that it can kill an Other. However, it's not book canon, so until it's down on paper, it's still just a theory. 
Finally, we can all agree: WESTEROS IS SCREWED. 

Jon realizes the war has just begun,
and the Others army just got
a whole lot bigger

AMAZING EPISODE!! It was epic, and nothing make me happier than seeing Book Jon on screen. When Jon yells at one of his men to leave and come back for him, that was the Lord Commander from the books.  It was an amazing blend of the letter from Cotter Pyke after the disaster at Hardhome, when Jon does in fact, tell himself, that his war has just begun. When the Wildlings got into those small boats, all I could hear in my head was "....dead things in the water", and it was great to feel suspense in that they could show up in the water.  The myth of Hardhome, is alluded to, as it was destroyed in some kind of catastrophic event, burning so bright, that the NW could see it. No one knows what happened, if maybe the Valyrians showed up and burned it for some reason? I have no clue, but it remained a cold, broken place, with howling caves, that the Wildlings believe is cursed.

I will complete this season, and eventually Season 4, but for now, I am not sure how to approach 5.09-5.10, as I think that I am going to combine them. See you soon!



*All images and quotes are owned by HBO, "Game of Thrones" 5.08










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