Welcome Game of Thrones fans, to another weekly recap of what has come to be one of the greatest shows ever. HBO continues to bring it in this second episode of season 6, and if there was ever any question that the show would continue to be great now that it’s surpassed the books, it looks like there is nothing to worry about.
The combination of the show being in the 6th season (and all the characters having grown so much in the world they are in), along with this is the first time we’re ahead of the books (so us readers of Ice and Fire are without knowledge for the first time ever at what comes next), creates some intense and nerve-racking scenes… every moment plays out with you knowing that sh*t can hit the fan at any moment (which also means that some character you like can die at any moment as well).
So, lets see what scenes this episode had to it, and, as always, a reminder: SPOILERS.
Up north at the Wall, Davos and the handful of Crows have run out of time, and the rest of the Nights Watch is about to take them out. Fortunately, in the nick of time, all the Wildlings (including the giants) that Jon had allowed to come south of the wall, come running back to protect Jon’s remains. Outnumbering the wall my a hefty amount, they traitor crows are sent to the cells – but not before an idiot shoots an arrow at one of the giants, who then grabs him by the leg and swats him against the wall, exploding his head against it as it smashes. That death was pretty gruesome and even made me be like wtf.
A little south from there, The Roose’s new child is born, putting Ramsey second in line. And Ramsey will have none of that. To a surprise for us (though I guess I saw that coming at some point), Ramsey knives his father to death. Then, even more horrible, locks his “step-mom” and the newborn child in the cages with the wild hound dogs. WTF again! He’s seriously becoming the greatest evil in Westoros (outside the White Walkers that is).
Bran is back, and he seems to have masters his Warg abilities and more. It seems that through the roots of the Three Eyed Raven, he is experiencing moments of the past, seeing a flashback of when his father and uncle (Benjen) were kids still training in the yards of Winterfell. There are a lot of hints and flashbacks in the books concerning certain events (mostly in regards to the death of Ned’s sister), and while the show lacked a lot of those throughout the past 5 seasons, I believe now they can use Bran to re-live them, and tell more details on that story. This is important because the theory is we will find out who Jon’s mother is. For fans of the books, we already kind of know what the story with that is, and with the way this episode ended, we know that that story is important. But more on that later.
Off to the West, beyond the shores and on the Iron Islands, Balon Greyjoy discusses with his daughter Yara about war tactics (and why her ideas to go save her brother Theon are nonsense). As the scene continues and Balon heads from one tower to another on the bridges, he meets a new character who happens to be his brother Euron. And with this meeting, comes Balon’s demise, as he gets thrown off the bridge to his death. Following that scene, during Balon’s funeral, we see that the law in the Iron Islands is not that blood takes over (i.e. Yara), but that the new King is voted in… which means Euron is probably an option. So this was a move for the throne.
This scene actually happened a lot earlier in the books (though you never knew it was Euron, just suspicion that it was not just an “accident”). The books reach to the “election” of it all, but I won’t ruin it for anyone. Lets just say that this part of the story starts becoming more involved in the bigger picture.
Farther South the funeral for Myrsella is taking place. Tommen and Cercie reconcile (I guess he was pissed/upset), Jamie shows his uncle (father?) side to him, threatens the priesthood (though finds himself it deep waters) and the new Zombie Mountain smashes skulls against walls.
Off to the east, across the narrow sea, Arya continues her blind training. And when she’s offered her site back but refuses (because she is no-one), she seems to pass into the next phase. Cannot wait to see where this goes.
Farther to the east, Tyrion decides to unchain the dragons (not free them from the catacombs mind you… not yet at least, but just remove the chains). The scene is intense and freaking awesome. And it looks like if things continue this way, Tyrion might have a couple new winged friends by his side.
Finally, lets get back to were it all started at the wall. Davos speaks to Melisandre about her powers, and if there is anything she can do for Jon. She has little faith, dealing with these types of matters, but attempts to try it anyway. And, as every fan of the show has been hoping for since the finale of last year, Jon is back!
Its great to see him back, and see who this plays out. One thing that bothered me a little is that in the books, Davos isn’t at the wall when Snow is taken out. More importantly, he absolutely hates Melisandre and her “witch magic”. And while I don’t mind that they have written the script to have Davos at the wall (which is fine, since Davos is a pretty cool character), its just feels al title out of character for him to be the one asking Melisandre to do her magic. I think overall, getting to that scene felt a little anti-climactic… “Hey, you… any magic tricks you can do?” Then again, at least the writers of the show were straight forward… we all knew this was how it was going to happen one way or another, so why wouldn’t the characters of that world not know it.
Till next week!
~mozeus
