Game of Thrones – “The Broken Man” – season 6, episode 7 Recap/Review

We all knew we haven’t seen the last of ‘The Hound’ and tonight’s round about episode proves just that. Other highlights of this episode include the recruitment efforts in the North (via Jon Snow, Sansa and Davos), Margaery Tyrell’s long con with the Faith of the Seven, Jaime Lannister’s attempt at overtaking Riverrun and meeting Blackfish, and Arya’s ‘adventure’ in Braavos taking an unsurprising turn.

King’s Landing

Although some were convinced that Margaery was effectively brainwashed by the High Sparrow, we begin to see glimpses that her ‘act’ is becoming difficult to uphold. All the while, the High Sparrow seems focused on taking down any opponents of the ‘Seven’, including Margaery’s grandmother. In a meeting to persuade her grandmother to come aboard with the ‘Seven’, she gives her a note with the symbol for House Tyrell – a rose. This is all that her grandmother, the Queen of Thorns, needs to know. Margaery has not lost sight in who she is and we can tell that she is more than a few chess moves ahead of her enemies. However, the High Sparrow could genuinely believe Margaery is a changed woman or he already knows that she is pretending. Either way, death is certainly around the corner – whether that be a Lannister, a Tyrell or the High Sparrow.

There is also a telling scene between the Queen of Thorns and Cersei Lannister. Take it as a prepping of the stage for what’s to come. I believe that the writers continue to paint Cersei as damaged goods, but I think she’ll likely come out of this on top. Let us not forget that it was the Queen of Thorns who was partly responsible for her son’s (King Joffrey) death.
 

Undisclosed Brothel

Yara and Theon and the rest of their clan embellish in some R & R after they steal most all the ships from the Iron Islands, leaving their crazy uncle, Euron, the newly appointed king, without much to take upon his revenge. During the celebration, we see that Yara prefers the company of women over men, while also giving her brother a hard time about his now inability to be with a woman. All jokes were quickly pushed aside when she tells him that she needs the ‘real Theon’ to come back and help her. Yara is tired of the shell of a man her brother has become– thanks to Roose Bolton’s torture tactics. She essentially tells Theon to be a man or kill himself. Will the real Theon Greyjoy please stand up? We’ll have to wait and see.
 

Somewhere in the North

The recruiting continues as Jon Snow, Sansa and Davos go from house to house trying to scrounge up more soldiers – without much help. I did find it interesting to see how each fair in persuading. Jon Snow seems to be the most assertive of the group (his plea to the rest of the Wildlings), Sansa would be the most aggressive (her ineffective case given to House Glover), and Davos would play more to others’ sympathies (his convincing of Lady Mormont). After all their pleas, Snow remains convinced that they’ll have to make good with what they have but Sansa is not convinced. We later see her write a letter but we do not see who to (my money is on Littlefinger). It is likely that Sansa is hoping that Littlefinger can help provide his cousins army to help battle the Boltons, the Freys, and the White Walkers. I should note that we can never forget that Littlefinger is Littlefinger. He will likely make a giant play for power soon and that may involve with making an alliance to the Boltons.
 

Braavos

We now know that Arya sees herself as a Stark, first and foremost. She just needs to get away from Braavos and the Faceless God members….a.s.a.p.! She throws bags of gold around to sea captains and immediately sets her departure for the following day. Things look fine until, an old lady appears offering her an apple and then begins to stab her a few times. The old lady is revealed to be a disguised waif (waif is defined as a homeless person, FYI), unsurprisingly. Luckily (sort of), Arya manages to jump into the canal where we next see her holding her stomach wound while walking the streets of Braavos (where no one seems to find her condition alarming). Can Arya just catch a break? What if the waif and Arya are the same person? Think about it.
 

Jaime Lannister and Blackfish are at a crossroads in the Riverlands

If you remember back to the ‘Red Wedding’, both Robb Stark and his mother, Catelyn Stark’s (maiden name Catelyn Tully), were betrayed. In that aftermath, Edmure (Catelyn’s brother), was captured. After Riverrun was taken back by Blackfish (Catelyn’s uncle), the Frey’s used Edmure as a hostage so that Blackfish would forfeit his claim to Riverrun. Hilariously, Blackfish doesn’t bat an eye and calls their bluff and he was right to. Edmure was spared (for now) and Blackfish’s new, worthy enemy on the scene comes with the arrival of Jaime Lannister, the foul mouthed Bronn (everyone’s favorite sword for hire), and a large army. They are there to help take Riverrun back for the Freys.

What came next is the actual meeting between Jaime and Blackfish. Jaime, on the one hand, does not seem to understand that it is his love for Cersei that puts him in many of the situations that seemed to plague him. Even Blackfish said that his impression of Jaime was that he was disappointed. Moreover, Blackfish relays that he’ll never wield Riverrun as it is the only home he has ever known. No matter how you look at it, an eventual battle will cost many lives…and deep down (likely) Jaime knows that he shouldn’t be there at all. Blackfish’s claim to Riverrun isn’t just ‘all that he knows’ but is also a testament to the House of Tully legacy.

As we know, Brienne of Tarth is in route to Riverrun (after being tasked by Sansa – to likely verify that Blackfish has taken over Riverrun). Her reunion with pal, Jaime Lannister, is on the horizon (next episode). Hopefully, Brienne can talk some sense into Jaime otherwise they’ll become enemies to each other.
 

You ain’t nothing by The Hound

Oh where have thy Hound been since season four? Well, after being nursed back to health by an all accepting religious sect led by a convincing sept (played by the great Ian McShane – “Deadwood” fame), the Hound seemed to find solace while working with a group to build a church. The Hound has been haunted by his past and the meaning behind his life. After living and learning via the religious sect, the Hound has found a sort of peace with himself. He wants to use the rest of his life for good. However, the now peaceful Hound (otherwise known as Sandor Clegane) will seek revenge after the slaughter of his people by the ‘Brotherhood without Banners’. He is the ‘broken man’ as mentioned in the title of this episode.
 

Overall Thoughts

This episode seemed more like a ‘setting of pieces’ for what are likely very big things yet to come. Personally, I believe unlikely alliances will be made and these pieces will soon reveal a larger picture/goal: to battle the White Walkers as ‘winter’ will have to arrive eventually.

If I were a betting man:

The old Three Eyed Raven has always been Bran Stark.

Jon Snow is half Targaryen and half Stark.

Meera Reed is actually Jon Snow’s twin sister.

Arya Stark and the Waif are the same person. Fight Club style!

Game of Thrones – ‘Oathbreaker’ – episode 3 recap/review

Just as the title of this episode suggests, many of the characters have no other viable recourse other than to break their oaths for what they believe is the ‘greater good’. With that, this also casted a light into what is really important to these characters. Perhaps the biggest ‘oathbreaker’ in this episode would be one most would not really expect, especially fans of the books – the Umbers (I’ll get to that later).

So, Daenarys is being forced to live out her days amongst the other Dothraki widows as what is customary once a husband passes (and can no longer conquer the world – Westeros). You can tell that she believes she has a duty to all people, as Queen of the Dragons, and feels she must break the oath she made upon marrying Khal Drogo. Of course, there will be a council that has yet to ‘try’ Daenarys for the time she spent away as Queen. There’ll be political finagling, but we all know we’ll see Daenarys and her dragons reunite. It will be interesting to see how Valerys and Tyrion play out the Sons of the Harpy and whether Mereen is really worth liberating. I don’t see why Daenarys wastes her time when she needs to storm King’s Landing.

Arya Stark initially broke her oath when she killed one of those off her ‘hit list’ (end of season five) but has since found retribution after being blind and understanding that she is ‘no one’. Upon this, she is given her sight back. Things finally look on the up and up for Arya who has seemed to spend way too much time training under the House of Many Gods. It’ll be very interesting to find where her path leads.

Jon Snow has been resurrected, thanks (maybe) to Lady Malisandre. With only his last memories being betrayed and stabbed by other members of the Night’s Watch (because of his alliance with the Wildlings), he executes the men responsible. Immediately after, Snow declares that his ‘watch’ has ended and walks out (the execution and his Lord Commander coat being handed off was his ‘mic drop’).No one can really state that he has an oath. I mean, he was just killed (and then brought back). The question is, ‘what will Snow do next?’ Is he heading back to Winterfell?

The brother and sister/lover duo (Jamie and Cersei Lannister) continues to strategize their next move at seeking retribution. They didn’t do too much this episode but continue to alienate everyone else with the presence of the Frankenstein version of “The Mountain”.

Gilly is seen tending to a seasick Sam as they cross the sea to see Sam’s parents. This may not turn out well as Sam doesn’t exactly have high acclaim for his father upon describing his family to Gilly. Nonetheless, it looks like we are going to see more of Sam, his maestro training and his eventual reuniting with Snow.

Bran continues to see the past but this time it was a young Ned Stark facing a swordsman who was holding his sister captive in a small castle. When Bran urges to learn more about what occurred that day, the Three Eyed Raven prevents him from seeing more. We do not know the true implications of Bran’s relationship with the Three Eyed Raven. However, we do get more information as we go – like the idea that the Three Eyed Raven is basically attached to the roots and he has been waiting specifically for Bran to meet him.

Now, we are given the ‘biggest oathdreaker’, Smalljon Umber. The Umbers were loyal to the Starks, even during Robb Stark’s reign. Greatjon Umber questioned Robb Stark’s ability to lead and had his two fingers bitten off by his direwolf in season one (if you can remember that far back). Well, Smalljon Umber appeared to Ramsay Bolton looking to unite forces and even brought Rickon Stark and Osha (the wildling we last saw him with). In the books, Smalljon was loyal to Robb Stark up until his death. Here, he is seen as ‘the oathbreaker’. This is after his father, Greatjon, emphasized the importance of being loyal and adhering to the oath. When Ramsay Bolton requests that he kneel and pledge allegiance to his cause, Smalljon essentially spat in his face. He even mentions that his father died (but not how). Something happened to Smalljon that has him throwing any sense of ‘loyalty’ out the window. This catches Ramsay off guard but he seems to ignore this once Smalljon’s presents his ‘gifts’ – Osha and Rickon Stark along with the head of his direwolf, shaggydog. Remember, the last time we saw Osha and Rickon was when Bran said he had to go north of the Wall (with Hodor, Meera, and Jojen)Note: this was all the way back in season four. Bran told his brother and Osha to head to the Umbers for safety the last time he saw them. Of course, they were met with anything but.

There’s still a lot to look forward to: Jon Snow’s destination, Bran’s visions, Rickon’s backstory, the slow moving Lannister chess game, the identity of the leader of the Sons of the Harpy, how Daenarys will escape, and the fate of the Iron Islands.

So far, this season has been a lot of fun!
Grade: A