Sunday night sure was a doozy — a double dose of ‘events’ – the final game of the NBA Finals (Golden State Warriors vs. Cleveland Cavaliers) and a much anticipated episode of HBO’s “Game of Thrones”. It doesn’t matter in which order you watched, just as long as you caught both, right? If there was any parallel to be drawn, it’d be that things appeared hopeless given the odds for both the Cleveland Cavaliers (who were earlier down 3-1 in the series) and Jon Snow’s army being dwarfed (sorry Tyrion) by an army twice the size (Bolton’s army).
Puff the Magic Dragons
Before we scooted off to the ‘Battle for Winterfell’, we need to know how things in Mereen are ‘fairing’. After all, the Slave Masters are last seen attacking the city. As Tyrion tries to catch Daenarys up to speed on the events as of late (while, you know, the city continues being attacked), they devise a plan – basically Daenarys gets on her dragon, Drogon, while the other two dragons escape from their cell and help burn all the Slave Masters’ ships.
Later, we come to see that the Greyjoy sibilings (Yara and Theon) try to make an alliance with Daenarys (with Tyrions consult and initial reservation due to his past experiences with Theon). The Mother of Dragons agrees to the alliance so long as they support her as ruler of the seven kingdoms and the Greyjoys still get to keep the Iron Islands but they must also stop rape and pillaging – which Yara reluctantly agrees to.
Will this mean that they’ll all begin heading way to King’s Landing finally? Don’t count on it. There’s still two more seasons and that Euron Greyjoy guy must still be dealt with. Plus, you need to remember that it is likely that Cersei may use wildfire to burn King’s Landing to the ground as Tyrion was keen in mentioning to Daenarys. Maybe there won’t be a city to claim once all that Faith of the Seven hubbub is dealt with.
Bastard v Bastard: The Dawn of Injustice
The inevitable battle finally gets its due. With small numbers but loyal men, Snow finds that he has no other options in fighting the Boltons. Even though Sansa tried to explain that Ramsay Bolton is a conniving, heartless human being and that Rickon is as good as dead, we still get a little pre-war emotional game to play to Jon Snow’s do gooder intentions. Brought out to initially believe he’s been freed, Ramsay toys with Rickon to run to Jon Snow as he uses his bow and arrow to shoot at him but intentionally misses until Snow is brought out of the pack to rescue his brother. Then Ramsay kills Rickon. This essentially starts the battle and boy was it glorious to watch. The idea of ‘epic’ war scene is turned on its head when we get a more gruesome, realistic take on a war when everyone is wielding sharp objects. Heck, there were so many times Snow could’ve been killed but he kept getting lucky. There was even a point where dead bodies were continuing to pile upon him and he was close to suffocating to death. As all of this was happening, the cowardly Ramsay gawked in the distance with confidence. Once Bolton’s army surrounded Snow’s, it looked like things were done and over with until (unsurprisingly) Sansa and Little Finger arrive with the Knights of the Vale to assist. I know that this last minute rescue is for ‘theatrics’ but come on. Why would Sansa not reveal any of her correspondence to her brother? It may have even helped save other’s lives if they knew they had more men to work with. I hope they hit on that later. Anyways, so Ramsay runs back to the castle only to find it immediately stormed upon by the wilding giant (Wun Wun), who is eventually killed with an arrow to the eye (thanks a lot Ramsay). Although Ramsay could’ve been killed by numerous other men, Snow decides to fight him on his own and eventually ends up on top of him where he continues to pummel him in the face. Snow stops when he sees Sansa distraught and eventually we have a nice little ‘payback’ scene where Ramsay is tied up and put into the same room as his ravenous dogs (whom he hasn’t fed in seven days) and is made dinner for the night. Sansa does remind him before he is killed that any mention of the name ‘Bolton’ will disappear from existence and he will mean nothing. It’s a good redemption for Sansa, who was once held captive by Ramsay and continually raped as he obligatory wife. However, I do see the writers of the show making Sansa realize that she’s later pregnant from all of this. After all, it was Ramsay’s intention to bring forth an heir.
I should touch upon the Davos’ developing subplot. Before the battle, we see him going for a walk to clear his head and in doing so he finds a souvenir that he gave to Stannis’ daughter before she was burned alive. This souvenir helps deduce that Malisandre is responsible for all of it. I’m not sure why it took the presence of a souvenir to remember that the witch lady could be responsible for killing someone he held dear. I had forgotten that Davos wasn’t present when Stannis’ daughter was publicly slain.
Oh, and you can also add the idea of the Mormont army being an army of strong men that ride on bears as a buildup that meant nothing when it came down to the Battle for Winterfell. They were nowhere to be seen.
Takeaway: This episode focused more on women empowerment with Daenarys taking hold of Mereen (again), Daenarys’ obvious admiration for Yara and her desire to lead the Iron Islands and Sansa’s redemption and role at the Battle of Winterfell. Sansa is who she is because her idea of ‘dress up and being a queen’ was destroyed by Joffrey and Ramsay. She’s been through hell and back and that is apparent. In fact, she’s seemingly more level headed than her brother (maybe this is just because she knows the enemy so well). She’d been emotionally hardened, unlike her brother (well, cousin) Jon Snow. It will be interesting to see how their dynamic plays out now that Winterfell is now theirs once again. I do not see them leaving Winterfell for a while until they battle the White Walkers and Jon Snow realizing who his real parents are.
Grade: A
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