Game of Thrones – “Battle of the Bastards” – Season 6, episode 9 Review/Recap

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

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 – “The Door” – Review/Recap

Oh, poor Hodor. We barely knew you! However, we now understand your grander purpose in the scheme of everything. You always knew you were ‘destined’ to be a hero all the while many viewers were used to joking about your one word response to everything – ‘ Hodor’. This was easily one of the most ‘touching’ episodes to date. I’ll save this part of my recap for last.
 

Sansa Stark is Empowered to Fight Back

 After enduring Ramsay Bolton’s unthinkable torture and her eventual escape (thanks to Theon Greyjoy), Sansa seems hell bent on revenge and taking back the North. She even calls Petyr Baelish (Little Finger) out on his sh*t, which actually left the ‘schemer’ at a loss for words. Although Little Finger isn’t directly responsible for what happened to Sansa, he had to know what he was essentially doing. For this, Sansa threatens to kill him but ends in more ‘banning’ the man from her sight. Oddly (and perhaps as a bargaining chip, to trick her or maybe because he actually felt sorry for her), he mentions to Sansa that her uncle, Brynden the Blackfish, has retaken Riverrun and now commands an army. Of course, she relays this information to Davos, Jon Snow and company but lies about how she came about this information. We are not sure why Sansa lied but we’ll surely get to that later. Maybe she doesn’t wholly trust the ‘source’ for this information.

This sets off an expedition to recruit the surrounding Northern clans. So, the Red lady, Podrick, Davos, Sansa, Jon Snow and Tormund (that guy that has goo goo eyes for Brienne of Tarth) are heading on out. Before they leave, Sansa tasks a reluctant Brienne to seek out the Blackfish. So, we’ll have to see how that all plays out.

 

Arya Stark let’s things ‘Play’ out

While still getting her a$$ handed to her with her Faceless Man training, Arya is given a mission – to take out an actress, who is currently starring in a comedic play depicting how King Robert died and the beheading of her own father, Ned Stark. Every character is an extreme exaggeration (for the most part) of the people they are playing. More than anything, Ned Stark is portrayed as the fool and Arya has to watch as her father is killed…again. What is most interesting about her watching the play was how she couldn’t help but become enraged by what has happened to her family while everyone else watches and laughs. Although the play was a comedy, Arya likely feels that her father was actually the ‘fool’ as he didn’t play ‘the game’ and lost his head as a result (you remember Cersei warning Ned in season 1?). Anyways, we have to know that Arya will be a Faceless Girl but she’ll always be a Stark first. I mean, do we not remember why she really arrived in Braavos to begin with? Wasn’t it to be imbued with the means to have her revenge?

After the play is over, Arya spots her mark but is hesitant on following through. She relays to Jaqen that she’ll use poison to get the job done but also questions the merits of the assassination as she believes the actress to be a good person. Jaqen then tells her that a servant mustn’t ask questions. The inner conflict that Arya has will later separate her from the Faceless God. As for what happens next for Arya is really anyone’s guess. I will say with certainty that she cannot be ‘no one’, as she will always be a Stark.
 

Theon continues to atone for his past actions

After being mutilated and ‘humbled’ by Ramsay Bolton, Theon continues to do ‘good’. He stands by her sister with being the successor to the Iron Islands. However, a wrench is thrown into her plans as her uncle, Euron, wins the Kingsmoot by promising the men riches and glory, while supposedly ruling alongside Daenerys Targaryen, the queen of the Dragons. During Euron’s ‘crowning’ ritual, we find out that Yara and Theon stole most all the ships but we have no idea where they are sailing off to.

I cannot help but root for Theon now. It is the complete opposite sentiment I had for him in season 4. I also find him one of the most interesting characters in the series (thanks are also due to the actor: Alfie Allen). Theon is now very self-aware and will likely continue to ‘atone’ for his actions the rest of his life.
 
Jorah Mormont’s unsurprising confession

We finally get to see Jorah admit his love for Daenarys while also revealing that he’s got the ‘grey scale/reptile’ disease. Daenarys is deeply moved by Jorah’s admission but also commands that he must find someone that can cure him. It’s nice to see Jorah finally being forgiven. He deserves it.
 

Varys’ disdain for ‘fanatics’ takes a turn

After a deal to keep slavery in place for seven more years (and for peace to continue), Tyrion now plans to integrate propaganda. In doing this, he and Varys meet the High Priestess of the Lord of the Light. The Priestess agrees to help but Varys points out the flaws in her beliefs – mentioning how Stannis ‘was’ the Chosen One but that obviously didn’t go as planned. What catches Varys’ off guard is how the Priestess knows his background (and how he got mutilated). We’ve never seen Varys so ‘off balance’. However, we are intrigued to learn more about his ‘story’ (how he lost his manhood to his former master).
 

Hodor the Hero

As Bran continues to ‘beastmaster’ and learn from the Three Eyed Raven, he ends up ‘worging’ his way to figuring out how the White Walkers came to be – they were created by misguided ‘Children of the Forest’ –(aka Elvish people) as a response to the existence of man. These elves used dark magic to create something they couldn’t even control. So, when Bran sneakily worgs to find out more, he is marked by the King of the White Walkers, which then gives him and his army access to the ‘tree’. As this goes on, Meera Reed goes into panic mode and realizes that the White Walkers are storming the place. Bran cannot seem to get out of his worging so that he can control Hodor to help everyone escape. As this is happening, we get a strange scene in which Meera Reed throws a spear at one of the white walkers and completely destroys one of them (this is a callback to when Jon Snow took out on of the other white walkers). Then, Meera yells out to Hodor to “hold the door!” to prevent all the walkers from getting through while she tries to run off with Bran. Just as this occurs, Bran witnesses Willas (Hodor), in his vision from the past, dropping to the ground seemingly repeating “Hodor”. We now know that Hodor (as we knew him) was fated to be a hero and save Bran and Meera. This definitely took many by surprise as this is not in the books (that I recall). A truly awesome thing to watch.
 
Let’s talk some ‘GOT’ Theory

There are some rumors going around that Meera Reed is actually Jon Snow’s twin. This will supposedly be revealed in Bran’s vision of his father rescuing Lyanna in the Tower of Joy. Being only one of the other survivors, Ned takes Jon Snow to Winterfell and the other survivor, Howland Reed, takes Meera to the swamps.

The other revelation will be that Lyanna’s lover will be Rhaegar Targaryen. This puts Jon Snow in a very unique position, obviously. Snow would then also be a half-brother to Daenarys Targaryen.
 
Grade — Season Six, Episode Five: A+