Game of Thrones: Season Six, Episode 2 – “Home”

Tags

Alfie Allen, Alliser Thorne, Arya Stark, Braavos, Bran Stark, Brenock O'Connor, Carice van Houten, Castle Black, Cersei Lannister, Conleth Hill, Daenerys Targaryen, Dean-Charles Chapman, Drogon, Elizabeth Webster, Euron Greyjoy, Fat Walda Frey, Game of Thrones, Game of Thrones Season Five, Game of Thrones Season Six, GoT, Grey Worm, Hafthor Julius Bjornsson, Home, Ian Whyte, Isaac Hempstead-Wright, Iwan Rheon, Jacob Anderson, Jaime Lannister, Jon Snow, Jon Snow's Resurrection, Jonathan Pryce, King's Landing, Kit Harington, Kristofer Hivju, Lena Headey, Maisie Williams, Meereen, Melisandre, Michael McElhatton, Missandei, Nathalie Emmanuel, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Oberyn Martell, Owen Teale, Pedro Pascal, Peter Dinklage, Pilou Asbaek, Ramsay Bolton, Richard Madden, Robb Stark, Roose Bolton, Sansa Stark, Sophie Turner, Television, The High Sparrow, The Mountain, The Night's Watch, The Wall, The Wildlings, Theon Greyjoy, Tommen Baratheon, Tormund Giantsbane, TV, Tyrion Lannister, Varys, Wun Wun

the verge.com

“Home”, the second episode of the sixth season of “Game of Thrones”, was definitely a crowd-pleaser. It was an incredibly busy episode filled with three or four great moments, and I have to say that I enjoyed it a lot. Interesting characters were introduced and reintroduced, two massive players in the game were killed by their kin, and the moment that everyone has been talking about over the past year finally happened.

However, I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of frustration at the fact that this episode was significantly less structured than the season premiere. Scenes in which Ramsay (Iwan Rheon) talked about his intended pursuit of Sansa (Sophie Turner) were followed by the latter character appearing on screen, and scenes in which Theon (Alfie Allen) spoke about going home were juxtaposed by the appearance of the Iron Islands, but it still had a disjointed feel about it as a whole. Personally, I prefer episodes which centre on a specific storyline and have other characters appear to complement it, which was the norm in earlier seasons, so episodes like this one test my patience. Nevertheless, the plethora of exciting scenes in “Home” went some way to making up for the lack of focus, and it was a very entertaining hour of television.

via screenrant.com

As predicted, the episode began with everyone’s least favourite character, Bran, as Isaac Hempstead-Wright did his best Undertaker impression by rolling his eyes into the back of his head and pretending to have a vision – this scene was incredibly awkward and I couldn’t take the young actor seriously. Moreover, the fact that we are going to learn more about Jon Snow’s (Kit Harington) parentage through Bran is something that I find extremely worrying, because his presence in this important moment could very well ruin it for everyone.

After this excruciatingly average opening scene the episode got back on track as Wun Wun (Ian Whyte) charged through the gates of Castle Black, allowing his fellow wildlings to capture Alliser Thorne (Owen Teale) and seize control of The Night’s Watch. This was a cool but very convenient scene, and I think that most people will have been internally cheering as they saw the mutinous men of The Night’s Watch become prisoners. Nevertheless, I felt that the execution of the scene was slightly clumsy, especially when Olly (Brenock O’Connor) charged at Tormund (Kristofer Hivju).

The episode then took a trip away from the snow to King’s Landing, where Robert Strong (The Mountain, played by Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson) killed a man by bashing his head against a wall, much like Wun Wun had done in the previous scene. I enjoyed watching this moment play out, but I’m not really sure what its purpose in the episode was other than to reintroduce the character. We already know that a man of that size can kill another man with his bare hands – we saw him do it back in season four (R.I.P. Oberyn (Pedro Pascal)) – so it didn’t really need to happen.

This was followed by a scene in which Tommen (Dean-Charles Chapman) expressed his guilt at allowing his mother to be paraded in the streets like a common whore, which was interesting. I think we’d all like to see Tommen become more assertive in upcoming episodes, particularly because he’s probably going to die at some point (he might as well go out with a bang), so I’m glad that he’s voicing his frustration at being powerless in his position – hopefully he does something about it and doesn’t just get Cersei to do it for him.

via dnaindia.com

We then saw Jaime’s (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) altercation with The High Sparrow (Jonathan Pryce), a moment which I’d been looking forward to ever since the season six trailer was released. I thought this was a great scene; the dialogue was sharp, the performances were strong, and we were afforded an insight into The High Sparrow’s end game. Whilst he pretends to be a godly man with righteous intentions, he wants to play the game – perhaps more so than most characters in the “Game of Thrones” universe – which is apparent when he says ‘together we can overthrow an empire’.

Next, after a brief scene in which Tommen asked his mother for help, the episode turned its attention to Meereen. Here another moment from the trailer appeared, as Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) explained that drinking and knowing things are his two best attributes, and because of his prowess in the latter he thought that freeing Daenerys’ (Emilia Clarke) caged dragons was a good idea.

The logic here wasn’t completely convincing, because although it was great to see the show’s best character interacting with dragons, he never should’ve gone down there without Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel) or Grey Worm (Jacob Anderson). It was established in the scene that the dragons saw Missandei as a friend, and Tyrion used this as an argument for setting the dragons free, but then surely the best course of action would’ve been to bring Missandei along as a show of good faith. Instead, Tyrion brought Varys (Conleth Heath), a man who an intelligent creature would never trust.

The scene might’ve still worked had the writers painted it in such a way that Tyrion was still down on life and had a death wish, because then it would seem as though he was willing to die if it meant interacting with dragons at least once in his life, but this wasn’t established and the moment therefore felt unearned.

I’m aware that we don’t know everything about dragons, and it does seem as though they are pretty intelligent, but that didn’t stop Drogon from burning an innocent girl alive in season four did it? The reason that the dragons were chained up in the first place was that they were dangerous and had the potential to kill innocent people, so it seems a bit ridiculous to then say that they are smart enough to only kill their enemies.

Still, the CGI in this scene was brilliant, as was Peter Dinklage’s performance. I loved his story about wanting a dragon for his Name Day when he was a child, and I thought it was very cool that the dragons seemed to be listening to him. I liked the scene, (which might seem strange given the two paragraphs of criticism that you’ve just read), I just didn’t like the set-up and thought it could’ve easily been improved. Even if Tyrion is a Targaryen, a theory which this scene gave more weight to, it doesn’t change the fact that the thought process behind his going to set the dragons free (without Missandei or Grey Worm) was idiotic, and would never have been condoned by Varys.

via moviepilot.com

When Tyrion set the dragons free and made another bad joke, the stage was set for a brief Arya (Maisie Williams) cameo. Just like last week, I thought that Maisie Williams did an admirable job of playing a blind character, and I thought that she made Arya seem both vulnerable and dangerous. Of course, right now she isn’t very scary because she hasn’t mastered the art of fighting without the ability to see, but Williams portrayed the rage that is bubbling beneath the surface in Arya and it’s only a matter of time before she releases it. It was a short scene, but it was still one of my favourite moments of the episode – plus, it wasn’t flawed in any way which made it stand out for me.

Next we found Ramsay (Iwan Rheon) and Roose (Michael McElhatton) discussing tactics, in a scene which saw Ramsay turn from antagonist to protagonist for all of five seconds. After being called a mad dog by his father, Ramsay stood motionless with hatred in his eyes and calculated his next move. Still, as crazy as he is I don’t think that he was going to kill his father right then and there, that is, until it was revealed that his brother had been born.

via screenrant.com

From that moment it was pretty obvious what Ramsay was going to do. It was nice that Roose died by getting stabbed in the belly, because it was very reminiscent of the way that he killed Robb Stark (Richard Madden) back in season three, but I would’ve liked to have been able to savour the moment for a little while longer. To see such an evil character die in such an abrupt way was a little disappointing from my perspective, as was the way in which ‘Fat Walda’ Frey (Elizabeth Webster) died with her new born child in her arms. I know a lot of people found that scene shocking and horrible, and maybe it would’ve been if we actually saw it happen, but all that we saw was Iwan Rheon’s blank expression as clearly artificial sound effects got progressively louder. As far as I’m concerned, this was a pretty underwhelming moment and a merciful death as opposed to being flayed alive.

Once this nastiness passed, we as an audience were afforded a brief moment of joy. Sansa (Sophie Turner) forgave Theon (Alfie Allen) for the crimes he committed in season two, and for a moment the world was a brighter place. It was a lovely scene on a show which is filled with pain, and both actors sold me on what was happening on screen. Theon leaving the group is a shame because he doesn’t have anywhere safe to go, but I think he did what he did because he thought it was what was best for Sansa, which made the moment all the more heart-warming. I just hope that he doesn’t end up with Ramsay again, although after Euron’s (Pilou Asbæk) awesome introduction I don’t think that the Iron Islands are that much safer than Winterfell.

Finally, the episode ended at The Wall, just as it did in episode one. Here, the worst kept secret in television history finally happened, much to the excitement of fans around the world. Jon Snow came back in a scene that was reminiscent of the moment when Bran woke up from his coma in season one. I loved how the scene was drawn out to make audience members wonder whether or not he was really going to wake up, because after a year of speculation it would’ve been fitting for a show like “Game of Thrones” to parade the possibility in its fans’ faces just to say ‘nope’. In my opinion, that would’ve been one of the greatest moments in the history of television, especially if the episode then ended with Jon’s body burning, but alas it wasn’t to be.

via inverse.com

Like most people, I’m glad that Jon is back – he’s clearly integral to the story and he’ll have a huge part to play in the war to come. Additionally, the Tower of Joy flashback is going to appear in episode three and Sansa is on her way to The Wall, so his presence is going to be vital for other storylines. However, I wasn’t very enamoured by the way that the showrunners handled his resurrection and I feel that he’s been brought back far too soon. I’m aware that there are only so many episodes left for the showrunners to tell the story that they are planning to tell, and perhaps Jon had to be brought back so that they had enough time to get through their material, but this is a bigger problem rather than an accentuating circumstance. They’ve been rushing their story along ever since the end of season four, and it’s getting really annoying.

When I watch the whole series back from start to finish, as I do every year before the start of a new season, Jon Snow will only be dead for one episode. One episode. As a collective audience we’ve had to wait for a year for Jon’s resurrection so of course it seems natural that he should be back now, but in reality it’s pretty ridiculous. The least that the showrunners could’ve done was left Jon’s storyline out of episode two completely, perhaps replacing his scenes with Daenerys’ from episode three, so that we all had to bite our nails for another week.

Overall, I thought that this was an enjoyable episode of “Game of Thrones”. For most people it will have been amazing simply because a lot of significant things happened, and of course, because Jon Snow was resurrected. However, it fell short in a few areas for me because whilst I agree that Tyrion speaking with the dragons, Roose dying, and Jon coming back, were massive moments, they were also imperfect. My favourite scenes in the episode were actually those of Arya, Euron, and Jaime because they were well-executed and the performances were solid. I’m glad that the majority of fans loved “Home”, and I liked it, but I felt that it could have easily been better.

7.5/10

Advertisements

Game of Thrones: Season Six Premiere – “The Red Woman”

Tags

Alexander Siddig, Alliser Thorne, Arya Stark, Balon Greyjoy, Beric Dondarrion, Braavos, Brienne of Tarth, Carice van Houten, Castle Black, Catelyn Stark, Cersei Lannister, Conleth Hill, Daario Naharis, Daenerys Targaryen, Davos Seaworth, Dean-Charles Chapman, Dorne, Dothraki, Ed Skrein, Ellaria Sand, Emilia Clarke, Euron Greyjoy, Game of Thrones, Game of Thrones Season Six, George RR Martin, GoT, Gwendoline Christie, Iain Glen, Indira Varma, Iwan Rheon, Jaime Lannister, Jessica Henwick, Joe Naufahu, Jon Snow, Jonathan Pryce, Jorah Mormont, Keisha Castle-Hughes, Khal Drogo, Khal Moro, King's Landing, Lena Headey, Liam Cunningham, Maisie Williams, Margaery Tyrell, Meereen, Melisandre, Michael McElhatton, Michelle Fairley, Michiel Huisman, Myrcella Baratheon, Natalie Dormer, Nell Tiger Free, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Nymeria Sand, Obara Sand, Owen Teale, Patrick Malahide, Paul Kaye, Peter Dinklage, Pilou Asbaek, Prince Doran, Ramsay Bolton, Reek, Richard Dormer, Roose Bolton, Sansa Stark, Sophie Turner, Stannis Baratheon, Stephen Dillane, Television, The Iron Throne, The Lord of Light, The Night's Watch, The Red Woman, The Sand Snakes, The Sons of the Harpy, The Wall, Theon Greyjoy, Thoros of Myr, Toby Sebastian, Tommen Baratheon, Trystane Martell, TV, Tyrion Lannister, Varys, Winterfell, Xena

This review contains spoilers for everything that has happened on the show so far, including the events of this episode.

“The Red Woman” was one of the most anticipated episodes of television in recent history. People have been talking for months about the future of Jon Snow (Kit Harington), and speculating what’s next for their favourite characters given that “Game of Thrones” has finally caught up to George RR Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” book series.

The episode itself had to balance a number of characters, meaning that although it lasted for an hour, it felt as though it had been on for all of ten minutes when the credits rolled. It was a strong season opener, but it could’ve done with a bit more focus and more thoughtful writing.

The episode began where season five finished, with Jon Snow’s corpse lying in the snow. Ghost’s cries of anguish at his master’s death were mirrored by fans as they saw that the Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch really was dead, and that if he’s coming back it won’t be any time soon. The scene itself was fine, but it left me with one nagging question in my mind – why was the body left there? Was it a ‘we’re in charge’ gesture or a plot hole? We all know that men of the Night’s Watch are wary of the dead being resurrected as wights, so leaving a dead body lying around inside Castle Black seems like an unnecessary risk. Such an oversight felt like a convenience for the writers to allow Jon Snow to come back, rather than an understandable decision by the characters in the “Game of Thrones” universe.

Melisandre (Carice van Houten) made her entrance almost immediately, entering the makeshift tomb of Jon Snow to speak to Davos (Liam Cunningham). She expressed confusion at the sight of the dead man and explained to the group surrounding the body that she had seen him in the flames fighting at Winterfell, with a look of anguish on her face which explained just how much her faith had been tested by the events of the previous season.

Melisandre’s words gave weight to the theory that Jon Snow will come back this season, because many people thought that they could see Jon fighting at Winterfell in the trailer, and we know from that trailer that the Boltons will face a battle at some point this season. Furthermore, it is likely that at some point the White Walkers will get past The Wall, so Jon could fight them at Winterfell to bring Melisandre’s vision to life. Either way, it seems like a strange specification on the part of the writers to have Melisandre say exactly what she saw in the flames if that isn’t then going to come true.

This scene was followed by another at Castle Black, as we saw Alliser Thorne (Owen Teale) placating a crowd of outraged Night’s Watch men following Jon’s death. He told them that he had performed the act along with the other officers, and that he did so for the sake of the Watch, not for his own selfish reasons. This wasn’t a particularly hard sell, which was slightly annoying, but the men at The Wall are murderers, rapists, and thieves, so to convince them probably wouldn’t be that difficult (particularly when they know that if they disagree with him he might stab them to death).

It’s hard to argue against his leadership skills or his rationale here, but he clearly misses the bigger picture. Jon Snow was one of the few people who had seen what the Night’s King was capable of, and he was also able to bring the wildlings on side, which is obviously going to be important if The Wall is to stand. I can understand why Thorne doesn’t see this, because he’s been fighting against the wildlings for the majority of his life, but when he says that Jon would’ve been the end of the Night’s Watch he must also realise that trying to take on an army of the dead with only 50-ish men would lead to the same sad outcome.

After the initial scenes at the Wall we travelled to Winterfell, where we saw Ramsay (Iwan Rheon) share a sincere moment with the body of Myranda (Charlotte Hope). He explained his love for her and told her that he would avenge her death, and this scene served to show that whilst Ramsay is the most evil character on the show (move over Night’s King), he does have feelings. Those feelings ended up being used for comedic effect when Ramsay said that the body should be fed to the hounds, but it added another dimension to his character nonetheless.

This scene was then followed by another at Winterfell in which Roose (Michael McElhatton) and Ramsay had a heart-warming father-son conversation… or not. They spoke about Sansa (Sophie Turner) and how they desperately needed to get her back in order to cement their hold on The North, and Roose made a veiled threat to Ramsay that if he didn’t solve the problem then his unborn child would take Ramsay’s place as heir to The North. The scene was mostly a reminder for the audience of what happened last year, but it also explained what the Bolton’s motivations would be for the rest of the season, and suggested that at some point this season Ramsay and Roose may actually come to blows.

After hearing about how important Sansa is to the Bolton cause, we watched on as she ran as far away from Ramsay as she could, accompanied by Theon (Alfie Allen). The scene itself was quite good, with Sophie Turner looking mesmerising in the snow, but some aspects of it didn’t make a lot of sense. Personally, I thought that the Bolton soldiers were quite tame when they found the pair, because although they were given orders to find them and bring them back to Winterfell they could’ve roughed them up a bit. Roose isn’t a nice man and neither is Ramsay, so presumably their soldiers would follow suit and take pleasure in the pain of others.

Nevertheless, I liked how Theon did something heroic for once because I’ve grown very tired of the Reek angle. I actually thought that his moment of bravery would’ve been a great way for him to die on the series, because it would’ve been redemptive given that he would’ve died for the Starks whom he had previously let down. I still think that his transformation has felt forced and happened far too quickly, but it makes sense that the writers would fast-track his storyline as fans of the series are pretty sick of seeing him act like a coward.

Another character who finally did something positive for the Starks was Brienne (Gwendoline Christie), who saved Sansa’s life and went some way to fulfilling the oath she made to Catelyn Stark (Michelle Fairley) back in season two. Many of the reviews that I’ve read have cited this as an emotional moment and their favourite part of the episode, but I have to say that personally I wasn’t affected by it. I liked the music that was playing in the build up to the scene, and I thought that Gwendoline Christie’s performance was great – her intensity in action sequences is always fantastic – but it didn’t really get me. It felt like a scene which will be significant going forward, but it also felt a little bit too convenient for my liking.

In King’s Landing, Cersei (Lena Headey) had to deal with the loss of her daughter, as Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) returned from Dorne with Myrcella’s (Nell Tiger Free) corpse and a soon-to-be-dead Trystane (Toby Sebastian). Lena Headey’s performance in this scene was perfect, as we saw the joy turn to ash in her mouth (Tyrion’s (Peter Dinklage) promise was finally fulfilled as he inadvertently caused his niece’s death by sending her to Dorne in the first place) when she realised that she was going to see her daughter again, but not as a lively young woman, rather, as a lifeless body. She was as excited as I think we’ve ever seen her when she heard that a ship was returning from Dorne, even though she tried to hide it, but she ended up looking more broken than she was at the end of her walk of shame.

The conversation which followed between Cersei and Jaime wasn’t very powerful, at least not in my opinion, but I thought the performances were pretty good. It’s not that I didn’t like the scene, but these days I find it hard to take Jaime seriously when he’s talking about destroying his enemies, given that he’s no longer a great fighter and he’s grown a conscience.

I did think that it was interesting to gain insight into Cersei’s thoughts about the Maggie the Frog prophecy, because last season it played a huge role in her behaviour towards Margaery (Natalie Dormer) and also informed her decision to have Jaime go to get Myrcella back. Having her verbally address this in the episode explained to the audience that the flashback we saw last season was important and played a significant role in Cersei’s poor decision making, in a sense making the prophecy self-fulfilling, and the fact that Cersei was so willing to accept the validity of that prophecy represented a shift in her personality; from a position of control to one of self-pity, vulnerability, and perhaps most importantly – shame.

Skipping over the throwaway scene in which The High Sparrow (Jonathan Pryce) and one of his annoying henchman played good-cop-bad-cop with Margaery, the next important scene of the episode took place in Dorne. Last season Dorne didn’t go down very well with fans – it felt disconnected from the rest of the show so nobody could get behind Jaime’s rescue mission, especially because we never really got a feel for Myrcella as a character.

However, this episode has given Dorne a chance, because what we saw was probably the best moment in the setting so far. To see Ellaria Sand (Indira Varma) kill Prince Doran (Alexander Siddig) was a real shock to me and I suspect everyone else, because this is something that hasn’t happened yet in the book series and also because Doran was the brother of Ellaria’s former lover Oberyn (Pedro Pascal). I was personally expecting Ellaria to be the one who got killed off in Dorne, as Doran had warned her last year that any further treason would be punished severely, but instead we saw a brutal and memorable death scene involving a not-yet-explored character.

I have to say that on the story side of things the scene was a little bit strange, because Ellaria basically killed Oberyn’s brother in an effort to avenge him, but at least this scene will bring Dorne into the fold and possibly start a war with the Lannisters. I’d be interested to know whether or not these murders were a reaction to Dorne’s reception last year, or if they are a storyline which will happen in the books that the show has shot forward to, but this remains to be seen. It feels like the former to me, because I don’t think that you cast someone like Alexander Siddig if you know that the character he is going to playing will be given barely any screen time… but I could be wrong.

With Prince Doran dead, the episode then showed us all just what the Sand Snakes are capable of, as they brutally disposed of Trystane as though he was a fly that needed swatting. I still don’t know exactly how they made it onto the boat that Trystane was on, because it seems like it would’ve been difficult to hide on such a long journey, so maybe they went on a separate boat… maybe. It’s not particularly clear right now so I hope that they address the issue in order to ensure that this admittedly cool scene makes sense going forward.

I’m also not sure what the timeline is meant to be, because the episode was filmed in such a way that it seemed as though Trystane died after Prince Doran, but surely the Sand Snakes couldn’t have known exactly when to kill him because they were miles away and there was no form of communication to get a message across. This isn’t necessarily a problem, but how could they be sure that Prince Doran would condemn Ellaria’s actions? If the plot was in place from the moment that Ellaria kissed Myrcella with poison on her lips then a situation could’ve occurred where killing Trystane would’ve jeopardised their overall plan. I suppose the point I’m making is that either: 1) the plan wasn’t fool-proof, or 2) the plan hasn’t been properly explained yet on the show.

In any case, this scene has breathed life into an otherwise dying storyline, and I’m excited to see what the Sand Snakes get up to over the course of the season. Hopefully Nymeria (Jessica Henwick) and Obara (Keisha Castle-Hughes) will remain in and around King’s Landing, causing all sorts of mayhem and killing their enemies. Maybe they could kill Tommen (Dean-Charles Chapman) so that we can have a more exciting king on the throne?

Over in Meereen, Tyrion and Varys (Conleth Hill) are ruling over a city which is in tatters after the attack on the fighting pits by the Sons of the Harpy. The people live in fear and the whole place is on the verge of a revolution, which is made all the more problematic by the fact that we see a red priest preaching to peasants on the streets. We all know from experience that red priests/priestesses can be extremely dangerous, so the Lord of Light could prove to be another unwanted complication for Tyrion as he attempts to keep the peace between the masters and their former slaves.

Watching Peter Dinklage and Conleth Hill play-off each other has been great ever since they started to become friendly back in season two, but in this instance I could’ve done without the comedy that the writers forced into the scene. We’ve heard ‘Varys is a eunuch’ jokes before so having Tyrion make fun of him for not having any genitals wasn’t exactly inspired, particularly because it was a completely pointless bit of dialogue. There was also a weird joke made about Tyrion not being well-spoken in Valyrian which felt all too similar to a joke which was intended to make the same point at the end of season five. Neither of these jokes felt necessary and neither made me laugh – I want to take events in Meereen seriously this year and joking around just doesn’t help.

Nevertheless, the fact that there was a mention of Varys’ little birds and their mission to find out who the leader of the Sons of the Harpy is got me back on board, because when this person is finally revealed it should be a high point of the season. Hopefully it’s someone who we already know.

It will also be interesting to see what’s done about the boats in Meereen after they were all destroyed in this episode, because Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) can’t simply fly to King’s Landing on her own atop Drogo and expect to take the city. She needs her army and they need ships. This could be where Euron Greyjoy (Pilou Asbæk) comes into the wider story, because he must have some sort of role in the big picture for him to be cast so late in the game, and we all know that The Greyjoys like two things, power and ships – they have one of these, and if they help Daenerys take the Iron Throne then they could very well get the other. Balon (Patrick Malahide) has previously said that he doesn’t want to help someone else take the Iron Thorne because the Greyjoys take what is theirs by force, but he might not be around for very much longer. This is all speculation, but it does make a lot of sense.

Speaking of things that make sense, wouldn’t it be great if all the storylines on the show were well-conceived and thought out? Well, they aren’t. Jorah (Iain Glen) and Daario’s (Michiel Huisman) scene was by far the worst of the episode, as they magically followed Daenerys’ tracks, found a ring in the middle of nowhere, and generally annoyed me to a point where I felt like turning off my TV. The scene, at least in my opinion, didn’t feel like it belonged on “Game of Thrones” – it felt more like something out of “Xena: Warrior Princess” from back in the day.

I have to admit that I haven’t been a fan of Daario ever since Ed Skrein was replaced by Michiel Huisman at the start of season four, but it wasn’t just Huisman’s performance that made the scene painful to watch. For one, I really didn’t like that Jorah took a look at his greyscale again; 1) because Daario didn’t question the fact that he randomly stopped, and 2) because its sole purpose was to remind the audience about the disease. It played no other role in the narrative and will be quite jarring when binge-watching the DVD’s because he does it more than once in the space of a couple of episodes for no apparent reason. The whole scene was awful.

I also wasn’t particularly fond of Daenerys’ battle of wits with the Dothraki leader, Khal Moro (Joe Naufahu), although at least it gave us an insight into what she’ll be up to for the first few episodes of the season. It’s not that any of the performances were particularly terrible in this scene, but for me Daenerys was far too assertive given that her petulance could’ve got her killed and basically ruined the entire show. She might feel more powerful than in previous seasons, but in fact she’s in the same position that she was in when the story began, with no allies, no dragons to be seen, and seemingly no common sense. The audience knew that Daenerys was in no real danger, but the character should’ve acted as though she thought that she was. Plus, we’ve seen Daenerys listen in on a foreign tongue before only to reveal that she in fact speaks it fluently, so there was nothing particularly surprising for us when she started speaking in Dothraki to the new Khal.

A scene which I did enjoy was Arya’s (Maisie Williams). It was a short scene, but as she sat on the streets of Braavos begging for change, trying to come to terms with life as a blind and faceless woman, I was captivated. Maisie Williams was incredibly expressive despite the fact that her eyes were clouded over, and she sold me on the idea that Arya was blind. I just hope that Williams gets enough screen time in future episodes to really push this storyline, because Arya has the potential to once again be one of the best characters on “Game of Thrones”, provided that she’s given the chance.

Finally, the episode took us all back to the Wall to end where the episode had begun, and for some reason Alliser Thorne thought that he could defeat Stannis Baratheon’s (Stephen Dillane) right-hand-man with idle words and false promises. He politely offered a pardon to any man who would put down his sword and leave the room… an offer which nobody in their right mind would accept because Thorne had just stabbed his commanding officer to death in cold blood. Still, Davos replied politely, staying put in the room and mentioning that Melisandre could be of help if he and the men of the Night’s Watch were going to protect Jon’s body whilst staying alive. This season Davos looks like he’s finally going to be a leader on the show, something which he’s shown he has the mind for ever since he was first introduced, so I’m excited to see what he will achieve in the next nine episodes.

After Davos mentioned The Red Woman, we were treated to a scene which will surely quash fantasies the world over. Melisandre looked into the fire with pain etched on her face, before standing in front of a mirror and looking at her reflection with sadness in her eyes. She then proceeded to disrobe and take off her necklace, which made me roll my eyes because I didn’t understand why she needed to be naked… until she was naked. Melisandre, one of the most beautiful characters on the show, became an old crone with wrinkles upon wrinkles, white hair like string modestly covering her head, and posture that makes the Hunchback of Notre Dame look like an Olympic athlete.

She became the opposite of what she has been since the first episode of season two, as the scene showcased her true form, and marked a symbolic transformation for the character. We saw that The Red Woman had been broken by Stannis’ death and that she was losing who she was; we saw that for all her trickery and power she is still as vulnerable as any other character on the show. The Red Woman is The Red Woman – the beautiful and powerful priestess we’ve seen throughout the series – but Melisandre is something more. Her beauty and her strength have been representative of her power from day one, but now we see that both of these aspects of her persona are false.

What this will mean for her in the future is unclear, but it seems like a focus for the season will be the humbling and subsequent rising up of characters (Sansa, Arya etc.), so maybe Melisandre will get a similar arc and perhaps regain her confidence by resurrecting Jon Snow. If you remember back in season three Thoros of Myr (Paul Kaye) (the red priest who had resurrected Beric Dondarrion (Richard Dormer) several times) spoke to Melisandre about his crisis of faith, and how when things seemed darkest the Lord of Light showed himself through the resurrection of Beric. Perhaps this scene will take on greater significance now that Melisandre is losing her faith.

This episode was called “The Red Woman” for a reason, as the final scene placed Melisandre at the forefront of the series, changing every scene that she has been involved in so far. Initially she was a wildcard for Stannis – she could do amazing things, but he didn’t even take her to the battle of Blackwater, and by all accounts he valued Davos’ opinion more than hers. With Stannis gone, Melisandre can actually be seen as the main character in their storyline, with every scene involving Stannis playing a part in her development up to this point rather than his.

Overall, “The Red Woman” was a flawed but enjoyable hour of television, which was epitomised by the fact that the final scene was excellent yet marred by a continuity error (which I have intentionally ignored because I feel that it has unfairly become the main talking point of the episode). It had to juggle a lot of characters, which it did admirably, but I think that the short amount of time spent with certain characters like Tyrion and Margaery meant that their scenes lost a lot of their intended impact. I loved the ending, and I thought that the scene in Dorne was great, but there were plenty of moments which could’ve been improved. It was a good start, but I hope that future episodes focus more on one or two characters so that narratives can be properly explored and enjoyed.

7/10