In what’s turning out to be a pattern in the current season of Game of Thrones, the fourth episode gave us a lot of moments that we’ve been waiting years for. Literal. Actual. Decades. Obviously, spoilers for tonight’s episode will follow.
The Moments We’ve been waiting for
We finally, finally, FINALLY got to see some of the surviving Starks get back together. Jon Snow, post resurrection, is debating with Ed about what he’s going to do, and as if by fate (really the will of the fans by this point), we see Sansa come through the gates of Castle Black. THIS is the moment I’ve been waiting for. Ever since the end of season one, when the death of Ned Stark shattered the family I’ve been waiting for all their disparate stories to come together. Each one has gone through a massive, painful journey, but seeing two of them get back together was such a relief for multiple reasons. Sansa finds Jon with no real meaning in life, and though he’s learned doing the right thing will get you killed, he’s basically decided to go out into the world and try to just live. No matter how much Jon Snow has learned about leadership at The Wall, he still knows nothing about the world to the south.
Sansa, on the other hand, is dramatically more mature, and it’s refreshing to see that she is the one explaining to him how the world really works. Ramsey could never tolerate another rival running around the in the north, and honestly, no one would believe that he’d fulfilled his oath to the Knight’s Watch. However, Jon is still unconvinced of following Sansa’s plan: take back Winterfell. All he’s ever done is fight, and every romantic notion he’s ever had has been drained from him. He’s interested in the heroic fantasy that an upbringing in Winterfell would give you, not reality. That is, until a very brutal letter from Ramsey Bolton forces Jon’s hand. If it weren’t for the fact that Ramsey Bolton is such a mad dog, I would have believed that Sansa actually wrote it to convince Jon to march on Winterfell. To an extent I still believe it, mainly because the timing of it was so convenient, and it’s hard for me to think that Ramsey is that stupid.
Story Prediction: This is a freebie. The Starks are going to build an army and march on Winterfell by season’s end (if not before).
I hate Slaver’s Bay
This is not to say that I hate this story. After all, it’s not like this is Dorne. We have my favorite pairing of characters (Varys and Tyrion), in a very complex situation. It’s more about how bad I feel for Tyrion for having to deal with the BS of ruling the mess that Daenerys created. This has been an issue I’ve been railing against for the last two seasons of watching the epic detour that is her conquest of Slaver’s Bay: How can you free the slaves and give them nothing to do? Not only is that a recipe for civil turmoil (you know, revenge killings, lynch mobs, gang violence, rebel uprisings, coups, etc), but also economic depression. If the entire society is built upon the cheap labor of slavery, then how do you expect goods and food to be made and shipped? How will slaves earn the money to eat? How will the rich do the same? These are questions that the show, and Daenerys never bothered to ask until now. How does this city operate on a day to day basis? Aside from prostitution and selling slaves, I don’t actually know how the economy of this bay actually works. It is entertaining to see Tyrion trying desperately to write this ship, but just as with the last few season with Daenerys I just don’t care. This story means nothing other than seeing how they will get the ships to get their army to Westeros. Until then, it’s fun seeing Tyrion be smarter and snarkier than everyone else, but that’s about it.
Speaking of Daenerys
HOLY CRAP! So, this story demonstrates the reason that I love the show more than the books. Yeah, I get that you gain a better understanding of the world and history from the books, but Deanerys has been the biggest letdown of any other. Not only is she taking her sweet time getting to Westeros to get her all important familial revenge, but every time she screws up she’s saved by everyone and everything else. That is … until tonight. For all her projecting power, she’s never really gotten her hands dirty before, and when we’ve seen her do something violent, there was always this internal struggle for her and how she made say, having a former slave executed for murder, compatible with her own morality. This is the first time she’s ever been ruthless. I’m sure it was easy to do. After all, these were the same people that raped her (well, her dead husband that she now loves?), and knowing full well that these men won’t hesitate to do it again, she decided to demonstrate why she’s called the Unburnt. The whole time I expected Lord Friend Zone and Han Solo to show up and save her, but instead all they did was bolt the door and watched as she burned the whole temple down with her inside. Not only did it demonstrate her being able to save herself from a seemingly impossible situation, but now she has the army she needs to take over Westeros AND Slaver’s Bay.
This is the moment that signaled to me that this show is looking forward to the endgame, and is not going to waste our time any more getting to it.
Random Thoughts
- So the body count this season is extremely high. I think five or more people have died every episode.
- I feel like 2,000 is a low number for the Wildling army, but I guess more of them got taken out at Hardhome than I thought. Regardless, it looks like they may be joining forces with the Vale to retake the North.
- This season is moving really fast. Like, I feel like all this ground would have taken an entire season to cover previously. They’ve also cut back on the sexual assaults against women … although not the murder and meaningless death.
- Seriously? Osha had to go out like that? It was lazy writing, and a meaningless scene that proved nothing.
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