Gamer Throons (SPOILERS for S6Ep6)

After last week we were always going to get a step-back, take-a-beat, exposition episode. I enjoyed it just as much though and it set so much up for the rest of the season.

Bran's visions were too fast to see much but you can find stills from it at User Posted Link (you have to click once more to load all the others up). I'm taking this as Bloodraven's "final upload" to Bran.

There's a bunch of stuff we've seen before: Bran being pushed, Red Wedding, Hardhome and so on. Take this as Bran being caught up on what's happened back at the ranch while he's been gallivanting up north.

But there's also a bunch of stuff we haven't:

- several wildfire shots. Recall that the Mad King wanted to use this to burn King's Landing and Jaime killed him to stop him (we see Jaime doing this in some of the flashback frames). My personal theory is that this feeds forward into something we will see this season, Cersei losing her battle against the Faith and using that wildfire to burn Kings Landing herself. The books foreshadow this (lots of comparison of her green eyes to the green of wildfire, her character to wildfire and so on). Everyone thinks we'll get the big battle in Ep 9 and then the Wall coming down in Ep 10. Me, I'm not so sure. I think the Wall may not come down till next season, and Cersei will burn Kings Landing this season. Either Tommen or Jaime will try to stop her and will kill her, fulfilling the prophecy (more likely Jaime).

The other sequence is Young Ned and then his bloody hand over what looks like an amateur C-section wound and what is clearly a woman's hand. I take this as being him cutting Lyanna open to deliver Jon and making some promise to her (that he would tell Jon his true parentage - which he never did - or something else that's influenced him heavily throughout). I think we will see this in longhand (as it were) ep 10.

Well, that' s a lot of words for the first ten seconds or so of the episode, isn't it. I'd best speed up a little.

They've merged Coldhands and Benjen for the show (GRRM has said Benjen is not Coldhands in the book, and Coldhands is scared of fire but ColdBen clearly isn't). His backstory (CoTF using dragonglass to "save" him) is probably what Coldhands' backstory will be something like in the books, though. Thought that bit was brilliantly conceived and acted. I found myself wanting Bran to show Meera some affection, but also wondering if "becoming" the new Three Eyed Crow moves him a little past being wholly human.

Then the Tarlys. A bit overlong? Maybe but established a lot of backstory. Sam's Dad almost undid everything that the Wall had done to Sam, but then New Sam came back, took the girl, the baby and the sword. Yay New Sam. Gilly standing up for Sam was also great. Dickon was less of a, well, Dick(on), that I'd expected - maybe they figured that one massive weapon in the family (I mean Sam's Dad, not the sword) was enough.

Arya not killing Lady Crane was very predictable but I liked the way they did it - beautifully acted by all concerned and Lady Crane finished the job of Arya deciding that she's Arya, and not no-one.

At this point it looks like that means the Faceless Men will try to kill her. However I wonder if Jaqen doesn't really mind which one dies - the Waif is clearly not no-one either as she holds a personal grudge against Arya, and no-one wouldn't do that. It might be that the Waif's death will pay for the missed kill and Arya will just be banished rather than on a permanent kill list. If not, though, Arya will likely die next season (I think she's got more to do before that happens) at the hands of the Faceless Men. Which will make me Very Sad Indeed.

Margaery is so faking it (as my kids would put it), and probably abandoning Loras in return for her own freedom. By doing so and convincing Tommen (who isn't capable of faking it - he's a True Believer(tm)), she has also established her own power base in King's Landing, entirely independent of both Lannisters and her own house. The High Sparrow is the consummate politician - but so is she. I'd have preferred Lancel to tell Jamie that he slept with Cersei and have Jaime storm off to the Riverlands (in the books, Jaime is cold to Cersei at this point), but oh well.

I liked the Frey scene. He's going to get his, no question. And next episode we get Blackfish and (almost certainly) further Houndly Goodness, so that's something to look forward to.

Is it just me, or did no-one actually die this episode? Wights are already dead, they don't count...

Oh and Dany channelling her dead husband was a bit of nostalgia - Drogon done grew some, dittee - she used the same words as Drogo did in Vaes Dothrak in Season One, more or less, and now has them totally on board with getting on these thousand ships she doesn't have.

If only someone was coming over the sea with a thousand ships.

In the books I suspect she marries the relevant Greyjoy then gets rid of him/he dies somehow. Can't imagine her getting on with Euron though...Yara?

I can also see Cersei burning Kings Landing and then Dany landing there to find it all burned down. Remember her vision in the House of the Undying - the iron throne in a burned out, roofless room and flakes of snow falling through...gawd, maybe she burns it ep 8, Battle of the B'stards ep 9, Dany landing ep 10 plus Tower of Joy.

The more I think about I the more I don't see how they have time to fit everything in and the wall come down this season. I could be wrong about much of the above and that, though, so we'll see.

Old Man Rating: 8 - solid, brilliantly acted, better written than much of the season so far, nice exposition setting up the last four episodes.

Posted By: Old Man, May 30, 12:34:34