Recap: On GAME OF THRONES, The Past Holds The Key To The Future

Episode 53 “Oathbreaker”
Written by David Benioff & D.B. Weiss
Directed by Jeremy Podeswa   

The North is in shambles, the dead are rising, leaders are scattered or dead, and those together refuse to swear fealty.

Where is Jon Snow (Kit Harington) in all this? Alive, and well, not exactly well. He awakes confused, disoriented, and in pain. He knows he’s supposed to be dead, and looks to Daavos (Liam Cunningham) for answers. Daavos is shocked and bewildered; he wanted this, but you can see the uncertainty of his decision across his wrinkled face. Melisandre (Carice van Houten) stares at Jon, her doubts about her God vanished, and she jumps right in to declare him the promised Prince.

It does make one wonder how he was able to come back. Could Jon Snow be the Prince and rightful heir to the throne? It’s theorized that Jon Snow is the son of The Mad King Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark and if that is true, it would explain so much as to why he would be brought back to life, and why Ned brought him home when he was a baby. But it’s all still too soon to delve into that and thank God Daavos has the sense to see that a man just came back to life and doesn’t need to be harassed about what he saw, or what he is to now become. Daavos understands that Jon needs some time to recuperate. Plus, those stab wounds aren’t healed, and they have to be very painful.

Jon doesn’t understand why he came back; he sees himself as a failure. The emotional trauma alone that he must be going through is enough to make anyone want to crawl back to death’s door. Instead he picks himself back up and greets his men. Hugging each one, no matter how painful it is. If there is anything that Jon is good at, is being able to express how serious he is as well as how much pain he is going through, merely through his puppy dog eyes. Your heart breaks for him, for you know he was finally at peace, and to be brought out of that and back into hell, is the hardest knowledge to stomach.

Out on the sea, Jon’s best friend Sam (John Bradley) is oblivious to all that has happened. Instead the poor man is getting sick in a bucket while Gilly (Hannah Murray) looks on, nonplussed and scarily casual about it all. Of course she is. She may be a wildling and lived without much literary knowledge, but in the way of the body’s normality, she knows it’s just the way it is, and there isn’t any shame. This naive woman is willing to brave crossing the seas with her son, named after Sam, because she gets to be with this man even if it means caring for him as he is sick. Sam and Gilly’s bond is adorable, especially because Gilly has named her son after Sam and declared him the father. Gilly’s excitement for reaching Old Town is tangible, but Sam has other plans for her to stay with his family. Gilly shuts that down quickly, and you have to admire her stubbornness and commitment in staying with her man. It almost makes you scared to fall in love with this couple. As we all know, Valar Morghulis.

Farther up north Bran (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) receives more lessons from the Three-Eye Raven (Max von Sydow). They watch on, in the past, as young Ned Stark (Robert Aramayo) and Meera’s father Howland Reed (Leo Woodruff) battle against Arthur Dayne (Luke Roberts), also known as the Sword of the Morning, in search of Lyanna. We know that this has taken place after the Mad King has been dethroned and replaced by King Baratheon. The Three-Eyed Raven giving little snippets of commentary as Bran questions to what has happened. We assume that the Raven is watching this all unfold for the first time just as Bran does, but his answers carry a weight of knowledge already gained.

Arthur Dayne takes on five men and kills nearly all, and just when he is about to deliver the killing blow to Ned, Howland comes behind and kills him from behind. This is the first time we see Bran’s love for his heroic father fade. To his knowledge, Ned had taken down Arthur all on his own, but come to find that Arthur was stabbed in the back by Howland instead. Bran has known his father to be true and honorable, so why would his father lie about this? The Raven begs of Bran to retreat but Bran is fixated on following his father to discover what lies in the tower. At first it doesn’t make sense as to why Bran is adamant about what is in the tower, but then it dawns on me, Bran knows that it’s not just Lyanna up there. Jon Snow could be up there as well! This is when Ned is supposed to find his sister dying, but he comes home without her and instead with a babe in his arms. It has to be Jon Snow, which would make him Jon Targayen. Bran cries out to his father, and though they are in the past and they are simply viewing it, Ned stops and turns, almost as if he heard Bran. The Raven pulls Bran back to the present, and Bran begins to believe that the past could possibly be changed, though the Raven tells him “the ink is already dry.”

It would seem Bran would have better sense to listen to the Three-Eyed Raven, who has been there hundreds of years, watching everything, gaining vast knowledge, and training Bran to do the same. But Bran remains ungrateful for the lessons, and continues to pout about his condition. He did travel all that way under the hope that he would walk again, only to find that he will only have that sensation again through viewing the past, has kept him jaded and angsty.

Amongst the Khalasar, the Dothraki and Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) come to the final home for the widows of Khals. Daenerys attempts to get the women to realize who she is and that she is a Queen and not meant to be there, but is quickly put in her place and is told that it is up to the judgment of all the Khalasars, as she was supposed to arrive after Khal Drogo’s death, but instead traveled. If I was a Dothraki and had the knowledge that the woman before me was the Mother of Dragons, I wouldn’t care how long she was a widow, she would be free in a second. I would not want to invoke the wrath of a mother’s dragons, which I can only hope is soon to happen. Game of Thrones needs to amp up the pace on Daenerys, because three episodes of her walking amongst the Dothraki seems all too tedious and merely makes it feel we’ve gone back a few seasons.

Back in Meereen, surprisingly those loyal to Daenerys have not been executed yet. Instead they remain in the capitol. Varys (Conleth Hill) meets with a prostitute of Meereen, known as Vala (Meena Rayann). For those who don’t remember, she assisted the Sons of the Harpy in killing the Unsullied and Second Sons. Varys doesn’t torture her, nor does he attempt to interrogate her. Instead, Varys uses his cunning smooth talking ways to get the information he wants by bringing up her son, and how unfortunate it would be for him to live without his mother, especially with his breathing problem. Vala at first believes that he aims to harm Dhom, her son, but Varys assures her he would never do that, for as he puts it, ‘children are blameless’.

This is very important and I will explain why a little later on.

Meanwhile, Vala knows she will die if she tells him what he wants to know, and she’ll die if she doesn’t. Varys offers her and her son safe passage to Pentos along with a hefty bag of silver if she complies and how can she say no to that? I want to know on what ship she will be sailing as in the previous episode, ‘Home’, all the ships were burnt down.

While Varys collects his information, Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) awkwardly attempts to break the silence between himself, Grey Worm (Jacob Anderson), and Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel). We see firsthand how different the lives are of servants and royalty. Neither Grey Worm nor Missandei know how to have a conversation, play games, or even drink. This puts Tyrion in a strange position. He has always been able to make some sort of connection with those around him and for him not to be able to with two servants poses a challenge for him, one that he doesn’t seemed too thrilled of. Just when Tyrion thinks cannot get more uncomfortable Varys struts in happily. He has found who has been aiding the Sons of the Harpy: the Masters of Astapor, Yunkai, and Volantis. All the cities that had previously been conquered by Daenerys. Varys mentions that he will have his little birds send a message for the leaders stating, “…men can be fickle, but birds I always trust”.

Back in King’s Landing Maester Qyburn (Anton Lesser) is surrounded by dirty children enthusiastically peering at all of his possessions. They inquire if Varys will ever return for he used to give them sweets and called them his little birds. Now it all makes sense to what Varys had previously said in regards to children being blameless, and his trust in his birds. While he could use men to  gain his information, Varys knows how easily swayed and accountable men can be, but innocents keep to a loyal unspoken code to those who show kindness, and they cannot be punished for something they couldn’t possibly have done, for no one ever remembers that children are all about and listening. Qyburn is smart enough to realize this, too, and employs them as his little birds. Cersei (Lena Headey) demands that little birds be put in not only King’s Landing, but also in Dorne, High Garden, and the North, for she wishes to know of all who speak ill of her. Cersei is beginning to grasp on to her old self, and I have a feeling she is about to become more ruthless than before.

Cersei, Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), and Ser Gregor (Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson) attempt to sit amongst the small council, but Cersei is immediately rejected by all present, even humiliated by the fact that she is no longer the Queen and unable to demand anything. They all leave, and Cersei and Jaime sit at the table, never before experiencing the feeling of not being listened to. While Cersei may begin to feel like herself, it will take a long time before those around her fear her again.

King Tommen (Dean-Charles Chapman), in the meantime, meets with the High Sparrow (Jonathan Pryce) in a sorry attempt to order that his mother be granted access to her daughter’s resting place. Young naive Tommen still has much to learn, and falls to the words of the High Sparrow, basically becoming manipulated by The High Sparrow into working with him rather than against him. This does not bode well for the Kingdom, for if the King rules his land through religion, then the kingdom is truly being ruled through the High Sparrow. I have a feeling that was the plan all along, and that the High Sparrow is just another greedy politician aiming to take the crown.

After weeks of being brutally trained by Waif (Faye Marsay), Arya (Maisie Williams), is catching on and no longer believes she is Arya, instead she sees herself as No One, for a girl has no name. While No One is being questioned about Arya’s past, the Hound (Rory McCann) is brought up, and it’s possible that he may not be dead after all, for Arya never killed him, though he was on her list but had been taken off, and we never saw him die. Arya had left him for dead; could it be possible that we will see him again, and he will help to bring down the Lannister rule? Meanwhile, Jaqen H’ghar (Tom Wlaschiha), finally deems a girl ready, and bestows her eyesight back, and we all get a shiver down our spines, because we know she is about to be more badass than she ever was before.

In Winterfell Lord Umber (Dean S. Jagger), one of the Lords of the North, meets with Ramsay (Iwan Rheon), and they discuss helping each other out, although Umber refuses to swear fealty to the Boltons. Umber seeks assistance with wiping out the Wildlings that Jon Snow has allowed in, and Ramsay seeks all the Northern Lords loyalty. Rather than swear oaths to one another, Umber gives Ramsay a gift. It is Osha (Natalia Tena), and Rickon (Art Parkinson), along with the decapitated head of Shaggy Dog. How they managed to be captured and why they stayed in the North has not been answered, but it seems like a stupid decision on their part, and now they are in serious danger of Ramsay.

Farther North at Castle Black, Lord Commander Snow sits, contemplating what he is about to do. We aren’t sure what he has in store, but you can see it is a hard decision that weighs on him. Finally resigning himself to what is about to happen he goes outside, and we see four men lined up with nooses around their necks. Two nameless watchmen, Alliser Thorne (Owen Teale), and Olly (Brenock O’Connor). Jon looks each one in the eye asking for their last words. Even though he knows this is the right decision to make, he hates all of it, especially when it comes to Olly, for he is just a boy, and deserves to live, but Jon knows he cannot allow that to happen. The two men make requests, Thorne on the other hand stays proud of his choices, and even makes a jab at Snow, “I fought, I lost. Now I rest.” Jon Snow knows he had lost, and he should have stayed at rest, but instead he came back, something that should never have happened, and now he has to live with that, while Thorne will honor his oath to stay at rest. With a heavy heart, Jon looks to Olly, and you can see him pleading, that Olly will beg forgiveness, for if he does, Jon would let him go. At least that’s our hope. Instead, the boy stares angrily at the revived Lord Commander, and our hearts plummet, but at the same time we feel a little proud of his resolve, and fearlessness in the face of death. Jon turns to the cord holding the floor under the convicted’s feet, and cuts it loose.

We watch as each one dies, gasping and twitching, each of them staring glassy eyed. Jon turns to his friend Eddison Tollett (Ben Crompton), telling him to burn the bodies. Then the unexpected happens: Jon removes his cloak and hands it to him, giving him Castle Black. He knows that he cannot lead a people that believed him to be dead, and now that he lives, look to him as a god, that is too much pressure for anyone. He walks out, saying “My watch has ended”.  Technically speaking, his watch did end when he died, but since he was brought back to life he still carried the oath to the Night’s Watch, hence the title ‘OathBreaker’.

Now we have to wonder, what will Jon do next? Could he potentially follow with Melisandre as the Promised Prince? Will he attempt to take back Winterfell? Also, what will happen to the Wildlings? Who will Sansa (Sophie Turner) turn to when she arrives at Castle Black? Will the dragon swoop in and save Daenerys? Will Tommen’s siding with the High Sparrow be the end of the Lannister reign? Will Rickon survive the next episode? Hold onto your hats, it’s about to become an even more twisted game.

 

Game of Thrones airs Sunday nights at 9/8c on HBO.