Game of Thrones Recap: "No Gray Area" - Season 5, Episode 2
"You have no idea what people will do. Even with all your books, and you still don't know..." -Selyse Baratheon
[Queen] Selyse says this quote while scolding her daughter, and upon hearing it, my immediate thoughts were "DAMN RIGHT YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT PEOPLE ARE GOING TO DO. PEOPLE LIKE THE WRITERS OF THIS FUCKING SHOW!"
But let me calm down for a moment... She is right. I read George R.R. Martin's books thinking that would make me prepared for this season. I should have known better; of course the writers and producers are going to want to throw curve balls at every chance they can get. They're not going to parallel the books, because that would be boring. They need to keep viewer on their toes. I'll admit that I saw the book-to-screen adjustments and started to get frustrated, but then I thought about it; I want to be surprised, so this is good. Otherwise, it would be like watching a bunch of reruns for ten weeks.
At the start of this episode we are finally introduced to Arya. Last time we saw her, she was saying "peace out" to Westeros and heading to Braavos, using the coin her BFF/hitman, Jaqen H'ghar gave her. The ship's captain takes her to the House of Black and White, saying she will find Jaqen there. However, when she knocks on the door, a cloaked old man answers (who strangely looks like he could be my dad) and says there is no one by that name there. So Arya does what anyone who has just had a door slammed in their face would do - she sits on the steps of the House and recites her Death Note prayer for days...weeks?... Eventually, she gives up, throws her Braavosi coin in the water, and carries on elsewhere.
Meanwhile, we pick up with Brie and Pod where we left them last episode - within ten feet of Petyr and Sansa/Alayne. This time they actually interact which is surprising for this show that loves to tease us with close encounters (see Bran/Jon, Arya/Robb and Cat, Arya/Sansa). Brienne confronts Sansa with her "I swore to your mother" story, but Petyr is having none of that and begins to list off Brienne's unsatisfactory track record of vowing to protect people. Similarly, Sansa is not buying what she's selling and refuses to go with her. Poor Brienne. She has been rejected by both Stark girls. Since her damsels in distress don't seem to want or need her, what is she to do? For starters she sticks Valayrian steels through one of the Baelish guard's throat, so that's something. Despite Sansa's rejection, Brienne still seems determined to make sure she's kept safe from that snake, Petyr, so it looks like P & B will be chasing Sansa/Alayne for a good portion of the season.
In King's Landing, Cersei receives a gift from Dorne (the place where her daughter, Myrcella is being fostered). Gifts are nice except for when they're your daughter's necklace inside of a viper's mouth. Cersei and Jaime see this as an obvious threat from Dorne (probably sore about the death of Oberyn by The Mountain). Cersei goes on about Jaime being a bad father, which is an absurd accusation considering the fact that they both know Jaime had no choice but to not act fatherly to his children in order to dismiss any inscest rumors. The best thing he could do was join the Kingsguard to protect them, and Ceresi calling him out on his failures is petty; probably coming from grief, but still petty and wrong. Jaime basically responds with, "I'll be the best father ever. I'll go to Dorne and drag Myrcella out of there!" And he will. And he'll bring Bronn with him. Oh you thought we would never see Bronn again? You were wrong!
In addition to Cersei's storyline, we see how she is handling the distribution of power after Tywin's death. She's aware some power-thirsty lords might try to step in Tywin's spot, but Cersei puts them in their place. She appoints a few people, like Mace Tyrell, with new titles, and they seem pretty pleased...except for Kevan Lannister (he's Tywin's brother. You may have forgotten him since this scene is the most he's ever spoken in all five seasons). He's not having any of Cersei shit and blatantly tells her he will only answer to and work for King Tommen and refuses to be her puppet. He exits stage left, and leaves the council meeting to go rule Casterly Rock.
Our introduction to Dorne is the scorned face of Ellaria Sand, Oberyn Martell's paramour. She's obviously pissed about her lover's brutal death and to make things worse for her, there's a Lannister cub prancing around the Water Gardens oblivious of the conflict. Ellaria goes to Doran, the Prince of Dorne and Oberyn's older brother, demanding vengeance, urging him to rally against the Lannisters, and suggesting "sending Myrcella to the queen...one finger at a time" (hhoooookay, Ramsay). Doran obviously finds that idea repulsive and shoots her down, but she still calls him a coward to his face before storming out. I'm sure Doran has a plan behind him though. You can see it in his eyes...
Just across the sea in a box on the road to Volantis (to Meereen) we find Tyrion and Varys. Since they will be in Volantis, I do hope someone, a citizen of Volantis perhaps, will bring up the murder of Talisa Stark, who came from Volantis before marrying Robb Stark...
T & V discuss how Tyrion was a good leader (or servant, rather) while he was acting-Hand. Over these last couple episodes, Varys just seems to be giving Tyrion a bunch of pep-talks to pull him out of his depression. He had a rough time last season, so he's reasonably distraught. All men must die in the Thrones universe, though it's not likely this character will die from alcohol poisoning. (That would but completely unexpected and darkly funny, though.)
On the Wall, Shireen Baratheon is teaching Gilly how to read. They have a discussion about Shireen's skin condition (called greyscale). Gilly remembers how when her sisters had it, it made them go mad before they died. To me, this suggests there's going to be more significance to Shireen's story than I originally thought.
Elsewhere, Stannis pulls Jon aside to discuss how he can win the North's support in his war of Rights. The Mormonts sent a note to Stannis stating that they only will follow a king whose name is Stark. Stannis' solution is to legitimize Jon as a real Stark and make him Lord of Winterfell, but Jon honorably tells Sam later that he will refuse Stannis' offer. In subtle shots, you can see Jon brooding over the fact that he has to accept that he will never be Lord of anything. Ironically, he is elected by his as the next Lord Commander of the Night's Watch three minutes later, and I couldn't be happier for him!
Cut back to Braavos, and we find Arya roaming the streets, killing pigeons, and ready to fight bullies. Her harassers run away after they see my cloaked dad in the distance. Arya follows him back to the House and asks him who he is. A man changes his face and a viewer is surprised to see the face of Arya's old murder-friend, Jaqen H'ghar. The man and the girl enter the House of Black and White, presumably to teach Arya how to do that creepy face-changing trick, too.
Finally, in Meereen, Dany and friends need to figure out what to do with a man who is suspected of being a Harpy Son. The former-slave representative (who I'm just going to call Eastern Karstark. [you'll see why]) thinks they should just have him killed, but the former-master (who I'm just going to call Lionel Ritchie) thinks the man should have a fair trial. Ser Barristan reminds Dany that her father (the Mad King) used to kill his enemies just to make himself feel powerful, and Dany decides to hold a fair trial so she won't appear crazy.
Sadly, most things don't go as planned for her - Eastern Karstark goes ahead and decides to brutally kill the suspect without Dany's consent. He believed he was doing Dany a favor; the suspect was a former-master who dissed Dany. Killing him sends the message that the former slaves will not go back in chains without a fight. Dany is not pleased with Eastern Karstark's actions and has him beheaded in front of a crowd for murder. She thinks she is dealing out justice and is being a fair ruler. Her "children" begged for mercy for their "brother", but Dany ignored him. The crowd literally hisses at her and a riot starts as Dany and friends scurry back to her pyramid. Thus begins the downfall of the Mother of Dragons, so it seems... Her own people are now beginning to despise her.
At least she gets to see Drogon at the end of the episode. But not for long! He only stays for a few seconds and then he's Dro-gone. (I stole this joke...)
This episode had much more filling than the former. We are now starting to add the filling to the pie, so now it's looking really tasty. Here, we are presented with a lot of character conflicts: Whether Brienne should give up or keep her promise to Lady Catelyn; Jaime in a weird spot of being a father to his children, but not ever being able to show it; Jon chooing the Watch, the Wildlings, or a life as a legitimate Stark; Whether Doran should act or stay idle regarding the death of Oberyn; and of course Dany's never ending issues.
There really is no "black and white" is there? Everything is like a gray area for every character (except maybe for Cersei, whose motto is basically "I hate everyone").
Also, also:
- Yo, I'm still waiting to see Dorne in the opening credits!
- I like how Arya's death prayer got significantly shorter...
- When Sansa asks Petyr about the scroll he got, he tells her that his "marriage proposal has been accepted", but he never explicitly says he's the one getting married. I swear to the old gods and the new...if this Little-middle-finger sells out Sansa....
- In the books, Arys Oakheart is the one sent to Dorne as Myrcella's protector, but it looks like Jaime or Bronn will be playing Arys' role. Hopefully neither of them ends up just like Arys', though.
- Lollys' face when Jaime kisses her hand... This Lollys girl is super cute and I want to see more of her.
- Ellaria's acting is brilliant (this must be why they cast aside Arianne?). Indira Varma is so sassy and her accent adds a billion and one flavors to her performance.
- I absolutely love how Sam stands up for his bro, Jon Snow, and throws so much shade at Janos Slynt. Every time I thought he was done ragging on him, he had another one up his sleeve. Sam dropped about seven mics in about thirty seconds! Sam the Slayer!
- I kind of like how Allister Throne made a fair enough case against Jon after Sam's speech. It gives off the possibility that Jon won't win, so you're left with a just a bit of tension before the winner is reveled.
- Who the hell is "Dennis Mallister" and who nominated, him?
- Immediately I noticed how Dany's story here is similar to Robb Stark's. Robb beheaded Rickard Karstark (see why I called the other guy Eastern Karstark, now?) for killing his hostages without his consent. Yes, Karstark was on Robb's side, but he showed him no mercy for going behind his back. Robb called it justice, but it ended up making things worse for him. The same goes for Dany; the future is not looking good.
- A round of applause for the SFX team for working on a beautiful Drogon :)
- Overall reaction: I am ready for the rest of the season. LET'S GO! (but if Sansa is hurt, I SWEAR!...)
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