Spoiler Alert: These reviews contain spoilers for the titled episode. They may also contain spoilers for any previous episodes and published book content. If you are not caught up, this is your warning.
This episode was odd, intriguing and perhaps even somewhat unexpected. The developments were also very thought provoking.
One of the things that really stuck out to me were the scenes that followed Cersei. It's odd because, in spite of how much hate she can inspire (and don't get me wrong, she is awful), I still feel for her. With the wonderful actress' portrayal of her at the beginning of the episode, you really see a caricature of her grief and pain. You see it from this weird, super-external place. It's like the reverse of Deadpool's breaking the 4th wall inside a 4th wall break...
The scene where Lancel and the Faith come to summon Cersei to meet with the High Sparrow is brilliant and the resulting action is perfect. When she refuses, they're ready to knuckle up but as entrenched as they are in their faith, they can't wrap their brains around what the Mountain really is (the almost literal elephant in the room). We're so used to seeing their confidence displayed with stoicism and menace that seeing someone actually swing something was pretty crazy. The moment the mace hits that gold breastplate and sticks, the behemoth literally not moving an inch was awesome. They give us just a beat for our brains and the brain of the poor dude who just hit him to do the same thing:
go "oh ****...."
When Cersei chooses violence, damned if she don't get what she wants. The way the Mountain tore that guy's head clean off was NUTS! What the Faith is going to do to combat him is going to have to be crazy. Also, never has he seemed more scary. I think they finally nailed getting his face under the helm nice and dark with only vague, features like dark, red eyes staring out; he is a true terror and possibly the best bodyguard... ever.
Skip forward to the little meeting in the throne room and we get some game-changing info: trial by combat is dead.
Um.... Wut?
This has been a point worth mentioning for some time in the Ice and Fire universe (or Westeros, at least). Trial by combat is said to be a manifestation of the will of the gods. Whichever side is victorious "must" be the righteous side because the gods "wouldn't allow" the righteous to lose. Of course, this doesn't stop the defense and the prosecution both selecting the most otherwise unbeatable champion they can. This is, I believe, because both sides understand the institution to be exactly what it is: a "trial" only in name and the only way they can move the trial away from getting others to believe in the innocence of a side (or lack thereof), and move it toward something actually in their control. This is why Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane is, essentially, a big fat "I WIN" card.
This situation is intriguing because we have multiple things rising from this development. First and foremost, we have a positive, more civilized change for the country as a whole. Trial-By-Combat is correctly labeled as barbaric and a society governed by thoughtfulness is a better one.
But.
As this is Westeros, and the show we're watching is Game of Thrones, ain't no way this is just all to the good and that's it. There's a fly in the ointment, as they say. That fly, in this instance, is the High Septon / Sparrow, who is incredibly clever and playing the game very well. Removal of Trial-By-Combat is good for society. It is likely that, should the gods be watching, they would view it favorably. It looks great for the small-folk. It also works out nicely for him, because as plainly evidenced by the overzealous Pez-Dispensering of one of his Faith lackeys, you're not beating The Mountain. In Mother Westeros, Mountain beats you.
Instead of removing bias altogether (which is what a good trial should do), it removes any biases that are in his opponent's favor. The trial will now be Cersei and Margaery will each stand trial in front of seven septons (you can probably guess who one will certainly be). I think it's rather plain that the Faith is not unbiased and if this is how it's going to wind up, I don't see how Cersei or Margaery are getting out of this, legally speaking. Now, how they'd stop The Mountain from just hulk-smashing the entire bench and walking out is beyond me, but this absolutely spins things a very interesting way.
Also, R.I.P. CleganeBowl :(
Riverrun is a sticky wicket, huh? And how about The Black Fish? What a 100% jerk. I mean, sure, there are admirable qualities in being a stalwart, hardened battle commander, but when you've got other people's lives; families whose safety you're responsible for, saying you'll happily fight it out isn't noble, it's asinine at the very least. His disregard for Edmure's life doesn't win him points either. His send-off was mildly sad, but also I think he's a character who actually did a great job of illustrating what things can look like for someone whose time has passed and they really have nothing left.
Jamie's dialogue with Edmure was downright fantastic, and pulled a lot from the books. The line about the baby and the catapult (while horrifying) was so well delivered and Edmure's face when he heard it was nothing but what you'd expect to see on the face of a father. Jamie played that perfectly and it got him just what he wanted: a quick, clean victory.
Jamie's time with Brienne was bittersweet. I can't help but feel that they may never see one another again. When Brienne was rowing away, and the camera popped back to Jamie and I reached out toward the screen, just as Jamie stretched out his golden stumpcover and all I could think was...
".... I wiilll remmeemmmberrr youuuuu... Willl youu reememmmberrrr meeeeee????"
All they needed in there was a really sad, cute puppy sitting on Brienne's lap. Or maybe that's Pod?
Varys goes off on his mission and I wanted to sing the song again. It was totally a parting of bros. After that, Tyrion exchanging jokes with Missandei and Grey Worm was great and I honestly, a bit delayed, really laughed hard at Tyrion's joke. Contrast that lighthearted moment with the encroaching siege and stuff got real. Just as it looked as if the Great Pyramid was getting blasted- Boom; Dany's back! (and all without blowing any real dragon budget.... so good on them for that...)
Finally, I think that takes us to Arya.
Turns out that the theories were wrong and that really was Arya. She really did get viciously stabbed, dropped into a canal, crawled out and staggered through town. That kid has one hell of a lot of constitution and I'm still shocked that those couple puncture stabs didn't take her out. Although, it takes a bit more than a Waif and a few little stabs to break through plot armor....
I think the best thing about her story this week is that I got clued into something that totally passed me by (but did not pass by my wife and her bestie, I must say). I always thought the options were that Arya becomes an assassin or she gets run out or something to that effect. I thought that they were trying to prove she wasn't up to the task.
I fully believe I was 100% wrong. The observation Jess and Ranai made was this: Jaquen's goal wasn't any of that stuff, it was to prove that Arya wasn't no one. He sees in her potential, destiny, something more. He was putting her through all the trials to help her see that no matter how hard she tried, she wasn't no one, she was Arya Stark. She's a girl who's crossed the world. She's a girl who has been hurt, scarred, lost her family, learned from some of the deadliest people in the world and gone from a privileged youth (generally speaking) to about as self-sufficient as someone can be.
As Arya walked away after stating her name for the first time in... something like two seasons? ... I felt something like happiness for her. Maybe not happiness, but maybe closer to pride. It's like she derailed herself, and was so blinded by the fact that she thought the House of Black and White was where she belonged that she couldn't see where she should be. It's time for her to go home and I think we're all stoked to see that.
Also, good riddance to the Waif. That was a hardcore way to do it.
Next week, we have what may be the most massive battle that's ever been filmed for television. Just the half minute trailer looked absolutely insane. I can't wait for the Snow to fall on the damn Boltons. Ramsay's time has ****ing COME!
Here's your reminder, go check out the Boiled Leather guys, Sean T. Collins and Steffan Sasse with their reviews over at Rolling Stone and The Nerdstream Era. These guys are always awesome and some of the best work out there. Do yourselves a favor and read 'em!
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