5.4 Sons Of The Harpy This is a show where fighting is perhaps the most important element of any character, and those who aren’t fighters, have to think like fighters while getting others to do their violence for them. See Tyrion Lannister, Littlefinger, and Cersei Lannister, all of whom appear in this episode making decisions of various quality. Cersei, as usual, does the bulk of the plotting. After meeting with the High Sparrow, she decides that Westeros needs its religious military back once again, thus the Sparrows find themselves rearmed after hundreds of years with no Faith Militant. Never mind the fact that they were disarmed for a reason, now Westeros has armed religious fanatics smashing tables (and beer barrels, cue tears) in the streets of King’s Landing while Cersei smirks and sics her new-found dogs on the Tyrell family, despite the fact that Mace Tyrell has basically been supporting the crown’s lavish spending and the Iron Bank is calling in part of its significant loan to the Seven Kingdoms. It seems like a really bad time to kick off a wave of fanaticism, but she’s interrupting Littlefinger’s profit stream and publicly shaming the Tyrell fiance she has no interest in being a beard for, so in the short term, it’s a win for Cersei. We’ll see how long that lasts. As Daenerys has discovered, just because you’re in charge doesn’t mean you’re in control, and that’s one of the most spectacular fight scenes in the show’s run thus far. In the streets of Meereen, the Unsullied and Second Sons patrol for danger, hunting down the Sons of the Harpy. Good luck with that; as we see this week, the Harpy forces are dangerous and clever, using trickery and subterfuge to lure the Unsullied into tight angles and confines where their spears are as much hindrance as help, then slaughter them. At least Cersei can think she’s in charge of the Sparrows; Dany knows she’s not in charge of these characters, and she might pay a very high price for her hubris based on the beautiful, troubling final shot of the episode. Mark Mylod has a tough task on his plate; he’s got multiple fight scenes and they all have to be drastically different due to the differences in the fighters: Jaime and Bronn murder a Dornish welcome party, the Sons of the Harpy and the Unsullied, and the Faith’s smashing up of Littlefinger’s brothel and the torture and possible murder of his clients and staff. Each fight feels appropriate; Jaime and Bronn get dirty in the Dornish hills, the Faith is more like an angry mob armed with clubs attacking innocent whoremongers, and the Unsullied/Sons fight is a great testament to the difficulties open-field fighters have in a guerrilla warfare situation, as the Sons use surprise and numbers to take out everyone they square off against, despite the casualties. Also, full credit: the reveal that Grey Worm is one of the Unsullied trapped in the alley and that Barristan is there to cut through ten people to come to his aid was thrilling—and a true Westerosi-style knife to the guts with every slash and stab inflicted upon the folks we like by the faceless Sons. The visuals have more impact than the writing from Dave Hill, but that’s probably by design. The discussion scenes, particularly Bronn/Jaime, Tyrion/Jorah, and most surprisingly Stannis and Shireen, tap into the emotions quite deftly. The Baratheon men are known for their big hearts… well, all but Stannis, but watch him awkwardly embrace his grayscale-faced daughter and tell me he’s not as big-hearted as the Brienne-saving Renly or the Ned-loving Robert. It’s a lovely moment, and it shows a newly human side to Stannis The Mannis (knocked out of the park by Stephen Dillane). Absolutely wonderful; it’s nice to see there’s still a human king of Westeros involved in the war between sycophants and psychopaths. Read Ron’s review of the previous episode, High Sparrow, here. US Correspondent Ron Hogan is officially the Head Cheerleader of Team Stannis. Find more by Ron daily at Shaktronics and PopFi. Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.
