5.6 Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken For a relatively sedate episode, a lot of things get moved around this week. No Daenerys, but she’s as much of a character in this episode as she is in episodes in which she appears thanks to the presence of Ser Friendzone, Jorah Mormont. There’s no Brienne, but her vow to protect Sansa Stark seems to be meaningless given just what the poor girl undergoes this week. Arya has vowed to lose everything she has in her goal of becoming a Faceless Man, but she can’t quite forgive or forget just what she’s been through. Littlefinger’s schemes put the North in focus, but very little of the episode concerns itself with matters of politics. The game of thrones is wheels within wheels, the very definition of chaos theory, and everyone’s jockeying for the next rung on the ladder or trying valiantly to keep from getting trampled by social climbers. Nobody is as skilled at navigating treacherous waters as Petyr Baelish, and Aidan Gillen is making the most of his chance to smirk, preen, and lie. His meeting with Cersei gives him a great opportunity to manoeuvre his way into a second powerful position, taking the role of Warden of the North thanks to his careful use of Sansa Stark and Ramsay Bolton as ammunition. His offer to take the North for Cersei and the Lannisters is helpful, too. Should the Boltons repel Stannis, he’s got them in his pocket. Should Stannis trounce the Boltons, he’s got Sansa Stark on his good side. Should both sides be battered and weakened, he can sweep in and win the day for the Lannisters. Littlefinger is in the hottest of all possible seats, but he’s definitely working hard to control his destiny and win this game the only way he knows how. That’s one of the big credits to this episode, and to the way the season has been structured as a whole. Everything we see this week has some sort of repercussion on the characters we don’t see. Brienne, Dany, Varys, little Lord Robin… just about anyone not Bran, Meera, and Hodor are going to be feeling the repercussions of the events of this episode, for one reason or another. Brienne is going to have to do something about Sansa’s marriage to the Bastard of Bolton. Dany’s going to get a very familiar face in the slave pits. Varys is going to have an even harder time of finding Tyrion, unless he goes straight to Meereen, then he might see and purchase the magical dwarf from the slavers. Stannis is going to have to deal with the possibility of Littlefinger and the Knights of the Vale riding against him after his forces are weakened by a prolonged clash with the Boltons (and perhaps the Greyjoys?). The show is building in a way it excels at, and that’s a credit to Bryan Cogman’s ability to keep things moving without getting bogged down. Arya and the Faceless Men eat up a good half of the episode, but we know Arya’s going to be important sooner or later; she may profess to be no one, but she’s Arya Stark of Winterfell, and she’s being honed into the ultimate weapon of revenge while learning the powers of dishonesty from the masterful Jaqen H’Gar in Braavos. It may take a season or two, but she’s slowly gone from egg to growing dragon, and before long she’ll have a body count befitting her new status. She’s our slow burn; our quick explosion is Myrcella (Nell Tiger Free) in the Water Gardens. In the second season of the show, there were pacing issues. Dany got too much time on screen in comparison to her importance. The third season is notable for the extended torment of Theon/Reek, which some felt was excessive. This season, though, the pacing seems dead on. Nothing overstays its welcome, the threads stay bundled together by some sort of unifying idea per episode, and everything seems to be clicking on cylinders despite the logistical problems with making a television show in three or four different countries at the same time. Regardless of your feelings about the show, it’s a phenomenal achievement in planning if nothing else. Read Ron’s review of the previous episode, Kill The Boy, here. US Correspondent Ron Hogan is really hoping for some deus ex machina to save the lives of multiple characters he likes that are currently in peril. Fingers crossed that for once all the favorites don’t die, and that at least one favorite might live. 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.
