Day 6 : Game of Thrones - Spoils of War - Review

SPOILERS AHEAD (REALLY?)

This was the shortest episode of the whole show. But also by far the most watched, the highest rated and the most badass episode ever!

HBO did fumble the ball a bit when it comes to the episode. They were caught up in a large scale hacking incident, a big chunk of content and sensitive information was stolen from their servers. Including this episode, which was leaked into the internet a few days ahead of telecast. A lot many people did see it beforehand. But I guess due to the sheer goodwill of most of the fans still stuck around till the actual telecast, giving this episode the highest viewers of the entire series. And they were all rewarded for their wait, this was the best episode of the season so far. Maybe even better than BOB episode last season (?)

Give this guy a bunch of Castles already! 

At the very this was definitely an episode where every minute of screen time was something significant. So without much dillydallying ourselves let’s get into it.

The show starts in the Reach right where it ended last episode, Highgarden. Jaime is still pissed off with that last zinger the Queen of Thorns left this planet with. Bronn does question him about it, but Jaime doesn’t spill a word. This is something that Cersei would have to know of first. Instead Jaime hands him a big bag of gold, something that was promised. And a Lannister always pays his debts.

Then we are taken the most important Lannister in the Seven Kingdoms – Queen Cersei. She is meeting with the delegate from the Iron Bank (Mycroft Holmes, they are clearly running short of British actors). Cersei tells him about them taking over House Tyrell and that the Bank would be getting all their debt paid in full. There is a bit of high talk and kiss-assing, in the end Cersei is recommended to enlist the services of the Golden Company. They are a band of swords for hire, notoriously savage and extremely efficient. Readers of the book would recall this is where the Aegon Targaryen is. He is the only surviving son of Rhaegar Targaryen, a major character. Seems pretty fishy introducing him so late in the game. Or maybe that is just a coincidence, maybe this would be a character only living in the book and not the show.

Then we are taken to Winterfell, to Bran. Meera is leaving. Bran, being the aloof cold-hearted guy he’s got to be now, tells her goodbye and good riddance. The guy clearly is undergoing his own version of PTSD. He has seen too much, he knows too much. But there is not much he can do now without inadvertently changing the future by a lot. He is the only person we know for sure is going to survive, he could possible save and protect many others. But we don’t know what would get altered if he does. Also there is Littlefinger coming in and gifting him the Valyrian steel dagger that was used to slit his throat first season. But Bran already knows, and also throws in the ‘Chaos is a ladder’ call back to let Petyr know that he knows.

Then we get to see our favorite assassin in Westeros at the gates of her home. She meets Sansa, she meets Bran. The family is back together. I am so happy. This fills me with so much joy. The three kids where never really that close to begin with. But they have all been through a lot and that shared period of torment has brought them all together as a family. Arya likes Sansa becoming Lady Stark. Sansa likes that she has a lil sword wielding badass for sister now. And they both are equally confused as to what their brother has now turned into. Bran gives the dagger to Arya. We already know it is Valyrian steel, and about its magical powers. So we can expect a lot out of it in the hands of Arya now. Also, there is this neat little training waterdance sword fight between Brienne and Arya, at the end of which they both become instant besties. I love that!

Then we come to Dragonstone, Jon is taking the Dragon Queen into the caves below her castle where all the dragonglass is. There in the cave he shows her old cave paintings made by the Children of the Forest. They depict them and men fighting together against their common enemies, the Others. He almost convinces her to join her armies with his to defeat the common enemy in the North, she simply says she will when he bends the knee. Damn, that woman is persistent. They come out of the cave to find Tyrion and Varys giving them the bad news about their defeat in Casterly Rock. Dany is pissed off. Starts lashing out everyone. She immediately wants to take her three dragons and burn down the Red Keep. Jon has seen more battle, and loyal subjects than her. He advices restraint, using her dragons to burn down castles would only alienate her to her people. In a bit, Theon shows up in Dragonstone to get Dany’s help. But she is already gone.

Then comes the big climax of the show. The Loot Train Attack. Jaime and his troop is marching towards Kings Landing. The wagons with gold have already reached the gates, the food and other loot is proceeding rather slowly along the path. And that’s when they hear the sound. They sound of thousands of hoofs pounding ground, it sounds like approaching thunder. And there it is, a big horde of Dothraki fighters. Bronn asks Jaime to turn back and go to the castle, he is a commander not a foot soldier. Jaime says nah, I’m good, and we can take them. As if in reply comes Drogon’s screech. ‘Forget something, bruh?’ Damn the look on their sorry faces! Gold. Then there is the whole glorious battle sequence, see it to believe it. In Bronn, who probably has more guts than all of Westeros, takes up one of Qyburn’s scorpions and aims at Drogon, you know the giant fire-breathing dragon flying directly towards him. He fires a couple gets one into the dragon’s shoulder. The dragon lands with Dany, not before burning down the scorpion first, Drogon is smart. They had by then almost won the war, the Dothraki is finishing up the last few of the Lannister army. Dany now on the ground beside her dragon/child, tries to remove the spear lodged into his shoulder. Jaime sees this as an opportunity, picks up a spear and rushes at her like a jousting idiot. He is almost there, Drogon sees Jaime, breathes fire on him. Jaime is saved at the last moment, and pushed into inexplicably sudden deep water.

THE END.

(Goosebumps.)

Day 5 : Game of Thrones - The Queen's Justice - Review

SPOILERS ARE COMING

I’ve said it before and I will say it again. This is the best damn show on TV now! Just take last night's episode for example. Everything was precise, everything was just where it was meant to be. And yes, Her Grace Cersei, The Queen of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm, gets her sweet revenge.

As has become the tradition now, we begin in Dragonstone. They have been pretty obvious about it with the teasers and the trailers that we would be getting the big ‘Ice meets Fire’ moment. So it wasn’t a real surprise seeing Jon Snow show up at the beach with Davos Seaworth. What was kind of surprising was how the Dragon Queen was trying to show she had the upper hand every step of the way. She got Snow and his men relinquish their weapons and even took away their boat for good measure. You know just to make sure, it wasn’t clear who the boss around here was. Jon being who he was, took it all in his stride. Tyrion notices it too. But he always did like Snow. ‘All dwarfs being bastards in their father’s eyes.’ He does take it upon himself to ease the sting. After all it was Tyrion who made the case for Dany to join forces with the King in the North. Coming to Dany, she was a proper bitch to Jon Snow. I am really beginning to hate her pompous ass this season. Being all up-tight and prissy with our main man Snow here. And well Davos doesn’t help. He never was good at these courtly affairs. And trying to explain the Army of the Dead to people who have never seen it with their own eyes would have been a challenge to the best of the diplomats in Westeros. But somehow, Jon does get what he came for. Good thing that Daenerys still has Tryion around her to make her see sense. (I so wish they all knew of the Three Headed Dragon theory. All this would have been so much easier)

Oh and yes, Mellisandre doesn’t show her face to Davos or Jon and sneaks off to Volantis for some reason. I am not sure what exactly is there. The last I remember there was another Red Priest out of Volantis, in the book though. Maybe the show is catching up to that plotline. And yes, on her way out she creeps the hell out of Varys. That guy seems to have a bad time with every Red Priest that comes his way.

Then we come to Winterfell. Nothing much to see here, just Sansa bossing people around and Littlefinger being Littlefinger. We get to see another Stark Reunion though. I love it when that happens. Bran and Sansa do have their sweet embrace. Sansa does remind him that he is the trueborn son of Ned Stark, the rightful Lord of Winterfell. But Bran is not interested in that anymore. He is has bigger fish to fry. Sansa doesn’t understand any of it, can’t blame her. Three Eyed Raven is not an easy thing to understand, and Bran is creepy as hell.

Then we come to our favorite nerd, Sam. He has succeeded in healing Jorah Mormont, who is not back to his grizzled old bear attitude and cannot wait to get back to Dragonstone to his Queen and her friendzone.

But this was all just filler to the actual event that this episode was all about. Cersei and her justice. Euron brings the Dornish prisoners shackled and paraded around Kings Landing for all to see. He is a bit too pleased about himself, and seems to be having way too much fun any character in GOT is allowed to have. Can’t wait for Jaime to bitch slap his smirk out of his face with his golden hand. Cersei thanks him for his gift, makes him the Commander of the Royal Navy, and doesn’t waste another moment to take Ellaria and her daughter to the dungeon. I know a bunch of folks waiting for some Gregor-style vendetta. But when Cersei did have in mind was a lot more cruel and vicious. Loved it! (and kudos to Indira Verma for acting her heart out on this one!)

We then get to see Casterly Rock for the first time, under attack by the Unsullied forces. They take the stronghold in no time. Agreed they are good, but even they know this was way too easy. Grey Worm looks over to the shore and finds the Iron Fleet putting their ships aflame. Now if they were to help their queen for battle, they would have to march across Westeros. Well played, Jaime.

Where was he all this while? He and Bronn and their band of red & gold soldiers were marching to Highgarden, House Tyrell’s keep. They’d brought the whole of Lannister might to the castle while leaving only a small troop back at their own keep at Casterly Rock. A sound strategy adopted from Robb Stark, something that I’d mentioned Tyrion had used in my last post. Seems like all of Tywin’s kids are learning from Young Wolf’s successes. Since we are in the Highgarden, we get to see one of our favourite old crone in the show, Olenna Tryell. This is one character that I really want to see a spinoff about, her and Oberyn. She is old and withered but still such a badass, imagine what she was like in her youth. She ends her days just like she lived her life – thug life meme personified. She departs telling Jaime she was the one who killed Joffrey. I’m sure Jaime not regrets convincing Cersei to kill her off so easily.

That was my favorite part of this episode. The devil is in the details. Cersei killed off the people just the way they took her children from her. Poisoned lips and poisoned wine.

We are already nearly half way done with this season, there is still a lot more to explore and revisit. Here’s hoping we get to know about Azhor Ahai next episode. Till then, Seven blessings to you, my friends.

P.S. Where the heck is Ghost?! :-/

Day 4 : Game of Thrones - Stormborn - Review

SPOILERS AHEAD

This was an awesome episode. One helluva roller coaster ride from start to finish. Not a dull moment in sight. So following the same spirit, let’s get into it!

We start with Cersei, who is not doing too great. She has called on his Lords to court in King’s Landing. She goes on about how the Targaryen Cow is at the shores of her empire with an army of Dothrakis and Unsullied. She tells them to lay down their allegiance to House Tyrell and Martell and join forces with her to rid the Seven Kingdoms of the foreign incursion. She blames Olleana Tyrell for bringing the savages and eunuchs to the west and putting all of her people and bannermen at risk. A good sales pitch. But then in Kings Landing, no alliances are made by the virtue of a rousing speech. It all comes down to some backstabbing and coercion, which is handsomely supplied by Jaime. I hope Sam’s father is not as big a prick as he seems. Oh and also, Qyburn apparently has been pretty busy himself.

We then go to the next main power centers in Westeros – Dragonstone. We see the whole Targaryen camp surrounding the Stannis’ map/table. Immediately you will notice one thing. It is all women. Every person of power in that room is a woman with a bone to pick with Cersei, and they all just want to get on with it and have the Lannister’s head served on a plate. But Daenerys’, to my surprise frankly, is the voice of reason here. She deftly handles out orders to her liege’s which becomes quiet evident was Tyrion’s plan all along. Also the plan itself reminds a lot of the strategy the erstwhile King in the North, Robb Stark used against Tywin Lannister, and with much success. Hope it works out the same for Dany. Also Melissandre, the red priestess, shows up at Dragonstone. No surprises there, this was always expected and hinted at in the trailer. Oh and also, Greyworm and Missandei finally put the will-they/won’t-they question to rest. Now all that remains is the real question, HOW did they?

Then we go on to the citadel, and get a proper look at the extent of Jorah Mormont’s illness. It does not look good. The Archmaester estimates he doesn’t have more than six months when he loses his mind to Greyscale. Samwell Tarly, a brother from Night’s Watch, knowing Jorah is the son of his first Lord Commander promises to help him. Even though he is told not to. The treatment is just too risky, painful and messy. The citadel doesn’t do messy. But hey, when has that ever stopped our Sam. You, little rebel you.

Jon Snow receives two letters. Samwell Tarly has written to him telling him how the castle at Dragonstone is built on top of a mountain of dragonglass, the only known thing known to be able to kill the White Walkers. Tyrion Lannisterhas written to him to come to Dragonstone to join forces. They both need each other. But for their own reasons. Jon and Tyrion know and trust each other. Sansa, being a good student of the Game, knows not to trust anyone. But Jon convinces her and then Northern Lords of the dire situation they are in. They need more able bodied men, and they need the dragonglass. And to get both of these, they need to join forces with the Dragon Queen.

Our favorite little assassin, Arya Stark, is still on her way to King’s Landing. She ends up in a tavern on the way, lo and behold who does she meet, lil pudgy Hot Pie. He still makes great pies, but then our girl is not too bad at pies now either. Btw, does becoming an assassin make you extra sarcastic as well? Well, good fun nonetheless. This is here where she learns of Jon Snow becoming the King in the North and the demise of House Bolton. She makes a change in her plans and turns around. And right there waiting for her is a wolf pack, and a big direwolf at the head of it. She/we recognizes the big wolf immediately. It is Nymeria, Arya’s direwolf. Now is all grown and has her own wolf pack. Those of us who have read the books, always knew of her surviving the wars and the fact that she and her pack were preying on Lannister strongholds up North during Robb’s rebellion. Arya asks Nymeria to come along with her on her journey ahead. The wolf merely turns around and the pack spares her life. Arya smiles and says, ‘That’s not you.’ Which I don’t take to mean that the wolf was not Nymeria. I think it just means that Nymeria is like Arya, she is not the kind to do what others ask of them. It should come to her in, of her own accord.

Then we see that Ellaria Sand, Yara and Theon are on board the Iron Fleet, their way to Dorne as instructed by Daenerys. Yara and Ellaria do get a bit cozy, as suggested in the trailers. But before anything happens, boom comes the sound. Euron’s back, baby. He and his ships are pounding away at Yara’s fleet. Everything up in fire and smoke and glorious chaos. Something that every GOT fan rejoices in. More blood, more torn limbs, please. A few severed heads and thrusted spears later, Euron finally collects his gifts for Cersei and goes on his way. Oh and btw, the ships were bare of any Dothraki horde, or Unsullied. It was mainly manned by the Iron Islanders, whose cowardice was best displayed by Theon Greyjoy for all to see. Frigging Reek!

And so it was, another amazing action packed episode of the Thrones. There wasn’t a dull moment in the episode. Loved it a lot. I guess the creators did listen the fans. Less of Bran, more of everyone else!

x