Game of Thrones - No One

This week’s Game of Thrones had some great moments but was a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to fan reaction. Book fans got trolled, and the rest of the fans had to say goodbye to a certain area.

SPOILERS will be discussed for this week’s episode, No One.

Riverlands

A group of the Brotherhood without Banners are sitting around a fire talking about ladies, a younger member has yet to kiss a girl, and an older member teaches him how just before shoving his finger up his backside. The Hound (Rory McCann) appears in the distance axe in hand, it’s like a shot from terminator as he slowly catches up to the group, beheading and killing everyone in his path.

The Hound leaves the brother who tried to finger the bum last, he stabs him in the gut, and asks him where he can find the other one (Lem Lemoncloak). The Brother won’t give him any information instead saying, “Fuck you,” to The Hound who mocks him saying, “Those are your last words, fuck you? Come on you can do better,” So instead the Brother shouts, “cunt” which makes The Hound laugh and say, “You’re shit at dying do you know that?”

Later The Hound comes across a familiar scene from the books, three men are being hanged for some form of crime, and just when we think we are going to get some huge juicy reveal Beric Dondarrion (Richard Dormer) shows up. The Lady Stoneheart freight train has just left the station. Turns out the Brotherhood are actually good, and last week’s antics with Lem Lemoncloak were just a teaser in order for the creators to troll the living hell out of book readers.

The Hound tells Beric why he is hunting these men, turns out the brotherhood are actually hanging them for the same reasons. The Hound wants to claim all three of them as he lost a friend in the process, Beric also feels that he should get justice as these men have dragged the brotherhood's name though the dirt, so both of them make their case.

We’re reminded by The Hound that he once killed Beric, and there is a lot of tension when an arrow is pointed at The Hound. He calls the archer a bloody girl, and tells him tougher girls have tried to kill him, making him lower his bow. Beric gives in offering The Hound one life, but The Hound wants two, and Beric gives in by offering him two lives for his loss.

The Hound then tries to chop them down with his axe, but Thoros of Myr (Paul Kaye) stops him telling him they hang them, because killing is punishment enough. The Hound even asks if he could just chop off one wee hand, and calls them a bunch of Nancy’s when he is refused. He states that he would have killed all seven of them just to gut the three men, Thoros comments that he’s getting old. Eventually giving in The Hound hangs two of the brotherhood and Beric does the third. The Hound then takes the shoes from Lem while he is dying and then asks if they have any food.

Later at the camp Thoros asks if The Hound is enjoying the food, but as we all know The Hound prefers chicken. During this scene I was constantly looking in the background for a grey figure, I thought I saw one during this exchange but it may be wishful thinking. Beric asks Sandor if wants to join them, they can use his help in the coming war
.

The Hound says that he tried once but it didn’t work out, Thoros tells him he is here for a reason, the Lord of Light brought Beric back to life for a reason, he gave a drunk priest the ability to bring him back, they are part of something larger. The Hound replies to this saying that a lot of crap happens for something other than them, Beric laughs at this but replies saying the cold winds are rising in The North (white walkers).

The Hound goes to pee, and the audience get to catch a glimpse. The Brotherhood need good men to help them fight, but The Hound points out that the last time they saw him they wanted him dead, but Beric replies that the Lord of Light gave him the power to defeat him asking Sandor, why?

The Hound believes it’s because he has always been a better fighter than Beric. They tell Sandor that he is a fighter, he was born to fight, he walked away from it, and they rhetorically ask how that went. The enemies that Beric will be fighting will destroy anyone no matter who they are and The Hound can still help as much as he’s harmed it’s not too late for him.

Riverland Thoughts -

I really like The Hounds arc in the past two episodes but I was really disappointed about Beric being back, not because I don’t like him as a character, but because it meant my Lady Stoneheart hype was dead and buried. I do enjoy the thought of The Hound fighting for good, and Beric agreeing that he can help more than he has harmed is a nice little throwback to Brother Ray’s philosophy in the last episode.

Riverrun

Brienne (Gwendoline Christie) and Podrick (Daniel Portman) have made their way to Riverrun, maybe they borrowed Littlefinger's fast horses. There only problem is the huge Lannister army that is camped right outside the castle. Pod is right on the money when he calls it a siege, Brienne comments that he has a keen military mind, she then sees Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) on horseback in the distance and lingers on him. I want Brienne and Jaime to get together so bad, as they both bring out the best in each other. Lannister soldiers then surround them, and Brienne tells them she has come to speak with Jaime, and that she has his sword.

Pod is happily looking at the knights as they pass by him on their horses, and then he is attacked from behind by Bronn (Jerome Flynn). He is very surprised to see that Pod is still alive, and Bronn begins to wonder just what Brienne and Jaime could possibly be up too in that tent. Pod acts surprised at the thought of Brienne having sex with Jaime, Bronn seems to be the only one smart enough to see the sexual tension between them.

Bronn tells Pod that he would have sex with her, and then he asks if Pod would do the same. Pod looks embarrassed as he quickly states that he wouldn’t, but then Bronn confirms what we all know, that Jaime would definitely have Brienne, and that Brienne would definitely have Jaime. Bronn then comments about the way she looks at him, the way all women look at him makes Bronn irritated, he preferred working with Tyrion in that sense.

Bronn then moves on to ask Pod if Brienne has seen his magic cock, but Pod moves on telling Bronn that she is instead teaching him how to fight. Bronn then wants to know how he, an old man, can still walk up to Pod and attack him from behind. Pod calls this a different style of fighting, so Bronn then starts teaching Pod the art of warfare, by slapping him about when he is expecting it, because everyone will always want to slap a squire.

Jaime and Brienne are talking alone in the tent, Jaime is surprised that Sansa (Sophie Turner) is still alive, as he thinks that girls like her don’t tend to live very long and Brienne replies telling him that he doesn’t know many girls like Sansa. Jaime tells her he is proud of her, which makes Brienne look a little taken aback; Jaime then reminds her that Cersei wants Sansa dead for Joffrey’s murder, which could be a bit of a complication.

Jaime then asks Brienne why she has come, then Brienne just spills it all, Sansa wants to take back her home, she’s here to talk to the Blackfish, although Brienne doesn’t say what other armies Sansa is planning to use (just the Tullys) which I suppose is a good thing. Jaime then tells her why he is at Riverrun so she can see the conundrum that they both face, they both begin to bicker as Jaime agrees with the Frey’s, Brienne agrees with the Tully’s, and Jaime then reminds her that this is the price of war.

Jaime walks over to the corner saying that they shouldn’t talk about politics, Brienne replies telling him that he is a knight, and she knows that he has honour inside of him. Jaime tells her not to ask him to betray his own house, but Brienne would never ask him to do that, instead she proposes he take riverrun without bloodshed, and ride back south.

Brienne asks that he allow her to go speak with the Blackfish, try to make him surrender, and if she succeeds then Jaime will let the Tully forces go north and help Sansa. Jaime asks if Brienne has ever met the Blackfish before, turns out that she hasn’t, so he then tells her that the Blackfish is even more stubborn than she is, and Brienne does not looks happy at Jaime for bringing up her stubbornness.

Jaime agrees to Brienne’s plan, thinking that if she can’t persuade the Blackfish then she might persuade some of his soldiers, Brienne asks for his word and he gives her it, she has until nightfall until Jaime storms the castle. Brienne then hands Jaime the sword he gave her, Oathkeeper, as she achieved the quest he gave her, but he won’t accept it, telling Brienne that the sword is hers, and that it will always be hers.

There is however, one last piece of business between these two, if Brienne fails to make the Blackfish surrender; if Jaime attacks Riverrun, then she is bound by her oath to fight for Sansa’s kin. Jaime agrees, until she points out that this could mean she would have to fight him, and his face then drops. Jaime makes this future Jaime’s problem, hoping that it won’t come to that. They stare at each other and then Brienne rushes out of the tent as Jaime looks out after her.

Brienne then goes into Riverrun to persuade the Blackfish (Clive Russell) to read Sansa’s letter and help her reclaim the North. The Blackfish leads Brienne around the castle while she is continually trying to get him to read the letter, but he isn’t for having it. The Blackfish knows her Brienne’s Father, he calls him a good man, but he doesn’t know Brienne and he doesn’t trust her.

Brienne tells the Blackfish Riverrun cannot stand for long against the Lannisters and the Freys, Blackfish then comments on Jaime being her one handed friend, and Brienne tells him that Jaime isn’t her friend. The Blackfish doesn’t believe her as he reminds her that Jaime let her past his forces into Riverrun, shes wearing a sword which was given to her by Jaime, and Brienne has had enough of The Blackfish’s stubbornness.

Brienne tells him for one last time about her oath to Catelyn Stark, about Catelyn’s order for her to hand Jaime over in replace for Sansa and Arya, Jaime then sending Brienne back to search for Sansa, Jaime giving her the sword to protect Sansa with, and that Brienne will protect his Grandniece until the day that she dies, and The Blackfish finally relents taking the letter from Brienne.

The Blackfish then begins to get a little emotional while telling Brienne that Sansa is exactly like her mother, he doesn’t have enough men to help her take back Winterfell from the Boltons, he respects that Sansa wants her home back but Riverrun is his home and he won’t let the Freys have it. As he leaves Brienne he tells her that if Jaime wants to take it he’ll just have to do it the way everyone else does, by force. Brienne then tells Pod to write a raven to Sansa telling her that she has failed. 

Later Jaime goes to visit Edmure (Tobias Menzies), he apologises to him about the horrible conditions the Freys have kept him in all these years and he promises that he will be now be better taken care of. Edmure tells Jaime that his word is a fine thing, but that his uncle will never surrender the castle to them. Jaime then talks about Edmure’s son, he has never seen him but Jaime can arrange for them all to be together, at Casterly Rock. His wife and his son can be hostages there, and once his son is grown he can even have his own keep.

Edmure asks Jaime if he imagines himself as a decent person, he has massacred his entire family, kept him rotting in a cell, and stolen his lands. Jaime states that rebelling against the crown comes with consequences, Edmure points out that these things are being said by the man who stabbed his knife into his own kings back, and that Jaime is an evil man. Jaime leaves his judgement to the gods, but Edmure replies telling Jaime that he is a handsome man, but then he asks how he lives with himself because everyone needs to believe they are decent, and asks Jaime how he tells himself he is decent after everything that he has done.

Jaime talks about Catelyn hitting him on the head once, Edmure remarks that she should have killed him instead, Cat hated Jaime just liked Edmure, but Jaime never hated her, and he admired her a lot more than Robb or Ned. The love she had for her kids reminded him of his sister, Edmure threatens him not to talk about Catelyn, but Jaime will talk about however he wants as Edmure is his prisoner. Jaime comments that there sisters would both do anything to protect their children, whether it be starting a war, freeing their worst enemies, and then he comments on “the things we do for love.” which he also says right before he pushed Bran out the window.

Edmure knows that Jaime didn’t come to see him to speak about their sisters, so Jaime confessed his almighty love for Cersei, he doesn’t care what Edmure thinks he’d do anything to get back to her, kill every Tully alive, and he’d even throw Edmure's baby into Riverrun on a catapult (which is a line taken almost directly from the books) if it meant getting back to his love. He is crazy for his love, and is showing Edmure just how crazy love can make him.

A cleaner Edmure goes to the Riverrun gates and orders his men to let him enter. The Blackfish tells them not to let him enter, he has been a captive for a long time, it’s clearly a trap, but the men insist that Edmure is the true Lord and they must respect his commands. But the Blackfish tells the guards that Edmure may as well have a knife to his throat, and when a Lord is coursed the order he gives is not a valid one. The Blackfish goes to attack but is then reminded that he is not Lord of Riverrun and knowing he couldn’t fight them all the Blackfish stands down.

Jaime watches alongside the Frey’s who think the plan could go south as they are giving away their most valuable asset, Edmure makes his way into the Castle, he shares a look with the Blackfish before making his way up to the forces on the Walls, and telling everyone to stand down. Edmure orders them to let the Freys take Riverrun, his men have no excuse but to do as there Lord commands. The gates open for Jaime’s army, and Edmure tells them to find the BF, put him in irons and hand him over to the Freys.

The Blackfish is helping lead Brienne and Podrick out of Riverrun, Brienne asks him to come along with them, his family is in the North, and Sansa needs him. The Blackfish however will not yield, he thinks Brienne will protect her better than he ever could and unsheathes his sword before going back upstairs as he’s not had a proper sword fight in years. Frey banners then appear all over Riverrun, Jaime is standing on the battlements as he finds out that the Blackfish is dead, Jaime then sees Brienne’s boat away in the distance, she looks back at him and they both exchange a wave. I don’t think they’ll be apart long.

Riverrun Thoughts –

I enjoyed all the character moments in this portion of the show, was nice to see Brienne back with Jaime, Bronn slapping Pod about was fun, Brienne having enough of the Blackfish’s stubbornness was good, and the entire scene between Edmure and Jaime was, besides Brienne/Jaime, one of my favourite moments from the episode. I don’t like that we didn’t see the Blackfish die, and in his last moments I feel he went against his own Tully words by not putting his actually living Family above his honour, but I can look over it.

Braavos

The show starts off with Lady Crane (Essie Davis) who gets her new lines into the play, she uses the notes Arya (Maisie Williams) gave her appearing angrier in the scene where Joffrey is murdered, and the crowd watching absolutely love her performance. When she finishes her scene she go backstage, she seems happy as she pours herself a drink of rum, then she hears a noise and when she investigates she finds Arya hidden covered in blood.

Later in her home Lady Crane is patching up Arya, she’s really good at doing this because of a lifetime of liking the wrong men who tend to come home smelling of other women, the both fight, she stabs them, and feels so bad she fixes them up. Arya asks what Lady Crane did to the actress who played Sansa, she was punished by Lady Crane doing something nasty to her face, now she won’t get work as an actress anywhere.

Lady Crane then gives Arya some soup which is really nice as we haven’t seen Arya being taken care of in a very long time, her theatre company are moving on to Pentos, and Lady Crane asks Arya if she wants to come with them to act. Arya tells her that she won’t be safe while she is around, and explains that someone who doesn’t have a name is after her.

Then Lady Cranes asks Arya where she might go, but she doesn’t know replying that she could go to Esso, Westeros, or even West of Westeros where no one knows what could be there but she’d like to go and see it. Lady Crave then gives Arya some milk of the poppy, as sleep will help her to heal, Arya isn’t convinced at first but takes eventually takes it drifting off to sleep.

Later Arya is asleep, The Waif finds her at Lady Cranes, but this time she is dressed as a man, she kills Lady Crane in what looks like the most painful way possible, which wakes Arya from her poppy dream, and makes her go to investigate. Arya finds Lady Crane dead and the Waif standing in the room now wearing her own face. She tells her if she did her job then Lady Crane would have died painlessly, she can’t change the name she is given from the many faced god. Arya then turns and jumps about three floors from the balcony, as the Waif begins to terminate the hell out of her.

Arya runs through the streets of Braavos being chased by the Waif, she dives into a local steamhouse, and makes her way through before going out the other side. She walks onto the streets constantly looking around her, as the Waif appears on the level above her and jumps down to catch up. They run some more, Arya jumps over a ledge, landing before falling down a ton of stairs taking some oranges with her, and busting her stitches open.

The Waif follows her and Arya gets up, slowly leading her back to her little hideout. Then she corners Arya asking her if she rather die on her knees or her feet. Arya stands up pulling needle from the floor, the Waif is very cocky telling Arya that she won’t need the weapon, and then Arya pulls needle towards her face in a prayer before using the blade to chop the candle, leaving them both are in complete darkness.

Jaqen H’ghar (Tom Wlaschiha) is in The House of Black and White, he notices the trail of blood on the floor and begins to follow it. The Trail leads him to the face of the Waif, which is currently taking up one of the spots in the Hall of Faces; Arya is there and asks him if he sent the Waif to kill her. Jaqen tells her he did, then stepping into her sword, he says that finally a girl has become no one, but Arya disagrees saying instead that she is Arya of Winterfell, and she is going home. Jaqen smiles but Arya makes a move similar to Jon Snow's earlier this season at the wall and walks out hopefully never to return.

Braavos Thoughts –

I have a lot to rant about when it comes to this scene so firstly I would like to focus on what I liked; West of Westeros seemed to be new and exciting. It reminded me of Frodo leaving Middle Earth with the elves at the end of Lord of The Rings, and could mean a nice ending to Arya’s storyline. I enjoyed every scene with Lady Crane; it was nice to see someone taking care of Arya, even if it wasn’t for very long.

Now let’s get to the rant, how can Arya be no one? How could this entire thing have been a test? If it is then it is the most elaborate test I have ever seen as it requires some form of future predicting capability as they would have to know that Arya would fail, it just feels lazy to me, ok now you’ve not did your job and killed one of our own, you are now no one.

The chase scene just felt put their because they wanted a chase scene, Arya would never be able to walk in that state never mind run all over the place, and jump out windows. If they wanted a chase scene so bad why didn’t it just begin in the last episode, or could they have not put in a montage of her getting better like they did earlier this season with her blind stick fighting? I get food poisoning and I am off my feet for a few days, Arya gets stabbed in the stomach and she can do parkour.

King’s Landing

Qyburn (Anton Lesser) visits Cersei (Lena Headey) in her quarters to tell her the faith militant have entered the Red Keep, and are demanding to see her. King Tommen let them inside the Red Keep; he is currently in his chambers praying. Cersei obliges going outside to see her cousin Lancel (Eugene Simon) and the rest of the Faith Militant, he explains that The High Sparrow wants to meet with Cersei at the sept, Cersei reminds him that she was permitted to stay inside the Red Keep until her trial, which makes Lancel reply that it isn’t a request, she believes that it is a request and she is refusing.

Lancel is losing his patience so he tells Cersei that The High Sparrow commands her, he made no promise about her staying in the keep, and if she refuses to come of her own free will. Cersei then interrupts telling him to get out, The Faith Militant then move in to cease her, but the Mountain (Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson) stands in their way. The Faith Militant stop in their tracks, Lancel tells him to move aside, but The Mountain won’t do it, he then tells Cersei to order her man to move out of the way or there will be violence, Cersei replies with the line from the trailer, “I choose violence.”

A member of The Faith Militant has no choice but to swings is weapon at The Mountain, it impales him in the chest, but there is no blood. The Mountain then begins to chocks him with his bare hands, he then growls at him, throws him into the courtyard, and then rips his head clean off in front Lancel and his gang. The Faith Militant then back away from this monsters, before Cersei walks away she has one last message for Lancel, to tell The High Sparrow to visit sometime.

Later Cersei is a pariah at court as she enters the Throne Room, Lords and Ladies are pushed out of her way as she makes her way to the throne to find Tommen. Cersei is then stopped by her Uncle Kevan (Ian Gelder), she demands to know why she wasn’t informed about the royal announcement, and Kevan then begins to inform her. Cersei tries to walk by him but he stops her, she wants to stand by her son, but is instead told that her place is in the gallery with the other lords and ladies of the court. Cersei growls at Kevan, looks toward a guilty looking Tommen as he continues to whisper with Grand Maester Pycelle (Julian Glover).

Defeated Cersei goes to the gallery to await the royal announcement. Tommen sits on his throne to address the crowd, he tells the court that Cersei and Loras trial will be on the first day of the festival of the mother, and due to what must have been Cersei showing her hand to quickly that they will no longer be a trial by combat as it is too barbaric. As Tommen leaves the Throne Room Cersei tries to catch his eye but he rushes out of there, Qyburn then tells Cersei that the little birds have investigated her rumour and it is something much more than a rumour.

King’s Landing Thoughts –

I can’t believe Cersei played her cards wrong, she should have just gone quietly to the Sept, and then maybe she would have her trial by combat. By being rash she took away the one thing I was rooting for all season, well besides Jon V. Ramsay, the trial by combat countless fans presumed would happened, and that was Cleganebowl. First Lady Stoneheart, and now this, I am crushed.

I can only help but wonder what will happen if Cersei is found guilty of incest, does this mean that King Tommen would lose his crown. I have so many questions now about this trial but I suppose I will just have to wait until the series finale to find out her fate.

Meereen

Meereen marketplace is buzzing with people trading, another Red Woman appears and is preaching to the people about Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), she was reborn, and she is a gift from the Lord of Light. The Red Priestess states that if the people’s love for the Queen and her advisors is true then no one will ever be in chains again. Varys (Conleth Hill) and Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) show up, Tyrion is happy at himself calling the peace pack with the Maesters successful, Varys doesn’t tend to agree. Varys reminds Tyrion that he made a pact with fanatics, but Tyrion is happy and tells him that the pack worked.

Varys reminds Tyrion that if he shaved his beard with a razor he’d say it worked, but it doesn’t mean that the razor won’t cut his throat. Tyrion tells Varys that he is going to miss him, turns out he is going on an expedition to see if Dany has any support over in Westeros, they need ships and men if she is ever going to take back the seven kingdoms. Varys walks to the port on his own, as it won’t be a secret mission if the most famous dwarf in the city is with him, Tyrion shouts back reminding him that he is the most famous dwarf in the world.

 

Later Tyrion is in Danys quarters talking with Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel) and Grey Worm (Jacob Anderson). Missandei comments about how happy Tyrion looks, to which he agrees saying that he is happy as he goes to fill his goblet with more wine. Meereen was on the brink of civil war but now it is peaceful, and Tyrion is happy that it is. Missandei says she will be happy once Dany returns to the city, Tyrion asks both of them why they don’t drink, Unsullied never drink because of rules, which Tyrion points out was given by his former masters, he gives them some wine. Tyrion then asks Missandei why she doesn’t drink, apparently she tried it once and it made her feel funny,  which as Tyrion points out, is how it should make her feel.

Tyrion then makes a toast to the Queen, telling both of them that they have to drink because otherwise they are disrespecting their queen, long may her many names reign. Grey Worm doesn’t seem to enjoy the wine, Tyrion then tells them about his dream, his own wine the Imps Delight made from his own vineyard when Dany finishes her conquering of Westeros. He then tells Missandei to tell him a joke, but he then tells her the three lord’s joke which I burst out laughing at on all three watches. Missandei is already drunk so she tells a joke which is pretty terrible, Grey Worm points out how bad it is, as he is a soldier, and his joke was about him not knowing a joke. A bell then rings to signal the Masters ships have sailed into Meereen, they are there for their property.

Later that night the Masters are catapulting balls of fire at Meereen which looks cool but one false move and the entire fleet would go up. Inside the Great Pyramid Tyrion is admitting that he was wrong and suggests that the Unsullied meet the Masters out on the beach. Grey Worm interrupts Tyrion telling him to shut up as in his eyes all of this is his fault, Tyrion acknowledges that he was wrong but Grey Worm interrupts him again saying that he is telling the army what to do when he doesn’t know what the army should be doing.

Tyrion then asks Grey Worm what the Army should do, he suggests that they stay in the pyramid as it is the only place in the city they can defend, they will just have to wait for the Masters to come to this, and this way they mount a good defence. They hear something crashing on the top of the pyramid, they hear noises, the unsullied go into defence mode, Missandei picks up a knife, an Unsullied soldier goes to check on the noise, comes back into the room and then bows. Danys back, she walks in, she says nothing but Drogon flies about in the background.

Meereen Thoughts -

Is Varys doing what he says he is or is he up to something? I have a pretty big feeling that he is really up to something, it feels as though Varys just got out of Meereen right before an attack, and Varys knows about everything. Maybe it is all just a complete coincidence but the timing just felt really fishy, he also showed up right after Dany left which has some people believing that he is The Harpy, maybe because he wants Dany to leave for Westeros, but I don’t believe it. I do agree that he is up to something though.

As for Danys reveal I was expecting it, I thought the thud was a Dragon on the roof, and I was right. I would have liked them to say something to her not just sit there in disbelief. Maybe the creators/director had just seen The Force Awakens and really enjoyed the ending, but I just thought it needed something, a shocked gasp, a where the hell have you been Missy? But I can let it go, she’s back in Meereen, let the Greyjoy’s come from behind to take the ships from the Masters, and let’s sail for Westeros.

No Predictions This Week as it looks as though the next episode will be about the Battle of the Bastards and I have made my predictions for this battle last week’s post which I will post below. Please feel free to comment about my prediction failures below, and also comment on what your predictions are for the upcoming Battle of the Bastards.

Game of Thrones:The Broken Man Recap and Predictions - http://mcqsviews.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/game-of-thrones-broken-man.html

Game of Thrones: Who Else Could Return - http://mcqsviews.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/game-of-thrones-who-else-could-return.html

Pictures courtesy of HBO