GoT Thoughts for the Week
Well guys… this was an episode of highs and lows. Prepare for a long ramble.
The good stuff:
Anyone who wants to talk about how cynical these books are or how the author sneers at goodness, just remember Brienne saying “Ser Jaime” and Jaime jumping in that pit. Remember him boosting her out of the pit first and her dangling right back over to drag him up. (Did anyone else feel bad for the bear? I was like, “Drag him up too! Take him with you!” This is why I shouldn’t be allowed in the forest.)
Dany and her dragons. A fitting Mother’s Day salute. (Also, that glimpse of Daario in next week’s preview? I approve. In the books, I found him repellent, but I’m willing to be swayed now that he isn’t rocking blue facial hair.)
Gendry getting the scoop on his royal blood from Melisandre. I’m not a purist (see my feelings on blue goatees above). Gendry is a favorite character and I’m glad they’ve found a way to keep him in the story. I’m also not at all sure how this is going to play out and I’m enjoying that. (I will write up my Arya/Gendry thoughts at some point. I have a mini theory.) That said, I’m still feeling the frustration of how easily Arya let him go last week. It felt so wrong for her character. The Arya we know would have had to be restrained and possibly sedated before she let someone SELL one of her friends.
The bad:
Oh lawwwwd. So soapy. And not in the fun way.
Robb and Talisa. Yes, they both have marvelous asses. Hooray. Someone send them a plaque. But the way to make us love a couple is to see them go through things together, not to spend interminable minutes watching them pant and coo at each other. The baby stuff… Sigh, I really hope this is an actual plot element (hinted at only vaguely in the books if I remember correctly). This scene just felt so deeply off. It was working so hard to make us like them. Even Robb’s reaction to the pregnancy seemed manipulative—a pitch for likeability instead of a legit repsonse: “Pregnant in the middle of a war we may be losing? I’m nothing but delighted! Allow me to stare soulfully into your eyes and MAKE PRONOUNCEMENTS.”
Speaking of which, y’know when Jon and Ygritte were interesting? When they were almost dying on the Wall, NOT when they were shtupping in a conveniently placed hotspring, not when they were teasing each other on a hilltop, in a glen, in front of a windmill. We’ve hit the same note with these two again and again and again. (To be fair, I did like Ygritte’s bit about the swoon and the silk dress.)
Tyrion and Shae. When Shae expressed concern for Sansa’s well-being, I raised a red flag. It didn’t quite seem to jive with her character. Now she’s throwing a tantrum over Tyrion marrying someone else, and it just doesn’t sit right. It feels naive and foolish, more the reaction of a naive girl like Sansa than a former camp follower who knows very well how the world works. If Shae is worried about Tyrion tossing her aside, then she should be asking for jewels, maybe a nice estate somewhere for her retirement. These emotional beats felt lazy and predictable to me. And if this is all meant as justification for what happens later… well, it would be a deviation from the text and a shoddy one.
And now, a note about Theon and Ros. We’ve now been subjected to numerous scenes of Theon being tortured. This is certainly in keeping with the book, but I’m baffled as to why the series is indulging this so thoroughly. Still, I’m willing to at least hope there’s a point to all this.
But let’s take a moment to compare and contrast Theon’s torture to Ros’ death. Theon is being gruesomely abused and displayed, but he’s also wholly human throughout. He’s screaming. He’s pleading. We suffer with him. Ros was presented to us as silent set dressing, a brutalized prop to punctuate Littlefinger’s monologue. I’m not sure the show didn’t use her just as badly as its characters.
And now, bedtime is coming.
