Game of Thrones Preview: The Rain of Castamere
Well the people of Game of Thrones sure find ways to surprise you. Some of the bad guys actually aren’t that bad. We found out about Jaime’s heart last week, now for the other Lannister.
Tyrion marries Sansa, gets drunk later then decides he won’t sleep with her. The actress Sophie Turner is actually 17 but Sansa is only 14. It was common in medieval times for girls to marry that young, statutory rape didn’t exist (true in Westeros as well). Her young age along with Tyrion’s relationship with Shae made it impossible for him to consummate the marriage.
This is a long-term problem for Tyrion as it can nullify the marriage. I don’t know marriage law in Westeros but in medieval Europe, a marriage that is not consummated is not legal and can be declared null and void. For Sansa and Tyrion’s sake I hope this is possible. At the same time, they are both in danger. It will be a while before anyone outside the bedroom wonders if the marriage has been consummated or not (no pregnancy) but in say a year or so, Tyrion has some explaining to do. Shae knows but has every reason to keep her trap shut.
For now, the Tyrion situation is off the table. There’s still Jaime and his promise to release Sansa, which is highly unlikely. She’s married to his brother and Tywin would lose a bargaining chip with her release. Joffrey certainly doesn’t want to see her released.
By the end of this, Lord Tywin will have alienated all three of his kids. Will it matter? Probably not. None of them have the balls to take him on, or eliminate him.
Daenerys has emerged as a wise queen to-be. When meeting with the mercenaries known as the Second Sons, she doesn’t have the dragons with her. She didn’t want to intimidate them, she wanted to buy them off. The numerous perverted comments didn’t rattle her. I suppose by now she’s used to it. An excellent display of strength, poise, and resolve.
One of the young lieutenants was quite taken with her and decided to kill the other two leaders of the Second Sons. They wanted to kill her to avoid battling her army. Instead, the lieutenant wants to fight for her. He snuck into her tent during bath time and announced his intentions. He got an eye full of his new queen and that was that. She was brave and unashamed. Loyalty shouldn’t be a problem after that.
Yunkai is in bigger trouble than I thought. Their army is weak and Daenerys got 2000 new allies. The Second Sons might have a way in too. It looks like a second slave city will be liberated. There remains the big slave city to the west. By now they’ve heard of her and are gathering forces to defend themselves. Are there others in the region willing to join her like the Second Sons did? From what I can tell of the geography there are no free cities near Yunkai.
The nudity continued with Melisandre and Gendry. Finally, we learn she wishes to sacrifice him, getting some king’s blood in the process for some ritual. Stannis believes it will help him regain the favor of the Lord of Light. Davos is released but remains skeptical. Gendry isn’t killed in the episode, so I’m not sure about that whole deal. These omissions are annoying.
Can the Lord of Light win battles and change the course of wars? There is zero evidence to suggest that. It seems capable of individual acts of magic, resurrection and assassination. If Stannis can have Robb Stark and Tywin Lannister eliminated, his chances greatly improve. Otherwise, he’s too dense to win this war.
The Dog decided to bring Arya to her family at the Twins. This is a surprise development. Arya wanted him dead but apparently he doesn’t hold it against her. His defense of Sansa and his refusal to fight for King Joffrey suggested he was a decent guy but I didn’t see this coming. I figured there’d be a confrontation between the Dog and the Brotherhood or something.
But here we are 7 or 8 episodes in and Arya still hasn’t reached or family or been dragged back to King’s Landing. PLEASE, Mr. Martin/HBO, tie up this subplot!!!
We got a glimpse of the white walkers. While steel swords have no effect, an old dagger found by Sam up north shattered the zombie looking monster. In his fear, Sam left it on the ground. At least, he gathered the courage to take on the monster.
Can the Mother of Dragons take a walled city? What of Lysa Arryn? Will she side with the Lannisters as Tywin believes she will? What about John Snow? Can Melisandre’s magic pull off another assassination? Will Robb take Castlerock?
Jacob
The post Game of Thrones Preview: The Rain of Castamere appeared first on Jacob Foxx.
