Summary: Jon prepares to leave Castle Black but is stopped when Sansa arrives. Sansa tells Jon that they need to get the Boltons out of Winterfell but Jon is skeptical. He changes his mind when he receives a letter from Ramsay who lets him know that he has Rickon and wants Sansa back. The High Sparrow allows Margaery to visit Loras. Tommen tells Cersei that the sparrows plan to make Margaery do the walk of atonement. Olenna and Kevan ally with Cersei and Jaime to take out the sparrows. Littlefinger returns to The Vale and gets Robin to send his army to help Sansa. Theon wants to help Yara claim the throne. Ramsay kills Osha. Tyrion strikes a deal with the masters at Meereen but Grey Worm and Missandei aren't pleased. Dany murders the Khals at Vaes Dothrak, gaining the respect of the Dothraki.
The Good: Jon and Sansa's reunion was awesome. It's hard to believe that there hasn't been a single reunion since season 1, and I think the extended time that the Starks spent apart from each other helped make this moment mean an absolute ton. It was genuinely heartwarming to see Jon and Sansa with family again, and their interactions as they caught up with each other again were terrific. Tyrion's story was great as usual. I really liked him treating with the masters of Yunkai and Astapor in peaceful ways, trying his best to come to a mutual understanding, something which Dany never even considered. It's a good way at showing how useful Tyrion would be as an advisor as his experience helps him understand that to rule a kingdom, you need to make peace and not war. I appreciate that Missandei and Grey Worm don't agree with Tyrion's mindset as they have no reason to trust him and their character arcs have given them no reason to have a desire for peace with the masters. I like the conflict between them and I'm excited to see where the storyline goes, and if Tyrion may end up making enemies in Meereen. Dany's storyline was very good for the most part and it was the best way to end a storyline which didn't really serve too much of a purpose. Jorah and Daario infiltrating Vaes Dothrak was a fun storyline carried by the characters' interacting with clever dialogue and the tense scene of them dealing with the Dothraki who discovered their presence. I also really like the way Jorah accidentally revealed his Greyscale to Daario. The final scene was pretty good and was a strong moment for Dany who proved to understand the Dothraki really well as she killed their Khals, leaving them no choice but to follow her after this great display of strength. It was great to see Littlefinger again after a pretty lengthy absence. I really enjoyed the way Littlefinger turned the tables on Lord Royce by accusing him of betraying them after he was threatened for giving Sansa to the Boltons. Littlefinger continues his reputation as a great manipulator in impressive ways. I also love the detail that Littlefinger has charmed Robin so much that Robin will just listen to every word that he says. The scenes in King's Landing were very good. I liked the High Sparrow's speech to Margaery as he revealed more of his backstory and how he began to embrace his sin. It was a powerful speech and continued to characterize the High Sparrow in good ways, as he remains a decent man despite the terror his sparrows are causing. Margaery's moment alone with Loras was pretty chilling as Loras clearly hasn't had it as easy as her due to the nature of his sins. Loras' tears was a good moment and continues our hatred of the sparrows. The other storylines were fine. I liked Ramsay's swift murder of Osha, a refreshing change from his usual ways. I appreciate that Ramsay recognized a threat in Osha and dealt with her immediately instead of leaving her alive. Additionally, I like that the writers recalled how Theon would likely have told Ramsay about Osha, which was a very good reason for him to not trust her. Yara and Theon's reunion was pretty good and I like that Theon wants to help her get the crown after Balon's death. The Greyjoy storyline is set up well, so let's hope it ends up being better than the debacle that was Dorne. The Bad: There were some missed opportunities at The Wall. I was disappointed that we didn't see Sansa learn about Jon's resurrection. I was also perplexed by the idea that Sansa wouldn't really care about the fact that Jon died and came back. She has never seen any magic before now, so surely she would be more shocked. I also thought that Brienne's reveal that she killed Stannis was a bit awkward and out of place. It didn't lead to anything and there was something a bit odd about the way she was written that didn't sit well with me. I also feel that the Davos and Melisandre scene should have happened much, much earlier as Davos has now spent a long time seemingly ignoring the fact that Stannis died. The coming war against the Faith Militant hasn't engaged me in the way that it should. This is because we have absolutely no idea how big of a threat they are. I was under the impression that they weren't too big of a problem, but the meeting in this episode apparently suggested otherwise. It also makes Olenna and Kevan look foolish for not cooperating with Cersei if the Faith were such a big threat. Well whatever way it is, the issue still stands because I still don't know how much of a threat they are. Do they have friends in the capital? How many are there? How much control do they have? How many forces do Olenna and Kevan have? We need answers to these questions for the coming drama to mean anything. This next paragraph isn't a knock on this episode specifically but on the show as a whole. I've wanted to delve into Ramsay's insufficiencies for a while now, and I think now is a good time to tackle it. Ramsay has disappointed me so far and I really feel like I have to get into why he isn't delivering for me as much as Joffrey did. For one, Ramsay is too shallow. Joffrey had more to him than his sadistic ways, and he was so loathed due to the fact that he was weak and never deserved his position of power. The horrible thing was that anyone could kill Joffrey, but nobody did because his position of king saved him. That increased our hate of him exponentially. Ramsay does not have these layers. He is just a generic bad guy who happens to torture people. And the torture isn't effective because it is shown too much. I have grown almost numb to torture in this show and that prevents me from hating Ramsay like I should. Joffrey's sadism was shown in bursts, making it effective in disgusting me, but Ramsay's villainy doesn't exhibit this trait, and it exhausts me instead of disgusting me. Furthermore, Joffrey's acts were never done solely to make us hate him more. It accomplished other necessary story beats while also making us despise him. So many things have been done with Ramsay with the sole purpose of making him more vile, including sacrificing entire characters and storylines to just make us hate this guy even more. It's not effective storytelling and makes hate Ramsay's character. I loved to hate Joffrey, but I just want Ramsay off my screen. Iwan Rheon's great acting is being wasted on his character. It was awfully convenient that Ramsay declared war on Jon right as he decided to stop fighting. It was a bit too easy of a way to get Jon to go to war against the Boltons. Dany's Khal murder was played for surprise, which unsurprisingly didn't please me. I've been vocal on my displeasure with the show's drift towards wanting to shock us and I stand by that here. I think it would have been more dramatic for us to see Dany set up for this murder instead of it just happening suddenly. I don't know how Dany was able to sneak flammable material into the building with nobody knowing. The Unknown: Does Tormund like Brienne? Oddly enough, I have no problem with that. Best Moment: Jon and Sansa's reunion was very emotional and satisfying. It was a scene six seasons in the making. Character of the Episode: Dany. Conclusion: This was flawed, like all the other episodes this season. However, there was plenty to enjoy here and I think a lot of the scenes delivered to make this a really good episode. Score: 66
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
March 2024
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