Summary: The Hound has survived and is part of a community led by Septon Ray. Ray tries to get The Hound to enjoy a peaceful life, but that is ruined when Ray and his community are murdered by thugs from the Brotherhood. The Hound seeks vengeance. Margaery is still loyal to her family and sends Olenna back to Highgarden for her safety. Jaime confronts Blackfish and wants a parley. Blackfish refuses the offer. Theon and Yara arrive in Essos on their way to meet Dany. Jon, Sansa and Davos travel around the North recruiting the loyalty of the smaller houses. They end up with less men than they were hoping for. Arya tries to flee Braavos but is surprise attacked by The Waif. Arya escapes but is mortally wounded.
The Good: This was another strong episode of set up and things are now very nicely placed for the end of the season. Last season was pretty rushed by its end with too many things to accomplish by the season's end and that resulted in the season ending in a total whimper. This season didn't over-extend itself like the last and looks to be heading towards a much more focused and satisfying conclusion. The story of The Hound's return was really well done and carried this episode. I thought the opening teaser was very well done and made for a terrific reveal of The Hound. I wasn't expecting anything like that this late in the season, so it delighted me and got me excited to see how his character will return to the overall story and who he would side with (see: The Unknown). Though the story could have used a few episodes to have a greater impact (see: The Bad), I thought it served its purpose well as a small self-contained story of how The Hound almost got to live out his days quietly, only for the cruelty of other's to bring him back to his violent nature. The story was told well and the presence of Ian McShane as Septon Ray added some extra charm to it. I was glad that there were several lengthy scenes dedicated to The Hound's return, making his story arc feel worthwhile whereas a rushed storyline would just come across poorly. The scenes in King's Landing were very good once more. It was good to get a better idea of how Margaery planned to go about her future. She hasn't abandoned her family and clearly still cares for Olenna and Loras, but she is still bent on climbing her way back up the ranks before she does anything to remove her enemies. I was glad to get plenty of Olenna in this episode, as she was as terrific as ever in two excellent scenes with Margaery and Cersei. Jon and Sansa's storyline was really good too and they made something special out of their attempts to gain the loyalty of the other northern houses. Jon's awkwardness was great as he had never been groomed to do any of this "lord" business being a bastard. He was simply improvising using experience from the Night's Watch and failed to be convincing on a number of occasions. Sansa had more promise, and I particularly loved her sternly reminding Lord Glover of his loyalties, showing that she has learned at least a little bit about getting people to do what she wants. But both of them were evidently quite poor at doing all of this, and so the much more experienced Davos had to step in to assist them by doing what he's best at. I loved the way he played to Lyanna Mormont's character and managed to convince her to send her men to Jon's cause. Speaking of which, I thought that Lyanna Mormont and Lord Glover were very good side characters. They had specific personalities and made logical decisions when accepting/refusing Jon's request for loyalty. The Riverrun scenes were pretty good. Jaime shined as we got to see a combination of the kind-hearted man we have come to know and the witty prick that he pretends to be. His leadership was great and I appreciated his attempt to get Blackfish to parley only for Blackfish to put him in his place and refuse to surrender. Theon and Yara had a really good scene as well. I was glad to see that Theon is still struggling to find himself after everything Ramsay did, and I liked seeing Yara help him return to the man he used to be. Theon's discomfort in the brothel was exquisitely acted by Alfie Allen and conveyed his struggle in a way that made it very easy to sympathize with him. Theon's like a recovering alcoholic now, a man who is suffering but knows he has to go through it to get better. Lastly, I like the development that Theon and Yara are heading to meet with Dany. It's a rare treat for us to see Dany interacting with Westerosi characters. Let's hope Theon and Yara make it to Meereen alive. The Bad: The Hound's story would have been better if we had an episode or two before he lost his new home. With it being a single episode story, it feels like almost unnecessary and doesn't carry the emotional weight it could have had otherwise. I found Arya's stabbing to be quite poor. Surely she would be a bit more careful knowing that the Faceless Men would be after her to kill her. But instead she walks around without a care in the world and gets stabbed for her foolishness. I can hardly buy that Arya even survived that (a similar stab wound almost immediately killed Talisa), but to have her jumping into the water, swimming and then walking around while bleeding so heavily is just absurd. Did none of the lords bring up how odd it that Jon is even int heir presence to begin with? Surely they would be more suspicious about why the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch suddenly deserted his post. Or do they know that Jon came back to life and they just don't care, because nobody else seems to be acknowledging how insane that is. The Unknown: Why is The Hound alive? Does he actually have a purpose for being back like Jon, or is he just lucky? Who will he side with now that he has nowhere to go? What is Margaery's plan? Does she plot to take out the sparrows? Take out Cersei? Both? Or does she plan to cement her position a little more first? Will Dany accept Theon and Yara's proposal or will she refuse them? Best Moment: I really liked Sansa reminding Lord Glover of his pledge of loyalty, only for Lord Glover to rebuke her viciously. Character of the Episode: The Hound. Conclusion: This certainly won't be remembered as one of the show's best episodes, but I thought this was pretty good with several stories getting the time they needed to deliver. Another solid episode. Score: 66
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
February 2024
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