This year I resolved to read George R. R. Martin‘s A Song of Ice and Fire and watch HBO’s Game of Thrones, both series. For all of you who have seen the entire series and/or read all the books, here is your chance to experience it for the first time all over again!
Why I Chose it: I had tried watching the series a few times and only ever reached the half-way point of the first season. Then I was in Calgary visiting my friend, and she wanted to watch Game of Thrones. I was curious to see it, and it was fantastic. I had to know everything that happened. But I’m not just satisfied with the TV show. I love to know all the details from the books too. I expect this is going to be a momentous task, and I hope I’m up for the challenge.
If you haven’t seen the series, there will be spoilers as we go along. If you have seen it, I’d love to hear what you think in the comments, but please, please, please, don’t spoil future seasons or books for me.
This month, we take a look at season six of Game of Thrones.
Episode 1 – The Red Woman
Bit of a bleak start to the season. It was to be expected, I suppose, with the murder of Jon Snow at the end of the last season, and Arya going blind.
Theon continues to redeem himself, helping Sansa, standing between her and Ramsey’s men. So glad Brienne and Podrick showed up though to help them.
Davos asking Melisandre to bring Jon back to life was a nice twist. She was so confident, to the point of arrogance, about her faith. She had Shereen burned at the stake because of her faith. And now she’s doubting herself, her powers, her god, everything. Davos, who had no use for her or her Lord of Light, who thought she was a sham, needs some kind of faith, some kind of belief, after all he has seen. The trick with the necklace, when she takes it off and ages a few hundred years, it was an interesting way to show that maybe there actually is something to this Lord of Light. Maybe Melisandre can save Jon.
Episode 2 – Home
This wasn’t the most interesting of episodes. It was necessary to move people around, get things moving. Ramsey continues to be most vile. Cersei continues to be arrogant and get her revenge. I did like Tyrion going to unchain the dragons, though, and telling Varys to never let him do something so stupid again.
Episode 3 – Oathbreaker
Bran’s training with the three-eyed raven is interesting. I enjoy seeing the past, with a young Ned Stark, and Bran learning the truth about his father. I am curious as to how all of this will be helpful in the end. What role in the game will Bran play?
Oh god. Not Rickon!
Episode 4 – Book of the Stranger
Daenerys does like her dramatic moments, especially emerging from the fire. I don’t know that we needed to be reminded of her ability to withstand fire. I don’t know that Mormont and Daario Noharis needed to go to Vaes Dothrak to rescue her. I did enjoy her taking revenge on the Khals and showing the Dothraki her strength because as Mormont had previously said to her, they only follow strength.
I love that Jon and Sansa had a warm reunion. I am sick to my stomach, though, knowing Ramsey Bolton has Rickon. They have to save him if they can!
Episode 5 – The Door
It was so interesting to watch Arya watch the play of the death of Robert Baratheon, the beheading of her own father, and the death of Joffrey. After all this time, it still so clearly hurts her, and yet she could see the humor in it too.
So Hodor was really Willis, shouting “Hold the Door” during a seizure as a young man, because Bran was sort of in his head while the white-walkers were attacking while at the same time Bran was watching Hodor as a young man. That’s got to have messed with the Time-Space continuum. Does that mean Bran is responsible for Hodor becoming Hodor?
Episode 6 – Blood of my Blood
I liked seeing Sam and Gilly with Sam’s family. Well, I liked his mother and sister. The father was every bit as hateful as I expected. I admit, I was hoping Sam would say something to his father, but I could see him fading back into the person he was, crushed under the years of abuse, believing what his father said about him. I hated that he was going to leave Gilly there, even after her Wildling status was outed. I was proud of Sam when he marched back into her room, got her and Little Sam, and his father’s sword and left for the Citadel.
Episode 7 – The Broken Man
I gasped when she got stabbed. It was inevitable, but still, it’s Arya. Sandor Clegane continues to intrigue me. He portrays himself as such a hard, cruel man, and yet he is protective and almost seems to care about people. My favorite, though, is Lady Lyanna Mormont. Good God that kid is adorable, both the actress and as the character she plays. A force to be reckoned with. Smart too. But alas, she can only spare 62 men to Jon and Sansa’s campaign against Ramsey.
Episode 8 – No One
Arya was the highlight of this episode for me. She has a murderous instinct, understands revenge, and yet she’s shown compassion in not killing Lady Crane. Arya’s survival skills are on full display here as she runs. That waif is creepy, almost inhuman in her hunt of Arya. She is so cold and calculated. It was almost a scene out of a Jason Bourne movie now that I think about it. I am glad Arya didn’t lose herself completely. She didn’t fully embrace becoming no one. She proudly remembered and stated her name at the end and walked away.
Episode 9 – Battle of the Bastards
I hate Ramsey so much. I hate his smarmy attitude. I hate his stupid smirk. He is such a fucking coward, sending his men to fight and he stays back. Even at the end, he doesn’t fight Jon with a sword, he shoots fucking arrows at him. I love that Sansa was allowed to have the last word with him. I love that she let his dogs, that he starved for seven days, eat him. I’m glad she got to watch him die. I’ve said before that I often think the punishments don’t fit the crimes. This time, it was a perfect match.
Episode 10 – The Winds of Winter
OMG! What a way to end the season! So much glee for me! I have to start with my absolute favorite part, which was Arya, telling Walder Frey that his two sons were there, in the room with them, in the PIE! And then killing him. That was just beautiful. I may have cheered, I may have cried a little, it was so sweet.
Phew. Now that’s out of my system, I can back up a little. I’ve struggled with the presence of the High Sparrow and his ilk and I think I figured it out. Mostly, I just don’t like them. Their role is quite interesting, and I think quite historical in the way the Christian Church took over Europe. We saw it both with the Priestess of the Lord of Light in Meereen, and here with the High Sparrow and Margaery. Politicians negotiated with the priests who had the ears of the people, to convince the people to obey their government, in return for greater status. The priestess in Meereen didn’t care that Tyrion believed in the Lord of Light, she knew that she had the ear of the people and she was the only way Tyrion was going to get the citizens to follow Daenerys. Whether Margaery was as devout a follower of the Seven as she was professing to be, and I had my suspicions she wasn’t, she had negotiated with the High Sparrow to save her brother, solidify her status as the Queen, and do away with Cersei once and for all. But religious zealots don’t play by the rules. The High Sparrow went back on his promise to Margaery on letting her brother Loras return to High Garden. I don’t like that they don’t play by the rules. They also suck the life out of the people. Never was “Religion is the Opiate of the Masses” so visually demonstrated. The darker costuming, the starker jewelry, the less opulent hair, the dirty sack-cloth clothing, the people chanting mindlessly whatever the High Sparrow or Septas said. It will be interesting to see where it goes from here, now that Cersei’s blown up the Sept of Balor.
Tommen’s death, though. It was a nice swan dive out the window. It’s too bad. Not that I had a great love for Tommen. He was a sweet kid. It’s interesting that Cersei had about as much control of him as she did of Joffrey, which is to say she had none. Her lack of control opened them up to the manipulation of Margaery.
The death of Grand Maester Pycelle at the hands of the children was far more effective in the book with Varys controlling the children.
I can’t end this post without talking about Sam Tarly. I was right there with him the moment he walked into that library, in awe of all those books and the education that awaited him. Any bibliophile can understand that feeling of bliss. If there’s a heaven, that is it!
General thoughts
This season had a lot of blood and guts and gore and yet somehow it was easier to watch than the previous one. There were a couple of things I knew would happen, like that Melissandre would become a hag for a moment, and that she would bring Jon back to life. For the most part, though, I didn’t know what was going to happen, and it was really nice getting into the show and just enjoying it.
Next up, Season 7
These are my observations, what about you? Did I miss something you loved, or hated? Let’s talk Season 6!
I think the strength of this series is in the unconventional heroes and sub-heroes like Arya, Tyrion, Sam, and Brienne. I like how Martin as salted their exploits throughout the more conventional elements and tropes of epic fantasy. This is what keeps me reading/watching.
Lady Mormont for the Iron Throne!