[Hawk]

Episodes 7 and 8:


Game of Thrones scorecard, episode 7 Edit | Reply

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A great episode this week, despite the fact that there were no appearances by Tyrion and Arya, two of my favorite characters. Also, no Robb or Bran.

We finally meet Tywin, the patriarch of the Lannister clan. He has taken the field with 60,000 warriors, although it's unclear at this point what his intent is. Mostly, we get to see him cleaning a stag (I assume for two reasons - to show how workmanlike he is around cutting out guts, and for the symbolism, since the stag is the symbol of House Baratheon) and berating his son Jaime for not being more than he is.

At the Wall, Jon Snow is ready to take his vows to become a brother of the Night's Watch. Once he takes that vow, he can never go back to his prior life. No women, no family...nothing but standing watch, this night and all nights in the future. On the eve of this event, Benjen Stark's horse comes back to the Wall, riderless. Jon is sure he's going to be assigned to the Rangers, and then he can ride North of the Wall to search for his uncle. Jon is the best swordsman and the best horseman - why wouldn't he be assigned to the Rangers? However, Ser Alliser Thorne is mindful of how Jon has rallied the recruits to defy him (for example, in the bullying of Sam Tarly), and so Jon is assigned to the Stewards. He is outraged, and sees it as Thorne's revenge. Sam, however, points out that Jon isn't to be a Steward to just anyone, but to Commander Mormont himself. In Sam's view, this means that Mormont is grooming Jon for command. Sam and Jon say their vows, and while they're celebrating their milestone, Ghost comes out of the woods with a severed hand. Whose hand is it?

In Winterfell, Theon is questioning Osha, the Wildling that was taken prisoner in the attack on Bran. Osha warns that the White Walkers are stirring at night, and with Winter coming, the long night is near. Ruh roh.

Daenerys is now brotherless, with the "crowning" of Viserys at the end of last week's episode. She is really coming into being a queen of sorts, although she has been unsuccessful in convincing Khal Drogo that there is value in crossing the "poison water" (i.e. ocean) to take the Iron Throne. But back when Ned was the Hand of the King, part I, he resigned over Robert's insistence on sending assassins to kill Viserys and Daenerys. Jorah Mormont was the informant letting Varys know that Daenerys was pregnant, but now he has a change of heart, and he foils the plot to kill Daeny via poisoned wine. Now Drogo is pissed, and he vows that he will gift his son with the Seven Kingdoms.

In King's Landing, we get a glimpse into Petyr Baelish's motivations. While teaching his whores how to screw with false sincerity (hey, there's Roz from Winterfell!), Petyr essentially admits that he still loves Catelyn, and that since he's not much of a warrior, he has learned how to screw people with false sincerity. And there are no limits to his ambition - he wants everything.

Meanwhile, Robert is dying. He was mortally wounded by a boar, because he was s-faced on wine supplied by his squire, Lancel Lannister, and got sloppy on his spear thrust. On his deathbed, Robert names Ned the Regent until his son Joffrey comes of age. Ned, of course, knows that Joffrey is not Robert's son, so he changes the wording from "Joffrey" to "the rightful heir".

Ned keeps doing what he feels is right. Isn't he a fascinating character? He is a fair and just lord, he treats his retainers well, he is willing to take the son of an enemy and raise him almost as his own. He loves his wife and his kids. He has a very clear set of values, and he believes that his values are more important than his own safety. There is much to admire.

And yet I would wager that the majority of AGOT viewers think of him as anywhere from naive (to be kind) to outright stupid.

Let's enumerate:

- gave Cersei plenty of warning that he intended to kick her and her kids out of power. Remember, at this point he is aware that she was behind the death of Jon Arryn. And to further the question of what does it take to give Ned an a-ha moment, Cersei states that when you play the Game of Thrones, you win or you die. Does that sound like someone willing to retire quietly?

- after Robert's injury, ignores Renly's advice to seize Joffrey as hostage for Cersei's good behavior.

- ignores Littlefinger's urging to make peace with the Lannisters and thereby retain power and bide his time to boot Joffrey.

- stubbornly clings to naming Stannis Baratheon the heir to Robert, despite sure knowledge (by everyone, including Ned) that Stannis would make a poor king.

With Robert's death, Ned feels that he has a distasteful task ahead of him, but he has no doubt he can get it done. He does have a little bit of understanding of the situation, though, as the brilliant interchange between Ned and Petyr demonstrates. Ned, through Petyr, will control the Gold Cloaks - which is the slang term for the City Watch, 3000 men led by Janos Slynt.

Ned's luck continues its downward slide, however. Renly has fled the city, along with his 100 swords. And it seems that Petyr feels Ned just doesn't get it, so instead of helping Ned name Stannis the heir, he betrays Ned by turning the Gold Cloaks against House Stark. Notice in that scene, by the way, that Barristan Selmy - the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, is very much cut from the same cloth as Ned...he can scarcely believe that Cersei would rip up Robert's final orders.

So now we have Ned in Cersei's control, Joffrey on the throne, Drogo and Daenerys promising a whipping for Westeros, Tywin Lannister's army lurking, and mysterious doings North of the Wall.

And believe it or not, it's going to get a lot hairier.
Game of Thrones scorecard, episode 8 Edit | Reply

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When last we left Ned Stark, his guardsmen were getting the old spear-through-the-belly treatment from the treacherous Janos Slynt and the City Watch, on the orders of the treacherous Petyr Baelish. This week, all of his retainers follow suit. Cersei has declared an all-you-can-kill Stark special, and the Lannisters ably demonstrate their appetite for such fare.

One who lives is Sansa. She is kept alive, but only to be a tool of the Queen, it seems (and perhaps a hostage). She willingly writes notes declaring Ned's treason and entreating her family to bend the knee to King Joffrey. When last we see Sansa, she is promising to the whole court on Ned's behalf that he will recant his treason and name Joffrey the true king. Joffrey, for his part, promises mercy in return.

Another who lives is Arya. She is "dancing" with Syrio Forel when the deal goes down. Another great sequence here, where Forel calls out his attacks and Arya deftly deflects them...until he calls out his attack and does the opposite. When Arya protests, he tells her "Watching is not seeing, dead girl". Unfortunately, their practice is interrupted by one of the Kingsguard (Meryn Trant, I believe) and a few Lannister guardsmen. Forel orders Arya to run, and gives her the time she needs to make good her escape. Arya discovers all of the dead retainers, then manages to find her sword Needle in the wreckage. When a stablehand finds her and orders her to come with him to the Lannisters, she sticks him with the pointy end. The last we see of Arya is her running off to hide.

The other item of note in King's Landing this week is that Ser Barristan Selmy, the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, is unceremoniously retired by Joffrey. You'll never guess it, but the new Lord Commander is to be none other than Jaime Lannister. Stunning, I know. Selmy shows some feistiness in his old age, and basically tells the Lannisters to bite the wax tadpole. He storms off.

In Winterfell, Robb calls the Stark bannermen. While nervous at leading men who have far more experience, Robb has studied hard under Ned, and he defeats the challenges thrown his way through leadership and chutzpah. Greatjon Umber, one of those bannermen, is a guy who can laugh about getting a couple of fingers chewed off by a direwolf, so he's a good one to have on your side. Also in Winterfell, Bran has a conversation with Osha regarding the old gods, giants in the North, and the need for the Stark armies to go North, not South. Robb is leading the army South, of course.

One of the key issues Robb and the Stark army faces is that Tywin Lannister leads one massive army, moving to engage Robb...meanwhile, Jaime has another large crew laying siege to Riverrun (where Catelyn's dad is lord). The Starks need to cross the river at The Twins in order to attempt to life the siege and join forces with the Tullys, but the river crossing is controlled by the Frey family, who have built very defensible and mutually supportable castles on either side of the river (thus, The Twins). The Freys, though nominally bannermen to Hoster Tully, are apparently not too trustworthy.

Catelyn has left the Vale, where her sister has made it clear that no army will be marching to support the Starks.

Tyrion, likewise, has made it back safely to the Lannister camp, thanks in large part to his silver tongue. He has managed to unite the hill tribes (the Burned Men, the Stone Crows, and so forth) by promising them riches and good weapons and armor.

North at the Wall, the Night's Watch have found the bodies of two men who went ranging with Benjen Stark. Dead for awhile but unrotted, the bodies of these men are to be burned, but not before they've had a chance to examine them. Meanwhile, Jon Snow is informed of Ned's imprisonment by Lord Commander Mormont. Jon wishes to go South to help Ned, rescue his sisters, join Robb's army...whatever he can do to help. There's this ****ling little oath he took to be a brother of the Night's Watch, however, and Commander Mormont reminds him of it. When Alliser Thorne is able to goad Jon to violence in defense of the Stark name, Jon is confined to quarters. But the direwolf Ghost starts to go berserk in the night, and Jon, investigating, finds that a Wes Craven flick has broken out. One of the bodies of the dead men is up and walking around, and swords don't seem to harm it. Fire does, though, and a quick thinking Snow grabs the lantern from Mormont and starts a zombie bonfire.

In Dothrakiville, Drogo's army has attacked an encampment of people in order to collect slaves (in order to get money, in order to buy ships, in order to win the Iron Throne for the Khaleesi and her son). Daenerys takes exception to rape, and takes possession of many women who would otherwise become ridden as hard as Dothraki horses. One of the Dothraki protests to Drogo, but Drogo is besotted with Daeny and tells the guy to shut up. A fight breaks out. Drogo is injured, but he rips the guy's tongue from his slashed throat after pumping himself up at another guttural pep rally... (by the way, I think Cookie Monster can speak Dothraki). It turns out that one of the rescued women, Mirri Maz Duur, claims to be a healer, so Daenerys asks her to treat Drogo's wound.

Only two more episodes to go this season.