A commentary with spoilers by Nalini Haynes
Sansa (Sophie Turner) flees with Dontos (Tony Way) who is betrayed by Littlefinger (Aiden Gillen). Because he’s such a reliable trustworthy chap.
Tywin (Charles Dance) lectures Tommen (Dean-Charles Chapman, man he must have suffered at school!) over his brother’s bier so one wonders if Tywin murdered Joffrey to maintain his grasp on the throne.
Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) rapes Cersei (Lena Headey) beside Joffery’s bier. Apparently the makers of the TV series didn’t think this was rape but “No, no, stop” makes it damn clear it IS rape. The book depicts this sexual encounter as more mutual, that traditional “farewell sex” that seems to be a thing, giving closure to some relationships.
Arya (Maisie Williams) cons a peasant to feed the Hound (Rory McCann) and herself.
Tywin walks in on Prince Oberyn Martell’s (Pedro Pascal) orgy to offer him a place on the council. First, of course, we have to watch the orgy. Because what is Game of Thrones without gratuitous nudity and sex? We see male pecs, abs and one male butt (no dangly bits) but everything is on display for a few women. Game of Thrones: synonymous with equity of gaze. Not.
Podrick (Daniel Portman) visits Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) in the dungeon.
The Wildlings murder and eat their way towards Castle Black while Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) approaches a new city, offering the slaves freedom.
We see a male member but not in a sexual situation, he’s pissing on the ground in front of Daenerys and we see this flaccid member from behind, between his legs, dangling so its pissing down our line of sight.
Daario (Michiel Huisman) proves his worth even if he is… unconventional. When he pisses on the ground at the city, we see his stream but not its, um, spigot.
Daenerys orders trebuchets to hurl containers at the city that break open, showering the residents with slaves’ shackles, because she claims the title ‘Breaker of Chains’. The slaves pick up the broken collars and cuffs and look very closely.
The moral of this and other of Daenerys’s conquests is: don’t subjugate a downtrodden people. Don’t HAVE a downtrodden people. A downtrodden strata of society is an inherent threat to all strata above. Equity and equal opportunity and no one being screwed over by the 1% or the 49% would have kept that city safe and snug. Instead… stay tuned for the next episode of Game of Thrones. GRRM teaches elementary sociology and consequences while the elite right-wing (and even the alleged left) of his own country and mine ignore common sense.
NO DRAGONS. Am disappoint.
Rating: epic fantasy with boobs and butts thrown in. No Dragons this zode. Sad. Sociology and consequences: good.
Director: Alex Graves (he’s well-named for directing this series)
Writers: George R R Martin, David Benioff, D B Weiss
Stars: Peter Dinklage, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Lena Headey
Running time: 57 minutes
