NOTE: This review contains spoilers for the episode and light references to the books.
The pacing in this episode felt awkward all around. The show is struggling with all of the new situations for characters, and lacks some focus without the centralized villains Joffrey, Tywin, and Mance Rayder.
We did get to spend some time with Arya (hooray!), but that also felt “off.” We got some great establishing shots of Braavos, but her actual action was very minimal. She sat around reciting her now shortened “death wish” list, and then was finally accepted into the House of Black and White just before having the opportunity to mess with some hooligans. So frustrating! But it’s good to have Jaqen H’ghar back, and I’m curious to see how Arya’s plotline will differ from the books going forward.
Jon’s ascension to Lord Commander felt completely rushed as well. In the books, there were several chapters of Sam strategizing and convincing different Night’s Watch leaders to support Jon. In this episode, it pared down to a five minute scene that was over before you could even be nervous about the outcome. I’m sure the dynamic between Jon and Thorne/Slynt will be interesting going forwards though, especially with Stannis obviously supporting Jon. I liked the idea of Jon choosing between the Night’s Watch and being Jon Stark, Lord of Winterfell, but again, the writers seemed so intent on pushing the story forward that Jon seemed to have made up his mind before the question was even asked.
We also got our first glimpse of Dorne this episode (or at least the Water Gardens), in another awkwardly paced scene. It mostly focused on Ellaria Sand (Oberyn’s paramour from last season) trying to convince Doran (Oberyn’s older brother and current ruler of Dorne) to go to war against the Lannisters over Oberyn’s death, or at least to send Cersei’s daughter Myrcella back to King’s Landing piece by piece. I’m sure all of this will have big implications later on, but for this episode, it was just a lackluster introduction to a very cool place.
The coolest things to come from the episode were also large deviations from the books. Jaime is now headed to Dorne to rescue Myrcella, and he’s bringing along his old sparring buddy, Bronn. My feelings towards Bronn are complicated after seeing him completely abandon Tyrion last season, but he’s a fun character so I’m glad he’s sticking around, at least for now.
The most frustrating thing about the relative lack of Arya, Dorne, and Jon was that Dany’s story is still going nowhere interesting. She continues to listen to the wrong people at the wrong time, this time leading to one of her advisers being executed for something that she should have done in the first place. She’s really missing Ser Jorah’s pragmatic council right about now. I did like the scene with Drogon, especially after Viserion and Rhaegal completely rejected her last episode.
Another scene that felt pointless was Shireen Baratheon teaching Gilly to read. Maybe they’re setting up Shireen or Selyse for something in the future (they’re both absent at this point of the books), but for now it just took away from more important story lines.
Some other highlights of the episode were Tyrion and Varys being bros in a box, and Brienne’s meet-up with Sansa and Littlefinger. Brienne is quickly becoming one of my favorite characters on the show; she’s just such a complete and total badass. And now, not only has she failed to protect Renly Baratheon and Catelyn Stark, but Arya and Sansa have rejected her service. Not a great track record.
This season is off to a weird start. Some plot lines like Jon’s and Arya’s are feeling rushed, while others like Dany’s feel stagnant. And we’re starting to see the effects of the show over-inundating us with death. Mance and Mossador’s executions just didn’t carry much weight because we had spent such a short amount of time with them. And here’s hoping for more ninja Arya and the Sand Snakes of Dorne next episode.