WARNING: This review contains spoilers for Game of Thrones.
Has a Game of Thrones episode ever begun with a cold open before? Maybe it’s just me, but it was really weird to have an episode start with a scene before the intro credits. And I’m not sure why it was even done, we could have had The Hound introduced after the credits and then jumped to that later scene between him and Ian McShane’s character. It just felt odd.
But hey, The Hound is back and ready to kick some ass, and I’m just as excited as everyone else. When I saw a dude carrying that log by himself, I knew what was up. But I will say that his return held less of an impact, one because we never actually saw him die, and two because of the two big returns earlier in the season. When you bring Jon Snow back to life, it kind of makes everything else seem elementary. And we just got Benjen Stark back last episode, too. Plus, since there have always been rumors that The Hound never died, there was always a chance that he’d be back. I’m glad he is, don’t get me wrong, it’s just that the actual return itself wasn’t that shocking. This was compounded with the meandering scenes he had this episode. Ian McShane’s Brother Ray was a fascinating character, and I liked the deep diving about human nature and the conflicting beliefs between religions in this world, but all of it really added up to nothing. It’s possible that The Hound is a changed man now, but it sure doesn’t seem like it. Killing a bunch of dudes because you like it and killing a bunch of dudes for revenge aren’t really that different.
I also take some issue with how the Brotherhood Without Banners is being portrayed. Last time we saw them, when Arya and her buddies were captured after fleeing the Lannisters, they were a relatively ragtag group of guys that definitely weren’t good, but still followed a moral code centered around protecting the innocent. It’s possible that there’s been some leadership change or that their motives have regressed now that the war is pretty much over, but I just don’t see Beric Dondarrion or Thoros of Myr condoning their men straight up murdering a group of innocent people for no reason. This felt more like an excuse for The Hound to get his shit in gear and kill someone without him looking like a bad guy again. I’ve said this before, but now that the show has moved past the books, I feel like the writers have completely changed some trajectories for characters just to suit their own ends, and not because it makes sense. I don’t think this attitude has been all that successful so far.
Back in King’s Landing, nothing continues to happen. I don’t mean to sound reductive, but what has changed in King’s Landing since the season started? The High Sparrow is basically running the city now, but he was pretty much running the city before. Margaery is out of captivity, but we learned in this episode that she hasn’t changed, she’s just been lying. That’s not exactly a change for her character, either, she’s just even better at it now. Jaime has left, but he wasn’t doing anything anyway. And holy crap, is Cersei ever going to get her trial? They reference it in almost every episode, and still nothing has happened. I’m assuming we’ll get that resolution next episode, but it’s been dragging on far too long. I will say that I loved the scene between Cersei and Lady Olenna, though. The Queen of Thorns said everything the audience was thinking; all of this is Cersei’s fault and the whole “I was just looking out for my kid” defense doesn’t play anymore. I’ll be sad to see her character leave, if that’s actually what’s going to happen.
Jon and Sansa went on their trek to gain followers, and things definitely didn’t go to plan. I doubt I’m the only person who’s new favorite character is Lady Mormont. What a badass chick. With Jeor Mormont as her uncle and Jorah Mormont as her cousin, this shouldn’t come as a surprise. I totally believed her when she said that a Mormont warrior was worth ten mainland men. Things weren’t so successful at other houses, and it seems like they’ve only managed to gather a few hundred northern warriors to support the few thousand wildlings. There’s no way in hell they’d win a fight against the Boltons with the odds as they are. There’s still the theory that the Umbers will betray the Boltons, which could certainly change the tide of the inevitable battle, but there’s very little evidence of that since we haven’t seen Ramsay or Rickon in several episodes. More than likely, Sansa is writing to Littlefinger to ask for his support. But that’s the obvious answer, so why didn’t the writers just tell us that? It’s possible that Sansa is writing to someone else, but I’m not sure who that would be. She doesn’t really seem to have any allies other than the people already around her.
We also spent some time with Theon and Yara, and they had a nice brother/sister moment. It seems like Theon is almost fully recovered from his time as Reek, but we’ll see how that lasts once the swords start swinging. And apparently Yara is gay? Good for her! There was some set up back in Riverrun, too. I was really looking forward to having the Blackfish back, and he did not disappoint. That dude is such a badass, and I’m glad he didn’t care about Edmure dying one way or the other. I’m curious as to why Jon and Sansa didn’t plan on going to Riverrun, especially after Littlefinger told her that the Blackfish was holding the town and could use their help. Maybe that’s actually who Sansa is writing to? But I doubt her and Jon even have the men to take on those Lannisters and Freys. Things are looking a bit dire for the good guys after such a promising start to the season.
There was no Dany or Tyrion this week, and I have mixed feelings on this. One the one hand, if nothing interesting is happening with those characters, then we should get a break from them. Dany has her Dothraki back and wants to take over Westeros, which is the same place she was four seasons ago. Tyrion is sitting on the throne in Meereen dealing with politics, and we know how dull that can be after watching Dany do it for two seasons. On the other hand, these are the two most beloved characters on the show, so if they aren’t doing anything interesting, make them do something interesting. I’m sure that everyone will be reunited by the season’s end, and presumably Dany will be making her way to Westeros for the final push, but by then I’ll be more relieved than excited. Dany’s journey on this show has been a complete bummer. She hasn’t done anything that’s mattered. Maybe that’s supposed to be telling for her character, but that doesn’t make it interesting. At this point I have absolutely zero faith in her ability as a ruler, even if she ever does make it to Westeros.
Finally, let’s talk about Arya. Her getting stabbed was definitely shocking, but not because it was necessarily unexpected. I was shocked because I didn’t believe for one second that she’d be so trusting of a random lady walking up to her. She had to know that the Faceless Men would be coming after her, that’s why she went into hiding in the first place. When I saw that old lady walking up behind her, I thought Arya would know what was up, because I certainly did. And then that scene of her at the end, scared because anyone could be working for the Faceless Men? DUH. How many times did you go to that giant hall full of faces? It felt out of character for her to have learned absolutely nothing from her experience, since we’ve seen the opposite happening for the past two years. I was looking forward to the inevitable showdown between Arya and Waif, but this was not what I had in mind.
There were some notable high points in this episode, but it was definitely less exciting than the past two weeks. This episode was also noticeably shorter than normal, and judging from the twitter reactions, I definitely wasn’t alone in feeling this way. It’s easy to notice this in a lackluster episode, but it’s also concerning. So much stuff is going on right now, you’d imagine they’d want every second they can get to tell their story. Let’s hope things don’t end up feeling rushed at the end of the season, or everyone’s going to be complaining about those lost minutes.
8.1/10
