Game of Thrones - 'Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken' and 'The Gift'

The times they are a changing.

Jaime and Bron reach Myrcella, by a staggering coincidence at the exact moment that the Sand Snakes try to kidnap her. The whole incident is interrupted by Prince Doran's guards, but the fact that Bron punched out Trystane Martell* doesn't look good for them. He also obtains a minor, but significant cut to the arm.

Petyr Baelish and Oleanna Tyrell return to King's Landing to counsel over the Loras Tyrell incident. Loras and Margaery lie their arses off in court, and are both arrested when one of Loras' lovers (I'm told he was much more constant to Renly in the books, but  like Michael Douglas at his self-professed nadir, the series seems unwilling to pass up any opportunity for sex) identifies a birthmark. Cersei is smug, although we the audience can see that this won't end well for her.

Arya is rightly blown away by one of the first truly awesome
pieces of set design in the last couple of seasons.

Arya continues her training, and comes to realise that the game of faces is about lies; not just telling them, but inhabiting them. Jaqen H'ghar also accuses her of lying to herself when she tells him that she hated the Hound. Once she makes a breakthrough, easing a sick girl into the peace of death with a lie, she is taken to the Hall of Faces and told that she is not ready to become no-one, but is ready to become someone else.

In Slaver's Bay, Jorah and Tyrion are captured. Tyrion blags like he has never blagged before, and persuades his captors that as a knight of great renown, Jorah should be taken to the newly reopened fighting pits, and that he should at least be kept alive so that his dwarfish stature can be proven to the discerning purveyors of magical genitals.

Many threads are followed in 'Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken', but they are all somewhat eclipsed by the big controversy. Sansa Stark is married to Ramsay Bolton and then raped on her wedding night while 'Reek' is forced to watch. I found the scene less shocking than many, but probably because I'd heard so much about it in advance that I'd steeled myself for something truly monstrous. Like the chapel scene last season, I think that this was misjudged rather than pernicious, but I also feel that as it goes on, Game of Thrones may be be in danger of getting lost in its own reputation for violence and sex. Lessons should be learned from the reaction to this scene, and I worry that they won't be, and something worse might be on the horizon.

Come at me, bros.

What comes next is 'The Gift', in which Jon Snow heads north with the Wildlings to try to make peace, Maester Aemon passes on, and Castle Black's resident contingent of rapists try to have their way with Gilly. Sam is beaten down trying to defend her, but gets to be a total badass through a combination of stubborn endurance and fortunate dire wolf. I'm slightly disappointed that Gilly then chooses to sex him up as a reward, as the 'totally just best friends, honest' vibe the two had going was more compelling and it was nice to see someone in the Watch sticking to their bloody vows.

Winterfell goes into siege mode as Stannis Baratheon approaches through a storm. Sansa tries to send a message to Brienne, but Reek betrays her from fear of Ramsay and Brienne's contact in the castle is flayed, dying before giving any answers, to Ramsay's mild annoyance. Meanwhile Stannis refuses to fall back to Castle Black, but is clearly not impressed when Melisandre promises him victory if his royal blood - his daughter Shireen - is sacrificed.

In Dorne, Jaime fails to convince Myrcella that she is in danger, which is kind of fair, since the entire conspiracy was arrested last episode. Bron trades barbs with the Sand Snakes in facing cells, and earns an antidote to the poison in his cut (I knew that cut had to be significant) by calling Tyene Sand the most beautiful woman in the world. This scene was kind of weird, but was made for me by the expressions of Tyene's sisters, who have clearly seen her pull this shit all sorts of times.

Peter Dinklage once more displays his mastery of the 'well
what did you expect' look.

In King's Landing, Petyr Baelish offers to retake Winterfell from the victor of the Stannis vs. Bolton fight at his own expense, in exchange for Wardenship of the North. Meanwhile, Oleanna is surprised not to be able to bribe or threaten the High Sparrow. He basically explains that he and his represent the 99%, and it's interesting to note that if they weren't bound by a quasi-Biblical, homophobic text, they'd pretty much be the heroes. Oleanna does better against Cersei, and much better than Cersei, who pretends to bring succor to Margaery only to confirm that her dismal cell is 'sufficient', and is then dragged off by a burly septa, the Lancel formerly known as Lannister having unburdened his soul by confessing his sins, and by extension Cersei's.

Tyrion and Jorah finally reach Mereen via a slave market, where Jorah takes advantage of Danaerys' presence at a qualifying match for the fighting pits to make himself known. She orders him taken away at once, but Tyrion interrupts, strolling out to declare himself Jorah's gift to her.

After the events of 'Unbowed, Unbent and Unbroken', 'The Gift' is really just marking time. It's only big hurrah is the arrest of Cersei Lannister as the result of her own machinations, and perhaps some prodding from Petyr Baelish, who is obviously treading thin ice himself given how much the Sparrows detest him. Other than that, it's a lot of getting people where they're going, be that Winterfell or Mereen or just the right frame of mind to do a thing.

The fighting put scene suggests once again that Game of Thrones wants to have its cake and eat it in the depiction of violence, as the grim and gory melee is interrupted by a virtuoso and almost bloodless display from Jorah. It sometimes seems that blood is only shed messily in this world when it is making a point; at other times, the show wants to enjoy having spectacular sword fights without the audience thinking that Brienne is just another version of the Mountain, but with a slightly hipper rap.

* Trystane and Myrcella are such a lovely couple that something bad seems bound to happen to them.