I didn’t read nearly as much as I wanted to in “A Clash of Kings” this past week.
I only managed to read 26 pages. I am currently on page 408 and nearing the end of a Tyrion chapter. I figured I needed read about 70 pages to be on track to finish the book by the end of July. Looks like I need to step it up this week.
Anywho…Onto last night’s episode.
On the recap I noted that they showed the scene where Cersei told Jamie not to worry about her trial because it was going to be trail by combat and she has the Mountain. I figured there was a reason that they were showing that. I made an inaccurate prediction that somehow the Mountain would lose. Though my specific prediction was wrong I was right in that Cersei’s trial isn’t going to go the way she expected it to.
During the opening credits both my husband and I noted that there once again was no Ramsay in this episode. This actually seems a little odd. Obviously, the show has been building up to the big battle between Jon and Ramsay but the fact that Ramsay hasn’t been on in several episodes seems strange considering how heavily he was featured at the beginning of the season.
The episode began in Braavos with the play about Westeros. It seems Lady Crane has taken Arya’s advice about her monologue during the Purple Wedding scene; it is much improved. It felt to pretty obvious to me that they were showing Lady Crane because Waif was going to kill her, it was only a matter of when and how. Well, the when was later in the episode because after leaving the stage Lady Crane finds Arya hiding out and bleeding from her wounds from when Waif stabbed her.
Lady Crane cares for Arya which I’m sure helped Arya feel more assured that she made the correct decision to not kill her. Lady Crane invites Arya to join her theatre groups and follow them to Pentos. Arya declines stating that she actually wants to go West of Westeros. I found this cute. It was as if Arya wants to be the Christopher Columbus, minus the genocide, of this story.
The next scene involved a brief check in with The Hound. As he finds a group of the men who killed the people he was staying with he quickly murders them in an act of revenge.
Over in Meereen, we see Tyrion and Varys walking through the streets. It seems those that worship the Lord of Light are spreading the word that Dany is the savior. Seeing Tryion for the first time in three weeks really showed me how little he has had to do this season because I didn’t really miss him while he was gone.
Varys leaves Tryion saying that he is going to sail back to Westeros to get help for them.
In King’s Landing things continue to not go Cersei’s way. She is surprised to find that members of the Faith Militant have been let into the Red Keep including her former lover/cousin Lancel. It seems the High Sparrow has ordered her to go to the Great Sept of Balor so she can see him. Cersei refuses saying that she chooses violence. In that moment the Faith Militant get more than they bargained for. One of them swings an axe into the armor of the Mountain. This proves to be a big mistake because it doesn’t harm the Mountain, in fact he responds by ripping the head off of the member of the Faith Militant that tried to take him down.
The scene ends with Cersei smiling her trademark smug smile that we’ve all come to know. But she’s not smiling that smug smile later in the episode.
At Riverrun, Brienne and Pod arrive. When she sees Jamie in the distance she knows she needs to speak to him. As Brienne and Jamie go to talk privately there is a nice little scene with Bron and Pod. In the meeting with Brienne and Pod he tells her that she didn’t think that she would ever find Sansa. Brienne tells him that she wants to meet with the Blackfish so she can try to convince him to give up the castle. Jamie doesn’t think it will work but he allows it. Brienne then tries to give Jamie back his sword but he insists that she keep it, I think this will be important to Brienne in the future since it’s made of Valyrian Steel.
The scene between two of them was very nice and it was a good reminder of how it was Brienne that allowed Jamie to soften from the man who threw a boy out of a window to protect the secret of his incestuous relationship with his sister to somebody that can, at times, seem like a decent human being. When Brienne meets with the Blackfish things do no go as she would have wished. While he eventually does read the letter from Sansa (and in a nice moment comments on how she is like her mother) he refuses to leave the castle and allow Lannister’s and the Frey’s to take it.
Back down in King’s Landing things go from bad to worse for Cersei. She finds that she is not at all in her son’s favor as it isn’t until moments before a royal announcement that she even finds out there is going to be one. Not only that but she is not allowed to stand next to her son. She is forced to stand in the gallery with the other ladies of the court. Much to her dismay she stands by and listens as King Tommen declares that her trial and that of Loras will take place at the Great Sept of Baelor and that trial by combat will no longer be allowed.
Without a doubt Cersei’s decision to not go visit the High Sparrow and have the Mountain kill one of his men backfired. She thought the Zombie Mountain was the ace up her sleeve and now she finds herself having to actually face her trail. Jamie is gone and without the Zombie Mountain being able to rescue her in a trail by combat she must feel that she is doomed.
As I’ve mentioned before I have felt that Tyrion has had very little to do this season. As the show moved back over to Meereen we had his biggest filler scene yet. It only involved him sitting around with Greyworm and Missandei trying to get them to drink and tell jokes.
Greyworm and Missandei are cute as they try to tap into having a sense of humor but the entire point of the scene really is only for what happens in the end and that is when the slavers descend upon Meereen to claim their property. Not only is this scene basically filler and throw away it shows that Tyrion’s agreement with the slavers earlier in the season was a disaster and mistake. Way to go Tyrion 😦
Moving back over to Riverrun, Jamie visits Edmure. I really enjoyed it when Edmure asked Jamie how he can tell himself he’s decent after all that he’s done. Jamie states that he admired Catelyn for what a fierce mother she was. That would be nice if he didn’t then say that Catelyn reminded him of Cersei and that he would do anything, including killing Edmure’s young son, if it meant that he could get back to Cersei. The next thing we know Edmure is walking up the gates of the castle demanding to be let in. The Blackfish argues that they shouldn’t let Edmure in and that it’s a trap but the men listen to Edmure’s request because they are bound to honor the orders of the Lord of Riverrun, which is Edmure. Naturally the Blackfish is right because as soon as Edmure is in the castle he tells the Tully men to lay down their arms and reopen the gats of the castle. This, of course, means turning the castle over to the Lannister’s and the Frey’s but it’s too late to stop it since they already let Edmure into the castle.
Not only is Edmure letting the Lannister’s take over Riverrun he wants the Blackfish handed over to the Frey’s. The last time we see the Blackfish alive he is helping Brienne and Pod escape. Brienne wants him to go with them so that he can fight along his niece but refuses. He understands that Sansa wants to fight for his home but he doesn’t want to leave his. The Blackfish dies, off screen, and the sequence ends with Brienne and Pod escaping. Jamie and Brienne make eye contact as she and Pod row away on a small boat. They wave to each other. I was a little sad at the end of this scene because I think it will probably be the last time Jamie and Brienne see each other. She is the only person who as ever brought out anything good in him.
Back in Meereen, the city is under siege from the slavers. I love that after all of the disastrous decisions Tyrion’s made that Greyworm doesn’t want to listen to him. They struggle with that to do next when they hear a strange sound, which I suspected was a dragon. It turns out I was right. Dany has arrived back in Meereen with the help of Drogon!
Checking back in with The Hound we find him coming face to face with Beric and members of the Brotherhood without Banners. It turns out the men who killed the group that The Hound was staying with had gone rogue from the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood was going to hang them but The Hound convinced them to let him kill two of the three men they captured since he was staying with the group they slaughtered.
The scene sets up a question of whether the Hound will join Beric in serving the Lord of Light. I suspect so and that it will lead The Hound toward Winterfell but that is just a guess.
The episode ended in Braavos. While Arya sleeps Waif sneaks in and kills Lady Crane. Arya then runs from Waif. It is a mad dash through Braavos which involves a lot of jumping and falling which results in Arya’s wounds reopening. Arya goes to her hiding place where she is keeping needle. Waif finds her because of a bloody hand print.
All seems lost for Arya in the moment before they do battle but then her sharp mind saves the day. Arya uses needle to cut the candle that was lighting the room in half causing the room to go pitch black. This puts Arya at huge advantage. When she was blind Waif battled with Arya and trained her to fight blind. Now in the dark Waif has to be disoriented but because of her experience of being blind Arya know how to fight in the dark. We next find Jaqen H’ghar walking through the hall of faces and he finds a new face on display that it is that of Waif and not Arya. He seems delighted saying that, “Finally, a girl is no one”. Arya replies, “A girl is Arya Stark of Winterfell and I’m going home.” I have very mixed feelings about Arya’s story during this episode. I’m glad she didn’t die. And I’d much rather have her heading back to Winterfell where she has a chance of being reunited with Sansa, Jon and Rickon than becoming a faceless man in Braavos. However, the fact that she is now turning around and heading back to Westeros makes her entire storyline since the end of season 4 seem kind of pointless.
I’m not saying episode 8 was a bad episode. It certainly didn’t come anywhere near the low points the show hit in the middle of season 5 but it was my least favorite episode of season 6, so far.
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Justin Gomez and his sister, Terri, have never been close. Separated by nine years and distant in adulthood, Justin and Terri have little in common, except for the love of her three children. In the days before they embark on a road trip to visit the father that once abandoned them and their now deceased mother, both Terri and Justin are dealing with unexpected changes in their lives. Justin surprisingly realizes he might want more than a series of one night stands after a first date goes unexpectedly well. After a lifetime of being a strong type A personality, Terri is forced to confront the reality of the end of her marriage. As they hit the road, with Terri’s children in tow, they find themselves forced to rely on and confide in each other following a devastating event. Confronted with memories from the past and challenges from the present, Terri and Justin must dig deep and unearth the truth about themselves and their parents in order to build a new family based on their love for each other.
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