Again, as with last week, this is full of Game of Throne spoilers. Don't read if you don't want to be spoiled. And, I guess, don't read if you don't care.
For the most part, I didn't like this episode. They did a lot of stuff to kill off characters and set up Dany for a more difficult time just for the sake of the story, not out of any kind of logic. Normally I would go through highlights of the episode. This time, I'll have to focus on what was wrong and then discuss the bits that worked.
Dany's Alliance and Its Lack of Believability
Dany letting the Greyjoys be on her side is one thing. I can accept that. They made some good points and she needed ships. The Queen of Thorns being on her side is reasonable. Olenna hates Cersei and wants her dead. However, this is no way, despite her comments about not listening to lords, that Olenna would have shown up without her best military commander. She knows this is serious. She knows this is her one shot. She would have brought Randal Tarly with her. The idea that she didn't and he went to see Cersei instead is just illogical.
It's still closer to the realm of reason than Dorne being on Dany's team. Dorne, at this point, should be on no one's team. Sure, in the books, they still have a lot to offer, but on the show, the whole Dorne plot was awful and the characters are written badly. They killed Tyrion's niece. He never would have forgiven that. He wouldn't have just chided them about it. The way they're writing the Sandsnakes, they're untrustable and psychotic. In the books, they're violent and unpredictable, but still, have a sense of loyalty and a code of honor. On the show, they're like a caricature of a multi-ethnic girl gang.
Varys would have never involved them with Dany. Speaking of our spymaster, the talk he had with Dany, while important, was very misplaced. They should have put that discussion on last season, like as one of the last scenes. Are we really supposed to believe Dany and Vayrs crossed the ocean ON THE SAME SHIP and didn't talk about their problematic past the whole time? Did she just give him stinkeye as he hid behind his fan? That was just bad pacing.
Where this really breaks down, and what made the episode the most annoying, is that everything I just addressed was clear, even to the showrunners. Instead of just not making them happen in the first place, they chose to have Euron brutalize the Sandsnakes and take Yara hostage. It's just all messy and left a bad feeling in my stomach.
Sam's Storyline is Gross and Predictable
So we find Sam and his trainer.....master? His Master Maester? Anyway, they're checking on Jorah and the Maester tells him they can't sure greyscale (DUH!!!) and that he should just kill himself. Sam realizes this is the son of his former Lord Commander at the Nightwatch. Sam is still a Brother and wants to do what he can to save Jorah. This begins the predictable part. Sam and his Master Maester are in the library and Master Maester is dismissing everything Sam suggests. I mean, this is supposed to be the place where learning and experimentation and knowledge are valued, right? Right? But no, let's be condescending and predictable and annoying.
Anyway, as with last week, Sam rebels. He gets all the stuff he needs and shows back up in Jorah's room. He starts cutting away the infected areas (there are a lot of them) and it is gross and unsettling. So far, I hate the Sam scenes.
Jon Not Only Knows Nothing but Learns Nothing
So after Jon was made Lord Commander, he went on a trip that no one wanted him to go on and made an alliance with people that his followers wanted nothing to do with. While he was gone, he left the person who questioned his decisions the most in charge. They killed him for it.
This season, he has decided to go on a trip that no one wants him to go on and make an alliance with a woman that none of his followers want anything to do with. While he's gone, he's leaving Sansa, the person who questions his decisions the most, in charge. I mean, granted, Sansa is usually correct in her reasoning, but still. Jon is making the same mistakes.
Actually, he's making bigger mistakes. At least when he was Lord Commander, he killed Janos Slynt, the slimy asshole from Kingslanding who betrayed his father. This time, he's leaving alive Littlefinger, another slimy ass from Kingslanding who betrayed his father. Janos had some loyal friends. Littlefinger has an army. Uggh.
Moments of Good
Okay, Cersei and Jaime, for Cersei and Jaime, are actually doing pretty well. They're trying to make alliances and use their combined talents to keep themselves in power. She's not being as crazified as I thought she would be and he's being more charming and less snarky than usual. Tywin would be impressed.
Arya saw her direwolf again! I teared up a little at this. She seems a bit too wild to connect with Arya, but she may still. It's possible her and her pack will follow our youngest Stark girl back to Winterfell. That's where Arya's headed now. Once Hot Pie told her about Jon and Sansa retaking their home, she decided she could kill Cersei later and started heading North.
This episode touched on the concept of male sexuality outside the realm of the penis. It did so awkwardly with Theon, who still can't (and perhaps never will) come to terms with his penectomy, and then with Greyworm, in a positive way. Greyworm is accepting that he can be in love and in a sexual relationship with someone, even without normal male genitalia. His value is not in his penis, nor is his capacity to experience love/pleasure. I'm honestly not sure how many times we've even seen this explored in popular culture.
Penises are so fetishized when it comes to male sexuality that we forget men have all the rest of their body that can be used for intimacy. Castration, and certainly penectomy, is considered a way of making someone NOT be a man anymore, which is insane. They're still men. I've had the majority of my female reproductive organs removed and I'm certainly still a woman. This idea that men have to have a certain level of body structure/masculine behavior before they are worthy of sex/love/what have you is a cultural issue that is perhaps beginning to shift.
Anyway, I wasn't that happy with the episode, but then again, next week Jon and Dany meet, so I'll forgive this one.
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