This post is intended for those who are up-to-date on Game of Thrones. If you have yet to start watching the series or are not caught up, make like a heart tree — you know, the kind with the faces of the Gods carved on them — and leave.
It never gets easier. Another season of Game of Thrones ends, and the impact of the loss doesn’t really hit until a week after the finale, when there is no new episode to watch. Then you start to think about the 40 or so more weeks that you have to get through before the show will be back, and you try to get excited about True Blood, and sure it’s good to see Lafayette and Eric and Jessica again, but nothing can fill that hole. Here we are two weeks later, and still I can’t let go. Perhaps getting all of this out of my system will help.
BRING OUT YOUR DEAD
If last year’s Red Wedding seemed like an untoppable twist of fate, that notion was dispelled early in the season with the first of what would be many high profile deaths this year. The only disappointment about Joffrey’s inevitable demise is that we no longer get to root for Joffrey’s inevitable demise. That, and we had to bid farewell to Jack Gleeson, who brought him to such brilliantly bratty life. George R.R. Martin and showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss all said in interviews that they hoped watching Joffrey’s desperate gasps for breath would make people feel a little bit of pity for him, perhaps recognizing that at the end of the day he’s just a kid who’d been living out a grossly inflated sense of entitlement. If that was their goal, I’m sorry to say they failed. I don’t think anyone felt sympathy for this devil. He beheaded Ned Stark, endlessly tormented Sansa, abused prostitutes, pumped Ros full of arrows, ordered the murder of every dark-haired bastard in King’s Landing, respected nothing and nobody, ridiculed everyone around him from Tyrion to The Hound to Jaime to Tywin…he was a loathsome little fucker and the only thing people seemed to regret about his death was that it was neither painful nor prolonged enough. To that end, Vulture asked several of the cast members how they would have killed Joffrey, collecting a range of colorful answers…none of which go further than what one friend of mine suggested in an email:
Not good enough. I wanted to see his flesh boiled away while he watched his mom penetrated by that knife dildo from Seven. After their nails were pulled out along with their teeth. After hungry pigs fed on their hands and feet. After they ate shit that spewed directly from a donkeys anus that had just eaten another donkey’s shit.
After the entire kingdom got to urinate on him.
Still glad to see him die though!
And of course, social media had plenty of fun reactions, several of which were supposedly tweeted by characters on the show, including Joffrey himself. In the end, as loathsome as he is on paper, a significant chunk of our feelings about Joffrey are due to Gleeson’s spot-on portrayal. Both he and the character will be missed, and if you’d like to bid a final farewell to the actor as he really is, here’s a 30 minute Q&A he did last fall at University College Dublin.
Joffrey’s death so early in the season was definitely among Thrones’ best surprises to date, but the most shocking moment I’ve witnessed on the show came with the eye-popping defeat of Oberyn Martell. Despite being a new addition to the story this year, Oberyn — so wonderfully played by Pedro Pascal — quickly earned everyone’s affection and seemed like a character destined to be around for a while, especially once he tied his fate to Tyrion’s. Even though Martin has proven that no one is safe in his stories, you kinda figure that some people are pretty safe…at least until the series gets closer to ending. I just didn’t believe that Tyrion was going to die, and so it stands to reason that going into his trial by combat, Oberyn was bound to prevail over Gregor Clegane, The Mountain Who Rides. But I should have known by now that if something seems so obvious, Martin will find another way. Even as The Mountain was gouging out Oberyn’s eyes, I was thinking, “Okay — he’s gonna stab The Mountain in the head and crawl out from underneath, and the cost of his revenge will be the loss of his eyes.” Nope! Martin took it further and had The Mountain pop Oberyn’s entire head like a watermelon at a Gallagher show. I will NEVER unsee that sight.
It was such a crushing loss (no pun intended, really), as Oberyn went into the fight brimming with confidence. His victory — again, given the Tyrion factor if nothing else — seemed a foregone conclusion. And although the headbusting is a demise I’ll not soon forget, I think the moment before that was the one that is truly seared in my brain – The Mountain pressing his thumbs into Oberyn’s eyes, blood seeping from around the edges as Oberyn wails in pain he was so certain he would not experience that day. I imagine that for most who haven’t read the books, Oberyn’s death doesn’t top the Red Wedding as far as killer twists go, but perhaps because I pretty much knew the Red Wedding was coming, the loss of Oberyn hit me even harder. Well…no — losing Robb, Catelyn and Talisa all at once like that hit me harder as a story point. But the grisly specifics of Oberyn’s death — that’s what I was referring to when I called it the most shocking moment I’ve seen on the show. Even the pregnant Talisa getting stabbed repeatedly in the abdomen didn’t get to me as much as this did.
It amused me that in interviews following the episode in question, Pascal (and maybe Benioff and Weiss, I can’t remember) pointed out that Oberyn’s Inigo Montoya-like prodding did in fact result in The Mountain confessing his crimes. I appreciate the attempt to find a silver lining, but I suspect the pressure one feels when their eyes are getting liquified and their skull is getting crushed would be too much of a distraction to really hear a confession, let alone take any satisfaction in it.
Though his time on the show was brief, Oberyn emerged as one of my favorite characters. I took his loss hard. While this is little consolation, I enjoyed seeing Pascal riff about how Oberyn’s funeral should play out, while illustrators for Vanity Fair transferred his description to paper.
The only problem with that drawing? There’s still a head on the body.
Joffrey and Oberyn are just the tip of the broadsword, of course. This season was a goddamn bloodbath. We lost so many characters — some major, some minor, but all essential parts of the fabric that make the show what it is. Jon Snow’s Night’s Watch brothers Grenn and Pyp may not have been key characters, but they were there with him at Castle Black since day one, and I was sad to lose them. Locke, the man who cut off Jaime’s hand, was a great character who met a rough end when his neck was snapped by a Bran-controlled Hodor. (Hodor.) We lost Ygritte and crazy Lysa Arryn along the way, and then came the season finale, knocking four primary players permanently off the board.
Of these, the one that most fans will probably be least troubled by is Bran’s spiritual guide and fellow warg, Jojen Reed, but I’ll miss him. He didn’t appear until Season Three, and even with two years on the show we didn’t get to spend as much time with him as I would have liked. In my previous GoT post, I wondered whether Bran’s gift would allow him to eventually discover the identity of Jon Snow’s mother — a question that is bound to be important down the line — because I was under the impression that everyone who might know the answer is dead. But someone reminded me that Jojen and Meera’s father, Howland Reed, was a close friend to Ned Stark who was with him during Robert’s rebellion and might well know the truth about Jon’s lineage. Though we haven’t met him yet, Howland Reed is alive and well in the north. With Jojen now gone, Meera lives on (for now, at least) to potentially help connect those dots. (Speaking of Jon’s mystery mother, Kit Harington recently weighed in on the subject, but read at your own risk: this article reveals the prevailing theory, and touches on a few other Snow-related theories that could be considered slightly spoiler-ish.)
Tyrion lived to see another day, but the same can’t be said for Shae or Tywin. Finding Shae in his father’s bed must have been an even bigger heartbreaker for Tyrion than when she lied about him at the trial. Now he’s fleeing Westeros for the free cities, something that Shae repeatedly begged him to do ever since his near-murder at the Battle of Blackwater. Their love story dissolved so tragically this season, from him cruelly dismissing her early on in an effort to save her life, to her lies about him at the trial, to that final violent encounter. Poor Tyrion. Even killing Tywin was surely a conflicted act, given that no matter what an asshole his father was, Tyrion always sought his love and approval. He might have even settled for grudging respect, which Tywin tried to sell him while sitting on the loo, but it was too late.
Losing Tywin is rough. He’s easily one of the show’s strongest characters, as fascinating to watch when he’s silently writing a letter as when he’s confidently manipulating everything and everyone around him. Charles Dance has nailed this guy so perfectly, right from his first appearance back in Season One when he was skinning a stag and lecturing Jaime. I guess it goes back to no one being safe. As Weiss said in Entertainment Weekly‘s March cover story, “There are several characters whose loss would [hurt the show]. But that doesn’t mean they won’t die.” Tywin is one of many we’ve lost who proves that point. Let’s take a moment to enjoy him in this deleted scene from Season Three, shall we? (I love this because it also pays off that great non sequitur gag from the Season One finale in which Grand Maester Pycelle reveals his true self.)
The last death in the finale is also a hard one to take, and who would have thought back in the show’s early days that The Hound would emerge as such a vital presence? But over the past season and a half in particular, he’s become a standout. Pairing him with Arya was a stroke of genius, and their scenes together have been dependable highlights of the show. Rory McCann really stepped up to the demands of the role, as the normally monotone, stoic warrior showed his vulnerable side, talking to Arya about his childhood burning at the hands of his brother, and ultimately begging her to end his suffering. His fight with Brienne was a heartstopper — not just physically intense, but emotionally as well since both characters are so great that no matter who wins, we lose. I suppose there’s a chance we could still see him next season — perhaps Littlefinger, Sansa and Robin Arryn will come upon him while exploring the Vale. But even if we see him again, survival is hard to imagine.
HURTS SO GOOD
As if all of these deaths weren’t bad enough, the show found other ways to break my heart this season, starting with Daenarys and Jorah. From the beginning, Jorah has been one of my favorite characters, so to see the spying he did on Daenarys in their early days together catch up with him now, after he’s been such a loyal adviser, kinda devastated me. It’s a significant plot development, and I think the show could have emphasized it a little more. I wanted Jorah to make more of a case for himself, and I wanted Dany to consider all the support he’s given her. How the scene plays out in the books I can’t say, but it felt like the impact should have been bigger. Regardless, seeing those two “break up” breaks me up. I stumbled upon a small spoiler about what the future holds for Jorah, and I’m definitely intrigued, but it doesn’t indicate much. I can only hope that he and Dany will eventually reconcile. After she dismissed him, I imagined a few seasons down the road, Dany is finally in Westeros, she’s in the throes of a battle for the Iron Throne, and just as an opponent is about to attack her, Jorah steps in and saves her life, having been tracking her movements and continuing to fight for her from afar. It’s a totally clichéd, “hero” moment…and therefore something Martin would never do. I’m sure he’ll come up with something much more interesting. I just worry that it will be interesting and soul-crushing instead of interesting and redemptive.
Also bumming me out? The likelihood that we’ve seen the last of Tyrion’s sellsword pal Bronn. He didn’t die, so I can be thankful for that at least, but he no longer seems to have a role to play in the story now that he’s marrying some King’s Landing noblewoman and Tyrion is sailing across the Narrow Sea. Perhaps he’ll show up again down the line, but at the moment there doesn’t seem to be a place for him. Now I have to add him to the list of characters who have departed the story for now and who I can only hope will return someday, like Gendry, Thoros of Myr, Bryndyn “The Blackfish” Tully and as of earlier this season, Olenna Tyrell, Littlefinger’s co-conspirator in taking out Joffrey. Love her.
Another of the season’s most notable events was the revelation that Jon Arryn’s murder — which set this whole game of thrones in motion from the very first episode — was committed by his wife Lysa, at the behest of Littlefinger. (Lysa wrote to Catelyn claiming the Lannisters were responsible.) Even knowing what a cunning player Littlefinger is, I could not believe that he had been pulling the strings from the beginning. If there was any doubt that his name belongs on Arya’s list, this clinches it.
THERE WILL BE BLOOD
So what’s next? Books Four and Five of Martin’s saga take place concurrently, covering different sets of characters, so both will serve as source material for the coming season. These books are considered to be less eventful that the previous three, but I’m expecting plenty of juicy developments nonetheless, considering that the board is so shaken up at the end of this season. Season One concluded with nearly every main character positioned in an exciting way, and this season accomplished the same. Arya is off to Braavos, where she will hopefully hook back up with Jaqen H’ghar; Tyrion and Varys are headed across the sea as well, and whatever that duo gets up to, you know it will be terrific. I loved Stannis and Davos meeting up with Jon Snow, and can’t wait to see where that storyline goes. Did you note that loaded stare exchanged between Jon and Melisandre? We should also be getting more of Mance Rayder now that he’s Stannis’ prisoner. Bran will finally start learning about his destiny and how his special gifts will serve him; and Dany is going to be pretty lonely with her dragons locked up, Jorah banished, and Grey Worm and Missandei getting lost in each other’s eyes. Ser Barristan is good company, but the Khaleesi is fast becoming acquainted with the challenges — and the isolation — of leadership.
Oh, and can we talk about Sansa for a minute? She always gets a bad rap, but sometimes playing the game means being smart enough to keep quiet and not ruffle any feathers. (This solid piece from TV Guide makes a strong case for the eldest Stark daughter.) You may remember back in Season Two when Joffrey was tormenting Sansa in the throne room, ordering Ser Meryn to beat her and tear her clothes off while onlookers stood and watched. Tyrion came to her rescue, and while he escorted her out of the room, he asked quietly if she wanted out of her arranged marriage. Sansa composed herself and replied that she was loyal to her beloved Joffrey. As he watched her walk away, Tyrion remarked to himself that Sansa might survive them yet. If she manages to wrap Littlefinger around her little finger, Tyrion’s assessment may prove correct. Littlefinger’s interest in Sansa grows ever more creepy. There is a mentor/student-like quality to their relationship, but he also appears to have some sketchy romantic intentions toward her, likely seeing traces of his beloved Catelyn when he looks at her. Sansa seems wise to his interest, and now appears to be playing it to her own benefit, as evidenced by her detailed lie about Lysa’s death and the mature confidence that she’s suddenly wearing along with her decidedly more daring new outfit. Can a player of Littlefinger’s stature be played, and by a novice like Sansa at that? Time will tell.
Lastly, let’s not forget the shitstorm that awaits at King’s Landing. Tyrion’s escape will have Cersei seeing red just as Tywin’s death returns her to a position of considerable power. Surely she’ll have no doubt that Jaime helped Tyrion escape, which should lead to some damning repercussions. Their relationship was already tenuous this past season, and even though she reignited their flame in the finale, I am dubious of her true intentions. As Tyrion said to Oberyn, “Making honest feelings do dishonest work is one of her many gifts.” Maybe her renewed affection toward Jaime was genuine, but it was also a power play against Tywin, coming immediately after she made it clear to her legacy-obsessed father that the rumors about her and Jaime were true. Her subsequent moves on Jaime could be a calculated effort to keep him in check. Not that it worked — even after their romp on the table he still helped Tyrion flee. With Tommen still too young to take the throne, Cersei will once again be flexing her power. Who will be the new Hand of the King? Where will this leave Margaery? Her planned marriage to Tommen, like her marriage to Joffrey, was an alliance of Tywin’s design. But Cersei is no fan of Margaery — I believe “doe-eyed little whore” was one description she used — and without Tywin there, who will stop Cersei from making whatever arrangements she wants?
By the way, how much does it suck to be the kid who played Tommen in the first three seasons? He barely gets to say two words, and then when things start to get interesting for the character, they re-cast the part! Imagine you’re Tommen, and Margaery Tyrell sneaks into your bedroom at night wanting to share secrets with you and talk of your future wedding. You would probably experience the entirety of puberty right at that moment. Now imagine you’re the actor playing Tommen, doing that scene with Natalie Dormer. The result would probably be about the same.
Even the storylines that are less shaken up at the moment promise to remain interesting. What kind of leadership will Roose and Ramsay Bolton impose on the North, and where will Theon Reek fit in? What’s the next move for Theon’s father and sister? After letting Arya slip away, will Brienne and Podrick (another of the story’s inspired, unexpected, sitcom-worthy pairings) have better luck finding Sansa? And even if they do, what then?
How about new characters and locations? The show is supposed to travel to Oberyn’s homeland of Dorne next season, where we can expect to meet at least some of Oberyn’s daughters, plus reconnect with Cersei’s daughter Myrcella. Maybe Oberyn’s special ladyfriend Ellaria Sand will be featured more prominently. She didn’t have much to do this season, but with no reason to stick around King’s Landing, she would presumably head back to Dorne.
A DILEMMA WITH DRAGONS
I gather that the show has started to diverge from the books with greater frequency and has even started moving beyond the books, a point which garnered a lot of attention midway through the season when a White Walker took one of Craster’s last sons, carried him into some sort of ritualistic setting, touched an icy fingertip to the baby’s forehead and turned him into a blue-eyed, frost-lipped MiniMe. It was chilling…and not just because of those sub-zero northern temperatures. This scene was called out as a major spoiler, but I think you have to be keeping up with the books to understand why. For those of us just watching the show, I don’t see what’s been spoiled.
Yet it does reinforce that the show is on the precipice of not just catching up to the books, but moving beyond them. “The locomotive is coming up behind me and I’m still laying the tracks,” Martin told EW.com at Comic-Con last year. He is still working on The Winds of Winter, the sixth book of his planned seven, and I don’t think anyone expects it to be published before Season Five of the show hits next spring. Then again, just this week he offered some hints — which I haven’t read — about what readers can expect, so who knows. Maybe the tease is meant to suggest that he’s further along than we realize. And just recently there was buzz about Martin needing eight books to finish his story, though that sounded more like wishful thinking on the part of his editor than anything to which Martin has lent genuine credence.
When it comes to the show, Benioff and Weiss have stated this year that seven seasons is their current trajectory, which means we’re now more than halfway through, with two full books yet to be completed. On the other hand, this article — which says that the showrunners spent a week with Martin last year learning about his plans for the final books so that they can guide the show accordingly — mentions eight seasons total and the possibility of multiple seasons once again covering one book, just as Seasons Three and Four were both based on Book Three. Yet I’ve read other comments from them that contradict that. In other words, nobody knows how this timeline will shake out. While I haven’t read beyond Book Two and so have no idea what’s coming in Books Four and Five let alone after that, three more seasons doesn’t feel like it will be enough. Martin doesn’t think so either, and whatever the number works out to be, he has understandable concerns about the conclusion of the series being depicted on the show before he gets to write it. He’s suggested that once the show catches up to him, it should go on hiatus until he completes the last book, and then wrap up with a movie, adding that a feature film budget might be required to visualize the scope of his endgame. “Those dragons get real big,” he said (and from this picture, which he says accurately represents his vision of a full grown firebreather, he ain’t kidding).
A movie is not a bad idea, but the usual season of TV would be preferable for HBO, and unless there’s a big time jump to come, the show’s kids — those that survive up to that point — aren’t going to be kids anymore. Hell, look at how young they are in that picture below from a 2009 book signing with Martin. That was posted two years before the pilot aired. That kid in the glasses is Jon Snow! And none of them are showing their age more than Isaac “Bran” Hempstead-Wright. If for no other reason than all of this dramatic growth, the show needs to conclude sooner than later. Everyone involved — not least of all Martin — wants to see the story wrap up on the page, his way, before it’s exposed on television. Martin, Benioff, Weiss and HBO have been considering these scenarios for over a year now, addressing all of these points in an interview after Season Three’s finale (which I think I included in my corresponding post last year.) But with the passing of another season, the concerns grow more acute.
The irony of all this is that the show has probably slowed down Martin’s progress on the books considerably. His fame has blown up since the show began, and though he only writes one episode per season, there are premieres and events to attend, press interviews to give throughout each season, talk shows to guest on and other related activities and appearances. If the guy could be left alone to write, he might be well into A Dream of Spring, the seventh (and if plans hold, final) book by now, instead of still at work on Book Six.
THE IRON BANK OF HOLLYWOOD
The Emmy nominations will hit in a few weeks, and hopefully Thrones will be well-represented in the top categories. It was certainly a strong, compelling season. For Best Drama Series it will likely be up against the final batch of Breaking Bad episodes, a well-received run of Mad Men, the breakout True Detective and possibly The Good Wife, which had a lot of positive attention this year. House of Cards, Homeland, Downton Abbey, Boardwalk Empire, Scandal, The Newsroom and Masters of Sex will also be jockeying for the six available slots, but I have to think Thrones will make the cut. But can it finally win?
Peter Dinklage is also a safe bet to earn his fourth nomination, and just might be able to win again this year, for the first time since Season One. His trial episode gave him some showy moments, and everyone assumes that will the one he submits for Emmy consideration. But I think he did even stronger work in the following episode, which featured three lengthy scenes in Tyrion’s prison cell: one with Jaime, one with Bronn and one with Oberyn which instantly took its place among the series finest scenes ever. Between the three, he found unexpected moments of humor in Tyrion’s dark hours, and did some of the best reacting he’s done yet on a show where his reacting is never less than perfection.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7n79tN6Fpw
Not sure what to expect beyond that. The acting roster is certainly full of deserving nominees, but few ever break through. Emilia Clarke was nominated last year, but if I could only pick one cast member aside from Dinklage to represent the ensemble, it would be Maisie Williams, who is a ceaseless wonder as Arya. Unfortunately, the Emmys almost never nominate child actors. Only one episode, meanwhile — season finale “The Children” — was submitted for writing consideration, and it would be really nice to finally see the show earn directing nomination, which hasn’t happened since the pilot. Nothing for Season Two’s “Blackwater,” nothing for Season Three’s “The Rains of Castamere.” Maybe “The Watchers on the Wall” can break in this year. Any episode would be fine, really. It’s a spectacularly well-directed show, week in and week out. (Here are this season’s submissions for Emmy consideration in the acting, writing and directing categories.) Fantasy and sci-fi always face an uphill battle winning top awards from these voting bodies, but Thrones has undoubtedly proven its worth. Hopefully the big wins it deserves will come to pass. Bran, any visions?
FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME
As usual, I’m pleased to share some of my favorite Thrones-inspired creations from around the internet, beginning with the continuation of the stunning Beautiful Death series, which had plenty of fodder this season. I’ve reduced the size of these, but you really need to check out the larger versions via the link above to appreciate the details. Fantastic.
Geekdom ambassador Wil Wheaton applied The Brady Bunch credits to the twisted relationships of Westeros, resulting in this amusing mash-up.
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Those who wish the show was more family friendly so they could share the joy with their kids can at least indulge in the make-believe of Walt Disney Pictures’ Game of Thrones, as some artists have been doing. In addition to the selections in that link, there’s Bran and Hodor (Hodor), Arya and The Hound, and a White Walker. A Google Images search will reveal plenty more Disney/Thrones mash-ups, but these are my favorites. The collection by Anderson Mahanski and Fernando Mendonça hits the nail on the head. I hope they keep adding more to their gallery.
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Getting back to R-rated territory, have you heard of Gay of Thrones? Jonathan Van Ness is a hairstylist in L.A.’s upscale Westwood neighborhood who recaps each episode for his clients in this hilarious Funny or Die series. Here’s his take on the season finale, which includes an amusing cameo near the end. Before you watch it though, it may help to review this handy guide that covers some of his nicknames for the characters. (Cersei = Blonde Cher, Melisandre = Stevie Nicks Red Riding Hood or Evil Gloria Estefan and Grey Worm = Baby Barack Obama). The list isn’t even complete, so the video still holds some surprises. His character names alone make the recaps worth watching. (The link also includes embeds of two earlier episodes, including one featuring Alfie “Theon” Allen as Jonathan’s customer.)
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For the mathematically inclined among you, Vulture examines the show through charts and graphs such as these.
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Those who appreciated all those YouTube videos last year of viewer reactions to the Red Wedding should relate to College Humor’s Watching Game of Thrones with People Who Haven’t Read the Books.
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Did you hear that Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visited the Thrones set in Belfast last week? I don’t know if this took place simply because the show is such a popular export from her kingdom, or if it was because the Queen of England and her husband are fans, holing up in Buckingham Palace on Sunday nights to watch just like the rest of us commoners. Naturally, that’s what I prefer to think. Who wouldn’t love the idea of the Queen watching Littlefinger instruct a pair of his whores as they practice the art of oral pleasure on one another, or Oberyn get his head smushed, or Theon get castrated? While some fans were disappointed she didn’t sit on the Iron Throne, I’m just utterly charmed by the fact that she was even there.
There’s actually a 47 minute video of the entire visit online, which includes the Royal entourage meeting Benioff and Weiss in the parking lot before going into one set to view a display of the show’s props and costumes, then the throne room set, where cast members Maisie Williams (Arya), Sophie Turner (Sansa), Rose Leslie (Ygritte), Kit Harington (Jon), Conleth Hill (Varys) and Lena Headey (Cersei) were on hand. You can’t hear any of the conversation unfortunately — how I would love to know what they all talked about — but it still fascinates me to see some of the interaction. (Skip ahead to the 22 minute mark for the Queen’s arrival; the video inexplicably begins with 20 minutes of mostly static Iron Throne footage.) I can only assume that from here, she was off to visit the Crawleys at Downton Abbey.
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And finally, this. Because there’s nothing better I could leave you with than this. Not even the Queen of England admiring the Iron Throne from a rather wise, cautious distance. I posted this to my Facebook page when I discovered it in May, but if you missed it, or just need another taste, click the picture. Seriously. Click the picture.
With that, I leave you to endure the long winter in your own way. May we all find peace of mind as we wait for the game to resume in 10 months. 10 long, torturous, meaningless, empty months. Valar dohaeris.
Jaime finally made it back to King’s Landing after an arduous journey on the road that saw him first antagonize and then later bare his soul to Brienne of Tarth, sharing with her the true story behind his murder of the Mad King that long ago earned him the derisive label “Kingslayer.” His vulnerable confession came after his sword hand was chopped off by Locke, a solider of House Bolton who captured Jaime and Brienne after they had been sent to King’s Landing by Catelyn Stark. And speaking of House Bolton, the sociopath who took such pleasure in fucking with Theon Greyjoy, torturing him physically, emotionally and psychologically, and ultimately cutting off his manhood, turned out to be Bolton’s bastard Ramsay Snow. So…nice gene pool.
Over on Dragonstone, Stannis Baratheon continues to plot his next move against Joffrey. Melisandre attempted to help by delivering Stannis’ nephew — Robert’s bastard son Gendry — who she intended as a sacrifice for the power of his king’s blood. But Stannis’ advisor Davos Seaworth helped Gendry escape, and then convinced Stannis and Melisandre not to execute him for treason by sharing news from The Night’s Watch: that an army of White Walkers is amassing north of the wall and moving south. Even Melisandre admitted that this threat was real, and more important than the ongoing struggle for the Iron Throne.
As we enter the new season, many of my curiosities center around supporting characters and their fates. With such a vast and complex story, I worry for some reason that figures on the periphery might disappear. Catelyn’s uncle Brynden (The Blackfish) managed to escape the Red Wedding and will presumably be headed for the Eyrie, so perhaps he’ll be back in play when Littlefinger arrives. Catelyn’s brother Edmure, meanwhile — the guy whose marriage put the “wedding” in Red Wedding – is in the dungeons at the Twins, where he is newly tied to the worst in-laws e-v-e-r. Will he be forgotten, or does his story continue? Will we see Gendry again, or is his fate irrelevant now that Melisandre seems to see the battle north of the Wall as more pressing than the quest for the Iron Throne? What about Rickon and Osha? How important is the youngest and heretofore most narratively undeveloped Stark child? Will we see more from the Brotherhood Without Banners, that underground rabble led by seven-times killed, seven-times revived Beric Dondarrion and Thoros of Myr, the Red Priest with a fondness for alcohol, who has served as the Red God’s vessel for those seven resuscitations? And what happened to the rest of the Night’s Watch? In the chaos of the 
Will Cersei’s marriage to Loras come to pass? She told Tyrion with confidence in the season finale that she would not be marrying him. Tywin certainly intends otherwise, so how might she avoid it? Does she have something dastardly in store for the Knight of Flowers? How will Jaime’s return affect the plans? And how will Tywin look at his eldest son now that he’s lost his hand and with it his greatest asset? I’m excited to see Jaime and Tyrion together again, as Jaime is the only Lannister who actually loves his brother.
Over the past two days, HBO has been running marathons of the series starting from the beginning, so I’ve been catching snippets here and there. Revisiting past episodes isn’t just a treat because the show has been so good from day one, but because the evolution of this stunningly rich story has been so carefully crafted. I re-watched the scene when Robb says goodbye to Bran before departing Winterfell with his army. Just after he leaves Bran’s room, Rickon enters, upset about everyone leaving. Bran assures him that Robb will return with their father, and that Catelyn will soon be back too. “No they won’t,” Rickon answers with eerie certainty. Early onset cynicism, or does Rickon have insights of his own into the future? When Bran dreamed of his father’s death, he discovered that Rickon had experienced the same dream. Moments later, Bran learned the news of Ned’s beheading. So what’s the deal with the youngest Stark?
My heart plunged Wednesday afternoon when I read that James Gandolfini 
And that will be all. I occasionally wonder what John Lennon would be doing today, or what Phil Hartman would be up to. What would Heath Ledger’s latest project be? There might be others about whom you ask the same questions. I will be asking it about Gandolfini for years to come.
On a purely emotional level, I’m infuriated by the indignity of Joffrey continuing to draw breath while House Stark has just been decimated. (Yeah, the younger kids are still alive, but how long before any of them are able to take the reins in any meaningful way?) And Arya…God, poor Arya. SO close. Wallowing in my post-episode funk, my dream was for Arya to turn in her Braavosi coin (“Valar morghulis”), find Jaqen H’ghar and paraphrase Luke Skywalker: “I want to come with you to Braavos. There’s nothing for me here now. I 
This season’s end leaves me with plenty of questions. Will Arya indeed reconnect with Jaqen H’ghar for Stealthy Assassinations 101? Will Jon recover from the three arrow hits he took from Ygritte? Will we see more from the Brotherhood Without Banners? How will Littlefinger react to the death of his beloved Catelyn? Will Joffrey’s marriage to Margaery reveal the perversions or sexual hang-ups that have been strongly hinted at but not yet made clear? Will Dany get it on with her chiseled new warrior, Dario Naharis? And how in the seven hells is she ever going to get to Westeros if she keeps liberating the slave populations of huge cities along the way? How will a newly humbled Jaime be welcomed back to King’s Landing? He only shared a brief moment with Cersei in the season finale, and it was tough to read her reaction to seeing his stump. Will Tywin think less of him now? What will happen to Brienne? And what of Cersei’s marriage to Loras Tyrell? In the finale, during an excellent scene with Tyrion, she said with curious certainty that she would not be marrying Loras. What does she have up her sleeve that makes her so sure? How will Tyrion’s marriage to Sansa progress, and where will Shae fit it? Will Stannis put his quest for the Iron Throne completely on hold to deal with the looming threat of the White Walkers? Will the concern over that danger extend as far south as King’s Landing? Could Tywin and Stannis have to temporarily unite in the face of it? What about Mance Rayder’s army of wildlings, the other force amassing north of the Wall? Will we find out what happens to Rickon and Osha after they split from Bran, or is Rickon’s story irrelevant? Will someone please, please, pretty please slap Joffrey across the face again? (I’d love to see Tywin do it, but he’s probably too buttoned-down, even if there’s no way he’d be punished for it. Then again, I’m not sure how much longer Joffrey will submit to Tywin’s authority before he tries to assert himself…and I am dying for a moment where the tension between those two runneth over.
Answers to these questions and more are ten months away. I wonder if, in the meantime, the attention earned this year will translate into awards and accolades. If the series ever has a shot at winning the Emmy for Best Drama Series, this year might be the one. Plenty of shows have had major watercooler moments before; that doesn’t guarantee an award. But the show has been good enough to win from day one; if the violence, sex and general “fantasy” factor isn’t a put-off to voters, the sheer audacity of the Red Wedding and the way it permeated the cultural conversation could push it over the top. I would hope for some writing and directing nominations, and there are certainly actors worthy of attention. With Emmy nominations for acting being based on single episodes rather than entire seasons, a show like Thrones—lacking a lead character and doling out its story in small pieces—can be at a disadvantage. Peter Dinklage did earn a win after the first season, and a nomination for the second. Can he make the cut again? Others are deserving too. Charles Dance would be a welcome addition, and Jaime’s arc this season—bolstered by his aforementioned confessional monologue—could put Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in the conversation (he was 
I Am DB 