Game of Thrones Episode 3/Boston

Game of Thrones Season 3 Episode 3

Can I get a medic? Yeah, the one from Star Wars? That guy. What’s this I hear? He was a machine? Well, what the hell are we supposed to do with this stray hand?

There lies a beast in every man, put a sword in his hand and you’ll see it,” (not a verbatim quote).

 The other day as I was driving to an event with S and the little ones, someone honked at me as I waited at a stop sign, I had stopped because the oncoming traffic was supposed to be through, but the person was just kind of sitting there. Anyhow, I was waiting for them to follow appropriate traffic laws, and I finally gave up and went. The person behind me, always an SUV, roared through the intersection as well. And I did what any sane person would do. I prevented them from passing me by occupying both lanes. Eventually I settled into the right lane to let them pass. However, they did that awesome thing where you drive slow as your passing to get in some extra yelling or gesturing. Just as I was about to pull up and oblige, I remembered that I had two small children in the back seat and slowed down to fifteen to let them drive off into the day. S said that that was precisely what she didn’t like about cars, how they could make people feel anonymous. She said, you wouldn’t do that to a person on the street. Something about the anonymity makes you feel like it’s okay. It is not okay.

144 people were injured and 3, including an eight year old, were killed in a bombing today.

I haven’t punched anyone since the third grade. It was the last time I felt comfortable swinging my fist at someone else’s face. Since then, I’ve grappled a few times, not in decades now. Did I learn to be a decent human being? Is it taught? Ingrained?

The Judeo-Christian ethic, still at least a part of the western tradition, teaches that our natures are basically sinful. Sure it’s possible to reconfigure ourselves through a spiritual connection or journey, but that’s because the roots are rotten without it.

In secular terms, we’re on some kind of crazy journey from being apes to being, parts of the singularity? Better? Somewhat decent? Basically the same but with better or more equitable laws to govern ourselves? If we’re descended from apes then it’s likely that we’re still going to experience those feelings of wanting to dominate within a social sphere, make our presence felt. It certainly was not something I’d call the angel of my better nature that coursed through me as I pulled closer to the SUV.

Do we take pleasure in other’s pain? Solace? Hope? What is it that motivates us, to violence? Perhaps you love peace more than I do. If so, forgive the inclusion. Is peace something you cultivate externally or internally? I realize that the answer is always complex and therefore both, where do we start? Is the answer global secularism, mass conversion to a pacifist religion, more time spent in meditation?

What is it about anonymity that makes things seem okay that wouldn’t be otherwise? I realize that it’s gauche, or passé to talk about something like YouTube comments or message boards, that’s not where most people are, but what is it about not being seen that makes us think our actions are okay. Lord knows if you put me alone in a room with a wallet I’m much more likely to steal it than if it falls out of a person’s pocket in a room full of people. (I’m not saying that I’d steal it. I’m just asking whether you are the same person when no one is watching. I could be better).

There has been a quote floating around on the Internet about watching all the images of people attempting to help, which yes, does restore a bit of my faith in humanity. Why was it shaken? Did I ever have a great deal of faith in humanity? Do I know enough about the world, global inequality, gender equity, to speak with any authority about humanity writ large? What is my level of faith in humanity?

“It brings me great comfort to look out at the world and realize that even with all the wars going on, in the majority of the world, nothing is happening at all.” (Not verbatim either).

Writing brings me a kind of solace. I believe I described it the other day as a bulwark. And I’m certain we’ll read stories, hear narratives of places or people that are now gone, we might be uplifted or moved to tears. Right now I can only think of compassion, of how damn hard it must be for the people whose lives changed today in an instant. It is sad. It must be hard. Pray. Give blood. Help. Weep.  Be the hands. Watch, or picture the silvery rain falling on dark water. Why? A wonderful question without answers. 

Can you move on from a tragedy to write about a television show? Well, I’ve already quoted it twice with what seemed like salient points. The end of this particular episode was about as dark as things get. Strangely, the opening of the episode was slow, with a nice sense of comedic timing mixed with action. The opening set of Caitlyn’s father floating away, the archer unable to light the bier, was pretty priceless. What is death anyway? Is it funny? Shameful? A celebration of someone’s life? It’s a lot of things. In this case, it was an archer, who also turns out to be a bumbling solider, shooting fiery arrows inaccurately. It was as strange kind of beautiful. After the scene we meet Robb’s menacing uncle, and hear of the failings in properly cornering the mountain, which is too nice of a nickname to have killed off early.

The second scene, also expertly played, is at the king’s council, Tyrion slowly dragging his chair around to face his father acts as a wonderful illustration to Robb’s point that Tywin is feeling patient. What Tywin is not feeling patient about is the location of his son, Jamie, about which, more later. Tyrion is given the gig of master of coin, which though he complains about, actually seems like a nice move for him. It’s good to see him back being useful, traveling over to the whorehouse etc.

The third scene continues the slow paced theme, getting Arya Stark back on the road with the Brotherhood, though they do say goodbye to a compatriot, the heftier fellow who agrees to bake bread instead. And again, a wonderful comedic moment, “Try not to get stabbed.” (Pause)  “Try not to burn your fingers,” said without a hint of malice. Both funny and brilliant, because the rest of the world has been depicted as so violent, you know there is a good chance that Arya and the blacksmith will be stabbed.

The show moves briefly to River Run where Caitlyn continues to mourn her two living sons. Granted she doesn’t know, but that’s because she’s always wrong about everything. We also get a nice scene of Robb’s wife, caring for the wounded, sweet girl. And yet, you can see how the war has started to change her as well as she lightly jokes about Robb turning into a wolf and eating them alive. Now, the rather bleak end of the episode appears to have been foreshadowed throughout, hidden beneath a thin veneer of humor.

We check in briefly with Jon Snow, long enough to make sure that he’s still willing to be a traitor, or die. The main issue I have right now is that the romance between him and Gwen the typist from Downton Abbey has fizzled considerably. Somebody needs to remind them how people keep warm on dark, cold nights.

From there we take a brief break back to chez many wife, for the old man to regale the surviving night watchman with tales of his time in Utah. I jest. Naturally another baby boy is born who will probably not be given away to the white walkers if the old man sees what’s coming.

We watch Stannis and the red woman going through a break up, where she appears to be promising him that she’ll sleep with someone else. Always a nice thing to hear before a long journey, I suppose at least he doesn’t have to wonder what will happen. “Your fires burn low, my king.” I’m guessing they didn’t have Viagra back then.

How much is a dragon worth? Apparently a dragon is worth eight thousand soldiers. But, isn’t Daenyrs giving away one of her children? How much is a child worth? If it had claws and wings, roughly eight thousand soldiers. I’ve got no idea whether she’s getting jilted or not. If the dragon will stay, or whether this will eventually bite or rather burn her in the as-. I feel like she’s trading baseball cards as a fourth grader, we won’t know until the new Beckett monthly comes out whether she got ripped off.

We keep being reminded that winter is coming, but it doesn’t feel that way as Theon gallops his way through the beautiful mountain range. Oh wait, here comes some guys with a mace, two bow and arrows and the same desire that made Deliverance one of the few movies that I’ve turned off. Sure they get shot chalk full of arrows, but it’s a scary moment, made longer by his waiting and sucking air.

The last scene keeps the darkness alive. Though, interestingly, we see the growth that Jamie Lannister has experienced as he’s traveled on the road. He barters to keep Breanne of Tarth from being taken advantage of by a bevy of soldiers. And, if we’ve learned one thing from GOT, it’s that no good deed goes unpunished. Jamie is eventually rewarded for his kindness by a surprise chopping off of his hand, which, as surprises go, is somewhere below Ned’s surprise beheading but not quite what I was expecting. The winter is coming. Things are dark. Keep the swords away from the men.