It's rare that I get to use my MFA in creative writing, so explicitly, but after this episode of GOT, it feels appropriate. One of the many cliches that also annoyingly have the sound of truth that you hear when getting a Master's in creative writing is to go where the "heat" is in your story. The point is that the characters that you should spend the most time bringing to life are precisely those characters that already have life in them. I have other cliches, but I want to save them up because that degree wasn't as lucrative as I hoped it would be.
For GOT, the heat has always been in King's Landing, and I don't just mean the sunny weather and whorehouse. It's part of why I've argued that Brann's storyline should be cut or greatly truncated. It's why, after an initial explosion with Dany and a nice season for Jon Snow they're both mired behind very large walls where not much changes. The real interesting intrigue, even when they set forth like Littlefinger or The Hound always arises in King's Landing. The real secret there is that the storylines involve multiple characters with a multitude of convergences and differences in desires and demands. Essentially, as the old facebook status says, It's complicated.
And, just to test that theory, the introduction of Oberyn has proved it to be true. From his first lengthy sexposition, multiple meanings, to his last stirring speech to Tyrion, he's been working his way towards the heart of the rot in King's Landing. Certainly Twyin's assertion that even the Lannister's can't pay their debts means it runs deep.
For all my talk of GOT's exposition, sexposition, and general wordiness in order to get across major plot points, occasionally things happen. This particular episode was the sort of episode where things were starting to happen. And I'd submit that some of the sorts of things that were happening were made more significant or pleasing because they weren't someone taking a sword through the mouth, but someone having a wound stitched, or a life affirmed. I don't know that GOT has any great need to please the audience by having these sorts of things. The most popular show on television is about zombies and GOT is about money, nihilism and the destruction that war brings to people on the margins. And yet, I found myself satisfied with this week's episode, in part because it was easy to see things starting to come together for the good guys. Believe it or not, in less the White Walkers really are running a very friendly and affordable day care as I speculated a few weeks ago, I'm kind of pulling for the people in King's Landing.
It's pleasing to be right about things, even if book readers already knew them. And the opening scene involving Jaime and Tyrion proved what I suspected to be true: it wasn't going to be one of the usual suspects. In the long term, the revelation that Jaime can't beat a stable boy is interesting as is the rather neat and pleasurable undoing of Tywin's plan to get a proper heir. The moment that I'll point to is the one where Jaime said, "Careful, I'm your last friend in the world," was both touching and sad. And, as we discover later, true nearly from birth.
From there Tyrion interviews Bronn, who, surprise! to no one, is in better straits than when Tyrion left him. He's getting married and planning on murdering his wife's older sister. He's a good man, and I hope the show doesn't lose track of him entirely.
In the meantime we've been reintroduced to the new version of the mountain. A six foot 9 strongman from a northern country who enjoys hacking people to bits. This plot point, though perhaps predictable, the minute Oberyn stepped onto the council it was clear he was going to be on Tyrion's side one way or another, brought nice verisimilitude to the episode, which included the confession of his brother, Sandor Clegane, to Arya about the way his face was burned. Spoiler: it was, Gregor, the mountain, who once was protected by his father and is now protected by Tywin.
As I pointed out in my previous post, even without the Mountain arriving on the scene, it seemed clear that Oberyn would be Tyrion's champion. However, what wasn't clear was how he would get there. The scene was designed and acted beautifully. Peter Dinkleage thinking about how exactly he'll die or hack at Gregor's knee is saved twice over in his conversation with Oberyn. Oberyn relates a story to Tyrion about being present at his birth. Oberyn tells a clearly bewildered and stung Tyrion how everyone, Cersei included, told him that the new baby was a monster, how he expected claws and teeth and red eyes. However, when Tyrion was revealed, after Cersei apparently tried to pinch off his penis until Jaime stopped her, he told her, "That is not a monster, that is just a baby." In one stroke Oberyn banishes the hatred of Cersei and confirms the one thing Tyrion knows that he's on trial for, being different. It's a heartfelt scene and it's believable that Oberyn is the bringer of justice.
Out East the meandering of Dany and her theoretical dragons continued. Though, full credit to the show runners for Dany telling Daario to do what he does best followed by, "take off your pants." It's nice to see the women in Westeros occasionally running the show. I'm not sure why Daario started the scene with flowers when he could have been strumming a lute, but that's a story for another day. After sending Daario off to kill every master, Dany changes her mind when Sir Jorah visits her and gives her a small lesson in justice. Though I don't mind the love triangle between young and old, Dany's story has ground to a precipitous halt, and all momentum gathered from dragons and eunuch soldiers is going to be squandered soon.
The other erstwhile hero, Jon Snow, is also mired in a campaign that he can't win, bravely pouting when his plan to flood the tunnel is turned down. Has anyone ever looked so aggrieved as Jon Snow? And he has to put his wolf away. Whatever momentum was gathered North of the wall in the last season has also ground to a halt, and we're now waiting for the two hero archetypes, Dany and Jon Snow to lead people to victory, except, they are not nearly as interesting as any of the Lannisters. I don't know what this will mean for the long term plotting of the show, but it's worth keeping an eye on.
The story of Podrick and Brienne continued with a brief visit from "Hot-Pad" or whatever, giving them the rather large clue that Arya is still alive and on her way to the Eyrie. If this is going to end with Brienne fighting The Hound, I'm out. He's bared his soul, and I'm rooting for him as much as anyone. I'm also assuming that Podrick's sexual prowess has reached all the way out to Eyrie, and I doubt Petyr is going to let his newfound love, Sansa, anywhere near him.
We got to see Melisandre, (who is fast replacing Danerys in the minds of teenage boys as the best part about GOT) taking a leisurely bath before assuring Stannis' wife that they'd need to bring her daughter along on the voyage, which can only mean one thing: to kill her. I don't know how this is going to end, but I'm assuming that it doesn't go well for Davos.
The other story that finally became touching in the way that I've been wanting for weeks was that of Arya and the Hound. She finally starts listening to him, granted it involves stabbing someone in the heart, but at least she has her listening ears turned down. But more significantly, we get a bit of character development, as the Hound relates how he got the burn on his face. This detail, it was his older brother, is what makes this episode feel more contained than some and in a good way. The structure of this portion felt right, and the scene of Arya cleaning and stitching, (though I'm not sure about the cleaning portion. Don't be afraid to really clean it out Arya) is a nice counterpoint to the scene with Oberyn and Tyrion. Here are two complicated people banding together.
The last portion of the story takes place at the Eyrie, which, does anyone live at the Eyrie. It appears to be only Lysa and Robyn until Petyr and Sansa came along. And even after the four of them are living there, it appears to be only them, but it's also one of those places where someone is always watching you, or coming up on you in a corridor. In short, it's a creepy place and the queen is bat shit crazy. Exactly the sort of woman you don't want watching you kiss her husband from a creepy place above the wall.
Robyn Arryn's love of flying things foreshadows his own mother's long flight to a quick death, with Petyr, now installed as regent of the realm. He's a quick Tyrion death and a shotgun wedding to Sansa away from being in control of most of the north. I'm just hoping he invites a few other people to live with him in the Eyrie, and maybe does some redecorating as well, or flies his stepson or something. Maybe he can fly him all the way back to King's Landing, where all the interesting stories reside.
No comments:
Post a Comment