Game of Thrones: The Gift

                If last week’s episode of Thrones  was a rather ignoble turn for the show then this week’s episode, “The Gift,” was a reminder of just how high this television show is capable of soaring. In every season of Thrones the disparate elements start to come together like tributaries flowing down towards the sea. In, “The Gift,” the picture of the season’s final episodes started to grow in size, making the connections between episodes and storylines explicit as opposed to random. The producers choose wisely, focusing on first on stories in the North, which are now woven together as threads on a loom, so the pattern is starting to come clear. 

                The battle for the North is almost in full swing and the participants are marshalling their forces by either skinning women or trying to keep their children alive. Yes, this is still the world of Game of Thrones. Ser Davos cancels patience to Stannis, who, probably rightly, refuses him, noting that the winter may last a decade, leaving Stannis alone. Much like at Blackwater, a seemingly non-fortuitous event, wildfire in Blackwater, a snowstorm north of Winterfell,  leaves Stannis grasping at straws. Two episodes ago we saw the most touching scene in the history of Thrones, Stannis reminding his daughter why he loved her so deeply. Well, love doesn’t come cheaply. In this episode Melisandre asks for the blood of his daughter to insure victory. Stannis, to his credit, and yes he becomes more likeable each week, refuses her. Never have I been more anxious for Gendry the bumbling black smith to show up and bleed a little. 

                South of there at Winterfell Ramsey the erstwhile hobbit torturer is abusing poor Sansa, keeping her locked away until his evening desires take hold. After last week’s episode, it wasn’t shocking to see Sansa in bad straights, though it was nice to see her trying to take control of her life by telling Reek that his true name was Theon. Unfortunately for Sansa, which is basically a footnote to the whole show, Theon is not yet Theon, as I think we’re all aware he will finally be, and so he reports her, and her friend in the North is flayed. Seeing an old woman tortured and nailed up isn’t new frontier for Thrones or Ramsey, and I am beginning to question how many more scenes of Ramsey’s violence we really need before he receives his comeuppance, but the show runners are betting a lot on this character, certainly too much. 

                It’s not entirely clear why Brienne can’t just go pay a quick visit to Sansa, but for some reason she’s waiting for a light that will be hard to turn on with Ramsey Bolton taking his dinners in the tower where the Stark family’s problems began. Sansa does gain one bit of hope, her brother, Jon Snow, now Lord Commander of the Knight’s Watch. 

                Up North of Stannis and Winterfell Jon sets sail to find the last of the free folk—apparently trying to convince them to come south to help fight white walkers and farm instead of hanging out drinking, carousing and sleeping together as they have been. Interestingly, especially in light of last week’s blundering rape, the episode up north focuses on Samuel Tarley and Gilly. They watch the sad death of Amon Taergaeryn and Sam is warned by the acting Lord commander that his friends are now dwindling. Perhaps Stannis was right about keeping enemies further away. Better yet, behead them. From there an attempted rape begins but is stopped by Sam and Ghost, one of the remaining dire wolves. And, in one of the best flips of traditional narratives that we’ve seen on Thrones, Gilly takes Sam’s virginity, climbing aboard him as he winces and says wow. If Thrones often puts women in preposterous situations, it also occasionally empowers them. Yes, Sam wants Gilly, but he’s never going to ask. And so giving her the power over that decision, even if it does come after his face getting beat in, does give her the power that she’s always held in their relationship. 

                In and around Mereen, Dany is wasting away her nights in bed with a warrior poet who keeps advising her to kill all the masters. If anything was clumsier about this season than others, it’s that the stories, Cersei going to prison, Dany probably killing the masters have been a bit more obvious. At its best, Thrones has been a non-stop and confusing thrill ride for non-book readers. This season’s march to trouble has felt a bit more inexorable. That said, the threads slowly being woven together over the course of ten episodes is as impressive as ever, especially with the world building that was necessary this season. 

                In a scene reminiscent of Gladiator, Ser Jorah, arrives in the fighting pits to once more impress his Khaleesi. In this encounter, Jorah, disarms everyone rather than engaging in violence. And, though she denies him, Tyrion appears on the scene to help him keep his head. It’s clear that Jorah is headed to the fighting pits in Mereen, and that the master’s may be in a bit of trouble. It’s also clear that the fighting pits cannot remain open in perpetuity, as the violence alarms Dany, making her claim of justice seem less potent. 

                As I said, the true harvest is finally being reaped in King’s Landing. Cersei is finally confronted with her deception with Lancel Lannister, leading her to the dungeons with Margery and Ser Loras. It’s unclear how much of the city supports the faith, though. It’s unclear why gold cloaks and King’s Guard aren’t around while this club wielding brigands are imprisoning the royal family. That said, this has always been the conclusion of Cersei’s story with the faith. And of course it’s a nice turn that Petry brings about her down fall, providing Olenna with some ammunition in her fight against the Lannisters.  I’m not clear though on where this ends, one of the pleasures of Thrones, which was denied in some other ways, is that it’s unclear what the fates are of Margery, Cersei, and Tommen. One can only hope that they are bound to Lady Olenna and her famously sharp tongue. The faith are not as interesting a foil as Tywin Lannister, and so the unraveling isn’t as satisfying or as shocking. It’s not been made clear enough why the Lannister’s and Tyrell’s lack teeth in the face of this enemy. It seems to me that the people have had many more reasons to rise up, particularly during the brief and ignoble reign of Joffrey Baratheon, but maybe that’s the point, this sort of insurrection has been brewing for a while. 

                In Dorne, Bronn gets to show off his singing chops before being brought to his knees by the poison from one of Oberyn’s daughter’s spears. In true GOT fashion, she opens her shirt to help him understand just how helpless he is against the poison, or in this case, a woman’s body.  Bronn is brought back to life by her antidote, the second time in the episode that a woman has dominated a scene, first with Sam and then with Bronn. And that’s the tough trap with Thrones yes? Powerful women and disenfranchised women mixed together, Cersei and Sansa and Dany on the same show.

This week’s episode is a promise of where we’re going. But more importantly, it was a reminder that the journey can be worth it.