Game of Thrones: Episode 8 – The Pointy End
I really love how the events of GoT are really coming to a boil now, but in the same breath it really bums me out that there are only two episodes left. It makes it a bit easier to know that the second season is already green lit, but the real question is when will it air? Will we have to wait a year? I really hope not. I suppose I shouldn’t get ahead of myself though. Let’s get through these next couple and see where it takes us. This week’s episode took us all over the map. Literally.
King’s Landing
This week starts in King’s Landing with Arya in the middle of her dancing lesson with Syrio. While she’s learning the fine art of sword play, her father’s men are getting acquainted with the pointy end of Lannister swords. Ned, who has now been branded as a traitor is being held prisoner in the dungeons. He’s visited by Varys, who was kind enough to bring him something to drink, but won’t help him out of his predicament. He did however bring Ned up to speed on what was happening.
With all of Ned’s men dead or in the process of becoming dead, Sansa and Arya are left unprotected and guards came to collect each of them. Sansa was cornered by the Hound as she was scurrying back to her quarters, and Arya was confronted by a host of guards during her lesson with Syrio. This part showed what a badass Syrio really is. He sent her away and laid the smack down on all but one of the guards. As Arya makes her escape, we last see Syrio confronting the final guard with a broken wooden sword, hopefully telling Death, “not today.”
Arya makes her way to the stables and finds all of her belongings next to Ned’s dead men. After she found Needle, she proceeded to follow the instructions Jon gave her when he gifted the sword to her by sticking someone with the pointy end. That someone being a young boy who would have turned her in.
Sansa was taken before the queen and was instructed to write a letter to her family members telling them to come to the KL and swear fealty to King Joffrey. She does as she’s instructed, and also begs for mercy for her father in front of the court. Oh Sansa. Her undying devotion to Joffrey just grates my last nerve. It was around this part of the book that I wanted to reach into the pages and slap her face off. I felt the same watching this episode.
Winterfell
Meanwhile up north at Winterfell, Robb receives the message from Sansa and orders a call to arms. He tells Maester Luwin to summon the banner men, for they will be heading south. Theon actually seemed surprised by this act and asks Robb if he’s scared. When Robb confirms that he is, Theon says that’s good, because it means he’s not stupid.
Once the banner men assembled, Robb was met with resistance. During a confrontation the surly detractor ended up losing two digits to Grey Wind. Instead of howling in pain at the loss of two fingers, he simply laughed it off and agreed to support Robb. Because that’s how they roll up there in the North.
We actually got to a little bit of Bran this week as he was seeking comfort at the Gods Tree. Osha showed up and told him that the Gods hear him and are answering him in the form of the wind, he just has to learn to listen. Bran keeps having that crazy three-eyed crow dream, which seems to hold some meaning so perhaps he’s got some sort of gift? Osha then tells Bran that instead of heading South, Robb and his men really need to head North instead. What lies beyond the Wall is a worse threat that what anyone can imagine. Me thinks this is a bit of foreshadowing for next season. Hmmmm??
Robb wakes Bran in the middle of the night to say goodbye to him before he heads out to rain holy hell down on the Lannisters. Bran, of course wants to go, but Robb tells him that there must always be a Stark in Winterfell and now that burden has fallen to Bran.
In Between
Catelyn also got word of Ned’s imprisonment and goes to Lysa for help. Lysa refuses, telling her sister that her only concern is caring for her son. It’s at this point that Catelyn takes her leave of the Vale and heads to meet up with Robb. You can see that Catelyn is concerned for the burden that has been placed on Robb in his father’s absence. She wants to protect him, but knows that his time to man up is now so she keeps her fears to herself. In a private moment between the two, she makes it clear to him of what will happen should they fail. Robb replies that the only thing to do is defeat the Lannisters.
Tyrion and Bronn have left The Eryie, but are still travelling by foot through the Vale when they are surrounded by the local mountain clans. With some fast talking and promises of gold and weapons, Tyroin not only manages to walk away with his life but Bronn’s as well. And he’s got some new friends to take into battle, so bonus!
Tryoin shows up with his entourage at his father’s doorstep and tells him that he brought warriors to the cause and that he has promised them payment, and that a Lannister always pays his debts. Tywin agrees to the deal, even though part of that deal has Tyrion fighting alongside the clans. Not quite the deal Tyrion was going for, but now he’s in it. With the pending war that is brewing each side is going to need every man they can get.
The Wall
Things are getting creepy at the Wall as the owner of the hand that Ghost found last week is brought back to Castle Black along with another poor soul who lost his life. The two bodies look frozen solid, but it’s Sam who points out that since there is no stench, they must not have been dead for very long. Jon’s idea was to burn them right away, but Commander Mormont wanted to have the bodies examined first.
After a confrontation with Thorne, Jon was confined to his quarters when Ghost started to have a conniption at the door. Turns out burning those bodies would have been a good idea since letting them sit gave one of them the opportunity to reanimate and go after the Commander. After trying to dispatch the zombie-fied corpse with a sword, Jon finally succeeded by lighting it on fire. It seems Osha was right….there are some scary things beyond the Wall.
Vaes Dothrak (and beyond)
Holding true to his promise to Dany of heading West to get her the throne, Khal Drogo and Co. are raping and pillaging their way to the coast. Apparently all of this raping and pillaging is so that they can buy boats to ferry them all to Westeros, but Dany really doesn’t care much for the raping part. She wields her Khalessi and demands the men to stop raping the women and she claims them all for herself. Some of the Dothraki men don’t like this idea at all and they take it to Drogo. After hearing her side of the story and then….gasp….taking her side, one of the men throws some insults and challenges at Drogo. Bad mistake. Drogo shows his manliness by leaning into the guy’s blade right before he slits the offenders throat and pulls out his tongue….through his throat. Awesome. Gives a whole new meaning to the term “hold your tongue”.
But now Drogo has an injury and one of the women that Dany saved claims to be a healer. While the other men call her a witch, she convinced Dany that she’s got the skills needed to patch up Drogo and make him better. I guess we’ll see about that eh?
So that pretty much wraps it up for this week. Will Joffrey show Ned mercy? Will Drogo’s little wound turn into something worse and will that “healer” have a part in it? Stay tuned next week for another recap.
One bit of interest…..this episode was written by the man himself. George R.R. Martin stepped in to take the reins and was able to package a whole lot of stuff into a short amount of time. I’m curious to see if he had a hand in the final two episodes as well.
Tags: Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin, HBO, Lannisters, Starks, Winterfell
