Game of Thrones - Season 5, Episode 6 - "Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken"

HBO, Game of Thrones, Season 5, Episode 6 - "Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken"

Paul: Now that we're on the back stretch of Game of Thrones' fifth season, the plot and conflicts have picked up dramatically in places. This week's episode, the sixth this season, gave us ample amounts of action (Sand Snakes vs. Bronn & Jaime at the Water Gardens), character combinations (Olenna Tyrell vs. Cersei Lannister), and plot advancement (the Inquest) or exposition (Petyr Baelish, to Cersei), but did it all work? The last ten minutes or so focused solely on the North and, unfortunately, another Westerosi marriage, this time between the Starks and the Boltons. The final scene cemented Andy Greenwald's point about the show's "most exhausting habits: the idea that the most important lessons to learn in life are also the ugliest", but, at this point in the series, do we still need to be reminded as to these lessons?

Chris: I was a bit surprised about Andy Greenwald's reaction as he has spoken positively about every other episode this season. For the most part, I have agreed with him each time. I think every episode this year has been very well done, and that's coming from a book reader that had some misgivings about watching this season (I'm completely over that at this point). I wonder if it's just the ugly scene at the end of this episode that caused this reaction from him.

I tended to agree more with some of his other complaints in his piece criticizing the rush to bring together the Sand Sankes/Bronn and Jaime/Princess Myrcella, etc. We know by now that there is no 'getting through this world unscathed'. Sure, we don't have to be reminded of it anymore, but we can't ignore it either. The final scene was extremely powerful and disturbing in a much more serious way than Game of Thrones usually does disturbing, but what I found most deplorable about it was that it almost focused more on the effect it had on Theon than on Sansa.

I'm curious, do you think the show, the season, and the scene are all too focused on Theon? Especially considering they cut much of his family's back story out of the television show?

Paul: That's a really interesting point, in that un-watchable final scene. I didn't pick it up as "man-splainy" and Theon-centric initially, more as an alternative form of camera work that thankfully saved us from seeing Sophie Turner's anguished expressions, but I can see your point of view. I understand that we, the viewers, need to feel a different sense of danger and evil from Ramsay Snow, compared to the casual sadism of former-King Joffrey, and I wonder how much of our reaction is from the act itself, and how much is because of the participants involved. There are no happy endings in a universe created by George RR Martin and cultivated by Benioff and Weiss, but I can't believe that her time spent as a hostage in King's Landing or at the Eyrie were the only periods of peace and safety for Sansa Stark, since her father died. Put the candle in the window already and hurry up, Stannis.

At this point in the season, I'm most excited for the arrival of winter. The impending snowfall has already spurred the action at Castle Black and served as an impetus for the next round of war, while Cersei's moronic machinations at the Capitol have given the Tyrells no choice but to counter her chess checkers move. It was a brief preview in the trailer for next week's episode but I'm already anticipating a scene between Jonathan Pryce and Diana Rigg, although I badly want to see Highgarden troops marching on the Sept of Baelor. In our TV universe, it seems that after Stannis Baratheon's defeat at the Battle of the Blackwater, the Westerosi warfare has more or less ceased. I'm anxious for that to pick back up again.

I agree with Greenwald in that this week's was, by far, the weakest episode this season, and not just from our final impressions but also due to some inconsistent pacing in other areas of the story. The Sand Snakes thread was never given room or opportunity to develop, and instead seemed secondary to Ellaria Sand's scheming. Whether it's due to her accent this season, or from the pilot episode of the BBC's Luther that I watched recently, but I could do without Indira Varma soaking up screen time, and would much prefer to flesh out the personalities of our (depleted) Sand Snakes or delve into Doran Martell's ambitions. And whether or not it's against Jaime Lannister, I really want to see Areo Hotah use his ax.

Chris: I agree. In particular, Doran Martell has been reduced to two scenes and probably around 15 lines in six episodes. I assume the fact that both the Sand Snakes' and Jaime and Bronn's plots were dashed simultaneously was supposed to speak to Doran Martell's capabilities despite his patience, but it's not all that impressive when they both just happen to walk right into his home at the same time.

But rather than dwell on the negatives in this episode, what about the positives. For me, the scene in Valyria (dragon flyover and Stone Men cliff jump included) was one of the most visually and mentally appealing for me of the seasons. Tyrion's face at the sight of a real live dragon was masterful and hammers home the often forgotten point that the majority of this world would call you crazy if you started speaking to them about Dragons and White Walkers. It was beautifully shot and the awe was the perfect lead in to a terrifying attack at the hands of the Stone Men. For some reason, as a book reader, I was so thoroughly pleased to see the Stone Men not get cut out. It was one of the scenes in the fifth book that stuck with me after my first read.

Combine that with the folklore and mystique that is Valyria, which I never really expected to see in this series, and I was completely on board. The only thing I was nervous of was that the episode was going to end with Tyrion getting dragged underwater and we'd have to wait until next week to see what happened to him.

Season 5, Episode 5 - "Kill the Boy"

Paul: That's how I would have ended last week's episode, rather than prolong the scene and end on the big reveal that Jorah Mormont, a character we're considerably less invested in emotionally than Tyrion, got bit caught the leprosy Greyscale. It's nice to see Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje debut, even if he's more interested in bringing Tyrion to the dwarf cock merchant, and I'm excited for Mormont dueling in the re-opened Fighting Pits in Meereen next week. I had hoped Adebisi/Mr. Eko was the head of a mercenary group on their way to Slaver's Bay, to continue my nihilistic desire to see warfare return to the story.

Last week's moment that you described, with Tyrion seeing a dragon for the first time, should go on Peter Dinklage's Emmy reel this season, and equally struck me as significant to his character arc after his descent into depression following the murder of his father and Shae. It's one thing to live in a world where magic is reawakened, and another to see that effect upon its characters. Anything that gets us back to the sarcastic, congenial Tyrion over the despondent dwarf thus far in Essos. At least we've had Bronn around to provide the jokes and songs this season.

Chris: Bronn and The Queen of Thornes, who is one of the few that can see through Cersei's attempts to pretend to be ruling. I loved that Lady Olenna called Cersei out for 'playing' at ruling by mimicking her father's signature move of writing letters while listening to something he didn't want to hear. So many characters have departed from King's Landing at this point that the show almost has to bring some back including both Lady Olenna and Littlefinger.

King's Landing took a backseat for most of the last two episodes, but some important machinations happened during this week including whatever it is that Littlefinger is up to (I suspect his goal now is to return to Winterfell, become Warden of the North, and claim Sansa as his bride) and the growing power of the High Sparrow after he finds a credible witness to take both Loras and Margaery Tyrell.

I don't think it's a spoiler to say that it's fairly obvious how the growing power of the High Sparrow can be a threat to Cersei in the near future. But I wonder, with the Tyrell siblings in prison and Kevan and Jaime Lannister dispatched from King's Landing, if Cersei should find herself in a predicament, who will fill that power void?  It doesn't seem like anyone with a legitimate claim to power (Stannis, Daenerys) is in a hurry to get to King's Landing. Maybe that danger is farther out than I think.