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Game of Thrones: Blood of My Blood

"Are you with me? Now and always?

Family reunions, impressive-looking armies and, hey, Bran has a new job! Welcome to Games of Thrones episode six, 'Blood of My Blood.' Oh, and this show looks so very pretty these days.

Northerly

The return of Uncle Benjen! Wow, what a surprise to see him after such a long, and curious absence, too. And just in the nick of time, as things were looking pretty treacherous for Bran and Meera. Great makeup on Joseph Mawle, too. He looked convincingly haunting in his half-animated, half-dead state. (That cool blue light, characteristic of the North, didn't hurt either.) Loved Bran's acid trip download of the Mad King et al. Nothing says you've got the job quite like a string of upsetting images burned into your brain for eternity! Those Starks sure can't avoid their greatness.

The Lannisters... and Margaery... and the High Sparrow

The Lannisters, however, aren't faring so well. Poor Jaime, sent away despite his best efforts, really did try to align with all of the right people to turn things around but the separation of church and state is not in the cards. (I'm choosing to ignore the plot hole here that if this theatrical standoff could have happened at all, why did it take so damn long.) As an aside, I'm missing more screen time with Lena Headey, this season. Creepy make-out scenes with her brother notwithstanding. The High Sparrow and Tommen aren't exhibiting anything new or different, but what about the new softer Margaery! (I should quickly state my bias now that my love for Natalie Dormer knows no bounds and this is my favorite character she has played to date.) Margaery is the embodiment of that woman who looks at you quasi-blankly and blinks her eyes a few times for good measure, who's also planning to murder you in your sleep. She is a devious magnet and I love it. Back to the High Sparrow, his earnest-as-hell 'No totally, I will totally die a martyr' but actually will instead form a sneaky pact with Tommen and Margaery makes that character excellent to watch. Even though I kind of groan with every scene that involves the Faith Militant, Jonathan Pryce is having the time of his life. Bless.


A girl

If even bad press is good press, maybe the Lannisters are doing better than I think. The play about Joffrey's death nailed too many things to list but it was fantastic on every level, and Arya laughing throughout only added to it. Very intriguing, this budding relationship between Lady Crane and Arya. In some ways these scenes, for me, were among the most compelling this week. There's just a lot there to mine, I suspect. It's actually the first time in awhile I have been interested Arya's story. I hope her exit from the House of Black and White is swift and easy, with Needle by her side.

Is this an okay time to add that I love her hair?
Horn Hill

I practically cheered out loud for Sam and his courageous decision! Heartsbane, indeed. I never doubted Gilly could hold her own in most situations, but the dreaded 'meet my mom and dad' shook out even better than I could have imagined. She didn't even flinch with Randyll's escalating verbal cruelty. This storyline is moving at a nice clip, too. There's a tension with the lack of safety and ease these three have ahead of them. They're such good people, too. I sense most viewers are rooting them on.


A khal

Best family reunion all night? Dany and Drogon! You guys, every wide shot in that scene looked like a painting – good lord, I realize it was because CGI but it looked great. Dany really knows how to make an entrance though. She suitably fired (ha) everyone up and is easily amassing the most awesome army on the planet, of all time. Because of course she is. It's going to be very exciting to see these next few pieces fall into place.

Dany angry.
Grumpkins and Snarks:

"The dead don't rest."

Jack Bender did a wonderful job directing with 'Blood of My Blood.' Smooth, pretty, well-acted and the action was very well-done.

"I'm angry that horrible people can treat good people like that and get away with it."

You know who is also having the time of his life?


Do you wanna drool over the lighting and framing for a moment?




Three out of four grown-up Drogons.

Reminder: The comments on these episode reviews are appropriate for newbies. If you haven't read the books, you're safe! If you have read the books and would like to talk about upcoming events, please do so in our Season Six book spoiler thread.

4 comments:

  1. I really wanted to mention how the Waif is like Roz from 9 to 5 but in the interest of GoT fandom, I held back. :)

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  2. I was really excited to see Dany on the dragon. But I sort of feel like we've seen this plot before: she doesn't catch fire, she develops a horde of her own, she has a plan, people are impressed by dragons.

    Poor Samwell. It's a testament to his good nature, and his mother's, that he managed to come out of House Tarly a nice person rather than an evil jerk.

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  3. This felt like, a really good, episode of moving the chess-pieces around a little bit again.

    I have a question - did Tommen, now, change his royal sigil?

    And another thing - Cersei has, off and on, talked about how she's not worried about her trial since it'll be a trial by combat. I have a very strong feeling that there either won't be a trial by combat at all - or that the mountain is going to lose, maybe even big time (seeing as how he's been so set up as a totally unbeatable hulk).

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  4. The Kingsguard were wearing a new symbol - like a crown on the seven-pointed star of the church. So much for separation of church and state in Westeros, I guess.

    I should mention, though, that I don't believe Margery's "conversion" is sincere, and I don't believe she's just going to let the abuse she suffered slide. The High Sparrow will get what's coming to him sooner or later.

    ReplyDelete

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