What's going on guys, Carshmeckle here and the latest episode of Game of Thrones was
a nice little cool down we got from last week's epic "Hold the Door" episode.
While I did enjoy it I did feel that certain scenes went on a little too long and that
the ending was slightly unnecessary.
The one thing I started this notice about this season and I'm sure some of you will
agree with me is that these episodes are way too short for a normal Thrones season.
Way too short.
This episode clocked in at about 50 minutes minus the intro and outro songs and I find
this to be a major problem especially considering a lot of the scenes we've gotten recently
could've had more substance to them.
This wouldn't be a major problem if the show's premiere and finale were over an hour and
thirty minutes but so far that doesn't seem like it'll be the case.
But this episode, as I said, had its moments and did surprise me in terms of progress for
some story lines and some people have commented on how this is the first episode without anybody
dying, minus flashbacks and plays of course.
Comment section back me up on this if its true.
Now with all that out of the way lets get on to it.
First lets start with Bran, Meera and the return of uncle Benjen.
Yes hes finally back and ready to kick ass with his flail that can catch on fire which
I thought was really cool.
I don't know about you guys but I'm always happy when we get to see these awesome medieval
weapons that we haven't seen yet on the show and I love when they're used in cool and interesting
ways.
Bran's scenes this time around were short and a little spazzy with the visions but also
pretty good.
Spazzy because they moved by so fast and you'd literally have to re-wind multiple times or
have a nice quick finger to pause at the right time to catch some sort of glimpse a key pivotal
moments in the Thrones lore.
Some people were complaining about the it not fitting with the tune of the scene but
I did enjoy it.
In the ever so often Hollywood fashion all hope is lost when Meera is running away from
the cave and then Benjen comes and saves them and you automatically knew it was Benjen because
who else could it be.
Now this is where the controversy begins: It's been public for a while now that Coldhands,
the mysterious figure beyond the wall that helps Bran's party in the books is not Benjen.
How do we know?
well because George Martin's editor asked him about in and he said no.
Here is the picture now.
Some people speculate that George was just lying to his editor to get her to stop asking
him questions and others believe that Coldhands and Benjen are two completely different people
but the show didn't want to try and introduce new characters beyond the wall so they said
fuck it and merged the two.
My belief is that Coldhands, in the books, is Benjen but George is doing one of those
things where hes saying that the Benjen we knew is long gone and that this person is
someone else entirely different but has the appearance of Benjen.
Like...it's the Benjen we know but because hes been dead I guess hes just a changed person
so George is referring to him being someone else.
Like what happened with Arya.
The Arya Stark we knew is gone but in her place is "No One".
Yeah I think hes doing something like that but to the review: Benjen comes in and saves
them just in time, of course and we find out that the Raven isn't exactly a person but
a title.
When he told Bran it was time for him to become "me" I guess he meant his job.
Its time for Bran to become what he was all this time.
It seems the mantle of the Three Eyed Raven has been passed down to Bran and with it a
lot of knowledge.
We also learn that in order to stop someone from turning into a wight you'd need to infuse
them with obsidian, much like the ritual to make the Walkers in the first place but something
has been bugging me for quite a while...why did Benjen lead a ranging party to find the
Walkers?
and why did the Children of the Forrest save just him and where was he throughout the entire
events in season 4 when Bran was heading to the cave?
I hope these questions are answered but overall I did enjoy the Bran scenes this time around
and I really did like the return of Benjen and something tells me that when he starts
to lead Bran back to the Wall he he may not follow them through it, which is a shame because
having an undead Stark on their team is every Bolton's worst nightmare.
Moving on to Sam and Gilly and oh look....I have said that without throwing up in my mouth.
No no this time Sam & Gilly actually don't suck and I really did enjoy it mainly because
of his family.
That shot of Horn Hill when they're coming in on the horses was beautiful, I love how
it kinda looks like the Parthenon in Greece but what really stole the scenes for me was
James Faulkner as Randyl Tarly.
Faulkner as Randyl is turning out to be one of the best casting choices the show has made
in quite a while.
He joins the ranks of Charles Dance as Tywin and Sean Bean as Ned Stark in this regard.
Its almost like he was born to play that role.
The silent treatment at dinner, the cold stare and the brutal remarks.
Anybody whose had a shitty father figure in their life knows how that feels and I'm sure
that hit home for a lot of you guys watching.
Men and women.
While a lot of you guys said that it could've been cut down?
I'd disagree and would say that every scene with them was necessary and I wasn't bored
by it.
I did like seeing Gilly in something other than dish rags and Sam's family seemed quite
nice.
I will say it was kind of shitty foreshadowing for them to write in Randyl's lines towards
the of dinner: "Sam you're a fat bitch.
By the way that sword over there?
its valyrian steel and no longer yours so fuck you and get out".
It was a little obvious that Sam would've taken it and I can't wait to see his face
when he sees that it's gone.
But At this point, however, I can't see where Sam & Gilly are going to next considering
he'll be on the run from his father but I'm actually excited to see how that'll play out.
Hopefully he starts his training in OldTown by the end of this season.
But like I said, I did enjoy Sam & Gilly this episode and I hope they continue to be interesting
and meet new characters along the way that allow Sam's character to shine.
Moving on to King's Landing which I thought could've been cut down a little and I wasn't
really invested in it this time around as much as I wanted to be.
Seeing Margaery being all religious is definitely weird but at the same time I know it's all
an act to help get her brother out of there.
I like that we finally get to see the Tyrell army and their unique armor, which every house
already has, but they ended up doing nothing which disappointed the hell out of me.
Not only that but Tommen is turning out to be the new Olly because holy shit kid...you
fucking suck but I think there is a reason behind it this time which I will get into
in a minute.
What I mostly found fucked up in this episode was Jaime being let go of the Kingsguard by
Tommen because we all know how much it meant to him.
In season 4 Jaime declines being the Lord of Casterly Rock mainly because he wanted
to do his best at his current position.
He wants to fill the white book of brothers with heroic deeds and accomplishments while
he was still a Kingsguard and it's sad to see that it can't happen anymore and I feel
for Jaime because he doesn't deserve this but I think hes just a casualty of a bigger
plan.
As for the High Sparrow, he is shaping up to be a great character and player in the
King's Landing political arena but at the same time I feel like the show is executing
this a little late in the season.
While I love Jonathan Pryce as the High Sparrow I feel like his character is just being used
to lengthen the King's Landing scenes with speech after speech after speech.
What I did like, however, is by sparing Margaery he sent the biggest fuck you to Cersei by
not letting her do the walk of atonement.
He was also able to get Tommen and the Kingsguard on his side but I think there is more to this
and follow me here...if done correctly?
this'll be the biggest comeback we've ever seen from Cersei.
There was a scene several episodes back when Tommen and Cersei have a discussion in private
and we never get to see what the contents are about.
My theory here is that Cersei and Tommen are playing the High Sparrow by letting him think
hes converted Tommen and the Kingsguard over to the Faith and just then, in that moment,
when his guard is down and he thinks hes pulled one over on Cersei?
she comes back at him in full force and annihilates all of them.
As for Jaime being let go of the Kingsguard?
well that was needed so the High Sparrow can feel like hes won.
It should all be about making the enemy feel like they have the upper hand and then swiftly
pulling the rug from under them for a deadly strike.
Personally if I was on the show's writing team? that's what I would do.
Make the audience think that the tiring old troupe of Tommen being a weak, naive little
push over was happening again and in the end?
we come to see that he isn't naive but he was playing the game.
The audience has come to expect Tommen to be such a wimp at this point so I hope the
show runners surprise us in the end by all this being Cersei's master plan and Tommen
is in on it and assisting her with it.
And the reason I think this is Cersei's master plan is mainly because...when Jaime was removed
from Kingsguard and he was telling her how the High Sparrow has his claws in Tommen?
she kept a calm and collective head.
She also actively encouraged Jaime to go to the Riverlands and secure Riverrun for a certain
reason which I won't go into right now considering its very spoilery but Cersei just seemed way
too cool with all of this and I wouldn't be too surprised if she'll end up getting her
revenge and the episode playing out with the rains of castamere like it always does.
Now I forget who said this but I agree with the statement that...It's nice to see Masie
Williams actually do something on the show than repeat the same lines over and over again.
In Bravos Arya doesn't go through with the assassination of Lady Crane and I want to
call your attention to something that I didn't notice in my first view of the episode.
When Arya and Lady Crane were talking about how the Queen would've reacted completely
different I kept thinking "Arya knows Cersei so well" but I was wrong.
When Arya was giving the actress her thoughts on what would've really happened....
she wasn't talking about Cersei she was talking about herself and that really hit home for
me.
She was talking about how much she loved her father, and how she never got to say goodbye
and how she wouldn't cry but she'd want to kill all the people who did those things to
her.
That's the moment when she realized she could never truely be "No One" and you could tell.
Soon after this the Waif notices that Arya doesn't go through with it and reports back
to Jaqen who orders Arya to be taken cared of.
Now heres the thing: Jaqen's not an idiot.
Even though he follows the assassin's creed and way of life he also knows Arya quite well
considering he was the one conversing with her about the target and sensed she had some
reservation to killing Lady Crane.
My theory here is that Jaqen sent her on that mission knowing fully well that she wouldn't
be able to go through with it all to give Arya her final test.
Survive the Waif who, in my opinion, has grown a little too cocky for her own good.
I think this is further backed by Jaqen saying "make sure she doesn't suffer" when he knows
fully well that the Waif doesn't like Arya and hasn't from the very beginning.
My guess is that Arya will either kill the Waif and escape Bravos back to Westeros or
after she kills the Waif, Jaqen will come out of nowhere and congratulate on passing
the test.
I can't see Arya being killed off by the Faceless Men so easily but then again they're good
at what they do so it's not impossible.
For those of you a little frustrated that Arya's time as an assassin was too brief and
the pacing was a bit off?
please check out the books where they go into much detail about it and even offers some
surprises on her character.
And no I'm not trying to be some kind of jerk trying to sell you something but I feel like
her time in the House of Black & White was a little too short for it to end as her being
a rogue this quickly.
But regardless, I really did enjoy the Arya stuff this episode, I love Maise Williams,
she is an amazing actress and I'm really excited to see where this will go and how their confrontation
will play out.
And before we get to Dany lets check over with Walder Frey.
Now It was a very short scene but its main purpose is to set up the return of Blackfish
Tully taking back Riverrun.
For those of you who don't remember Bryden Tully, also known as the Blackfish is the
uncle of Catelyn and Edmure Tully and hes been missing ever since the Red Wedding.
In the show it's been about a year since the Red Wedding took place but we, the audience,
haven't seen him in about 3 years
so I do like the fact that the show is giving us these characters again.
It makes the world of Game of Thrones seem all that bigger.
Now all we need is Gendry and Quathie and we'll be all set.
This scene was a little too short for my taste, its main purpose is to set up the next episode
and bring in a new story line focusing on the inner conflicts in the Riverlands.
While I did enjoy it, it did leave me wanting more and according to the next episode teaser
we will be getting a full blown scene with both House Tully, Lannister and Frey which
I'm really excited for.
And finally we have Dany over in the Dothraki sea.
The scene started okay but ended a little weird and it was just missing something for
me.
While I like that shes finally going to head over to Westeros and shes bringing the dothraki
with her I feel like that entire ending and her getting on Drogon's back was just unnecessary
and kind of lame.
I don't know about you guys but I feel like we don't need her to yell how much of a badass
she is anymore.
Not only that but I almost feel bad for the Dothraki who're probably just yelling along
with her so she doesn't have the dragon eat them all.
To me that ending felt out of place and they could've put in Arya and needle which I feel
would be a much better closing scene.
Some people say it was cringe worthy but maybe thats not the right word...for me I think
the word would be "random" and "out of nowhere".
Also...what the hell was the whole "how many ships do we need" "Um about a thousand ships"
NAAAH....HOW FUCKING convenient for Euron.
It almost seems like he and Daario are working together but I think that'd be way too stupid
but at the same time...this is coming from the guys who were completely okay with them
writing in "bad pussy" and putting it in the show so anything's possible.
I still think Daario is a bad guy here but I do wonder...if he is how will he maneuver
around her dragons.
But to the point, I think the main issue I have with Dany these past couple of seasons
is just her character becoming stale for me in the sense that it's the same thing every
season for her.
It's almost like they've run out of ideas and things for her to do and thats getting
boring for me because they never write in any flaws for the character.
Shes a little too perfect and its a far cry from the book version where in one chapter
she has a terrible case of diarrhea.
Say what you want about George but the son of a bitch knows how to keep his characters
real and fresh.
But overall I liked the episode, minus the that ending and some of the High Sparrow scenes
I quite enjoyed it.
Bran's scenes with Benjen was great and the flashbacks, if you managed to catch some of
them, were a nice touch.
I think Arya really took the spotlight this episode and her story line was the most interesting.
The episode was, in a way, a little slow with almost nothing going on but I'm okay with
that because on occasion we need things to slow down and set things up for the next series
of episodes.
And no this isn't a slight against a certain person this is how i genuinely feel but people
think the show is just suppose to have "WTF Moments" at every turn but I do enjoy when
it calms down a bit and gives us more time to breath and enjoy the characters...as long
as they aren't being repetitive in their story lines.
My one issue with the season so far, other than the episodes being incredibly short and
them not giving characters enough to do, are the speeches.
Everybody's making a goddamn speech now a days.
Season 6 is the season of speeches.
Dany's making one, Jon's making one.
That high sparrow, don't even get me started on this fucking guy.
At this point hes not even made of flesh and bones hes just made of words.
But like I said I did like it.
So far the episodes, minus the premiere, have been pretty good and hopefully it continues.
Now I hate to cut the video short but the episode itself was very short but I'd love
to know what you guys thought of it.
Make sure to hit that like and subscribe button if you enjoyed and I'll see you all next time.
Baba Booey