Spoiler, spoiler everywhere.
After hitting a peak last episode, Game of Thrones settles into a rhythm with the third instalment of season six.
We begin at the end. Jon Snow came gasping back to life at the end of ‘Home’. If his resurrection was not enough of a Jesus allegory, Jon plays his own doubting Thomas as he sits up and touches his stab wounds to make sure he was indeed murdered.
(giphy.com)
From the wildings to the men of the Night’s Watch, everyone is stunned by his comeback. An astonished and emotional Dolourous Edd is relieved that Jon’s eyes are still brown. Minus points for that White Walker theory.
Once again, Ser Davos gets the best lines of the episode and echoes the sentiments of all fans, “that's completely fucking mad, seems to me.” Indeed. When an unmoored Jon is not sure what to do next, Davos urges him to “clean shit up”.
(hbo.com)
On the other hand, Melisandre’s shaken faith in her Lord of Light gets a new lease of life with Jon’s return. Her first question, like mine would have been, is “What did you see when you were gone?” Unfortunately, death hasn’t helped. Jon still knows nothing. Melisandre, however, now believes it’s Jon and not Stannis, who is the fulfilment of the prophecy, that he’s “come back for a reason”. Since her resurrection worked, that’s one point in favour of the ‘Jon Snow is Azor Ahai reborn’ theory.
Meanwhile, we see Sam and Gilly for the first time. They’re on a ship to the Citadel in Oldtown but the plan seems to be to get Gilly and her son to Sam’s home in Horn Hill first.
(hbo.com)
Cut to Bran on another vision-mission with the Three-Eyed Raven. This time at the Tower of Joy. This is the spot where Ned Stark famously defeated Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning. Except, that story went a little differently in reality which Bran now gets to witness. He sees that unlike the tale he was told, his father did not defeat Dayne but instead almost died at his hand. Ned is saved by Howard Reed, Meera’s father, who stabs Dayne in the back and kills him. (Side note: Young Ned Stark looks like the love child of Orlando Bloom and Neil Patrick Harris. Yes, he does.)
(hbo.com)
Fans who’ve been eagerly waiting for the Tower of Joy scene will be a tad disappointed as Killjoy-Raven once again cuts this short so Bran doesn’t get lost in the past. Strangely enough, Bran doesn’t seem to know that his aunt Lyanna is inside the tower. But this is one of the ways Game of Thrones draws you in. George RR Martin tells the story through multiple points of view. What adds intrigue to an already intricately woven plot is that he sets up pivotal scenes from the past little by little, a slightly different version from each character. This finally adds up to an overall understanding of what happened while still leaving us uncertain of key details of the event. Each version is coloured by the motives and allegiances of the character. So if Bran knows one version of what happened at Tower of Joy, then Littlefinger knows another and Daenerys knows yet another. This is how this universe is spawning tonnes of fan theories.
(hbo.com)
Daenerys finally reaches Vaes Dothrak but is not getting much respect despite the revered status of a widowed khaleesi. The dosh khaleen remember her from when she ate a stallion’s heart while she was pregnant with Khal Drogo’s son. However, her punishment for not coming to them directly after his death is that the khals will now sit in judgement of her. This is all set-up for her to finally come out on top and add another army to her collection, right? RIGHT?
(hbo.com)
In Mereen, the local rebellion continues to wreak havoc. This time, Tyrion gets a break from some heavy lifting and attempts making small talk with Missandei and Grey Worm. The dragons seem to have been an easier task. Speaking of which, no explanation yet as to why they didn’t roast him (*Secret Targaryen*). In fact, no mention of dragons at all.
Varys is back to being the Master of Whisperers and finds out that the masters of Astapor, Yunkai and Volantis have been funding the Sons of Harpies. War is coming to Mereen and probably before Daenerys.
(hbo.com)
In King’s Landing, Qyburn takes over the vacancy Varys left behind. He takes on Varys’ ‘little birds’ as his own eyes and ears in the city. A great relief, given that the photos we saw earlier seemed to suggest sinister experiments. Cersei wants this network of child spies to spread across Westeros. “If someone’s looking to make our losses their gains, I want to know about it.”
(hbo.com)
The Lannister Twins are back in form now after bonding over Myrcella’s death. (Look at them walk. That needs its own theme song). They crash the small council meeting presided over by self-appointed Hand to the King, Kevan Lannister. You’ll remember him from his tiff with Cersei last season after which he left King’s Landing in a huff. Among the old faces on the council are Pycelle (ugh), Mace (meh) and Olenna (yay!) Shots are fired, resulting in a Lannister stand-off.
On the other hand, having reconciled with his mother, Tommen marches to the sept and demands the High Sparrow let Cersei pay her respects to Myrcella’s remains. Here, we are reminded of Cersei's pending trial. You would think the walk of shame had been the end of it all! A frustrated Tommen shouts 'I am King!’, a habit he can’t seem to break. In response, he gets a kindly lecture from the High Sparrow. Just another teenager after all.
Arya gets the most done in this episode, making long strides in her training and finally getting her sight back. We’re a step closer to finding out where the allegiance of the Faceless Men lies. I’m anticipating a tough choice for Arya going ahead, if a Stark reunion is imminent this season.
Here comes your kick in the gut for this episode, courtesy Ramsay Bolton. As news of Roose’s death spreads, with Harald Karstark’s help, Ramsay is inviting the northern houses to pledge their allegiance to him. Smalljon of House Umber comes to Ramsay, not to kneel but simply to ally against the wildlings that Jon has let past the Wall. Smalljon implies that his father is now dead. Smalljon’s father Greatjon was one of Robb Stark’s staunchest and most loyal allies. Ironically, in the books, Smalljon died with Robb at the Red Wedding.
(hbo.com)
As a token of his friendship, the Umber comes with a gift— a betrayal to House Stark, one that would go down with well with Bolton. He offers Ramsay Rickon Stark and the wildling Osha. Last we saw, the pair was headed to House Umber (in season three) after Bran said that as bannermen of the Starks, they would keep the two safe. If that wasn’t enough, for proof of identity, Smalljon presents the head of Rickon’s direwolf Shaggydog.
Back at Castle Black, Lord Commander Jon Snow hangs the men who unsuccessfully stabbed him to death. Unrepentant Aliser Thorne’s last words, "You, Lord Snow, you'll be fighting your battles forever” have a prophetic tinge to them. Ollie wasn’t spared either. If you're keeping count, this is the second child killed this season.
If you were settling in for another battle of Jon Snow vs his conscience, then here comes the mic drop. His death freed Jon from the vows of the Night’s Watch and now allows him to take part in the matters of the realm. Jon hands over his cloak to Dolourous Edd and gives him command of Castle Black. “My watch is ended.”
Boom. Jon Snow out.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Jon Snow Castle Black Game of Thrones")
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}