5.10 Mother's Mercy

[Brian G Turner]

Ah, of course - my bad.

 

[REBerg]

Re: Brienne and Stannis - in the books I remember Brienne being sent to find and save the Stark girls. In the TV series, how did she end up with a personal vendetta against Stannis?

Beyond the matters of honor and vindication, Brienne's hatred of Stannis had a personal element. She had been in love with Renly since she was a teenager after he had treated her like a lady at a dance.

 

[Culhwch]

She had the vendetta against Stannis in the book too because of Renly's murder. In the show she's still following Sansa, it just so happens that Stannis crosses her path.

 

[Boaz]

Anya - no idea what's going on there. If the book describes it better, could someone explain because the TV series doesn't?

The Mountain - I hadn't thought of that but it seems logical. Has he lost his voice in his fall?

I don't think Arya is permanently blind. She just got a friendly warning from the Many-Faced God to make her think twice about killing unassigned people and borrowing faces before she gets her library card.

Why would any god fail to see the promise of an assassin trainee who picks such a deserving target and kills with such gusto? I mean, both eyes, a gag, a lecture, and a slit throat? Advance to the head of the class, Arya.

It was freaky when Arya peeled face after face from the “dead” Jaqen and finished face-to-face with her own face before losing her sight. I'm thinking that was a little bit too heavy to be foreshadowing.

Regarding Arya... She's committed herself to the religion of the Many Faced God. It is a death cult based upon the teachings of a former slave. Hundreds or thousands of years ago, Valyria (the original home of the Targaryen family) was the most powerful nation. They had hundreds of thousands, if not millions of slaves, toiling under their mountains to delve out precious metals... possibly magical in nature. One man continually overheard the prayers and pleas of fellow slaves to be released from slavery. He took this as a sign from god, i.e. Death, that he was to become death's agent and fulfill their prayers. He gave "the gift of mercy" to many slaves. We don't know if he escaped or if it was one of his disciples who founded the temple training center called the House of Black and White. But since then, his followers have dedicated themselves to answering prayers. As a servant of Death, Arya does not get to choose her own victims. She must answer prayers. She is a tool, not a person. She is supposed to be NO ONE. Her blinding is a punishment for putting her desires ahead of her god's.

Shades of Julius Caesar! Jon is stabbed by a string of individual, “For the Watch” underlings, but not fatally, it seemed, until the final “et, tu, Olly?” thrust.

My thoughts exactly.

I thought Cersei's walk of atonement, with the highly intimidating, giant dungeon matron ushering her along (“Shame! Shame! Shame!" Ding!) was kind of hilarious. Nice job of hostile crowd control by the Sparrow squad. I got the distinct feeling that the good citizens of King's Landing are not Cersei's biggest fans.

I did not think HBO would really do justice to the walk of shame. In the very first episode, Lena Heady did not show any nudity for her sex scene... in fact, I don't remember any nudity from her. And then she went all out for this episode... and I was stunned. HBO is renowned for it's consistent abuse of gratuitous sex and excessive titillation, but this was not that. Lena Heady chose to do full nudity in the most non flattering manner. As an actress, she really went for the moment to fully reveal Cersei and I don't mean skin. The act of public nakedness by the Faith is supposed to reveal a spiritual truth... that the person no longer has anything to hide. Sure Cersei was stripped of her clothes, but more importantly she was stripped of her overconfidence, her arrogance, her privilege, her royalty, her cruelty, and her pride. This did not happen immediately, it took place over the course of the event. And I, for one, give praise to Miss Heady's decision to completely give herself over to the scene. Her nakedness was not sexy nor stylish... nor gratuitous, in direct contradiction to HBO's usual methods. But the nakedness was excessive... in the fact that the scene extended beyond what I wanted as punishment and into pity. And that is exactly what D&D wanted. Well done!

Before the walk, Cersei carefully planned her confession, her apology, and her revenge upon the sisters and the High Septon. Will she remember?

 

[Warren_Paul]

I did not think HBO would really do justice to the walk of shame. In the very first episode, Lena Heady did not show any nudity for her sex scene... in fact, I don't remember any nudity from her. And then she went all out for this episode... and I was stunned. HBO is renowned for it's consistent abuse of gratuitous sex and excessive titillation, but this was not that. Lena Heady chose to do full nudity in the most non flattering manner. As an actress, she really went for the moment to fully reveal Cersei and I don't mean skin. The act of public nakedness by the Faith is supposed to reveal a spiritual truth... that the person no longer has anything to hide. Sure Cersei was stripped of her clothes, but more importantly she was stripped of her overconfidence, her arrogance, her privilege, her royalty, her cruelty, and her pride. This did not happen immediately, it took place over the course of the event. And I, for one, give praise to Miss Heady's decision to completely give herself over to the scene. Her nakedness was not sexy nor stylish... nor gratuitous, in direct contradiction to HBO's usual methods. But the nakedness was excessive... in the fact that the scene extended beyond what I wanted as punishment and into pity. And that is exactly what D&D wanted. Well done!

Before the walk, Cersei carefully planned her confession, her apology, and her revenge upon the sisters and the High Septon. Will she remember?

Your quotes got a bit screwed up there. Anyway, it isn't actually Lena Headey, she refused to do any nudity. They used a body double for her character because that was the only way they were going to get a naked Cersei to do the scene justice.

 

[Warren_Paul]

News flash -- kinda spoilerish for season six:

Spoiler

Kit Harington has been spotted this week in Belfast, according to several sources. The city in Northern Ireland is home to the Irish linen industry, the Titanic Quarter, and, oh yeah, filming for GOT scenes in the North and at The Wall. A fan on reddit reportedly talked to Harrington and was told he couldn't take pictures because his presence needed to be kept secret. Naturally, the fan took a spy shot anyway. A source from io9 also reports Harington's presence in the city.

http://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2015/06/game-of-thrones-jon-snow-kit-harington-seen-in-belfast

Doesn't prove anything, it could just be that he is yet to return home after finishing up in the season 5 finale, or it could be that it is fake and not really Kit at all but somebody who looks much like him.

But if it is Kit, then I'm very curious why his presence there is supposed to be a secret... But it also would mean he lied to us about not coming back next season. Just to give people an idea, filming is about a week or two away from starting for season 6 so him being there (if he really is there) is a very big coincidence.

I hope they didn't get Kit in trouble.

UPDATE: Apparently Rose Leslie (Ygritte) was seen with him, they are currently dating irl after working together on GoT. Further investigation found out that she is said to be acting in a show being filmed in Belfast apparently, although IMDB mentions nothing of it. So it's possible he's tagging along with her for the fun of it.

 

[REBerg]

I was happy to see that Drogon got Dany to safety, not there was ever any doubt. Drogon clearly needs some downtime to recover from his Sons of the Harpy wounds. Maybe Dany will take some of that time to reflect on why she still thinks of Meereen as "home."

When Dany wandered away from Drogon and finds herself surrounded by several gazillion whooping horse riders, are these her old subjects, the Dothraki? Whatever happened to them, by the way? I don't remember seeing them after Dany took charge of the Unsullied. Mounted, perpetually bloodthirsty Dothraki patrolmen would have done a much better job of policing the streets of Meereen than the Unsullied.

Anyway, the horses and riders revolving in front of the camera for so long made me a little motion sick. If they are Dothraki, are they just celebrating reunification with their Khaleesi? If they are some other tribe, what are they planning? Lunch?

Meanwhile, back home...
Left with only Grey Worm and Missandei (anyone else wonder why she and Dany have such remarkably similar eyebrows? Same salon?) as his administrative staff, Tyrion probably would not have lasted very long in charge of the rebellious Meereen. With the miraculous arrival of spymaster Varys, Tyrion's odds of success were greatly improved.

 

[Dave]

They'll let anyone into Meereen these days!

 

[Culhwch]

Anyway, the horses and riders revolving in front of the camera for so long made me a little motion sick. If they are Dothraki, are they just celebrating reunification with their Khaleesi? If they are some other tribe, what are they planning? Lunch?

Remember, Dany want queen of the Dothraki, just a single (albeit powerful) khalasar. So I don't think there's any doubt they are Dothraki, the question becomes address they friendly. Given she was never terribly popular amongst them in the first place, I'd assume no.

 

[REBerg]

Remember, Dany want queen of the Dothraki, just a single (albeit powerful) khalasar. So I don't think there's any doubt they are Dothraki, the question becomes address they friendly. Given she was never terribly popular amongst them in the first place, I'd assume no.

If I remember correctly, the Dothraki considered Dany to be “nothing” after Kahl Drogo died. Emerging from Drogo's funeral pyre unscathed, accompanied by her three hatchling dragons, changed their minds.

If they are now hostile toward Dany, they may again consider her “something” when Drogon, who is a bit more impressive these days, reappears. Drogon seems to have a Lassie-like instinct for knowing when Dany is in trouble and where to find her.

 

[Dave]

If they are now hostile toward Dany, they may again consider her “something” when Drogon, who is a bit more impressive these days, reappears. Drogon seems to have a Lassie-like instinct for knowing when Dany is in trouble and where to find her.

Yes, it wasn't clear in the scene if Dany was in danger, but I think she was meant to be, and this is exactly what will happen next season. In doing so, and impressing the Dothraki, she will obtain the cavalry she desperately needs to conquer Westeros. I wondered how she was going to do that with a few foot soldiers and three dragons.

 

[Culhwch]

But then she's back to the same problems she had in season one: convincing the Dothraki to get on board for the crossing, and finding the required boats.

 

[paranoid marvin]

I didn't get the impression that they were Dothraki? Perhaps a new people we haven't met yet. Presumably the horseman are aware there is a dragon atop the mountain ; note there were a number of bones/carcasses, meaning it is likely Drogon had been using the mountain-top for some time. Then they see a young girl come down from the mountain unscathed. They may see her as a god.

 

[Warren_Paul]

They are most definately Dothraki. I can say that with 100% confidence.

 

[Reivax26]

From a merchandising stand point, killing off Jon Snow would be ludicrous. If you go into any of the trendy stores you see the Night's Watch shirts everywhere. Do you really think they would throw away all that money from sales by killing one of the most popular characters on the show?

He's going to be brought back by the Red Witch. It just makes too much sense. Also, I want to see what happens when Bran makes his triumphant return and starts seeing the flashbacks through the Weirwood trees. That would be an awesome way to start season 6 actually. Could have younger Ned and Catelyn having their discussion by the old tree in Winterfell. Then cut to the witch breathing the flame into his body. I do hope that he kills every single one of the bastards that stabbed him, saving Ollie for last. He deserves a beheading, little sh*t.

The situation in Dorne is what is puzzling me. Obara Sand would have to know that Doran would blame her for the girl's death and have her killed. Unless she was told to do it by him, which I find hard to believe.

Is this the season where we are introduced to the surprise character from the book A Dance with Dragons? I do so hope he makes an appearance. Would suck if they cut him out of the show.

 

[Warren_Paul]

Is this the season where we are introduced to the surprise character from the book A Dance with Dragons? I do so hope he makes an appearance. Would suck if they cut him out of the show.

If it's who I think you're talking about then you're probably going to be disappointed.

But there are some characters from AFFC we are going to see.

 

[Reivax26]

That saddens me. I was trying to figure out which of the younger known actors could play him.

 

[Boaz]

REBerg, Dothraki. Personally, I don't view the Dothraki as a single homogenous ethinic group. I think HBO has gone out of their way to portray them as an amalgamation of peoples inhabiting the steppes and grasslands of Essos. On the show, I've seen Dothraki of east asian, slavic, latino, mediterranean, african, arabic, polynesian, and probably turkic, persian, and indian descent. In our world, Mongols, Bulgars, Huns, Turks, Alans, Sarmatians, Scythians, Khurasanians, Tuaregs, and more could possibly fit the Dothraki label. Khal Drogo had gathered a mighty khalasar, i.e. horde... maybe the largest seen in a couple generations, but there were still other independent khalasars out there. When he died, many of his captains gathered their families and friends and presumably made speeches to persuade warriors to join them. In the books, Jorah says something like, "A dozen khals now ride where there used to be only Drogo." Also, the custom is for widowed khaleesis to go to the Mother of Mountains and join all the other widowed khaleesis in a congress/coven as the keepers of Dothraki knowledge/tradition/ethics/portents. Dany refused to go... so she's in violation of the law/tradition.

Reivax 26, Dorne is puzzling me as well. In the books, the opposition to Doran is led by four women... Arianne Martell (Doran's daughter) and three of her cousins, Obara Sand, Nymeria Sand, and Tyene Sand. The four women are all between twenty-one to twenty-five years old. Arianne is especially close to Nymeria. Arianne lays her own plans in secret, knowing the Sand Snakes (the name for the ******* daughters of the Red Viper) will join her when they find out. On the other hand, Obara, Nym, and Tyene all go out of their way to let Doran know of their individual plans for vengeance for the Viper. Doran wants nothing to do with any of it. And Ellaria Sand, the Viper's paramour, never gets involved because she has four young daughters of her own... Elia, Obella, Dorea, and Loreza. Presumably they are being raised alongside many Dornish privileged children, i.e. under Doran's watchful eye at the Water Gardens, so Ellaria would not risk offending Doran for her children's sake. By the way, none of the first four Sand Snakes (Obara, Nym, Tyene, and Sarella) are the daughters of Ellaria... although I assume they all are in the show.

I don't know that the show really differentiated between the sisters... except to show that Tyene is a flirt.

Regarding the plot... So Ellaria assassinated Myrcella. She has to know that Trystane's life is forfeit. Jaime is the Kingslayer, an oathbreaker, a man without honor. Does she think he'll balk at dropping a sixteen year old boy over the side of the ship? She knows the alliance just negotiated is broken. She knows Trystane will either be murdered in revenge, put on trial and executed, or at best imprisoned. She knows Doran's feelings towards her. He explicitly told her there would be no more mercy. So now that she's broken his alliance and probably gotten his heir killed, what will Doran do? This is at least the third bit of treason she's committed. He'll have to execute her. And yet, Ellaria's exit from the dock did not appear to be that of a woman meekly accepting her fate. I think Dorne is about to enter a civil war.

Reivax, if you're thinking of Griff, Young Griff or Quentyn, I believe none will ever be written into the show. Tyrion's already met Dany, Jorah has greyscale, Barristan's dead, Dany's gone, events in Dorne are spinning out of control, and introducing the history of the Blackfyres and the Golden Company would be too much new information when they need to be working on wrapping up plot arcs and tying up loose ends. And if you're thinking of any of Theon's uncles, well... I believe the Iron Islands were written out in favor of Dorne... and that's too bad.

 

[svalbard]

I believe Euron is cast for the next season, although no word on Victarion which is disappointing. I would imagine that they will combine the two brothers.

 

[Boaz]

sval, you're probably correct about the combination. They've done it before... Gendry Waters and Edric Storm. Sansa Stark and Jeyne Poole. The Tyrell brothers. Jorah Mormont and Griff. Styr and Tormund. Meryn Trant and Raff the Sweetling and Dareon. Jaqen and the kindly old man and the waif. Rast and Chett. Ellaria Sand and Arianne Martell. Jaime and Arys Oakheart. Steelshanks Walton and Vargo Hoat became someone named Locke.