It’s quite clear that Benioff and Weiss are unperturbed about Game of Thrones (mostly) surpassing its source material, and so far it has proved to be more of a blessing than a curse. Now with 4 episodes to show, Season Six has been a solid season of surprising, though rapid, developments that leap forward to what is looking like an end game – not just for the season, but for the whole series. The show has been picking up old threads (an example being Rickon Stark and now Lord Robin Arryn) and tying them back in with perfect timing, revealing the many cards these showrunners have kept hidden up their sleeves. Though the best example of this is the opening sequence of “Book of the Stranger”.
I almost forgot that a Stark reunion was one of the most anticipated moments of the show since Ned lost his head, but when that Castle Black door flung open to reveal Sansa Stark the feels were real, and reiterated how much emotional stock this show has built up over 53 episodes; that moment when Sansa and Jon Snow embraced was special, and it was something many viewers around the world would have teared up over. Having them together also brings in a bunch of new possibilities (not to mention also having Brienne and Pod on hand with Davos and The Red Woman), the most obvious of which is a play towards the “Battle of the Bastards” which will undoubtedly be a big talking point for this season (it’s obviously going to be Episode 9). Suddenly, Snow is in the position to bolster his army and march on Winterfell to save Rickon Stark, presenting with a similar issue Stannis had before he marched on the same House.
The Boltons are being built up as a more powerful and evil force than Joffrey ever was, and having Ramsay in the seat now – despite him being such a horrendous dickhead – is perfect. Iwan Rheon is incredible as the macabre “Dennis the Menace” archetype, something which has been drilled in with each and every scene he is in, where he is always doing something big, like stabbing poor Osha in the neck and then casually returning to peeling his apple. Having such a clear cut bad guy on the other side of this upcoming war is going to make it that much more enjoyable to witness.
We saw the return of Littlefinger who is still proving to be an absolute master at manipulation as it is now him who has control over the army of the Vale via sickly, naive Robin, and threatening Yohn Royce with death to ensure his loyalty comes at no surprise. At times, and with so many storylines, Game of Thrones can feel like a string of unbalanced vignettes, but we spent just the right amount of time at the Vale to know that Littlefinger’s dominance at this fairly cut-off part of Westeros is going to be playing a big part in subsequent episodes. Could the Vale be just what Jon Snow needs to defeat the Boltons? It’s still hard to tell where Littlefinger’s loyalty lies.
Across the sea Tyrion had his big chance at playing diplomat without Varys towering over him, coaxing the nearby slave masters into some form of peace, planting the seeds of manipulation to the concern of both Missandei and Grey Worm, who were left unhappy about the prospect of Slaver’s Bay given a very long time (seven years) to gradually back away from a model built on slavery. It was a long overdue revisit to Tyrion’s smooth-talking prowess, strengthening a setting that can at times feel long-winded with Dany sitting in that position of power and going through the motions. Now that Tyrion is in full politician mode, and Dany is off burning people alive, Meereen is going to be more interesting to visit throughout this season.
Again, any storyline with Daenaerys can feel long-winded, but her time spent as a prisoner of Vaes Dothrak was thankfully sped up with both Jorah and Daario reaching their Queen. Their arrival gives Dany the confidence she needs to completely fuck shit up and burn all the Khals in the episode’s exciting finale, mirroring the first time she left a raging fire unharmed only to be gifted with thousands of loyal followers. Vaes Dothrak now bows to Dany, and it’s great that we didn’t take a whole season to get to this point.
King’s Landing looks to be inching towards an uneasy Lannister and Tyrell “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” type of alliance against the Faith which is a plan that is quite obviously going to twist sideways due to the conflict between Cersei and Lady Olenna. Most importantly, it’s going to bring a zombified The Mountain into play which will likely be a big part in controlling the inevitable chaos that will take over the streets outside of the Red Keep. I just wonder who will be the major death in all of this: the King or the Queen? Obviously Jamie and Cersei aren’t going anywhere as the show needs them to stick around for the inevitable reunion with Tyrion (theories are the new spoilers).
The episode’s second big family reunion wasn’t quite as warm as the first. Theon finally made his way back home to the Iron Islands to meet with a fiery Yara Greyjoy who suspected her brother of timing his return so he could claim the throne for himself. Of course, Theon is a changed man and only wants to help his sister claim the throne for himself, which is going to add greatly to this overdue storyline, especially since it’s looking like the eventful Kingsmoot from the books will be introduced in next week’s episode. However, introducing such a complex House may prove to go the same route as Dorne last season, seeing as Game of Thrones is already busy enough without having to find a way to justify re-introducing the Iron Islands.
These kinds of episodes see Game of Thrones at its strongest. As mentioned above, the speed in which these vignettes are dealt with each episode is really what makes or breaks an hour of Thrones, and “Book of the Stranger” continues to put season six on the right side of that thin line. There were many big happenings, looping threads back into each other and further building towards what is looking like some of the biggest moves Benioff and Weiss have made to date.
Review Score: FIVE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
High Points
- A stark reunion + plans to move against Ramsay
- Littlefinger once again proves a master manipulator
- Tyrion plays diplomat
- Vaes Dothrak burns
Low Points
- Brienne holding back about Shireen to Davos / Davos not thinking to ask her even though he asked The Red Woman / It taking this long for Davos to actually ask
- Osha killed off too soon
Stray Thoughts:
- Where is Bronn? We NEED MORE BRONN
- Bring The Hound back please.
Episode MVP: Daenerys
Game of Thrones screens in Australia on Showcase, Foxtel, at 11am every Monday with repeat viewings throughout the week.
Headline Image: HBO.
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