“The Laws of Gods and Men” threw us a little courtroom drama to further foreshadow the downfall of the Lannister dynasty. Conflict between siblings, a terribly stern father, and wishes of death are circulating heavily between the four main players in House Lannister; all the while King Tommen sits on his iron throne, relatively innocent and unaware that his “family” is about to tear themselves apart.
The usual tropes of courtroom dramas made their appearances here: the shocking surprise witnesses, the betrayal, the opportunity for the defendant to lash out, and the not-so-impartial judge. Even though Tywin had Prince Oberyn and Mace Tyrell balance out the panel, neither party really seemed to have much sway (or interest) during the trial, and aside from Oberyn’s hilarious interest in Shae’s “fuck me like it’s my last night in this world” confession, most of the calculating here seemed to be already in the bag. Whether Tyrion could have proved his innocence or not, you just know that there would be some method by which Cersei would get her way.
This trial took up the last half of the episode, and was unarguably the primary reason for this episodes greatness; whereas the first half played catch-up with a few characters, stopping in to drive their plots forward, but ultimately remaining fairly stale.
The imposing first-look of Braavos was visually stunning, as Stannis and Davos waltzed into the Iron Bank to request funds. The bankers of Braavos – fronted by the wonderful Mark Gatiss – rejected Stannis’ request at first, giving way to one of Davos’ most important showcases thusfar. With Ser Davos “The Onion Knight” as a spokesperson for Stannis’ claim to the throne, the brother of Robert Baratheon seems to be in very good hands. Davos may pronounce ‘night’ as ‘niggit,’ but I’d be damned if he isn’t a great talker. His fairly reasonable use of numbers (Tywin’s age; Tommen’s ‘purity’) against the bunch of seemingly arrogant bankers, mixed with a foreshadowing of the ruin of House Lannister, was genius on his behalf, and scored Stannis the moneys he needed to raise an army of sellswords.
Less interesting – again – was the new-found reign of Dany and her realisation that ruling can be pretty damn boring. Going through the laundry list of issues those in Meereen have with her many loose-ends is a sequence that was necessary only in showing us that the Mother of Dragons still has a long way to go before she can even think about taking the throne – and she knows this. It was a nice slap in the face when one Meereen local turned the tables on Dany, confronting her with the very real ramifications of her eye-for-an-eye philosophy and – paired with the “previously on” segment – pointing towards Ser Barristen’s valuable counsel.
A bit of a catch up with the psycho-house in the Dreadfort, with the first we’ve seen of Yara Greyjoy this season, bringing some of the best men she could find on the Iron Islands and sailing to rescue Theon. Her re-reading Ramsay Snow’s letter to Balon – which he received in Season 3 – was mainly a show of exposition, but also a reiteration of Yara’s viability as an army’s leader.
Her march on the Dreadfort gave us some nice action, further showcasing Ramsay’s capability in battle and his cunning use of dogs to chase Yara and co away. Meanwhile Theon/Reek is beginning to sound more like Rick Myall as his the complete mental-warp Ramsay has put him through surprised Yara and caused her to consider him ‘dead.’
It’s scary how the mind games of Ramsay Snow works; him bathing Reek and detailing how he now needs him to pose as Theon to take over the Iron Islands. This cruelty he is inflicting on Theon’s mind is even more cringeworthy than all those torture scenes in Season 3. Granted, Theon did something absolutely terrible in Season 2, and most people hate him for it; but there aren’t many people in Game of Thrones who deserve this kind of punishment.
With the past few episodes reminding us just how good at manipulating people Littlefinger can be; it seemed important to similarly re-call the cunning, thoughtful nature of Varys – undoubtedly a man who rivals Littlefinger in terms of intelligence. Varys’ scene with Prince Oberyn in the throne room was brilliant; with the slippery enunch musing on the drawbacks of desire and hinting at a possible shot at the throne. Oberyn seems to fancy himself as a rather open-minded individual, but Varys’ speech warns that openness isn’t exactly the best personality trait to possess in Game of Thrones.
As with most episodes, there were the slower, less exciting parts, but the acting, the writing, and the development always serves a purpose; the non-trial scenes in “The Laws of Gods and Men” – while inconsistent in quality – maintained the high standard we have come to expect of this show. And this was capped with one of Peter Dinklage’s finest performances yet, as all his pent up rage and no-bullshit approach to the “farce” of a trial his father is smugly putting him through, echoes in the throne room and puts almost everyone in their place.
It did seem a bit disappointing that Varys would testify against Tyrion, but something must be coming out of that; with everything Varys has done, he is yet to do something that would have us view him as more of a villain that a neutral player. Far more worrying was Shae’s lie-ridden testimony against her ex-lover, an ordeal recalling Varys’ ‘desire speech’ and showing how emotional attachment can motivate someone (in this case Tyrion) to ‘let it all out.’ And in that sense, Varys is wrong about desire being useless.
Review Score: THREE AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Positives
Tyrion letting his frustrations fly
Varys’ cunning back in the spotlight (motivations revealed?)
Impressive first look at Braavos.
Ramsay is one twisted individual
Negatives
Prince Oberyn under-used
Yara abandoning Theon
Varys’ betrayal confusing (so far)
First half a bit lacking
Episode M.V.P: Tyrion
Game of Thrones airs Mondays at 3:30pm on Showcase
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