I often watch an episode of Game of Thrones more than once, and happily re-watch scenes over and over again. But there is one particular scene in “The Dance of Dragons” I won’t be watching again, not because it was boring or mishandled, but because it was emotionally draining and incredibly depressing, even if it was expected; yes, even more so than The Red Wedding. If you have already seen this week’s Game of Thrones then you know what scene I’m writing about.
Now that I’ve managed to keep the opening paragraph spoiler-free (for the front page) let’s get this out of the way: Ramsay Bolton’s cunning plan worked and put a major dent in Stannis’ strategy, giving weight to Melisandre’s argument that killing Shireen for her blood is the only way forward for The War in the North and Stannis’ righteous claim to the iron throne. All it took was a little setback and Stannis jumps at sending away Ser Davos, the only man he knows who could talk him down from murdering his own daughter to appease R’hllor. With reason out of the way, Stannis has one last one-on-one with Shireen, who is probably the most innocent character in the entire show, before allowing her to be burned alive by The Red Woman.
This doesn’t come to much of a surprise; the show has been foreshadowing something like this for not just episodes, but seasons. However, the way it was executed was especially brutal and heart-breaking; Shireen walked to her death while she was innocently holding the toy stag Davos gave her as a present, only to be reduced to a little girl screaming in agony for her father to come save her while he watched her burn. To reiterate how cruel it was, Lady Selyse, of all people, was the one who had a desperate change of heart and tried to save her daughter.
This doesn’t deliver us a blow just because someone who was sympathetic was killed – that happens all the time – it also flips Stannis’ character completely around and robs us of any linear idea of having a hero to root for. Ever since he rode beyond the wall to help the Night’s Watch Stannis had become somewhat of a fan favourite, clearly the one to back in the upcoming battle with the Boltons. This isn’t necessarily wrong or reflects poorly on the writers, it’s in-line with subverting the good-bad dichotomy which the show does so well, it’s just…depressing. One thing it isn’t though, is gratuitous, and that word has become somewhat of a buzzword for those who are offended by any decision Game of Thrones (or any TV show) makes lately; the writers took this where it unfortunately needed to go, as heart-breaking as it was. Keeping the camera on a child while she was burned to death – THAT would have been gratuitous; instead the show treated the scene very well, still delivering that visceral punch without being too excessive.
Whereas last week’s brilliant “Hardhome” was all about ice, “The Dance of Dragons” was all about the fire. From the fiery reception Jon Snow receives back at The Wall where he realises that his decision to save the wildlings has cost him the respect of his sworn brothers, to the fire in the fighting pits where we are finally given that triumphant scene of Dany flying off into the sky on the back of Drogon. But not before we make some progress with Arya, and to a lesser extent Jamie.
Jamie and Bronn are great characters stuck in an unsatisfying storyline, but the good is that it looks like we’ll be leaving Dorne next week and Ser Bronn of the Blackwater didn’t lose his head like many thought he would. Instead we get a nice and quiet settlement between Jamie and Prince Doran as we are shown just how badly Oberyn’s brother wants to maintain peace. Trystan is heading back to King’s Landing with Myrcella and taking his uncle’s place on the small council (where Grand Master Pycelle currently rules) and everything seems tidy and compromised, even Ellaria Sand has seemingly stopped wanting revenge, at least against those innocent of her lover’s death. There’s solidarity here, between Lannister and Martell, but the real question is what the happenings back at King’s Landing will do to that allegiance.
Arya’s plot made an interesting although expected leap forward; instead of focusing on killing The Thin Man, Lara (of the Canals) is distracted by fortuitous timing as Mace Tyrell arrives in Braavos with a very familiar face to accompany him. Ser Meryn Trant, who has been on Arya’s kill list since forever, has showed up and is just as much of an asshole as we remember him to be back when he appeared to murder Syrio Forel. We stay in Braavos for awhile, watching Lara stalk her prey who visits a Braavosian brothel and has a creepy desire for young girls that like Sansa Stark.
Though I felt like taking a break from watching for at least a few minutes after Shireen’s death, the whole time at the fighting pits was Game of Thrones at it’s finest. In between some really brilliant banter between Dany, Hizdahr, Tyrion, and Daario, and some well choreographed fighting in the pits, we got to see all hell break lose as The Sons of the Harpy decid to make an assassination attempt right after Ser Jorah wins the tournament, and finally gets Dany back on his side. From Jorah throwing the spear straight into the would-be assassins chest, to Hizdhar’s murder, to Tyrion saving Missandei, this scene would have stood as one of the season’s best even if it wasn’t for the mind-blowing end of Drogon showing up to wreak havoc and whisk his mother away.
Game of Thrones got the pacing just right for “The Dance of Dragons”, trimming the amount of storylines down and stretching our time with two very big, very significant moments. With the finale next week hopefully bringing Sansa and Brienne’s storylines closer together, as well as leaving Dorne, things are looking good – and lighter – in terms of narrative baggage and that’s going to mean a lot of space for the show to hopefully give us some great material. My biggest question regarding the Shireen fallout is around how Ser Davos will find out what they did and how he will react, and I’m hoping they manage to fit that in somewhere in “Mother’s Mercy”.
Review Score: FOUR AND A HALF (OUT OF FIVE)
Highlights:
– The entire time in the Fighting Pits
– Stannis’ decision brutal and depressing yet well executed in typical ‘Episode 9’ coldness
– Bronn not dying
– Prince Doran threatening Ellaria
– Arya stalking Ser Meryn Trant
Lowlights:
– The Sand Snakes slapping each other did absolutely nothing for their characters
Game of Thrones airs in Australia on Showcase, Foxtel every Monday at 11am with a second screening at 7:30pm
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