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The third episode of the season opened with a bang and definitely left us wondering what would happen next. I want to jump into the full recap of the episode right now to explain why I make both of these statements.
As always, be warned, this post is DARK and full of SPOILERS!
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The first scene puts us a moment after where we left off last week; with Jon Snow sitting up on the table trying to catch his breath and make sense of what the fuck happened last night. Davos and Melisandre exchange words with him to try and help him come to light about his current state, and although he doesn't seem happy about it, it does seem that he is able to accept the situation and definitely seems to be "with it".
Jon then gathers himself and walks out of the chamber with Davos into the courtyard where many of the Night's Watch and wildlings are waiting. The looks on their faces are absolutely incredible, and Tormund even explains to him "they think you're some kind of god". It is clear here that Jon shouldn't have much trouble rallying some of them to his cause if he chooses to pursue war with the Boltons or others, since he can totally play the "prince who was promised" card pretty well.
We then travel onto a ship caught in a storm, where we get our first glimpse of Sam and Gilly in quite awhile. Between episodes of seasickness, Sam explains to Gilly that even though he told her that they were sailing to Old Town, they are actually making a detour. The boat will be making a stop at Horn Hill (Sam's home) where Gilly and young Sam will stay with Sam's mother and sister who will keep them safe while Sam continues to Old Town on his own.
I'm not exactly sure how much of an impact Sam will have on the events of this season, since he is pretty far out of the way by now. However I am interested to see what Old Town looks like and I am excited to see how he explores the Citadel and goes through the training to become a Maester.
The next scene of the episode finally brings us to the flashback that every book reading and theory-following fan has practically reached orgasm over; the tower of joy and potential R+L=J confirmation. I say 'potential' because we do not actually learn the fate of this theory in this scene (the theory is explained in my earlier blog post regarding the major fan theory).
We open to a scene with a young Eddard Stark, Howland Reed, and fellow rebels approaching a tower (where supposedly Lyanna Stark is being held) who are met by two of the Mad King Aerys' Kingsguard (even though in the books there are three, one of which is the Lord Commander, Sir Gerald Hightower). One of these knights is none other than Sir Arthur Dayne, otherwise known as the "Sword of the Morning" and widely regarded as the greatest swordsman to ever live.
We definitely get to see this claim play out as the two groups meet up, talk for a brief moment, and then draw their swords (it's worth noting that Arthur Dayne is dual-wielding). The groups exchange bloodshed and take out one of the Kingsguard rather quickly, leaving Dayne in a 6-on-1 battle where he basically kills everyone and leaves just Ned (Howland lays on the ground wounded but not dead).
Bran and the Three-Eyed Raven now begin narrating the scene to give some context on things that may have been forgotten. Bran mentions "he is better than my father" as he watches Dayne slash and stab at Ned. Dayne is clearly much better with the swords and the Three-Eyed Raven even affirms this by saying "far better".
This is where it gets interesting, as pretty much all of the children in Westeros (including Bran which is how we heard the story in the first place) have been lulled to sleep by the story of the brave Lord Eddard Stark who defeated the great knight Sir Arthur Dayne in combat to rescue his sister from the Tower. How could this have happened if Ned doesn't even appear to prove a match for Dayne? Well our question is soon answered when Ned's sword is knocked out of his hands, and just as Dayne appears to deal the killing blow, Howland Reed comes out from behind and stabs Dayne right through the throat.
Ned picks up his sword and deals the final blow to end the legendary knight's life, and we see a much different side of the honorable and loyal Lord Stark that we saw in the first season. I'm sure that after fighting a rebellion and wanting to rescue his sister, Ned seemed to have put honor behind him for once and did what needed to be done at the time. The flashback ends with Ned walking up the steps to the tower, as the Three-Eyed Raven urges Bran back to the present, and the viewers are in the exact same boat with Bran not wanting to return and wanting to see how the events play out.
This is an interesting way to play out the storytelling through the eyes of Bran's flashbacks. The writers have done an excellent job with wanting to tell things and show events (many from the books and some not) without being super blunt and boring and just saying "here is the info you have to know, now fuck off". Through the eyes of Bran, we are able to see these events and get this information, but through a way that actually makes sense in the larger scope of the story and seems authentic and real.
We then travel to Vaes Dothrak where Dany is being led to the Temple of the Dosh Kaleen, where all the widows of former Khals gather and spend their lives in worship and servitude to the Dothraki gods. The head priestess was also the wife of a "great Khal" and definitely is able to relate to Dany in that aspect, however she tries to make Dany understand that this fate is what is expected of her as the widow of Khal Drogo. For the time being, nothing much has happened to Dany and I don't think much will until either Drogon or the Jorah/Daario team find her.
Next on the list is Mereen, where Varys is working to "interrogate" a woman who has worked with the Sons of the Harpy to murder Unsullied soldiers. Through methods unknown, Varys is able to put the woman far on the edge by knowing her name, story, and the fact that she has a son, and know her son's name, and the fact that he has a breathing problem, which doesn't seem important but for the situation at hand, it is. Varys has always been able to find out anything he wants to, and this woman is no exception.
Varys then reports to Tyrion, Missandei, and Grey Worm that the Wise Masters in Yunkai, Astapor, and Volantis are the ones who are funding the work of the Sons of the Harpy in an attempt to wage a war against Dany and her supporters. Grey Worm then suggests marching on these cities to stop their supporting of the Harpy, but Missandei suggests a different route with the help of Vary's "birds".
Speaking of the "little birds", we travel to Qyburn's chambers in King's Landing, where several children are speaking with him. One of the girls asks Qyburn if Varys will ever be returning, and when Qyburn asks why, the girl replies "he was nice, he called us his little birds". So basically, Varys persuaded children with sweets in exchange for whispers and secrets from the city, which is actually brilliant. Long story short, the little birds are now in Cersei's control (but what else is new?).
We then fly in on a confrontation between Tommen and the High Sparrow in the Great Sept. Tommen demands that the High Sparrow allow Cersei to visit Myrcella's tomb and pay her respects, and does not seem very happy when he is told that Cersei is unable to do so because she has not fully atoned for her sins. The High Sparrow then regales Tommen with a tale of Motherhood and Cersei's love for Tommen which he has observed, and we see a very interesting side of the "holy man".
We travel to Braavos where Arya continues her training with the Waif. We see more questioning, more stick fighting, and more of Arya training her other senses, who is still blind. There is an interesting part where Arya is questioned about The Hound and why she had taken him off of her list, and she determines that "she was confused". She tells the Waif more about her list, and the training continues.
Arya is eventually able to match the Waif in stick combat, and Jaqen appears, impressed. He leads Arya to a pool and tells her to drink from the cup where she has seen people drink from and die, which makes her extremely hesitant to trust Jaqen at that moment. He tells her "If a girl truly is no one, then she has nothing to fear." Arya takes the cup from him and drinks, and after a moment, she opens her eyes again and it appears that she has been given her vision back.
Travel next to Winterfell, where Ramsay and the young Lord Karstark are meeting with the Smalljon Umber from Last Hearth. It would appear that the Greatjon has died sometime offscreen, thus placing the Smalljon as the lord of his kingdom. He speaks of alliance to Ramsay but says that he wants to do things differently; he will not kneel or call anyone his lord.
Here is where the shit gets real. Ramsay doesn't seem to accept Umber as an ally, until he says "I've got a gift for you". The gift appears to be Osha the wildling and Rickon Stark, and since Ramsay doesn't believe it at first, the Smalljon goes for a moment and comes back with the head of Shaggydog the Dire Wolf, thus solidifying his claim that the captives are indeed who they are.
The last scene brings us to Castle Black, where the executions of Olly, Thorne, and the two other mutineers is set to commence. After a few last words, most notably by Thorne who says "I fought, I lost, and now I rest. But you, Lord Snow, you'll be fighting their battles forever." Jon shows little remorse to the prisoners and cuts the rope, hanging the group by the neck, giving the viewers a rather gruesome yet satisfying revenge for last season's finale events.
The end of the episode shows Jon taking off his black cloak and handing it to Edd, who asks him "what do I do with this?" Jon replies "wear it, burn it, whatever you want; you have Castle Black". Jon then walks away and proclaims "my Watch has ended" and the credits roll.
So what does this mean? Well even though the title of the episode is "Oathbreaker", Jon technically kept his oath until his death and then came back to life, and I would like to say that means he did indeed fulfill his oath. It is a very interesting turn of events to see him leave the Night's Watch after all that has happened, when back in season one he seemed so excited to be a part of the legendary Watchers on the Wall and traveled to Castle Black with his uncle Benjen (Missing ever since) to join the Watch.
Now that Jon has left, I honestly am not sure where he will go. My honest guess is he will return to Winterfell to try and take back his home. I want to think that he will run into Sansa along the way and hopefully the two will reunite after all this time. However, with the Umbers and the Karstarks now joined with House Bolton, it doesn't appear that there are many strong Stark loyalists left in the North, which could prove a problem for both Jon and Sansa.
Arya has presumably completed her training, which means that now I hope she will finally be sent on missions as a Faceless Man and will be able to tap into the magic that comes with that as well. Her power will only continue to grow as she completes assignments in Braavos and I do think that this will eventually take her back to the Seven Kingdoms as the story continues.
I would rate this episode a solid 7/10. The Tower of Joy flashback did not show us exactly what everyone was willing to bite their fingers off to see, but I wasn't surprised by that. I think we will continue to see small snippets of Stark history through Bran's eyes and we will have the same reaction every time the Three Eyed Raven is urging him back to the present. I also thought there was some good progress made with the storyline of Arya and it is finally catching up to the book in that aspect.
Until next time.
Night gathers, and now my Watch begins.
-Tyler
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