By: Isabella Montenegro
Under the Weirwood and into the Past
The episode opened with a scene of both the Three Eyed Raven (whom we will call Raven), and Bran Stark, white eyed and hallucinating; while holding on to the roots of the tree, thus reminding us just how powerful these trees are. In the flashback we are back in Winterfell, watching a sparring match between a young Ned Stark (oh how we miss the man), and a young Benjen Stark; with Bran and Raven looking on. It somewhat reminds me of how Harry Potter experienced memories in the Pensieve, only this is clearer. Bran remarks how they were happy back then, to which the Raven replies “So were you.” If you recall, in Ned’s time, his sister would eventually be “kidnapped” and a war would start, and in Bran’s case, a series of events would lead to his paralysis and his father’s death. While different circumstances, both generations of Stark children would lose their happiness quite early in life. Lyanna Stark appears riding a horse, and Bran moves closer to inspect the people his father rarely talks about. We also meet Hodor, when he was a boy and was called Willis. It is a happy time, and it is not difficult to see why Bran would want to continue watching. The Raven pulls Bran out of the memory, and explains that he cannot lose himself in them, or he will not wake up. Bran then tells Hodor/Willis that he saw him as a boy, and wonders what happened. I have a feeling that Hodor saw something that traumatized him, and wonder if it has to do with Lyanna. Bran has Hodor take him to Meera, who is outside the tree; Bran proceeds to tell her about what he saw in the visions, but Meera does not seem to want to listen. She almost seems like someone who doesn’t know what she is supposed to be doing. After Bran heads back inside, a Child of the Forest tells her that she has to protect Bran at all costs, and also alludes that Bran won’t stay under the tree forever.
The Wall
At Castle Black Throne has come to burn Jon Snow’s body, and Davos and crew find themselves getting ready for a fight to protect him. As the door is about to get busted in, the Castle Gate gets busted open by the giant, and the wildlings enter, but no fight starts. One idiot shots the giant, but he is thrown about and killed. The giant is enough of a deterrent to hold of the Watch. Tormund and Edd take control and send the traitors to the cell. With Davos, they go into Jon’s room, and Tormund immediately heads out to let people know to get wood for a pyre.
In the second half of the scenes at the Wall, Davos visits Melisandre, to try and get her to revive Jon Snow. She seems defeated, as she believes her visions in the fire were all lies. Davos, who seemingly has hated her all this time, encourages her to try and revive him. She goes with him, and we cut away to her ritual. Jon’s body is now unclothed, and she is cleaning the blood off him. It is a quiet scene, until she cuts his hair and beard, says an incantation, and burns the hairs. She washes his hair, as she does another incantation. As Tormund, Edd and Davos watch, nothing seemingly happens, and they all leave the room when it is clear to them that nothing worked. I’d like to point one thing out about this scene: the showed Ghost sleeping on the ground. They have never showed any of the Direwolves asleep, resting, lying down, but never asleep. If you noted that, then you probably guessed what was going to happen next: Jon Snow is back.
King’s Landing
We see a comedian talking about the Queen, and when he gets away from the crowd, Sir Robert Strong bashes his head into a wall. Good to see Cersei sending out her knight to do errands. The scene cuts away to Sir Robert Strong returning to Cersei, to escort her to the Sept, but she is blocked by Lannister guards, who have been told to keep her in the Red Keep. At the Sept, Jaime and Tommen are standing in front of Myrcella’s body, mourning. Jaime asks why Cersei is not there, and Tommen alludes that the High Sparrow would not allowed her in. Jaime tries to understand why Tommen is keeping Cersei at arm’s length. Tommen tells him that he feels like a failure since he couldn’t protect his wife or his mother. Jaime urges him to ask Cersei for forgiveness. The High Sparrow appears, and has the audacity to deny the King the right to see his wife. Jaime wonders why the High Sparrow hasn’t arrested him for his sins, which he proceeds to list. Jaime then threatens the High Sparrow in not so many words, only to find the Faith Militant ready to attack him. The High Sparrow leaves after telling him that the faith can overthrow the realm. While I have been a fan of the tension the High Sparrow has caused, I’d like to think, the moment an army kills them all, the people will not go crazy over it, they’ll be upset, and some will try to fight, but the majority will do nothing because of fear. The scene ends and goes back to Cersei in the Red Keep, where Tommen has finally come to visit, and he asks for her forgiveness for failing to protect her, and from keeping her from Myrcella’s funeral. In his failure, Tommen has now placed himself, and his confidence into his mother; now allowing Cersei to rule through him. Now the High Sparrow should truly fear her.
Meereen
Tyrion, Missandei, Greyworm, and Varys are discussing the current situation: the fleet has been burned and no suspects have been found, Yunkai and Astapor are back to their own ways, and there are two dragons on a hunger strike underneath the pyramids. Tyrion then points out that the dragons can hold the city at bay, and he mentions that Dragons in captivity will not live long. He tells them of the dragons Aegon used to conquer Westeros, and how they flew hundreds of miles, how they were huge, but as the Targaryens started ‘taming’ them and putting them in cages, they grew smaller and smaller, and the last dragons were the size of cats. Tyrion wonders if the dragons ever hurt Missandei, and from that surmises that a smart dragon is able to recognize friends. The scene changes to Tyrion and Varys entering the dragon’s cell. It is a tense scene, as Tyrion approaches the animals, and speaks to them softly. Almost like calming down an angry dog, almost. He talks about his name day, and asking for a dragon, only to be told they were extinct. He moves to take off their collars, and once he takes off one collar, the second dragon lowers its neck to have his taken off as well. After that, both dragons retreat to the back of the cell, and Tyrion leaves, but not before admitting to Varys it was a crazy idea. This particular scene is a little telling on the theory of Tyrion being one of the Three Dragon’s Heads that Rhaegar said was required. The other two being Daenerys and Jon Snow, in that particular theory.
Braavos
Arya is sitting on the ground when the waif returns to beat her up. They fight, but the fight ends when she changes into Jaqen, and holds her stick. He tells her to say her name and offers shelter, food and even her sight back, but Arya refuses by saying “A girl has no name.” She has seemingly passed a test, as Jaqen tells her to follow, and that she no longer is a beggar.
Winterfell
Lord Karstark is reporting that the search for Sansa failed, and they discuss that Sansa is likely to go to Castle Black. Ramsay suggest killing Jon Snow, to which Roose Bolton sees as a crazy plan. Roose warns his bastard about acting like a mad dog. The Maester walks in and announces Lady Walda has given birth to a boy. Ramsay walks forward to congratulate his father, and in the most surprising moment of the episode: kills him. Ramsay tells the Maester to send out the news his father died from enemy poison. He then has Lady Walda sent to him outside, and leads her to the kennels. Lady Walda keeps asking for Roose, and then begs for Ramsay to spare them but Ramsay is a sick and twisted individual, and every crazy bone in his head goes off as he sets the hounds on her and the baby, in one of the most horrifying moments of the show. We knew he was crazy… now we know just how crazy. Hopefully Jon Snow will skewer him with Longclaw, or Ghost will eat him.
Somewhere in the North
Brienne is telling Sansa about seeing Arya, and how she looked good. Brienne asks about what happened at Winterfell, and the silence speaks a lot for them. Sansa goes to speak to Theon, who is convinced that Jon will kill him once they get to Castle Black, despite Sansa’s assurances that she will protect him. Theon then decides that he has to leave her, which surprisingly makes Sansa really sad (Did not think they even liked each other). Theon asks for a horse, and tells her he is headed home to the Iron Islands.
The Iron Islands
Yara informs Balon Greyjoy that Deepwoot Motte was lost. Balon then says they will reattack the land, to which Yara says is hopeless. They talk about the two wars that happened, and Balon storms off. So far, all we have seen him do is want to conquer the lands that he rebelled against in revenge. As he tries to cross a bridge between towers he is stopped by a hooded man, who is revealed to be his brother Euron. Euron claims he is the Drowned God, and that he has come to take the rule from Balon. Euron is basically the new Melisandre, a crazy fanatic who either speaks for a god, or believes they are a god. As Balon tries to attack, Euron throws him over the bridge and into his death. The scene cuts out to a funeral, where Yara is told that despite Balon choosing an heir, the Salt Throne is decided by the Kingsmoot. Yara is now nothing more than the daughter of the former king.
OVERALL: 9.5 AMAZEBALLS! A super busy episode that did not feel rushed in the slightest. First the Jon Snow resurrection was done perfectly, and it was not dragged along for half a season, and not only that Ramsay delivered quite the unexpected surprise. Among the other high notes are the Flashback scene (More Lyanna please!), Tyrion the Dragon Whisperer, and the Giant smashing that person. This season is turning out to be quite the eventful one.