Game of Thrones: Season 5, Episode 4

Game of Thrones

Episode Title: “Sons of the Harpy”

Channel: HBO

Director: Mark Mylod

Writer: Dave Hill

Genre: Action, Drama, Fantasy

Runtime: 55 min

Rated: TV-MA

Original Air Date: May 3, 2015

Spoiler Alert

Game of Thrones made up for this season's lack of violence thus far. After a meeting between Ceresi and the High Sparrow, during which she seemed to name him High Septon, she also authorized the recreation of the Faith Militant. The Faith Militant was disbanded when the Targaryen's assumed control of Westoros, they were the fighting branch of church. They immediately began trashing everything they saw as blasphemous and assaulting the people they saw as sinners. The most important of those detained by the Faith Militant was Ser Loras, the queen's brother. Margaery tried to convince Tommen to free her brother, but he was unwilling to begin a fight on the steps of the sept. Ceresi is now playing the game at a dirtier level than we've seen, and she's done a lot of dirty stuff over the course of the series.

It looks as though Sansa is going to go along with a wedding to Ramsay Bolton. The entirety of these scenes took place between Sansa and Littlefinger in the crypts of Winterfell. He's going to be leaving her there and returning to King's Landing, a plan that she's not fond of. They also discussed Lyanna, her aunt, and her relationship with Rhaegar Targaryen. The only information we've really gotten up to this point on that situation is that he kidnapped and raped her. A story about which Littlefinger obviously knows more than he's revealed.

Things at the Wall stayed interesting this week. In what was probably the best scene of the episode, Stannis recounted his Shireen's illness and recovery. The writers have done a good job taking a character towards whom the audience as been, at best, ambivalent. It was a touching moment for a character that hasn't had a lot going for him. Melisandre was the latest of Stannis' retinue to attempt to persuade Jon to go south to Winterfell and aid in the retaking of the North. With the failure of her tactics I feel pretty sure in concluding that there is nothing, short of Sansa's presence there becoming known, that will drive him into that particular conflict.

Jaime and Bronn had a decent amount of screen time this week, and while it wasn't highly consequential it was fun. The differences between the two characters give them an entertainment value when they're bantering that keeps things light. They managed to make it to Dorne, but were set upon by soldiers shortly after arriving. Bronn did the majority of the work, although Jaime did managed to kill one soldier; even if he did get lucky for even that to happen. Also in Dorne, Ellaria returned to the Sand Snakes, a fighting unit of Prince Oberyn's female bastards, and readied them for a fight. A significant portion of an upcoming episode needs to focus on Dorne. We were introduced to three of the Sand Snakes in this episode, but we know virtually nothing about them. If the writers want me to care about their claims and grievances than do more than give them four minutes of screen time please.

There was another check-in with Tyrion this week. Very little happened though; Tyrion deduced who is kidnapper was and found out where Jorah was taking him. He had a good chuckle when he learned that Jorah was taking him to the destination he already had in mind. I'm not sure the scenes with these two were really necessary, Jorah ambiguously mentioning that he was taking Tyrion to the queen didn't make anyone think of Ceresi. Show me these two when things actually happen.

Finally, the situation in Meereen is deteriorating quickly. Ser Barristan regaled Dany with a story, the subject of which was Rhaegar, her older brother. It was a dead giveaway that following that deeply personal and humorous story that Barristan's continued presence on the show was coming to an end. I'm not saying that situations like that always lead to a character's death, but much like a cop in the movies mentioning how close they are to retirement, moments like that never help their odds of survival. The Sons of the Harpy escalated the conflict in Meereen by going after Dany's soldiers in much larger numbers that they had previously. A squad of Unsullied, including Grey Worm, was ambushed in an alley and rather easily dispatched by the Sons of the Harpy. While it wasn't a horrible fight sequence it really made me question the prowess of the Unsullied. The majority of them went down with little fight, with only Grey Worm really holding his own. Barristan arrived on the scene and did his best to swing the odds back to the side of Dany's forces. It was for naught as he was finally beaten, Grey Worm arriving just too late to save him. The episode faded to black with both of the men bleeding onto the street, Barristan having seemingly expired.

Conclusion: I think I've finally gotten to the point where I don't compare every episode to the books in my head. Enough has finally been changed that I look at them as separate stories, which is a good thing. Even though this was a stronger week for the events in Meereen it's still tedious. The power plays at the capitol have risen to such a level that I'm actually enjoying those moments nearly as much as the events at the Wall. There were two mentions of Rhaegar this week, leaving me to wonder if there's going to be a big reveal concerning the nature of his relationship with Lyanna soon.

Rating: 8.25/10