Game of Thrones: A Man Without Honor First Watch
May 8, 2015 7:37 AM - Season 2, Episode 7 - Subscribe
Missing dragons. Horny Wildings. Escaped hostages. Reckless assassinations.
--
Cersei: "Permit me to share some womanly wisdom with you on this very special day.
The more people you love the weaker you are. You'll do things for them that you know you shouldn't do.
You'll act the fool to make them happy, to keep them safe.
Love no one but your children. On that front a mother has no choice."
Sansa: "But shouldn't I love Joffrey, Your Grace?"
Cersei: "You can try, Little Dove."
--
Longer Summary (contains spoilers)
- In Winterfell: Theon wakes to find Osha no longer in his bed. Outside, one of his men has been killed. Bran, Rickon, Hodor and Osha have fled in the night. Theon begins a hunt for the two boys and their companions against the wishes of Maester Luwin. Upon returning from the hunt, Theon calls the people to the square, and after Luwin's arrival, reveals to them the charred, unidentifiable remains of two children that he says are Bran and Rickon.
- In The Westerlands: Robb receives Alton Lannister reply from Queen Cersei to his peace terms. Roose Bolton informs Robb that his prisons are full, so Robb orders the construction of a new pen to keep Alton in, and has him placed there with Jaime. Robb again meets with Talisa. Jaime brutally kills both Alton and prison guard Torrhen Karstark and escapes. He is recaptured by morning. Lord Rickard Karstark demands the Kingslayer's head in retribution for his son's murder. Catelyn delays the execution and confronts Jaime, who reveals that he: a) Killed Aegon the Conqueror not to seize the throne but because the King was slaughtering the innocent; b) Jaime considers concepts like "honor" and "loyalty" naive at best and hypocritical at worst; and that c) he has only ever slept with Cersei, adding that he has more honor than Catelyn's late husband Ned, who fathered Jon Snow, a bastard. Catelyn is incensed.
- At Harrenhall: Believing he was the intended target, Tywin orders Gregor Clegane to find Amory Lorch's assassin. Tywin tells Arya that this is his last war, and he wishes to leave a legacy behind. They speak about history: the conquest of Westeros by Aegon the Conqueror, which led to the destruction of Harrenhal by dragons. Arya accidentally reveals her highborn education and training, but covers by telling Tywin her mother served a noblewoman for many years and taught her to speak properly.
- In King's Landing: Sansa discovers she has begun menstruating during the night, which means she can now be wed to Joffrey and bear his children. Shae discovers Sansa in a panic, trying to cut the blood from her sheets. Shae tries to help, but they are discovered by one of the Queen's handmaidens, who rushes to tell the Queen. Shae catches the maid in the hall and threatens to kill her if she tells anyone, but then the Hound sees the sheet as well. Cersei meets with Sansa to discuss her duty to Joffrey, but tells her that it will be impossible to love Joffrey so she should just focus on loving her children. Tyrion tells Cersei that Stannis' fleet will be arriving in days and Joffrey's defense plans might not work. Cersei implies that Jaime is the father of her children, and shares with Tyrion her belief that she is being punished with an uncontrollable Joffrey for committing incest.
- Across the Narrow Sea, in Qarth: Daenerys no longer trusts Xaro. Jorah vows to find her dragons. At a meeting of the Thirteen, Pyat Pree tells Daenerys that he has her dragons in the "House of the Undying." Shortly after this revelation, Xaro, with the aid of Pree, proclaims himself King of Qarth. Pree, having multiplied himself around the room, assassinates the remaining eleven members of the Thirteen, and Daenerys flees with Mormont and Kovarro.
- Beyond the Wall: Ygritte tries to convince Jon to defect to the wildlings under Mance Rayder. She also tries to teasingly seduce him. Jon is captured by wildlings, freeing Ygritte.
--
Jaime [to Catelyn]: “So many vows. Defend the king. Obey the king. Obey your father. Protect the innocent. Defend the weak. But what if your father despises the king? What if the king massacres the innocent? No matter what you do you’re forsaking one vow or another.”
--
Introduced in this episode
Characters
* Rickard Karstark, the Lord of Karhold and the head of House Karstark. He fights for King Robb Stark, his distant relative and liege lord.
--
Tyrion: “It's hard to put a leash on a dog once you've put a crown on its head.”
--
Notes (Cribbed from here and here.)
* The episode title refers to Catelyn Stark's disdainful comment to Jaime Lannister: "You are a man without honor".
* Tyrion made similar comments to Ygritte's back in Season 1 when he visited the Wall, pointing out that the "wildlings" are basically just those people whose ancestors were unfortunate enough to happen to be living north of the Wall when it was built. Both the inhabitants of the North (south of the Wall, ruled by the Starks) and the wildlings are descended from the First Men. They have much closer ethnic ties to each other than the foreign Andal invaders who now dominate all of southern Westeros. Both groups even have the same religion, worshiping the Old Gods of the Forest, as Osha pointed out in Season 1.
* According to episode director David Nutter, the episode was filmed not long after the footage of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi's death was circulating heavily in the news, during which Gaddafi was surrounded by a frenzied mob eager to exact "eye for an eye" vengeance. Nutter said that he was loosely inspired by the visual energy of this footage when he was shooting the scene in which Jaime Lannister has been recaptured after killing Rickard Karstark's son, and is dragged back into camp by an angry mob of Northern soldiers who want to immediately kill him.
--
Ygritte: “You know nothing, Jon Snow.”
--
Cersei: "Permit me to share some womanly wisdom with you on this very special day.
The more people you love the weaker you are. You'll do things for them that you know you shouldn't do.
You'll act the fool to make them happy, to keep them safe.
Love no one but your children. On that front a mother has no choice."
Sansa: "But shouldn't I love Joffrey, Your Grace?"
Cersei: "You can try, Little Dove."
--
Longer Summary (contains spoilers)
- In Winterfell: Theon wakes to find Osha no longer in his bed. Outside, one of his men has been killed. Bran, Rickon, Hodor and Osha have fled in the night. Theon begins a hunt for the two boys and their companions against the wishes of Maester Luwin. Upon returning from the hunt, Theon calls the people to the square, and after Luwin's arrival, reveals to them the charred, unidentifiable remains of two children that he says are Bran and Rickon.
- In The Westerlands: Robb receives Alton Lannister reply from Queen Cersei to his peace terms. Roose Bolton informs Robb that his prisons are full, so Robb orders the construction of a new pen to keep Alton in, and has him placed there with Jaime. Robb again meets with Talisa. Jaime brutally kills both Alton and prison guard Torrhen Karstark and escapes. He is recaptured by morning. Lord Rickard Karstark demands the Kingslayer's head in retribution for his son's murder. Catelyn delays the execution and confronts Jaime, who reveals that he: a) Killed Aegon the Conqueror not to seize the throne but because the King was slaughtering the innocent; b) Jaime considers concepts like "honor" and "loyalty" naive at best and hypocritical at worst; and that c) he has only ever slept with Cersei, adding that he has more honor than Catelyn's late husband Ned, who fathered Jon Snow, a bastard. Catelyn is incensed.
- At Harrenhall: Believing he was the intended target, Tywin orders Gregor Clegane to find Amory Lorch's assassin. Tywin tells Arya that this is his last war, and he wishes to leave a legacy behind. They speak about history: the conquest of Westeros by Aegon the Conqueror, which led to the destruction of Harrenhal by dragons. Arya accidentally reveals her highborn education and training, but covers by telling Tywin her mother served a noblewoman for many years and taught her to speak properly.
- In King's Landing: Sansa discovers she has begun menstruating during the night, which means she can now be wed to Joffrey and bear his children. Shae discovers Sansa in a panic, trying to cut the blood from her sheets. Shae tries to help, but they are discovered by one of the Queen's handmaidens, who rushes to tell the Queen. Shae catches the maid in the hall and threatens to kill her if she tells anyone, but then the Hound sees the sheet as well. Cersei meets with Sansa to discuss her duty to Joffrey, but tells her that it will be impossible to love Joffrey so she should just focus on loving her children. Tyrion tells Cersei that Stannis' fleet will be arriving in days and Joffrey's defense plans might not work. Cersei implies that Jaime is the father of her children, and shares with Tyrion her belief that she is being punished with an uncontrollable Joffrey for committing incest.
- Across the Narrow Sea, in Qarth: Daenerys no longer trusts Xaro. Jorah vows to find her dragons. At a meeting of the Thirteen, Pyat Pree tells Daenerys that he has her dragons in the "House of the Undying." Shortly after this revelation, Xaro, with the aid of Pree, proclaims himself King of Qarth. Pree, having multiplied himself around the room, assassinates the remaining eleven members of the Thirteen, and Daenerys flees with Mormont and Kovarro.
- Beyond the Wall: Ygritte tries to convince Jon to defect to the wildlings under Mance Rayder. She also tries to teasingly seduce him. Jon is captured by wildlings, freeing Ygritte.
Jaime [to Catelyn]: “So many vows. Defend the king. Obey the king. Obey your father. Protect the innocent. Defend the weak. But what if your father despises the king? What if the king massacres the innocent? No matter what you do you’re forsaking one vow or another.”
--
Introduced in this episode
Characters
* Rickard Karstark, the Lord of Karhold and the head of House Karstark. He fights for King Robb Stark, his distant relative and liege lord.
Tyrion: “It's hard to put a leash on a dog once you've put a crown on its head.”
--
Notes (Cribbed from here and here.)
* The episode title refers to Catelyn Stark's disdainful comment to Jaime Lannister: "You are a man without honor".
* Tyrion made similar comments to Ygritte's back in Season 1 when he visited the Wall, pointing out that the "wildlings" are basically just those people whose ancestors were unfortunate enough to happen to be living north of the Wall when it was built. Both the inhabitants of the North (south of the Wall, ruled by the Starks) and the wildlings are descended from the First Men. They have much closer ethnic ties to each other than the foreign Andal invaders who now dominate all of southern Westeros. Both groups even have the same religion, worshiping the Old Gods of the Forest, as Osha pointed out in Season 1.
* According to episode director David Nutter, the episode was filmed not long after the footage of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi's death was circulating heavily in the news, during which Gaddafi was surrounded by a frenzied mob eager to exact "eye for an eye" vengeance. Nutter said that he was loosely inspired by the visual energy of this footage when he was shooting the scene in which Jaime Lannister has been recaptured after killing Rickard Karstark's son, and is dragged back into camp by an angry mob of Northern soldiers who want to immediately kill him.
Ygritte: “You know nothing, Jon Snow.”
--
Is it just me, or is there a strange connection between Arya and Tywin? It's been several days (and many episodes) since I watched this, but I felt that Tywin betrayed a certain fondness for Arya, at least as much as he shows fondness for anyone. Perhaps he senses in her that same spark for crushing one's enemies that lies within him?
posted by rocketman at 1:21 PM on May 13, 2015
posted by rocketman at 1:21 PM on May 13, 2015
I felt that Tywin betrayed a certain fondness for Arya
Definitely. Tywin has no patience for fools, so I think it was refreshing for him to talk with someone with natural intelligence, and he doesn't lose face chatting with a kid. And I think he was genuinely a bit fond of her.
I loved the scenes between Arya and Tywin. They're one of the departures from the books which I thought worked really well.
posted by homunculus at 7:30 PM on December 30, 2015
Definitely. Tywin has no patience for fools, so I think it was refreshing for him to talk with someone with natural intelligence, and he doesn't lose face chatting with a kid. And I think he was genuinely a bit fond of her.
I loved the scenes between Arya and Tywin. They're one of the departures from the books which I thought worked really well.
posted by homunculus at 7:30 PM on December 30, 2015
Both Jon Snow and Ygritte are wearing the equivalent of futon mattresses wrapped around their bodies yet----? That's some magic right there.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 12:25 PM on September 22, 2018
posted by TWinbrook8 at 12:25 PM on September 22, 2018
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Please do not reveal spoilers for subsequent episodes from any source.
Thank you.
posted by zarq at 7:37 AM on May 8, 2015