Game of Thrones: The House of Black and White Show Only

April 20, 2015 5:08 AM - Season 5, Episode 2

Arya arrives in Braavos. Pod and Brienne run into trouble on the road. Cersei fears for her daughter's safety in Dorne as Ellaria Sand seeks revenge for Oberyn's death. Stannis tempts Jon. An adviser tempts Dany.
posted by filthy light thief (60 comments total)

First thoughts:

• Ayra's list has shortened (and what a subtle comment with the door and which side sits on; does the white one even open?)
• Even the Bravosi fish honor a coin of the Faceless Men, returning Arya's to Jaqen H'ghar
• What did Littlefinger want from Breanne?
• I'm glad Pod hasn't suddenly learned to ride
• Poor Breanne, twice scorned, but she broke a sword! (Take that, Jon Snow)

posted by filthy light thief at 5:25 AM on April 20, 2015 [1 favorite]

Littlefinger wants Brienne to not spread word that Sansa Stark is alive, hence the desire to keep her close or possibly dead.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:35 AM on April 20, 2015 [6 favorites]

Littlefinger wants Brienne to not spread word that Sansa Stark is alive, hence the desire to keep her close or possibly dead.

I'd say it's more the fact that he has her --- I don't think anybody figures she escaped the Purple Wedding entirely on her own, and she's a pretty valuable chess piece to kill. Using her is in a lot more people's interest than killing her.

Why weren't Jaime Lannister and Roose Bolton on Arya's list? Also, while I do love me some Bronn, this Jaime plotline seems a little silly to me. I know the prospect of knightly derring-do is the only thing that really gets his blood flowing, but really dude, you're just leaving Cersei alone in King's Landing with the rest of your family, the Tyrells, and god knows who else? I mean, Cersei inevitably losing control of that whole situation is one of the plots I'm most looking forward to this season, but from within the context of the show it just seems dumb. Each of you are pretty much each other's only ally at this point, and even you know that the two of you together don't add up to one Tywin.

Also, heartbreaker of a scene there at the end with Dany and Drogon. I don't know if Emilia Clarke is actually improving as an actress or if I'm just warming up to her, but i thought she did some great, subtle work in all her scenes this week, conveying her compassion and confusion toward the former slave counsellor in the throne room, and her sneaking horror that she might could be like her dear Papa in her convo with Barristan, and the combo of trepidation and relief she feels on seeing Drogon. All of us will be standing guard tonight. But no petting, because I may up and try and burn you alive, I'm a little touchy like that and we're not quite sure you could survive full-grown dragonfire. 'Kay?
posted by maggiepolitt at 6:00 AM on April 20, 2015 [1 favorite]

Why weren't Jaime Lannister and Roose Bolton on Arya's list?

Does she know about them?

Also, while I do love me some Bronn, this Jaime plotline seems a little silly to me.

Jaime wants to make a name for himself and do something. Plus I'm betting he isn't exactly keen on Cersei these days and that brand of crazy. Brienne has changed him and now he craves some of that honor.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:08 AM on April 20, 2015 [3 favorites]

Unlike Cersei, I do believe that Jaime cares deeply for his children, and so the desire to get his daughter out of danger seems like sufficient motivation to go on this plot-convenient quest to me.
posted by sparklemotion at 7:13 AM on April 20, 2015 [2 favorites]

Oh, I think Cersei cares for them deeply. Remember when Joff died, she was all "yes he was an evil dick but he was MY BABY the evil dick"
posted by showbiz_liz at 7:15 AM on April 20, 2015 [2 favorites]

I think sparklemotion means Cersei doesn't believe Jaime cares about the kids.
posted by ChuraChura at 7:41 AM on April 20, 2015 [2 favorites]

Dear Internet,

Someone with better Photoshop skills than I, please take an old Bob Hope & Bing Crosby movie poster and turn it into "Varys & Tyrion: The Road to Mereen!"

I feel like this needs to be a thing.
posted by dnash at 8:59 AM on April 20, 2015 [9 favorites]

What was the fourth name that Arya had on her list? Not Walter Frey, Cersei, or The Mountain.
posted by andoatnp at 9:26 AM on April 20, 2015

Meryn Trant
posted by drezdn at 9:28 AM on April 20, 2015 [2 favorites]

Syrio's killer.
posted by drezdn at 9:28 AM on April 20, 2015 [5 favorites]

The other two dragons must be more pissed off than ever with their brother flying around freely outside.
posted by homunculus at 10:13 AM on April 20, 2015

Daenerys is definitely the preachiest and least interesting character. I just want to follow Arya, Cersei, Bran, Littlefinger, and Melisandre. Oh, and maybe the dragons.
posted by shivohum at 10:19 AM on April 20, 2015

Yeah, Cersei's love for her children (for better or worse) is clear. I did think that she overreacted badly to Myrcella being shipped to Dorne, and ironically, it was her own love for her children/hatred of Tyrion that has actually put Myrcella in some amount of danger. If Cersei didn't hate Tyrion so much, she might have understood what he was trying to do to protect Myrcella, and she also wouldn't have assumed that he hated Joffrey enough to kill him, and so no trial-by-combat, and Oberyn would still be alive, and Allaria wouldn't be out for revenge.

The other two dragons must be more pissed off than ever with their brother flying around freely outside.

I think I am going to hiss at the screen all the way through Dany's scenes until she lets the other two dragons out.
posted by sparklemotion at 10:19 AM on April 20, 2015 [1 favorite]

Slynt the Baby Slayer learned an important lesson: Do not fuck with Sam. That was probably my favorite moment in this episode.
posted by homunculus at 10:20 AM on April 20, 2015 [9 favorites]

The Night's Watch voting system seemed overly complicated. There's gotta be a way to do that without wasting a vase.

I was a bit worried when Arya wasn't in last week's episode, but her story here wasn't boring and we actually learned enough to make the wait worth it.

I still like Dany, but the show couldn't be more obvious with how they are making her get extra incompetent so that by the time Varys and Tyrion show up she will be begging them for help.
posted by dogwalker at 10:54 AM on April 20, 2015 [6 favorites]

I thought that there might have been historical precedence for shattering the vessel that holds the votes; evidence that the ballots are not being under-counted (some stuck inside the vase in some way). Couldn't find a reference. Athenian voting vessels were bronze (and a wooden one (pdf) for discards in a binary vote).

Maybe it's an allusion to ostraka/ostracism? Or just a bit of dramatics.
posted by porpoise at 11:28 AM on April 20, 2015 [3 favorites]

Does she know about them?

Well, she was at the Red Wedding and witnessed the slaughter of the Northmen by the Boltons and Freys; we know from the scenes with her and Tywin in Harrenhal that she's fairly well versed in the sigils and who's vassal to who when it comes to the North. The Hound knocked her out during the fighting, but they were still dodging through groups of soldiers the next day and overhearing their conversations; it seems weird to me that she wouldn't know of the Bolton's involvement in the plot. As for Jamie, I guess he wasn't present at Ned's execution, but he did stab her dad in the leg and kill all his men.

Jaime wants to make a name for himself and do something. Plus I'm betting he isn't exactly keen on Cersei these days and that brand of crazy. Brienne has changed him and now he craves some of that honor.

I think the show's spent a lot of time and done a good job of showing that Jamie craves honor and is worried about his legacy ---- there's been like four scenes with him brooding over the Big Book Of Awesome Shit the Kingsguard Have Done (Except for You Kingslayer You Suck) --- but as for him not being into Cersei anymore, there was a scene last season where he literally shoved that book away from him to clear space so they could fuck on a table. Seemed keen enough to me. His willingness to put his devotion to Cersei above honor is his permanent character flaw. I feel like being with Brienne maybe revived that old craving for honor, but I think it's always been there; he had that whole big speech with his cousin reminiscing about his first tournament and all the knights he admired and wanted to emulate back when he was being held by the Starks (you know, right before he choked him to death). Jamie's drawn to Brienne because she embodies the ideals he's always admired and failed to live up to in his own life (or been forced to not live up to by the horrible dilemmas he's found himself in, potato potahto).

So I totally get why he'd want to undertake this quest. It's just on a higher, more strategic level, undertaking a knightly quest in pursuit of honor at this particular moment in time when the Lannister's grip on power is under threat from all sides seems like a really, really bad idea. Of course, big picture strategic thinking has never been either of their strong suits. So as a plotline it makes a fair amount of sense, character wise, and as a fun bit of TV I think it has a lot of potential. Odd-Couple-On-The-Road has been a repeated trope on the show that has given us some of GoT's best scenes (and lines). But in terms of what it tells you about these characters within the context of the world it seems to make them a bit dumber than I thought they were, that both Jamie and Cersei could possibly think this was a great idea for him to jet off and leave her to hold the fort.
posted by maggiepolitt at 11:38 AM on April 20, 2015 [3 favorites]

but as for him not being into Cersei anymore, there was a scene last season where he literally shoved that book away from him to clear space so they could fuck on a table.

She had repeatedly been rejecting his sexual advances, so yeah, when she finally seems eager to be with him, of course he shoves a book aside for the chance for actual sex.

But she's still the hateful woman who's paranoid and wanted him to kill his brother.

As to the rest, I don't think Jamie gives much of a damn about the family name. It matters, sure. Just not as much. And why should it? His father and sister/lover were ready to kill his beloved brother. They've stood so far apart from the common people he knows that his family isn't very well liked. Cersei is still being herself, but worst, having rage fits and drinking a lot.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:06 PM on April 20, 2015

I still like Dany, but the show couldn't be more obvious with how they are making her get extra incompetent so that by the time Varys and Tyrion show up she will be begging them for help.

I dunno, man. That's the plan, but I feel like maybe the whole 'Queen Dany' thing will go out the window once they get there and realize she's lost her entire base. Meanwhile, Tyrion is widely (if wrongly) thought of as a slayer of blond tyrants, and Varys is, after a fashion, Unsullied. Lop one head and they're a shoo-in.
posted by Sys Rq at 2:31 PM on April 20, 2015

Cersei inevitably losing control of that whole situation is one of the plots I'm most looking forward to this season

And I think that was pretty much lampshaded this episode by Uncle Kevan huffing off to Casterly Rock. Her stringpulling in the Council lacked both the subtlety, and the implied iron fist, that Tywin employed.

I got the impression that Jon wasn't particularly happy about Sam nominating him -- a move that was largely self-serving on Sam's part. It seemed to me that there was something of an understanding between Jon and Alliser Thorne during the battle on the Wall -- a "look, I'm pretending to hate you because that's part of the job" moment -- but now Sam's given Ser Alliser a genuine grudge to carry.

Also, Janos Slynt's going to be trouble, isn't he?

No nudity this episode I think? Which probably means a big honking chunk of sexposition next time.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 3:12 PM on April 20, 2015 [1 favorite]

No nudity this episode I think?

Do dragons count?
posted by Sys Rq at 5:54 PM on April 20, 2015 [3 favorites]

I got the impression that Jon wasn't particularly happy about Sam nominating him -- a move that was largely self-serving on Sam's part.

Yes, but also Gilly-serving and baby-serving.
posted by Sys Rq at 5:56 PM on April 20, 2015 [8 favorites]

Cersei inevitably losing control of that whole situation is one of the plots I'm most looking forward to this season

And I think that was pretty much lampshaded this episode by Uncle Kevan huffing off to Casterly Rock.

I wonder if she's going to let him just shuffle off. If he does anything to challenge her authority, she might decide to start cleaning house. She may even release the FrankenMountain, though my guess is Lancel the Liability is going to be the first to go.
posted by homunculus at 8:24 PM on April 20, 2015 [2 favorites]

Yeah, I'm rapidly losing interest in anything regarding Daenerys which is ... unfortunate for me because I'm guessing she'll be in a whole lot more episodes.

"I feel like maybe the whole 'Queen Dany' thing will go out the window once they get there and realize she's lost her entire base"

I haven't read the books so I'm speaking from a position of ignorance here but I've always felt the "A Song of Fire and Ice" series name makes it sound like the two people left at the end are Jon Snow and the Mother of Dragons, two of the characters I care least about.

At least we got some interesting Ayra plot this episode.
posted by komara at 9:31 PM on April 20, 2015

This felt like a second setting-the-stage episode in a row, which I'm not necessarily super opposed to (the set piece with Dany at the end finding out that populism works really well until you make it clear that your followers are treated as equals rather than getting special treatment was really, er, well executed). Looking forward to seeing the ramifications of the stuff we saw being put in place this week, though.

Also, Cersei continues to be like some sort of Dunning-Kruger case study.
posted by DoctorFedora at 9:56 PM on April 20, 2015 [4 favorites]

Hoping that this season picks up a bit soon. This was the second episode that seemed to be about 80% setup for future episodes.
posted by octothorpe at 5:01 AM on April 21, 2015

I've enjoyed both episodes thus far this season, but I have to say, Cersei is really starting to grate on me. I know that this isn't always the most subtle of shows, but her ever-present rictus and totally insane doubling and tripling down on every stupid idea she has is getting to the point of her feeling like a saturday-morning cartoon villain.

I swear to god, Skeletor had more nuance and competence.
posted by tocts at 5:02 AM on April 21, 2015 [3 favorites]

Calling it now: Cersei is the next Michael Scott
posted by DoctorFedora at 6:33 AM on April 21, 2015 [5 favorites]

I haven't read the books so I'm speaking from a position of ignorance here but I've always felt the "A Song of Fire and Ice" series name makes it sound like the two people left at the end are Jon Snow and the Mother of Dragons, two of the characters I care least about.

I haven't read the books either, but I would think the Fire is the fire lady who sets people on fire -- you know, the woman whose plotline is so much less interesting even than Dany's that you forgot she even existed.

At least we got some interesting Ayra plot this episode.

Did we? Her story advanced one square, that's all. Most of her plot in this episode was useless jerking around. Why'd the jedi tell her from the dark side of the doors that he wasn't the droids she was looking for, only to later come to her rescue and be all okay, yeah, I'm totally the droids you're looking for? What is the point of that, other than to pad out screentime? The moment when she throws the coin thingy into the water seems like it could be fraught with enormous consequence, what with her being completely alone all of a sudden, all hope completely lost -- you know, a major turning point in her story -- but, turns out, nope, here comes a new hope, swooping in out of nowhere for no reason to save her from who gives a crap. Hooray. The part that could have been really interesting -- dejectedly wandering the streets having to fend for herself all Dickensian like -- lasts about fifteen seconds, contains no emotions whatsoever, and ends with deus ex machina.
posted by Sys Rq at 6:35 AM on April 21, 2015 [6 favorites]

What is the point of that, other than to pad out screen time?

I took as she had to forget her desires and merely exist. "A girl must become no one".
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:41 AM on April 21, 2015 [3 favorites]

RECAP!
posted by Sys Rq at 7:23 AM on April 21, 2015 [6 favorites]

I haven't read the books either, but I would think the Fire is the fire lady who sets people on fire -- you know, the woman whose plotline is so much less interesting even than Dany's that you forgot she even existed

She was in last week's episode, lighting dudes on fire and making eyes at John Snow. I haven't read the books either, and god knows there's been a lot of surprising plot twists in this thing, but: (1) the overarching plot and theme of the show is about who's going to rule Westeros, and what qualities make a good ruler (2) Danny and John Snow both have the family connections and armies to make a strong play for the throne, and both their arcs have been about them learning to lead (3) the Red Witch does not have those qualifications (4) the existential threat faced by all characters in the show is winter + rampaging ice zombies (5) john snow is trying to fight the ice zombies (6) so far the only thing we've seen that's capable of killing ice zombies is obsidian, aka "dragonglass". I feel like it's going to take several seasons maybe, but those two characters are definitely on a collision course...

she's still the hateful woman

His full line in the rape scene is "why have the gods made me love s hateful woman" an echo of his line when he pushes Bran out the window. A lot of people hate Cersei and like Jaime, and want him to hate her too, but I don't think there's much evidence in the show that he does. Nearly every scene they had last season showed him pursuing, her rejecting, and when she comes to him he takes her back like that, literally and immediately shoving aside the symbol of his honor as a knight to do so. Yeah, he likes Tyrion and felt caught between them, but other than his not killing his brother on her behalf I don't think you can find another example of him refusing to bow to her wishes.
posted by maggiepolitt at 8:34 AM on April 21, 2015 [3 favorites]

His sending of Brienne to find/protect Arya and Sansa; although I assume that's secret so it's not him openly acting against Cersei's wishes.

(And his giving Brienne Oathbreaker, although I read that more as an "and fuck you too, dad" gesture.)
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 9:04 AM on April 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

RECAP!

After seeing a few of these cheeky screencap recaps, and today listening to Santo Gold's Top Ranking: A Diplo Dub mixtape, I will be working on making a mashup of GoT and TR, because there are a lot of tracks that work with the show. It's not Dark Side of the Rainbow, but (forced) relationships in the lyrics. How can you not put Jon Snow images to Santogold singing about building a wall? And The B-52's "Mesopotamia" would work so well with Dany in Mereen!
posted by filthy light thief at 9:06 AM on April 21, 2015

We had a deal, Kyle: No nudity this episode I think? Which probably means a big honking chunk of sexposition next time.

Well, as Oona Chaplin, who plays the noblewoman Talisa Maegyr, told Mandrake:

“One of the girls in the show who got her kit off the most in the first couple of seasons now doesn’t at all because she said, 'I want to be known for my acting not for my breasts.’ ”

The Telegraph article goes on to speculate it was Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen), but she squelshed that theory with a single line: "More nudity, I mean it wouldn’t be ‘Game of Thrones’ without some boobs."

But it doesn't need to have gratuitous nudity. Really, it could probably lose all the nudity and nothing of value would be lost. What plot devices require full frontal scenes? There's what's said and what's unsaid, and the unsaid can be more powerful. The same goes for what is seen and unseen.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:14 AM on April 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

"(1) the overarching plot and theme of the show is about who's going to rule Westeros, and what qualities make a good ruler [...] those two characters are definitely on a collision course..."

Thank you for enumerating all the reasons, and more succinctly than I could have.

Again, I only know the show but this seems like the most likely outcome. However, even the TV series has taught me that no one is safe from death and who knows? Maybe by the end it's Arya who has "a woman"d herself into Daenerys's face and now has the dragons, and she's in opposition to Gendry who unwittingly rowed far enough north that he got hisself into White Walker territory and became the leader of the Free Folk through a series of comedic mishaps and misunderstandings.
posted by komara at 9:16 AM on April 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

At least we got some interesting Ayra plot this episode.

Did we? Her story advanced one square, that's all. Most of her plot in this episode was useless jerking around. Why'd the jedi tell her from the dark side of the doors that he wasn't the droids she was looking for, only to later come to her rescue and be all okay, yeah, I'm totally the droids you're looking for? What is the point of that, other than to pad out screentime?

There are a lot of old stories of aspiring initiates at the gates of a temple or monastery who are told to go away, and it's only after they prove their commitment by refusing to leave that they're finally granted entry several days or weeks later. I imagine that they refuse everyone at first, and when Arya didn't leave town and demonstrated that she had the right attitude towards life and death with the three thugs, she passed the first test.
posted by homunculus at 10:07 AM on April 21, 2015 [8 favorites]

I agree that it was Ayra giving the correct answer to the god of death ("not today") that granted her entry. I think that the waiting at the gates for 2 days and a night was actually the wrong thing to do, and never would have gotten her in.

I was so proud of her when she up and left. No tears. No begging. Just remember your list and say screw you to the folks who aren't going to help you shorten it.

I gladly would watch a series on Orphan Arya's Adventures in Braavos, but I'm also happy (and intrigued) that we get to find out more about the faceless men (and women).
posted by sparklemotion at 1:13 PM on April 21, 2015 [5 favorites]

I guess what I'm saying is, if you cut out the entire section between the point when Arya is refused entry and the point when she's allowed entry, absolutely nothing changes. Anything that happens in between that seems like it might have an impact on the overall plot is immediately undone by the amazing sea scavenging and urban tracking abilities of Man-E-Faces.
posted by Sys Rq at 4:15 PM on April 21, 2015

Arya coolly facing down her attackers alone is surely at least a character-development beat, no?

Yes, Faceless Dude does turn up to scare them off, but she didn't know that was going to happen when she drew on them. All her other recent stick-em-with-the-pointy-end encounters have had the Hound in the background as backup.

(I rather like both Brandon's "a girl must become no-one" and sparklemotion's "not today" interpretations. I suspect there's also a more prosaic "hey, we built this really cool set, so let's linger on it for a while" explanation.)
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 6:01 PM on April 21, 2015

if you cut out the entire section between the point when Arya is refused entry and the point when she's allowed entry, absolutely nothing changes.

I learned she can get close to pigeon, handle her sword better and is absolutely fearless. She was going to take on 3 larger men and didn't blink. She's scary brave these days, which can be a good thing, with training or a bad thing if she's just wandering the streets, getting into trouble.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:07 PM on April 21, 2015 [7 favorites]

Other than the pigeon thing, didn't you already know all that? Since, like, season 2?
posted by Sys Rq at 8:01 AM on April 22, 2015

She's been catching pigeons since Season 1. (I think that was season 1...after she runs off, before Ned dies)
posted by sparklemotion at 8:19 AM on April 22, 2015 [2 favorites]

Other than the pigeon thing, didn't you already know all that? Since, like, season 2?

Yes and no. The confrontation with the three men was growth to me. Before it was it was sheer lack of fear. Now it's mixed with the experience of having killed people. She no longer makes bargains to have someone killed, she can and will do it herself, with zero remorse.

The really interesting thing to be about the confrontation with the three men is that I'm not sure Arya would have been able to defeat them all in that fight. But she would have done serious damage to most if not all of them and if they didn't kill her, she would have killed them at a later date, no question.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:22 AM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]

Had to check if this was the show-only or +books thread; yeah, Arya's brief experience in the mean streets of Bravos is really abbreviated. What I got out of those limited scenes was that Bravos is not so much different than anywhere else when you're poor.

Good catch sparklemotion! Arya, down on her luck and all on her own - still catching pigeons - be it King's Landing or Bravos. Only now she's used to killing and will do it as a rational dispassionate "got to do what a girl's got to do" thing.

3 on 1 is terrible odds, but she's got reach on them, and unlike the Hound, they're not wearing any armour. Needle's a neat little killing tool. My odds are she's kill the first guy quickly, get a couple of stabs into a second who'd probably die, and the third runs away.
posted by porpoise at 9:14 AM on April 22, 2015 [2 favorites]

I hope that Brienne's plotline just descends to her approaching strange girls on the street and yelling "I AM SWORN TO PROTECT YOU" and they run away screaming.
posted by no regrets, coyote at 12:01 PM on April 22, 2015 [14 favorites]

Jon turning down Stannis's "kneel before me and I'll make you a Stark" offer was a nice echo of Mance turning down "bend the knee and I'll, um, not burn you alive m'kay?" last week. Stannis is 0-for-2 in the commanding-loyalty stakes.

(Although I think Jon did kneel and acknowledge Stannis as king at the end of The Children.)

Loose end: have we seen Davos's pirate buddy Salladhor Saan yet? I haven't noticed him amongst Stannis's camp, but he was paid handsomely for something back in Braavos so maybe he's due to come back into play later?
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 12:27 PM on April 22, 2015 [2 favorites]

I thought Saan just transported Stannis North of the wall. And probably facilitated the hiring of mercenaries. The plan is thus:

1. Borrow money from Iron Bank
2. Give money to Saan
3. ...
4. Appear North of the Wall with thousands of mounted soldiers.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 12:35 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]

(Although I think Jon did kneel and acknowledge Stannis as king at the end of The Children.)

Jon has no problem acknowledging Stannis as king, he just can't accept the offer to become Lord of Winterfell because he is sworn to Castle Black/The Night's Watch.

I guess I could *maybe* have seen an outcome where Lord Commander Thorne "exiled" Jon to Winterfell just to get him out of Castle Black. But even the LC can't release a watchman from his vows, I don't think, so it's not like Jon could go and repopulate the House of Stark or anything -- you might as well give Winterfell to Varys.
posted by sparklemotion at 12:36 PM on April 22, 2015 [2 favorites]

Give money to Saan

I thought SAAN went out of business years ago!
posted by Sys Rq at 7:54 AM on April 23, 2015

Myth, History and Game of Thrones
posted by the man of twists and turns at 1:20 PM on April 23, 2015

even the LC can't release a watchman from his vows, I don't think

Has this ever been brought up? I get the sense kings can do a lot in Westeros - see that Jon always knew that Robert could erase his bastardy, even if Ned never asked. Another thing to blame Catelyn for? Or can you remember, who is/was older, Jon or Robb?
posted by corb at 11:15 AM on April 26, 2015

Has this ever been brought up?

Not exactly, but a major theme of the show and history is that the powerful can do as they like. So yeah, a Lord Commander could probably released a member of the Night's Watch if a powerful enough King stood by his decision

But that would probably cause all sorts of havok with the rest of the Watch. So choose wisely, Lord Commander.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:42 AM on April 26, 2015

The Law Is The Law
posted by homunculus at 11:58 AM on April 26, 2015

Who makes the Law?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:29 PM on April 26, 2015

This guy.
posted by homunculus at 3:06 PM on April 26, 2015

After watching the most recent episode, there's probably a couple of showrunners who disagree.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:42 PM on April 26, 2015

The other two dragons must be more pissed off than ever with their brother flying around freely outside.

Especially as they are locked up for his misdeeds. It seems to me a callback to Season 1, where Arya's direwolf bites Joffrey, and Sansa's wolf suffers for it.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 10:00 AM on May 25, 2015

Varys and Tyrion are heading to Volantis. Isn't that where Shae came from? There might be a reckoning.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 6:27 PM on October 6, 2018