Game of Thrones Recap: “Walk of Punishment”

This week we learn the price of war.

Last week: Bran, Rickon, Osha, and Hodor added Jojen and Meera Reed to their party, giving Bran some sort of teacher in his newfound abilities. Robb and Catelyn Stark set off for the Tully holding of Riverrun to bury Catelyn’s father Hoster and get some more men. Jon Snow was accepted, albeit with caution, by the windings after killing Quorin Halfhand. The rest of the Night’s Watch was reduced in number and on the run from the White Walkers and their wights. Theon had a corkscrew through his foot. Arya and Gendry were held by the Brotherhood Without Banners after Sandor Clegane revealed Arya’s identity. Brienne and Jamie were captured by Bolton men, after trying to kill each other (Is it love?). Sansa was drawn further into the plans of the players around her, giving the Tyrells information about Joffrey while Littlefinger dangled hope in front of her. Joffrey was an idiot, again, and Margaery came out on top.

This week: Tits! OMG, tits. Thank you. But first: the episode opens with the burial of Hoster Tully, with Catelyn’s brother Edmure’s (Tobias Menzies,Rome) fire arrows missing the funeral boat bearing his father’s body not once but three times. Hoster’s brother Brynden the Blackfish (Clive Russell, Sherlock Holmes) shoves him out of the way and takes care of business. I like him. Edmure’s poor skill with a bow turns out to be an indicator of his skill in war generally, as it is revealed that Edmure ignored Robb’s orders to wait for Gregor Clegane to come into their own territory and instead took a thoroughly useless mill and two equally useless Lannister captives, losing over 200 men and the chance to kill Gregor in the process. Robb’s delivery of his reprimand to his uncle is clearly angry, but controlled. Kingly.

In contrast to some of the meetings earlier in Robb’s rule, Catelyn is left out of the discussion. She and her uncle Brynden discuss the fates of Bran and Rickon; Catelyn is convinced that she will never see them again, while Brynden tells her to keep hoping and remain strong for the son whose company she does still have.

Sort of.
The most powerful men in the realm.

Meanwhile, at the small council meeting the seating chart becomes a thing of hilarity. The first 90 seconds of the scene are entirely without dialogue, but lacks nothing. Cersei puts on a show of dominance, claiming the empty side of the table opposite Varys, Littlefinger, and Grand Maester Pycelle for herself. Tyrion hilariously one-ups her by slowly and loudly dragging his own chair to the foot of the table, opposite his father. Perfect. But Papa Lannister is not happy, and the non-Lannisters look scared. Littlefinger has pulled off a victory. Having been made Lord of Harrenhal (which the Lannisters no longer hold), he has also been approved to wed Lysa Tully, which would make him the Lord of the Vale. Tyrion’s run of bad luck is continued when he is made Master of Coin because of Littlefinger’s impending departure to the Eyrie to woo Lysa Tully, to Tyrion’s horror and his sister’s delight.

PodLater, Ros digs out the king’s ledgers at Littlefinger’s brothel while Podrick admires her tits. Littlefinger tries to dig for leverage, but Tyrion refuses to give Littlefinger answers about why Cersei thinks that Tyrion had a “special relationship” with Ros. After going through the ledgers, Tyrion discovers that Littlefinger has been borrowing money from the Iron Bank of Braavos, across the Narrow Sea. Bad news, as the Iron Bank doesn’t play when it comes to repayment. Meanwhile, Podrick had been left in the brothel with not one but three women as a thank you from Tyrion (this is where the tits came in). When Bronn and Tyrion leave the squire he looks absolutely terrified. But when Pod returns to the castle from his playtime, he has a full refund in hand. The ladies wouldn’t take it because they liked him so much. Well.

Arya and Sandor are still being held by the Brotherhood. Arya, frustrated by her position as a “guest” of the Brotherhood, tries to confront the Hound, asking him if he remembers the last time they were there. Arya She wants him to remember the butcher’s boy that he ran down in the aftermath of her confrontation with Joffrey. Being Sandor, he doesn’t. When the Brotherhood packs up and moves on, Hot Pie reveals that he is staying with the innkeeper, earning his keep as a baker. An awkward but oddly touching goodbye takes place after Hot Pie gives her a piece of bread allegedly shaped like a wolf as a farewell present, before calling Arya’s home “Winterhell” (“Winterfell,” “Are you sure?”).

Jon and the wildings come across a delightful and gory piece of horse head art left by the White Walkers at the Fist of the First Men. Mance sees opportunity and orders Jon to go with an advance party of wildings led by Tormund Giantsbane to scale the Wall. Meanwhile, the surviving men of the Night’s Watch make their way back to Craster’s keep. The old man lets them in, possibly more because he is outnumbered by desperate men than because he really wants to. In the background you can hear the cries of a woman in childbirth, for which Craster threatens to punch her. Charming. After Craster calls him “a walking feast” and asks why they haven’t butchered him for food, Sam walks out, and finds Gilly is the one in labor. When the babe comes out, the look on the midwife’s face tells it all. The boy is destined as a sacrifice to the “real gods.”

Theon is let free by his unnamed rescuer, who sends him east to his sister on a horse. Theon’s ride eventually becomes a chase, and then a capture after he takes a heavy hit with a flail from a Bolton man and falls off his horse. They tear down Theon’s pants so that he can be raped. But once again, his rescuer comes through, putting arrows in all the men. Theon is still free for the moment.

At Storm’s End, Melisandre is leaving but will not tell Stannis where she goes, insisting that even she does not know. As they say goodbye there is some bad touching. Stannis wants another freaky shadowbaby (or maybe just to screw her again) but Melisandre says that he is too weak.

Please stop being so creepy.
Please stop being so creepy.
There is another way to get him to the throne, she says; a sacrifice of someone with the king’s blood. She does not name the would-be sacrifice, but Stannis doesn’t look too happy at the thought of butchering a relative for the god.

Daenerys, Jorah and Barristan Selmy travel the Walk of Punishment, Astapor’s way of keeping their slaves in line. Offenders are whipped and nailed to crosses. Ser Barristan wants Dany to leave Astapor and find sellswords instead of slaves; Jorah wants Dany to do what has to be done to win the throne. And, he points out, as perfectly obedient slave-soldiers the Unsullied will not rape, plunder, or murder after they conquer a city unless they are ordered to do so. About her brother he says, “Rhaegar fought valiantly, Rhaegar fought nobly, and Rhaegar died.” As they continue to the palace of the masters of the city, she says, “I wish I had known him. He was not the last Dragon.”

Dany tells them she wants all the Unsullied, including the ones who have yet to finish training. As Dany sees slaves, including children, watching their negotiations from the roof, she makes a decision. She offers one dragon, her biggest, to the protests of both Ser Barristan and Jorah. After the deal is agreed upon, she takes the translator Missandei as well. After she walks out, she tells Selmy and Jorah to shut up with their disagreements in public, or find employment elsewhere. Queenly. She tells Missandei, “All men must die, but we are not men.” Dany, like Robb, seems to have come fully into her role as leader.

While tied back to back, Jamie and Brienne argue about who is a better swordsman/woman, and whose fault it is that they were taken. I think they like each other. The tone changes when Jamie raises the topic of rape for Brienne, which seems highly probable. For once, it doesn’t seem like Jamie’s intention is to piss her off. Jamie, despite himself, has come to care about what happens to Brienne. He advises her to refrain from fighting back, a tactic that he admits he himself wouldn’t take. After they stop for the night and their captor orders Brienne separated so that he can have privacy, Jamie thinks quickly as her screams grow louder, and more heart-rending.Jamie He spins a completely BS story about Tarth being the source of all Westeros’s sapphires, telling Fuckface that Brienne’s father will ransom her for her weight in gemstones. Fuckface decides he’d rather have sapphires. Jamie, having negotiated the safety of Brienne along with food and comfort for himself, is feeling in control once again despite his restraints. Not for long. Fuckface decides to teach Jamie a lesson about his new status and cuts off his sword hand.

Thoughts: If this episode was about anything, I think it was about the price of war. What nearly happened to Theon and Brienne, scenes that were horrifying enough in what they suggested, are sure to play out in the Seven Kingdoms on a large scale. The conversation in Astapor was clear enough about that, and we have seen such acts in previous seasons. Jamie’s hand was a casualty of his attempt to stop just one act of that kind of brutality. Arya has lost her childhood and her safety. Catelyn is faced with the loss of her sons and Stannis is faced with the loss of some member of his kin as the price for his success. Will he pay it?

All screen captures taken by the author.

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