Read the next piece in this series here.
6.5 “The Door”
Written by David
Benioff & D.B. Weiss
Directed by Jack
Bender
This episode is all over the place, plotting-wise and characterization-wise.
The writers clearly have no idea what to do with Sansa, the Kingsmoot is a hot
mess, Arya’s conscience comes and goes as necessary, Jorah’s inability to take
no for an answer finally pays off, and Bran’s complete self-centeredness gets a
lot of people killed.
Up at the Wall, Sansa is sewing. But, wait, I thought the Feathered
Black Dress of Sexual Manipulation was the last time she wanted to sew? I
thought she was a Strong Woman™ now, and everyone knows sewing is Weak and
Girly! But apparently it’s important that her clothes not look exactly like the
Night’s Watch uniform, and Jon needs a new outfit now, too, so Sansa’s taking
care of it. Here’s the thing: this is perfectly
reasonable. Sansa’s not a member of the Night’s Watch, so she can’t wear
their clothes, because what you wear in this society is important. But since all
she left Winterfell with was the dress she was wearing, she does need new clothes—something
warmer, at least—so she’s modifying what she can find at the Wall so she’s
clothed but not dressing up like Night’s Watch. She also makes a new outfit for
Jon, reflecting his change in status. Good! This episode also sees her using
her political savvy to try to get help from the Tullys, which is a good move,
too. She rejects Petyr’s help/manipulation, primarily because of his role in
her marriage to Ramsay. This is all great, except that in the overall development
of Sansa’s character, it’s wildly inconsistent. The inconsistency continues
with Sansa’s decision not to trust
Jon fully with all the information she has and how she has it. Also, when they
discuss how to get the remaining families of the North to join their army, she
forcefully points out that while Jon’s not a Stark, she is . . . and Jon’s just as much Ned’s son as Ramsay is Roose’s.
So she’s the one Stark left (as far as everyone knows), but Jon’s going to be
the one in charge? This makes even less sense when they run across Lyanna
Mormont, because her role shows that the North will accept a girl in charge, so
Sansa handing control over to a bastard-born man makes no sense. To lead the
armies? Sure, maybe; Jon has experience. But it’s wicked obvious that Sansa
intends Jon to be in charge of the North when this is all over. They’re not
trying to reconquer Winterfell to make her Queen in the North.
Meanwhile, Tormund can’t stop ogling Brienne, and I’m not
really sure how I feel about this. It’s clearly supposed to be funny, but why?
Just because of Tormund’s face? Because Brienne isn’t traditionally attractive,
so of course it’s hilarious that this wildling giant (who brags about having
had sex with a bear) drools over her? Because she’s so clearly uncomfortable
with his drooling? All of the above? Also considering that they don’t see each
other for the rest of the season, what purpose does this really serve other
than to get the audience laughing at the discomfort of a woman faced with the
lustful stare of a man she barely knows?
Over in Braavos, Arya gets her second chance to prove that
she can serve the Many-Faced God rather than haring off on her own agenda.
Jaqen sends her out to kill Lady Crane, a wildly popular actress who’s
currently playing Queen Cersei in the Free Cities’ version of the crazy wild
politics happening in King’s Landing. The play apparently manages to cover the
first three seasons plus a few episodes of the show (featuring the very funny
Kevin Eldon as Camello as Ned Stark). Of course, they get everything wrong, but
it’s wrong in a way that makes sense if you haven’t been privy to the inner
workings of the people involved the way we have.
Arya manages to weasel her way backstage, where we’re
treated to an up-close look at the Joffrey-actor examining his penis for warts.
Thanks. This isn’t exactly what we meant when we asked for equal representation
in nudity, guys (especially since it's quickly followed up by boobs to balance everything out). She observes the players for a bit, then goes back to Jaqen to
try to figure out why Lady Crane deserves to die. Jaqen tells her it doesn’t
matter; the Faceless Men are servants, and they have a contract.
Over in the Iron Islands, the Kingsmoot takes all of three
minutes. Theon essentially abdicates in favor of Yara, then Euron shows up
(again, looking way less intimidating than he’s described in the books) and
promises to build a fleet, sail east, marry Daenerys, and take the entirety of
the Seven Kingdoms. Despite also admitting that he killed Balon, this gets the
support of the Ironborn and they declare him king. While the priests drown him
and bless him, Theon and Yara run away with the entire fleet.
In Vaes Dothrak, Dany chides Jorah for not following her
orders again, but one look at his
greyscale-infected arm has her crying and not killing him like she promised to
do. Instead, she orders him to go find a cure and come back to her. Because
refusing to hear “no,” telling a woman you love her, and constantly throwing
yourself in her path is obviously the way to get her to like you again.
In Meereen, Tyrion and Varys turn to propaganda by bringing
in a red priestess to tell everyone how awesome Daenerys is. The priestess,
Kinvara, is perfectly happy to do just that because Daenerys is the One Who Was
Promised. Sure, she knows Melisandre named Stannis the Promised One, but anyone
can make mistakes. She convinces Varys because she knows that he heard a voice
in the flames when he was castrated, and she claims to know who the speaker is
and what she/he/it said.
Finally, up beyond the Wall, Bran gets another revelation
that’s just kind of tossed at us without any kind of analysis before all hell
breaks loose. He and Brynden visit the Children of the Forest back before their
near-extinction, and we see a heart tree surrounded by standing stones that
spiral out in the same pattern the Walkers created with horse pieces at the
Fist of the First Men. Bran watches a Child shove an obsidian dagger into the
heart of a human man—all the way, so the whole thing goes into his chest—and leave
it there. His eyes turn blue. When Bran comes to, Leaf explains that they were
at war and they had to defend themselves. So we find out that the Children of
the Forest created the White Walkers as a defense against the First Men—and then
we bounce right out of there and move on. I have so many questions.
Later, Bran’s acting like a spoiled toddler who doesn’t want
to take a nap, throwing sticks at Brynden, then taking himself into the visions
without Brynden’s help. He winds up alerting the Night King to his presence and
giving away their position, not to mention managing to break the magic that
blocks the Walkers and wights from coming into the cave. Way to go, Bran. Meera,
Hodor, and Leaf start packing the sledge, but Brynden needs to pass the mantle
of Greenseer on to Bran right now,
which apparently means taking him back into vision-Winterfell. This is where
Bran’s abysmal treatment of Hodor as less than human comes full circle (and it’s
a very complicated circle). Bran won’t come out of the vision, despite Meera
needing his help to calm Hodor and get himself into the sledge. Hodor starts
panicking, Meera’s screaming at Bran, the Children are fighting, and Bran can
kind of hear all of this in the vision so he wargs into Hodor—but Hodor from
the past, Wylis before he’s Hodor—somehow managing to control present-Hodor
this way. Meera, Bran, and Hodor escape the cave, leaving Summer, Brynden, and
Leaf to die, then Meera orders Hodor to “hold the door” and leaves him behind with Bran still
vision-warged into him, giving him no choice. In the past, Wylis collapses as he witnesses his own death and
starts yelling “hold the door,” which mushes its way down to “hodor.” And
faithful Hodor, who never did anything to deserve the way these awful people
have treated him, dies holding that door.
RIP:
White Walker #3
Summer
Brynden Rivers, the Three-Eyed Raven
Leaf
Hodor
Next week: Coldhands arrives. Margaery starts the long game.
Sam and Gilly at Horn Hill. Arya makes a choice. Dany makes a speech.
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