I don't know if
http://gotscorecards.us is still being updated, but here's the summary of this season's 1st episode:
"The Red Woman"I've been doing a reread leading up to this season, thinking about GRRM and his glacial writing pace, and wondering where the show is going to take us now that they are somewhat unencumbered by the audience's foreknowledge of what's to come. A few things to note:
- Damn, it's hard to reread certain parts - like Ned's naivete, the Red Wedding, etc. I suspect that part of the "difficulty" is in not knowing the ultimate outcome. But I sped through parts of the books not wanting to dwell on how pissed off they made me, book and show.
- GRRM puts a LOT of foreshadowing in this series, much of which you're oblivious to the first (or second) time through. I first read GOT when it came out, then reread it on my way through each of the next two books. When you first meet the old lady at High Heart (not in the show), you might think of her as some crazy woman blathering nonsense. She dreamed of a maiden with purple snakes in her hair? Whatever, granny. And then you move on and the rest of the book happens. Only when you reread it do you connect that dream to Sansa and the manner of Joffrey's death. Good stuff. Lots of intricacy and complexity and it's well told.
- Is this the first time a show based on a book series gets to take the story to its finish BEFORE the author does? I believe the writers have indicated that they are deliberately deviating from where they know GRRM is going to take the story (hello, Dorne!). And normally, when a movie is based on a book, the people who loved the book hate the liberties the movie takes with the story, but GRRM's tardiness means that the author generating the work may not get first crack at setting audience expectation. How can the original author be viewed as taking liberties with the story the show told? Interesting.
At any rate, we are beyond the books, so anything goes. We are in a spoiler-free zone, although I still think it would be appropriate to NOT regurgitate online theories that have been the subject of someone's graduate thesis in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Though none of us can truly spoil the ending, you can still ruin the joy of discovery for those who don't want to "know" the credible theories of what's coming.
To the Scorecard:
At the WallJon lies in a pool of his own blood. Ghost is howling, trying to get to his master. Davos is the only one who initially looks to see what's up, and he has Dolorous Edd and the boys take Jon's body to a room. They lay him out on a table and close his sightless eyes. Edd mentions that Thorne must have done this to Jon, and Davos understands that they need to start preparing for trouble. He suggests to Edd that he go free Ghost from the room where he's locked up, but before Edd can do so, they are visited by Melisandre. The Red Woman is visibly shaken by Jon's state. She had seen a future in which Jon was fighting at Winterfell, and his corpse must have her questioning her ability to know which direction to take.
Remember, she basically abandoned Stannis to his fate (after he burned his daughter alive) to return to the Wall. She seemed to have designs on Jon, and those designs are now ashes.
Meanwhile, Ser Alliser Thorne addresses most of the Night's Watch, to explain his rationale for stabbing his Lord Commander. In a scene that lends some depth to his character, Thorne explains that, while he believes that Jon was just doing what he thought was right, Thorne felt that Jon was moving their cheese too far. Thorne (and co-conspirators Bowen Marsh and Othell Yarwyck) have spent their whole adult lives fighting Wildlings, and Jon's vision of teaming up with the Wildlings against the Others was too far, too fast. Rookie mistake to not do some change management prep, Jon.
Edd and the other Jon supporters are planning to die honorably while trying to take out Thorne, but the Onion Knight speaks reason. He (Davos) suggests that Edd go get help, from some other folks that owe their lives to Jon.
My guess is Tormund Giantsbane will play The Wolf (he's thirty minutes away...he'll be there in twenty minutes). And he'll bring some friends.
Thorne bangs on the door where the Jon supporters are holed up, demanding that they lay down their arms. Davos stalls him, hoping for help from either Dolorous Edd and guests, or from Melisandre.
Melisandre is in her room looking into the flames, perhaps questioning what she sees there. I think we're all left questioning what she sees when she rises from the fire, strips naked, and then takes off her choker. Melisandre is old. Ancient, even. The choker either changes her appearance, or actually changes her age. Clearly, there is more to come in this story.
WinterfellRamsay is saying goodbye to his sweet dog girl, Miranda, killed by Theon when he decided to help Sansa escape. Ramsay seems to be getting emotional in his reminiscences, promising much torture for those responsible. And then, in the use of a classic romantic trope, he tells his man to feed her corpse to the dogs.
Roose compliments Ramsay on his victory over Stannis, but makes it very clear that beating Stannis doesn't mean much if he loses Theon and Sansa. Without Sansa, Ramsay can't produce an heir to the North...which would make Ramsay useless to Roose. He hold's his wife's pregnancy over Ramsay's head as a threat. If Roose has a son, Ramsay had best stop making mistakes.
Still, Ramsay is confident that his men and hounds will catch Theon and Sansa, and his faith is well justified. Theon tries to cover for Sansa, but the hounds' noses are hard at work, and it looks like it's back to Ramsay's fun and games for the two of them. (By the way, those ferocious hounds looked like they couldn't wait to get some petting and maybe a dog treat or two).
Not so fast, my friend. Here - finally - comes a break for Sansa. After Joffrey and the Hound, the marriage to Tyrion, Littlefinger and crazy Lysa, and then Ramsay...FINALLY! Brienne of Tarth and the redoubtable Podrick Payne show up to shed Bolton blood, and then Brienne pledges service to Sansa, who accepts it. Is this a turning point, or a setup to continued disappointment?
King's LandingCersei is excited to hear that a ship from Dorne is in the harbor. Surely it's bringing Myrcella back? Well...yes and no, Cersei.
Cersei gives us a glimpse into her sparkling childhood, spending her time wondering about the forensic details of the decomposition of her mother's corpse. And now she has the same question about the decay of her daughter's body.
In a human moment, Cersei points out that her daughter was sweet and pure, nothing like her (true, says Jaime), but when Jaime tries to take the blame for her death, Cersei tells him that the deaths of all three of her children were foretold by "the witch" (Maggie the Frog, by the way, saying "gold shall be their crowns and gold their shrouds").
Jaime gives her a fierce pep talk, promising a reckoning for anyone who has taken from them.
Meanwhile, the Sparrows have Margaery locked up, and the big Septa is looking to coerce a confession. Fortunately for Margaery, the High Sparrow steps in to lighten the mood. He sends the Septa away, and has a heart-to-heart with Margaery. He seems pleased that she is willing to admit to being a sinner, but he says she still has a long way to go.
DorneThe departure of the storyline for Dorne continues in a big way. Without discussing the book details, suffice it to say that a lot of potentially significant storyline seems to have come to an end at the hands of the Sand Snakes and Ellaria Sand.
After treacherously killing Myrcella with poison, Ellaria and one of the Sand Snakes kill Areo Hotah and Prince Doran Martell, while two other Snakes kill Doran's son (and Myrcella's intended) Trystane.
The blood of Dorne runs hot, and Doran was a man playing the long game, so it's not surprising that Prince Oberyn's loved ones would be frustrated by Doran's seeming inaction after the death of Oberyn at the hands of Gregor Clegane. However, Dorne's storyline seemed headed for calm, clearheaded Game playing...but this ended abruptly with a chessboard-clearing move by some bloodthirsty women. And what a mundane ending for Areo Hotah, who was theoretically one of the biggest badasses around.
MeereenTyrion and Varys wander the streets in common attire, checking the pulse of the city. A man preaches to a crowd of former slaves, encouraging them to pick up the fight from the missing Daenerys. An alarm rings out, and the two run toward the alarm, against the flow of the fleeing. The harbor is on fire, and the ships that were to take them to Westeros are burning to the waterline.
Meanwhile, the dynamic duo of Jorah and Daario are searching for Daeny. They find signs of Drogon (burned bones of sheep), and in an amazing flash of luck, Jorah finds the ring Daeny dropped when she knew she was going to be taken. Does Jorah have any money? No, but he does possess a particular set of skills...
Let's see if he gets to use those skills before the grayscale gets him.
Daeny is a prisoner of Khal Moro, of the Dothraki. She is taken in front of him, and he's going to treat her poorly, but she proclaims that she is the widow of Khal Drogo. This is good in the short term, as it prevents her from being raped/whipped/miscellaneous. However, the widows are supposed to go to Vaes Dothrak and become one of the Dosh Khaleen - the withered old crones that outlive their husbands.
Bummer.
BraavosArya is still blind, her punishment for blaspheming against the Many-Faced God to take revenge on Meryn Trant (who was the Kingsguard that assaulted Syrio Forel way back in Season 1). She's on the streets of the city, begging for coins. The lady from the House of Black and White shows up to give her one of her two staffs...and then beat her bloody with the other one. "See you tomorrow", she tells Arya. The Faceless Men are not done with Arya, it seems.
Scenes From Next Week:
- Bran makes an appearance for the first time in over a season. It appears he is coming back from warging.
- Cersei takes Ser Robert Strong out for a test drive...against the King's orders?
- Sansa and Brienne talk about trying to find Arya
- Arya blind fighting again, but someone catches one of her wild swings.
- Ramsay explains to Roose that he believes Sansa is heading to Castle Black, which he intends to storm.
- The High Sparrow meets an aggressive Jaime
- The Night's Watch break down the door on Davos and company
- A crossbow is fired at the Wall
- Tyrion with a torch
- A dragon with a bigger torch