The opening scene says it all.
Arya is meticulously washing the bodies of the dead, cleansing these individuals of everything they were before this moment. It's as if she is washing away their identities. Throughout last night's episode, we see characters either willingly or unwillingly purge themselves of who they once were.
Arya continues to slowly let go of her Stark lineage (or at least try to), Sansa is forced into losing her innocence (something I have a lot more to say about), Tyrion will have to reinvent himself if he ever reaches Mereen while Jorah knows he is on borrowed time. Margaery and Loras, meanwhile, are seemingly being cleansed by the Faith. All of these characters we've come to know over the last five years are no longer the characters we thought we knew. In a way, they are all Faceless Men, constantly changing their identities.
House of Black and White
Speaking of which...Arya wants to know what the Faceless Men do with the bodies. "You will know...when it's time, not before," her co-worker (for lack of a better term) tells her (I wonder what kind of benefits The House of Black and White offers its employees). But Arya demands some answers, "who are you," so the girl delves into an personal backstory of murder and revenge. She's a woman of Arya's own ilk...or so we think. It is actually the Game of Faces and it is Arya's job to see through the lies and decipher what is true.
Arya must also learn to lie convincingly herself, something she fails to do when J'aqen Hghar tests her. "I wanted him to suffer, I hated him," Arya says of The Hound during a line of questioning. But J'aqen isn't buying it. "A girl lies to me, to the Many Faced God, to herself."
I loved this. It was great to get a confirmation on what we already knew. Despite the violence and the twisted circumstances, Arya and the Hound really did forge a bond. She saw that he wasn't born evil, that in many ways he was a product of his environment. It's a nice moment whether Arya wants to admit it or not.
Arya reminds me a bit of Edward Norton's character in "Fight Club." She struggles with these profound truths but eventually finds strength in acceptance. It's this clarity that enables her to lie to the ill little girl with kernels of truth and ease her suffering. "I was sick. I was dying. But my father never gave up on me. He loved me. More than anything in the world. Just like your father loves you." That's another theme in this week's episode, relationships between father and child.
This earns her passage into the crypt below the House of Black and White which is filled with thousands of faces. The enormity of it is overwhelming but now we know how the Faceless Men change their identities. J'aqen notes that Arya is not yet ready to fully relinquish her personal identity, but that she is ready to become someone else. This sounds like her first mission.
(Side Note: The Faceless Men may be assassins, but there seems to be honor in what they do. They aren't just killing randomly. At the House of Black and White, they offer solace and peace to those in need).
(Second Side Note: I also like how this scene gave us a sense of who the Faceless Men are: everyone and no one simultaneously. The Halls of Faces symbolizes the lives they live. Their power is drawn from their ability to be whoever they need to be and know whatever they need to know. Pretty cool, aside from the whole Hannibal Lecter face swaps).
Essos
Tyrion and Jorah are hungry and very far away from Mereen. Naturally, Tyrion wants to talk but Jorah, always the strong silent type, isn't really in the mood. But the two do manage to find some common ground.
Tyrion reveals that he killed Tywin for not only sentencing him to death but for also sleeping with the woman Tyrion loved (Shae is literally the worst ex-girlfriend in the world). Even Jorah can sympathize with that, throwing Tyrion a look that says, "Damn, that's cold blooded." Tyrion also reveals that Jorah's father, the former Lord Commander of the Night's Watch before Jon, was betrayed and murdered by his own men. Unfortunately, Jorah didn't know.
The nature of the father-son bond is a big message here. Both Jorah and Tyrion had conflicted relationships with their fathers, and they both can sympathize with one another. It may not be much, but each character shows compassion towards the other in this scene. Tyrion will have to use that pain and vulnerability to become that new person that Daenerys can use at her side for just leadership. But this moment of bonding is short lived.
Slavers, led by actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje who played Mr. Eko on "LOST," capture them, leading to the most hilarious exchange of the night. Apparently, there is a booming market for the private parts of dwarves (E-Bay would have made a killing in the Seven Kingdoms), but Tyrion asks the slavers how their customers will know it's authentic. "It will be dwarf sized manhood," the captain says. "Guess Again!" Tyrion spits back. Repartee, gotta love it.
The scene ends with Tyrion convincing the salvers to put Jorah in the Fighting Pits, which also happen to be in Mereen. So...job well done?
King's Landing
The Sparrows basically tell Littlefinger to check himself before he wrecks himself. Duly noted.
Littlefinger then goes tit-for-tat with Cersei: he hints at the Lannister incest while she returns with questions about Lisa Arryn's murder. It's verbal ping pong between these two. But she didn't call him back to King's Landing for a battle of wits. She wants to know if The Vale will stand with the Throne. Littlefinger, ever the politician, assures Cersei that his loyalties have always been with the Crown. As a show of good faith, he reveals that Sansa is at Winterfell about to be wed to Ramsay Bolton. Guess all of those feelings he had for her don't mean much compared to his lust for power.
He also advises patience. Let Stannis and the Boltons battle it out. Littlefinger will use The Vale's forces to conquer the weakened winner in exchange for being named Warden of the North. Lord Baelish has done a fantastic job of pitting all sides against one another overall and manipulating Cersei in this scene. The benefit of have zero morality or loyalty, I guess.
As those two discuss the future of Westeros, everyone's favorite old spark plug makes a return. Lady Olenna, the matriarch of House Tyrell, is back in Westeros to deal with Loras' incarceration. She instantly gets in a few gems of dialogue ("pillar biters") before going to see Cersei. But here's the problem: Lady Olenna walks into this confrontation with no ammunition. Cersei obviously plays dumb about the Faith's actions and the Queen of Thorns can't really do anything about it at this point. Withdrawing their support of the Throne would threaten their own elevated position. This round goes to Cersei as Lady Olenna is resigned to appear at Loras' hearing.
The High Sparrow starts by setting the table with Loras and Margaery's lies in the best version of "Law & Order" of all time. He then brings in the brothel runner who Loras was sleeping with as his key witness. Then he arrests Loras AND Margaery as King Tommen sits there with a stupid look on his face (bro, how you gonna let some dudes jack your girl like that?).
Woah, talk about a power move. Cersei smirks at the Tyrell's misfortune because she is too much of an idiot to realize what is really going on. She's laughing thinking this was a great play when she herself won't escape judgment. The Sparrows are a bold force to be reckoned with.
Dorne
"A Lannister and a Martell, they have no idea how dangerous that is," Prince Doran says of Myrcella and Trystane Martell as they canoodle in the Royal Gardens. As if on cue, Jaime and Bronn show up to get in a scuffle with the Sand Snakes who are attempting to kidnap Myrcella.
The Dornish have really gotten the short end of the spear in the show. Last night's episode title comes directly from the words of House Martell, "Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken." But instead of developing Prince Doran or the country's place in the conflict (or their rich history), all we get is terrible acting from the Sand Snakes. It's a big letdown and I'm really hoping to see more from this part of the world in the last few episodes.
Winterfell
Sansa marries Ramsay and then is raped by him that night. This is just awful.
What was the point of building Sansa up from a powerless victim to a skilled manipulator over the last season and a half? Why tease us with her growth and the prospect of a savior in Brienne only to result in her continuous torture and disempowerment at the hands of psychopaths? You could interpret this scene as Sansa making a deeply personal sacrifice to reclaim her homeland. But even if that is the case, which I don't think it is, so what? It's more than disappointing to see her treated this way repeatedly. Even if she is able to overcome the numerous tragedies that have befallen her and exact some revenge, what will really be left after so much abuse? Won't she be just an empty shell, giving her revenge little to no meaning?
What's worse is that Ramsay forces Theon to watch. Although this may possibly lead to a reconciliation of sorts between Sansa and Theon, this scene was still sickening on multiple levels.
Random Thoughts
-I wrote last week that this season of "Game of Thrones" hasn't really popped for me and I stand by that statement. Last night's episode was in no way a bad one, but it wasn't great either. I think we're missing out on a unique cultural perspective in Dorne and I feel as if Sansa's continued torture is unnecessary at this point. I am underwhelmed with season five thus far.
-What is Prince Doran going to do with Jaime and Bronn? How can he use them to his advantage? Taking them hostage seems a bit much but negotiating with a Lannister also seems to be a stretch.
-Do you think Varys is still waiting in that brothel for Tyrion?
-I liked the connection between new identities and familial relationships in this episode. How can someone become a new person while still carrying the baggage of their previous life?
-Who else watched "Game of Thrones" and the series finale of "Mad Men" back-to-back last night? Great slate of entertainment.
