Spoiler alert! Do not read if you have not watched this episode. This is a loose recap; I've taken liberty with the chronology of the scenes.
The first episode of Game of Thrones’s Season 6 did not disappoint. It opened with the aftermath of Jon Snow being stabbed by some member's of the Night’s Watch. We see that that none of the mutinous members had disposed of Jon’s body. Davos is the one who sees the body and orders those loyal to Jon to bring the body inside. He also asked Dolorous Edd to bring Ghost who had been locked in a pen. The author of an article I read wondered why Ghost had been locked up. I agree with the writer that it could’ve been for the wildlings sake or Thorne’s party had decided to lock up the direwolf when they hatched the plan to rid of Jon. It was a touching moment when Ghost was finally by Jon’s side and started to lick his hand, as if it could wake him up.
At the dining hall, Ser Alliser Thorne just announced to the rest of the Night’s Watch that their Lord Commander was dead. One of the men vehemently asked, “Did you kill him?” There was a short pause and Thorne said, “Yes, I did. As did Othell Yarwick, etc.” The hall erupted into shouts and curses. Thorne proceeded to calm things down by admitting that yes, everyone knew he had no love for Jon Snow but he had always obeyed his orders. He just couldn’t abide by Jon’s decision to let the wildings in and give them land to live in. Thorne said he had no doubt Jon did was he believed was right but it wasn’t right for the Night’s Watch.
The scene then shifted to Sansa and Theon who are still on the run from the Boltons. Howling dogs could be heard in the background. They reach a shallow river and Theon tells Sansa to wade across. She dips her feet and quickly pulls back, saying that it was too cold. Theon urgently tells her that it’s worth crossing after he has seen what the hounds are capable of. They finally wade across the river.
In Winterfell, Ramsay is mourning Myranda’s passing but not enough to grant her a burial or pyre. He told the Maester to feed her to the hounds. Ramsay is then congratulated by Roose on this victory over Stannis and his army but then questions his son if he really was victorious. Roose goes on to say that due to Ramsay's games, he hold lost the heir to Winterfell and the heir to the Iron Islands in one single stroke. He reminded Ramsay that when they decided to wed Sansa to him, the Boltons were going against the Lannisters and that having Sansa and the support of the North with them would be the only thing that stood against a well-provisioned Lannister army. He also added that Ramsay should have an heir with Sansa and that without an heir… Roose didn’t finish his sentence but we all got what he meant.
Sansa and Theon are still running through the woods and we can heard the sounds of hounds getting louder. Theon tells Sansa to go ahead without him, he tells her to go North and to look for Jon, who he thinks is still Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch. Sansa says she cannot go on alone but Theon leaves her anyways as he hears the sound of hoofs approaching. He is confronted by Bolton knights who ask him where is Lady Sansa. Theon replies that she’s dead to which none of the knights believe. One of them says to Theon, “Can’t wait to see which part of you Lord Ramsay cuts off next.” Ughhh, it sent a chill up my spine.
Despite the horrors he had been through, I found it amazing that Theon still had the courage to selflessly put himself between Sansa and the Bolton knights. Nevertheless, he alone could not stop them. Just as they were about to pull Sansa, we hear the neigh of another horse and see Brienne and Pod racing through the trees. I usually do not watch the fighting scenes in Game of Thrones but I have never been happier to see Brienne cutting down the Bolton knights. Pod was holding up well on his own, probably courtesy of Brienne’s training. It was nice to cheer characters who were winning for once. Theon helped by stabbing in the back a knight that was about to kill Pod. When all the knights had been taken care off, Brienne once again lay her sword at Sansa’s feet and offered her allegiance. You can see the expectation and need shining through her eyes. As a just knight who had lost her king, she desperately wants to serve someone worth serving. Unlike before, Sansa accepts Brienne’s allegiance and says the words to seal the deal, with a little help from Pod. Unlike her late brother Robb who was used to accepting oaths of fealty, Sansa had never before had the experience.
In King’s Landing, Cersei awaits with excitement when she is informed that a ship from Dorne had arrived. You really do sympathise when you see her face full of hope and expectation, turn to grief once she sees Jaime’s expression and the golden shroud in the boat rowing towards her. Inside the castle, we see a subdued Cersei. She calmly says she knew this was going to happen and talked about the witch’s prophecy she heard years ago. Jaime said incredulously, “You don’t seriously believe that?” Cersei was adamant and said that everything the witch said has so far come true. Jaime then hugged her and said that they only needed each other and that he would take back what was theirs and more. I wonder what fresh chaos this new revenge agenda would bring but looking at past incidents, it was usually Cersei that wreaked more havoc than Jaime. Still, I’ll just have to wait and see.
In Dorne, Doran Martell is seemingly having a peaceful conversation with Ellaria Sand when a messenger arrives with a message. Doran unfolds the piece of paper and is shocked to learn of the death of Myrcella. I wondered what political manouver Ellaria would do to get out of this. It turned out, none. She decided to go with outright rebellion. Tyene stabs Areo Hotah in the back while Ellaria stabs Doran in the torso. While he lay in his own blood of pool, she tells him that the people and herself were disgusted with his inaction and weakness, invoking Elia and Oberyn’s murders at the hands of the Lannisters. Great, there will be more conflict in a land already marred by multiple wars between different houses. And on hindsight, I was surprised Areo Hotah could be taken down so easily by someone much smaller than him. Sure, the Sand Snakes are supposed to be formidable fighters but Areo Hotah looks formidable himself. The scene then shifts to Trystane who is on his way to Westeros in another ship. He is confronted by Obara and Nym who proceeds to kill him. I know a lot of Game of Thrones’s viewers complain about the Dorne storyline (I’m no fan myself) but I do feel that there was more we could’ve gotten from Doran and Areo Hotah. I just feel like the characters were wasted. Perhaps there is a plausible reason, only time will tell. I also feel bad for Myrcella and Trystane, who were caught up in a power struggle that was none of their doing.
After Dany and Drogon flew away from the fighting pits of Meereen last season, we go back to Meereen with Tyrion and Varys walking down the streets to have a gauge of the situation. Tyrion attempts to give coins to a lady and her crying baby so that she could buy food for the baby to eat but due to his basic Valyrian, the lady thought he was giving her money to eat her baby. Only after Varys explained Tyrion’s real intent did the lady gratefully accept his money. The duo then come across a priest who tells the crowd gathered around him to not despair and await the return of Dany. No doubt the number of Meereenese feels that their queen has abandoned them and I don’t blame them. Tyrion and Varys then turn their attention elsewhere when they see people running away. They walk towards the opposite direction to discover all the ships docked at Meereen on fire. Could it be the work of the Sons of the Harpy? Or perhaps it could be someone else who doesn’t want Dany to sail to Westeros.
Hot on Dany’s trail are the unlikely duo of Ser Jorah and Daario. It turned out to be less awkward than I expected when Daario acknowledged Ser Jorah’s feelings towards Dany. The reach the grassy plains we last saw Dany in and from the prints on the ground, Jorah gathered that there was a Dothraki horde there recently. After scouring the ground, he found the ring Dany had dropped. He said, “They have her.” In my mind I was thinking, “Not idly to the leaves of Lorien fall.” Can’t help it!
>_<
We next see Dany walking with the Dothraki horde that found her while the men riding horseback next to her joked about who would be the one who got to sleep with her. She ignored them. She was then introduced to the Khal once they reached the Khal’s tent. The women in the tent asked the Khal, Khal Moro to behead her courtesy to her probably being a witch due to her white hair. The Khal ignored them; he was intrigued by Dany and talked about how it would be nice to see her naked for the first time. When he proceeded to touch her, Dany said in Dothraki, “Don’t touch me.” This caught everyone including the soldiers who had accompanied her off guard. She then told the Khal her name and titles. He just waved them aside. Dany then mentioned that she is the widow of Khal Drogo. Khal Moro looked surprised and apologised for his earlier behaviour. Thinking she could finally leave the place, Dany requests that they help her return to Meereen and she would give them 1,000 horses as reward. Her request was denied as Khal Moro informed her that there was only one place for the widow of a Khal, Vaes Dothrak and she would spend her time there with other widows for the rest of her life.
If things were looking bleak for Dany, Arya couldn’t see at all. She was punished with blindness last season for taking things into her own hand and viciously stabbing Ser Meryn Trant. We see her on the streets of Braavos, asking for alms. Not long after, the Waif approaches her with two long sticks. She throws one to Arya who could barely grab it and proceeded to duel with her. Arya pleaded, “But I can’t see!” To which the Waif answered, “Well, that’s your problem.” She continued to hit Arya while Arya tried desperately to hit back. Naturally, none of her blows landed on the Waif. Once she was satisfied, the Waif stopped and told Arya she would be back tomorrow.
Back at the Wall, we see Alliser Thorne negotiating through the door with Davos and the other Night’s Watch men loyal to Jon. Thorne promises amnesty to whomever surrenders by nightfall and promises to allow Davos and Melisandre safe passage for them to leave. Davos told the men in the room that there was no way Thorne would allow any of them to live. One of Jon’s friend suggest that they prepare to die and go out and get Thorne. Davos said that while he didn’t know Jon long, he was sure the former Lord Commander would not have wanted his friends to die. Davos said that perhaps they could rely on Melisandre. The rest of the men questioned what one woman could do against 40 men. Davos told them if they had seen what he had seen Melisandre do, they might not be too cynical.
We then see Melisandre alone in a room, looking dejected. She had always looked so confident before this and it was surprising to see her like that. I couldn’t tell if she was despondent because her belief in Stannis has turned out to be wrong or because Jon Snow was dead. When she first saw him dead, a look of disbelief on her face, she said, “But I saw him fighting at Winterfell.” Even this line could mean a couple of things. Did she see him fighting alongside Stannis at the recent Winterfell battle or did she see him fighting in the not-so-far future fighting at Winterfell? Melisandre then stood in front of the mirror and started to take her clothes off. She then started to take off the ruby choker, in which the ruby glowed for a while before she removed the choker. We see her place the choker on the table and when the scene shifts back to the mirror, we see a much older woman, with a wisp of white hair and sagging breasts. Her dejected eyes made it clear that it was Melisandre we were looking at. End of episode 1, season six of Game of Thrones.
I know the last scene was everyone’s WTF moment. It sure was for me but more importantly, the curiosity is killing me. Why did Melisandre take off her choker and revert to what we can assume is her true self when she did none of those things in past episodes? Is she giving up? Or is she giving up her power to save someone? Now I have to wait a whole week. The agony.
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