Game of Thrones Discussion – Season 6 Episode 4: “Girl Power”

Change comes in many ways: diplomacy, political compromise, accommodation, war — and revolution. We had a taste of all these variants and more in “Book of the Stranger,” which featured no swordplay or battles but lots of examples of the ways power gets exercised.

And this time, the women were leading the charge.

Join the intrigues with three fans with different perspectives. Rosalyn Claret, who has read the books yet says she “forgets” how many times; Laura Fletcher, a casual fan of the television and book series; and Cheryl Collins, who does not read. Maester Corrin Bennet-Kill is on hiatus.

Please join the discussion in comments!

Cheryl
We start as usual in the North, with a close up on the hilt of Long Claw. Jon is packing it up and giving up.

Someone hefts the sword. But it’s not Jon, it’s Edd. It just does not seem right!

Jon has laid down his arms and heading toward the warmth.

Laura
The “previously on” segment ended with Jon doing the dramatic mic drop.

Rosalyn
Edd is peeved. Justifiably. Reminding Jon of what’s at stake, what’s coming for them.

Cheryl
But then the gates open: it’s Sansa.

Rosalyn
I couldn’t BELIEVE the show gave us this moment. I had completely steeled myself for yet another “Whoops, near miss!” situation.

Cheryl
I know! In seasons past, Sansa would have wandered through the north for half a season before reaching Castle Black, only to find Jon had left already.

Rosalyn
It’s kind of a Stark trademark move at this point.

Laura
At first, neither Sansa nor Jon can really believe it’s happening. A nice nod to the audience’s disbelief, as this almost never happens.

Rosalyn
It was huge. Part of me was distracted by trying to remember back to what the actors looked like in Season 1. By the story timeline, Jon had been nearing manhood already, but he is so much more hardened now (even before death). Sansa was still a child. She’s grown up. I wondered if they would recognize what the other had been through just by looking at one another.

Laura
An introduction to the strength of familial bonds — specifically of sisters — that is woven throughout this episode.

Cheryl
Jon is really giving up, it seems, until she gets there. But he still can’t quite let go of the Lord Commander thing, because when the horn sounds that someone is at the gate, he rushes first to the window.

Rosalyn
Usually that sort of thing is bad news coming.

When Jon and Sansa are sitting together by the fire, Jon says it: “We were children.” Past tense. So much has happened. I thought this dialogue was plausible for their reunion. Part shared memories, part things they’ve wanted to say, part disbelief at all that’s changed.

Cheryl
And regret. And shame. They both confess and apologize — just to hammer that point down again, as I must.

Rosalyn
And then Sansa shows her steel. She’s reminiscent of Catelyn and Robb, almost, as soon as she starts querying Jon about things he’s certainly never known her to have interest in — such as how many men he has.

She says, “I want you to help me, but I’ll do it myself if I have to.”

Cheryl
Trying to rouse him. She’s giving the orders now.

Game on! Sansa is on her path to becoming Queen of the North.

Rosalyn
I sympathized with Jon as he recited the litany of men he’s killed (his sad, regretful version of Arya’s list?), but I was also thinking of what Sansa had endured and watching her face. She’s been through hellish situations, and without the power to take action as Jon has. She’s killed not at all, and how’s that worked out for her? Made me want to slap Jon a little for not realizing that while his role as a soldier has been a burden, it’s also given him some agency.

Laura
The way men deal with trauma versus how women deal with it is in stark relief (no pun intended!).

We also got Davos talking to Melisandre. She is following Jon as her new savior, as we predicted — and then Brienne confronts them both and proudly states that she killed Stannis. Unfortunately, this lets Melisandre off the hook for explaining what she did to Shireen.

Rosalyn
I took that as an implicit threat on Brienne’s part. She’s letting Melisandre know that she knows. And letting Davos know she regrets nothing about what she did to his lord king.

Cheryl
And talk about strange bedfellows! This week it was Brienne and Davos. Brienne tells Davos and Melisandre that she was the one who executed Stannis — in retribution for Renly’s death.

Think about it: Melisandre’s blood magic brought the death of the man she saw as the prince of the lord of light, and whom she convinced of his own righteousness. In pure karmic fashion — which Stannis accepts — he pays the ultimate price.

All sacrificed at the altar of her own fanaticism. That would be a hard shame to process and absorb.

In other words, Stannis died for Melisandre’s sins — and so did Renly, Shireen, his troops, those burned in sacrifice, and countless others. But Brienne in good fashion does not kill her.

Rosalyn
Melisandre seems strikingly unenthusiastic about having found the prince that was promised, in the wake of all that. It should drive her onwards, but her position is vulnerable, and perhaps she even is feeling regret as well as fear.

To the Vale next?

Laura
I’m glad this week’s preview featured Littlefinger talking to the Aerie’s elders about supporting Robin as their lord; I’d forgotten that. It makes the scene where Littlefinger “follows” Robin’s commands all the more cutting.

Rosalyn
The Lords of the Vale are circling warily around Robin just as the court of King’s Landing used to do with Joffrey. He is unpredictable, all-powerful.

Cheryl
Littlefinger — and later Cersei — are both able to parlay a lack of direct power into real power by having the masters’ ears.

Laura
And if I recall correctly, the Vale decided to back Robin Arryn because they wanted to keep Littlefinger out of power — ha! Fooled THEM.

Rosalyn
Littlefinger in all his strained avuncularity (I just made this up) is taking on Cersei’s manipulative role.

Even though Littlefinger is taking on that role — puppeting Robin, commanding familial loyalty — remember that both Robyn and Joffrey were ruined by a mother’s love and overindulgence.

Cheryl
Just as the show opens with a shot of Long Claw — unheld, unused, the hilt with the direwolf (we think) — we get a close-up shot of the bow and arrow Robin drops as soon as Littlefinger arrives. No power, no authority.

Laura
Reminds me of how Jorah and Daario dropped their weapons outside Vaes Dothrak.

Cheryl
Littlefinger knows just how to play Robin, it’s child’s play for him, of course.

So now Littlefinger has troops.

Next to King’s Landing, where Tommen is gaining his voice and authority, it seems. And learning to be politic. He is polite to Pycelle as his mother tries to dismiss him.

He is no longer the child, and he seems to be listening to all voices. Good for Tommen.

Laura
Pycelle doing his overly slow walk was a nice call-out to his long-running role in all this intrigue. Remember that early season scene he had where he was with a sex worker and quite spry?

Rosalyn
I can’t tell if Tommen is being astute and practical about the real threat posed by the Faith Militant and the sparrows, or if we’re meant to think him weak, still.

Cheryl
That long walk with the sounds of the chains — as though he were shackled — lent him authority, allowing him to give Cersei a death stare before he walked out.

Laura
It seemed like a nascent voice awakening in Tommen — he takes on the High Sparrow but then listens (and backs down), and now he does the same with Cersei.

Cheryl
But he tells Cersei that Margaery is due for the walk of shame, which is all she needs to enlist the Tyrells.

Then we get the second pair of our dynamic sibling duos — Cersei and Jaime.

Laura
I like that Cersei reminded us who Kevan was when she said Lancel has become one of the Faith Militant, and he’s “your son”: he’s Tywin’s brother, who is also Lancel’s dad.

Cheryl
So all the parents are trying to save their children.

Rosalyn
I note again the idea of tearing down entire world orders and replacing them with nothing: this is noted in regard to the danger the sparrows present, and it echoes Tyrion’s plight in Dany’s wake.

Cheryl
They really do not get it, they just want to do more of the same, with the crown gluing it all together. Another power tactic: stasis.

On to hotter climes in Meereen.

Rosalyn
Missandei and Grey Worm seem to have fewer and fewer reservations about speaking up to Tyrion and taking a role in the dealings, though still presenting a united front (for now).

And we have the theme of “Mhysa is a master” coming back for our consideration. That was shown as graffiti scrawled on the walls of Meereen in a recent episode.

This was a complex scene. Tyrion is truly in his element with the rich men of privilege. Yet he doesn’t fully understand the position he’s put Grey Worm and Missandei in. He says “we will use the masters for our own purposes” but doesn’t grasp that there is no “we.” He cannot understand.

I ended up thinking he may be ultimately right (and it seemed like Missandei and Grey Worm were willing to go along with the plan), but he’s on shakier ground with the representatives of the freed slaves pleading with him in the throne room and appealing directly to Missandei and Grey Worm.

Cheryl
Last week we noted the awkward exchange between Tyrion and Missandei and Grey Worm. But now I think I see what the show is getting at: that those two are slowly gaining their own voices, and Tyrion is trying to start a “conversation” (as we were reminded in the pre-show recap in another context) with them.

Missandei as a translator is meant to translate others’ words and thoughts, not give voice to her own, and Grey Worm as an Unsullied is supposed to submerge all critical thinking skills and literally not speak. Tyrion — whose strength is in words, not the sword — is trying to facilitate. By their scenes’ end, both were pushing back against him, and he was listening — especially to Grey Worm, when he said that the masters would never change. They are now part of his small council.

I agree Rosalyn: Tyrion is not used to thinking about the plebes too much — just power politics.

Rosalyn
I think he glories in this type of work, because he’s suited for it, and it gives him the only power within his reach. But there is reason for him to doubt himself.

Laura
Tyrion is hopefully learning from them, as it’s clear they are learning from him — as they follow him down the ziggurat-esque steps to be on level with the former slaves, and speak up — firmly but diplomatically — when asked for their opinion.

Cheryl
The last shot shows him actually listening — and considering — what Grey Worm says. Thus, dialogue. Conversation. Not orders!

Rosalyn
Hopefully. Otherwise he was sure in a moneymaking capitalism white knight role here. “Well, actually, Wise Masters, let me tell you how you don’t need slavery at all! Why, I’m rich, so you can do it too!”

And of course, his parting words to the delegation. “Freedom tastes just as sweet as what came before.” That’s cool, freedom as in … paying for sex? Oh, right.

Cheryl
Don’t you think he was trying to use their self-interest to gain their agreement? He knew that appealing to the virtue of the cause of abolishing slavery would go nowhere.

My take is that Tyrion knows these kinds of guys really well (think Trump), and he knows what will work with them.

Rosalyn
As he also points out, you just can’t win. Running the world requires distasteful compromises that strain moral convictions. Can’t prevent war and slavery in one day.

Cheryl
Politics is the alignment of self-interests, right? And here we see real dirty politicking — and compromise. The Obama option.

Rosalyn
Right! Walking a fine line, making no one truly happy.

I like Laura’s conclusion that Tyrion, Missandei, and Grey Worm are hopefully all learning from each other.

Laura
But, as Tyrion says and Missandei repeats, you make peace with your enemies, not your friends. Astute, if a harsh reminder of how it really is.

Cheryl
So in these scenes we have one example of the way change of the existing order comes: through negotiation.

Let’s go to a place hotter still: Dothrak.

Laura
Are you familiar with the Bechdel Test? Jorah and Daario were a sort of fascinating flip side to that test: two men talking about a woman off screen. Unless men are romantic rivals (clearly these two have gone far beyond that), this basically never happens in entertainment. Over and over in this week’ episode, men were narratively subservient to women.

Daario’s face later when he bowed down before Dany? Literally priceless, and the best moment that character has had so far. Contrast it to his gross lady-knife fondling not a few minutes earlier.

Rosalyn
His lady-knife fondling is probably one of his only defining character traits on paper. But this is a great point, Laura.

Cheryl
That figure on the knife looks like it jumped off a semi-truck’s splashguard.

To your point Laura: when we first see them, Daario is glib, and jokey, and facile, because he sees Dany as his lover, his prize, which he flaunts at Jorah. So Trumpian! “I got the hot babe!” He did not understand Jorah’s seriousness, because of course Jorah came to literally worship her when she emerged from the pyre in Season 1. In that last scene, when Daario bends down, it’s no longer a joke for him. He gets it.

Laura
The fighting scene also pointed out how weak Jorah is becoming. I don’t think it’s because he’s old, as Daario says (repeatedly); I suspect it’s the greyscale taking over.

Rosalyn
It was startling to see Jorah losing in a fight like that when he and Daario split up. This kind of scene is so common: quickly dispatching faceless enemies and moving on to the next plot point. But not this time.

Cheryl
Jorah was left to throw sand at the guy — and missing.

Rosalyn
How about Dany’s scene with the dosh khaleen, before it moves on to the attempted “rescue”?

The older woman told Dany about the function of the dosh khaleen. It’s not complete freedom, and it’s not a life they necessarily would have chosen, but it’s shown that it has helped them avoid continual rape (by sharing the story of the young Lhazareen khaleesi who Dany befriends) and have significance and power, wielding wisdom in the decision-making process. And Dany replies: “That is more than most women have.”

Cheryl
I really wanted those women to be vital and sexual — not just castoffs because they (apparently) do not have men. It’s not simply a place where vital young women go to whither and age. That may be an envelope that GoT feels it cannot push yet: empowered and sexual older women. The last frontier!

Rosalyn
Such an interesting point, Cheryl. The only way to gain power is to renounce the sexual self, to become something other than women. Dosh khaleen.

Laura
Dany does not come off well in this scene, I thought. Complaining about how the “old women” smell to her Lhazareen buddy as they sneak off could generously be said to be an attempt to bond with her, but I found it cruel.

Rosalyn
It was hard to say whether it was a calculated bonding attempt or a kind of snotty remark or both.

Laura
The Lhazareen had a very similar story to Dany, too, in that she was also non-Dothraki and was also married against her will. It pointed out, to me, how the other widows must see Dany, as opposed to how we, the viewers, see her.

Cheryl
It was a small moment that linked to how she was able to gain the compliance of at least some of the women later.

You know, the men all have very groomed, slick hair — like horses’ manes — and the women have disheveled hair that looks very unappealing — a small point but telling.

Rosalyn
The Dothraki men’s hair has significance (which may have been explored in the story early on). They only cut their hair when defeated, and for each enemy they defeat, they add bells or adornment.

Then: cue Daario and Jorah, lying in wait in a latrine! And Dany, like Sansa in this episode, pushes the men to think bigger.

Laura
Dany seemed to expect them to show up. More entitlement. Some Targaryen traits will never die.

Rosalyn
Dany and the Unburnt Posse.

Laura
Dany and the Sisterhood of the Traveling Sackcloth. I’m sticking with it.

Cheryl
So on to Margaery. What’s the High Sparrow going for there?

Laura
That monologue by the High Sparrow was exquisite.

Rosalyn
I’ve read some grumbling about people being bored by him, but wow, I’ll say again, the show is making so much more out of these ideas than the book.

Laura
But maybe we should start with Margaery’s entrance into the room—she literally shields her eyes from the light, and is forced to bend the knee in the slanting sunlight while the Sparrow approaches from the shadows.

Rosalyn
She’s much better at acting contrite than Cersei. Her power move has been “coy” or “feigned innocence” all along, so maybe that helps.

Cheryl
And she feigns to listen and be interested.

Rosalyn
But when the High Sparrow comments that she’s surely worn a year of someone’s life on her back, it seemed to actually hit her. He actually succeeds in getting people to think about things, even those who consider him an enemy.

Laura
A quick contrast, if I may: With Tommen, the High Sparrow plays up his own fragility and convinces Tommen to sit next to him on a bench, as equals. With Margaery, he remains standing and never invites her to stand, or even sit more comfortably. He’s probably just deftly reading the situation to know which person will respond best to certain styles, but on the other hand it felt more than a little condescendingly sexist.

Cheryl
And Unella makes a point of shoving Margaery on to the ground before the High Sparrow.

The High Sparrow cannot be “higher” than the king — no one can — but by the end of last week’s scene with Tommen, he manipulated Tommen into being on the same level, on the bench.

Laura
Margaery and Cersei are the ones who are arrested and forced to perform walks of shame. The only man involved, Loras, is imprisoned for un-masculine activity. Again, the way men bear trauma and punishment is vastly different.

Rosalyn
I think it’s to play up his control over the situation, and his “benevolence,” when he then extends a hand to raise her up at the end. (And no doubt he had that move planned out from the beginning of the encounter!)

Cheryl
I’ll repeat myself from last week: he sounds so “reasonable.” Nothing scary here!

Laura
Let’s tease out the episode’s title, before we move on to Loras.

In the middle of the High Sparrow’s origin story, as it were, Margaery pipes up—more than a bit cheekily—with a quote from one of the scriptures of the Seven (the Seven-Pointed Star), from the book of the Stranger. She says, “And one day you walked through a graveyard and realized it was all for nothing, and set out on the path to righteousness. Book of the Stranger, verse 25.”

Cheryl
It sounded to me like “vanity, vanity, all is vanities.”

Rosalyn
The Stranger is a mysterious figure. Part of the pantheon of the Seven. I was trying to remember if the Stranger was gendered, actually, and couldn’t.

Laura
There are three men, three women, and the stranger. Mother, Maiden, Crone, and Father, Warrior, Smith.

Rosalyn
Which really puts an interesting spin on the episode title and all of its events.

With the High Sparrow, I was really struck by several parts of his story. Margaery seems to accuse him of just miming something from the Seven-Pointed Star, but he sure speaks with sincerity. HIs comment about “passing around the wine and the women” made me think of Tyrion deploying these weapons in the halls of power.

Laura
And in many ways, the way the Sparrow describes the morning after sounds a lot like a battlefield — a graveyard of sorts.

Rosalyn
And I was struck by the fact that it was the truth of the body — smells, physical needs — that made him “see through it all.” The great equalizer. It’s pretty true to this depiction of a holy man, his emphasis on mortification of the flesh.

Cheryl
With again a reference to its smells.

Laura
Bodies splayed everywhere. The smell of rotting food.

Rosalyn
It’s fascinating. And then he finishes by saying, “It was all a story I’ve been telling myself.” What a great meta-moment.

Cheryl
Totally key. We all do it — tell stories to ourselves — to justify what we do.

Rosalyn
I thought of Sansa, too, partly because of what’s happened to her in the past few episodes. She used to stand on ceremony, she used to believe in stories of chivalry and honor, and then it was all revealed to her as a sham.

Laura
Margaery was listening to the High Sparrow, but still holding on to her beliefs — as was evident in the way she spoke to Loras.

But the way Loras was broken, and had given up, really threw her.

Cheryl
She’s not broken yet. Loras, on the other hand, is a shell of himself. A soul twin of Reek — and Loras and Theon/Reek looked quite similar, I thought.

Rosalyn
What struck me first about that scene was how you could tell she was deeply affected by the sight of her brother, but went immediately into older sister mode: protective and strong.

Then I realized Loras had truly been broken.

Theon and his own sister had this encounter, once. Right down to talk about the importance of upholding the family name.

Cheryl
She’s trying to put iron in his spine … but it is impossible. He has truly given up.

And that’s a great transition to Pyke, as Theon walks in on Yara, who keeps her back turned to him. He is sniveling and she is angry.

Laura
So reminiscent of Theon’s first return to Pyke!

Rosalyn
Yara looks so strong and powerful. She’s a mighty force in this scene. Theon, standing behind her, looks so frail and thin.

Cheryl
As opposed to Loras, he is half broken: in the process of reclaiming himself and his identity.

Laura
And with Yara, we get our final sibling reunion of the episode: first Sansa and Jon, then Margaery and Loras, and now the Greyjoys.

Cheryl
He has given up on world power — he will support her.

Rosalyn
And once again, the first thought on Yara’s mind — probably because of timing — is the succession, who will take up the Greyjoy leadership.

Laura
Yara doesn’t really know just how destroyed Theon was, and is. We the audience know full well he has no ambitions left to rule the Iron Islands, or anywhere else.

Rosalyn
That preoccupation and perceived threat, and probably the hurt from her failed rescue attempt, stands between any kind of sibling reunion on an emotional level —until he pledges loyalty.

Cheryl
You can see her thought bubble: “Just because you are the older male, you think you can just walk in here and claim the throne when you are nothing but a broken shell. …” etc. etc.

Rosalyn
When she asked him, “What do you want?” what he really seems to want is home and family. But he says the only words that could sway her. And I think he means them.

Cheryl
And not until the end can she embrace him.

Laura
He wants to rest. But he also wants to do something with his life, whatever he can, and try not to hurt anyone else in the process.

Let’s talk Castle Black.

Cheryl
Sansa last week (and in the pre-show recap) says she wants to go to Castle Black because “we’ll be safe there.” But once there, she pushes Jon to head back south and retake Winterfell, telling him that’s the only thing that will keep them safe.

And she has to convince him. Jon is ground down — not quite broken, but ground down — and she reminds him what is necessary.

She later grabs Ramsay’s letter out of Jon’s hands to read his explicit threat. She knows what awaits if she is captured — and she is not shying from it.

Rosalyn
Sansa is the only one present who really, truly understands what horror has descended upon their ancestral home, and what danger Rickon is in. She’s unflinching.

Cheryl
Jon knows she’s right, he just is not fired up at the prospect of battle. She knows Ramsay does not make empty threats.

Rosalyn
I think Jon remembers Sansa in more of an “Oh, my delicate ears” state. Or maybe he can’t face what Ramsay threatens. But surely he knows all of it has already happened, and more.

Cheryl
She grabs that letter — she is seizing her fate.

She convinces Jon to march on Winterfell … but then there is that small problem of not enough men. But Tormund is totally on board.

Next: she’ll ally with Littlefinger to get the Vale’s troops. She’s learned a few things at his side, it seems!

Rosalyn
And Jon may be able to rally the Stark banners (despite their loyalty still being somewhat in question, something that was not revisited in this episode).

Cheryl
OK, who wants Tormund and Brienne to get together!! The perfect match!

Laura
Oh, yes! Tormund and Brienne! Not only do they both deserve each other (I hope Brienne is game), but you can mash up their names very well: Bormund. Trienne.

Cheryl
And he cleans up in a suit!

And Pod says nothing during the whole episode.

Laura
To drive the point home of Ramsay’s danger, we then see Osha brought before Ramsay.

Rosalyn
I knew Ramsay had her number as soon as I saw his knife.

Cheryl
He was toying with her as a cat plays with a mouse, placing that knife just out of her reach.

Rosalyn
Osha’s so savvy, though. What a good liar. She just had no way to know that Ramsay had prior knowledge of her.

Laura
Again, a direct call-back to her encounter with Early-Show Theon.

Cheryl
Now Rickon is totally alone.

Laura
And she also didn’t realize just how smart, manipulative, and utterly devoid of emotion Ramsay is.

Rosalyn
Let’s remember, she’s lasted a looooonggg time against all manner of enemies.

Laura
True! The Osha-Ramsay scene was a duel, in my mind. Perhaps this death could be seen as justified for the narrative. I’m not sure the same can be said for Roose’s wife and newborn, but here it’s a reminder of just how serious an enemy Ramsay is.

Rosalyn
Narratively, this makes more sense to me, and is less gratuitous, though still awful. Osha deserved to win everything.

Cheryl
We could not have only positive events in this episode — we needed a bit of the old GoT. So they killed her off. Too bad.

Laura
Speaking of the old GoT!!! Let’s talk about fire.

Be honest: did anyone see the last scene coming? I didn’t!

Cheryl
I did not see it coming.

Rosalyn
Oh Dany. She’s like, “Oh, that old trick, TEE HEE.”

Cheryl
As she started walking around the fire, I knew the bass drop moment was at hand.

Rosalyn
Right, she was poking at the pride of men, and it was leading up to a confrontation.

Cheryl
As Jorah said, they underestimated her at their peril (I think he said that).

Laura
I am of three minds about this scene, really:

1. A little sick of the white savior thing she has going on, BUT my goodness did those khals have it coming.
2. Why didn’t she pull the Unburnt trick in Meereen while floundering about trying to regain power?
3. PURE AWESOME.

Fourth mind: how is her hair so magically fireproof? Whatever!

Rosalyn
Yes! She neatly removed the entire existing power structure — except for the dosh khaleen and maybe some vestigial bloodriders — and earned the loyalty and awe of the people, even her own two henchmen.

Cheryl
Revolution!

Laura
I liked that this time, when she emerged from the flames, the show could spend screen time showing us the reaction faces (since we as an audience weren’t quite as awed; we’ve seen it before).

Rosalyn
Silly Daario. After all that time spent teasing Jorah about how he didn’t really know … certain aspects … of her: boom.

Jorah knows this power. Daario hasn’t seen it.

Cheryl
Yup. Daario bends the knee. Finally!!

We had a variety of political possibilities this episode:

1. Hold your nose, make peace and compromise via diplomacy: Tyrion
2. Make alliances with your enemy to take down the larger enemy (the “enemy of my enemy is my friend” thing): Cersei and Jaim
3. Tell your enemy what he wants to hear: Margaery
4. Make war: Jon and Sansa
5. Make revolution: Dany

Laura
I think Littlefinger was maybe a number 6 there too: start small (at the Vale) and work your way up, or something.

Cheryl
Leverage! (As Trump would say.)

Rosalyn
This episode was great. I loved it.

Cheryl
Stuff is happening faster, now. The pace of the show is accelerating. I suspect it’s because the showrunners are freed from the books and the series is winding down.

Rosalyn
Opening with a Stark reunion really felt like it closed some endless circles, picking up momentum on the story’s longest-running arc.

Squawks

Rosalyn
Does Jon Snow have a PONYTAIL?!

Laura
A bigger issue for me is why the title of the episode referenced the Book of the Stranger. I wrote down right after watching, “Sisters as strangers?” and I think that’s a huge point here. The three sets of siblings who reunited had changed significantly while they were apart: Loras falling to pieces and ready to give up completely his former life in exchange for sheer survival; Theon crushed and humbled but loyal to his sister who, more so than his dead father, was there for him when no one else was; and Sansa, whose meeting with Jon after years helped highlight her character’s growth and strength, and managed (I think) to avoid the heinous trope of having a strong female character serve only to buttress a flagging male one.

Cheryl
Re: variations on power: Jon has power and authority but refuses to exercise it. We see that in the unheld sword, his run to the window to see who has arrived at the gate, and in the fact that the guy carrying the letter from Ramsay tries to hand it to him, though he doesn’t want it.

Plus: Remember in that letter how Ramsay threatens to “spoon out” Jon’s eyes? Check out this official promo art from GoT central. Just sayin’.

(This show is obsessed with eyes — a theme to explore at a later date.

Please join the conversation in comments! But no spoilers, please!