Review: Game of Thrones ‘And Now His Watch Has Ended’ – A Spider In The Garden

In last week’s review, I talked about the lack of movement while a whirlwind of plot lines were being set up. This week’s episode ‘And Now His Watch Has Ended’ certainly made up for the previous chapter, still heavy on the allusions of what is to come, but getting down to business in a few choice spots of Westeros, where one leader unified an army, and another took out their leader.

There are still plenty of quiet moments in ‘And Now His Watch His Ended’, but even simple conversation seems pointed in a certain direction, whether to establish certain conflicts or reveal an important truth for episodes to come. The one place that doesn’t happen is where we open, looking at the hand no longer attached to Jamie’s wrist, but strung about his neck. Somehow, he’s survived his unexpected amputation, although his weakness only makes him easier to ridicule, as his captor allows him to fall in thick mud, and then gives him horse piss to feed his thirst. There isn’t much else to the scene, but it’s clearly the lowest point in Jamie’s life, covered in filth and getting the shit beat out of him as he lies on the ground, weak and helpless.

But at the same time, it’s probably the first time he’s had a friend in his life, even if he isn’t able to admit that’s what Brienne is to him when she asks why she saved him. And having a friend, he can be called out on his shit a little bit; Brienne’s speech to him about what a little bitch he was once he tasted “the real world” was a fantastic moment, steeped in the irony of what a respected solider and tough guy Jamie’s always been. That sneer he had on his face as he ordered Ned Stark stabbed in the thigh certainly is gone, now that’s he been stripped of the one thing he’s defined himself by his entire life.

Jamie isn’t the only noble born making friends; Sansa shares a conversation with her replacement Margaery, who suggests that she might marry Loris as an escape from King’s Landing. As are many fairy tales told in the world of Westeros, this is a complete pile of crap from Margaery, who is all too aware of her brother’s sexuality. But if there’s any character who needs hope, it’s someone like Sansa, banished from what remains of her family and forgotten the moment Joffrey found a better candidate. Then again, hope and naivety never seem to mix well on this show.

Of the many things going on in ‘And Now His Watch Has Ended’, those two are probably the least interesting, simply because they are clearly in transit from one plot point to the next, pausing in the middle for some texture. That’s not to say they aren’t effective – thanks to the wonderful character interactions, scenes like Cersei exchanging insults with her father would be entertaining to watch ten episodes in a row.

Speaking of Cersei, it’s interesting to think about how small of an influence she’s become since her plan to bring Joffrey into power came to fruition. Because of this, she appears less often in important scenes – and when she is, she’s normally relegated to the back, her voice hear but not remembered, ignored by every man in King’s Landing she shares a last name with. She’s noticed this, of course, but is so distracted by Margaery’s growing influence over Joffrey that she doesn’t seem to realize how little her views on anything matter to anyone – until Tywin puts her cruelly back in her place, chiding her for thinking she’s smarter than she really is.

She doesn’t want to face the limitations of her own intelligence; she may want to one day when she ends up like Theon, whose naivety continues to be his biggest vice, time and time again. We still don’t know who is holding him hostage – but we do know they are some sick fuckers, preying on Theon’s idiocy when he tries to escape with the help of a “friend”. Does Theon ask why a man who was torturing him is helping him leave? Well, not really; he’s too busy crying over all the milk he spilled when he thought he could honor his father and stake a real claim to the Greyjoy name he bears. What does he get for his overzealous ambition? Physical and psychological torture, which comes in its most devastating form this week. I’m not sure how much longer this cycle of torture can continue before it feels like its stalling, but the misdirection of his ‘escape’ added a nice, sadistic touch to Theon’s journey of punishment.

To me, the most interesting part of the episode was Bran’s dream, which had me thinking back to previous dreams he’s had with the three-eyed raven.

(Note: before I continue – and I know I state this every week, but for new readers: I’ve only read the first two books, so anything that follows is pure speculation on my part. I don’t know any of the events of what is to follow, so I’m just guessing.)

Ok, Bran’s dreams: near the end of season one (I believe it’s the opening sequence to the ninth episode), Bran is dreaming of the three-eyed raven in Winterfell, who leads him into the Stark tombs underneath the village. When he wakes up, he tells Osha (I believe he told her) that he saw his father in the crypts, a premonition of his father’s death the next morning. In this episode, he sees the crow again – and on Jojen’s encouragement, again follows the crow, this time up a tall, tall tree.

What does he see up there? His mother Catelyn, who scolds him for climbing again, reminding him that it’s dangerous and against the rules. He then falls out of the tree, and promptly wakes up. For me, this begs a very, very obvious question: is Catelyn about to die? It seems very feasible: since the end of the first season when she negotiated the treaty to cross the bridge with Walder Frey, she hasn’t served much purpose but be a thorn in Robb’s side. Could there be another reason she’s still on the road with him – one besides the fact she has nowhere else to go? This I don’t know, but her presence in Bran’s dream raised a number of questions.

Of course, one might ask if this applies to Robb, Jon, and Theon, who appear in his first dream. But they aren’t someone the crow led him to; they are just there, laughing as he misses them with a bow and arrow. Is that an important distinction, the fact he wasn’t led to discover them? Again, no idea, but it seems to suggest they’re stock in the world is safe for the time being.

If there’s one bit of the episode that sticks out as odd, it’s the sudden escalation of violence beyond the Wall. It’s well established that Craster is an asshole, but they’ve barely returned to his camp before they’re dying of starvation and talking out of line to the person housing them. In a way, it makes the sudden outburst of anger and murder more unexpected, but it doesn’t really make it more effective. Yes, killing Mormont really fucks things up for whoever survives the bloody mess known as Craster’s baby farm now, but there’s one thing that is quite clear: the Wall is as unprotected as its ever been, while two huge, dangerous armies head down from the Fist of the First Men to cross into the (currently) snow free world in Westeros.

Finally, we visit Dany out in Astapor, and she basically acts exactly the way I expected her to last week. Astapor never felt like much of a stopover, and the drama behind Dany potentially selling one of her dragons turned out to be a ruse: as predicted, the moment the sale was completed, she burned up the Unsullied’s leader and established what a ruthless but fair leader she can be, uniting the Unsullied army (though that’s clearly not that difficult to do, with the right whip in hand) and freeing the many slaves the shit talker kept under his thumb. Not the most surprising, but endlessly satisfying  especially when she revealed that DUH, she heard all the insults he hurled her way for three episodes since she’s a daughter of Old Valyria.

‘And Now His Watch Has Ended’ picked up the momentum from the end of last week’s episode and ran with it, pausing for a few moments for some more allusions and world-building monologues, but mostly pushing characters forward into new bits of story, a noticeably more active episode than last week’s.

Grade: A-

Other thoughts/observations:

– Podrik’s sexual prowess is still a point of conversation, which leads me to believe there’s something mystical to follow about this guy. The whores can’t even describe what it was like to sleep with him, another sign there’s something up with the innocent looking young man.

– The Spider has captured said man who fed his balls to whatever the hell appeared in those flames. What is Varys planning while Littlefinger is away? Will he use the sorcerer to make a move on the throne, or is this just for his own pleasure?

– so Beric Dondarrion was clearly once a man who followed the old gods, when he worked for Ned back in season one. So what changed since the last time we saw him, when he went off to find the Mountain (ironically, ending up tonight with the Hound)?

– Craster sees himself a godly man – and promptly gets killed. The moment someone gets too drunk with power, there’s a sword waiting to ram itself into their midsection as a cruel reminder of reality.

– Joffrey’s obsession with death is quite interesting this season. He goes on and on to Margaery about the dead Targaryen’s in their crypts, and earlier this season, talked with her about what it felt like to “pull a trigger over here, and watch something die over there.” It’s either something to really pay attention to, or just another example of the morbid creature that is the King.

– Craster has 99 problems, but a son ain’t one…. HIT ME!

– The Spider makes a new friend with Granny Tyrell – I wonder what’s up their fancy sleeves.

– the Brotherhood Without Banners follow the Lord of Light, having converted for unknown reasons. Plus they all know the Hound, who doesn’t think so kindly of them.

– “Sometimes severity is what we pay for greatness.”

– we finally learn how Varys lost his balls – and why he doesn’t like magic, having seen his junk be lit on fire to conjure up some dark, ball-slappy magic.

– “Ahh look. More shit.”