Game of Thrones: Season 4/ Episode 5 “First of His Name” – Recap/ Review (with Spoilers)

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Overview

In a rather mundane episode, politics are a bigger focus than battle. But just to keep those with a bloodlust interested, there is one decent one to satisfy ye.

Review (with Spoilers)

I’m not fully sure, due to my memory, whether past season of Game of Thrones were more exciting, or if just the exciting moments are all I remember, hence why I come back year after year. Either way, arguably there is one big moment in each season, and with it seeming like Joffrey’s death maybe this season’s big moment, I must admit it is leading this show to have a similar issue to what The Sopranos had. Said issue being that a show known for violence and sex becomes boring once those two features are put on the back burner. Luckily though, with an appearance from Daenerys and Jon’s battle with the Night’s Watch rebels, there are a handful of things to keep you interested.

Topic 1: King’s Landing – Cersei, Margaery, and Oberyn

With Tommen’s crowning comes the need for politics to be observed. Seemingly, at least for now, Cersei decides to be friendly toward Margaery, who seems to have charmed Tommen and now seeks to befriend Cersei in the process. But, even while they are friendly, this maybe because Cersei seemingly feels less and less powerful every day. She gives into her eventual marriage to Loras, and has it planned post-Tommen’s, and as she speaks with Oberyn later in the episode, she admits to being as powerless as him. She is one of the fiercest women, whose blood line is of one of the fiercest houses, and yet she couldn’t save her son. Just as Oberyn, a world renowned warrior, couldn’t save his dear sister.

And as we watch Cersei, we see her in a rare moment of softness. For while she still wants Tyrion’s head, her grief softens her usually armored exterior. If just because we see her vulnerability, her as a mother, and not just the strength of a queen.

Topic 2: Odd Friendships – Brienne & Arya

As Brienne ventures with Podrick to get Sansa, a new odd friendship blossoms on the show. For with Brienne not having much interest in a squire, and Podrick having no squire skills, Podrick is, at best, but a companion at this point. But with hearing Podrick killed a king’s guard, this allows Brienne to slightly see her squire as something worth taking an interest in. In fact, I’d argue she would likely train him to be something more than Tyrion’s butler/ messenger boy.

But while Brienne and Podrick’s relationship seems off to a good start, The Hound and Arya’s is as rocky as we usually see it. First, Arya mentions she seeks to kill The Hound, amongst many others, and even stabs him with Needle. But, even with all this happening, their odd understanding is maintained. Though if Arya ever gets strong enough, I’m sure she would murder The Hound in a heartbeat.

Topic 3: Liberation – Daenerys, Sansa, Bran & Jon

Thus leaving us with the more interesting part of the episode, of which we get to see Daenerys, Sansa, and the Stark brothers almost reunited. Starting with Daenerys, it seems all the cities she has liberated are basically being taken back over, and the timing couldn’t be worse. She has the basic needs to try to take King’s Landing, but considering the fact she can’t even liberate slaves, and keep them free, it makes for a hard argument to really serve and respect her. So, upon realizing that she has much work to do at Yunkai and Astapor, she decides to retake the cities before setting her sights on King’s Landing.

Which leaves us with the Stark children. Sansa, finally, is with one of her own, but as usual with her life, nothing good is without issue. For one, Lord Baelish is still a bit of a creeper, and what makes things worse is her aunt Lysa is jealous of her. For, you see, she was also very jealous of her sister and with Lord Baelish so invested in her, she sees her as competition. And considering she killed her own husband for Lord Baelish, you can see that Lysa is a rather fragile woman who may have her son, but she needs a man. This is especially punctuated by how loudly she screams when having sex with Lord Baelish and wanting to get married pronto. The bad part about this all for Sansa is, outside of her aunt’s jealousy, is that also, after Tyrion dies, she expects Sansa to marry her son Robin, who is her cousin.

Then, lastly, there is Bran and Jon. Two brothers who almost nearly meet, but end up missing one another. For, during the siege on the Night’s Watch rebels, Locke tries to make sure the brothers don’t meet by first telling Jon to stay clear of the area Bran is in, then trying to kidnap him to, assumingly, take to Lord Bolton. However, it seems it is not Bran’s time to die. So, to fight back against Locke, Bran possesses Hodor and has him snap Locke’s neck. Something which seemingly Hodor isn’t happy about for he looks at his hands in shock before doing as Bran request, which is free Jojen and Meera.

And then, with Jon but a few feet away, fighting against the rebels, Bran is given an ultimatum by Jojen. Either seek out the three eyed raven, or likely be stuck at Castle Black. An ultimatum which forces Bran to seek out the three eyed raven for being coddled doesn’t seem like an option. As for Jon, he squashed the rebels, gets back his wolf, and all this will likely lead to Alliser Throne to lose his mind.

Things To Note

Tywin says the Lannisters have been broke for 3 years, and even with the Tyrell’s money they will likely still owe The Iron Bank. Of which not even Cersei knows much details about. Like who runs it.

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