If there’s one thing we’ve learned from Game of Thrones, it’s that you don’t mess with Daenerys Targaryen. In this week’s episode a bunch of men try to tell her what to do, but like the world’s greatest feminist icon, she refuses and decides to take everything for herself. There’s a very good reason that one of her many nicknames is the Unburnt.
But that’s not the only great moment from Game of Thrones this week as we finally get a Stark family reunion between two characters who haven’t seen each other since the show’s very first episode. There are actually family reunions all over the Seven Kingdoms with the Tyrells and Greyjoys.
Dany Takes Control
Jorah and Daario finally track down Daenerys to rescue her, but they obviously don’t know their queen very well because she’s no damsel in distress.
The Dothraki men meet to decide what to do with Drogo’s widow and they settle on selling or raping her. It’s a powerful feminist social commentary as a bunch of men sit around deciding what to do with a woman, but Dany stands up for herself and decides she’s the only one worthy of leading all of the Dothraki forces.
So Dany tips over the fire pits and burns all of the Dothreaki men alive while Jorah and Daario lock the doors from the outside. Just like at the end of season 1, Dany is the Unburny, incapable of being hurt by flames. She talks outside like she’s Beyonce in “Lemonade” and all of the other Dothrakis bow down before her naked glory.
A Stark Family Reunion
At Castle Black, Jon Snow is ready to leave when he gets some unexpected visitors: Brienne, Podrick and Sansa! Yes, Jon Snow and Sansa Stark are finally reunited after not seeing each other since the first episode of the series. There’s also a bad-ass moment when Brienne tells Davos and Melisandre that she killed Stannis.
Sansa wants her big brother to help take back Winterfell and defeat Ramsey, but his heart isn’t in the fight anymore. However, he receives a letter from Ramsey Bolton taunting him about how Ramsey has Rickon in his dungeon and he will take over the Night’s Watch and brutally rape and murder Sansa.
This changes everything. Now it looks like Jon Snow, Sansa Stark, Brienne, Podrick, Davos, Melisandre, Eddison, the Night’s Watch, Tormund and the wildlings are all on the same page about attacking the Bolton army. Sweet Jesus, that’s gonna be an amazing battle.
In related news, Tormund appears to be attracted to Brienne (yes, please!) and Ramsey Bolton kills Osha when she tries to kill him. So sad, she’s the first character to die this season I actually liked. Also, Littlefinger reconnects with Robin Arryn and claims that he’s willing to join forces with Jon and Sansa to take down Ramsey. Am I the only one who thinks that Littlefinger may have sent that letter to Jon Snow posing as Ramsey?
The Lannister/Tyrell Alliance
In King’s Landing Margaery Tyrell finally gets to see her brother Loras and he’s not doing so well. He’s not well-suited for prison and just wants to go home, he doesn’t care about anything else.
Meanwhile, Cersei and Jaime decide to stop fighting with Olenna Tyrell and join forces to take down the High Sparrow. Their plan is for the Tyrells to send an army to King’s Landing to attack the Faith Militant and rescue Margaery and Loras. This feels like a classic Lannister double-cross to me.
Tyrion Negotiates for Peace
In Meereen, Tyrion meets with the leaders of the other cities to negotiate a peace so they’ll stop supporting the Sons of the Harpy. Instead of abolishing slavery immediately, he proposes ending it in seven years so the masters can have time to adjust to this new world order.
Grey Worm, Missandei and the slaves of Meereen aren’t wild about this idea, but Tyrion insists that he’s on their side and that it’s a necessary evil.
A Greyjoy Family Reunion
Theon returns home to Pyke where his sister is suspicious that he’s only there to take over the throne from their recently dead father. Theon insists that he’s not and he fully endorses his sister Yara to take over. We’ll see how that goes next week at the Kingsmoot.
This was definitely a huge step up from last week as the plot actually moved forward. Jon Snow and Sansa are reunited and Daenerys is done with her Vaas Dothrak detour, so now things can start to move forward.
Next week on Game of Thrones: Bran meets the Night’s King. But it’s probably just another vision.
(Image courtesy of HBO)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
