An additional issue with this Lazarus ending which had a lot of Jesus resurrection vibe to it, is the significance of death in general in this show. While protagonists dying are always a blow for the show's audience, they serve as both a plot catalyst (without Robert Baratheon's and Ned Stark's deaths we wouldn't the War of the Five Kings) but also serve the tone for the entire show being set in a ruthless, cold and violent world. The rules of cause and effect especially in the high stake political game the characters are playing has a very real price to pay. If you lose, you don't only lose the game - you may lose your head, your family and cause a lot of misery for a whole lot of fictional characters. The deaths in the show serve to prove just how real the stakes of the game are and how finite and absolute the loses are. But now, with Jon Snow being resurrected the show took a step back from their merciless storytelling origins and swerved a 180 degrees back to traditional protagonist-centrist mode, which is a little bit disappointing for me.
As a reader of the book, I remember the scene when Jon Snow is killed (no Olly, but he was definitely a positive addition in the show) and how absolutely devastating it was. Not only do bad things seem to happen to good people who are trying to do the right thing, but they almost always do in GoT. So it is an unpopular opinion, but I would have preferred Jon Snow to remain dead.
Both the books and the show try to balance a fantastical world populated by white walkers, dragons and magic with War-Of-The-Roses style political intrigue. The assassination of Jon Snow by his fellow Night Watch comrades seems like it is inspired by political assassinations like that of Caesar, betrayed by his friends and stabbed as a traitor. But the manner of his resurrection is heavily reliant on the supernatural. Melisande, with the help of a few Valyrian chants and some water and hair burning, manages to perform a magical trick and pulls Jon Snow out of his deadly state. This seems like one of the very few times when the balance between the real and the supernatural was somehow disrupted in the show. Just like the scene when the black dragon Drogon arrives at the fighting pit of Meereen to take Daenerys away in the midst of a civil war. Just a bit too Ex-Machina for me.Anyway...enough with the fan favorite crow of the north.
Another equally rattling Ramsey "deranged" Bolton scene has him kill pretty much all of his remaining relatives - his dad, Roose Bolton - and his step mom and half brother. It seems that GoT show runners are no longer relying on female bare breasts in brothels to keep their viewers enthralled, but have to have at least one ultra-violence scene in every episode. In the first episode of the season, Doran and Trystane Martell get brutalized by Ellia Martell and the Sand Snakes, and this episode it was the cruel execution of Ramsey's relatives that served this purpose. This rapid succession of violent murders which happen two episodes in a row really feel like bits of lazy storytelling. The deaths of the Boltons and the Martells are almost casually thrown in, without the proper build up necessary to give these events the gravitas they deserve. The killing of family relatives is done almost without a second thought. If Ramsey's massacre was meant to highlight his unhinged mental state, perhaps a few more scenes with him being chastised by his father, or having an interaction with someone other than his father about that would have served the purpose better than just have him randomly dispose of his family.
Here would be a proper time to discuss the overall structure of the first two episodes of the season. The episodes so far have been largely fragmented with short scenes appearing centered around a few characters, since some of the characters are now evenly scattered across all of the GoT continents. This gives each story line less of the attention it deserves and creates a rushed feeling that may get some viewers thinking about why we need a scene with blind Arya being beaten in Braavos for two episodes in a row, without there being any need to waste precious screen time on a scene that delivers no plot progression and little character progression. Another issue with this "a little bit of Braavos, a pinch of Meereen, VILE MURDER, and...a new place, Pike" structure creates is raising the level of audience indifference to new heights. If all is equally important to be included in this one episode and it has a few stale scenes, it means that nothing is important enough.
Although, this piece of criticism deserves a disclaimer - in the first episode, there was a circular structure to it, since it began and ended with a scene taking place at the Wall. So maybe not all is lost? Maybe we can hope for some more structurally consistent episodes next? One can only hope.
And the Iron Islands and King's Landing scenes. Lena Headey is probably the best actress on the show. Her acting skill make her Cersei come alive like even GRRM couldn't have in his writing. The character of Cersei in the books always seemed a little like a male perspective on scary strong females who are mentally imbalanced. A bit two-dimensional. And then comes Headey and gives emotional depth, basically breaths life into a haughty queen stereotype. Probably one of my favorite scenes of the episode, when she almost loses it when her son's, the King's, guards prevent her from going to the Sept for her daughter's funeral. Her contained rage was visible beneath the surface but she showed restraint. A very rare incident indeed for Cersei. Perhaps the whole imprisonment and the walk of shame experiences humbled her, although, I have noticed that in the show she still drinks her wine regularly. I hope that the show writers let her keep that drunken habit of hers to remind the audience that Cersei may be beaten but never broken and even though she is more subdued and restrained, her emotional instability is always lurking there, beneath the surface. Cersei would make the most nightmarish boss ever. She is formidable as she is emotionally driven and headstrong. A truly fleshed out character. So props for that!On the Iron Islands, Theon's daddy and sister are arguing on how to continue their invasion after it has so blatantly failed on the mainland. Pirates are no good on land - that's Yara's point. But daddy Balon Greyjoy doesn't seem to agree with that...and then he is dead. Pushed from those awfully dangerous looking bridges dangling in the wind, just above the sea. What a surprise...that anyone of the Greyjoys actually survived infancy living on Pike. Now Yara should be queen, no? No! The Iron Islands folks will hold a Kingsmoot to decide who the next king is going to be and Yara's chances are slim because she is a woman. So in this sense, the Iron Islands are a complete mirror image of Dorn, but both of these sub plots are unfortunately alike in their failure to engage the viewers' attention on them. Perhaps some viewers are so keen on rooting for their favorite characters they have absolutely no place in their hearts and minds for some fresh blood (another reason why Jon Snow should have remained dead in my opinion). But hey, perhaps there could be something to make us care about Pike coming up in the future.
And finally, Tyrion manages to befriend Daenerys' dragons (except for Drogon who is too busy terrorizing sheep). He frees them from their chains, perhaps echoing Daenerys freeing all those slaves in Slaver's Bay a season ago. Perhaps just fulfilling a boyhood fantasy of his to come close to these awesome creatures. Let's just say he is lucky they are on a hunger strike.
All in all, the episode was packed with action and drama. Some violence, a funeral, a resurrection and dragons. Even with all the narrative flaws in this episode, I'd have to rate it 6.8/10.
Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below.
Looking forward to next week!
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