*Spoilers below*
With the story lines now firmly set in stone for season five, ‘High Sparrow’ is a solid episode that is starting to build towards something spectacular, still keeping many of its cards close to its chest but giving us more than enough to enjoy. We get to see what Peter Baelish is planning for Sansa (kind of), Jon Snow employing utter dominance in his position as Lord Commander of the Knight’s Watch, Marjorie showing us why she is more than just a pretty face and plenty more. Episode three is more than filler and isn’t just setting wheels in motion; episode three is breaking those wheels and blinding us with its excellence. Let’s get started, shall we?
In the first episode, we didn’t really get to see much of Margaery. We all know she has her own agenda for King’s Landing and the Lannisters and in ‘High Sparrow,’ she goes to town, especially on Cersei. After her marriage to the new king of Westeros, Tommen Baratheon, she begins to plant a seed inside his naïve little mind. Margaery wants Cersei gone and with the notion that she may be better off in Casterly Rock as opposed to King’s Landing, Tommen approaches his mother to suggest that maybe her time here has come to a close. Cersei rejects the idea to Tommen but it looks like she finally acknowledges the power that the new Queen of Westeros encompasses and will do anything to stop her. The two have never seen eye to eye but it is a refreshing change to see the magnificent Queen Margaery hold her own and pose a genuine threat to the evil Queen Mother, all with the uncomfortable quips about the sexual performance of Cersei’s own son straight to her face. Bravo, Margaery, bravo.
Probably the biggest shock of the night came in the form of Peter Baelish and his wonderful yet unfathomable plan to marry off Sansa Stark to the psychotic bastard son of Roose Bolton, Ramsay. I hate Ramsay in the best way. Iwan Rheon is a phenomenal young actor and the fact that we have him on Game of Thrones is a real treat as far as I’m concerned. Thankfully he kept his dagger in his trousers tonight and left the murder and torture at home in favour of a false bravado to impress Lady Stark. Peter Baelish is conniving and deceitful and always does what he wants to do for his own reasons and nobody else’s. Even when he’s telling the Bolton’s how much he cares for Sansa, it seems like a lie. We aren’t aware of what Peter stands to gain from all this but I’m fairly confident that it will end badly for all those that stand in his way. As for Sansa, she no longer sits in silence or cowers in the dark. She has seen everyone she loves die. She has been burnt by bad men far too many times and she has become wise to it all. She is a woman now and as showcased in the finale of the last season, she is learning the art of manipulation and getting what she wants at all costs. When she curtseyed to Roose Bolton, there was definitely revenge in her eyes and if I fully expect at least one of the Boltons to pay for their heinous crimes. After all, Roose was the catalyst at the red wedding—the wedding that resulted in most of her family’s deaths. Sophie Turner was excellent in her turn as Sansa tonight, especially her scene with Baelish (who I’m sure has finally settled on sticking with the Irish accent) on the hill overlooking Winterfell; she is a strong woman who now knows what she must do, despite wanting to venture forward, she knows it is for the best.
As the two headed off to meet the Boltons, we got to see Brienne and Podrick once more, not too far away, having a sweet moment whilst resting before their apparent surge into Winterfell to protect Sansa: Brienne’s sole purpose. Brienne tells a touching tale of why Remy chose her to protect him in Tarth, all those seasons ago and once again, we fall in love with this character. After feeling a great amount of uncertainty towards Brienne and Podrick’s (the new knight) story, it is clear that she will play a big part in what goes down in Winterfell and I now can’t wait to see her help Sansa slay these villains: I take it back Game of Thrones, please forgive me.
The new Lord Commander of the Knight’s Watch is stamping his authority with the beheading of Lord Janos Slynt and the way Jon Snow goes about this is nothing short of dominant. Janos refuses to follow one of Jon’s orders and with only one chance to change his mind (to which he doesn’t), Janos makes the wrong decision and is dragged out to the wall, thrown over a wooden slab and prepped for a beheading. When Janos blubbers like an infant and apologises whilst claiming he’s always been scared, Jon seems to accept his petty excuses before lifting his sword high above his head, then slicing through the traitor’s neck. The scene was very reminiscent of Eddard Stark’s equally brutal beheading of a deserter of the watch in the very first episode of season one and I believe that was the intention. Janos was the man who betrayed Ned which led to his own beheading and whether or not Jon knew that, revenge was served and as a viewer it was incredibly satisfying seeing shades of his father in the way he did this.
The episode ended in Volantis, where a frustrated and tired Tyrion leaves the confines of his carriage to hunt for a drink and a brothel. Hoping to go unnoticed (even after Varys tries to dissuade him from doing so), Tyrion finds a brothel and heads inside (after almost being noticed by a red priest). As he goes hunting for a lady to have sex with, we see Jorah, the recently exiled protector of Daenerys, drinking himself into a stupor; when Tyrion surprisingly denies the advances of a prostitute in favour of a ‘piss,’ Jorah uses this moment of vulnerability to grab him mid-flow, binding and gagging him and telling him that he is ‘taking him to the queen.’ Poor Tyrion; he hasn’t had a great deal of luck as of late and it doesn’t appear to be getting any better for him. I don’t see what Jorah stands to gain from this either. If he is talking about the Khaleesi, she isn’t going to be happy to see him either as the last time they were in the same room together, she threatened to throw his head into Slaver’s Bay so what makes him think she’ll be anything but hostile? A nice twist nonetheless and it is clear that Tyrion is heading to Meereen whether that’s with Varys or Jorah in tow.
Other notable moments in episode three:
- Arya says goodbye to Arya—the little Stark girl is well and truly gone now. As a prerequisite of being one of the faceless men, Arya must give up everything she was and everything she has and that means saying goodbye to her trusty sword: the needle. After throwing her old clothes and wears into the water, she hides her sword among the rocks. Arya isn’t quite ready to say goodbye to the needle yet though. The scene was rather emotional, especially as it was a gift from her brother, Jon Snow many moons ago.
- The High Septon (the head of the Faith of the Seven) is caught by the religious fanatics known as the Sparrows in Baelish’s whorehouse. They parade him through the streets of King’s Landing and it doesn’t go down very well (in the High Septon’s eyes at least). After pleading with Cersei to kill the High Sparrow (the episode’s namesake and the leader of the Sparrows), she goes to meet with him but instead of executing him, she decides to form an alliance, one that could benefit her in the dethroning of her deadly foe, Magaery Baratheon.
- We see Qyburn in his chamber and the body of The Mountain under a white sheet. As we see Qyburn writing a note to send to Baelish at the order of Cersei, a very much alive Mountain bolts violently under the sheet and reminds us that something sinister is going on.
This was yet another excellent episode with many great plot points to talk about around the watercooler. I’m looking forward to see how Sansa exacts her revenge and what happens to Tyrion as he finally comes face to face with the Queen of Dragons. Heck, I’m looking forward to see whatever the show throws at me because I’m not sure that this show is ever going to disappoint. A really high standard has been set and I can’t see that being lowered at all—roll on next week.
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