Game of Thrones: Season 5, Episode 4: Sons of the Harpy
I am definitely gonna miss Prince Oberyn Martell. In his short amount of time on the show, he was easily one of the most interesting and charismatic characters on a show full of interesting and charismatic characters. His woman and children, the “Sand Snakes,” love him and it looks like they miss him enough to start a war with Westeros. Seems like a very interesting place to go in the next few episodes.
What makes this the most interesting is their new hunt for Jaime and Bronn. Bronn is bada**! He killed three of those horsemen and put the fourth on a level playing field with his one handed companion. You would’ve thought Jaime would have learned his lesson about trying to solve everything with a bag of gold and the Lannister name. That’s exactly how he became a lefty in the first place. It’s proving to be a condition that’s leaving poor Bronn with all of the heavy lifting. I can’t imagine the trip is going to get much better.
Sucks that Cersei is so good at manipulation, because I was overjoyed that she was losing her battle of wits with Margaery. Now she’s put herself in the perfect position to calm down any further attempts against her. She has cut Tommen’s power in half, sent Margaery’s father to Braavos on a mission he might not survive and finally, she’s had Ser Loras locked away for his homosexuality. She’s granted a huge amount of power to the sparrows and I honestly think they’re going to find out about Jaime and turn on her. Not only that, but she has definitely made and enemy of Littlefinger at this point. He’s not exactly the kind of person you want to cross.
Speaking of Littlefinger, he’s clearly still the smartest man in Westeros. When he finally revealed his master plan to Sansa, he demonstrated just how brilliant he is. He literally can’t lose. He will have control over Winterfell no matter what happens. Only a true genius could put himself in such a great position. He’s pretty despicable, but he’s even more admirable. I just want to see how he handles Cersei and the High Sparrow. Maybe he’ll provide some form of evidence of her incestuous activity since we already know he’s more interested in Targaryen rule than the Lannisters or the false Baratheon line. He really just wants what’s best for himself. Can’t blame him given his history.
Jon Snow is honestly kind of annoying at this point. Why doesn’t he just accept Stannis’ offer? Stannis is a great man, who definitely deserves to be king. Also he’s the only one with a legitimate claim on the throne. Instead, Jon insists on doing everything that loser Sam says. Sam is bad at life! Stop listening to him! He is useless! He even talked Jon into asking Roose Bolton for help. He didn’t even have to try that hard! Jon just seems to be like “Okay, Friend Sam say yes, so I do it.” It was just pure poetry and honesty when Melissandre quoted Ygrette by saying: “You know nothing Jon Snow.”
There was a great character moment for Stannis in there. He’s always so immensely gruff and grumpy and he got to see the human part of him. His daughter holds his soul and he has finally opened up to her. She is precious to him and he made sure she knew just how much. The poor child is always locked away and her mother treats her like she’s made of porcelain. She needed to feel the love her father showed her this week.
On the other side of the world, Tyrion is stuck with Ser Jorah and both of them are shadows of their former selves. Tyron keeps demonstrating the power of his silver tongue though. I’m curious as to why he didn’t name drop Varys though. That’s who Mormont was spying for in the first place. Surely he could talk to Daenerys and set things right. That being said Daenerys hasn’t exactly been making the best decisions. Her team hasn’t been either though. Let’s just hope two of out three of her best warriors pull through. Only way we will know is to wait and see.
Jonathan Thomas Jones is a speculative fiction author and founder of geekhavenreviews.com. He has been passionate about all things geek for his entire life. See more about him at jonathanthomasjones.com and follow him on twitter @jtgloryjones.
