“We do not choose our destiny, but we must do our duty, no? Great or small, we must do our duty,” says Stannis and indeed everyone has a lot of unpleasant duties to uphold on this week’s episode of Game of Thrones titled, “Second Sons.” Some reluctantly carry through their duties and some just abdicate. Stannis’s duty is to sacrifice the noble blood of Gendry, to appease Melisandre and the Lord of Light. Stannis is torn between the immense glory of the Lord of Light which he has witnessed, and this act which isn’t so much a sacrifice as it is the killing of an innocent kid.
He seeks counsel in his comrade, Davos, but Melisandre wins out yet again. She seduces Gendry and produces leeches to procure his blood, which is subsequently used to put some kind of a curse on Stannis’s opposition to the crown.
Dany is meanwhile still working on amassing her army by meeting with the unapologetically misogynistic Second Sons. She attempts to get them to fight for her, consequently diminishing the strength of the Yunkai slave owners. These guys are seriously straight out of the Starz series, Spartacus. However, one of the three captains (I shall call him “Long Hair”), isn’t as troglodytic as his compatriots. Long Hair declares a love for beauty. He, much out of step with the others (and I suppose Joffrey Baratheon), believes in consensual sex. Naturally, he disobeys his duty to the other two captains–decapitates them, in fact–and pledges to fight for Daenerys. I’m slightly uncertain as to his motivations right now other than this nebulous notion of “beauty”, but this isn’t a significant issue for me.
And much like the nuances between sacrifice and murder, and selling your “sheath” vs. selling your sword, there is also the intersection between a blink and a wink. Samwell is holed up in a cabin with his lady friend, Gilly, and they are caring for her baby. They start discussing names and we learn that Sam also has a “cruel” father. (Don’t worry Sam, you’ve got plenty of company in Westeros.) After they hear a cacophony of crows, Sam uncharacteristically brave for Gilly, goes out to inspect things.
A white walker comes bounding out of the forest and shatters Sam’s sword effortlessly. It is coming for the child. Sam, desperate, has the wherewithal to pull out his ancient knife and stab the creature, which disintegrates instantly. Obviously, that knife was going to come into focus at some point and they really were patient enough to do it effectively.
“Drinking and lust–no man can match me at these things. I am the god of tits and wine. I shall build a shrine to myself at the next brothel I visit.”–Tyrion Lannister
The best part of the hour, as far as I am concerned, was (of course) Tyrion. I didn’t realize we were going to jump directly into this wedding so soon but what riveting television! Tyrion is bound by his duty as a Lannister to wed Sansa and impregnate her, or as he puts it in his inebriated state, “My tiny drunk cock and I have a job to do.” Joffrey, the scamp that he is, accosts Sansa–despite Cersei’s better judgment–and makes a few jocular comments about raping her when Tyrion passes out. The prime concern here is that the child is a Lannister.
Tyrion, who earlier promises to Sansa that he will never hurt her, is not of the same sensibility. He tells Sansa that he won’t have sex with her until she so chooses. Duty be damned! “If my father wants someone to get I know where can start,” he says drunk and indignant. I read you loud and clear, Tyrion. I like the subtle moment after Tyrion threatens Joffrey where Tyrion recovers and exaggerates his drunkenness to cover for his brazen comments, and Tywin actually flashes a look as if he was impressed. I’m sure part of this has to do with his contempt for Joffrey who isn’t above pilfering a dwarf’s stool at his wedding.
Sometimes I can be somewhat harsh on individual episodes of Game of Thrones, but this week’s episode was outstanding. I’m going to go as far to as to say that this episode was the apotheosis of the season thus far. The entire hour felt so fluid; the pacing was splendid. The interior strife and brooding that dominated those wonderful scenes revolving around the wedding were a stellar counterpoint to Sam’s chilling confrontation with the white walker. Also, I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but Arya riding on a horse with The Hound–another man who disregards duty–was adorable!
For a preview of the June 2nd (sorry guys we have to wait an additional week) episode of Game of Thrones, click here.
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