Game Of Thrones is not a show for the faint of heart. Fans have suffered beheadings, Red Weddings and traumatizing finale endings, and that's just the beginning.
But there’s probably never been a bigger uproar than when our beloved Jon Snow was murdered. For months we have been searching for clues, reading between the lines and over-analyzing every scrap of information that HBO or the show itself has teased us with to learn the fate of our favorite bastard who’s always beaten the odds.
Picking up right where we left off with everyone in Westeros/Essos at the end of season 6, “The Red Woman” kicked Season 6 into high gear.
Sooo… Is he or isn’t he?
Dead? I’m afraid so (Finished screaming? OK, let’s continue.). That doesn’t necessarily mean Jon Snow’s going to stay dead. First off, we don’t officially know who his mother is. George R.R. Martin and showrunners Dave Benioff and D.B. Weiss can’t dangle that over our heads for all these years without there being a huge reason behind the mystery (For those who haven’t read the books, here is the famous R + L = J theory that fans have come up with). Then, there’s the whole warging aspect. Who’s to say that Jon’s soul didn’t go into someone or something else as his body failed him? The books mention his connection with his direwolf, Ghost, and the wolf dreams Jon has, so it’s a bit of a stretch, but not entirely impossible.
Finally, c’mon now! If Thoros of Myr can bring Beric Dondarrion back to life umpteen times and Qyburn can create a Frankenstein-like Mountain who was pretty much dying after the trial by combat thanks to Oberyn Martell’s poisonous spear, then there’s a good chance Melisandre can resurrect Jon Snow. We’ve seen what’s she’s capable of, and in this episode you REALLY see her powers on display. More on that later though…
Davos (bless his cute little heart) found Jon Snow dead where his murderers left him. With the help of Edd and Jon’s few remaining friends, they brought the body back to Jon’s room and locked the door. Edd went back out for Ghost, who was locked up, which explains why Ghost was always there when needed, but noticeably absent during the treasonous attack on his master. Melisandre joined the group and was pretty distressed (join the club, lady!) as she told Davos that she had seen Jon in the flames fighting at Winterfell. Not to be a pessimist, but she saw a lot of things in the fire with Stannis, too, and look what happened to him. Considering Jon Snow’s already dead though, I’ll cling to the hope that she actually saw something good about him so as not to lose hope that he’s coming back.
Meanwhile, Alliser Thorne and the rest of his crew called a meeting with the whole Night’s Watch to tell them the news. I was really surprised to see that most of the men were angry at them. The whole “Wildling Migration” issue last season made it seem like everyone hated Jon Snow after he brought their enemies to the Wall, but clearly that wasn’t the case. Thorne repeated the same arguments against the wildlings (cue violins playing here) which was why they did what they did. And of course there were the closeups of that little twerp Olly who’s the only person to have ever lost loved ones to wildlings (sarcasm implied). Wah…
The Boltons are pissed…
Ramsay was devastated (in his own way) to learn that his fellow psychopath Myranda was killed. As he sat with the body, reminiscing, he promised that whoever did this to her would pay 1000 times over. And then the poignant moment ended when he told the Maester not to burn or bury her, but to give her “good meat” to the hounds instead (The two of them deserved each other).
His father, Roose, congratulated Ramsay on his win against Stannis, but warned him that the next battle against a more regimented Lannister army would not be as easy. (Just to recap, Littlefinger told Cersei that Roose had married Sansa Stark to his son – even though Littlefinger was the one who orchestrated everything - so Cersei called Roose a traitor and told Littlefinger that she wanted the Boltons gone, hence the Lannister army Roose is expecting.)
Roose was also annoyed that Theon and Sansa had escaped since they needed Sansa to rally the North to their side to defeat the Lannisters. Roose reminded Ramsay that his stepmother was pregnant and could give Roose sons that would become his heirs instead of Ramsay if he continued screwing up his carefully laid plans. Clearly this means that something’s going to happen to that woman, her child, or both, knowing Ramsay.
Saving the day…
Theon and Sansa survived the jump off the ramparts of Winterfell and were barely able to stay ahead of the hunting party that Ramsay sent out after them. For a while, it looked like they would freeze to death and not need to worry about being torn to shreds, but Bolton’s men found them. It seemed like we were going to see the end of Theon when he tried to distract the others so that Sansa could escape. However, the men found Sansa and started dragging the two of them back home until Brienne and Podrick came to the rescue. It was a nerve-wracking fight, but Brienne, Podrick, and Theon killed the Bolton soldiers, and Sansa finally accepted Brienne’s sword and protection.
A mother’s despair…
After enduring her humiliating walk of atonement, Cersei practically skipped to the harbor when she heard news that a ship from Dorne had arrived. Her smile quickly faded though when she saw a gold shroud covering Myrcella’s body behind Jaime. Call me a sap, but I couldn’t help but feel bad for her. Sure, she’s evil incarnate and deserves all the karma coming to her, but you can’t deny that she’s a devoted mom who loves her kids. Back in her room, she told Jaime that Myrcella was nothing like her because the girl had been pure and good. She also reminded Jaime of the prophecy Maggy the witch had given her that all three of her children would wear gold crowns and gold shrouds. Which now only leaves Tommen at this point…
Rotting in prison…
Tommen’s wife, Margaery, is still very much locked up for having lied to protect her gay brother. Septa Unella was harsh with her, but the High Sparrow was gentle, telling her that the King missed her terribly and the sooner she confessed her sins, the sooner she’d be with him.
All hell breaks loose in Dorne…
Ah, the exotic beauty of Dorne to bring some vivid color to the screen … and I do mean VIVID … like blood red. While Ellaria and Tyene reminisced with Prince Doran Martell about his brother Oberyn, Doran received a message about Myrcella’s death. Before he could even say anything, Tyene stabbed Martell’s guard, Areo Hotah, in the back, and Ellaria stabbed Doran in the chest. Doran died saying that his son Trystane would rule in his stead, but Ellaria told him that all of Dorne despised him and his son because they were weak men who wouldn’t start a war to avenge Oberyn’s death. Shortly afterward, the other two Sand Snakes finished off Trystane with a spear to the back of his head. What I find amusing about the whole thing is that in a world of dragons and an army of dead people, it’s more of a stretch to believe that the killings happened so quickly and without a struggle. On the other hand, this also means that the Sand Snakes stepped up their game compared to their disappointing performances last season.
Over in Meereen…
Tyrion and Varys walked the streets in Meereen to assess the condition of the city which has become a ghost town thanks to the Sons of the Harpy slaughtering innocents. The masked men not only set the ships on fire, but have taken up graffiti, too. Remember when “Kill the masters” was written on a wall in blood when Daenerys took the city? Well, beneath that, “Mhysa is a Master” was added in black ink.
Cut to Jorah and Daario searching for the missing Mhysa/Khaleesi/Daenerys. They came upon the Dothraki imprints on the field where they had surrounded her last season, and Jorah found the ring she had dropped when she was captured. So the easy part is over. Finding a way to rescue her from a hoard of bloodthirsty Dothraki will be a problem. And the fact that the greyscale is spreading on his arm doesn’t give Jorah much time.
Also running out of time was Daenerys as she was dragged and whipped by Khal Moro’s khalasar. The men eyed her like a piece of meat and considered her to be a witless fool since Daenerys wouldn’t speak. Only when the Khal himself said that he would sleep with her did Daenerys reveal who she was and that she had once been married to Khal Drogo. Her fierce speech was one of the highlights of the night, but it didn’t accomplish anything. As the widow of a Khal, she must now be taken to Vaes Dothrak to live out the rest of her life with other former Khaleesies.
Poor blind Arya…
The spunkiest character of the bunch is still in Braavos, but now a blind beggar. She’s being punished for disobeying Jaqen H’ghar’s orders and killing Meryn Trant instead of The Thin Man, so in addition to losing her sight, The Waif comes every day so they can fight with poles. It’s obvious Arya’s being forced to “see” using her other senses, but she’s not doing well. No matter though, you never need to worry about Arya – she’s survived all this time on her own, so she’ll be fine.
Back at the Wall…
Still locked up in the room with Jon Snow’s body, Davos and the others waited for Edd to return. Davos sent him to meet with the wildlings so they could help them get out of Castle Black alive.
Thorne had come by earlier to say that if his brothers in the room would drop their weapons, they’d be granted amnesty, while Davos would be allowed to leave Castle Black a free man with a horse and supplies for the journey south. They would have until nightfall to decide. The men in the room knew that as soon as they opened the door they’d be slaughtered, so they couldn’t do anything but wait. Desperate, Davos suggested that they ask Melisandre for help (You know things are bad when this is even an option).
Cue Melisandre in her room, completely withdrawn and vulnerable. She’s lost her faith in the Lord of Light and now doubts her powers considering Stannis and his army were decimated and now Jon Snow was dead in another room.
Suddenly, she stepped in front of a mirror and gazed at herself. She then took her robe off and even removed the necklace that we always see her wear. Next thing you know, it’s no longer a young Melisandre in the mirror, but a much older woman with sagging skin and stringy white hair, ending the episode on a very creepy note.
While I can appreciate the symbolism behind stripping to get to the core of who you are in order to build yourself back up, the only thing I want to know is if a necklace can make her younger, what else does she have up her sleeve (once she puts her robe back on that is) that will bring Jon Snow back to life?
If “The Red Woman” is any indication, this season will definitely be action-packed!
What did you think?
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