This is a recap of Game of Thrones season 6 episode 1, “The
Red Woman.”
********Show and Book SPOILERS below**********
The Game of Thrones season opener answered few questions and
left many. The big question of the night was of course, all about Jon Snow.
With a title like “The Red Woman,” I half expected
Melisandre to resurrect Jon Snow as soon as she saw his body. Instead we just
got the reveal that she is really really old, which is cool and all but Jon
Snow! That age reveal does stand as proof that her brand of magic is legit,
which could be leading up to something really big…
So there are three prevailing fan theories concerning Jon
Snow, none of which were confirmed or denied during the course of this episode:
2) Jon Snow warged into his wolf Ghost at the last minute like a true Stark and is already living through him
3) Due to his Targaryen blood, Jon Snow will be reborn in fire as Azor Ahai, the Prince that Was Promised by the Red God
I figure we will find out about the third one fairly soon because
they’ll be burning his body any minute now. Either they will burn his body in
the traditional Night’s Watch send-off, or they will just burn it anyway so it
doesn’t turn into a wight and kill them all.
We did, however, get final confirmation that Jon Snow IS in
fact dead. So are Myranda, Stannis, and Myrcella—thanks to Ellaria and the Sand
Snakes, boo. I can’t say I really like this development—Dorne (and the Sand
Snakes) are so much better in the books, IMO. Although, Myrcella had to die
somehow I suppose. Cercei seems pretty numb at this point, which is kind of
weird to me. Suddenly she is accepting the prophecy, the vehement refutation of
which has consumed her entire adult life and driven all of her actions since
she was a tiny child, according to the books. Glad they gave it a mention
though. (We haven’t had a mention of this since season 5 episode one, which
kind of left it hanging.) I did like Cercei’s monologue about Myrcella’s
goodness. And props to Jaime for his comforting words, which I won’t repeat
here. I’m really starting to feel bad for the Lannisters these days.
Well, I kind of feel bad for (almost) everyone.
Prince Doran had the honor of being the featured in-episode
death, which kind of sucks for book fans but is probably alright for show fans,
since he was doing absolutely nothing forever. The Sand Snakes seem to be
happy, but what, they’re just going to rule Dorne now? Good luck.
Daenerys had to walk for hours while listening to Dothraki
horsemen sexually threaten her before finally finding out that she will be
taken to Vaes Dothrak to become one of the Dosh Khaleen, which is, looking at
her reaction, basically her worst fear. (Although, can I say, thank The Gods
they didn’t rape her again). Meanwhile in Mereen, her ships have been burned.
That will make it tough when it’s time for her to set sail for Westeros.
Ser Jorah and Daario Naharis are in the middle of nowhere
but manage to find the ring Daenerys left behind. I actually think it
reasonable that they found the ring in the middle of that horse-hooved circle;
what I find odd is that they made it to that place at all. What the heck is
that place and how far away from Mereen is it? It looks a far cry from the
desert-type land we’re used to. Oh yeah and Jorah is still dying from
grayscale. Woops.
Ser Davos and Jon Snow’s friends are making hurried plans to
try to save their lives, huddled in a cold room with a body that could potentially
wight-out and kill them. Jon Snow’s murderers aren’t faring much better as they
try to get all of Castle Black on their side.
The Red Woman goes to bed looking defeated, and also super
old. Hope she can bounce back by next episode, because the Jon Snow gang needs
her. Plus, she had a dream where she saw Jon Snow in Winterfell. Coincidence,
or foreshadow?
Margaery is still in prison (she held out longer than
Cercei?) Loras and the rest of the Tyrells are nowhere to be found.
Arya is getting beat every day, plus she’s blind now and begging
in the streets; her beating was hard to watch but necessary for the book plot.
(And ***SPOILER*** when is she going to start using her Wolf Sight?! It better
be soon, because I’ve been waiting far too long to see a Stark warging.)
Ramsay lost his girlfriend and his wife, although I can’t
say I feel sorry for him. He sent out a hunting party but considering what
happened, he should have gone himself. Good riddance to Ramsay’s dogs; oh and
his bloodhounds too. Good job Brienne!
Speaking of Brienne, what a hero! And Pod, too, is coming into
his own. I kind of hated though that Brienne was sidelined at the end there so
that Theon could have his grand moment of redemptive murder… again… GIVE ME
MORE BRIENNE.
And that gang—Brienne, Podric, Sansa, and Theon—are about the
only group for whom things seem to be going right. It’s about time they got a
reprieve.
What we didn’t see in this episode:
Sam. He should be at Oldtown, which we have yet to lay eyes
on. I would be surprised if the show cuts this out entirely because the book
made it seem like Sam learns a lot of stuff there that could be big later on. But
who knows anymore.
Bran. I know we’re all really excited to see with Bran’s
omnipotent Green Sight, particularly the Tower of Joy flashback which some have
speculated will be via Bran. Going off
the episode two trailer, we may be seeing Bran as soon as next week!
The Greyjoys. So much stuff has happened down in the Iron
Islands and beyond so far in the books that is completely missing from the
show. I wouldn’t be surprised if they just cut that out, except for the fact
that some of these elusive Greyjoys have apparently been cast.
And other book storylines (Young Griff, Quentin, Lady
Stoneheart) are similarly absent. I don’t think that we will be seeing Lady
Stoneheart in the show; now that Brienne of Tarth has pledged herself to Sansa,
there may be no need. Sansa can subsume her role and set Brienne on Lady
Stoneheart’s vengeance warpath just as well. This development just generally
seems to be in the way of that particular book thread. And since we haven’t
seen any of the Riverlands in ages, even if we will get that storyline
eventually, it seems to be pretty far off at this point.
On that note, I feel like they have set up so much stuff
that it looks like they may have decided not to follow through on: warging, Red
God resurrections, etc. Then there’s Baelish’s plans for Sansa, which seemed
pretty elaborate in the book but which are in the wind now. Then there’s Prince
Doran’s plans for Quentin and world domination, which were lightly hinted at
early on after his introduction in the show but which now may never get off the
ground. Will Quentin ever exist in the show? My guess is no, because it seems
like the time for his arc has come and gone. Although… we saw Tyrion with the
dragons in the trailer… What if… go with me here book readers… they gave
Quentin’s arc to Tyrion?!?!?
Conclusion:
It’s Game of Thrones, so I liked it. There were some
beautifully framed scenes and one big reveal to keep us captivated. It was
essentially half conclusion and half set-up without much room for anything
else, but that was probably necessary due to all the things that have changed
and are changing. We saw a little bit of (almost) everybody, which means that
the episode was spread thinner than I like it, although it managed to keep it
together and finish strong. I think it was a solid season opener, but certainly
not one of the best; I have a feeling it will end up being forgettable once we
get to the good stuff this season hopefully has in store. I’m generally really
interested in what’s going on up north and hardly excited at all for the stuff
going down in the south. Highlight was Brienne and Pod coming out of nowhere to
save Sansa. Lowlight was everything involving Ellaria and the Sand Snakes. I
hate them.
I give this episode 2.5 out of 5 kings.
In conclusion, Jon Snow is still dead.
Can’t wait until next week when Tormund Giantsbane shows
Alliser Thorne-in-our-sides just how big of a mistake he made.
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