‘Game Of Thrones’ Kills The Boy And Tortures The Girl

This week’s episode of Game of Thrones, “Kill the Boy,” may not have been the most action-packed turn of events in the often bloody series, but fans saw the return of Dany’s dragons, Tyrion and Jorah’s travel plans derailed, and Jon Snow discovering that being the Lord Commander of the Night Watch isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, requiring hard and unpopular decisions. If you haven’t seen the episode, spoilers lie ahead.

The House Of Lannister

Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) was kidnapped by Jorah (Iain Glen) last week on Game of Thrones, when he insisted on coming out of hiding, with Jorah whisking him away to Mereen to meet Daenarys Targaryen. Or at least Jorah is trying to get Tyrion to Mereen, but his plan didn’t quite work out as he hoped during this Game of Thrones episode. While navigating through what appeared to be the abandoned ruins of Valyria, both Jorah and Tyrion found out the hard way it wasn’t so abandoned after all. While both were distracted by the huge dragon flying overhead, some “Stone Men” dropped into the water and attacked them.

Jorah called out to Tyrion not to let them touch him, but Tyrion’s only defense with his hands still bound was to jump in the water. One of the Stone Men, afflicted with the grayscale disease, tried to drag him down, but Jorah saved him. Unfortunately, they lost their boat and were stranded on the beach, but there was a far greater toll than the loss of a ship. Jorah has been touched by one of the Stone Men, and is already developing scales on his arm. Will it be the end of him? Glen talks about the possibilities in depth in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.

Tyrion avoided direct contact to his skin, but he still has his own demons to go through, as he pointed out to Jorah that those who drink need to keep on drinking, and withdrawal has yet to set in, which probably won’t be pretty. The shakes should be setting in next week on Game of Thrones if Tyrion doesn’t get some wine soon.

Meereen And Daenarys Targaryen

Mourning the deaths of those killed by the Sons of the Harpy last week on Game of Thrones put Dany (Emilia Clarke) on the warpath, and prompted her to bring out her dragons. Or at least, bring the leaders of the most powerful houses in Meereen to them after taking those men as prisoners. Dany gave her two shackled pets a little appetizer of one of them to make sure everyone knew she meant business as far as finding the masked assassins and squelching any ideas of rebellion. Because as Dany said, “a good mother never gives up on her children” — Happy Mothers’ Day, indeed.

Dany, however, wasn’t so sure how to proceed after her show of power, and decided to listen to her prisoner who had previously advised her to reopen the fighting pits and keep Mereen’s “traditions.” She also decided that she should marry someone from one of the prominent houses of Meereen, so the man who she was holding as a prisoner was as good a husband prospect as any. It may be a politically savvy move, but any Game of Thrones fan can clearly see he is a far cry from Khal Drago (Jason Momoa).

The Wall And Jon Snow

Jon Snow (Kit Harington) struggled with how to handle the Wildlings on this episode of Game of Thrones, knowing his decision to try to make peace with them and form an alliance wouldn’t be popular. He asked for advice from Aemon, who told him being Lord Commander of the Night Watch is not a pleasant task but he must rise to the occasion and do the right thing, evoking the episode title and theme.

“Kill the boy and let the man be born.”

Jon negotiates peace with the Wildlings and offers them passage through the wall and assistance in settling down in the North, as long as they will fight with his men when the time comes to defend the Wall from the White Walkers. His own men are angry with the decision, and the Wildlings insist that Jon come with them when they go back north to bring more Wildlings through the Wall before winter.

Winterfell And Sansa Stark

While many characters on Game of Thrones have suffered, Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) must be the unluckiest girl in the world on Game of Thrones. She was engaged to Prince Joffrey (Jack Gleeson), who beheaded her father and made her look at his head on a spike. Then Joffrey tormented her mercilessly before finding a new bride, marrying her off to Tyrion in Season 4 of Game of Thrones. Sansa escaped when Joffrey’s karma got him at his wedding, assassinated with poison. Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen) became her protector, but has now talked her into a marriage to Ramsey Bolton, the son of Roose Bolton, who personally killed her brother at the Red Wedding, which even shocked Game of Thrones fans with its brutality.

As reported earlier by Inquisitr, a leaked clip prior to this episode showed Sansa can look forward to Theon, aka “Reek,” walking her down the aisle. This being the man who her family raised as their own and who betrayed them. Everyone believes Theon (Alfie Allen) murdered her two youngest brothers, rather than burning two random boys beyond recognition to claim he had killed them. Tonight on Game of Thrones, Ramsey (Iwan Rheon) made Theon apologize to Sansa for killing her two brothers, showing he is every bit as as sadistic as Joffrey was, and probably about to get worse now that his father is expecting a legitimate child with his new wife.

Will the writers of Game of Thrones ever give this poor girl a break?

[Photo courtesy of HBO]