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‘Game of Thrones’ Season 6, Episode 2: A Red Rebound ‘Game of Thrones’ Season 6, Episode 2: A Red Rebound
(about 2 hours later)
Spoilers for Sunday’s episode of “Game of Thrones” are below. Naturally.Spoilers for Sunday’s episode of “Game of Thrones” are below. Naturally.
It turns out the Red Woman isn’t so feeble after all.It turns out the Red Woman isn’t so feeble after all.
A week after revealing herself to be perhaps centuries old as part of an extended pity party over her shattered visions (she thought), Melisandre put an end to the essentially non-mysterious mystery over whether Jon Snow would in fact stay dead. He didn’t, jolting awake after some laying on of hands, a few prayers and roughly 68,000 blog posts. (Take the over.) A week after revealing herself to be perhaps centuries old as part of an extended pity party over her shattered visions (she thought), Melisandre put an end to the essentially non-mysterious mystery over whether Jon Snow would in fact stay dead. He didn’t, jolting awake after some laying of hands, a few prayers and roughly 68,000 blog posts. (Take the over.)
At the moment viewers are nearly alone in this knowledge — all of the direct witnesses, except Ghost, left before Jon had his awakening. This includes the Red Woman, who apparently read none of those blog posts, most of which surmised that the story placed her at Castle Black essentially to bring Snow back. She had to be talked into even trying by Ser Davos, easily the MVP of the first fifth of Season 6. At the moment viewers are nearly alone in this knowledge — all of the direct witnesses, except Ghost, left before Jon had his awakening. This includes the Red Woman, who apparently read none of those blog posts, most of which surmised that the story placed her at Castle Black essentially to bring Snow back. She had to be talked into even trying by Ser Davos, the MVP of the first fifth of Season 6.
In dispensing with the big question hanging over this season — when will Jon Snow come back? — the resurrection raises more of them that aren’t as cut and dry. What sort of Jon Snow will he be now? Will he be another Beric Dondarrion, who gets killed and comes back seemingly whenever convenient? (Seven times at last count.) Will he be somehow diminished, a shell of himself? (Dondarrion mentioned in Season 3 that with each resurrection, he is less of himself.) Will Jon’s stint in the afterlife up his already formidable tormented emo quotient even further? In the end it was mostly a perfunctory resolution to a twist that surprised, I’m guessing, very few viewers. Jon Snow’s assassination was astonishing immediately when it happened but, upon further consideration, seemed destined to be overturned on magical appeal. There were too many questions (his parentage) and teased confrontations (the White Walkers) that would be left unresolved, and the show’s entire Wall story line would be left with a bastard-sized hole in the middle.
And what about Melisandre? She admitted that she was something of a fraud, so might this display of true supernatural ability link her to Jon Snow for more noble purposes? Or will it send her, power-mad, in even darker directions? After all, this is a woman who was burning children just a few weeks ago (in “Thrones” time). The twist was perhaps most compelling as an offscreen object lesson about how dramatically viewers’ relationships with beloved television shows have changed, to the point that nay show runners considering old tricks like big, shocking deaths and cliffhangers might want to think twice. (Certainly, after Jon Snow and the Glenn thing on “The Walking Dead,” the is-he or isn’t-he death concept seems done.)
Feel free to share any theories in the comments. We’ll have more on this later. But for now, a quick look at some of the other things that happened on Sunday: If David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the show’s creators, had it to do over again, I wonder if they would have handled the whole thing over a few weeks within the same season, giving obssesives less time to pick apart the move and go N.S.A. on Kit Harington’s movements and haircuts. Of course, overheated publicity isn’t exactly terrible for a TV show.
• Bran Stark was back for the first time since Season 4, appearing mostly in a vision that took him and the Three-Eyed Raven to Winterfell past. Bran witnessed his father and uncle, as boys, sparring and viewers got the first living look at Lyanna Stark, Ned’s sister who died before the “Game of Thrones” timeline but is thought to have a significant role in the story. We also got the suggestion that Bran’s visions are intoxicating to him, which could be an issue going forward. Oh, and another thing: The good news is, that in dispensing relatively quickly with a question many viewers didn’t see as much of a question at all — is Jon Snow coming back? — the resurrection raises more of them that are arguably more interesting and certainly less cut and dry. For one thing, what sort of Jon Snow will he be now? Will he be another Beric Dondarrion, who gets killed and comes back seemingly whenever convenient? (Seven times at last count.) Seems doubtful, though such a skill set could come in handy against a zombie army. (If nothing else, perhaps Jon’s newly undead status will give him additional insight into his opponent.)
• Hodor’s real name is Wyllis! And he used to say more things! I may be more excited about the Hodor origin story than I am about the race for the Iron Throne. Will he be somehow diminished, a shell of the old Jon Snow? Dondarrion mentioned in Season 3 that with each resurrection, he is less of himself. But would that even be a bad thing in Jon’s case? The guy could stand to tone down the emo quotient a bit, though I’d expect a stint in the afterlife to have the opposite effect.
• Ramsay Bolton attained new levels of treachery, killing first his father and then his stepmother and infant half brother. He accomplished the latter, the latest almost unbelievably cruel moment in a show that’s had plenty of them, by letting loose his dogs, who were clearly unsated by the Myranda Value Meal they got last week. It’s unclear if these were the same hounds who, as many commenters noted, mysteriously went missing during Brienne’s rescue of Sansa and Theon last week. More important: Will Snow’s return be the thing to finally unite the Night’s Watch and Wildlings, now together at Castle Black after a (wisely) aborted confrontation? If not, what would? If the show wants to take the Christ parallels even farther, it will have Snow forgive his betrayers and strive to bring everyone together as one family against the forces of negation and darkness. They’ll have a pretty good warm-up coming if Ramsay Bolton does, in fact, lead an attack on Castle Black as mentioned. (Would there be a more satisfying end for Ramsay than for Wun-Wun to get ahold of him like he did that feckless archer?)
• Tyrion took his first babysteps toward dragon friendship, unchaining the two beasts Dany put in the cellar at the end of Season 4. “The next time I have an idea like that, punch me in the face,” Tyrion told Varys. That’s what you get for drinking and thinking, my friend. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s let him get some electrolytes, maybe pet his wolf, and then we can start figuring out how he’s going to save the world.
• Speaking of bad drunken ideas, you absolutely do not want to be besmirching Cersei’s honor in King’s Landing. Though Snow’s was the only literal rebirth on Sunday, he was but one of several characters who took significant evolutionary steps toward the people they are ultimately meant to be in this story, for better and worse.
• So long Balon Greyjoy, Theon’s father and the king of the Ironborn. His demise came via a new character, his brother Euron, who I’m guessing will be returning soon to claim the throne. In another win for Melisandre, you’ll recall that Balon was the last remaining living leech king from her Season 3 liaison with Gendry. (The other two were Robb Stark and Joffrey Baratheon.) So a big week for her! Gendry, of course, is still rowing, in our hearts if nothing else. For Melisandre, who had been spiraling and admitted to Davos that she was something of a fraud, this display of true supernatural ability would seem to establish her bona fides. But to what end? Is she now linked to Snow for more noble purposes? (He’d would need her around as his designated reviver, à la Thoros of Myr, if he planned on doing any more dying.) Or will it send her, power-mad, in even darker directions? After all, this is a woman who was burning children roughly a few weeks ago (in “Thrones” time).
Please check back later for a more in-depth version of this recap. Bran Stark came back for the first time since Season 4, appearing mostly in a vision that, thanks to his developing power, took him and the Three-Eyed Raven, Scrooge-like, to a cheerful Winterfell past. Bran witnessed his father and uncle, as boys, sparring, and viewers got the first living look at Lyanna Stark. The girl, Ned’s sister, died before the “Game of Thrones” timeline but will likely have a significant role in the story. We also got the suggestion that Bran’s visions are intoxicating to him, which could be an issue going forward.
Hodor, meanwhile, was reborn in our eyes: His real name is Wyllis! And he used to say more things! I may be more excited about the Hodor origin story than I am about the race for the Iron Throne.
Somewhere south of Bran and his magical tree, Theon appears ready to return to the Iron Islands, come what may. Over in Braavos, Arya finally was enough of a nameless girl to get to go back inside, after a few more whacks.
And then there’s Ramsay, who attained new levels of treachery, killing first his father and then his stepmother and infant half brother. The first move accomplished what had to be Ramsay’s plan all along — making him Lord Bolton, though the timeline was perhaps accelerated by the new heir. The second was the latest almost unbelievably cruel moment in a show that’s had plenty of them. (I say “almost” because, well, they keep coming.) He did it by letting loose his dogs, who were clearly unsated by the Myranda Value Meal they got last week.
Look, Ramsay’s gonna Ramsay, though I could have done without the mauling sound effects. (Deliver us from this long nightmare, Wun-Wun.) It’s unclear if those were the same hounds who, as many commenters noted, mysteriously went missing during Brienne’s rescue of Sansa and Theon last week.
I am sorry to see the end of Roose, a sort of downmarket Tywin Lannister but with similar diction and parenting skills. (Ramsay was going to get him at some point but Roose certainly exacerbated things with his regular verbal jabs.) I’m less so about the other bad dad who bought it on Sunday, Balon Greyjoy, mostly because we hardly knew him and what we did know wasn’t pleasant.
The demise of Balon, Theon’s father and the king of the Ironborn, came via a new character: his brother Euron, who I’m guessing will be returning soon to claim the throne. Yara thinks she deserves it, however. I’m not going to get too worked about this subplot until I see where it’s headed, but let’s hope that the Iron Islands aren’t this year’s Dorne.
In another win for Melisandre, you’ll recall that Balon was the last remaining living leech king from her Season 3 liaison with Gendry. (The other two were Robb Stark and Joffrey Baratheon.) So a big week for her!
Gendry, of course, is still rowing — in our hearts, if nothing else.
• Tyrion took his first babysteps toward dragon husbandry, unchaining the two beasts Dany put in the cellar at the end of Season 4. The move was effective, if unnerving — “The next time I have an idea like that, punch me in the face,” Tyrion told Varys. The masterful Peter Dinklage proved that he can bring it even opposite a random guy in a greensuit, or whatever fills in for the dragons before the C.G.I. folks get involved.
• Speaking of bad drunken ideas, you absolutely do not want to be besmirching Cersei’s honor in King’s Landing these days.