WINNERS: Arya Stark, Jon Snow, The Wildlings, The White Walkers, Everyone Not Mentioned Above
So Arya is actually receiving some real-world training on becoming a ‘faceless man’, and that’s badass. This training is similar to acting, in that she’s completely immersing herself in whatever character it is that she’s playing at the moment. In this instance she’s a seafood vendor on the docks of Braavos, selling ‘oysters, clams, and cockles’ to the dockside merchants. While there her job is to observe.
Arya is to take in all the sights and sounds of the docks, gaining any and all information she can on who is doing what, and who deserves to be dealt with justly. This is all a springboard for her to become a ‘faceless man’ capable of adapting any and every identity in the world. Once she’s able to move seamless through the world, unnoticed by anyone, she’ll be morphing into one of the deadliest characters in the world. It seems she might even be nearing her first kill, of the ‘gambler’ she sees on the docks who is cheating people out of money.
Soon she’ll be a vessel for the ‘Many-Faced God’, and will be chopping up fools left and right. This is the Arya Stark of the future: a trained assassin.
There’s obviously a chance she’ll break under this training, or get killed in the process, but I think we can all remain hopeful that Arya isn’t just an ordinary character, and her future is very important to the ending of Game of Thrones, however it may end. Next week I expect her to be even deeper under cover and possibly killing people, and I cannot wait to see her growth as a character as she is the BEST character on the show.
After Tyrion’s long road to Daenerys I think all things considered it couldn’t have turned out any better for Tyrion. On the one hand Dany despises Jorah, but she at least admires him on some level and she took him seriously when he presented Tyrion Lannister. I think it’s fairly obvious that before Tyrion extolled the council of Varys the Queen did not take Varys seriously, but she does now, and she also seems to trust in Tyrion.
Somehow all the cards fell perfectly for Tyrion. He didn’t have his cock chopped off and sold for luck, which at one time was his most likely future. His words and council were heard by a Queen who has every right to have him killed on the spot. He’s actually probably tied for this week’s top ‘winner’, but there’s just so much going on it’s hard to make that call.
So what does the future hold for Tyrion? With Daenerys’ most trust advisor recently dying (Ser Barristan), Tyrion is likely to step right into that role. I expect to see him sitting at the Queen’s side for many episodes to come.
So J-Snizzle’s outcome in this episode was hard to make a call on, in terms of ‘winner’ or ‘loser’. But given that he escaped with his life, and managed to save more wildling lives than there were deaths then I think it’s safe to call him a ‘winner’. Maybe he’ll be screwed when he gets back to Castle Black and his Brothers of the Night’s Watch aren’t cool with him bringing back thousands of sworn enemies…but he’ll make it there alive.
Also, if this were a video game he’d have gained like 10,000 XP’s after discovering that his sword made of Valyrian Steel contains the same properties as dragon glass. Valyrian Steel is able to withstand the power and magic of the White Walkers, and Jon Snow now has a leg up in fighting these mystical enemies.
For non-book readers, Old Valyria was the land across the Narrow Sea where the Targaryen’s and other great families with dragons once lived. At some point in history it succumbed to ‘the doom’, with like thousands of volcanoes and whatnot swallowing it all at once. It was the ‘land of the dragons’, so it’d make perfect sense that steel (which nobody knows how to make now) from the land of dragons also contains the properties of dragon glass.
Jon Snow used his sword made of Valyrian Steel and took out this dude, who was scary as hell:
That man has the aura of a character capable of killing anyone and everyone in his way, yet Jon Snow took him out. Jon Snow has also now seen his enemies face to face. Many people are calling it the ‘Come at me, Crow!’ moment, but I’m calling it the ‘Are you not entertained?!?’ moment from HBO:
HBO: "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!?!" #GameOfThrones pic.twitter.com/tJijurYeS9
— Cass Anderson (@casspa) June 1, 2015
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IMDB has this bro listed as ‘The Night’s King’, and this is the true enemy. This ‘Night’s King’ and his other Kings we saw atop the mountain are the ones who bring the cold. They are ridiculously powerful, as we saw. With just the lift of a finger they can raise the dead as an army, and have already amassed an army many times larger than the Night’s Watch.
When those white walkers, wights, and the Night’s King first began to storm the beaches I swear to the Old Gods and the New (Seven) that it was straight out of a zombie movie, and those white walkers had been infected with ‘rage’. We’ve seen them attack before, but not like this. Not with the anger and fury of 10,000 dragons.
A lot of wildlings lost their lives in this battle, but they’re all the wildlings who were foolish enough to not get on the boats with the Night’s Watch. Had they all just gotten on the boats to Castle Black in a timely manner they’d all have lived, instead the army of The Night’s King just got a lot more powerful.
For a minute there I was convinced the white walkers were going to take out that giant, Wun Wun, and there was going to be a Giant Wight. I cannot imagine a more deadly foe than that.
Tormund Giantsbane is DEFINITELY a winner in this week’s Game of Thrones recap. He starts his day by hopping off that tiny paddleboat, and beating the ‘Lord of Bones’ to death with his stick in front of everyone. They should be calling him ‘Tormund Giant Dingaling’, but that nickname might not stick in the north. Then he convinces most of the wildlings to go south to the wall with him and Jon Snow. I say most because the Thenn’s refused, but they suck and nobody’s surprised by that. Then he lives through the epic onslaught from the White Walkers.
Tormund Giantsbane, a gigantic winner this week.
The Night’s King is likely the biggest winner from this week’s ‘Hardhome’ Game of Thrones recap. He won a battle against the Night’s Watch and the Wildlings, and increased the size of his army. He showed his enemy Jon Snow that he’s not one to be trifled with, and that there’s practically nothing they can do to stop the Wights at this point.
What’s most fascinating about this army is that any time the other side loses a life they’re converted into a White Walker. A brother of the Night’s Watch dies in battle killing some of the corpse army and he’s just instantly converted into a member of the army he was fighting seconds ago.
By the end of the episode it was hard to say who was a winner and who was a loser in this week’s Game of Thrones recap, since that was the most epic battle we’ve ever seen in the history of the show. Ultimately anyone who escaped with their life intact was deemed a winner, in my book.
What does last night’s battle mean for the future of the show?
Well, the Night’s Watch and the Wildlings have ALL now seen The Night’s King and the White Walkers firsthand. No longer can the rest of the world ignore the cries that the White Walkers are coming. It is now a matter of fact, and not just some people from the North spreading old wive’s tales.
It’s also obvious that the army of The Night’s King is A LOT more rabid than we ever expected. The bloodlust is STRONG here. They’re like superhuman zombies filled with rage and not just superhuman zombies as we previously saw.
The hierarchy and structure of the wights’ army is also seemingly a lot more advanced than we thought. It’s not just a bunch of dead people marching on the wall. There’s a clear leadership as we saw from the Generals (that one who Jon Snow killed) and the Night’s King himself. Their ranks can also be replenished at the drop of a dime.
Across the world there’s some pretty intriguing things going on with Tryion, Daenerys, and Arya Stark, but I almost feel like it would be unfair for me to harp on their plot lines when just saw the single greatest battle sequence in the show’s history.
There are only two episodes left in this season, so it’s safe to assume that BIG THINGS ARE COMING. I’m not sure the show’s writers and HBO will be able to top last night’s episode, but we’ll at least come to see more of these spectacular plot lines reach fruition.
Check back next week for the ‘Winners and Losers’ Game of Thrones recap, and as always, whatever I messed up in this recap you can feel free to tell me all about down below in the comments!