Game of Thrones: season one, episode six

Spoiler alert: Don’t read on unless you have watched the first six episodes of Game of Thrones on Sky Atlantic. For the purposes of this blog we are also going to (hopefully) avoid book spoilers as well. Sarah Hughes’ episode five blog “I never loved my brothers … you were the brother I chose.” This was an episode all about brotherly relations, actual or platonic. We saw Ned and Robert desperately try to reclaim their former closeness in the light of the former’s resignation, it became clear how fractured Robert’s relationship with Renly actually is, we watched Tyrion form a bond with brother-under-the-skin Bronn, and learned that, while Robb and Theon have grown up together, their friendship might be more fragile than either realises. “He was no dragon, fire can not kill a dragon.” The most powerful scene, however, belonged to the Targaryen siblings. The trembling moment when Viserys realised that his sister would not come to his rescue was all the better because it was so deserved. Viserys, as we had repeatedly been shown, was weak, abusive, cowardly and half-mad – yet when he met his brutal end, literally crowned by the man he had dismissed as a savage as he called piteously to his stone-faced sister, it was difficult not to feel for him. He might not have been much of a man but surely he deserved a better end then this? That Viserys could rouse such feelings after six weeks of pretty despicable behaviour is testament to Harry Lloyd who has taken a fairly one-note character and given him depth; even in his most vile moments, Viserys was understandable. Emilia Clarke also deserves credit: her final line showing the moment a frightened girl became a queen – and suggesting that power will come a lessening of humanity. To gain a level of control Dany had no choice but to cut herself off from the one person she has known all her life. In doing so she condemned him to death. “It’s your duty to represent your house when your father can’t.” “Yes, but it’s not your duty because he’s not your father.” We were also given an interesting glimpse into the relationship between Theon and Robb. There are echoes of the long-ago friendship between Robert and Ned, but Theon is too impetuous and in too precarious a position to play Ned’s role of adviser and right-hand man with much ease. Some US critics have questioned Benioff and Weiss’s portrayal of Theon but I’m enjoying it. His position is interesting – he’s been bought up as a brother to Robb yet is ultimately more captive than ward. The way in which the problems inherent in that situation are being teased out is fascinating. The quarrel with Robb was a neat illustration: Theon, boastful and callow, was generally wrong throughout – yet the brash and naive Robb was equally wrong to highlight his friend’s errors, ramming home that their bond of brotherly friendship may go only skin deep. “I’m a vile man and I confess it … I have lied and cheated and gambled and whored.” At least Tyrion is aware that his relationship with Bronn is firmly based around money and a similarly cynical outlook on life. By rolling the dice in the Eyrie, Tyrion gained his freedom and Bronn’s questionable loyalty, but the best moment came with Lysa’s disappointed remark: “You have no honour.” This from a woman who dispatches justice at the whim of her prepubescent son via the terrifying Moon Door. “I cannot give you back your homes [but] I can give you justice in the name of our King. In the name of Robert of house Baratheon … I charge you to bring the king’s justice to the false knight Gregor Clegane.” The Starks are not known for backing down from conflict or considering the long-term implications of their actions. Thus Catelyn seized Tyrion without considering the implications, and this week Ned used his brief period on the Iron Throne to strip Gregor Clegane of his lands and knighthood, while also demanding that Big Daddy Lannister – the oft-mentioned Tywin – should ride for King’s Landing to explain his bannerman’s behaviour. Ned’s actions were morally correct but politically naive, given his family’s precarious position and the size of the crown’s debt to Tywin. That said there was something magnificent about the way he dismissed the idea that gold wins war rather than soldiers with a caustic: “So how come Robert is king, not Tywin Lannister?’ Magnificent but spectacularly wrong-headed because if there’s anything we’ve learned so far on Game of Thrones it’s that it’s better to wield power behind the throne than actually have to sit on it. “He’s nothing like that old, drunk King.” Brothers might have dominated the episode but there were also a couple of clever moments between sisters. Catelyn’s look at Lysa when her young sister agreed to the duel was a picture, while one of the night’s best moments came when Sansa spelt out the obvious – Joffrey looks nothing like his father – while trying to score points against Arya. Sophie Turner’s Sansa is turning out to be rather enjoyably snippy: her stroppy comebacks to the long-suffering, incredibly irritating Septa were entertaining and believably adolescent, while the stormy relationship with Arya rings true to both girls. Violence count Pretty high again this week. We got one ambush, complete with a throat slashing and an arrow through the back; one gruesome eating of a stallion’s heart; one description of a particularly brutal raid by Gregor Clegane; an exciting duel between Bronn and Ser Vardis Egen ending in a bloody death for the latter; and the memorable crowning of Viserys with molten gold which will allow Harry Lloyd to join Shirley Eaton in the small but notable pantheon of actors who met a gilded death onscreen. Nudity count On the low side this week: we saw Theon beg for a quick last flash from the obliging (and notably knickerless) Ros, watched a number of nubile Dothraki dancers strut their stuff and learned Robert, like good jocks throughout the world, had his own game for ticking off sexual conquests. Random Brit of the week Natalia Tena aka Harry Potter’s purple-haired Nymphadora Tonks popped up as Osha, the luckiest of a trio of wildings hoping to escape the spooky happenings north of the Wall. So what did you think? Did Viserys deserve his death? What happens now for the isolated Dany? What about Ned’s declaration of war on Gregor Clegane and thus the Lannisters? And do you think Catelyn might be beginning to regret her capture of Tyrion right about now? Wade in below … Season eight Episode 1: Winterfell Episode 2: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Episode 3: The Long Night Episode 4: The Last of the Starks Episode 5: The Bells Episode 6: The Iron Throne Season seven Episode 1: Dragonstone Episode 2: Stormborn Episode 3: The Queen's Justice Episode 4: The Spoils of War Episode 5: Eastwatch Episode 6: Beyond The Wall Episode 7: The Dragon and the Wolf Season six Episode 1: The Red Woman Episode 2: Home Episode 3: Oathbreaker Episode 4: Book of the Stranger Episode 5: The Door Episode 6: Blood of my Blood Episode 7: The Broken Man Episode 8: No One Episode 9: Battle of the Bastards Episode 10: The Winds of Winter Season five Episode 1: The Wars to Come Episode 2: The House of Black and White Episode 3: High Sparrow Episode 4: Sons of the Harpy Episode 5: Kill the Boy Episode 6: Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken Episode 7: The Gift Episode 8: Hardhome Episode 9: The Dance of Dragons Episode 10: Mother's Mercy Season four Episode 1: Two Swords Episode 2: The Lion and the Rose Episode 3: Breaker of Chains Episode 4: Oathkeeper Episode 5: First of His Name Episode 6: The Laws of Gods and Men Episode 7: Mockingbird Episode 8: The Mountain and the Viper Episode 9: The Watchers on the Wall Episode 10: The Children Season three Episode 1: Valar Dohaeris Episode 2: Dark Wings, Dark Words Episode 3: Walk of Punishment Episode 4: And Now His Watch Is Ended Episode 5: Kissed by Fire Episode 6: The Climb Episode 7: The Bear and the Maiden Fair Episode 8: Second Sons Episode 9: The Rains of Castamere Episode 10: Mhysa Season two Episode 1: The North Remembers Episode 2: The Night Lands Episode 3: What Is Dead May Never Die Episode 4: Garden of Bones Episode 5: The Ghost of Harrenhal Episode 6: The Old Gods and the New Episode 7: A Man Without Honour Episode 8: The Prince of Winterfell Episode 9: Blackwater Episode 10: Valar Morghulis Season one Episode 1: Winter is Coming Episode 2: The Kingsroad Episode 3: Lord Snow Episode 4: Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things Episode 5: The Wolf and the Lion Episode 6: A Golden Crown Episode 7: You Win or You Die Episode 8: The Pointy End Episode 9: Baelor Episode 10: Fire and Blood