Out in the Riverlands, Arya (Maisie Williams) and Sandor “The Hound” Clegane (Rory McCann) share two very effective scenes this week. First, they come across a dying man and offer him some comfort before the end. Intriguingly, Arya argues that the suffering of life is better than the oblivion of death. But the man ultimately allows the Hound to mercy kill him.
Moments later, the Hound is attacked by Biter (Gerard Jordan) and Rorge (Andy Beckwith), two of the prisoners whom Arya encountered while under Yoren’s protection. The Hound is bitten by Biter before he kills him, while Arya dispatches Rorge after learning that the Hound has a price on his head.
The Hound actually blames Arya for his current situation, but it is still his fault. Nobody is chasing them because she’s a Stark. The Hound made his own bed when he told Joffrey to f*** off at the Battle of Blackwater and when he slaughtered the Lannister soldiers earlier this season. But the Hound shows Arya a truly vulnerable side of his personality when he finally relates the tale of how his brother scarred him with fire.
We’ve heard this story before all the way back in the first season. But hearing it from the Hound’s mouth carries an entirely different emotional heft. The physical and emotional scars of that incident have never faded, but the Hound still reserves some anger for his father because he lied about what happened to protect the Mountain.
Should the Mountain survive his duel with Oberyn in the next episode, a duel between brothers would be a good way to dispatch the elder Glegane brother. But we already got a taste of that duel three seasons ago, back when the Mountain was played by the first of three actors on this show. I still prefer the original Mountain in terms of his ability to project menace, but the new Mountain is still physically imposing.
Rather than antagonizing the Hound, Arya actually shows sympathy for him and he allows her to clean his wound. Given that we’ve seen Drogo become fatally ill from a small infected wound, the Hound’s refusal to let Arya cauterize the area could come back to haunt him. But for now, it’s a real bonding moment between them, even as Arya’s lip is still swollen from the time that he hit her last week.
The good news for Arya is that Brienne (Gwendoline Christie) and Podrick (Daniel Portman) are closing in on her, thanks to the returning Hot Pie (Ben Hawkey). I’ve never liked Hot Pie as a character, but it was quite funny to see him trying to strike up a conversation with Brienne and Pod after they make the mistake of complimenting his cooking. The only way that they shut him up is when Brienne mentions that they are looking for Sansa.
Hot Pie eventually tells the duo that Arya is alive, but Pod was probably correct that Brienne should be more careful about who they trust with knowledge about their quest. Brienne and Pod determine that both Arya and Sansa may be at the Vale and begin heading in that direction. Whether Littlefinger allows them inside remains to be seen. But Brienne and Pod are unknowingly walking into a dangerous situation.
In the first of two minor plotlines this week, Jon Snow (Kit Harington) returns to Castle Black and once again warns Ser Alliser Thorne (Owen Teale) about the real threat that Mance Rayder represents. It’s really easy to hate Ser Alliser because he’s more concerned about holding Jon down and humiliating him than he is about the impending invasion. This keeps the Night’s Watch storyline alive, but it doesn’t advance very far this week.
I was less enamored with this week’s check in at Dragonstone, as the Red Woman, Melisandre (Carice van Houten) attempts to convince Lady Selyse (Tara Fitzgerald) that Stannis’ daughter, Shireen needs to go with them on a voyage to serve the Lord of Light. It was intriguing to see Melisandre acknowledge that a lot of what she does is trickery, especially when we’ve seen that she has real power when she needs it. But if the episode is asking us to care about Shireen then we should have probably seen her here.
Finally, Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) finds some useful advice in her new kingdom. Believe it or not, Ser Jorah (Iain Glen) seems grateful to the late Ned Stark for not executing him for selling men into slavery. It’s a mercy that Daenerys hasn’t shown towards the Masters of Slaver’s Bay. And for once, Jorah manages to sway Daenerys into giving the enemy a chance to reform themselves rather than become her latest victims.
But first, Daario Naharis (Michiel Huisman) makes a seduction attempt of sorts. Daario sneaks into Daenerys’ bedroom and essentially offers himself to her as a killer or as a lover. Daenerys seemingly takes him up on both offers before sending him to reclaim Yunkai and execute the remaining Masters. Only Jorah’s personal intervention changes Daenerys’ mind, which seems to make Jorah once again happy to be in her service.
This was a very full episode of “Game of Thrones.” Aside from a weak interlude in Dragonstone, all of the various plotlines were very engaging as the performers once again elevated their game. My excitement for the next episode is very high, but we’ll all have to wait two weeks to see the Mountain take on the Red Viper. After that, episode nine is once again going to be the biggest episode of the season. So, there will be some interesting times ahead.
