This week's episode was something of a breather in all the madness that's been going around for the past couple of weeks.
We say 'breather', but to be honest, this season's up there with the best in the entire series. It's not just down to the wider fact that nobody has a clue what's going to happen next, it's also down to some incredibly smart decisions with the overall story and the fact that new and old characters are coming and going from every which way.
This week's episode, The Broken Man, reintroduced a pretty well-loved character and introduced veteran actor Ian McShane to the series. For, like, one episode.
Let's get to it.
1. Sandor Clegane = John Rambo. Also, Sandor Clegane = Alive.
Yes, everyone's favourite burn victim is alive and well and living with a hippy commune that's headed by Lovejoy. For anyone under the age of 30, Lovejoy was a British TV series about an antiques collector who also solved crimes. The '90s was a weird time. Pretty much everyone speculated - ourselves included - that Ian McShane would be playing one of the Greyjoys; either Euron or Victarion. We'll talk more about his character later on because we need to focus on the fact that Sandor Clegane is alive.
What's so interesting about Clegane's return is how he fits into the overall story. When we last saw him, he was pretty much donezo. Brienne of Tarth had beaten twelve shades of shit out of him whilst Arya basically left him to die. It's clear that he is The Broken Man that this episode's title refers to and, more than anything, Clegane is trying to leave his life behind. The episode flicks back to Sandor at key points throughout and the interplay between Clegane and McShane's character is just gorgeous.
2. Jaime Lannister Has Had It With These Motherf*ckin' Tullys In These Motherf*ckin' Riverlands.
Jaime Lannister, we think, has been really under-utilised so far this season, but that looks like it's all about to change. Jaime, together with new BFF Bronn, rock up to the Riverlands, former home of Catelyn Stark and House Tully, with the express intention of taking it back. From the get-go, it's clear that the Freys are basically the creepy and not-at-all-threatening henchmen we've always known to them to be. The way Jaime smacks one of them around is just great, not to mention the fact that he almost knew that threatening to kill Edmure Tully was going to have no effect on the Blackfish.
That Blackfish, man, he's one cold-as-ice dude. So, in an attempt to get things back in order in the Riverlands, Jaime tries to make peace with the Blackfish and get him out of the castle. Hah. Fat chance. The Blackfish then openly admits that he's talking to Jaime just because he's bored. Also, what's up with the Blackfish's eyes? Is he like the French Stewart of Westeros? Who knows.
3. Margaery Tyrell is not as crazy as we thought.
Well, thank the Seven for that. It did strike us that her changing sides and going with the High Sparrow seemed a bit forced and sudden, but now it's clear that she's on their side because she needs to protect both her brother, Loras, and keep her family out of harm's way. It's also apparent that the High Sparrow isn't going to stop until he's toppled every one of the Houses and is even prepared to go after Olenna Tyrell, Margaery's grandmother.
There's a great scene between Olenna, Margaery and Septa Unella that's all about the small mannerisms and micro-communication that goes on between people. There's a bit when we see Margaery shove a small bit of paper into Olenna's hands and it flicks back to Unella. Not only that, the noise of the paper was pretty apparent. So does that mean that Unella, and by extension, the High Sparrow knows about Margaery? The way the whole scene was set up makes us think so. The High Sparrow's proven before that he regards each and every one of the Houses with suspicion, so it's entirely possible that he's allowing Margaery to think that she's safe.
4. Pretty much everything is Cersei Lannister's fault.
Yeah, pretty much. The whole reason for the High Sparrow being in King's Landing is her and her alone. The fact that Olenna Tyrell is bailing out of the city and making for Highgarden tells us that, simply put, the Tyrells are done for the moment. They're not going to be able to mount another attack on the High Sparrow; he's too smart for that. Likewise, Mace Tyrell's a dumbass so he just can't compete. So, who does it leave to face the Faith Militant and the High Sparrow? Cersei Lannister, of course.
She's not going to be able to do it alone and, as Olenna rightly points out, she can't send Zombie Mountain to kill them all. What's also interesting here is that Olenna's given up any kind of pretence; she utterly despises Cersei Lannister. The alliance between them was always out of necessity, sure, but now there's genuine, outright hostility between them. Could the two end up going to war before the season ends? Doubtful, to be honest. There's too much else going on here and both armies are engaged elsewhere.
5. Bear Island's children are TERRIFYING.
Seriously. Terrifying. Jern Snoo and Sansa Stark have now got the Wildlings on side, but he needs more than just them to take back Winterfell. Jon Snow's World Tour Of Northern Westeros takes him to Bear Island where young girls will rip your face off for looking cross-eyed at them. Lyanna Mormont, named after Ned Stark's sister, is every inch of Jeor Mormont and doesn't give two f*cks about you and your struggles. What she cares about is honour. Ser Davos, thankfully, is able to bring her on side and pledges sixty-two men to the cause. However, she says Bear Island's men fight with the strength of ten mainlanders. Doing the maths, that means six hundred and twenty. Still not enough.
So, off Jon Snow goes to the Glovers, who've just retaken Deepwood Motte from the Iron Born. Although the North honours the Starks and what they've done for centuries, there's still a lot of resentment for Robb Stark's failures. The fact that the Glovers were loyal bannermen to House Stark didn't change the fact Robb Stark was off down South with Oona Chaplin. The saying goes that The North Remembers - and it remembers Robb Stark being an ass.
Despite lesser numbers than they'd hoped for, the plan is still to attack Winterfell pretty shortly. Our guess is it'll be the episode after next week, primarily because it's called The Battle Of The Bastards - Ramsay Snow vs. Jon Snow.
6. Yara Greyjoy, Motivational Speaker and Hailo Driver for Dragon Queens.
Granted it's a relatively short scene, there's a huge amount going on between Yara and Theon Greyjoy. They're currently laying over in Volantis while they plan their next move - joining up with Daenerys and bringing her, the Dothraki and the dragons back to Westeros to wreak unmerciful shit down on everyone. That's a bold strategy, Cotton. Let's see if it pays off.
The other big takeaway here is that Theon Greyjoy has got to get his groove back. So, how does Yara help Theon do this? Simple. Get him drunk and force him to skull back a pint in one go. Solid Iron Born thinking, that. Theon does look like he's finally starting to move away from Reek and return as Prince Theon and, to be honest, that's no bad thing. All of last season was Theon being brutalised by Ramsay, which was harrowing and awful, but also sorta boring. As Yara rightfully points out, it's time for revenge.
7. Who is Sansa Stark writing to?
When Jon Snow admits that he has less numbers than he'd like, we see Sansa Stark writing a note to an unknown party. Our best guess is that it's Littlefinger and House Arryn. As we saw in last week's episode, the Arryns are finally getting the finger out and are going to get involved. To be honest, a lot of that was down to the fact that Crazy-Ass Mother hated her mother, Catelyn Stark and was happy enough to see her murdered, hence why she didn't go on a rampage when she was murdered.
Robin Arryn, the little inbred weirdo, is basically controlled by Littlefinger. Since Littlefinger's a creep and wants to get involved with Sansa, he and the Knights of the Vale will answer her call. Our guess is that they'll come riding in right in the middle of the Battle of the Bastards. Failing that, they'll make an appearance next week.
8. Ian McShane deserves an Emmy for this week's episode.
He wasn't in it all that much, but the emotional impact he had on us was just fantastic. The likeability, the charm, the way he carried himself on screen, fantastic. If you've never watched Deadwood, sort that out because it's a fantastic show and it's hugely underrated. Who saw the ending coming, though? Not us, that's for sure.
Casting Ian McShane in this role was an absolute masterstroke. He's a well-known, well-liked actor and you'd think he'd be in it for longer than one episode, right? Nope. One and he's done. What a pro. Let's also look at what he was trying to impart on The Hound, as well. "Violence is a disease." It's clear that The Hound is a 'broken man', but as he tries to leave that world behind, it pulls him right back in. Those dudes who killed everyone, by the way, were from the Brotherhood Without Banners. Sandor Clegane's just added them to his Shit List.
9. Arya Stark literally can't catch a break.
Seriously, at this stage, Arya Stark needs to go to the Winchester, have a pint and wait for this all to blow over. Her plans were pretty simple; get the hell outta Braavos and get back to Westeros. She was leaving the House of Black & White behind and was even leaving Braavos as well. She wasn't going to bother with them, but noooo.... J'aqen H'aqar and that other asshole weren't happy with that. Why is that? Is it because she failed his constant tests? Is it because she knows too much? Why, J'aqen? Why you gotta be like that?
Also, let's talk about that final scene. It's safe to assume that Arya's going to survive, but what happens next? She's now being hunted through Braavos, but will she make it to Westeros? If she gets to Westeros, what happens next? Does she reunite with Nymeria, her direwolf? Let's hope so. While she's still got a direwolf, she's still alive.
We'll have next week's trailer up online shortly. In the meantime, share your thoughts in the comments below.