Walk of Punishment

Last night's Game of Thrones was an episode I particularly enjoyed more for brief moments within it even more than for any full scenes.

That trend started right away during the funeral scene at Riverrun. My boyfriend asked as the scene began, "doesn't the archer miss the boat three times?" It was a detail I had completely forgotten from the book in the many years since I read it, and I half expected them not to do on the show. But no, they decided to spend the screen time on the clever moment, and one-upped it by having the archer who finally made the successful shot not even watch his arrow fall after he loosed it. They made a little less in the episode about how the failed shots were meant to be an omen of bad things, but it was still a great little moment.

Soon after that came a moment I believe was invented for the show, at the start of the conference with Tywin Lannister. As the people began to take their seats, one of my friends noted, "why are we all sitting on one side of the table, except for easy camera access?" Oh no indeed, there was a very good reason for the "Last Supper style" staging. Cersei made a brilliant and silent power play by grabbing a chair and taking it to sit beside her father on the other side of the table. And then Tyrion made the hilarious, not-to-be-outdone move of dragging his chair to the foot of the table. It was practically a full minute of screen time without dialogue, unthinkable in most television shows, but it was just such a brilliant insight into both characters that it was worth every last second.

In terms of moments, though, the big one was the one that closed the episode. Seeing Jamie's "behanding" carried out on screen, I was struck by something about it that I'd never realized from reading the book. This is a moment that seems like it could have very easily gone a different way for the character. Essentially, this is the first time that Jamie has ever done anything nice for another person (that wasn't his sister). He went out on a limb to save Brienne from being raped, something he certainly did not have to do, and his "reward" for it is to lose his right hand.

A completely reasonable reaction from a person like Jamie could have been eternal bitterness; see if I ever do anything for anyone but myself ever again. I suppose it's a minor spoiler for those who haven't read the books, but I'll say simply that he doesn't break that way. It marks a real turning point for the character, and not just in the obvious physical way that losing a hand clearly would.

The one misfire in the episode I don't quite understand is the music that then immediately followed that moment for the end credits. The punk band of Westeros just wasn't doing it for me; it felt like such a tonal, fourth wall break of the world of Game of Thrones, it seemed to (pun not intended) undercut the powerful moment we'd just seen.

Still, another wonderful episode of Game of Thrones overall. As always, I'm looking forward to the next one.