GAME OF THRONES Season 6 Episode 03
Episode Title: “Oathbreaker”
Writers: David Benioff & D. B. Weiss
Director: Daniel Sackheim
Previously on Game of Thrones:
There are spoilers ahead for last night’s episode of Game of Thrones, but don’t pretend that you didn’t know that!
Guess who’s not dead anymore? Of course, if you’re current with the show, Jon Snow’s return to the living isn’t a shock. Even people who don’t watch Game of Thrones knew that was coming. And while the circumstances of Jon’s return were predictable, “Oathbreaker” got a lot of mileage out of what that meant for the Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch.
In the most literal sense, Jon has fulfilled his vow to the Night’s Watch and served until his death. Technically, that means he’s not the “Oathbreaker” in the title. But with Jon’s death comes new possibilities. Suddenly, Melisandre thinks that Jon could be her promised messiah prince. But since she previously thought Stannis was the object of her prophecy, she can’t exactly be counted on here. It’s somewhat disturbing that the only deity on Game of Thrones to display any real power is the same god that requires its followers to burn people alive as sacrifices. Even if Jon has been changed by his ordeal, he doesn’t seem likely to buy into that. And yet something beyond this world wants Jon alive, presumably for a reason.
Ser Davos Seaworth was the first to see Jon in his resurrected glory, and it was Davos who had the best advice for Jon. Davos has been a father without a son for several seasons now, and Jon’s been without his father since Ned Stark met his end in season 1. Placing Davos as Jon’s new mentor and father figure seems like a natural play, doesn’t it? That would be a strong reason to keep Davos at the forefront of the series.
The rest of the scenes at Castle Black played out to perfection. Tormund’s reaction to Jon’s return was hilarious, while Edd just wanted to know if his friend was still truly himself. The rest of the Night’s Watch treated Jon as if he was a god. It’s hard to argue that point. It’s not everyday you see a man come back to life without blue eyes and the vacant stare of a Wight. The final scenes of the episode were also quite compelling as Jon reluctantly killed the traitors who murdered him before abandoning his position as Lord Commander. He’s free now, and in a good position to seek revenge on Ramsay Bolton for crimes against his family.
Speaking of Ramsay, the bastard who fed his step-mother and half brother to the dogs has new toys to play with: Rickon Stark and Osha. Even if the return of Rickon hadn’t been spoiled, the show blew the surprise as soon as Osha was unmasked. I’m less interested in seeing Rickon and Osha as Ramsay’s latest torture victims than I am in the new dynamic in the North. Smalljon Umber couldn’t give a f*** about vows of loyalty after the late Roose Bolton. He won’t bow and he won’t kneel, but he was apparently the man who captured Rickon and Osha and murdered Rickon’s direwolf. At this point, there’s only two direwolves that we know for sure are still alive: Ghost and Summer. If Jon Snow is going to retake his family’s home, then he’ll need an army or two. This scene also set up that angle by positioning Smalljon against the Wildlings, who may follow Jon into battle.
Also: Kit Harington Shares a Few More ‘Game of Thrones’ Season 6 Details
Jon’s brother, Bran Stark also had a very intriguing story this week as we saw Ned Stark as a young man at the very tail end of Robert’s Rebellion. Not only was young Ned nearly killed in a duel, he also seemed to hear Bran’s voice. Despite the word of the Three-Eyed Raven, perhaps the past isn’t as written as he claimed. Now, the larger question is can Bran actually communicate with the people in his visions? And what is young Ned going to find when he reunites with his sister? A lot of Game of Thrones fans have theorized that we’re about to get answers to one of the show’s longstanding mysteries, but those answers were frustratingly withheld this week. There’s only so long that the show can play that game before viewers get tired of it.
Over in Braavos, the blind Arya chronicles are finally over…after a total of three episodes. The show didn’t waste much screen time getting through this, although it appears that significant number of days or even weeks passed while Arya was getting her ass kicked by the Waif. Either Arya is really committed to becoming “no-one” or she’s simply a better liar than she used to be. But Williams is always compelling to watch, and it was particularly meaningful to see Arya admit that she had taken the Hound off of her revenge list…and left him to die anyway.
Tyrion and Varys keep things entertaining in Meereen, as Varys displayed his ability to get information without torture while Tyrion was frustrated in his attempts to make conversation with Grey Worm and Missandei. It’s true that Daenerys’ followers aren’t great talkers, but it only made Tyrion’s efforts even funnier. Those scenes were clearly padding the episode out, and yet Dinklage is so consistently good that it’s a forgivable sin. We also know a lot more about the Sons of the Harpy, and who is funding them. It’s not a shock that Daenerys’ enemies have united against her, but I am eager to see how Tyrion and Varys deal with them.
I’m less enthused with Daenerys’ storyline, which finds her trapped in Vaes Dothrak, the holy city of the Dothraki people. According to Daenerys’ fellow widows, she violated Dothraki tradition when she didn’t immediately exile herself to the city after Khal Drogo’s death. So, there’s your “Oathbreaker,” literalists! But let’s face it: this storyline is yet another stall to keep Daenerys in Essos. You’d think that six seasons of build up would be enough to finally send Daenerys over the Narrow Sea with armies and dragons at her back. That’s clearly not happening anytime soon.
Over in King’s Landing, the Lannisters have largely been removed from power. Most of them, anyway. Kevan Lannister has taken over the Small Council and no one wants to take orders from Jaime and Cersei anymore. It was also quite funny to see Grand Maester Pycelle face the Mountain’s reanimated body moments after he advocated that he should be destroyed. Even Jaime got on the Mountain’s bad side by suggesting that he couldn’t understand them before. Other than that, things are in a holding pattern for this story. Although King Tommen once again appeared to be too easily swayed from violence by the High Sparrow.
And finally, the episode checked in with Sam and Gilly for the first time this season, as they still haven’t gotten Sam to the Citadel yet. While this scene obviously set up Sam’s family to appear on the series, it was my least favorite part of the episode. The ship scene could have easily been skipped over and just picked up with Sam and Gilly as they arrive at his former home. This was just an unnecessary interlude.
Aside from the Daenerys and Sam scenes, “Oathbreaker” was a strong follow up to most of this season’s ongoing plotlines. But we’re nearing the endgame for this series and further stalling will not be appreciated. It will be absolutely infuriating if the show drags out Daenerys’ rescue and the “Tower of Joy” until the end of the season.
