GAME OF THRONES Season 6 Episode 08
Episode Title: “No One”
Writers: David Benioff & D. B. Weiss
Director: Mark Mylod
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!
The conclusion of Arya’s storyline in Braavos gave us something unexpected. It’s been a long time since Arya had any scenes with her mother on this show, and yet she found a surrogate mother in Lady Crane…for an extremely short period. Arya may have gone to Lady Crane out of desperation, but Essie Davis and Maisie Williams successfully made their connection believable. It would have been fun to see Arya run off with the actors troop…a few seasons ago. Now, there simply isn’t the time.
“No One” has been particularly criticized for the resolution to the Riverrun storyline, but there are some problems in Braavos as well. The Waif’s pursuit of Arya was exciting, and their scenes worked very well. But it was definitely anticlimactic for Arya to simply confront Jaqen and tell him that she was going home. There was pride on his face, but that was way too easy to break the vendetta that the Faceless Men had for Arya after she betrayed them. And after the brutal way that Lady Crane was murdered, Arya could have wanted additional payback. However, this was not a two-season waste of time. Arya needed more training to become a legitimate threat on the show, and now she is.
Last week’s episode tarnished the good name of the Brotherhood Without Banners, when some of their number massacred the group that took in Sandor “the Hound” Clegane. While the Hound went Old Testament on the perpetrators, it was refreshing that the real Brotherhood showed up and their leader, Beric Dondarrion was actually sympathetic to the Hound’s thirst for vengeance. I love the idea of the Hound joining the Brotherhood as they move north to confront the White Walkers. It’s not a given, but that would be an excellent way to reintegrate the Hound into the central story. And perhaps he’ll eventually reunite with his brother, and his former apprentice, Arya.
The other storyline in the Riverlands wasn’t quite as enticing. The buildup to the siege of Riverrun was excellent, and even this episode featured great scenes between Podrick and Bronn. However, it was the smaller moments with Brienne and Jaime that really had power. Jaime loves no one but his sister, however there is definitely a strong connection between these two. Gwendoline Christie and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau were terrific together, especially when Jaime insisted that “Oathkeeper” would always be her sword.
Jaime only shows his “good” side to Brienne, because her very presence forces him to be more than he is. But when she isn’t in the room with him, he showed Edmure his other side. The vile part of him that would push a child out a widow or even use Edmure’s child against him. That part of Jaime is equally a part of who and what he is. He’s never been a good man, he’s simply shown signs of nobility when Brienne was around. She’s been his moral compass, and he even seemed sad to see her leave. Although a point of order is required: that escape route was horrible if it allowed Brienne and Pod to be clearly seen from the castle walls.
Related: ‘Game of Thrones’ Season 7 Will Be Shortened
Which brings us to the weakest part of the episode: the relatively bloodless fall of Riverrun. The Blackfish was undone by his own men when they obeyed Edmure’s order to stand down and surrender. I really get the impression that there should have been more resistance to that beyond the Blackfish’s warning. But there wasn’t, and that ultimately meant the Blackfish was finished. It was also not a great choice to cheat us out of seeing the Blackfish’s fight to the death. He deserved better than an off-camera end.
Back in King’s Landing, the hits kept coming for Cersei. It has to be clear, even to Cersei that her son, King Tommen is lost to her. He let the Faith Militant soldiers try to take her back to face trial and he abolished the trial by combat that could have set her free. Tommen may have been correct about trial by combat as a perversion of justice, but it was definitely a move to keep the Mountain from fighting Cersei’s ultimate battle. Even the Small Council seems to have thrown in with the King and the High Sparrow’s religious fanatics. Now the question is whether Cersei is willing to kill her last remaining child to eliminate her enemies and reclaim power. Perhaps those images of Wild fire exploding in King’s Landing from Bran’s visions are about to come into play.
Unfortunately, Meereen was a bit of a drag this week. It says everything about Tyrion’s story this year that he spent several minutes in this episode trying to turn Grey Worm and Missandei into his drinking buddies. I like Grey Worm and Missandei, but they are ill-suited to share this kind of screentime with Tyrion, and their interactions felt forced. Usually, this show has a better sense of pace, but that scene went on and on. Tyrion’s brief goodbye to Lord Varys was far more effective, but why is the show going out of its way to keep him from meeting Daenerys?
After a full season away, Daenerys is back in Meereen just as the Old Masters attempt to reclaim it by force. As much as I love a good Game of Thrones battle, somehow I suspect that it will be overshadowed by next week’s “Battle of the Bastards,” if it’s even touched on at all before the season finale. And if the season ends with anything other than Daenerys sailing to Westeros with her army and dragons in tow, then it really will be a lost season for her and her allies.
This episode was on the cusp of the series’ best installments this season. But the way that things played out at Riverrun and Meereen had the air of predictability. And if we’re able to accurately guess where Game of Thrones is going even without spoilers then that’s not quite what we want to see from the series.
What did you think about last night’s episode? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!
