“The Prince of Winterfell,” written by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss and directed by Alan Taylor, is the last episode before the explosive Battle of the Blackwater (buh-dum ching) and it feels, appropriately, like the calm before the storm, full of quiet character moments and ending on the melancholic reveal that Bran and Rickon are still alive.
The episode opens on Yara’s arrival to Winterfell. She berates Theon for killing the Stark boys, not because it was immoral (we’re dealing with very different cultural perceptions of right and wrong, here) but because it was tactless. She announces that she hasn’t come to provide reinforcements but to bring him home. When Theon refuses (‘cause he’s got something to PROVE, gods-dammit) Yara softens and, in a tone more resigned than imploring, she tells him of a childhood memory she has of him smiling up at her as a baby. “Don’t die so far from the sea,” she tells him and leaves.
Given my affinity for the Greyjoys, it should be no surprise that I really love this scene. The dialogue is expanded from their conversation in A Clash of Kings to really give us a sense of how Yara sees Theon. No matter what he does, no matter how lost he becomes inside his own broken mind, he will always be her baby brother.
Robb and Talisa continue to develop their relationship by discussing their families and ethics. They finally throw caution (and strategy, honor and victory) to the wind by consummating their doomed love.
Enjoy it while you can, guys.
Actually, I really do like these two together. I realize that Talisa is a divisive figure in the fandom and that Robb’s decision to break his oath to Walder Frey makes less sense when it’s the carefully made decision of a grown man rather than a 16-year old boy’s attempt to correct a mistake … but I like Talisa and, on an emotional level, I prefer getting to know the woman who costs Robb his campaign.
Arya extorts aid in escaping Harrenhal from Jaqen by naming him – condemning him to suicide – and promising to un-name him in exchange for help. “A girl lacks honor,” Jaqen observes to which Arya shrugs, diverging further from the honorable Stark path, choosing practicality over principle.
Stannis and Davos take a break from preparing for their invasion of King’s Landing to have a heart-to-burning heart about elitism and injustice. Stannis’ recollection of the siege at Storm’s End and his bitterness that Robert overlooked his sacrifice by giving the castle to Renly really brings home what he’s fighting for. He’s done his duty and put up with crap long enough. Now, “by every law of Westeros,” it’s his turn.
Tyrion shares a memorable scene with Cersei in which the two drink wine eat dinner and argue over Joffrey’s intention to fight in the battle. Tyrion seems confident that he’s going to get his way until Cersei plays her trump card: she has Tyrion’s whore and whatever befalls Joffrey in battle will befall her. When guards bring in a bruised and bloody Ros, Tyrion bluffs long enough to comfort Ros and threaten Cersei. Then he rushes to his chambers to find Shae unharmed.
It’s a tense scene that reveals the lengths that Cersei will go to, to protect her son. It also places Cersei and Tyrion’s dynamic in contrast with Yara and Theon’s. Both are tumultuous relationships between an older sister who has fought tooth and nail for the respect men take for granted and a whore mongering “baby brother” who’s never quite belonged. Yet, while we saw in Yara and Theon’s scene that underneath the annoyance and ironborn grit, the two really do care for one another, here it’s made clear that through and through there’s nothing but bile between Cersei and Tyrion.
The episode concludes back in Winterfell as Maester Luwin uncovers the truth: that Theon murdered and mutilated two peasant children and that Bran and Rickon are still alive, hiding in the crypts. Djawadi’s heart-wrenching score piece, “Winterfell,” plays us out over this final image of Bran Stark.
Retrospectively important and/or painful moments
- Yara and Theon’s scene, considering the circumstances of their next meeting
- Tyrion’s threat to Cersei is going to come back to bite him
- Watching Rickard Karstark rail at Catelyn for releasing the Kingslayer, and Robb announce that he doesn’t want to marry the Frey girl, you can just about hear “The Rains of Castamere”
- The scene in which Robb discusses what to do about Theon Greyjoy with his trusty bannerman, Roose Bolton, is either tragic or hilarious, depending on your sense of humor
Memorable quotes
Tyrion to Cersei: “I will hurt you for this. A day will come when you think you are safe and happy and your joy will turn to ashes in your mouth.”
Yara to Theon: “You were a terrible baby do you know that? Bawling all the time, never sleeping. And one night you just wouldn’t shut up. Screaming like a dying pig. I walked over to your crib. I looked down at you. I wanted to strangle you. And you looked up at me and you stopped screaming. You smiled at me. Don’t die so far from the sea.”
Daenerys: “They are my children and they are the only children I will ever have”
Talisa & Robb: “What kind [of king] do you want to be?” “I don’t know. The good kind.”
Bronn: “Have you ever been in a city under siege? Maybe this part’s not in your books. See, it’s not the fighting that kills most people. It’s the starving. Food’s worth more than gold.”
Varys to Tyrion: “Jon Arryn & Ned Stark were good men. Honorable men. But they distained the game and those who played. You enjoy the game.”
Tyrion to Varys: “The lord of light wants his enemies burnt, the drowned god wants them drowned. Why are all the gods such vicious cunts? Where’s the god of tits and wine?”
Brienne to Jaime: “All my life men like you’ve sneered at me and all my life I’ve been knocking men like you into the dust.”
Creative Fandom
From the Beautiful Death series by Robert M. Ball.
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