Looking Forward, Game of Thrones Ep. 602: Life Without Prince

The gamut of emotion was almost too much to bear.

An editorial like this only happens when two colossal influences in your life converge. A favorite source of entertainment begins again. A favorite source of entertainment ends forever.

Two princes are dead. One left a lasting impression. One didn’t. One will be remembered always, and one will barely be remembered at all…

Disclaimer: Be mindful that this is the Unsullied WotW village idiot post, where ideas and speculation are not bound to the regulations of fine thesis or upper-echelon monograph. Looking Forward is the designated area for us to let our hair down (if you have hair) and discuss topics that may (or may not) relate to GoT.

 If that’s not your thing, a man completely understands. Feel free to move along. 

Life is a spectrum of sentiment. Fluctuation of emotion is normal. It’s the highs and lows, ups and downs, ebbs and flows that make the world go round and makes us the glorious heaps of imperfection that we are.

It’s when two or more emotion-conjuring events take place around the same time that can confuse the inner self to the point of smiling one minute and sulking the next.

It was the excitement and chaos that precedes a new season of Game of Thrones on the proverbial doorstep. Joy! Exuberance! The reckless abandon in speculation! And then a dose of reality when you are painfully reminded that even in the real world, all men must indeed die.

I never knew Prince. But he was the primary reason I picked up a guitar and learned to play it. I was introduced to his music by my now deceased Uncle (fondly referred to as “Uncle Big Head” for his abnormally sized melon). “Big” tried to convince me at an inappropriate age that on “Controversy,” they were actually saying “eat my pussy.” Tyene “Bad Pussy” Sand might approve.

I never knew Trystane either. And the truth is I still don’t, other than a few factual pieces the show threw in: He was the son of Doran. The Prince of Dorne. The chosen of Myrcella. And good at arts and crafts…

Suffice it to say, I had no investment in Trystane. His death left very little, if any, impressionable feelings of loss (although the nostril cleansing he received was memorable).

I know my Sullied colleagues and hundreds of readers are mulling over the Dorne plotline now (a “murder” I sat out of when a lady named Arianne came up in the first paragraphs). If you are Sullied and want to chat about her or any other book-related ideologies, then head on over there.

But as it pertains to the show, the jury is still out on just how this Dorne storyline supplements the bigger picture. Obviously, Dorne is part of the Seven Kingdoms. And whoever rules the Seven Kingdoms will have to deal with Dorne.

“Fight and fock. Fock and fight.”

However, the show has done a good job (as unintentional as it may be) of making it seem as if Dorne itself is really not all that important. You know, they’re those “beach people.” They lay out in the sun and do “it” all day. Then they eat and do “it” again and make poisonous concoctions while the rest of the world sleeps.

They don’t hurt little girls in Dorne, but they did. And they kill family members over the death of Oberyn, even though Oberyn volunteered to put his life on the line and be the champion for Tyrion. No one made him do it.

And maybe Doran should have done something about what happened to Elia and her children. But that is exactly why Oberyn went to King’s Landing in the first place. And it seems as if the show runners were attempting to get the viewer to remember the coolness that embodied Oberyn Martell whenever a Dorne scene popped up.

One of the problems with that philosophy was that almost ten months passed between Oberyn’s death and our first look at his homeland. That’s TV land for you.

The other goes back to the first scene with the Sand Snakes we ever witnessed in Ep. 504. The old adage “you never get a second chance to make a first impression” is probably appropriate. No need to relive it, but it’s hard to get that taste out of your mouth.

It was also the first time I felt like I was watching something other than Game of Thrones, aside from the “exploding fireballs” at the end of Season 4 (I still don’t like it).

But even then it felt salvageable, right up until the Jaime/Bronn/Snake fight scene in Ep. 506. I won’t say that I lost all hope, but every time the show has segued into Dorne I cringe at what might be coming. And that’s never a good disposition.

To be fair, there’s only been a handful of misses throughout the duration of Game of Thrones and final judgment on Dorne should reasonably come at the conclusion of the show. But it does make you wonder where the plot will lead, if anywhere.

Trystane’s name should pop up again when they discover his body (and retrieve the painted eyes for Myrcella). But beyond that, Dorne could very well be an after-thought for a while (if it wasn’t already). The Lannisters currently have their hands full.

As for Toby Sebastian, no curtain call for him. The kid may have acting chops to carry him to a long and fruitful career, but he definitely did not have the opportunity to show them off here. If nothing else, it will look good on his resume. We wish you all the luck in the world.

On the other hand, Prince undeniably deserves a curtain call…

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life.”

Although this was a dismal attempt to incorporate a tribute to the Exalted Purple One into a GoT site post, a man had to at least make an attempt to justify the inclusion for the sake of you, the reader, and our trusted Editor-in-Chief to even allow the piece to be published.

So, I picked a couple of memorable selections from the vast Prince collection and attempted to pair them with certain characters and their current situation. Feel free to add yours in the comments, and we’ll deem this the “Watchers Prince Tribute Post.”

“Let’s Go Crazy”: Ramsay

Logic: After the lip Ramsay got from Roose in Ep. 1, lookout. I can weirdly even envision Ramsay saying, “look for the purple banana until they put us in a truck.”

“You’re just a sinner I am told.”

“I Would Die 4 U”: Jaime to Cersei

Logic: Given the circumstances in KL, he may have to.

“If I was your best friend, would U let me take care of U and do all the things that only a best friend can?”

“If I Was Your Girlfriend”: Brienne to Jaime

Logic: Self-explanatory. I just hope they get to see each other again.

“She was standing by the fire, oooo, she was looking alright. Yeah”

“I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man”: Jon (if he was alive) to Melisandre

Logic: Mel’s man was Stannis, and Stannis is history. And while Jon could use some help from the LoL, they’ll never be another Stannis.

“They don’t care where they kick, just as long as they hurt u.”

“Thieves in the Temple”: Meereen

Logic: It looks as if the situation in Meereen isn’t going the right direction. And Harpies or something else in the Temple seems to be inevitable.

“All Seven and we’ll watch them fall.”

“7”: White Walkers to Westeros

Logic: The long cold night is upon us.  Will we see a white walker this week?

“Sexy MF”: Take your pick

Logic: There are quite a few good-looking inhabitants in the world of ice and fire, so to each his own. I’m as straight as they come, but Jaime undeniably has the best attire in Westeros. Who’s your Sexy MF?

Life without Prince will go on and fortunately, he left a vault of music that should keep his royal badness’ fanboys and girls entertained for years (assuming we ever get to hear it). My biggest regret is that I never saw him perform live.

Life without Prince Trystane (and fortunately the show) will go on as well, likely without missing a beat. Maybe this was by design. Maybe it was by misstep. But we truly won’t know until the show concludes.

The good news is that we don’t have long to wait to get a few more answers than we have now, both for what happened to Prince and the significance (if any) of Trystane.

Like a bird flyin’ over the hilltops
Love is like the sky, you know it never stops
From the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks
Love is whatever, whatever you want it to be.

See you guys and gals Monday morning for the Unsullied recap!

Spread some love. Jam some Prince. And may there always be peace in your realm…

–Oz

“Unbowed. Unbent. Unsullied”

Follow Oz of Thrones on twitter.

REMINDER: Please be mindful of the Unsullied and refrain from any spoilery in the comments!!

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