“We’re often stuck with the names our enemies give us.”
The High Sparrow tells Cersei (sometimes
known as “The Mother Of Madness”) this is no big deal, and while folks
like The Mountain, the Blackfish, the Red Viper, or Queen Of Thorns
might nod along, those like The Imp, The Spider, Reek, or The Kingslayer
would disagree. Names are damn near everything in Westeros. Cersei is
feeling this pointedly after Margaery humiliates her by musing on which
lesser title she should address her mother-in-law by. It took three
tries to make it stick, but Marge, as the wife to King Tommen (first of
his name), can finally call herself Baratheon. And having finally found
a king who is really (really, really) interested in what she’s
selling, she wastes no time manipulating her new husband into sending
his mother packing. She’s feeling smug for the moment, but something
tells me that particular lioness still has claws, and that Marge’s
brother will be the next to feel them.
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….huwhuzzat???
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But the suddenness of her son’s turn leaves
Cersei seeking allies in unexpected, and unexpectedly religious,
corners, since the Lannister name doesn’t mean what it once did.
Littlefinger (also not a name he gave himself) spells this out for Roose
Bolton, after Bolton tells him that Sansa’s virtue does not interest
him, only her name. It’s a name the North remembers, and one that feels
strangely ascendant this year, as the Lannister’s wanes without their
ever having lost a battle or important family member to outside forces.
Bronn may have thought he was blowing smoke last week when he told his
fiancée about what goes around always coming around, but he wasn’t
entirely wrong. The Lannisters held sway through fear and (the
appearance of) riches, which worked great right up until they look
momentarily weak, and then people start jumping ship awfully fast.
Whereas the Starks get nearly wiped off the
map, and it only seems to have intensified the North’s loyalty to its
fallen lords. Or, for a small scale version of the same principle,
Stannis’s ruthlessness may have made short work of his brother on the
field, but he doesn’t realize that Renly’s small kindnesses left a
legacy. And while this is not a show where a character expressing a
desire for revenge guarantees they will get their shot at it, Brienne
(make that “Brienne The Beauty”) is a formidable, determined legacy.
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Plus she has a Pod!
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I can’t believe that Littlefinger really
means to allow Sansa to stay with the people that murdered his beloved
Catelyn for any length of time, but the Boltons convince themselves to
play along because they understand the power in a name. You could ask
Theon about that, if he still answered to Theon, and he’d tell you
Ramsay can only make a plausible match for a lady because of a royal
decree that gave him a higher name than “Snow”. It’s the same offer Jon
turns down from Stannis, as we knew he would. But I didn’t expect him
to display the level of immediate political acumen he does here,
shrewdly determining that while he needs to make a show of respect to
Lord Allister, he can afford to make an early example of Lord Janos The
Useless. The scene, like those with Robb and Theon before him, calls
back to Ned’s execution of the deserter in the pilot, and Jon seems to
have taken that particular lesson to heart, even if he didn’t take the
name.
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But considering how things turned out for all those guys,
maybe I shouldn’t congratulate the Lord Bastard just yet…
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Also stepping away from the Stark name is
Arya, trying to become “no one”, but she can’t bring herself to throw
away Needle. And you know, I get it. Besides the considerable
sentimental value, the little blade has gotten her out of plenty of
scrapes over the….man, how long has it been since she went on the run? A
year? Two? I have completely lost track.
The Arya storyline should be one of the
best on paper – one of my favorite characters, with the most to avenge
of anyone, getting trained in supernatural violence skills that will
enable her to take that vengeance? Why isn’t this more exciting? It
all feels a little genericly Karate Kid-ish, where she
is required to do menial work and let her expectations go before she can
get to the ass-kicking. Jaqen’s a pretty cool Miyagi figure, but we’ve
already seen him throw down, so having him play coy isn’t building much
mystique or anticipation. It’s strange that 15 minutes of time with a
favorite character in a cool new setting does less to excite me than a
couple seconds of a sheet flapping in the laboratory of a character I
barely know, but them’s the breaks.
But something that is getting my motor
running is Jorah butting into the Tyrion/Varys road trip. He’s a fool
if he thinks that the Imp (who even in a brothel where he’s supposed to
stay incognito, struggles not to fall back on his family name) will buy
him back into Dany’s good graces, but just the promise of these
characters interacting is tantalizing. And if Varys talking to his
former spy gets us some more insight into how exactly his loyalties
developed
from the beginning of the series, I…
Damn it, is it Sunday yet? Oh come on!
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