DON’T CALL IT A COMEBACK! Well actually, I do have to call a lot of these characters’ appearances in this episode comebacks because there’s so damn many of them, and we haven’t seen these folks in ages! Let’s hop to it!
Somewhere in the North
Poor Meera is dragging Bran in the snow, and slowly losing the strength to do it. Bran is still warged out, seeing images of him falling from the tower, the Mad King ordering folks to be burned, young Ned Stark, Robb being killed, Leaf creating the White Walkers, all that good stuff (or should I say, nightmarish stuff?). In the meantime, the wights are gaining on them. Meera can’t go any further and stops. Bran finally comes out of his trance, and lets Meera know that the wights have caught up to them. Sure enough Meera sees them and shields Bran, apologizing. Then, a man who looks a lot like the angel of death, kills all the wights with fire and a sickle. He orders Meera and Bran to come with him, as more of the wights will return. Naturally, they go with him and they ride off.
On the Way to Sam’s House
Sam is nervously chatting about his home, and Gilly senses his anxiety. He tells her about how nasty his father was to him and advises her to tell the family that little Sam (who’s growing like a weed!) is really his, so his dad will take her and the baby in. Gilly asks what Sam told the family about her. Sam only told them that he met her up north, but he never said how far north. He never mentioned she was a wildling, and Sam advises not to even bring the subject up. When they get to Sam’s House (which rivals the Red Keep…Sam’s folks have money!), they meet up with Sam’s mother and sister, both of which are very sweet. Sam’s sister even hooks Gilly up with a dress for dinner. Too bad the shit hits the fan later.
King’s Landing
The time has come for Margaery’s Walk of Atonement, and Tommen’s extremely nervous for her. The High Sparrow puts his mind at ease and even allows him to see Margaery. It’s made clear that Tommen has been completely taken in by The High Sparrow, and Margaery appears to be, too…emphasis on appears. Margaery goes on about how The High Sparrow has opened up her mind and all that jazz, and Tommen just eats it all up like Barney Rubble sittin’ in front of a bowl of Fruity Pebbles.
Sam’s House (Douchebag Hall)
It’s dinner time, and Sam’s dad and brother have returned from their hunt. The once happy reunion has now become so tense, you could cut it with a knife. All Daddy can do is stare at Sam and Gilly in contempt. Sam’s uppity brother doesn’t have too much to say either, until Sam initiates small talk. Sam’s mother offers bread and when he accepts, his dad decides to speak…to criticize his weight. He then goes on to criticize the fact that Sam is studying to be a maester, and tells him he’s not a real man, since he’s got his nose stuck in books instead of fighting and killing people, because intelligence is the enemy! Yeah, you’re definitely gettin’ the Father of the Year award. When he starts going on about how Sam’s probably couldn’t wield a sword, Gilly promptly lets him know that Sam killed a Thenn and a White Walker. Sam’s know-it-all brother says there’s no such thing as White Walkers. Gilly lets him know that they do exist and Sam killed one up close and personal. She even tells them that he’s a greater warrior than either one of them. BUUUUURRRNNNNN! The sweet feeling of seeing Gilly tell these fools off is short lived, however. She mentioned in her rant that they were north of The Wall when they encountered the White Walkers. Daddy caught that statement and realized that Gilly was a Wildling. He goes on and on about how Sam’s a disgrace and he won’t inherit their family sword, blah, blah, blah. He exiles Sam from the house and tells him that Gilly can stay on as the kitchenmaid, and they’ll raise “the bastard.” After dinner, Sam apologizes to Gilly for his father’s abominable behavior, and she let’s him know that she’s not mad at him. She’s angry that awful people can treat good people badly and get away with it. Sam says goodbye to Gilly and leaves the room…and comes right back to get his girl and his baby. You go, boy! To make the scene even better, before Sam leaves, he goes in the dining hall and steals the old man’s sword. That’s gangsta.
Braavos
The Artist Formerly Known as Arya is watchin’ this blame play again. This time, they’re depicting The Purple Wedding, and once again, they’re gettin’ shit wrong. I read something on You Tube’s comments section that definitely rang true about this Braavosi take on Westerosi royalty. A commentator basically pointed out that with the exception of Sansa and Robert Baratheon, all the characters’ traits are pretty mixed up. Cersei is seen as loving and kind. Joffrey is portrayed as a well meaning ruler, who always treats people with respect. Tyrion is a greedy, menacing and conniving man, only caring about his own selfish needs. And Ned, of course, is played as a complete idiot that actually wanted to take the throne for himself. I know it’s all fiction, but their depiction of events astounds me. They couldn’t be more wrong. Anyway, Arya is really getting a kick out of Joffrey’s death scene, but she’s visibly moved by the actress’ portrayal of Cersei. After the performance, she goes backstage to poison the actress’ whiskey. The actress sees Arya backstage and asks her about her interest in the theatre, seeing as she’s seen her in the audience. As they speak, Arya sees that the actress is indeed a kind woman, and she praises her performance. Arya leaves, and the actress is about to drink her poisoned whiskey, all the while being ridiculed by the other performers for proposing Arya’s idea on how to make Cersei’s last speech more realistic. Just when she’s about to drink the liquor, Arya knocks it out of her hand and tells her that the young actress in the troupe is plotting to have her killed. She leaves again, but is seen by that damn blonde heffa!
The blonde heffa goes back to snitch on Arya to Jaqen H’ghar (who’s cutting off a dude’s face! I always knew they cut off the dead folks’ faces, but I don’t wanna see that shit!), just beggin’ to kill Arya. Jaqen gives her the go ahead, but informs her not to make Arya suffer. The blonde witch practically skips off in glee. I have a feeling she’ll go back on her word. Arya goes to the place where she hid her sword, Needle, and retrieves it, getting ready for the ensuing battle. A girl may be a cold blooded killer, but only when people are evil and cruel. Decent people deserve a chance to live. Hence, Arya Stark is Arya Stark once again.
King’s Landing…Or Should I Say, Jonestown?
The troops have assembled on the streets, and Margaery’s dad gives the weakest battle speech in the history of the world. The second Margaery’s Walk of Atonement is about to start, Jaime and the troops march up to The Sept, along with Granny Tyrell. Jaime threatens to kill The Sparrows if Margaery isn’t released. The High Sparrow claims they’re all ready to die, but there’s no need to fight. The Walk of Atonement has been cancelled thanks to Margaery bringing another person into the faith. And who shows up as the new poster boy for The Seven? Tommen. Oh yes, The High Sparrow is playing him like a fiddle. Now this man pretty much has absolute power, a fact that Granny Tyrell actually has to explain to her son (this guy must be adopted). To add insult to injury, Tommen fires Jaime from the Kingsguard for going against The High Septon. Wow. On a side note, now that The High Sparrow is more powerful than the king, can he at least take a bath? Their scriptures say you have to be humble, not filthy.
Walder Frey’s House (Jeffrey Dahmer’s Wet Dream)
Walder Frey’s evil ass is back, and he’s pissed that Sansa’s great uncle has taken Riverrun over again. He’s whining to his son about taking the castle back, but his son and the other men are saying they don’t have the manpower to do so, nor the leverage. He tells them to show the Blackfish the weapons they used to kill Robb, Catelyn and Talisa as leverage, and if that doesn’t work, they have a further bargaining chip… That’s when they bring out Edmure Tully, who’s apparently been locked up all this time in Frey’s dungeon. By the way, Edmure is played by none other than Tobias Menzies, who also plays Frank/Black Jack Randall in “Outlander”! He’s great in that show (check my recaps/reviews on “Outlander” if you’re interested). Anyway, Frey let’s Edmure know that he’s “going home.” I don’t see this ending well for him.
Flowers In the King’s Landing Attic
Jaime tells Cersei about him getting fired by Tommen and how he’s been reassigned to take back Riverrun. Damn, everyone’s after this damn castle, aren’t they? Cersei reminds him that being reassigned is better than being in the Sept dungeon. Jaime would rather kill The High Sparrow for corrupting Tommen and humiliating Cersei, but Cersei tells him to be patient and go ahead and take the castle back. Jaime doesn’t want to leave her alone when she’s on trial, but Cersei lets him know that it’s going to be a trial by combat, and she has The Mountain. I remember the last time The Mountain participated in a trial by combat. It wasn’t pretty. Cersei goes on to tell him that in time, their enemies will see just how powerful they are (if that show at the Sept was any demonstration, y’all really need to get your shit together). Then Jaime and Cersei start making out. It would be touching and romantic…if they weren’t brother and sister.
A Forest With Lots of Snow
Meera watches her and Bran’s newfound savior fill up a cup with animal blood (ill!) and asks why he helped them. He answers that The Three Eyed Raven sent for him. When Meera tells him that The Three Eyed Raven is dead, he tells her that now he lives again. Bran wakes up from one of his freaky-deaky dreams, and the mysterious man says the last time he saw Bran, he was a little boy. Bran asks who he is, and he takes off the hood and scarf covering his face, revealing himself. It’s Benjen Stark! And he looks half-dead! Hey, I thought he was all the way dead! Turns out that Benjen was attacked by the White Walkers and almost made into one, but The Children (Leaf’s people) found him and shoved some dragonglass into his heart to stop the process, hence the reason he looks slightly zombiefied. He tells Bran that he has to learn how to control his power before the Night King comes, and he gives him the blood to drink (gross!). Benjen says that one day, the king will encounter the humans, and Bran will be ready when that time comes.
Somewhere In the Desert
Dany and Daario are riding along with the Dothraki when she asks him how many ships it would take for all of them and the Unsullied to sail to Westeros. Daario estimates it would be about one thousand. He also comments that she’s a conqueror, not just a queen. She appears flattered, but she still has every intention of taking the Seven Kingdoms. She makes the horde stop and wait for her as she rides off. Some time passes, and Daario is about to go looking for her, when a large shadow looms over their heads. It’s Drogon, and that bad boy has gotten even bigger! When he lands, we see Dany mounting him. She tells everyone that the khals would always choose three bloodriders to fight alongside them, but she is no khal, and wants all the Dothraki to fight with her. She asks them if they will ride with her across the sea and help her conquer the Seven Kingdoms just as Khal Drogo promised he would. They wholeheartedly stand by her and cheer. Even Daario is moved, and Drogon lets out a battle cry. Take a lesson, Daddy Tyrell. That’s how you give a war speech.
Once again, this episode did not disappoint, and it was great to see all the faces, good and evil alike. I always wondered what happened to Benjen and Edmure, and now a piece of the puzzle has been solved. That’s one cool thing about this season: it’s answering questions that we as the audience have always had. We even got to see whether or not Sam’s dad is the bastard he always said he was, and it turns out the dude is much worse! My only gripe with this episode was that Tyrion was missing, and no, fake Tyrion playing a murderous asshole in a wack play is not a substitute. Another point…this didn’t bother me, but I couldn’t help but notice that for the first time ever I believe (excluding the very first episode), we didn’t visit The Wall. That tripped me out a little, considering that nearly every episode this season opens up with The Wall. Despite all that, this episode was fantastic, and now I’m really excited to see Arya’s showdown with that blonde heffa. Man, I hope Arya skewers her.
—Written by Nadiya
So what did y’all think about “Blood of My Blood?” Was it another great episode of “Game of Thrones,” or do you think it was weak as all get out? Do you think Arya will survive the blonde heffa’s wrath? Did you miss Tyrion this episode? What did you think about Sam’s father? Were you happy to see Walder Frey, Benjen and Edmure again? Which war speech did you prefer: Lord Tyrell’s or Dany’s? Also, do you feel like Margaery is playing a game, or do you think she really has embraced the faith? What do you think about Tommen being manipulated? Give me your thoughts!
Insights from a Southern Girl 