Only two Game of Thrones episodes remain, and a whole lot of chess pieces still remain in play. The Battle of Winterfell saw the living defeat the dead, but things did not go as planned for Daenerys at King’s Landing, and Cersei now holds a visible advantage. We’ve all got our opinions about that, of course, but are you ready to defend yours in a fiery trial by conversational combat? Uproxx’s Kimberly Ricci and Jason Tabrys are very ready to do exactly that, and this week, they’re going to dig into the controversial subjects of fridging and Sansa’s “little bird” quote, along with god only knows what Jaime is doing before turning the discussion over to you in the comments section.
Kimberly: This past episode ended with an emotional rollercoaster for everyone but Cersei, it seems. Well, the Mountain seemed alright with how things ended as well, but my, how the tide has turned for Daenerys. Whereas she once seemed unstoppable, she’s suffered a crushing series of losses: Jorah, Missandei, and another dragon! That makes her the Mother of One Dragon, and I’m honestly not sure where she goes from here. People seem convinced that Dany’s streaking down the path of becoming the Mad Queen, but does it matter? Unless Tyrion and Sansa (and maybe Arya) pull something off, Cersei may have the ultimate victory on her hands. Jason, that brings to mind one of your predictions from last week … do I owe you a beer?
Jason: WIne coolers only, please. But yeah, definitely got that monstrous act that solidified Cersei’s baddest-on-the-block bonafides. It’s become infinitely more clear that the show will need two episodes to reckon with her reign. Or, I guess, cynically confirm that only dark hearts rise and that villain-y comes with a natural predilection for chaos that can’t be defeated by the forces of good? Bummmmmmmmmer. But are we sure dragon #2 is really dead? I feel like, no body, no confirmation. I know the producers confirmed it later, but maybe they’re lying? I’m gonna go ahead and abandon facts, misread some tea leaves, and come to the conclusion that the stage is clearly set for Aquaman (who, OMG, is Khal Drago’s identical twin brother!) to ride that good boy out of the sea and be a difference maker. Let’s just create bad fan fiction the rest of the way, so we don’t have to deal with some of the more distressing directions this episode took with regard to heartbreak, pet abandonment, fridging, and rape, yeah huh?
Kimberly: Before we dig into the problematic developments, let’s do a quick diversion because I need to settle something. Why was Jon Snow perfectly cool with shoving Ghost out of the picture? His direwolf hasn’t been around much because of CGI practicalities (White Walkers were the budget priority), but damn, he did Ghost dirty. Am I wrong to feel that this was out of character?
Jason: This is the hill I die on, Kim. I know the internet is in a huff over Jon sending Ghost away, but isn’t he doing the responsible thing by NOT exposing him to another war far from home? He’s giving him the chance to live in the great wide open with a super kickass new owner free(ish) from harm. That’s nice! I know the goodbye was lacking, but Jon is dealing with a lot, so I’m gonna give him a break. I’d even look the other way if it was his dumb coffee cup. Also, wow, do I not care about a rogue coffee cup.
Kimberly: Whoa yes, the weird excitement over a Starbucks cup distracts from the bigger issues here. Like Arya having “unfinished business” and declining to abandon her true self and be “a lady” to marry Gendry. That’s huge, and it’s kickass, although I’m sure that would earn me some pushback for disliking how Jaime arguably did the same thing after getting hot and heavy with Brienne. He left her, also, for perhaps the same end as Arya — to go after Cersei. Jaime declared that he was as hateful as Cersei and left, presumably, to be with her. But is that really his goal?
Jason: I’m glad Gendry (Lord Smother Of House Needy) is going to have some time to himself to work on some things and love himself before he’s ready to love somebody else. Jaime, on the other hand (not a pun), can see himself with Brienne, away from the chaos of King’s Landing. But he’s also someone who has, over time, been defined by a splotchy but still present type of honor. With Brienne, I think he slipped (thanks to the lubricant of wine) and acted on his feelings for her and then tried to give that life a minute. Then he tried to cauterize the wound with Brienne. I don’t think it’s the last we’ll see of her — to leave that specific character an emotional wreck and not give her a strong final bow would be sacrilege. Or him.
Kimberly: I believe that Jaime truly loves Brienne, but he’s reckoning with what Cersei has done earlier in the episode, and he realizes that he hasn’t really changed himself despite partial redemption. So yes, I think there’s a more than fair chance that he aims to be with her or at least pretends to do so, but the question is … is it too late for Jaime to get his sister-lover back? After all, everyone thinks that she’s pregnant with Euron’s child. Perhaps this is how Jaimie dies — with Cersei torn or outright refusing him, and Euron putting Jaime out of his misery, respectively, out of jealousy or through orders from Cersei?
Jason: Oh, I don’t think anyone should take Jaime’s words literally. That’s what I mean by cauterize the wound with Brienne. He’s not going to win Cersei back, he sees her as the same risk as The Mad King was and that it is his duty to end her reign of terror. I don’t know if he’ll get close enough to do that or if he’ll be thwarted (probably the latter), but I will be stunned if this move is born from any kind of lingering affection for Cersei.
Kimberly: Right, so on with the problematic mess, beginning with Grey Worm’s reaction to Missandei’s death. I do struggle with whether the word “fridging” can be overused, and perhaps we are at times too sensitive because female characters often die to propel various narratives. However, the term does appear to apply if we look at how Missandei’s death was shot. Fridging occurs when writers kill off a female character to further motivate a male character’s heroic path. In this instance, the writers could have chosen to script Missandei’s death primarily to fuel Dany’s actions. That may be the case here, we don’t know yet. Yes, Dany stalks off, furious, but in addition to losing her only female friend, she’s also mourning her other losses. She’s already motivated as hell to win this war for those reasons, along with her life’s goal to be full-on queen. Yet (and this is key) at the moment that Missandei loses her head, the camera focuses on Grey Worm’s expression while Dany faces away. That deliberate move — we’re supposed to think about how he’s reacting — cues us in emotionally to how her death will resonate most in the episodes to come. We don’t know how important Grey Worm will be to settling this whole war, but with only two episodes left, he now looks more significant to the outcome than his status as a minor character would have had us guess when the season began. However that plays out, this moment arrives with an undeniable truth: first and foremost, we’re seeing a female character’s death as interpreted through the eyes of a male. Thrones has done this before: the series showed us the horror of Sansa’s rape as interpreted through Theon’s expression. That chosen perspective didn’t go over well then, and it shouldn’t fly now.
Jason: We’re nearing the end of a show with a penchant for killing off characters, so I’m not taken aback by the overall choice. I think, in the end, the greater impact will be on Dany. Like you said, it’s a cumulative thing with everyone else she’s lost. But (and again, not a pun), this could have been better executed. You lay out the case pretty perfectly, so there’s not much more I can add. I’ll just say that the lack of female voices in that writer’s room announces itself in moments like this and in moments where Sansa credits the above-mentioned rape as having built her up into who she is now. There are more nuanced ways of approaching that scene. Couldn’t they have said that Sansa had learned not to trust anyone or that she had been hardened by that experience? Is that any better? I’m also a man, so I’m genuinely asking.
Kimberly: That’s a dicey one. On one hand, Westeros is a world where the Seven Kingdoms are dominated by male lords, and so the mostly male writers of Thrones kind of represent that. However, yes, it’s troublesome that Sansa’s dialogue damn near praises the men who traumatized her for helping shape her into the woman that she became. I want to give the writers the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps they’re very awkwardly refashioning how real-life sexual assault survivors can rise from the ashes like a phoenix, and yes, Jessica Chastain has already commented on this, interestingly, while promoting her and Sophie Turner’s roles in the X-Men Dark Phoenix movie. Granted, we’ve seen references like this throughout feminist literature about revenge following victimization, so Chastain’s not saying anything new, but I don’t want to discredit her point. It’s icky as hell for Thrones to frame Sansa’s accomplishments as only being possible as a result of men’s actions, especially since they were barbaric acts. That’s essentially a “thank you for the rape,” and yeah, it should have been phrased by Sansa about how she has grown stronger despite and while overcoming her trauma, not how her growth wouldn’t have happened “without” the acts of Ramsey and Littlefinger. How the writers chose to fashion her words also glorifies the “cock” factor that drops from Varys’ mouth during his treason-chat with Tyrion, while they debate losing Dany in favor of Jon Snow.
Jason: I like the “puppeteers on a smoke break” feel of these scenes between Varys and Tyrion, but I also don’t want them to have any actual effect on what happens. I get what it says about the machinations of warfare and politics and how, ultimately, these things are decided in a dark room. But if the whole series ends with Varys making a decision and Tyrion nodding with apprehension then I will be deeply disappointed in the obviousness of it all. In addition to, you know, Tormund not taking the throne atop an elephant with Ghost by his side. BETCHA DIDN’T THINK I’D FIND A WAY TO WORK ELEPHANTS IN!
Kimberly: I’m totally ignoring the elephant remark! But I hope you are correct about the Varys-Tyrion discussions. It would be a nice change if the Thrones writers consider them a red herring as well as an example of (lame) wizardry being the war-curtain — rather than genuinely suggesting that female rulers are bad. Because look, we’ve got multiple leading female candidates for the Iron Throne vs. one weak male. Whatever the writers are doing with Dany’s sudden impulsiveness, it’s a sloppy narrative and feels like they’re tearing down several seasons of complex character building to back into the ending they want — that she’s suddenly going mad and only leaving her impulsive execution of the Tarlys as past supporting evidence. It’s not fair to Dany as a character. However, Cersei’s clearly the far better strategist. As much as I dislike her, she’s my pick this week for who will win. That’s it, I’m losing my mind over this show, but also, maybe one elephant for Cersei.
Jason: I feel like there’s more telegraphing with regard to Dany being impulsive, but I get your larger point about hoping the dumb phallic ruling notion is hokum. Anyway, I’m aligning with Brian Grubb’s take from prior to this latest episode and betting my chips on Euron as the eventual Iron Throne winner. As we now know, that dude’s crossbow game is legit. They’re so big and powerful.
Kimberly: Oh my god. This is what we’ve come to. Crossbows and elephants. Game of Thrones has turned into a size-queen game. Alright, let’s see who dies this week, and we can gather around next time for a final Westeros showdown.
