Wildcard:

And as the episode ended, the flames rose so high as to singe the clouds, yet out of that great searing heat strode a young woman. Daenerys Targaryen, Mother of Dragons, Breaker of Chains. Unburnt and unharmed.

No, there were no new dragons to hatch this time but the trick was basically the same. Call it symbolism, the last time she played with fire and didn’t get burnt was the time her dragon eggs hatched. This time the hatching was more within herself. Clearly the rehashing of the Dothraki thing was always going to be a lesson learning experience for Dany, going back to her roots to see what she had been missing. Whatever she realised, it worked because her sudden ruthlessness has gained her the army that she desperately needed. Daario and Jorah helped but this was Dany’s pyrotechnic show.

Hopefully this means she can finally get to doing something now.

I guess the hair is immune to the flames too then?

For a show that has a conflicted history with nudity, that last scene was worth a few thoughts. Generally, there’s been no shortage of skin on the show, what with it being an HBO joint and all that. Emilia Clarke was one who seemed to have that requirement in her contract early on but in recent times she’s gone with body doubles. Not this week though. Clarke had to shoot down the odd rumour that she was refusing nude scenes but as she rightly says it isn’t like her male co-stars are getting asked these things. That’s the conflict with GoT: it’s a show that both empowers and degrades women. That’s all part of the world that it exists in, and those cruelties are meant to reflect back upon us and our culture, but that won’t stop the boring think-pieces every week.

What was notable about Dany’s naked triumph this week was how utterly powerful she appeared. Generally shows use nudity to show either intimacy or weakness and vulnerability. Such was the case in her first Dothraki stint. Here though she stood pure and cleansed from the flames, completely bare and yet more worthy than every other person in attendance. They all bowed in their clothed shame and awe. Dany has nothing to hide and everything now to gain. Like the still-unnoticed Ian McShane famously said: “It’s only tits and dragons”, but pretty soon they’ll rule the world.

Or, you know, die at the hands of the Harpys. Best wait and see what happens there.

Ooh, but Daario knows about Jorah’s greyscale now. That might just be to end the masculine competition between them, now that Mormont is on his last legs and Naharis knows it.

Right, here’s a question: When was the last time that two of the Stark kids were together at once? Not since Bran and Rickon went their separate ways, surely? That was a couple seasons ago, since then we almost had a Jon/Bran reunion and Brienne has come close to Arya as well as finding Sansa but Sansa and Jon’s moment in the courtyard was a long time in coming for those kiddies. Coming so soon in the episode it almost felt like we were being spoiled, what is it when this show comes to us with good news? Winter must be coming or something.

Either that or it’s Ramsay Bolton’s crimes driving all of his enemies together. He chased Sansa north and into Jon Snow’s realm. Now those two – the eldest remaining Starkers – are left to reunite the north and reclaim Winterfell… somehow. Even if he gathers all his wildling buddies, Jon would still be outnumbered at least 2 to 5 and that’s before the fact that he really doesn’t wanna fight anymore.

Which means that if you selected the ‘reclaim Winterfell’ option in last week’s quiz then you are a winner. Congratulations, you’ve got a free meal, courtesy of the Night’s Watch. You’re menu is: a) Stew, b) Meat Stew, c) Three Meat Stew, or d) Stew Surprise. They aren’t known for their food but there are more important things.

My assumption is that eventually the Iron Islands will come to the Stark’s aid. Individually they’re both getting done in sideways by the Boltons but together they could probably take them. Ramsay, though, he’s a cunning bugger. He played Osha like a cheap guitar and left her bleeding out on the floor in such a tease of a scene. Pretending like she could slay the bastard when we already knew that character had outlived her worth. That is not good news for any actor.

Having a bit of trouble with that apple there, lad?

Ramsay’s idea seems to be to flush out the Starks so he can remove that threat. He isn’t about to find Bran but he can get the others and he probably doesn’t know that Arya is still around either. Arya who might have earned the eighth gym badge last week with a trip to the elite four on the cards but she got the week off to prepare. Noteworthy that we haven’t seen anything of the White Walkers too for that matter. Out of sight but never out of mind (we just got our fire, so next must be ice...).

Pretty interesting that we had three strong willed sisters in Sansa, Yara and Margaery all trying to motivate their sobbing, whimpering brothers into action. This was an episode in which the ladies really dominated.

Wow, you know with all the Sansa looking for Jon stuff I fully forgot about the Brienne connection. Things are more tangled than a Lannister wedding up there on The Wall, with Brienne’s allegiances to Renly and Renly being murdered by Melisandre’s demon birth and Brienne executing Stannis and Davos being Stannis’ hand and is there something else I’m missing? Didn’t Davos one eat Brienne’s sandwich out of the fridge even after she labelled it firmly with her own name? Good to see Davos and Melisandre clear the air at least – I know the Jon stuff was pretty distracting but I’m shocked by the implication that Davos had never asked about Stannis and Shireen.

Hey and how come Sansa and Jon have such different accents when they were raised together at Winterfell? Oh yeah, Americans. Can’t tell English from English, those muppets.

I really can’t see anything good happening from Sansa and Jon storming the castle, as things stand patience seems to be the best bet. Although as Sansa wisely says, the northern lords are likely to follow him. The north remembers, mate. Good on Sansa for getting a little more assertive around Jonny – she even made him accept her apology for her childish pretentiousness way back when. Oh, and they do have one other ally if they should choose to utilise him…

Littlefinger, aye? Old Mayor Carcetti himself. Bit of a risk to bring him into things but he’s certainly got the best of the locals around him. As for young Lord Arryn, that kid has aged into something a pleasant degree less maniacal, though he’s still enough of a crazy, spoiled nutter to make King Tommen look like a maester.

Not that the maesters at King’s Landing are worth a damn, Pycelle is an absolute tool. Man this is all blending together this episode. He’s suggesting caution around the Sparrows, as the High Sparrow prepares Margaery to repent while Loras cries for it all to stop. Luckily for them, Tyrion isn’t the only Lannister preaching the wisdom of treating with your enemies. The Tyrells and the Lannisters are in bed again… so to speak. When you look at the whole thing, there’s no wonder that the Sparrows and the elite are all at odds. The Sparrows are all about moral purity and we all know that money and riches and power are great corruptors. Unfortunately you sort of need a ruling class, especially in these lands, or else it’s all just chaos. The Sparrows would like to see themselves in power so they can enforce the word of the gods but they don’t seem to realise that their own quest for power is corruptive too. Only the beggars win in their situation, those beggars who have nothing to begin with. It’s not that the High Sparrow is out there trying to do evil things it’s just that his salvation isn’t for everyone and he cannot see that through his own piousness.

Ah… one major complaint… where the hell was Bran!? I WANT MY RAVEN VISIONS!

Shout out to Tyrion though, I really thought he nailed the politics that episode. That everyone else around him seemed to disagree (except for the notably silent Varys) is a clear sign of how tough the task is ahead of him. But already he and Varys are each doing more to achieve peace than Daenerys ever did with her strict stance of zero compromise. Since she has three dragons, she doesn’t really have to compromise but she hasn’t used them and they’ve lost their effect. Now it seems like she’s back and ready to lead with ferocity again. It’s another turn of the cycle, sure. At least this time we’re at the top end again.

Khaleesi for President, 2016.

Diggity Doc:

Khaleesi for President, 2016 ... where does that leave Tyrion?

In the aftermath of 'The Book Of Strangers' I stumbled upon a little passage that basically outlined the difference between ruling and conquering. I see ruling as being a mid to long-term situation in which the leader juggles the political shenanigans with inspiring their people ... and being good at killing people. Conquering is more of a short-term way of going about your business and to me it ultimately comes down to: you can conquer a city but can you then rule that city?

Daenerys once again showed that she's a gifted young lady, becoming the Dothraki queen. Let's not forget that the Dothraki, well the males at least, are all basically the stereotypical jock. Ladies love them because they are big, beastly and ooze masculinity but that love sees them give up much of their individuality or control, they become submissive to what is perceived to be the epitome of a man. And here is Daenerys, breaking down all sorts of gender equality barriers.

Dany, however, currently sits in the 'conquer' basket.

In the same episode as Dany's re-emergence from the flames, unburnt and all, Tyrion is juggling the political/societal issues that have swept over Meereen. Dany conquered, but she doesn't have the same political nous as Tyrion and now the dwarf is cleaning up, trying to get Meereen back on track so that there is some sort of foundation behind what I reckon is going to be the ultimate tandem in Dany and Tyrion.

The flabbergasted nature of pretty much everyone when Tyrion did his thang, showed Dany's flaws. Missandei is understandably super loyal to Dany, so is Grey Worm as they owe their lives to Dany and the difference between someone who conquers and someone who rules is crystal clear here...

You've gotta tip your hat to Missandei though, she's a quick learner.

Sure Dany has fire and dragons, but she's not the perfect leader, nor is Tyrion. They need each other, just as Jon and Sansa currently need each other.

I'm loving that Winterfell looks to be where the reunited Starks will end up and it's only right that as we learn more about the Stark whanau and the incredible powers/mystical nature of the children, that Winterfell continues to be a focal point.

Super weird that Rickon Stark is essentially in his own jail. The thought of their younger brother locked up in the same shit-hole that their daddy used to put bad guys in is pretty weird and is just another little note in the 'I Hate Ramsay Bolton' book. The backdrop to the upcoming Battle Of The North is the looming threat of a chilly breeze approaching from north of the wall and I'm not sure if Ramsay is fully aware of this threat, has Jon told Sansa what he saw at Hardhome?

Maybe that was why Jon wasn't quite as keen as Sansa to go and take back Winterfell and it's a fair chance as to why Jon is tired of killing. Jon may genuinely be tired of killing people, yet that would be a strange feeling in a land where the currency is nothing less than killing people. However, being tired of killing people is a whole lot more understandable when you know of the real threat.

Not everyone knows of this threat approaching and I'm not completely sure that it matters. If they all knew of what was coming, then the smart option would be to team up and hit the gym together. Gather all the armies, all the magic and suss out a strategy, instead of killing each other off right? That's clearly not the case, so we've still got Ramsay's lust for peeling apples in the forefront of our minds. It's okay, if all else fails, Ramsay will shit his pants if he makes it to 'Winter'.

Then again, Ramsay seems like the perfect bloke to join the baddies.

Shout out to Theon, that dude has endured the most of anyone in this show and he's got a little part of his mind that is still his. That itsy-bitsy part of his mind which is still ticking over well enough for him to back his sister; Theon and Yara, Jon and Sansa along with Dany and Tyrion. The first two are a pair of siblings while Dany and Tyrion are? Hehe.

Right now, everything happening at King's Landing is of little relevance to the bigger picture, perhaps the least relevant to the impending doom. Up to this point, I had been rather interested in the life lessons that I could gain from the situation in King's Landing, mainly stemming from the moral battle at the hands of the High Sparrow. The Sparrow is a bloke who talks a good game, like many people we know in real life, heck these same people like to talk a big game about being down to Earth, ignoring materialistic ideals and what not but at the end of the day, their actions let them down.

I used to like what the High Sparrow would say, now I just see his silly little band of religious fighters whenever he speaks. The High Sparrow is now something similar to some governments or corporations who preach freedom and peace, yet they really just kill people and/or take your money. Don't sleep.

S06E04 Character Power Rankings

Daenerys Targaryen – Still lapping up those flames like a cool breeze in summer. The Unburnt is real.
Sansa Stark – Do you think her red hair is symbolic of fire? So many of the powerful women on this show (Dany, Melisandre, Ygritte, etc.) have either gingerness or fire power. GRRM must like his redheads.
Ramsay Bolton – Don’t get too close, he’ll stick ya. His sledge letters are brutal too.
Tyrion Lannister – Quoted as a wise man, that’s a nice bonus. His grasp of other languages could use more work.
Brienne of Tarth – Dropping truth bombs to Ex-Team Stannis, plus she might have a not so secret admirer there too…
Littlefinger – Sitting on the bench for a few weeks but it looks like he has a plan as always.
Jon Snow – Cheer up Jonny, you’re still breathing aren’t you?
Queen Margaery – The Queen’s still in prison but she has powerful allies. Just stay strong.
High Sparrow – Did you hear the one about the cobbler’s son?
Jorah Mormont – Time’s ticking and the greyscale’s spreading… but that’s one objective completed.