Game of Thrones: Sons of the Harpy

[dropcap]U[/dropcap]sually the grandest episodes of Game of Thrones also alter the stakes in some way. The set-pieces that everyone remembers (the Battle of the Blackwater, the Red Wedding, the assault on Castle Black) are the ones that foregrounded dramatic changes for our characters against an epic backdrop. It is disappointing to see this week’s episode, ‘Sons of the Harpy’, bucking that trend by delivering plenty of guts and gore but very little advancement in story terms.

Case in point: Jaime and Bronn made it to Dorne, doubling down on their buddy action film routine with a plan to snatch the misplaced Myrcella Lannister (Aimee Richardson) with their own three hands. To let us know that things are getting dangerous, we got an action scene. It was an impressive bit of choreography, and it was enjoyable to see Jaime getting stuck into some action again. Catching the sword with his metal hand was a great gag too. Visual metaphors, ahoy! Still, it didn’t feel like we left Westeros’ generic southern province (Sand! Scorpions! Tans!) with a greater understanding of anything or anyone than when we arrived.

Melisandre the creepy priestess. Photo: HBO and Sky

It was a similar story in Meereen. We’re now nearly halfway through the season and Daenerys has made very little progress. She’s still trying to keep both sides of her citizenry happy, bickering about fighting pits and learning a very long-winded lesson about being a queen.

To let us know things are getting dangerous, we got an action scene. In this case, a clash between the Unsullied and the Sons of the Harpy. Yes, it was great to see Grey Worm (Jacob Anderson) and Ser Barristan (Ian McElhinney) living up to their reputations by making short work of some gold-masked creeps. I just wish we had more variation on the street brawls that Thrones is so fond of.

So fond, in fact, that we got two in the same episode: this week saw the religious fervour in King’s Landing escalate to dangerous new levels with, naturally, an action scene.

Snark aside, I did really enjoy the Faith Militant’s rampage through the capital.

Their vengeful, pious destruction makes a refreshing change from the greedy, secular violence we’re used to seeing

Amongst all this chaos, spare a thought for Tommen Lannister (Dean-Charles Chapman). His honeymoon period is over; his mum is still a manipulative alcoholic; and, given the other powers vying for his uncomfortable throne, he’s unlikely to meet a happy end.

Of the contenders, I imagine it is Stannis who won over the most new fans this week.

I’ve consistently been fascinated by the middle Baratheon child, a man who inspires little interest at first, but displays a kind of dour patriotism that I’m drawn to. His speech to his daughter showcased a more human (although still quite severe) side to his character this week, and I hope we see more of it in future episodes. Such a prominent character deserves a better reputation than just being the monarch with the creepy priestess in his retinue.

And what a creepy priestess she is. Her confrontation with Jon Snow was this week’s highlight, a meeting of the moralistic and the mystical. Seeing Jon confronted with Melisandre’s seduction and that line made for an incredibly compelling crossover.

I love that we’re seeing so many of this kind of moment as the worlds of our characters collide

Tyrion sadly spends most of the episode unable to speak. Photo: HBO, Helen Sloan and Sky

Less exciting was the conflict between Tyrion and his new keeper, the returned Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen). There’s plenty of potential here, but their scenes together were somewhat one-note. In ten minutes, all we learned is that Tyrion is still headed for Meereen, just by a slightly different route. It didn’t help that Tyrion, the show’s most talkative character, spent most of his time here gagged.

However, it is slightly churlish to focus on these negatives. All the good things that one expects from Thrones – the scale, the characterisation, the twists ­– were as strong as ever this week. ‘Sons of the Harpy’ just failed to deliver anything radically different from what we’ve seen before. As this season slowly builds its pace, future showings will hopefully deliver something a little more special.