Game of Thrones Series Blog – Second Sons

Episode eight, Second Sons, focuses more on depth than breadth, and we center in on the stories of a few of the main players. We see the marriage at King’s Landing; Daenerys’ fight to free Yunkai; and Sam discovers just how brave he truly is. There’s no sign of Theon this week, which I doubt many are complaining about, but there’s also no word from The Freys, Jaime and Brienne, or Bran and the Reeds. The end of the season is creeping ever closer, with just two more episodes to go, so the final pieces are being slid into place for the grand finale.

The episode opens with Arya’s quickly foiled attempt to assassinate the Hound in his sleep. She quickly discovers that Sandor is perhaps not as awful as she thinks, as he’s saved her sister and now intends to take her back to her family at Riverrun. He also seems to share her distaste for the current royal family, something that seems to give her a little more faith in the King’s not-so-loyal dog. I feel like the two wayward vagabonds could have a brilliant storyline, and a very interesting relationship. A rare smile from Arya at the end of the scene is enough to start chipping away at the bad reputation Sandor has.

It seems that having a King’s blood is more liability than gift, as Gendry finds himself a prisoner of Melisandre, and ends up having his blood leeched in a somewhat gruesome scene. He’s alive for now, at least, but the Red Priestess’ words about slaughtering lambs and the talks of sacrifice don’t exactly bode well. It looks as though young Gendry’s days may be numbered. Someone having marginally more luck on Dragonstone is Davos, who is learning to read, courtesy of Stannis’ daughter. Hats off to him, though, seriously. It’s a struggle for even the best literary geniuses amongst us to pronounce the names of the Targaryens and their dragons. He is given his freedom as well, providing that he doesn’t raise a hand to Melisandre again. But for someone with morals as strong as Davos, I think that may be a struggle.

Tyrion and Sansa are married this week, in one of the most awkward ceremonies to have ever happened. A stepladder is provided for Tyrion to give Sansa her wedding cloak, but before the ceremony even begins, Joffrey, in his infinite cruelty, takes it away. You can feel the tension and humiliation in the church hall as Sansa refuses to kneel, and the giggling congregation looks on.

The reception is not much better, as the suggestion of the traditional Westerosi ‘bedding’ ceremony causes Tyrion to threaten Joffrey with gelding. But the worst humiliation of all has to be when Tyrion tells Sansa that he will not share her bed until she wants him to. When she asks the question ‘what if I never want you to?’ the agony in Tyrion’s face is palpable. Margaery was most certainly right when she said that Tyrion was not the worst of the Lannisters, but he does seem to get the bad end of the stick every time. I really think that Tyrion and Sansa could make a wonderful team, if not a romantic couple. They could end up concocting some wonderful schemes together.

The episode’s namesake, the Second Sons, is in reference to the band of sellswords that Yunkai have hired to take out Daenerys and her army of Unsullied. Her initial meeting with them is more than unpleasant, as they seem to be interested in little discussion beyond the Khaleesi’s abilities in the bedroom. Daario, however, is quick to notice her lie about her numbers, and her even-tempered rebuttal of each lewd comment does nothing to win the Second Sons over. They leave her tent, parting with the impression that they intend to fight for Yunkai after all.

Their chat doesn’t get any better back at the camp, and the three men come to the decision that Daenerys needs to be killed before the battle begins. When Daario draws the Braavosi coin, it is decided that he will be the one to do the deed. He does indeed sneak into Daenerys’ camp that night. However, rather than taking her head, he brings her those of the two captains. He swears fealty to Daenerys, promising her the Second Sons for her army. His motive, saying that he fights for beauty, is not the most reassuring of reasons, and I’m finding it difficult to trust him at the moment. However, if all goes well (chance would be a fine thing), the Khaleesi now has 10,000 trained soldiers. Not a bad army to take to the seven Kingdoms, and certainly enough to free the slaves of Yunkai.

Cersei’s less-than-friendly chat with Margaery about the now-extinct house Rayne may be a hint for viewers about what’s to come next. Episode 9, The Rains of Castamere, airs on June 2^nd, and it’ll have to be a corker to justify the two week wait. We have yet another wedding to look forward to – perhaps next week’s bride and groom will be happier than Tyrion and Sansa. Somehow, I doubt it.