Game Of Thrones Review – Mockingbird

The title for this episode is a call to Petyr Baelish and his sigil the mockingbird. Though most of the episode was anything but Petyr, the ending surely was. Spoilers ahead.

Arya and the Hound continue to work their way towards the Vale but come across another settlement that they try to get food and shelter from. However, they find that someone had already raided it and the owner was dieing in the field. After a bit of a speech the Hound kills the man in what he considers a mercy kill, as he had a stomach wound. That is a horrible way to go. Two men attempt to kill the Hound as there is a reward on his head. Arya remembers one of them as the man who took her and the other children captive. She needs his name before she can kill him and as soon as he says his name, she does just that. She is learning.

Jamie is pissed at Tyrion. He blew any chance he had at getting away from this alive and Tyrion honestly doesn’t care. He couldn’t continue to listen to Shae lie on the stand. Tyrion finds out that the person he will be fighting is the Hounds older brother, the Mountain. Bronn visits Tyrion also and he arrives with new clothes. It’s clear that the Queen has gotten to him and he admits as much to Tyrion. He tells him that although they are friends, he has never saved his life so why should he (Bronn) die for him? The Mountain is not someone to mess with. Prince Oberyn visits him last and has a story to tell. He tells Tyrion about the day he first met him, when Tyrion had just been born and how Cersei told everyone he was a monster with a tail, a red-eye and a giant head. When he saw him, he realized it was just a baby with a slightly larger head and smaller arms. However Cersei hated him and wished him dead even as an infant for killing their mother. She blames him for her death. The Prince says that he wants justice for what was done to his family and he can get everything he wants right there. He decided to seek his revenge on the Mountain that he will be Tyrions champaign.

Daenerys continues to rule in Mareen but finds that one man continues to seek her affection. Daario Naharis snuck into her room, much to her annoyance but his persistence paid off and they hook up finally after several episodes of teasing. The next morning Mormont comes in and is not pleased with Daenerys’ decision to have the Daario and his mean go back to the other cites, round up the masters and kill them all. He mentions the fact that had Ned Stark done that with him, he would not have been here to advise and protect her as he is now. She changes her mind and tells him to let Daario take the masters son from Moreen with him to give the other masters a choice: Live in my new world, or die in their old one.

Brienne and Podrick continue their trip to the Vale in order to find Sansa and run across a baker’s boy who has recently seen Arya. Up until now, everyone assumed she was dead, but now they know she’s not. Melisandre continues to spin her web when Stannis’ wife comes in and tells her that taking their daughter with on this trip is not a good idea in her mind but Melisandre says the lord of the light thinks otherwise.

Back the Vale, Sansa spends her time building a snow castle of Winterfell in the courtyard trying to remember what it looks like. Not longer after finishing, young Robert comes and they have a fun conversation and she seems happy. But when he accidentally ruins her creation in order to create a ‘moon window’ she gets upset and he has a temper tantrum, to which she slaps him. Petyr saw the whole thing and even though she is at first sorry, he says it was a long time coming for the boy (no kidding right?). When asked why he killed Joffery by Sansa, he said that he loved her mother more than she could ever imagine and what do we do to those who hurt the ones we love? He then decides to kiss her! It can’t just be me but that is just creepy, he is just a creep. The worst thing is that Lysa saw it and later called Sansa to the moon room. There she confronts her about the kiss and precedes to push her down over the moon door and is ready to push her over as she proclaims that Petyr belongs to her. Petyr comes in and puts a stop to it, telling Lysa that he will send Sansa away if it makes her feel better. After settling her down, he tells her not to worry about who he loves, there has only ever been one person in his life that he has loved: her (Lysas) sister. He then pushes her off the ledge!

Wow what an ending. Overall the episode was rather slow, but the ending surely took me by surprise. I’ve never read the books so I’m sure those who have were not shocked by it. Next weeks episode looks to have more excitement but this episode clearly helped setup a lot of what is to come in the last 3 episodes.