May 24, 2015 - Official confirmation via Jaqen H'ghar child abuse: Arya didn't hate the Hound. - Occasional reminder: Lo
May 24, 2015
That’s What Ygritte Said A weekly Game of Thrones newsletter by Sam Ryu
UNBOWED, UNBENT, UNBROKEN - SEASON 5, EPISODE 6 With last Sunday’s confluence of what people are calling the weakest Game of Thrones episode yet (I mostly disagree because there hasn’t been a bad episode) and an incredibly satisfying series finale for Mad Men (my all-time favorite show), I realized a few things. While Game of Thrones has a deep roster of great characters, these characters primarily exist to service the plot. When the story gets a little shaky (as it did during various points in this episode), it feels like the characters are building sand castles near the tide—that regardless of their individual actions, the story will march forward with or without them. This issue was most glaring during Sansa’s kind-of-problematic rape scene and the Sand Snakes’ poorly choreographed fight scene. These few exceptions aside, however, the episode had a lot of offer (but little to write about).
May 24, 2015
Lord Baelish the Gamemaster I’ve previously described Littlefinger as playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers. But as he continues to drop half-truths here and carefullyselected facts there, his game board seems more like that of Chinese checkers. What does he really want? Does he really want to be Warden of the North (after dangling that title in front of Sansa a couple episodes ago)? Does he want to be with Sansa? It’s difficult to tell—we can only take what he says at face value— but mostly because I don’t think he has a clear goal. I think his approach is more about having a web of contingency plans within contingency plans. Conspiracy Theory of the Week Lady Olenna Tyrell is back in King’s Landing. So is Littlefinger. Not exactly sure what they’re up to, but they were the two masterminds responsible for Joffrey’s death. The Lannisters have no money and Cersei is losing allies quickly. Uh oh. Recasting Notice: Myrcella Baratheon
Myrcella, S1E2
Myrcella, S5E6
Loose Ends - Official confirmation via Jaqen H’ghar child abuse: Arya didn’t hate the Hound. - Occasional reminder: Lord Commander Jeor Mormont was Ser Jorah’s father. - Filmmaking 101: The shot of Bronn getting cut held a half-second longer. Last time someone (the Mountain) got nicked by a Dornish blade? It was poisoned. - Game of Thrones: The Musical by Coldplay—full video. (h/t: Steve P.) To join the weekly newsletter mailing list, send an email to
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