HBO has released another Anatomy of a Scene feature to the Game of Thrones YouTube channel. This one examines the scene of Theon being baptized.
You can see more of these types of videos on HBO Go when watching Thrones with the Interactive Features.
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31 Comments
last!
bobQuote Reply
Second… From last
ChoukaiQuote Reply
3rd from last (and from first)?
UdiQuote Reply
Poor Theon – always doing the wrong thing and trying to please the exact wrong people! Guess I know people like that.
patchy faceQuote Reply
This was a great scene and the soundtrack rocked, not sure if it’s Theon’s theme or Greyjoy’s theme?
BlackfishQuote Reply
Blackfish,
Maybe it is the Greyjoy theme – think they used it in the scene with Asha-Yara and Theon last week.
patchy faceQuote Reply
Theon will have it, from the Boltons
BalerionQuote Reply
As awesome as that location was, I still think a near drowning experience would have been better, and cheaper, and would set up the other kind of magic in the world.
A shot of Theon going underwater, cut to his family watching….for too long…, back to him struggling, not sure if they mean to actually kill him, then air bubbling up, then his legs going limp, then the priest reviving him. THEN he looks at his family with that “see, I can do this, no problem” look.
I don’t know that the location’s beauty was worth exchanging for that sort of physical drama.
Critical GeekQuote Reply
I thought it was nice that Yara bothered to put on her nice church-going long rags! Very respectful of her.
KGQuote Reply
Critical Geek,
It would not be cheaper. You would have to hire a safety team with SCUBA drivers in it.
FogQuote Reply
I cant imagine Theon going through a proper Iron Islands baptism (ie being drowned and brought back) was he done like that in the book or did it not say. I must confess I cant remember
Paul MacQuote Reply
It happened in the book the way it did in the show.
JQuote Reply
Yes, but dumb book fanboys can’t remember that, the same way they didn’t remember Jaqen mentioned the Red God .
Claudiu GherganuQuote Reply
Isn’t the full-on and effin’ dangerous drown +resuscitate ritual reserved for those who wish to become Drowned Men, i.e. priests? Everyone else – including the newborn – is only submerged briefly or else has sea water poured over them.
I agree, though, that D&D could have made the scene a good deal more dramatic: Theon and the priest could have waded out until their knees were submerged. There, the priest would ask him if he vowed to reconfirm his faith in the Drowned God. After Theon says yes, the priest would explain that he would have to surrender to the Drowned God by keeping his whole body submerged and perfectly still while holding his breath. The longer he held out in apnea, the more the Drowned God would love and protect him.
Theon would let the priest push his chest down (cue underwater camera). Unable to relax, he would quickly panic, swallowing a lot of sea water and thrashing about. The priest would have to pull him out the water. Exit Balon and Yara, visibly underwhelmed, while Theon retched in the background. Annoyed, the priest would force him to complete the ceremony before he had a chance to fully recover. Exit everyone but Theon, looking more like a drowned rat than a proud Ironborn.
Since there’s no intent to actually drown Theon, this interpretation would still comply with canon.
Naggas’s KinQuote Reply
Well, they can still get some old school drowning action in as a way to introduce the Damphair should they decide to add him to the cast.
Critical GeekQuote Reply
I think the scene was perfect just the way it was. Beautiful cinematography, powerful music and subtle acting, a winning combination in my book.
MachaQuote Reply
The best scene in that episode.
rolleQuote Reply
This one loved this scene. The most important message of the scene was conveyed…that Theon would do anything to get the approval of his father. That Alfie Allen was able to show that emotion while enduring the weather and standing in freezing water…brilliant! IMO, doing a more thorough drowning most likely would have changed the focus of the scene from the emotional to the physical act of drowning itself and detracted from the point. Not to mention endangering cast and crew. Rewatching brought tears to this one’s eyes.
Mrs. H’gharQuote Reply
Theons presence was purely amazing during the baptisme, his eyes, the conflict and the epic music turned my eyes in salt water.
lonasQuote Reply
I really liked this scene. The landscape is beautiful.
AlatarielQuote Reply
I think your right, we had a taste of the theme in the scene with Yara and Theon riding to the castle and the baptisim scene we heard it longer.
BlackfishQuote Reply
Critical Geek,
I totally agree with you. It also would have shown how crazy that religion was. But maybe HBO feels they don’t have the time or budget to go into all of the religions in this show. I think the drowned God it one they should have shown though, just because it’s such a crazy intense religion.
DougQuote Reply
This full drowning thing is a TERRIBLE idea, in my opinion.
Not only did it not happen in the books, but it would have felt completely out of place at that moment. The moment did NOT call for some intense, crazy drowning. That would have ruined the flow of the scene. It was exactly the way it should have been, powerfully solemn. The way it was executed (the music, Theon’s expressions, etc.) was PERFECT.
LexQuote Reply
Theon wasn’t drowned in the books… But he was baptized by his Uncle Aeron, rather than some random priest.
Varamyr FourskinsQuote Reply
This. There’s a distinct tone to these scenes — and as another poster pointed out, the point of the scenes was to demonstrate Theon’s choice and motivation for doing so.
A violent drowning scene — especially one in which it’s not apparent that this the manner in which it is supposed to occur, or one that requires a lot of verbal communication — would have drastically altered the tone of the scene and the meaning.
The point was never to show the religion of the Iron Islands. That will come later, when we see Aeron drowning one of his devout followers.
AlanQuote Reply
I don’t have a problem with them making it a random priest in this case. The logistics of bringing in an actor for one scene for a part that will promptly disappear for at least one (and possibly two) more seasons (depending on when/if they decide to include the Kingsmoot) seem pretty difficult to work around.
JQuote Reply
This is off topic but has anyone seen The Avengers yet ?? I ask because I think Loki just tried to steal Jamie’s ” there are no men like me” line.
The KingslayerQuote Reply
Just a question from a non-book reader:
Theon would have been about 7 or 8 years old when the Starks made him their ward. Did they force him to convert to either the old gods or the faith of the seven?
If not, then the whole baptism/confirmation scene didn’t really imply a renunciation of all things Stark, only their religious tolerance.
Naggas’s KinQuote Reply
I was so very disappointed by the lack of a proper drowning. It was single thing I most looked forward to in this season. But I think HBO cut it so as not offend the Christians with their clearly inferior baptism ceremonies. Bummer. Hopefully there will be a proper Drowned God baptism in some future scene.
Kai Alexis PriceQuote Reply
As I recall, in the first scene with Damphair he groused that very few people did a proper baptism anymore and that just a few drops of water instead of a full-on drowning. No, Theon didn’t get the full on drowning, but I think it would have been pretty cool.
Noob Takes the BlackQuote Reply
Listen closely, now…
THERE. WAS. NO. DROWNING. IN. THE. BOOK.
LexQuote Reply