Unsullied Recap—Game of Thrones, Episode 604—”Book of the Stranger”

Spoiler note: “A girl says nothing. A girl keeps her mouth closed. No one hears.” —Girls, boys, and everyone alike, Jaqen H’ghar has spoken, so please remember: This recap is primarily for non-book readers (book fans can discuss the show here). If you’re a book reader, please avoid posting any spoilers here so as not to ruin the fun for those who don’t know what’s coming next. Thank you!

We’re at the Wall—a common starting point this season—and I’m doing victory laps. While Edd fruitlessly tries to dissuade Jon from leaving when they know the White Walkers are on the march, their argument is cut short by the sound of the horn outside. We’re treated to a shot of everyone’s squad goals when the gates open to reveal Brienne, flanked by Sansa and Pod, all on horseback and ready to tear it up. A little Barry White plays in the background when Brienne and Tormund lock eyes, but their meeting is superseded by Sansa and Jon’s reunion.

We haven’t seen two Starks together since Bran and Rickon parted ways in Season 3, and the scene doesn’t disappoint. Neither Sansa nor Jon (who looks as though he’s seen a ghost) look away as he comes down to meet her, and their embrace is what Stark fans’ dreams are made of. After reminiscing and passing a crappy beer between themselves, Sansa broaches the subject of Winterfell but Jon will hardly hear of it. After all he’s been through, after years of taking on one battle after another, he doesn’t want to fight anymore, but Sansa takes on the role of level-headed strategist and appeals to Jon’s sense of honor. Winterfell is their home, it’s theirs to fight for; the Starks have been knocked down time and again, and now it’s time to take back everything that’s rightfully theirs. Sansa tells him, “I want you to help me. But I’ll do it myself if I have to,” and you believe that she could, but pray that Jon won’t force her hand. The scene was a nice callback to when Catelyn advised Robb in Seasons 2-3, only this time I think we can be assured a Stark victory.

Elsewhere at Castle Black, Davos is back to throwing shade at Melisandre’s religion when she calls Jon “the prince that was promised” and Davos reminds her that she said the same of Stannis. He asks after Shireen, who was like a daughter to him, but before Melisandre can confirm the fear we see in his eyes, Brienne shows up to throw some shade of her own. Clearly disdainful of those who followed Stannis and played a hand in Renly’s death, Brienne very plainly states that she executed the last Baratheon contender for the Iron Throne.

We move on to find that Robin Arryn is instead still jonesin’ to toss anyone he can out the Moon Door. This time, he has his eye on Lord Royce, who has been overseeing his abysmal training and doesn’t trust Littlefinger as far as he could throw him. Royce is skeptical at best when Littlefinger claims that he and Sansa were “set upon” by Bolton soldiers and she was forced to marry Ramsay, presumably against Littlefinger’s wishes. Once again Littlefinger employs his master manipulation by appealing to Robin’s love for him (and for falcons), and Lord Royce is forced to back down if he values his life and status. Littlefinger assures all that Sansa is relatively safe at Castle Black, but she can’t linger there while the Boltons are after her. Robin decides that they should help Sansa, so it seems that he’s matured at least somewhat since the last time he saw his cousin, when she smacked him a good one across the face, an action that had everyone but him absolutely chuffed.

In Meereen, we learn that Tyrion’s plan mentioned last week was to invite the masters of Slaver’s Bay over for a friendly negotiation, which Missandei and Grey Worm oppose. Missandei tells Tyrion that for all he knows, he doesn’t understand, and I find that true of virtually everyone throughout Daenerys’ storyline: Everyone gets into each other’s business and doesn’t actually know what to do with any of it.

While Tyrion compromises with the masters by allowing them seven years to weed out slavery and adjust to the change, Missandei and Grey Worm later warn him that while Tyrion may think he’s using the masters, they’ll use him worse. Surely the warning has merit, as Tyrion is using his old Westerosi knowledge and tricks in a place that is not Westeros, but a place he, like Daenerys, doesn’t know, and we saw how that worked out for her. Tyrion does have the advantage of political experience, but politics don’t work in Essos like they do across the Narrow Sea. At this point, we can only hope that Daenerys & Co. make it back across that sea ASAP, because the story here is growing stale. How much longer must we settle matters in a place that doesn’t play into the endgame? The White Walkers ain’t marching on Essos.

But before Daenerys & Co. can make it back in time for winter to come, they need their lead singer back, and so we join the rescue expedition just in time for Daario to start another pissing contest with Jorah. Handsomest man on the planet he may be, but according to Daario, Jorah probably doesn’t have it in him to “ride the dragon.” Daario can talk my ear off about how often he’s bumpin’ uglies with Daenerys, but I just assume he’s unprepared to deal with his burgeoning sexual attraction to Jorah.

Latent homoeroticism aside, the pair make it to Vaes Dothrak, ditching their weapons along the way so as to adhere to the Dothraki rule we learned back in Season 1: Bloodshed in this sacred place is forbidden. While handing over his prized collection of blades, Daario notices Jorah’s worsening greyscale, which isn’t discussed much further because deadly diseases notwithstanding, they have a mission to concentrate on if they want things to pan out better than Jaime and Bronn’s bromantic adventure in Dorne.

It doesn’t work out so well, since Daario just makes more sex jokes before Jorah is almost killed by a Dothraki, and Daario saves him by knifing the warrior because obviously Daario wasn’t going to leave all his weapons behind. The two very conveniently happen upon Daenerys and a member of the Dosh Khaleen, who were out for a stroll and a chat about how terrible men are. Daario and Jorah alike prove that point, as Daenerys is forced to point out that they won’t make it out of Vaes Dothrak alive, but she’s got a plan of her own.

Before we can find out what it is, we’re taken to King’s Landing, where Margaery is allowed out of her cell for a little one-on-one with the High Sparrow. He regales her with tales of his past, when he was young and dumb and brimming with sin. He recounts how he woke up from his last big frat party with the realization that he was better than everybody else and he knew his real life’s mission was to make everyone else feel bad about themselves, all because of his issues with his own self-image. The tale is moving in its way, but offers no real understanding of what the High Sparrow’s deal is, as his origin story boils down to a baseless epiphany.

Fortunately, Margaery’s got his number, as we learn when she’s finally allowed to see Loras, who is dealing with his imprisonment far worse than she is with her own. Margaery is still astute enough to know that this isn’t a kindness granted by the High Sparrow, but a trick to get her to confess imaginary sins and turn against her brother. She implores Loras to stay strong, but he has little left in him to draw from. It’s a heartbreaking scene, but a powerful one that highlights Margaery’s devotion to her brother.

A few dozen flights of stairs away, Tommen reveals to Cersei that he’s been meeting with the High Sparrow. Fearful that her son will be taken in by the man’s manipulations, Cersei convinces Tommen to spill the beans the High Sparrow forbade him to: Margaery will atone for her sins the way Cersei did, by way of her own Walk of Shame. When Cersei and Jaime bring this information forth to Kevan Lannister and Olenna Tyrell, the four are able to join forces under the threat of the Faith Militant’s reign: since Tommen insisted that the Lannisters keep their soldiers away from the High Sparrow, a plan is proposed for the Tyrell army to take the city and stomp out the Faith for good. Despite the obstacles that may arise, as Lady Olenna wisely points out, “Many will die no matter what we do,” so you might as well take a few bad apples down with you.

In the Iron Islands, Theon’s reunion with his sister goes about as well as we saw in the episode’s trailer, albeit with a happier ending (or as happy as it could be, considering what show we’re watching). Angry with Theon for betraying her when she tried to rescue him, thereby getting a fair few of her men killed in his name, Yara goes on to accuse him of returning only to combat her claim to the Salt Throne. Theon assures her that he doesn’t want it, that Yara should rule and all he wants is to help her gain that rule. How he can accomplish that, we’ll have to wait and see, but it seems that this sibling rivalry has been put to bed.

Back at Theon’s old prison, Ramsay is slicing an apple because there’s no one around to flay and he needs his fix. Osha is brought before him and, for a moment, when she ho-hums at Ramsay’s lackadaisical torture tactics, it seemed that Ramsay’s thought was, “Need me a freak like this”—perhaps he’s looking for a new Myranda?—but actually he took a more Michael Myers approach. Osha attempts to seduce and trick Ramsay the way she did Theon in her efforts to help Bran and Rickon escape Winterfell, Too bad Ramsay knows all about that, so he stabs Osha in the neck before she can do him in.

And so Ramsay wins another round. Super. I can’t fault Osha for thinking this strategy would work—we’ve heard more than once from her that her experience with men has all boiled down to the same thing, and that experience has served her well when she needed it to. But she hadn’t tangled with the likes of Ramsay Bolton before, and now she’s paid the price. She died in her defense of Rickon’s life, the way she was meant to go, even if she went too soon.

The rest of Rickon’s dream team remain at Castle Black, where Jon, Sansa, Brienne, Pod, Edd, and Tormund are tucking into supper and Tormund is giving Brienne the eye. More Barry White plays, and suddenly the Game of Thrones fanfiction archive is flooded with Brienne/Tormund (now if only we could get a shot of Pod looking at Sansa with equal interest…). Alas, the light-heartedness isn’t meant to last, and is snuffed out completely when Jon receives a letter from Ramsay that is oddly, darkly poetic, each of his taunts and threats punctuated with a “Come and see.” He has Rickon, he wants Sansa back, and he’ll kill everyone in his way if Jon doesn’t comply. Steadfast and strong as ever, Sansa takes Jon’s hand, looks him dead in the eye, and says, “We have to go back.” Reluctant as he was in the beginning, Jon knows what’s at stake now and he nods.

Here, we once again see the reason the Stark sigil is a direwolf—they succeed when they’re together, in a pack, when their interests lie in one another, when their devotion to their family is what’s motivating them. The Starks will go to war for their family, for their home, and they’ll win. That, to me, is what makes the Starks such a strong and sustainable presence: they’re inextricably linked and draw strength from each other. Now that the two eldest surviving Stark children are joined with armies at their command—the Night’s Watch, the wildlings, and undoubtedly the Vale once Sansa rightfully tears into Littlefinger for what he put her through—they’re an unstoppable force.

We’re back at Vaes Dothrak for the home stretch, where Daenerys comes before the khals so they may decide her fate. In a truly fantastic, matter-of-fact speech, Daenerys belittles them and claims that she’d lead the Dothraki better than any of them. Khal Moro’s hurt man feelings compel him to decide, in a direct contradiction of what he said when we first met him, that they’re all going to have their way with Daenerys and leave what’s left of her to their horses. Charming. Daenerys certainly thinks so, and she gets her serial killer grin on right before she topples over the torches and burns those suckers alive. She emerges from the flames in front a sea of Dothraki onlookers, who bow to her because that’s what you do when somebody struts out of a smoldering building with nary a burn on them.

I’m so thrilled to see Daenerys taking on power and responsibility again, but despite the cool factor, I have to confess that the overall effect was flat for me. My own immediate reaction is that this scene is like all the rest of Daenerys’ victories: there’s a lot of fire and badassery and great posture, but not much else. There’s a distinct lack of character development—rather, despite the bumps along the way, Daenerys is who she’s been since the end of Season 1. She’s still got a lot to learn if she wants to take on Westeros, and she’ll have to learn it fast if we’re to see her dragons take out a few thousand White Walkers. I want to root for Daenerys, so I hope her story gets a move on.

Okay, Unsullied, what’s the verdict? What will Daenerys do with yet another army at her command? Does she have what it takes to lead them, or will she continue to lose and regain control? Does Tyrion have the measure of Meereen, or will his savvy Westerosi politics get him nothing but trouble in Essos? Will Rickon escape the dungeons unscathed, or will he fall victim to Ramsay’s bloodlust before Sansa and Jon make it to Winterfell? Will the Tyrell army succeed in taking down the Faith Militant? How can Theon help Yara gain rule over the Iron Islands, and how will that play into the big picture? And perhaps most importantly, will Tormund and Brienne prove the greatest love match the show has ever seen? (The answer to this is a resounding yes, but I’m sure we’re all eager for it to play out properly.)

Remember—speculation is encouraged, spoilers aren’t! Please refrain from posting book spoilers here! Feel free to discuss the episode in the comments or Tweet me @kattymaj, but don’t ruin any surprises for the viewers who haven’t read the books. While the show has largely diverged from its source material, you never know what details will crop up later. Thanks, and see you next week!