Game of Thrones Theorycrafting: Did HBO give away how Margaery will deal with the Sparrows?

WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS AND SPECULATION THAT COULD AMOUNT TO SPOILERS

Artist’s depiction of a person seeing spoilers.

Dear Person from HBO whose job it is to surf through all of the Game of Thrones blogs and find the spoilers: yes, you. We know you’re there. We hope you see this, because we need to have a little chat about your inability to notice the spoilers you put out for us in plain sight on a regular basis.

“Spoilers,” you say? “We have those on lock down!” Well, err….yes. But all the same, we should talk. Because clearly, you all have completely missed the fact that you are doing this. The production hasn’t noticed. The showrunners haven’t noticed. HBO hasn’t noticed. Therefore, may I direct your attention to the Inside the Episode videos you all post to the official Game of Thrones channel every week? Because we’ve noticed.

For those who are unaware, the Inside the Episode videos go behind the scenes of a given episode with the actors. Importantly, they’re filmed on set during production, usually during the latter half of filming for the season. Because the actors are in costume, the interviews can give things away. Before Season 5 began, for example, we saw on-set interviews with Emilia Clarke and Peter Dinklage. Dinklage was dressed in his Meereenese finery, which gave away not only the fact that Tyrion and Daenerys would meet before the season was over, but that Tyrion would have a high place in Meereeneese society, meaning that the show would be skipping over the bits from A Dance with Dragons where he joins up with a sellsword company.

Now, the show has done it again. Take a look at this week’s Inside the Episode deep dive with Finn Jones (Loras Tyrell) and Natalie Dormer (Margaery Tyrell) discussing their reunion in the dungeons beneath the Sept of Baelor. But don’t look at the scenes themselves, or even pay attention to what the actors are saying. Look at what set they are sitting on. Look at their hair, and how they dressed.

Let’s start with Finn Jones. He is sitting on a set that looks far nicer than any dungeon. He may, in fact, be back in Red Keep—look at the table behind him, the gold candelabra, the ornate walls. True, the Red Keep set may be right next to the dungeon set—maybe Jones just popped over for a sit-down—but it’s worth noting.

Then there’s the haircut and the filthy shirt. His head’s not shaved like a sparrow, but cut down like Cersei’s. He’s wearing ratty clothes that would set him apart in the Red Keep. His wish for death is not coming anytime soon. In fact, it looks like he has been given a chance at atonement. We already know that Loras has been broken the way Theon was broken by Ramsay. The question is, how long can he live like this? And how did he get here?

The answers may lie with Dormer’s section of the video. She is also in what looks like a room in the Red Keep, a room that looks well-tended—in fact, it appears to be the same one Finn Jones is in, suggesting they are filming a scene together. But look at what she is wearing. No more ratty shift for her. She’s back in a dress.

But note what kind of dress she’s wearing. It’s grey. Although the sleeves and the high neck looks lace-ish, the overtunic is plainer than plain. And seriously, when was the last time you saw Margaery cover her arms like that? Or wear something that came to the top of her neck? This is a woman who has shown off her shoulders and arms ever since we first met her in Season 2. And her hair is utterly plain, even severe. It’s basically the same style she’s been forced to wear by the Sparrows in prison. In fact, her outfit looks like something a Sparrow might wear—just the high born lady’s version.

We’ve seen in the last couple of episodes that the High Sparrow is looking to make a deal with Margaery and bring Tommen under his sway. We saw this week that Margaery, in turn, is willing to play the High Sparrow’s game, and even had the presence of mind to quote the Seven Pointed Star at him. Unlike Cersei and Olenna, who were utterly unable to handle the High Sparrow, she’s started to figure him out. And we’ve known for a while that Margaery would eventually get released from the Sept of Baelor. Seeing her don this pious and conservative look gives us an idea as to how.

She will not just atone. She will convert, or pretend to. And in doing so, she will ally herself with the new big player in town, someone who can keep her in power. In return, she’ll deliver unto the High Sparrow the thing he wants the most: the Crown’s blessing to keep doing what he’s doing.

Really, HBO. You should try and work harder to keep these spoilers from showing up.