Game of Thrones “The Door”—Thematic Analysis

"“The past is already written, the ink is dry.” -The Three Eyed Raven"

One of the striking things about Game of Thrones is how it has moved from being an outwardly political parable to one about the nature of fate. I suppose that pivot was inevitable, as most fantasy concerns fate, destiny, the heroes journeys. The decisions of the past, the choices in the present, and how they will effect the future all came together this week. In one case, it was Sansa demanding to know if Littlefinger knew who Ramsay was before having her marry him, or if he was just an idiot. His choice in the past is why she spurns his help in the present, which may effect Jon’s battle in the future. (That’s why she didn’t tell Jon about the meeting, lest he decide that Littlefinger was an ally worth having.) In another case, it was Dany’s choice to send Jorah away time and time again, and his determination to return to her, time and time again. Will her command for him to find a cure for greyscale change the future? Or is her dream that he be at her side when she conquer Westeros futile? And in a choice that could have far-reaching consequences, the Ironborn choose to follow the traditions of the past (and the patriarchal sexism they know and love) and follow a man foolish enough to think he will marry Daenerys Targaryen. In the process, they lose what they have in the present—a fearless leader and many of their ships. Where are Yara and Theon off to? I’ll be shocked if it’s not Meereen, in a desperate gamble to get to Dany ahead of Euron and foil his plans.

"Tyrion: “I’d settled for obeyed.”"

Tyrion’s choices this week were curious indeed. We saw him take a risk—one that, from Varys’ point of view, was unnecessary. Tyrion had managed to pause the war—to Varys, that was enough for now. Sitting back and waiting for Dany was clearly the next step. Why exactly did Tyrion decide that this wasn’t enough, and that he needed to take it a step further and erase the idea of “Mhysa is a Master”? Was it something that had been brewing in the back of his mind since Volantis? Certainly he had thought long and hard about it, to the point that he used Varys’ own past words to sell it: “Who said anything about him?”

And yet, although he knows Varys’ past, he seemed rather startled at the vehemence of his colleague’s reaction to bringing aboard a Red Priestess to sell the Word of Dany to the people. Varys’ reaction was understandable, especially when you consider the creepiness of how quickly our newest representative of R’hollr, who goes by the name of Kinvara (thank you subtitles!), seemed to see into his soul and know his past. Perhaps she knows this present decision by Tyrion is likely to drive the two friends apart?

"Bobono: “Of course we’re going to be intimate.”Lady Crane: “It’s only a matter of time.”"

One of my favorite moments of the series, both on the page and now onscreen, is the moment when George R.R. Martin goes full “play within the play.” I have been looking forward to this ever since the “Mercy” chapter of The Winds of Winter chapter was published on George R.R. Martin’s website. Now, Arya’s story has not progressed exactly like it has on the page—in the novels, she is already wearing faces, allowed out on her own to murder as she pleases, and is actually an actress in the troupe in question, playing the role of Sansa. The show has changed all that. Arya may say she has no desires, but she hasn’t let go of herself. Her face when she sees Ned Stark portrayed as a buffoon says it all. (By the way, I assume this was a script personally approved by Cersei.) The hardest part for Arya is when they get to Ned’s beheading, a scene she witnessed from about the same vantage point. No One, my eye.

The twisting of the past deeply affects Arya in the present. She claims again and again that this is what she wants: to be a Faceless Man. But The Waif—and perhaps Jaqen H’ghar as well—see through her. She may not act like it, but she’s still a highborn lady, and she believes in her right to her opinions and her curiosity. These are not traits of someone truly willing to be No One. No One would not care to remember the truth of the story behind this play. No One would be unaffected to see Ned Stark portrayed as a buffoon, and Sansa Stark raped. No One would not care if Lady Crane was a decent woman or not. (Although the irony that Arya’s first mission is to kill the woman who plays one of the people on her “funny little list” on stage is delicious, almost as delicious as the gratuitous cock shot thrown in to make up for the gratuitous boob shots. Who says the production isn’t listening to our complaints?)

"Brienne: “A bit brooding perhaps. but I suppose that’s understandable.”"

But the real collision of past, present, and future took center stage in what could be considered our “main” storyline of the evening. It’s been a really long time since we’ve checked in more than twice over the course of an hour with the same set of characters—at the beginning of the season we only checked in at the Wall, where most of the important action was happening, twice an hour. In earlier seasons. But this week we checked in with Bran and company three different times over the course of the episode. The first is to visit the very far past, back before the world beyond the Wall were the Lands of Always Winter. We went back to the Dawn Age and see the creation of the first White Walker, who looks suspiciously like the Night’s King we see leading the wight armies today (it’s the same actor). The second time it was the traditional “student disobeys teacher and screws things up” trope that we’ve seen in many fantasy series. Bran’s foolish solo trip brought him face to face with the Night’s King, who then comes after him. The Three-Eyed Raven, like all teachers at this juncture, tells Bran that he’s going to be on his own. He must leave the cave.

So why then does he take Bran back to Winterfell in the past? Why does he have Bran stand there and watch as Ned Stark is sent away to the Eyrie, to be fostered by Jon Arryn? What purpose could this possibly serve? Bran needs to be leaving, no?

"Rickard Stark: “Try to stay out of fights. But if you have to fight, win.”"

Bran needed to be visiting the past, because that’s where he was when this happened before. Because the day Ned Stark was sent away, a curious thing happened no one could explain—Old Nan’s grandson Wylis fell to the ground in a fit, and ever since, he has only been able to say one word: Hodor.

Why did that happen? Because Bran was there, warging through time into Hodor as he would be years from then, and also warged into his younger self, Wylis, in the past, commanding them as one to stay and sacrifice theirselves. “Hold the Door,” Meera yells. It was the only way to ensure that Bran and Meera could escape the wights.

"Wylis: Hold the door…holddedoor…hoddadoor…hodor…"

Hodor’s tale is more tragic than we ever knew. Why does the big man only say “Hodor?” Why does he carry Bran upon his back like it was his purpose in life? Because it was. Bran made it so, years before he was even born. For all these years, Hodor has known the future, and lived traumatized by the memory of his own death to come. Bran had to do this. He had no choice—he’d done it before. The past and the future were already written.