Ranking the episodes of Game of Thrones Season 6

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9. “Blood of My Blood”

It’s not that “Blood of My Blood” is bad. Actually, there are some crackerjack scenes in here. It’s more that the episode lacks the fireworks of the ones immediately before it. It’s hard to follow up Daenerys’ khal barbecue and Hodor’s tragic death with this mellow material, but “Blood of My Blood” still puts up a good fight.

The episode’s best scene comes right at the beginning, as Bran and Meera frantically flee from the wights. As Meera, Ellie Kendrick deserves a lot of credit for selling the desperation of the situation.

And then Uncle Benjen returns and mows the wights down with a flaming mace. That’s all well and fun, but the real treat of this sequence are the flashbacks (and flash-forwards) we get with Bran, who’s stuck deep down a greensight hole. It would have been easy for the production to string together clips we’d already seen, but it went out of its way to hire an actor to play Aerys Targaryen and shoot him railing his signature line. That’s dedication.

BURN THEM ALL!

Other than that, we get a couple of dramas in the intermediate stages of development. In Braavos, Arya has a textured conversation with Lady Crane and decides this whole professional assassin thing isn’t for her. It’s a moment of clarity that’s been a long time coming, and sets up an exciting confrontation that unfortunately doesn’t reach its full potential (see above). And in the Reach, Sam confronts his father, who proves as awful as advertised during a magnetic family dinner scene. It’s particularly harrowing to watch Randyll Tarly reduce his son to a quivering mess with a glare and a word. Sam’s emotional liberation is also satisfying, but his story isn’t meaty enough to hold up an entire episode.

If “Blood of My Blood” has a centerpiece, it’s the confrontation on the steps of the Sept of Baelor, where the High Sparrow introduces Tommen and Margaery as Mr. and Mrs. Religious Fanaticism 2016. The sequence is rich. It works from a political angle (the High Sparrow embarrassing the Tyrells by rendering their armies pointless in front of everyone), an emotional angle (Jaime and Cersei having a passionate reunion after he’s sent to Riverrun), and an entertainment angle (Jaime riding his horse right up the stairs).

The problem is that the sequence is, by design, an anticlimax. Jaime and Mace Tyrell lead an army to the Sept…and then they don’t use it. The smallfolk gather in anticipation of Margaery’s Walk of Shame…and then it doesn’t happen. It’s a subtle sort of victory for the High Sparrow, and after a string of bombastic moments, it leaves the audience a bit let down.

The episode tries to compensate with its final scene, where Daenerys rallies her Dothraki soldiers from atop Drogon. Ridiculously good special effects notwithstanding, it’s too similar to speeches Dany has given before to serve as a proper climax.

But maybe we’re at fault for always expecting something bombastic out of this show—after all, the early seasons were much quieter on average. “Blood of My Blood” still has plenty of what makes Game of Thrones great.

Next: A Hound's Tale