Knee-Jerk Reactions to “The Queen’s Justice”—Five Best and Worst Moments
FLEA BOTTOM BROWN FIVE: Sansa tells an armorer his business?
I’ve had an ongoing problem with the way Sansa has been portrayed this season, particularly as regards her relationship with Jon Snow. The sequence where she was working out provisions for Winterfell was refreshing, because she was in charge and getting stuff done. But knowing her life experience, would she really have to tell a northern armorer how to do his trade? Would that guy, who does nothing but hammer steel and leather all day knowing that winter is coming, not know that he needed to apply leather to his breastplates? That was just silly and unnecessary for her character.
(Wait … was that armorer from the Vale? Either way—winter is coming—the armorer should already know).
FLEA BOTTOM BROWN FOUR: Varys really needs to stop locking horns with Red Priestesses
After the Red Priestess Kinvara spouted Varys’ personal history and tore him up in Meereen, you’d think he might think twice about confronting another one. But there he was, going after Melisandre. Varys had a legitimate question concerning why Melisandre was fleeing Dragonstone upon Jon Snow’s arrival. Her response was surprisingly candid, but after that, she whomps him with a death premonition, saying “I have to die in this strange country … as do you.” And once again, Varys looks like the spider who swallowed the grenade.
FLEA BOTTOM BROWN THREE: The Battle of Casterly Rock was a tad marshmallowy
Tyrion’s voiceover didn’t necessarily hamper the action, but I was somewhat underwhelmed by the Unsullied assault on Casterly Rock. It may have been that I’d already seen a number of the shots in the trailers, but the whole battle sequence lacked the visceral impact and vitality I’ve grown accustomed to from this show. I know the Unsullied didn’t meet the kind of resistance they were expecting, but this won’t go on my list of top Game of Thrones action sequences.
FLEA BOTTOM BROWN TWO: Jaime is now sleeping with a viper
Seeing Cersei looking all lovey-eyed at Jaime in bed was weirdly unsettling. It was like a wolf bedding a lamb. Poor Jaime. For all his experience, he still has bits of innocence in him, and that makes him vulnerable to Cersei, who promises to be the death of him.
FLEA BOTTOM BROWN ONE: Littlefinger becomes the hocus-pocus guru of mind games
Littlefinger counsels Sansa: “Fight every battle. Everywhere. Always. In your mind. Everyone is your enemy. Everyone is your friend. Every possible series of events is happening all at once. Live that way and nothing will surprise you. Everything that happens will be something that you’ve seen before.” Whuzzat? What kind of Kung-fu, circular logic BS is that? What in the name of heaven is Littlefinger talking about? And Sansa just stares at him like he’s speaking gecko. Who in their right mind is gonna team up with that?
BONUS VALYRIAN STEEL MOMENT: This one is a double-edged sword. The Sansa-Bran reunion in the courtyard was lovely, even with Bran being a bit cold, but I think it meant more to me and Sansa than it did to Bran. He’s beyond human now, and their chat under the weirwood tree took a bizarre turn when he began relating how he could see her on her wedding night. Bran wasn’t trying to be cruel, but he was. And Sansa, realizing that Bran can see her most awful traumas, walks away feeling utterly exposed. It’s a harrowing moment for her. Might she turn to Littlefinger for comfort? Or at least to someone who isn’t an eyewitness to everything Ramsay Bolton did to her.
WRAP IT UP AND PUT A BLOODY BOW ON IT: HBO hit it out of the park on this one. They gave their major storylines room to breathe, and it paid off. Daenerys, Jon, Ser Davos, Tyrion –everybody killed it. The dramatic scenes all worked, the humor was lively, and the twists and turns — such as the trap at Casterly Rock and Lady Olenna playing the trump card on Jaime after drinking his poison — were served hot.
Next: How do you kill a dragon? Dragonslaying in Game of Thrones and Myth
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