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After last week’s disappointing and controversial episode, “The Gift” turns out to be an exciting episode in which plot lines are moved forward. Arya is missing in this episode, but her arc could have been included since death is referred as “the gift” by the Faceless Men.
The episode opens with Jon leaving with Tormund towards Hardhome to bring south of the Wall the remaining Wildlings. Of course, Alliser Thorne shows his displeasure concerning Jon venturing beyond the Wall. Is he right? Is Jon putting himself in danger? It is not the very first time that TV Jon takes decisions in which he puts himself in an “underdog” situation. Jon takes a dragonglass with him. Will he meet the White Walkers next episode?
Some of the most exceptional scenes of this episode are the ones among Maester Aemon, Gilly and Sam. Maester Aemon is dying and delirious. He confuses Gilly’s baby with his younger brother, Egg, who became a king. He advises both Gilly and Sam to go south. Are the White Walkers after the baby? He probably thinks it is not safe for them to be there since Jon is not around. Before dying, Maester Aemon says, “Egg, I dreamed I was old,” in the presence of Sam, Gilly and baby Sam. Overall, his dying was a haunting scene. Next day he is buried in the Targaryen tradition, another scene that is beautifully done. Sam’s selection of words in describing Maester Aemon is a fact; he was wise, gentle and kind, qualities that are hard to find in Westerosi people. Alliser Thorne’s comment about Sam not having any friends left is foreboding. Subsequently Sam is attacked for protecting Gilly from two Night’s Watch fellows that wanted to rape her (another addition of an event that has not happened in the books). Fortunately, Ghost appears to intimidate these two aggressors exactly when one of them mentions that Jon is no longer around to protect Sam. Is Jon warging Ghost? It is a possibility since warging (skinchanging) is a “gift” from the gods according to the Wildlings. After this event, Gilly and Sam consummate their love. Is this reward sex? Gilly and Sam have been attracted to each other for a while. In fact, their love for each other has been more realistic than the “love” between Missandei and Grey Worm. The rape attempt on Gilly just pushed them to comfort each other.
In regards to the plot line in the North, Stannis and his army are stuck due to a snowstorm. A company of sellswords, the Stormcrows, decided to leave his cause. His army is also running low in supplies that can only be obtainable once the snow clears. What makes this scene interesting is Stannis’ determination: he will not retreat, he will move forward for victory or defeat. When he is alone with Melisandre, he questions himself, and asks her about the visions. She confirms that she has seen herself at Winterfell witnessing the defeat of the Boltons. Then she tries to convince Stannis to sacrifice Shireen because of her king’s blood, something that he completely refuses to do. As a result, he does not want Melisandre in the meantime even though he has been desiring her for a while. What is interesting about this whole plot line is that it simplified efficiently several events in a matter of minutes. In regards to Melisandre’s visions, she is not a good interpreter of them. When she mentions that he needs to be crowned as a king before the Long Night, the king she sees is probably somebody considered or regarded as a king by many. This person might not have necessarily a crown.
TV Sansa * is not able to handle her sadistic husband. She has made her decision to escape even though she wanted “revenge” before marrying into the Boltons. After being abused every night as demonstrated by the bruises in her arms, she wants to drop her “revenge” plans, and tries to convince Reek to help her escape. She orders him to light a candle at the Broken Tower. As expected from Reek, he discloses Sansa’s plans to Ramsay ruining her chances of escaping. Furthermore, he displays the flayed body of the maid who was TV Sansa’s only ally. This series of events just reveals that TV Sansa has placed herself in a worse condition than she was at King’s Landing. Her failure to realize what she was going into is evidence that her character has not developed much at all. The worst thing about her decisions is that she might be running the risk of having an unwanted pregnancy. She does not have access to any maester in order to terminate a pregnancy. Furthermore, will she be able to trust a maester loyal to the Boltons? Her husband, Ramsay, enjoys releasing certain information to her after uncovering her attempt to escape. He basically mentions that Stannis’ troops are not fit to fight in winter since it is an army of Southrons and foreign sellswords. TV Sansa brings the issue of Fat Walda being pregnant with a boy. Ramsay seems not to be concerned about it even though he most likely is. TV Sansa emphasizes that he is baseborn and that trueborn children have the strongest claim. Furthermore, she mentions that his naturalization was done by another bastard, Tommen Baratheon. Emphasizing Ramsay’s origin to his face is not something he likes. It is interesting that TV Sansa is able to get away with it. She will probably be beaten by him in private. After being reminded about his status, Ramsay mentions that bastards can be successful too and gives Jon Snow as Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch as an instance. Of course, TV Sansa is not aware of this detail. Will she be writing the TV version of the Pink Letter? Another development is that Sansa seems to be instigating Ramsay to act against a possible innocent person, Walda Frey. If she is succesful, this will be a turning point in her arc. Basically she is becoming ruthless, a characteristic that is absent in book Sansa. While talking to Ramsay, TV Sansa is able to get a weapon which most likely will be used on Reek to bring Theon back.
Overall Dorne has been a disappointment this season. Bronn is in prison with the Sand Snakes singing “The Dornishman’s Wife.” He then tells Tyene that he has seen more beautiful women than her at King’s Landing. Tyene forces him to call her the most beautiful woman he has seen by notifying him that he got poisoned with “Long Farewell” during the fight. Of course, she has the antidote for this particular poison. All he has to do is to tell her she is the most beautiful woman he has seen, which he does. Is there a purpose to this scene? I was not bothered much by the nudity on this scene. Its purpose is to be seen probably in subsequent episodes. It is possible for Bronn to align with the Sand Snakes later on, a decision that may cost him his life. However, there is more to this nudity scene. Tyene increased the blood flood in Bronn’s body by exciting him, something that made the poison more effective and perceptible. In fact, Tyene held full control of him during this scene. Here is a link explaining this in detail:
Explanation of Tyene seducing Bronn
Of course, this scene is not liked by most people in the fandom. Do the Sand Snakes need to be imprisoned together with Bronn? Was it necessary for Tyene to disrobe? The poison would have worked anyways without her going topless. She was the one holding the antidote and Bronn’s life in her hands. The dialogue could have been modified to make this scene better.
At King’s Landing, Olenna is trying to “buy” the High Sparrow to get her grandchildren released. She accuses him of doing “Cersei’s dirty work,” offers him gold and even threatens to cut the food supplies to the city. She even mentions that she will ensure who gets blamed for it. The TV audience gets an idea of how Olenna actually plays the game: she buys people off which is not something very reliable. The High Sparrow is not unmoved by her speech. His reply to her sounds revolutionary:
You are the few. We are the many.
Later Olenna meets Littlefinger. She does not hesitate to ask him whether he is involved in the imprisonment of her grandchildren. She threatens him by reminding him that they are both partners in crime when it comes to Joffrey’s murder. Her comments are foreboding: “If House Tyrell falls, I will give you away.” This simply could mean that she could be behind Littlefinger’s downfall. It could also mean that Littlefinger and House Tyrell will both fall at the same time by different circumstances. Littlefinger then mentions that he has a gift for her, the same type of gift he gave Cersei: a handsome young man. Who is this person? Here are some options:
- Gendry Waters was last seen in the fourth season. He was freed by Davos from his fate of being sacrificed for his king’s blood by Melisandre. He was sent back to King’s Landing. He is evidence that Cersei’s kids are bastards.
- Olyvar could be convinced to testify against Cersei. He could take a partial role of the Kettleback knight in the book. He could confess that Cersei had an extramarital affair with him or something along those lines.
- Brother Lancel is also a possibility. However, it seems that he has confessed everything about Cersei to the High Sparrow long before this meeting between Littlefinger and Olenna. The other candidates could bring a new accusation to Cersei.
Tommen is enraged to what has happened to his wife. Cersei stops him from taking drastic measures such as storming the sept that could result in Margaery’s death. She calms him down by saying she would go to see her. Basically she wants to keep Tommen safe, and she will do everything for him and his sister:
I will burn cities to the ground.
This line has a specific meaning, especially when associated to the burned Iron Throne in one of the visions that Danaerys has in the House of the Undying. TV Cersei has been whitewashed extremely. She shows more love to Tommen than book Cersei, whose favourite one is Joffrey.
Cersei is pleased to see Margaery in a miserable condition in a cell. As she tries to leave, she is intercepted by the High Sparrow. He gives a summary of what is expected in a trial for both Margaery and Loras. He also gives her a history lesson about the Sept of Baelor, which is the oldest place of worship of the Faith (not applicable in the North). He describes this old place to be simple, modest without any luxury. Once the sept was built, finery took over the place. Because of the sparrow movement, the sept became again a modest place to worship. He concludes that the same thing has happened to the Tyrells – they lay bare, stripped of any finery. The high and the low are alike. Then he mentions to Cersei that she will be stripped of her finery too. The High Sparrow puts as an example Lancel, who appears at that moment, somebody who has gotten rid of his “vanity, pride and sin.” Cersei tries to run away but is caught by a septa who drags her to a cell and locks her up. Basically the High Sparrow has been playing Cersei all along to achieve what he wanted. He was aware of her sins since the beginning. He just waited for the proper time to take action against her. The soundtrack in this last scene, a song similar to a Gregorian chant, really creates a mood of suspense and powerlessness.
Who will reign on Tommen’s behalf?
Other Events:
The meeting between Jamie and Myrcella is also worth mentioning in the Dornish plot line. He simply wants to verify that his niece (daughter) is safe. She is unwilling to leave Dorne and looking forward to marry Trystane.
Tyrion and Danaerys finally meet in this episode, an event that has not happened yet in the books. The fighting at the pit was nicely choreographed. What is going on with Daario suggesting Danaerys to kill all the Masters?
* Book Sansa and TV Sansa are different characters. It is doubtful there will be any resemblance between them at the end. TV Sansa is a good example of character assassination.