Game of Thrones - Kill the Boy - Review

Game of Thrones, “Kill the Boy,” was written by Bryan Cogman and directed by Jeremy Podeswa, whose impressive credits include Boardwalk Empire, The Walking Dead, The Newsroom, and The Tudors. War and winter both grow closer in the North. Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) and Jon (Kit Harrington) are both pushed to make decisions. The action takes place in Meereen, Castle Black, Moat Cailin, and sailing to Meereen through the ruins of Valyria. Both Harrington and Clarke give terrific performances.

The episode picks up in the aftermath of the attack by the Sons of the Harpy. Grey Worm (Jacob Anderson) is gravely wounded and being attentively attended by Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel). When Grey Worm finally awakens, upon learning of Ser Berristan’s (Ian McElhinney) death, he tells Missandei that he failed Ser Berristan, his men, and his Queen. Grey Worm confesses to Missandei that he wasn’t afraid to die, but he was afraid that he’d never see her again – and the two finally share a kiss!

Daenerys, meanwhile is angry and saddened by the loss of her loyal advisor. She refers to him as Berristan the Bold and reminisces that he crossed an entire continent just to serve her. When Hizdahr (Joel Fry) comes to offer his condolences, Daenerys determines to follow Daarios’ suggestion that they strike back by rounding up the leaders of all the great families. She takes them all to the dragons.

This is a terrifically shot and written scene. I loved the dragon coming out of the dark. The effects continue to be first rate and it’s delightfully gruesome as the two rip apart and feast on the burning elder. Meanwhile, Daenerys takes the time to solidify her power. Her threat and her meaning is clear. On the surface, she seems to be talking about her dragons – she is the mother of dragons, after all: “They will eat you if I tell them to. They may eat you even if I don’t. Children. Some say I should give up on them. But a good mother never gives up on her children. She disciplines them if she must. But she does not give up on them.” The people of Meereen are now her children – as are the Unsullied. We already know that Daario has advised her several times to simply wipe them out.

She goes on to ask, “Who is innocent? Maybe all of you are. Maybe none of you are. Maybe, I should let the dragons decide.” At this point, all of the elders except Hizdahr are on their knees begging for their lives. Daenerys comes up behind him and places a hand on the back of his shoulder. All it would take would be one shove to place him in range of the dragons. He doesn’t flinch and simply says, “Valar morghulis.” All men must die. Daenerys is clearly impressed. It was also an interesting choice of words. Does he have some connection to the House of Black and White? Regardless, Daenerys relents, but suggests she could feed the dragons again, tomorrow.

Daenerys is now without a councilor whom she truly trusts to give her wise advice. Daario is a good lover and soldier, but she knows he’s no diplomat. She turns to Missandei. Missandei is wise enough to know that she isn’t wise enough to advise on these matters, but she knows Daenerys and tells her to look to herself: “I’ve seen you lean on their experience, weigh their choices and ignore them when there was a better choice that only you could see.” Somewhere between the slaughter advised by Daario and the mercy of Berristan lies Daenerys’ solution, and once again she seems to find it. Clarke is excellent in this scene as we see that she can still be the vulnerable girl, she’s still struggling with being a Queen.

I loved the scene between Daenerys and Hizdahr. She goes to him in his cell. Fry is also excellent in this scene. Now, he’s on his knees and Daenerys wonders where Valar Morghulis has gone. He tells her that he did not want to die a coward, but now realizes that he really just doesn’t want to die. She tells him that it takes courage to admit fear the same way it takes courage to admit you’re wrong. She then admits that she was wrong and agrees to re-open the fighting pits but only for the free. She vows there will never be slavery again in Meereen. Hazdahr remains on his knees at her feet as she goes on to say that her plan is to forge a lasting bond with the Meereenese by marrying the leader of an ancient family: “Thankfully, a suitor is already on his knees.” I have to admit that I never saw that coming! And I have to assume, given Daenerys’ track record that his days will be numbered.

Interestingly, we see that Castle Black is also paying particular interest in how Daenerys is fairing as Sam (John Bradley) reads a message about her to Maester Aemon (Peter Vaughan). We are reminded that he is a Targaryen and her last living relative. Am I alone in wanting Aemon to play matchmaker between Daenerys and Jon?

Jon, like Daenerys, and even more so, is still struggling to find his feet as Lord Commander and leader. He goes to Aemon for advice. This scene wonderfully parallels the scene between Missandei and Daenerys as Aemon’s advice is for Jon to trust himself. It’s a wonderful moment when Aemon reaches out to touch Jon’s face in such a fatherly gesture of fondness and comfort and tells him, “You will find little joy in your command, but with luck, you will find the strength to do what needs to be done.” He goes on to tell Jon, “Kill the boy, Jon Snow, winter is almost upon us. Kill the boy and let the man be born.” Indeed, this theme is picked up in the three main story threads.

Jon meets with Tormund (Kristofer Hivju) in another terrific scene. Once again, this is a wonderfully shot scene, beginning with the two separated by the desk and the history of their people. Jon tells Tormund that “For 8,000 years, the Night’s Watch has sworn an oath to be the shield that guards the realms of men… and for 8,000 years we’ve fallen short of that oath. You belong to the realms of men. All of you.” Loving Ygritte, has given Jon the perspective to see this. The wildlings are just people – something Sam knows too. Tormund asks why things would change now, and Jon tells him the simple truth – because he is now Lord Commander.

Tormund tells Jon the free people won’t kneel before him, but that’s not what Jon wants. He simply wants them to fight beside him. He wants desperately to save them, and ultimately, he urges Tormund not to let his pride get in the way of peace. Jon says to him, “Maybe you’re not proud. Maybe you’re just a coward.” This is beautifully shot as well. Tormund stands and looms over Jon, who neither flinches nor backs down. He tells him, it’s an “easy thing to say to a man in chains.” So Jon undoes the chains. It’s symbolic of Jon unchaining all of the free people. This discussion of courage and the forming of a new bond is also a nicely parallel scene to the one with Daenerys and Hazdahr.

Tormund finally agrees after Jon’s plea to “Make peace and save your people.” Tormund tells Jon they are at Hardholme but will need ships. Jon promises to borrow Stannis’ (Stephen Dillane). Tormund also insists that Jon must come with him because the free people will need to hear it from the Lord Commander himself and they won’t get on the ships if they think the boats will simply be burned in the middle of the voyage with them on them.

Not surprisingly, Jon meets with a great deal of resistance from the Watch. Ser Alliser (Owen Teale) is vehemently against Jon’s plan. Sam stands with Jon against the others, insisting there is plenty of farmland available. This argument backfires as the reason the land is vacant is because of Wildling raids. Even Eddison (Ben Crompton), who swears that he will follow Jon anywhere, brings up all of their friends who have died fighting the Wildlings. Jon counters with the number of their brothers that the Watch has killed. Jon tells them that if they don’t bring the Wildlings through the wall and save them, they will simply be added to the numbers of the Army of the Dead.

Perhaps hardest for Jon is that Olly (Brenock O’Connor) is angry with him over the decision. Olly does his best to simply discharge his duty like a good soldier, but Jon insists that he speak his mind. Olly is hoping that it’s all a trick, and is clearly unimpressed and remains unconvinced after Jon tries again to explain. Jon tells Olly that he knows what it’s like to lose everyone you love – and he does. He also knows what it’s like to have to work with the people who killed them, yet to save everyone, he wrote to the Boltons.

There’s a great scene between Stannis and Sam. Sam and Gilly (Hannah Murray) are discussing libraries and the Citadel. Sam tells her he had wanted to be a Maester, who are trained at the Citadel. And it’s clear that even without going to the Citadel, Sam is really a Maester. Bradley is terrific in the scene as we see his discomfort in being in Stannis’ company, yet as soon as the discussion turns to matters at hand, Sam seems to forget this. Stannis is clearly thinking ahead to fighting the Army of the Dead, and Sam’s information about obsidian is, no doubt, going to prove vitally important. Luckily, there is plenty of dragon glass – obsidian – at Dragonstone. Stannis tells Sam to keep reading.

Stannis begins his march on the North without waiting for Jon to get the Wildlings. He tells Davos (Liam Cunningham) that he doesn’t want to let Roose (Michael McElhatton) get any more prepared nor does he want to chance being trapped by winter. Stannis surprises Davos by telling him that he’s taking Shireen (Kerry Ingram) and Selyse (Tara Fitzgerald) with them rather than leave them with the murderers and rapists of the Night’s Watch. There’s a lovely little exchange between Davos and Shireen in which he asks her to protect him during battle.

Podrick (Daniel Portman) and Brienne (Gwendoline Christie) take up position in an Inn where they can keep an eye on Moat Cailin. Podrick suggests that Sansa (Sophie Turner) is now far from the Lannisters in her ancestral home and safe. Brienne simply asks if he thinks she is safe with the Boltons. When a servant (Raymond Keane) comes in, Brienne determines that he is still loyal to the Starks and declares her continuing loyalty to Catelyn Stark. She gets him to send a message to Sansa through the woman (Stella McCusker) at the castle, telling Sansa that “If you’re ever in trouble, light a candle in the highest window of the broken tower.” Of course the woman also says “the North remembers,” and Ramsey (Iwan Rheon) later throws the same expression in Sansa’s face at the awkward family dinner. Does he know what’s going on or is this simply a coincidence?

Rheon continues to deliver a terrific performance each week as the psychotic Ramsey. We see him continuing his relationship with the clearly jealous Myranda (Charlotte Hope). He doesn’t spare her from rough sex or psychological torture and tells her that he looks at Sansa and does find her pretty. Their discussion quickly becomes more sinister as he cautions her not to bore him with her jealousy. She distracts his anger by biting him, proving she’s pretty good at knowing just how far to push him.

Hope is also excellent as Myranda and proves to be just as scarily twisted as she approaches Sansa, complimenting her on her dress and then twisting the emotional knife of her mother’s memory. I’ll be interested to see if there are repercussions from Ramsey over Myranda showing Sansa Theon (Alfie Allen). This is a terrific scene. Allen is simply magnificent as Reek/Theon. Both are appalled – but for different reasons – when they are reunited. I’m very much enjoying the new layers to Sansa that Turner is bringing out this season. We see her go easily from shock to hatred. Allen meanwhile moves from shock to fear to shame.

There is yet another torturous scene between Ramsey and Reek. The tension felt by the audience in this scene is a terrific reflection of the psychological damage done to Theon. Ramsey tells Reek not to lie to him and has him kneel and give him his hand. Was I the only one who thought Theon was going to at least lose some skin if not fingers or a hand? Allen does a wonderful job conveying Theon’s fear of both complying and not complying – we see the internal struggle as he nonetheless goes to his knees. I’m pretty sure I didn’t exhale until Ramsey smiled and benignly placed his hand over Theon’s!

The family dinner was also a tour de force of Ramsey’s psychotic and cruel nature. Roose is no better as he allows his son to continue. Picking up the theme of killing the boy, there is no push from Roose for his son to become a better man. Ramsey toasts the upcoming wedding – to which Sansa doesn’t drink. Walda (Elizabeth Webster) tries to make small talk, but only proves what an idiot she is by saying to Sansa it must be hard to be in a strange place. Sansa corrects her – showing some of the steel she has finally acquired: “This isn’t a strange place. This is my home. It’s the people who are strange.”

Ramsey finally trots Reek out and forces him to apologize to Sansa “for killing her brothers.” Interestingly, Theon has kept that one secret from Ramsey, and he looks like he’d really like to tell Sansa the truth. Ramsey’s final act of cruelty is to insist that Reek  - as Sansa’s closest thing to a living relative – be the one to give her away. Roose agrees this is fine and then delivers his own piece of cruel news. He has Walda announce that she’s pregnant. Sansa immediately congratulates her and a small smile plays across her lips – because she knows that this is devastating news to a bastard like Ramsey.

Ramsey confronts his father – in the most ignorant way possible – which again, Roose allows. Roose does tell Ramsey that he disgraced himself at dinner. Ramsey maintains that the baby – if a boy – destabilizes his own position – he’s only heir until something – or someone – better comes along. Roose assures him this isn’t the case and tells him that he needs him to fight alongside him against Stannis. Roose tells Ramsey the harrowing story of his birth. Roose was attracted to Ramsey’s mother – a peasant – who subsequently married the miller. He had the miller hanged and raped Ramsey’s mother under the hanging body. When she appeared with a baby a year later, he had her killed and almost threw the baby into the river, but when he looked in Ramsey’s face, all he saw was his son. He didn’t kill the boy. It seems that Ramsey is very much his father’s son – and this resonates with Ramsey’s threats to Myranda. Rather than pushing Ramsey away, this seems to bring him closer and he agrees to stand against Stannis. Roose wants to maintain control over Ramsey, to keep him the obedient boy.

Meanwhile, Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) and Jorah (Iain Glen) continue their journey towards Meereen. Jorah has chosen to sail through the ruined Valyria, which is full of the “Doom” – the stone men. I loved them reciting the poem about Valyria together. I also loved their faces as Drogon flew over them. Tyrion would never have seen a dragon, but Jorah is clearly stunned by the sheer size of Drogon now. Of course, this is a perfect distraction to let them be ambushed by the stone men.

Anybody else screaming at their television as Tyrion was dragged under the water by a stone man? I loved the screen going dark and staying that way for long enough that I was thinking that had to be the end of the episode. It was also nicely done to have the audience in Tyrion’s place as he wakes up to flashes of Jorah’s face. Naturally Jorah has lied about being touched by a stone man and already has a patch of the grey scale on his arm. Is he betting he can deliver Tyrion before going mad? We know that the greyscale can be stopped and cured because of Shireen, but was that simply specific to her? Should he cut his arm off? Would that stop the spread of the disease? Maybe I’ve just watched too much The Walking Dead. I’m still hoping that Varys (Aiden Gillen) will catch up with them sooner rather than later – I miss him!

What did you think of the episode? Has Daenerys made the right decision? Should Stannis have waited for Jon? Will Alliser behave while Jon is gone, or will he try to take back the Night’s Watch? Who should get to kill Ramsey slowly? Do you think Theon will tell Sansa about her brothers? How long do you think it will take Tyrion to figure out that Jorah is sick? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

About the Author - Lisa Macklem

I do interviews and write articles for the site in addition to reviewing a number of shows, including Supernatural, Arrow, Agents of Shield, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Forever, Defiance, Bitten, Glee, and a few others! Highlights of this past year include covering San Diego Comic Con as press and a set visit to Bitten. When I'm not writing about television shows, I'm often writing about entertainment and media law in my capacity as a legal scholar. I also work in theatre when the opportunity arises. I'm an avid runner and rider, currently training in dressage.