Game of Thrones - Sons of the Harpy - Review

Game of Thrones, “Sons of the Harpy,” was written by Dave Hill and directed by Mark Mylod. While this is Hills first writing credit, he’s been with the show as an assistant and staff writer since the second season. The episode focuses on alliances and pairings. The episode ends with at least one major, unexpected death.

The opening scene has Jorah (iain Glen) knock out a fisher to take his boat. Jorah is still one of the good guys, however, as he turns the man over so he doesn’t drown and he “pays” for the boat by dropping some coins on the man rather than simply stealing the boat. The later scene with Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) is terrific. Jorah tells Tyrion that he’s taking him to the Queen – but Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) not Cersei (Lena Headey). Tyrion, of course, finds this hysterical as Jorah is taking him exactly where he wants to go. Despite having been thoroughly drunk for some time, Tyrion is able to determine exactly who Jorah is. In fact, he’s so accurate and abrasive that Jorah finally punches him to shut him up.

The opening scene with the small fishing boat cuts nicely to the merchant vessel carrying Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and Bronn (Jerome Flynn). Flynn and Coster-Waldau are terrific together. Bronn tells Jaime that the Doorns are crazy and only like to “fight and fuck, fuck and fight.” Certainly, our knowledge of Oberyn would support that! Bronn wants to know why Jaime has come himself to kidnap/rescue Myrcella. In fact, Bronn has already ascertained for himself that Jaime is there because Cersei is punishing him for releasing Tyrion. However, we learn that Jaime blames himself for Tywin’s death and he tells Bronn, “If I ever see him, I’ll split him in two.”

Later on Doorn, Jaime wakes to see Bronn’s sword crashing down…. Beside him to kill a snake – a nice metaphor for what is no doubt to come with the Sand Snakes. However, I have a bad feeling that Bronn will not make it out of an encounter with them. This is reinforced by their breakfast conversation of how they’d like to die. Bronn tells Jaime that he wants his death to be boring – I’m betting it will be anything but – and Jaime says he wants to die in the arms of the woman he loves. Bronn asks if she wants the same thing. This is the second allusion to Bronn knowing “the secret” after he questions Jaime on the use of “niece.”

The fight between the four Doornish soldiers and Bronn and Jaime is spectacular as Bronn takes out one with knife and one with his sword before gutting the horse of the third to slow him down for Jaime to fight. He almost loses until he finds a new use for his metal hand – to stop the blade of his attacker from killing him. Afterwards, Jaime also uses his arm to escape having to help bury the corpses as he’d used it to avoid having to row.

We are introduced to the Sand Snakes, all of whom are Oberyn’s daughters and all of whom follow in his footsteps as warriors. Ellaria (Indira Varma) asks them if they will follow Doran’s way and peace or her way and war by killing Myrcella. Tyene (Rosabell Laurenti Sellers) is Ellaria’s daughter, Obara (Keisha Castle-Hughes) is good with a spear, and Nymeria (Jessica Henwick) is good with a whip. They know about Jaime because they have the ship’s captain (Gary Pillai) buried in the sand and have tortured the information out of him. They choose to follow Ellaria to war.

Cersei, meanwhile, seems to be starting her own war. She sends Lord Tyrell (Roger Ashton-Griffiths) off to Bravos to negotiate terms with the Iron Bank in person. She sends him with Meryn Trant (Ian Beattie) as his personal guard, and I have to wonder if Trant will be doing the opposite of guarding Tyrell. There is another terrific scene between Headey and Jonathan Pryce as the High Sparrow. Cersei arms the Faith Militant with seemingly the sole purpose of having Lorus (Finn Jones) taken prisoner. In case we were wondering about their fanaticism, we see that each of the Faith Militant has a symbol carved into their foreheads.

Margaery (Natalie Dormer) is furious and tells Tommen (Dean-Charles Chapman) to have Lorus released. Tommen goes to Cersei, who clearly doesn’t care what he wants, and demands Lorus be released. Cersei tells him that Margaery is right to be critical of her – it was stupid to arm the Faith Militant – Headey is great here as it’s easy to see her insincerity, but her back is turned to Tommen, who is also proving not to be the brightest bulb in the package. What is a little shocking is that she sends him off to confront the High Sparrow. This almost results in a skirmish on the steps of the Sept.

Cersei has made Tommen look weak in front of his own soldiers – who want to fight the Faith Militant for refusing to let Tommen see the High Sparrow. He also looks weak in front of the Faith Militant. And we also have another indication that Jaime and Cersei’s secret is pretty widely known. The crowd starts yelling, “abomination,” “bastard,” and “born of sin.” Margaery also realizes that Tommen is completely ineffectual and that she’s going to have to take matters into her own hands. She goes off to contact her Grandmother – can’t wait for her to storm back in!

At Castle Black, Stannis (Stephen Dillane) prepares for war. Selyse (Tara Fitzgerald) apologizes for giving him Shireen (Kerry Ingram) rather than sons. Melisandre (Carice van Houten) sticks up for her though, saying Stannis’ royal blood flows in her veins. There’s a terrific scene with Ingram and Dillane in which she asks him if he’s ashamed of her. He echoes Melisandre’s sentiments and tells her the story of how she came to have Grey Scale and how he wouldn’t let anyone send her away, instead getting the best physicians to cure her. He tells her, “You are the Princess Shireen of House Baratheon, and you re my daughter.” They are clearly trying to demonstrate that Stannis is worthy of being King by showing us this different side to him now.

Jon (Kit Harington) is settling into his role as Lord Commander, with Sam (John Bradley) as his secretary. He has Jon signing a stack of letters asking for more men for the wall. When they come to the Warden of the North – Roose Bolton – Jon doesn’t want to sign, but Sam convinces him he must. Melisandre tries to convince Jon to come to the south with them as he knows Winterfell. He tells her they have no interest in the wars of men. Melisandre tells him there’s only one war – life against death – and then tries to seduce him. Jon says Stannis won't like it, and she tells him they won't tell Stannis. Jon tells her he swore a vow – and that he’s still in love. Melisandre is totally creepy as she turns at the door and says, “You know nothing Jon Snow” before smiling slightly and leaving!

There is also a terrific scene between Baelish (Aiden Gillen) and Sansa (Sophie Turner). He tells her the story of Leanna and Renly. He tells it like a great love story, but from the woman’s point of view, Sansa sees it as “he chose her and then he kidnapped her and raped her.” Baelish tells her he has to go back to King’s Landing. He also tells her he knows what it’s like to live with people you despise. Baelish believes that Stannis will win in the north and then appoint Sansa Wardeness of the North – no doubt Baelish plans to wed her – or at least control the north through her. Alternatively, he believes she should be wary of Roose but fails to see the danger in Ramsey. Baelish does put a lot of faith in Sansa’s ability to maneuver Ramsey and Roose if need be. And then he gives her yet another creepy kiss to say goodbye.

Finally, in Meereen, Barristan (Ian McElhinney) tells Daenerys the story of going out into King’s Landing with Renly while Renly pretended to be a minstrel. This makes a lovely tie-in to the stories told by Stannis and Baelish. Daenerys then once again denies Hizdahr’s pleas to re-open the fighting pits – which would provide the opportunity for anyone to achieve greatness.

This leads to the violence in the streets with the Sons of the Harpy out for blood. This is a nice parallel to the chaos in the streets we see in King’s Landing from their religious fanatics, the Faith Militant. Is Daenerys no better at leading than Cersei? The episode concludes with the fantastic fight scene with Grey Worm (Jacob Anderson) and Barristan. It was shocking to see Barristan die, especially because he’s still alive in the books. However, they clearly gave him the hero’s send off. Like the jousting story told by Baelish, we see the warrior Barristan. He hears the fighting in the streets and very deliberately wades in. The final shot of the episode is of Barristan and Grey Worm side by side – are both dead?

Another tightly written and terrifically acted episode. I loved the fight scenes in the claustrophobic streets of Meereen as well as the wonderfully shot fight scene on the sand dunes. What did you think of the episode?

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.