Game of Thrones: The Gift. Life after Sansa’s Wedding Night.

Everyone was in an uproar after last week’s episode that showed Sansa’s wedding night so thankfully no one else gets married this week, but we do get to hear Dany plan her own up coming nuptials.  That should be a fun time too right?

So this season we’ve had a lot of misdirection with the episode names (Kill the Boy, Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken, etc) and this one has a few meanings as well. On one hand we have Jorah taking his gift to his queen, we have Dany giving the gift of the fighting pits to her people, and lastly in the books Jon offered “The Gift” or an area of land between the wall and Winterfell to the Wildlings who wanted to come over and down. They would have to answer to Winterfell and the Seven Kingdoms, but they wouldn’t have to worry about White Walkers. So although all the Watchlings out there probably assume this title is talking about Jorah giving over Tyrion, it’s totally derived from that 5 minutes you see Jon and try to remember what he’s doing right now.

The Wall

Speaking of Jon we see him saying his goodbyes so he can go off and try to talk the rest of the Wildlings into either settling in the Gift or populating the abandoned castles along the wall to try to fight against the White Walkers. The Wildlings aren’t all crazy about this idea and neither are the men of the Night’s Watch. It’s very important you remember that they are super unimpressed by that and think Jon a traitor for what he’s doing. It plays a big role in things to come.

We also see Maester Aemon playing with Gilly’s baby and confusingly talking about his baby brother Egg (who later became King). You can tell Sam in worried about Aemon and it looks to be his last days. This is yet another departure from the books. In the books Jon send Maester Aemon and Sam off to the Citadel with their stories of White Walkers (and for Sam to become a maester to replace Aemon) and switches Gilly’s baby with Mance Rayder’s kid. Gilly takes this other baby off to safety with Sam and Aemon and Sam plans on telling his parents that her baby is his bastard. Gilly is heartbroken to leave her child, but eventually bonds with the other baby and the eventually bonds with Sam numerous times as well. Aemon does die in the books, but he does so on the journey while in Braavos (where Arya kills one of the men from the Night’s Watch for abandoning Sam). Sam thinks he died because the Wall and the cold were keeping him alive.

So instead of taking an epic journey Aemon just dies (in the books he is super upset that he died before reaching Dany. He heard about her during the journey and he wants to tell her things about her family– I think he wants to tell her how to control her dragons). Sam and Gilly just have sex (in the most realistic sex scene yet in the series) and Ghost for some reason isn’t with Jon (but he saves Sam’s life which is awesome).

Sansa

Sansa had a rough week to say the least. Last week we saw her wedding night raping and evidently the fun hasn’t stopped for her. She’s being kept a prisoner with no contact with anyone besides Theon. In an act of desperation she gets Theon’s help signalling that old woman that offered her help before. The thing she doesn’t know is that Theon is 100% scared of Ramsey and instead of going and lighting a candle like Sansa asked he went straight to the Bastard and told on her. Which didn’t go quite so well for the old lady.

Sansa and Ramsey walk around the castle discussing their future– or really just discussing Ramsey’s future as the Lord of Winterfell. I have to admire Sansa’s guts at pointing out the obvious, but she’s crazy. You don’t call Ramsey Snow Bolton a bastard to his face. She’s given him something to think about though even if she’ll definitely pay for it later. (She did manage to grab a weapon for later on this walk about– but will she be able to use it?)

Ramsey: Call me Bastard one more time!

Seriously though– I’m pretty sure she just guaranteed a pregnant woman’s death. Do you think the Frey’s will be cool with it when it’s one of their own?

Sansa: Yeah, about him. . .I didn’t like him either.

After viewing Ramsey’s work on the old lady help I think Sansa is finally realizing what kind of person she married. As much as I cannot stand Sansa in the books and wish that she’d been killed off in place of any of the other Starks, I have to say she’s much more in control of herself on the show than in the books. In the books she’s just concerned with what is happening to her and where her next lemoncake is coming from. Of course she’s also not married to Ramsey so she has that going for her.

Stannis

Stannis is stuck in the snow trying to march on Winterfell and losing people by the day. Either deserting or dying from lack of heat and food. He’s losing before he’s even started and he can’t go back to the Wall because he will just be stuck there. Defeated. Melisandre states that she knows how to take Winterfell and that all they need to do is sacrifice someone with King’s blood. Which just happens to be his daughter who she wants to burn alive. Yeah totes sounds like good idea. I love Stannis for not only rejecting this idea but sending the Red Woman away after she suggests it. It truly is a despicable plan (and not at all in the books).

In the books she’s wanting to burn Mance’s baby which is why Jon sends the baby away from the wall. Melisandre really is a horrible person, but she might play a role in helping Jon with all those people that think he’s a traitor now so I don’t wish her dead. Yet.

Jorah

Jorah and Tyrion manage to get sold together (after some quick action on Tyrion’s part) and are headed to the fighting pit of Mereen (you know the pits that Dany just opened back up under the condition that no slaves would be used. . .yeah about that).

In the books Tyrion actually saves Jorah here. Jorah is in a somewhat in a catatonic state at this point and Tyrion is being sold with another dwarf  Penny. (Be super glad they cut the whole Penny and her dog and pig show out of the series). He says that Jorah plays the bear in the act and all good acts must have a bear. They also don’t get sold into the fighting pits, but Tyrion ends up there later on and gets saved at the last minute by Dany (it’s more complicated then that, but pretty much that’s what happens).

We see Dany getting some lovin’ time with her man Daario who she claims she cannot marry because she has to marry the Master from Mereen for political purposes. Let me say though that Daario has the right idea about killing all the masters and showing people what’s up. If she did marry Daario they would make a pretty BA team. She has become too careful (and gotten a rather odd wig too).

Now we have come to a meeting between Jorah and his queen. In a scene copied from Gladiator they are all fighting in front of the queen and Jorah realizes it and runs out to fight too. I’m pretty sure Russell Crowe was in the group of fighters, but Jorah manages to kill them all. Dany is shocked and appalled by this sight and obviously is having second doubts about opening the fighting pits again (as she should). Jorah reveals himself to her at the end and before she can have him removed he tells her he has a gift for her. On cue Tyrion runs out and announces he is the gift. When asked he proclaims himself Tyrion Lannister. Oh you know just the son  of the man that ordered the slaughter of your family. She seems to take it like you’d expect.

Queen of Thorns

The Queen of Thorns and the High Sparrow have words together. He seems to genuinely like her and spars verbally with her for a while. She can’t figure him out though and doesn’t exactly win this exchange. This of course frustrates her and she is obviously trying to figure out a way to bring down the High Sparrow.

She meets with Petyr who tempts her with a deal to take down the Lannisters. He’s playing all sides to make sure that he has an agreement with the winning party. . .no matter who that is.

Cersei

Well, well, well. She’s still oblivious as to what is going on with the church and thinks everything is going her way. After Tommen threatens to go talk to the High Sparrow to get his wife freed Cersei steps in tells Tommen that she’ll go on his behalf to try to get her freedom.

She does visit the High Sparrow and Margeary as well. She’s super smug about what’s going on with Margeary and obviously thinks that everything is going her way. Well that is until she starts talking to the High Sparrow. He tells her about how Lancel came to them broken and slowly unburdened himself to the church. He told them about the horrible things that he did with Cersei and that gives them grounds to arrest her as well. Yeah she tries the same reasoning that Margeary did and it gets her just as far.

In the books Cersei’s plan to get rid of Tommen’s bride is much more complicated and it looks like she has framed Margeary successfully until the men she had swear that they had sex with Margeary were tortured until they admitted they were lying. I do hope they keep the punishment the same in the show as in the books though. Let’s just say that it’s very very satisfying. Plus boobs.

Dorne

Back in Dorne Myrcella doesn’t want to leave because she loves her betrothed and wants to marry him. Jamie doesn’t quite know how to handle her. Bronn mocks and taunts the Sand Snakes in their cell which is amusing until one of them feels the need to make sure we see some breasts this episode. It’s totally unnecessary and ridiculous. All of you people that were up in arms last week about Sansa should be kicking up a fuss about the show’s use of naked women to keep viewer’s interest. I don’t need to see someone naked every five minutes to keep my attention. Bronn of course was poisoned by his cut and after boobs were seen he receives the antidote. Because boobs. I don’t know this whole scene is confusing. But there are boobs so I guess we’re not supposed to question it.

On the bright side– no rapes this week!  Plus Cersei is getting a taste of her own medicine so it’s almost a cheerful episode even if we did lose a main character.

Supernatural: Brother’s Keeper. When we learned the Mark is [SPOILER] and other life lessons.

I’ve had theories as to how they were going to fix Dean all season long, but I have to say this episode dealt me surprise after surprise.

We start out this episode with a ranting Sam giving all the reasons they should do whatever they can to save Dean, but with Cas warning about the consequences about doing that. I know they will figure something out (they always do), but I’m going to agree a little with Cas here. Sam and Dean don’t always make the wisest decisions about each other.

First Life Lesson of the Night

Next we see Dean most assuredly not alright.

Nope you’re not good at all Dean. If any of you wake up like this in the mornings– you are also very far from good. [Insert “The More you Know” Rainbow].

Dean’s day just keeps getting better too. He starts off by calling a murdered girl a whore (which he totally missed the opportunity to make a comment about the Whore of Babylon) and the rounds it out by trying to run off the hunter that called him in on the case in the first place. His charm gets even better in a minute. When he goes to interview the dead girls parents he not only makes them so mad that the dad punches him repeatedly in the face, he also pulls a gun on the dad AND the son. Hunter of the Year right here. He did find out the location of the vampire nest though so there’s that.

Rowena doesn’t fall for bluffs

Evidently Crowley can’t find another witch for them (why has that not been asked yet?) so they are stuck with Rowena. She strong arms them into promising her freedom and the Codex in exchange for performing the spell. I’m sure this is going to go perfectly.

She reads the spell out loud telling Sam and Cas the three ingredients she’ll need to do the spell. It turns out that Dr. Seuss invented the language it was written in and that they need the forbidden fruit, the golden calf and the thing Rowena loves. A little bit of a challenging shopping list.

She looks pretty fantastic for someone chained up in a nasty dungeon-y place.

She once again establishes that she’s the worst mother ever and doesn’t love Crowley, but Cas does read her mind and finds out that she did love a boy named Oscar. After Sam gets a phone call from the Hunter that Dean was a douche to he gets Cas to go get the ingredients for the spell while he goes to find Dean.

Dean is Passing the Point of No Return

Dean makes it to the cabin where the vampires are holed up and kills one immediately then walks in to find Red Shirt Hunter Dude trapped with a knife to his throat. First off Dean is scary in this scene with his lack of desire to try to save a fellow hunter. Secondly I feel like any other hunter would have escaped that vampire while he was waiving that knife all around. So I don’t agree with the fact that Dean proceeds to mock the vampire into killing the guy, but I do think that someone with better instincts would have gotten out of the way so Dean could have chopped the bad guy’s head off. Dean cuts the hostage loose before leaving her with multiple dead bodies, but I was surprised that he didn’t check to make sure she hadn’t been turned before leaving. I half expected him to chop her head off just to be safe.

Dean may have left calmly, but everything he just did hit him hard once he got back to the hotel room as was evidenced by his temper tantrum.

If anyone can sexily destroy a seedy hotel room though it’s this guy.

 The Bro Love is Strong with Crowley

So Sam just tried to kill Crowley with the help of his POS mother yet all Castiel has to do to get him to help Dean is ask nicely. That’s it and all of a sudden Crowley is back with the fruit from the tree and a piece of the Golden Calf. These boys are too close to let a little attempted murder to bother them.

I, along with everyone else, love Castiel’s literal take on everything.

Now we know things are bad

Sam finds Dean’s hotel room, but he’s gone and he left a note with the keys to the Impala saying simply, “She’s all yours.” You know that Dean is gone when he gives away the Impala. You can see how much it freaks out Sam as well to see this casual note along with the trashed hotel room.

We cut to Dean summoning something that looks dangerous and turns out to be Death. Death is one of my favorite characters. He plays by his own rules. He helped the boys beat Lucifer, but he’s not really on their side.Dean asks Death to kill him and when he refuses he asks Death to remove it (I might would have asked those things in the opposite order). Death tells Dean that he can take the Mark away if he agrees to pass it on to someone else. Why you ask? Because of course the Mark isn’t just a curse, it’s also a key to a prison that holds back “The Darkness.” That not only sounds ominous, but also sounds like the writers are running out of names for their bad guys.

Dean agrees to Death’s other deal then and calls Sam so he’ll come and meet him for one final goodbye.

Crowley is still a sad lonely little boy

Crowley is still on the hunt for something that Rowena loves, but we find out that the diner owner he was talking to last week was actually the one person that Rowena loves. So by bringing him to her to murder he’s really just happy he’s found a way to hurt her. She lied to Castiel about Oscar and pretended like he was long dead when she knew he was immortal and hanging around somewhere. So her freedom must not have meant that much too her– until she was almost made to look weak in front of her son.

Poor Crowley.

Now Rowena has everything she needs to make the spell work and Sam doesn’t know that they are performing the spell as he’s meeting Dean.

Sam and Dean still like to fight

Sam shows up and right off the bat argues with Dean over his decision. He thinks that Dean is going to go off to space with Death and leave him all alone. However, Dean’s next statement surprised and shocked me.

The thought of Dean killing Sam is so alien to me I can’t wrap my head around it and I mostly watched the rest of the episode with my mouth open unsure of how this was going to work. Also here’s an image of Dean chilling in Space like Death wanted him to:

Dean’s thought process is that Sam won’t let Dean live wherever Death has planned so Sam has to die so that Dean can live forever alone in peace. Ummm no Dean. I get what you’re saying, but no. Sam begs with him, argues with him, and then finishes it off with a fist fight. . .as brothers do.

I love so many things about this. Sam got into a fight with crazy Dean knowing that when it went too far that he could cry Uncle and get him to stop. They also have a thorough discussion of good and evil. This is something that I feel like the writers have been dancing around for a while. The boys were obviously good when this show started, but after it all are they still good? Should they be one of the monsters hunters hunt?

Sam finally agrees to let Dean kill him though. Before he completely surrenders he gives him pictures of their family as reminders of what good and love really are. It’s at this moment we see something break in Dean, but I’m still not sure how Dean can get out of killing Sam. Something I’ve worried about since he originally took the Mark.

He reaches up to bring Death’s blade down onto Sam and keeps swinging around, stabbing Death in the chest with it. Death’s blade was established as the only thing that could kill Death way back when during the Apocalypse. So now Dean has killed Death for some reason (well to save Sam, but he’s the one that called Death in the first place) and he doesn’t quite seem to know what to do next.

RIP Death. You will be missed.

As he’s trying to figure out what their next move should be Rowena finishes the spell and successfully manages to remove the Mark from Dean’s arm. The only down side to this development is that Rowena is now free and appears to have taken control of Castiel and sent him to kill Crowley.

Taking a cue from the Sopranos it cuts to black before we know if Cas goes through with it or not.

Oh yeah that too

Oh yeah “The Darkness” thing that Death was going on about now seems to be free and not wasting any time taking over the world. Ooops. I’m sure it’ll be all OK right? At least Death is dead so no one can die until a new Death takes over. . .

Supernatural: Dark Dynasty. Why {Spoiler} Had to Die.

So things are looking iffy for the boys at the beginning of this episode. Sam is lying to Dean, Dean is tying to not kill everyone and some creepy doctor is scooping a chick’s eyeballs out. Rowena is manipulating Sam and can’t figure out how to use the Codex. Nobody is doing well.

We are also introduced to a new family that has spent a very long time evidently controlling the world and profiting off of it. The boys can’t find anything on them after they look back to the 1800’s and Dean thinks he’s found a connection to a case in Omaha. So now Sam has to work a case with Dean, involving the very people that are after the book he’s trying to hide. So many lies and deceptions– I’m sure this is going to be great.

Sam brings Charlie into this citing that Dean is getting worse and gets her to help Rowena break the code and figure out how to break the curse. He’s also brought in Cas to babysit them all. They are such a happy little family. Or something.

Sam gives a moving speech that makes it sound like he has a reason for lying so much to Dean. Yep– still hasn’t convinced me. But never the less they are working together for a common cause.

Sam now has to go off and work this case with Dean and they get a lucky break with some crazy high def security footage. Sam also gets plenty of awkward lies he gets to tell while trying to hide Cas’ phone calls. Dean becomes more and more suspicious of what is going on with Sam and Castiel and Charlie get more and more fed up with Rowena. Rowena finally pushes Charlie to try to get out and have some time to think alone. Even though both Sam and Castiel tell her not to leave, she runs out while Cas is distracted with Rowena.

I know people love her, but I hope Sam decides to kill her instead of Crowley.

Sam brings up the elephant in the room between him and Dean. Well, maybe not the only elephant, but one of them. Once again I will express my opinion that Dean actually seems to be doing great. Better I think then when he returned from Hell.

How is this different than normal?

Then– like everyone predicted– Castiel is a horrible liar to Dean and he becomes even more convinced that something is up. This is followed up by a bad lie from Sam to top it off.

So smooth Cas.

Dean goes out on a pizza run and gets cornered by two of the Stein boys which as we all knew ended poorly for them. Dean kills one of them and captures the other (the one that was popping out eyeballs earlier) and I have to say my one regret for this episode is that Dean didn’t torture this dude. He just spilled the beans mostly and then ripped his own arm off. I might would be more worried about Dean if we’d seen him tap into the things he learned in Hell combined with his Mark issue. However he just threatened the dude a little and then let him escape.

I’d have like to have seen it Dean.

This family reminds me of the dude they killed a while ago that was taking people’s body parts to stay immortal. I guess they’ve figured out how to do it without looking like a patchwork quilt. I was disappointed on how he pronounced Frankenstein though.

If you have not watched Young Frankenstein stop what you are doing and go watch it now.

Little Frankenstein did spill the beans that the book is impossible to destroy and that clued Dean into what Sam had been hiding.

Castiel lets Sam know that Charlie has run off and then Charlie calls Sam for help. Both boys warn Charlie to hand over all her stuff to psycho dude so he doesn’t kill her and she uploads all her info and states she can’t do that. Charlie knows what that book will do and will do anything to keep it out of their hands. The writers do throw out a tease to all you Destiel shippers out there– sooo close. . .

Cas loves you too. . .I know you were dying to have him say it.

Let me just say that my cable decided to cut out RIGHT after Charlie confronts dude in the bathroom so I didn’t know what happened. Then it came back on for the previews for next week showing the funeral. Thanks Dish Network.

The boys enter the crappy hotel room and see the blood leading into the bathroom. Not a good sign at any time, but Charlie is tough so I still held out hope (or I would have if Dish hadn’t ruined it for me) that she’d stabbed the dude in the throat. However we see Sam look like he’s going to be sick and we see Dean not handling it well either.

I’m not sure why Sam is so sick looking though. I’m pretty sure he’s done worse to others. I know he knew and loved Charlie, but I feel like anger should have been the better emotion here.

Dean proclaims that he will kill the person who did this and will destroy everything they’ve ever loved and I’m gonna say I believe him. He looks serious about this and it looks like the Mark is finally going to be let loose. Maybe now I’ll see what everyone has been scared of. I think (hope) there is a reason that Charlie had to die, but I do think the boys are really going to take this hard over all.

But now we have Charlie in Heaven with Bobby (and Ash and Jo and Ellen) and I really really would love to see them all get together and work this thing out from up there. Ash has figured out Heaven, Bobby now knows how to leave his Heaven and Charlie knows all the ins and outs of what is going on. I just think it would be awesome if this was fixed by Charlie and the only way she was able to fix it was because she died. That would make all this worth it. What do you think? Am I grasping as straws with that?

Top 10’s from the Supernatural Season 9 Premier

Wow. This post is going to have crazy spoilers so if you haven’t seen the premier yet: STOP NOW!  You were warned.

OK to recap everything that was awesome about this episode:

1. The cut that shows that Sam and Dean are not driving away from another disaster, but are in fact in the hospital
2. Dean’s reaction to the doctor saying it was all in God’s hands and then his subsequent prayer to Cas
3. Tahmoh Penikett.  I love this dude and was so excited when I saw that he was an angel.  Hopefully he’s not gone just because he’s now inside Sam. Yeah that sounds weird when you explain it like that
4. Human Cas.  I don’t know that I can say more than that.  He was just amazing.
5. Dean’s loyalty to Cas after everything that has happened– of course I don’t know that he would have even given up Crowley to someone who was beating the crap out of him.
6. This kinda goes along with #4, but Cas’ escape from psycho angel girl was amazing.  I don’t think he could have done something like that without all the time he’s spent with the boys.  Kinda messed up that I was so happy he killed a teenager.
7. Bobby. Bobby.  Bobby.  I wanted to cry when he told Sam he’d be waiting with a couple of cold ones.
8. DEATH!  One of my favorite sequences ever on Supernatural is the first time they meet death.  This actor looks like death without being comical.  I was super excited to see him back last night.
9. Cas’ laundromat struggles.  I will miss his trench-coat and tie combo, but loved that he recognized his human needs.  Too bad he spent that money on a bottle of water though.  I’m pretty sure he’s going to be hungry soon.
10. Bobby.  Oh did I mention him before?  Yeah he needs another mention.  I was so happy this wasn’t just a weird ghost thing, but a legitimate reason for him to be back.

How I think Sam should cut his hair:

I don’t feel the urge to braid it at this length.

Questions I have:

1. Is Ezekiel really who he says he is?  I’m thinking not, but how awesome would it be if he WAS and he received doubt and suspicion the whole season just to prove he is who he says he is.  I would love to see a good angel.  Probably not going to happen here.
2. In that line of thought is Ezekiel really too weak to heal him?  How convenient that possession is the only way.
3. Will the angels be any better than demons now that they have fallen?  Or perhaps it will make them want to help humans more after they see first hand the day to day struggles they go through.  Yeah probably not. Obviously something is up since psycho angel girl didn’t heal herself after the car crash.
4. How pissed is Sam going to be when he finds out that Dean stuck and Angel in him?  OK maybe I know they answer to this question, but WOW that is going to be ugly.
5. Why didn’t Dean look to Crowley before he looked to the angels?  He was almost cured so surely he would be open to helping Sam out.
6. Is Crowley really the King of Hell anymore?  I’m guessing he has been demoted.
7. Did Death know that he wasn’t really going to take Sam?  He is mostly omnipotent so maybe that’s why he went personally.  I feel like he likes the Winchesters in his own way so maybe he just wanted to hang out for a bit.  No?  Still I feel like he probably knew what was going to happen.
8. Will Cas be able to see that Sam has an angel inside him?  I’m guessing not now that his Grace is gone, but maybe that’s how Sam will find out.  As in Cas gets his Grace back and then realizes what Dean has done and announces it.
9. When is Sam getting a hair cut?  Now I like my Jared Padalecki shaggy, but I feel like he’s crossing a line.  Like a mousse/blowdry line.   Please.  Trim it up.
10. What is the plan with Crowley?  I really want to see him more and my favorite Crowley episodes were when he was working with the boys.  Yes he had his own agenda, but he makes a great bad-good guy.

Overall I thought this was a solid season premier which I have to say I didn’t feel the same with the start of season 8.  There is mystery with the whole angel inside Sam situation, a bunch of big bads in the corners (the angels, Abaddon, Crowley, etc), Cas of course needs help, but there isn’t the confusion we experienced last season with the whole Purgatory crap.  I’m excited to see where they go with this and if they try to tie up the loose ends from last season (Amelia and Benny) or if they are just going to disappear into oblivion like their half brother still stuck in hell.  What are your opinions?  Tell me in the comments after watching that clip of Death that I was talking about earlier.

Truly the best sequence in the show.

Related articles

• Supernatural Season 9 Premiere: “I Think I’m Gonna Like It Here” (acollectivemind.wordpress.com)
• ‘Supernatural’ season premiere recap: ‘There ain’t no me if there ain’t no you.’ (popwatch.ew.com)