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HAVE A NICE TRIP, SEE YOU NEXT FALL.
“Mockingbird,” named after House Baelish’s fitting emblem, had several excellent moments. Enough to hopefully hold us over for two weeks until the next episode (GoT is taking Memorial Day weekend off). Sure, there was a seemingly random Melisandre/Selyse scene shoved into the mix, but for the most part this episode was filled with great, subdued conversations. Why, Tyrion alone had three visitors to his suite of squalor, Jaime, Bronn, and Oberyn: all wonderful scenes having to do with who would be Tyrion’s champion now that Cersei had named The Mountain as the crown’s champion.
And on top of those scenes, we got an actual friendly, tender-ish moment between Arya and The Hound along with some friendly investigative inquiries involving Brienne, Pod, and (the returning!) Hot Pie. Oh, I think an actual smile crept across Sansa’s face too. Right there at the beginning of her closing scenes when she saw snow and started building a tiny Winterfell. Then everything went to crap once that twit Robin Zoolander got all “What is this, a center for ants?” and kicked the whole thing down. Then Littlefinger, as well-meaning as he might think he is, creeped the hell out of us by planting one on Sansa and then making Lysa fly to her death out through the Moon Door.
So let’s talk about the two big moments that took us out of the episode. The first being the death of Lysa at the shoving hands of Littlefinger - who was kind enough to let her know their love was all a lie right before pushing her to her splattery doom. Sansa didn’t exactly leave the frying pan for the fire, but she did wind up in a sort of lethal soap opera. Someone is there to protect her and make sure she’s safe, but it’s a guy who also lusts after her. And she’s being forced to marry again. And while Robin isn’t intentionally cruel like Joffrey, he is cruel. Because he’s a spoiled simpleton with no moral compass or empathy. And since Tyrion smacking Joffrey is no longer an option on the show, I’ll happily accept Sansa smacking Robin in its stead. Someone get that on a YouTube loop stat.
The other big reveal here was Oberyn volunteering to be Tyrion’s champion, having found a way, finally, to seek some measure of revenge against the man who killed his sister. I know that it seems like, up until now, everything's been manipulated by Cersei and Tywin. But Oberyn getting his chance to kill Ser Gregor? That just feels so right. That is, if you consider fighting Gregor Clegane as being "fortunate.” The look on Tyrion’s face when Oberyn told him he'd fight for him was amazing too. After all, Tyrion was probably at his lowest point of the season having just been turned down by both Jaime and Bronn.
And that scene with “fancy” Bronn was heartbreaking. Not a full betrayal, since Bronn was always a straight-shooter regarding their “friendship” but a sad (perhaps?) farewell nonetheless. Bronn fought for Tyrion once but now we know that it wasn’tjust for the gold. It was also because he was sure he could win. With The Mountain, he’s just not sure enough. And so the two parted, amicably, with a handshake. And off Bronn went to get married to Lollys Stokeworth. Great scene.
I do wish, I suppose, that more had come from Jaime’s training with Bronn. Because if anyone could get Jaime back into fighting form, it’d be that shifty sellsword-turned-knight. But apparently all Jaime learned was that he was now terrible at fighting. Not the tutelage I was hoping for. Anyhow, Jaime’s scene with his brother was also tremendous, as the two of them tempted each other into somehow letting their father down even more - the activity that seems to secretly bring them the most joy as sons of Tywin. I also like how candid Tyrion is when it comes to just coming out and saying that Jaime f***ed their sister.
Thrown into the batter of “Mockingbird” were a few Jon Snow scenes (Surprise, Alliser Thorne still hates him!) and that one Selyse scene. I don’t mind heading over to Dragonstone every so often, but there isn’t much that can get me to care all that much about those two. Melisandre’s already proven to be more of a pragmatist than she lets on and Selyse is dourly fervent. The only takeaway here after a period of extended Red Woman nudity was that Melisandre wanted Shireen to go with them when they all leave.
And although it wasn’t as triumphant a moment as Oberyn telling Tyrion that he’d fight Ser Gregor, Daario pledging his killing-people abilities to Daenerys led to some serious Meereenese sheet action featuring his, um, other renowned talent. And even though Jorah came to visit Dany in the morning at the (almost) worst possible moment, from a “friend zone” standpoint, she quickly gave him the pat behind his ears that he was seeking when she heeded his words of wisdom about how to deal with the slave masters in Yunkai. And he wasn’t just offering contrary advice for the sake of being a sounding board. As a reformed “slaver” himself, he not only knows what’s it’s like to be given a second chance, but he also knows that everyone in Slaver’s Bay needs to be taught how to be merciful - having had absolutely no practice in the behavior.
So yes, Dany was a bit more agreeable than usual. And perhaps we already know with whom to attribute the “spring in her step.” Speaking of Daario, Jorah brought up how he’d decapitated his former commanders - which happened last season in “Second Sons.” I just wanted to point this out since this is the first time there’s been a direct callback to something Daario did last season (when he was played by a different actor), as up until now it seemed like the show, semi-intentionally, was treating him like a character new to Season 4.
We’ll end things here with Arya and The Hound, whose roller coaster once again entered the friendship loop-de-loop. Hot Pie wasn’t the only person from Arya’s past travels to resurface - Rorge and Biter returned this week as well. With Biter actually sinking his rotten teeth into The Hound’s neck. The last time we left Arya and Hound, she was berating him for stealing that family’s silver but when we opened on them here they seemed to have calmed down and readjusted to each other’s murderous moods. Which led to a great, extended scene that first involved The Hound putting an old man out of his misery and then Arya, like a freakin’ boss, swiftly stabbing Rorge in the heart while he stood there like an idiot.
Then came the biggest bonding moment between Arya and The Hound yet. I mean, the guy pretty much opened more than he ever had to anyone in his whole life, much less on the show. And then he let her play nursemaid with his neck wound. It’s funny when you step back and consider the two grown men who Arya and Sansa are both teamed with/stuck with at the moment. Arya got the tortured, dark-hearted killer and Sansa got the lovestruck schemer. Very fitting considering the girls’ childhood proclivities.
More from the Seven Kingdoms and Beyond:
- Hot Pie can bake a damn fine Direwolf now!
- Oh, I can’t stay mad at you “Fancy” Bronn
- Oberyn’s story about seeing Tyron as a child, and being let down that he wasn’t a monster, was quite good
- Cersei stepping over freshly strewn guts should be the real Lannister crest.
- “Nothing isn’t better or worse than anything. Nothing is just nothing.” - Aryastotle
- Jon Snow should probably stop mentioning giants since it just makes his bosses roll their eyes. Then, when giants crush them all under their humungous feet, he should say “Looks like someone… got stepped on by a giant.” (puns didn’t exist back then) And then put on sunglasses.
- “Take your clothes off” is probably the best thing Dany’s said since ‘Dracarys!”
- I know it was his mother, but I'm pretty sure Robin would have gotten a kick out of seeing Lysa "fly."
THE VERDICT
"Mockingbird" wasn't as neatly assembled as some of its Season 4 predecessors. Tyrion having three visitors already meant that we'd have to shift away to other stories before returning back to his cell. And having that single Dragonstone scene in there didn't help with the overall fluidity. But we did get three excellent moments with Tyrion, a freshly-sexed Dany letting her "advisor" actually advise her, a murderous love triangle at The Eyrie (that only two people in the triangle seemed to care about), and more awesomeness from Arya.
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