BWW Recap: Arya Stark Becomes 'No One' on GAME OF THRONES

As this season of GAME OF THRONES draws to a close, Episode 8 gave us the required death count, male nudity (was that far away shot of Sandor pissing what you wanted when you called for equal nudity Emilia Clarke?) and debunked a lot of fan theories and book plot lines that have been building up since the first installment, further confirming the show's insistence that it's truly straying away from it's source material.

Usually, things have been ramped up and set up by Episode 8, that the rest of the season is climax and falling action. That doesn't seem to be the case this year, for we're still in the midst of set up that has been going on since the first episode, and not overly complicated set up at that. Last year, Episode 8 was "Hardhome." Easily it's one of most show-watchers' favorite episodes, as are most of the last three conclusion episodes of each season. They're the episodes where all of the character development, arcs, and planning usually pays off. However, this Episode 8 didn't feel any different than any of the previous episodes we've gotten this season. Things definitely happened, but mostly in counterintuitive ways that counteracted what we've watched the rest of the season. One cant help but feel we're wasting a lot of time watching scenes of pointless nature that fail to deliver new information that could have easily been left on the cutting room floor, or frankly, the garbage pail in the writers room.

Most of that stuff, as has it been all season, are the scenes revolving around Tyrion. Here we are again, where very slowly and haphazardly, plot points are being developed, but all under the guise of a rather dull conversation that is given the center focus and lasts for far too long. Viewers are smart, but it's the director and editor's job to guide them. There seems to be no guidance within the narrative taking place on our screen, as we endure countless numbers of pointless conversations and meandering dialogue that only detracts from the center and focus of each of the character arcs present within each of the parallel stories.

Varys appears to be leaving Meereen, perhaps on a quest to obtain some allies for Daenerys before she reaches Westeros? We're not too sure entirely why he is going, but we know what it's all apart of his plan, and since his plan is to sit Dany on the Throne, it must be in that vein. Or, maybe Dany and Varysare just the same person so we cant ever see them on screen together. Make way all those 'Daario equals everybody' fan theories, perhaps it was Dany you were looking for.

It also seems that Tyrion's plan is working, for we get another red priestess praising Daenerys as the prophesied one. This peacetime doesn't last, but we are first forced to endure a long scene during which Tyrion makes painfully uncomfortable small talk with Missandei and Grey Worm once again. He continues talking to them in that same patronizing voice he always uses, as if they were children and couldn't possibly understand a word he is saying, despite the fact that Missandei knows more languages than he could count on his fingers. Tyrion just cant seem to grasp when he's lost the room, however, as his Westerosi version of the "three men walk into a bar..." is received in utter silence. He also forces Grey Worm and Missandei, who have both answered that they do not and have no wish to drink prior, to drink. What is up with this? Yara forced Theon to drink last episode too. Why is this meant to be endearing? How about respecting people's boundaries and stop pressuring them to do things they don't wish to? Just because Tyrion's alcoholism is a punchline for the writers doesn't mean it should be that way for every other character as well. Not to worry though, this scene which went on for several minutes long, and was verging on seeming endless, finally came to a pause when bells began to toll. We are saved! Amen! The masters have "come for their property" and are attacking Meereen. I guess Tyrion's plan wasn't that great...even though it seemed to be going over fine and would be a sweet deal for the Masters until seven years came to pass. Thus, we are given one of our first instances of large backtracking, where things are seemingly happening, but they end up erasing what we spend the whole rest of the series building. Why did we follow and focus so heavily on Tyrion's plan, giving us THE ROOM to celebrate him, if it was going to fall through completely and have no effect on him nor the overall plot? The bones behind their writing are starting to show, as they clearly needed to get to the siege of Meereen, but had to work in roundabout ways to get us here at the of the season, when we were fit to be here in Episode 1.

It did, however, give us a very satisfying scene of Grey Worm telling Tyrion that he does not get to talk because he got them into this mess in the first place with all of his talking and didn't listen to a word of advice from the people who actually know the city and the system. Finally someone said it to Tyrion's face! Grey Worm then starts to direct and command his forces, attempting to fix all the mistakes Tyrion has caused, when, before he can put his plans into motion, they here a noise. Who comes though the window on the balcony atop the pyramid but our very own feminine white-savior, Daenerys Targaryen. Now that she's back, she can take over the mantlepiece from Tyrion, her fellow white-savior. That's most likely why his plans failed in the narrative so abruptly to begin with. It's more empowering™ to see the whitest woman command people of color in siege tactics that she can barely comprehend, after being away for so long, isn't it? Also, it is to be noted that Dany must have watched How to Train Your Dragon with Drogon because he's super trained and can land perfectly onto the top of a pyramid. Nice job Drogon! You might also be wondering where's Daario? And the Dothraki? Well we're not sure, but it appears like she just left them to walk on feet or via horseback the whole way, while she took the express dragon route. Hopefully Daario knows Dothraki. Otherwise, he'll suffer for the lack of conversation, since we know he cant go one moment without making a witty comment or two! Also, if Meereen is under siege, how are they getting into the city?

We also return to Sandor Clegane, who make a shocking return last episode. Or rather, should we call him The Hound™, for his main objective is motivated by hate and he's still an instrument of violence and revenge. It festers in him and drives him this whole episode, as he's been clear of since his return. He told McShane's character last week that "hate" keeps him going, and this week we are shown how much he takes joy in seeking revenge. All of this still seems to argue against the point of bringing people back that the show runners keep reiterating in every "Inside the Episode", that they must returned quite changed and different, or else what is the point? Why bring people back and to such a large capacity all at once this season, if they're not going to change?

The first scene in The Hound's™ plot was another instance of wasting time. Men are having that same conversation we've heard a million times on this show before, talking about fing and kissing women like the dudebros that they are, and one of them even sticks his fingers up the other ones ass for a joke. Quality television and writing at it's best. Why is this moment taking up times on our screens again? We only have an hour of this each week people! Make it count! Perhaps The Hound™ got the memo about speeding things along, as he comes up behind these buffoons and slaughters them all, demanding the location of the men of the Brotherhood who attacked the innocents building the sept.

The Hound™ does find these men, but alas, they are already being hanged by none other than Thoros of Myr and Beric Dondarrion (RIP Stoneheart dreams). Apparently these men went rogue so they're hanging them for the crimes they've committed. Why are the ranks of the Brotherhood falling so low that random factions of their group are riding off and ravaging the lands and people they vowed to protect? The Hound, bloodthirsty, demands his revenge, so they very generously allow him the lives of two men by pushing the box our from under their feet, hanging them for dead. Sandor accepts begrudgingly, afraid their death wont be painful enough. However, a drop that short on a rope around your neck would not be instant. It would probably be very painful and you'd suffer a lot. We cut away though, as we watch Sandor pull the boots off of one of the corpses and put them on, numb to what he's just done. This episode's choices of when to show violence or when to have deaths be felt in more of an offscreen presence seem to shed light on the cogs turning the wheel. It's not satisfying to directly watch our heroes brutalize and kill directly on our screen if it doesn't highlight them in a positive and "badass" manner.

Speaking of brutal, Cersei finally chooses violence when the Sparrows come into the Red Keep demanding that she answer the High Sparrow's call at the Sept. She refuses and Franken-Gregor smashes one of the men of the Faith Militant to pieces, sending Cersei's message clear and wide that if the High Sparrow wishes to antagonize her again, he can try, but he would await the wrath of Franken-Gregor. It wasn't as epic of an "I choose violence" scene as the trailer hyped it up to be, as he only got to kill one Sparrow, but one down and a lot more to go! There's also the implication that Cersei is not only choosing violence as a means to an end for that moment, but for whole predicament. Qyburn later asks her about "rumors" she had told him about, assuring her that they are true. This seems to point towards the wildfire buried under all of Kings Landing. Perhaps the next time she chooses violence, the whole city will end up in flames. The smile on Cersei's face when she felt the victory against the Sparrow compared to what she is soon greeted with in the throne room, makes the scene all the more heartbreaking. A+ acting by Lena Heady in this scene. You felt her every emotion. Cerise walks into the throne room with her weird crew of Qyburn and Franken-Gregor, but is quickly dismissed by Kevan, as Tommen basically delivers another High Sparrow speech minus Jonathan Pryce, outlawing trial by combats and setting dates for Loras and Cersei's trail. The High Sparrow must really have him wrapped around his finger because he seems to knowingly condemn his mother if they are leaving her judgement in the hands of men. This whole scenario brings up a lot of questions, however. Are Loras and Cersei being tried together that their cases were mentioned in conjunction to each other? Are the Sparrows not being hypocritical by thinking a trail by combat is too brutal while they are literally torturing prisoners in their cells until they are forced to confess to find their freedom? Also, isn't trail by combat the godliest of all punishments since it seemingly leaves the fate of the trial in the hands of the gods? And what the heck is Margaery's plan if Loras is still not out of prison and will be forced to be put on trial? I thought she was going to "make it stop?"

On the brighter side, Brienne and Pod have arrived at Riverrun to find the Lannister encampment. Brienne goes straight to speak with Jaime, but Pod, like a child in parent teacher conference, is forced to wait outside while the grownups have serious chats. He spends some bro-time with his old pal Bronn though, where they literally talk about if they would or wouldn't have sex with Brienne."I'd f her," Bron so delicately puts it. Pod tells Bronn he's simply Brienne's squire and she's even teaching him to sword fight, and that's about all there is to that scene. It was another scene that didn't further the plot whatsoever, but was placed in the story nonetheless and was several minutes long.There's so much that needs to happen and so many climaxes building up that when we reach them, they end up feeling incredibly rushed when they aren't given the proper time. It's what ends up happening with this whole plot line because we spent a good chunk of it listening to dudebros talk about their dicks or if they or if they wouldn't f a girl.

However, remember that bit of crippling character assassination from last week? Well this week does it again and it's right up there with Yara. Other than the beautiful subtext consistently being played by Nikolaj in each scene, nothing else factored in or contributed the beautiful complexity to Jaime's character in this backwards arc. And boy, is it backwards...One can take note of all the lines Jaime has delivered this season that directly call back to the same person Jaime has been in Season 1. They can all be compared and paralleled with his infamous "The things I do for love" line, but none can surpass this week where we literally had the line reiterated! Talk about your lack of character growth! You can't say the writing for Jaime is anything but consistent, albeit completely stagnant, seeing as he is able to cite one of his lines from Season 1 with the exact same intent and meaning behind it as he did then.

Jaime and Brienne have a talk where she tries to assuage him by explaining that they both want the same thing; the Blackfish out of Riverrun. Brienne needs him to go with her to help Sansa in the North, and Jaime needs him to abandon the castle to end the siege and hand it over to the Freys. Jaime protests at first, backed by his Lannister pride, proclaiming "I'm a Lannister. You'd ask me to betray my own house?" He eventually agrees in spite of it all, however, despite the plan being one that would end up directly aiding Sansa's march to remove the people the Lannisters directly made WARDENS of the North, from the keep they conquered and the they've been given.
There is an interesting point of contention between the two as they have a grudging respect for one another, but are on completely different sides of this battle. Their relationship is very interesting, especially under the possibility of the situation turning to battle, but it's plagued. Their respect and feelings for one another are tainted by Jaime's utter devotion to Cersei and his Lannister pride. The person he was and learned to be with Brienne previously is no longer here. These people are so opposing now that while their character traits are just urging the other to grow and develop by sheer nature of their interaction, the context and place in which they are interacting forbid them from doing so. Jaime has been fully swept off his redemption arc and even as beautiful and nuanced of a moment the scene between the two is acted out to be, he will never be dropped back into it. His love and devotion to Cersei is too strong and it's his biggest weakness.

In her attempts to convince the Blackfish to come with them North, Brienne fails miserably. The Blackfish, a stubborn and proud man, refuses, not wishing to relent the castle, his family home, to the 'Kingslayer.' He explains what we've all been thinking, that if he has just enough men to hold the castle, especially seeing as most of the Tully forces were slaughtered, he surely doesn't have enough men to impact them winning back Winterfell. Plus leaving would mean giving up his home in Riverrun to fight for someone elses.

Brienne resigns, her mission not going as planned, and tells Pod to get a raven to Sansa to tell her she failed....It's okay Brienne! No sweat! Apparently they don't have time to wait around anyway, so they definitely wouldn't have time to wait for you to lift a siege and make your way back from Riverrun with an army in the first place with this newly established time crunch.

Jaime then pays a visit to Edmure Tully who is still looking a little worse for wear, but better than before. Jaime apologizes for the way he's been treated by the Freys, ironically as we see Edmure tied to a tent pole, sitting sadly in a pile of dirt. Edmure also apparently has had a son off of Roslin Frey on the night of the Red Wedding and it's a wonder why we are finding out about it now and why they are even bothering to keep Edmure alive if they have the technical heir to Riverrun. Edmure's son was the Freys last official binding confirmation that Riverrun is truly theirs. Edmure is having none of this chatter though, as he spits Jaime's words back at him, clearly making a dent in Jaime's armor. Jaime continues talking, nonetheless, explaining how he grew to respect Catelyn during his time as her prisoner because the love she had for her children reminded him of Cersei. Everything about Jaime's character revolves around Cersie, so much so that it's his selling point in this conversation. It's during this moment that he utters "The things we do for love," an appalling callback to his line from Season 1, while confirming his incestuous relationship out in the open to Edmure Tully. He tells him that he loves her and "If [he has] to slaughter every Tully of Riverrun to get back to her, [he] will."

Thus, Edmure agrees to the plan, in fright or to save his own hide one can't be sure, and walks up to the gates of Riverrun, demanding to be let in. A weird newfound contention between the Blackfish and the Tully forces has apparently developed overnight, despite the fact that he's been commanding them this entire time, as they protest against the notion of not letting Edmure in. Even though, they didn't seem to resent or protest much when the Blackfish told the Frey's they could just kill Edmure just one episode ago. Blackfish insists that it's a Lannister trap and folly to let Edmure in, but they proclaim he's their liege lord, and they must obey him and only him. Thus, they let him in.

Edmure gives the Blackfish a lingering look as he enters the hall, but then immediately proceeds upstairs to the battlements and declares that his men must open the gates to the Lannister forces and end the siege. Originally, one could take his lingering look to the Blackfish for an effort to save his brother from the fate that would await him once the Lannisters charged, giving him time to escape, but we are confirmed that it was not. Edmure tells his men to search for the Blackfish, put him in chains, and give him to the Freys once they do. The Blackfish, however, was off helping Brienne and Pod escape. He refuses to go with them and gallantly decides to die fighting for House Tully. He ends up dying in the fray, as we are told, seeing as how it was oddly chosen to be done off screen after allowing us to follow and get to know this character the last few weeks. It's sad to see a brilliant character like the Blackfish go, but at least he went out fighting! If only we actually got to see it!

Brienne and Pod are off rowing, apparently moving along at a slightly faster rate than Gendry, but slow enough that Jaime was able to see them row off. They're still in eye sight of Riverrun apparently, and Brienne and he exchange a sentimental and bittersweet wave of goodbye. One must question though that if Brienne's plan wasn't going to be successful in the least bit, if she wasn't going to learn new information nor succeed in getting at least the Blackfish by himself on their side, then what was the point? If they came out of this whole experience with nothing at all in their favor, then what why did we follow them there and spend time with this place and plot line? For it to work out so easily does make one question if it was warranted at all.

Speaking of indirect storytelling and counterintuitive plot, one cannot help but feel Arya's whole stint in Braavos was pointless for the past few seasons, and last week's scene was even more so. Did she learn anything? Bleeding out, she goes to seek help from the one person she knows, Lady Crane, who we see performing the show again as Cersei, but this time with radical dialogue changes that inflict more violence and toughness that Arya suggested. This Lady Crane is also magical healer now, as she bandages Arya up and gives her some milk of the poppy to sleep and heal. It's actually quite a nice scene and I really love the interaction and relationship between these two characters. Sadly, that comes to an end, as does everything good and pure in Thrones, rather quickly. The Waif soon finds her and kills Lady Crane...and thus the beginning of the adventures of the badly skilled parkour begins.

Arya is so bad at parkour, in fact, that she parkour right into a fruit market, much to everyone's dismay, and gets blood all over the wears as that big impact reopened her wounds. The waif jumps after her, spreading the biggest grin across her face, clearly loving the chase. Shouldn't the Waif get in trouble for having a personal vendetta against Arya? That seems to go against the Faceless Men rulebook. The Waif then begins to slowly stalk after her, a grin on her face, as if it were straight out of a Michael Myers movie. However, Arya, struggling and bloody, purposely leads her down this random corridor to the place where she stored Needle! She apparently chose this random spot to hide it in preparation for this fight and this moment, cutting the candle light so it would be done in the dark. Her success at fighting blind must pay off, as we follow Jaqen trailing a bloodstained pathway in the House of Black and White, until he sees the Waif's face on the wall. "You told her to kill me," Arya states, holding Needle to his chest. Apparently, shirking all your duties and going full fledged Arya Stark is just what she needed to do in the first place because Jaqen declares, "Finally a girl is No One." Aya replies, "A girl is Arya Stark of Winterfell, and I am going home," reasserting her identity as a Stark and her need for revenge that she struggled with letting go of for so long.

Thus, while things happened, people died, and one of our leads is finally heading back home, this episode felt as Jaime's arc does; Stagnant. Perhaps it's all the backtracking and the questionable nature of the conclusion of some of these plot lines, as they end up negating a lot of the time we spent watching them in the first place.

Next week is the exciting and infamous Episode 9 of this season, as we gear up for the Bastard Bowl between Snow and Snow! It looks like the whole episode will pretty much be dedicated to that plot line so perhaps, they're attempting another note on the epic scale like 'Hardhome'.

Check out the preview for next week's episode below and be sure to share your thoughts and reactions to this week's episode in the comments!

Photo Credit: HBO

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