BWW Recap: GAME OF THRONES Raises Some Eyebrows in 'Book of the Stranger'

This week's episode of GAME OF THRONES just aired, entitled "Book of the Stranger," a title that had little to do with the episode besides a not so subtle namedrop halfway through. This episode delivered more of what Thrones is seemingly BECOMING more about; shocks, deaths, quips and nudity, and less of what it originally was; a human and complex drama. Despite GAME OF THRONES insistence that this year, women will be "on top," we were once again force fed faux-feminism doubling as "empowerment," while it double downed on it's misogyny, racism, and plain nonsensical storytelling. If I had to give this episode a theme, it would certainly not relate to the title, but rather something along the lines of "white savior complex," which this show has had issues with in the past and oddly enough seems hellbent on revisiting. In an episode filled with sibling reunions a lot of us have been yearning for, where we finally got to see two Stark children hug and two Greyjoy children....well....fight...you would think it would leave you jumping over THE HILLS in excitement for story lines we wished would converge again for years, yet instead the episode left me with a rather bad taste in my mouth, completely overriding any emotional reaction I had to siblings being reunited, and gave me a great deal of worry for what is to come.

We recap a lot of the past and characters that have not been seen in a while (like the infamous "Sweet Robin" Arryn) on the previously on, which is now BECOMING exposition central. It doesn't count when it's not technically in the episode right? It's okay though cause right after that we go into the intro and theme music, which is still catchy as hell, and the map animation is still pretty awesome, despite it's occasional slip ups (I'm looking at you, the supposed "city" of Dorne).

Jumping right back to where we left off, the show seemed to prefer bookending their episodes with the going ons at Castle Black. The latter half of this episode seemed to break that structure but we started off there! It turns out Jon was just being overtly dramatic when he said his "watch has ended" and seemingly stormed out of Castle Black. He just went to his room to sulk for a bit.

Speaking of Castle Black, it must contain some weird time warp, for it seems to be the home of unmotivated characterization. It effects each and every character that appears at the Wall and that's a trend that continues throughout the episode. Dolorous Edd asks Jon where he will go after leaving, reminding him of what they faced at Hardhome and questioning him how he can abandon all of that and the men of the Watch. All of those seem like very respectable and good questions that I was asking myself, so I commend you Dolorous Edd for speaking what we were all thinking. Jon then answers that he will go south to "get warm," and that he's tired of fighting. Granted the "get warm" thing was probably meant to be apart of this new jokey personality that is now characteristic of the recently resurrected Jon Snow, but it just further highlighted that him taking leave of the Nights Watch at this moment was motivated by virtually nothing and that he had no direction going forward. He really hasn't changed very much though since his resurrection and I think that' s a major issue. What was the point in killing him if it isn't going to have a noticeable and long term effect on who he is at the core?

In the middle of this conversation however, we are interrupted with the sound of a horn being blown proclaiming riders at the gates and we are immediately shown the dream team of Sansa Stark, Podrick Payne, and Brienne of Tarth, riding up on their horses. Given the fact that this show's favorite thing to do is near misses with the Stark children, I was extremely wary going into this episode that Jon will have left Castle Black before Sansa arrived. Alas, they are not that cruel and we get a Stark reunion, finally! Something we have been waiting for a long time. Sansa and Jon give each other a big hug in the courtyard and for a moment, things feel good. It's nice to see Sansa have a warm and positive interaction with someone after what she's been dealt and in a perfect world, this psychical loving expression would be a world of character growth for the both of them; Jon who was always afraid to go beyond his boundaries as a bastard, for Sansa was always Catelyn's child, and Sansa who saw her brother as nothing more than what he was, a bastard and a half-sibling. This embrace was something special, if not only to give us one moment of happiness for Sansa Stark after all of these years.

Although, from this moment on, Sansa steps into the warp that exists in Castle Black and turns into a completely different character. It's nice to see Sophie Turner's incredibly range, but obviously the writing did not support or feel very Sansa-like so it came out sounding like she was playing a different person. In fact, the writing was odd overall in this scene, where it's meant to be a sentimental moment of bonding for the two, but instead takes a weird turn for the quirky and teasing dialogue you would hear in a RomCom. It all felt very modern and only proceeded to get worse when Sansa condemns herself for being "horrible" to Jon. I don't recall her ever being so bad that this conversation escalated so and she had to forcibly blame herself for several things that don't necessarily warrant a reprimand, like calling Jon her "half-brother," which is the truth of the situation. Then, when Sansa suggests that they take Winterfell, for the rest of her characterization this episode is pitted around the go-to motive for Thrones (revenge), Jon starts whining and complaining about how hard his life has been and how he has no fight left in him anymore. As he starts listing off the "bad" that he's been through, including choices he actively made, like hanging Olly, we're meant to feel for him and thus, I began to roll my eyes. For some reason, Sansa needed to be talked down to reguarding trauma when she's been through hell and back and not by her own accord.

Just outside, Davos and Melisandre are talking once more and Melisandre declares her loyalty to Jon Snow, proclaiming him the "prince that was promised." This all seemed rather an abrupt switch after her complete wavering uncertainty prior, but now she is convinced Jon Snow is the man she that thought Stannis to be. Speaking of Stannis, after reviving Jon Snow, Davos was able to forget about his idol for a moment to remember his past idol, Stannis Baratheon. Oh yeah, the guy he was completely and utterly devoted to? Remember him? Well now Davos does. It took him a while but he got there. He asks Melisandre what happened to Stannis and to his other favorite person in the world, Shireen. It begs the question why he waited until now to bring it up, but I guess when your new best friend dies, that is your only focus.

Someone who does know what happened, however, is Brienne of Tarth, who comes strolling up and drops the information that she executed Stannis and she does not forgive and forget. There it is again, that furry little revenge monster that just wont go away. This whole interaction ended on a rather stilted and weird note, transitioning us to another odd moment DOWN SOUTH in the Vale.

We see everyone's favorite sickly boy, who appears less sickly and a great deal older, "Sweet Robin" Arryn. He's training with Lord Royce, who at this point, with all the traveling Little Finger is doing, has probably had more of a hand in raising the boy than anyone else. However, little Robert Arryn is all gung-ho on "Uncle Peter" now for whatever reason, and Petyr seals the deal with a present. He gives Robert a falcon, how fitting be it the sigil of his house. In Petyr Baelish fashion, he starts spinning his WEB OF LIES again, as he claims that Sansa and he were overtaken by Bolton men and she was kidnapped. In a stroke of good luck though, she has escaped Winterfell and now the crown has given the Arryns the permission to attack the Boltons. As Sansa and Jon find themselves in need of allies, the force of the Vale seems like quite a good one to have.

Over in Meereen, we are greeted with our first example of the theme of the "white savior complex" this episode. Tyrion is treating with the slave masters, accompanied by Grey Worm and Missandei, however, they don't get to do much speaking. Tyrion proceeds to go on what is the longest white-splaining rant, where he basically tells slavers about their own economy system, for Tyrion knows best, and then actively pursues a rather deplorable and idiotic solution of allowing the salvers more time to convert their cities into free cities, virtually undoing anything Dany has done. He says he will give them seven years to convert, which seems rather off-putting as they'll presumably be out of Meereen by the time this plan is meant to have been fully implemented, thus they can't even be sure that it goes well. It seems more like Tyrion's way of buying them time out of this situation so they can just leave the wake of destruction caused behind them, but judging by his attitude in the following scenes and Missandei's reactions (which characterize exactly how I felt listening to him talk), he is completely serious and thinks that his plan is perfect. Then, as a gift and a gesture of his "good will" Tyrion hands the masters over a pair of sex slaves. You know, cause treating people like gifts isn't a form of slavery or anything. There is a moment in the books where Tyrion remarks that despite Illyrio Mopatis' insistance that his servants are not slaves, their actions, lack of agency, and Illyrio's mistreatment of them makes them so anyway. This is a theme that runs across Martin's works and it's something he actively explores that is noticeably missing in the show.

Then, in the throne room, when confronted by the people of Meereen, they seek solace in Grey Worm and Missandei who are forced to lie for Tyrion and support his ideals. If they're trying to build Tyrion up into a villainous figure, it's working, but sadly I don't think that was the intent behind any of these scenes. In fact, the show runners compare him to Abraham Lincoln and his methods during the Civil War, saying what he is doing here is good, for he's doing what must be done and "compromising." While simultaneously undermining everything Daenerys has done, Tyrion also manages to talk down to Missandei and Greyworm. The two people who are both not white and ex-slaves are being taught and white-splained to by Tyrion, the epitome of privilege. I will give the creators the benefit of the doubt in the fact that Missandei and Grey Worm's distrusts and disgust at the situation is present within the narrative, but Tyrion remains our central figure and we're meant to understand his perspective as he explains to two former slaves what slavery actually is and instead of understanding, he just becomes indomitably unlikeable and down right revolting.

Just outside of Vaes Dothrak we are given some more of that Emmy award winning writing, where Jorah and Daario have a conversation regarding how Dany is in bed. Why this is the only thing the two can discuss I do not know. Then, in a turn of action finally, they see the temple of the Dosh Khaleen and decide to make their move. Jonah explains that they must leave their weapons if they want to make it out alive (I guess he's also good at respecting other people's cultures) when he accidentally shows Daario his conveniently revealing spot of greyscale. Daario is surprisingly cool with it and doesn't actually have much of a reaction, oddly enough, after having built up Jorah's dishonesty about the situation the past few episodes. Daario claims he'll put his dagger in the weapons pile in a moment but, as can be predicted, he doesn't end up doing it. For, when they get into Vaes Dothrak, they run into two Dothraki who really want to know what these men are up to for whatever reason, despite the heavy and diverse population that is constantly migrating in and out of the city.

Things don't go well in this conversation notwithstanding Jorah's lying skills, and a fight breaks out. Everyone is so incredibly violent despite the no-violence rule just uttered not long ago in Vaes Dothrak. Jorah finds himself in a tight squeeze, so Daario takes his hidden dagger and stabs the Dothraki in the back. There would be trouble, however, if it were found out that he had a stab wound from a blade within the city walls, so Daario takes care of it by smashing him with a boulder. This point of weaponry in Vaes Dothrak is brought up for about a moment, later on, however it then didn't end up paying off in the slightest. It just ended up painting Daario as a bit of a madman.

Not far away, Daenerys is talking with the Dosh Khaleen and making some friends. They hope that she gets to stay with them for whatever the Khals would have in store for her would be much worse. Why they aren't the ones to decide, the actual governing figure of the Dothraki, I still cannot understand, but oh well. Dany bonds especially well with this Lhazareen khaleesi, which seemed promising given the show's dealings with female friendship and positive interaction in the past, but that's where the positive stops. Daario, a live wire with a fluctuating accent this episode, grabs her with a knife, but Dany insists on him letting her new best friend go because she has a plan.

Across the Narrow Sea, we visit Kings Landing for a little while and the High Sparrow gives one of his talks that seem to be about the same thing every episode, yet they go on forever. This time it's to Margaery, who at first glance appears to be eating it all up. This is debunked when she is allowed to visit Loras and insists on them staying strong and not letting the Sparrows "win." Loras seems broken though, presumably having been tortured a lot, for they only seem to refer to what he went through as "it," and he is once again barely characterized. Finn Jones and Natalie Dormer are two talents and play brilliantly off of one another, but when Loras is so mischaracterized that he doesn't care about anything, his family name, or his title, for all he wants is for "it," to stop, you know he's continuing down the path of no nuance.

Over in the Red Keep, Cersei and Jaime are the power couple and dream team with matching haircuts once again, as they bust into the council room and convince Olenna that they need to work together to stop the Sparrow and all this bickering is only making his position stronger. Olenna agrees and in what would probably have been a more interesting place to start the season, we can move forward with a very promising alliance.

Speaking of alliances, Theon somehow found himself aboard a boat and gets himself "home" to Pyke, where he is greeted with a very angry Yara who is frustrated with him (for his own torture?) and paranoid about him claiming her rightful throne. She manhandles him, telling him to stop crying and admit what it is he actually wants, and he spurts out that he wants to help her claim her birthright and sit the Salt Throne. This moment was actually touching and if it weren't for the knee-jerk reaction I had to Yara's frustration and anger with Theon that seemed very much in lieu of Balon's character and not her own, it would have been more so. In a world where Theon Greyjoy would once scoff at the idea of a woman, namely his sister, sitting the throne of the Iron Islands, his support for Yara, would be really brilliant and touching character development.

What's the opposite of character development? That's what you'll find with Ramsay at Winterfell where we get more futile deaths and shocks to further indicate to us what we already know; Ramsay is a monster. Osha comes into his room and attempts to seduce him in order to try and stab him with the convenient knife on the table, because apparently this is the only way she knows out of a situation, but Ramsay catches her and stabs her first, killing her. Another pointless character death in a rather pointless scene. We didn't learn anything new whatsoever from this sequence and it was such a waste of Natalia Tena's acting talents. Ramsay is bad. We get it. Stop rewarding him constantly and impossibly frequently in the narrative!

Ramsay's name carries further up north back in Castle Black when our group is eating dinner. Tormund is giving Brienne the oddest of looks that I can't figure out. Wilding women are fighters too so it's not like he's not seen a female warrior before. One has to wonder what that was all about given it's focus in the camera work.

However, mid-meal, Jon gets handed a letter which is almost exactly like what is known as the "pink letter" in the books. What is a tiny detail in the change of color does seem to be a subtle jab at book readers, but perhaps that is looking too much into it. In fact, the letter is almost word for word of what it says in the novel, except for the added rape threats that the writers attached at the bottom because apparently threats of death aren't bad enough, but rape had to be thrown in there too. Not to mention the fact that if Jon were to ever give Ramsay his "bride back," he would not do it after the addition of a horrific horde of rape threats notated at the bottom.

The letter discloses that Ramsay has Rickon. Sansa tells Jon that they must go save their brother and their home from the monster that is Ramsay Snow. Jon, who was doubtful of waging war with the Boltons before finally agrees, and Sansa supports and pushes him, telling him that he is the son of the last true Warden of the North, other Northern lords will go follow him. This new, hell-bent, Sansa is intriguing, but why she, the true daughter of Ned Stark, couldn't actively pursue an army of northern supporters is beyond me, as she, a true Stark in birth and name, would earn the respect of many of lords and ladies willing to fight for Ned Stark's daughter.

You thought that would be it right? The pattern of ending and beginning on Castle Black has been broken! Back across the Narrow Sea Daenerys is led into the temple of the Dosh Khaleen to face the judgment of the Khals. It still doesn't make any sense why these men are in charge of this whole thing, as the very point of the Dosh Khaleen are to be the only governing system of the Dothraki, but that's how it is. The Khal's threats escalate to threats of rape, as usual on this show, but that's when Dany defies them, claiming that she will not be serving them, but it will be the other way around. Up in arms, the Khals grow angry but Daenerys proceeds to push over braziers and light the place on fire, burning the Khals alive. She then walks out of the flaming temple, nude (interesting given Emilia Clarke's stance on no more nudity from her within the show) and the sea of Dothraki people bow to her. Now, remember back in season 3 when Dany found herself crowdsurfing on a sea of brown people and there was an uproar about it eliciting the whole "white savior complex?" Well until this episode, they skirted around it slightly, but today just hit into it full force. If they didn't have a white savior complex back then, they certainly have one now. Was that whole sequence meant to be empowering? Are we meant to believe that after burning the sacred temple of her supposed "people" and then walking out of those flames, that they would think of her as a god and not some sort of devil or witch? This whole thing is just incredibly disturbing and especially given the long shot of Dany with the stereotypical "bad-ass" movie-fire background behind her and then the overhead of the sea of brown people bowing to her, we're meant to think of this scene as another notch under Dany's "cool" belt, right up there with the "dracarys" scene in season 3. The two are not even comparable, when one has our hero burning slave masters and freeing slaves for the first time and exploring the first hint of the power of her dragons and exploring her intelligence, while the other paints her as a godlike figure, white skinned and white haired, indestructible and a higher being, there to save the lesser brown Dothraki from their woes and their "appalling" culture. This trope needs to stop being projected onto our televisions, especially if it's only continually going to be supported by the narrative and not deconstructed or criticized within the context of the story.

How is she any better than what Tyrion was doing earlier on? This god figure that the show is painting it's main characters in, be it Jon with his resurrection, Tyrion with his inability to do bad or fail, and Daenerys with her resistance to fire, is distressing. George R.R. Martin continually has said that Daenerys is not fire immune, but rather her ability to emerge from the pyre in the first book (and season one) was a result of magic, rather than her Targaryen blood. This dismissal of the Targaryen's being these all powerful beings who can walk through flames is important so they don't become these godlike figures, yet that is exactly what Daenerys is BECOMING on the show. It's BECOMING less and less about who she is as person and who she can be as a ruler, and more about painting her to be more than human. Also, with George's statements in mind, this plot line is clearly not how Dany's story goes in the novels, so for the show writers to force her into this situation again where she literally conquers the "lesser" people of color who are "in need of saving" and they begin painting her as this greater than being is worrying to say the least. It's not okay and it really needs to stop. If this is their way of putting "women on top" this season, it's revolting. I do not feel empowered seeing a woman burn people alive, despite how terrible they were being, as she maintains a dead pan expression, only to be once again a figure of worship by people who are looked at as "lesser." If this and what they did to Dorne (this scene was exactly in the vein of the "weak men" being incapable to rule remark thrown by Ellaria, just more motivated) are their visions of feminism, then they have the term and movement incredibly misconstrued.

This week's episode had the recipe for what could have been brilliantly explored character arcs and growth, but all of that was seemingly overshadowed by the show's continued insistency on priding itself on situations of faux-feminism that are actually instances of racism and work to highlight it's incredibly "white savior complex" problem that it can't seem to shake. Next week looks promising, however, as we jump into what most book readers find to be an extremely exciting story line at Pyke, with the Kingsmoot taking place, and Bran has a creepy weirwood vision of White Walkers and the Night's King! Let's cross our fingers!

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

Photo Credit: HBO

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