BWW Recap: 'The Broken Man' Makes Shocking Return on GAME OF THRONES

This season of GAME OF THRONES is flying by, although it seems like not very much has happened. Last night's episode entitled "The Broken Man," brought along more of what Thrones is known for; a lot of shocks, surprises, and questions, leading us into the final three episodes of the season. We saw old faces return, new faces realized, faces that were not actually faces, and many current faces battling with their great inner struggles. We checked in with a lot of plot lines, but the focus of this episode revolved around the new character portrayed by Ian "[It's] just tits and dragons" McShane, of whom the episode title was based upon.

Thrones started with a cold open this week, something it so rarely does, as we watched people who appear to be small folk carrying wood to build what looks to be a new sept on some lofty hill. We focus on one of the workers in particular, who is carrying a log all on his own, and the camera pans around to deliver the big reveal this week. Sandor Clegane, aka the Hound, is still alive! Or rather, he was saved. He is apart of this group of people who have joined McShane's septon character for presumably religious preaching. McShane's character was an interesting mix between a stereotypical Al Pacino character and one of those drug councilors that come into your class to warn you against drug use by telling you stories about how often they used to smoke weed in an effort to relate. He converses with Sandor about what he went though during a scene that was exposition central, and then proceeds to tell him that he has doubts about what gods to believe in, but knows for sure that there are forces working up there. Why he feels that way but chooses to identify with the Faith of the Seven and devote his life to practicing and preaching of that religion is a mystery. As Sandor says, he's in the wrong line of work. Then he gives a rousing sermon to his people about the atrocities he has committed in the past, including murdering a child, and how after that night, the shame he felt from that experience stayed with him forever. He directs most of this speech at Sandor and it is still quite unclear whether or not it's meant to reach the rest of the crowd, or whether or not the crows is a similar brand of brigand.

McShane's character is clearly meant to be a representation of a book character called Meribald who is a wandering Septon. He toured the war ravaged riverlands, offering his service as a septon in exchange for a place to stay and something to eat. His "broken man" speech in the novels, which is in a slightly similar vein to this one, refers to himself, and his character further works to highlight the futility and the casualties of war, something the show so often fails to convey. Meribald fought in the War of the Ninepenny Kings alongside his brothers and lost them all. Effected by the war, he started to become a "broken man" as he put it. "Broken men" are the small folk who have been drafted into wars that are not their own, fighting for causes and people that do not recognize them, and then flee from the service after seeing their friends and fellow men die in front of their own eyes. Fleeing then leaves them penniless and empty in the lands of the smallfolk, while thievery and brigandry become their every day reality of survival. Meribald repents for the crimes he had committed as a "broken man," inflicting the self-penance of walking and wandering barefoot across the riverlands for the rest of his life, practicing the Faith of the Seven. That version of Meribald is an interestingly conflicted man, and would inform someone like Sandor, also inflicted by the futility of violence and the toxic masculinity internalized within him, in a beautiful way. The version of Meribald we got was very much less so. He was basically a "cool septon," in the same way you have a cool uncle who is slightly more naughty than all the other adults you know and isn't afraid to curse in front of you. It seemed like a real stretch to try and fit this arc into one episode and expect it to have an impact.

It was also unclear if his people were fellow "broken men," as they appear to be in the books, since they mostly just look like poor smallfolk. However, as he's giving his rousing speech, he is interrupted by three horseman. They ask for his goods and food, but he refuses, simply inviting them to sup with them instead, all the while insisting that his people need the food to survive. The three men seemingly accept defeat (minus the ominous music playing in the background), but still appear to be rather annoyed. They explain that they are devotees of the Lord of Light, not of the Faith of the Seven before leaving. Sandor later tells us that these men were from the Brotherhood Without Banners, who's previous goals were established as very Robin Hood-like in manner. These are people of an entirely different nature, for when we find Sandor once again chopping wood, his head turns as if he's noticed something and we are brought to the site of the group. Everyone is slaughtered. Men, women, and children. McShane's septon is found hanging by a rope from the structure of the sept that they had all begun building. It seems such a waste of McShane's talent to bring him in and kill him off for such a poorly written part and expect it to be fleshed out enough through some monologues that it would have an effect on Sandor. Meribald would have been a juicy character and complex character to tackle, but this man left nothing to be desired. I don't blame him for spilling the beans earlier about who he was playing.

The show really is turning into just "tits and dragons," although we sadly only got one of those two things this episode. He just forgot massacre level murdering, because that seems to be a constant as well. Seriously, who are these men that are supposedly the Brotherhood Without Banners? Last time we saw them, they didn't appear to be casual murderers and criminals. They united with a purpose but all of that has gone out of the window apparently to push Sandor along right back into the revenge filled man of anger that he was already. When finding McShane's character hanging from a rope, Sandor growls with anger and grabs an axe forcefully, diving head first into his sure-to-be revenge filled fantasy. In the "Inside the Episode" creators and executive producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss constantly discuss resurrection and awakening, and the fact that they must leave you changed, but we still haven't seen it. They claimed this week that the near-death experience has altered him, but he was still the same sarcastic ass he was before, just a little more broody under the bright sky (seriously I thought winter was here though? It seems incredibly warm). It would be really intriguing to see the septon have a long term effect on Sandor, and it would have been a brilliant end note if he looked at the axe, eager to grab it but hesitates. That says something about his experience. It insists that he's gone through an experience. I don't get that here. That question, that hesitation, and that change, sadly, was not there. The conflict was not there. He has not changed whatsoever from being brought back in whatever capacity, and neither has Jon Snow. It's one of the biggest missteps Thrones has taken regarding bringing people back from the dead, only furthering the notion that man can cheat death, rather than Martin's subverting of it, and showing the lasting effects of bringing someone back to life.

Speaking of Jon, the fabulous trio of Empowered™ Sansa, Davos, and Jon are on their rally tour of the North to try and get together an army of supporters. Their first stop is the Wildlings, who are at first hesitant, but with some coaxing by Jon and Tormund, the other Wilding who can only be described as a Tormund look-a-like, finally relents. Empowered™ Sansa is in this scene too, but she's relegated to background furniture and doesn't even get so much as a few reaction shots.

Then they head off to Bear Island (seriously they are taking the Westeros teleporter at light speed?) in one of the best scenes of this episode and certainly of this season. They are greeted by the head of Bear Island, little Lyanna Mormont who, if you recall, wrote that letter to Stannis last season. She's named after Lyanna Stark and she's just as feisty. She's so great and that little actress has got some real talent! Jon pleads for her to give them some of her forces, but she refuses, asking why she should sacrifice the lives of the people she is meant to protect, the people she rules over, her people, for his war. She tells Jon that he is not a Stark, but only a Snow, and when Empowered™ Sansa tries to step in, she reminds her that she is no longer a Stark as well, questioning whether she is a Lannister or Bolton. That is the end of Empowered™ Sansa's attempt, but Davos, who is apparently the best with kids, especially young girls, convinces her to relent. She agrees, but, smartly, is only willing to give 62 men.

Thus they move along on their trip, another transporter stop away, and arrive at the holdfast of house Glover. Glover doesn't want to join Jon, citing that his men died for Robb but Robb wasn't there for him when the Ironborn were taking over his keep and brutalizing his people. Empowered™ Sansa tries once again to step in, and is shut down once more, as she makes the most glaringly obvious statement in her Empowered™ Sansa voice. She reminds Glover of their past ALLEGIANCE to the Starks, as banner men, but he refuses to listen.

Empowered™ Sansa tries for a forth time to get a word in, this time it's with Jon, the person she trusts, back at camp. She tries to explain to him that they need more people to fight with them, that a few men from some of the northern houses isn't enough. Jon dismisses that sentiment, claiming that they don't have time to do that. I thought Brienne bringing back the Tully forces was a massive part of their plan. What happened to that? Why do they no longer have time? Frustrated, Empowered™ Sansa goes to write a letter to the man who assaulted her and handed her over to her abuser. Remember in the other episode when Empowered™ Sansa first came to be, and she flat out refused Little Finger's Vale forces because she no longer wanted him to have LEVERAGE over her? Well that went out the window when she ends up needing his Vale forces, as the SEED of discord Little Finger planted between she and Jon begins to grow. This sequence was immensely frustrating for Sansa's character as she was shut down in every situation, be it by northern lords and ladies, or even her own brother. She was the only one our of the fabulous trio not allowed to succeed, when in reality, this is what she should be best at. This is her strength, playing the "game of thrones," and it should be a real moment of empowerment for Sansa. After all, she is the one with the legitimate claim, the Stark name, and should be the one leading the rally in the North. However, Empowered™ Sansa is only allowed to be Empowered™ when the writers feel like it.

As we found out, amassing an army is hard, unless you're a Lannister. While the series is well passing and deviating from the source material, it is to be noted that this scene is almost lifted straight from the pages of A Feast For Crows. Jaime, along side his new best buddy Bronn, arrived at Riverrun with an incredibly large army in tow. It seems like Bronn is Jaime's "right hand" man (that was a literal joke in the episode) and one can only hope their adventures in the riverlands turn out vastly better than the mess that was Dorne. Jaime arrives to find, to no ones surprise, that the Freys trying to reclaim Riverrun are doing it rather poorly. They are threatening to hang Edmure and kill him if the Blackfish doesn't surrender, but the Blackfish knows a Frey as well as we all do, and knows they are bluffing. He later states that Edmure is a "dead man" either way. He's also the only bit of a bargaining chip the Freys have, so they will not kill him. The Freys are a very sad excuse for an army, as Jaime points out that he was able to lead his column of thousands of men thought he camp completely unnoticed. Upon his arrival, Jaime decides the methods going about this siege need changing, telling them to bathe Edmure and arranging a parley with the Blackfish. This parley was literally done in the middle of the drawbridge, in opened day light, right outside the walls of Riverrun. It's taken straight from the pages, but the situation is different. Why the Blackfish, who has nothing to gain from this meeting, would bother to do so and not insist it be inside his own walls is beyond me. It seems a bit dangerous, especially with useless Freys in charge of building trebuchets and weaponry, to be standing out in the opened in front of enemy camp. Jaime is doing the same, but he has thousands of his own men behind him ready to storm the castle if need be. Bryden doesn't even have half those numbers and I'm sure they're all depending upon him to lead them. I know the prospect of meeting with Jaime Lannister is very interesting, but is it worth risking your whole plan? I guess so, because he tells Jaime that leading a siege is actually quite boring, so maybe he wants it all to be over and done with. I think his scale-y armor also didn't look very protective, just decorative, so that might have added to the feeling that something could go amiss. Not to mention, Jaime isn't the same Jaime parleying with him in the books. He's coming here, as a Lannister force, as son of Tywin, to break the siege. Not a commander of the Kingsguard trying to keep the peace.

He doesn't agree to Jaimie's terms though, and walks off with one final stab in Jaime's pride, cursing him 'Kingslayer." Nikolaj Coster-Waldau made some really beautiful and subtle acting choices in this scene, as you can see the name and curse clearly cuts right through him. He hates that title and he hates that it's the man everyone thinks him to be. It was a moment very reminiscent of the arc of Jaime's book counterpart. In fact, a lot of these scenes, especially Jaime's want to deal with the Blackfish via parley, rather than initially reaching for a sword is incredibly evocative of the work George R.R. Martin put into developing the most astounding character growth and trajectory of one of the most initially hated but later loved characters in his series. This is the man Jaime should have become, and his want to change and leave behind a legacy other than 'Kingslayer' is something that defines him. His motivation on the show, despite taking this scene out of context, is that he's doing it all for Cersei and Lannister pride. The two are literally inseparable and it's one of the things that hurts his character development the most. Their relationship is completely toxic, and him failing to realize that, all the while having the relationship championed by the writers, is a disturbing and rather boring in terms of development. Jaime was ready to swing his sword at a moments notice to cut down all the Sparrows for their love last week, yet we're supposed to understand that this man is changed and would start taking a more diplomatic approach to conflict? It just doesn't come out of the storytelling present on the show. It's forced. Show-Jaime's character development has been stagnant ever since he returned to Kings Landing, a sadly missed opportunity to give Nikolaj Coster-Waldau a meatier role to play, as well as to develop Jaime's character into one of the most complex and compelling characters in the narrative. Maybe it'll start happening though as he'll be with Brienne next week and that seems to be the root of any development he's given on the show. Perhaps his distance from Cersei or being thrown back into his book location will incite something within him.

Someone who's been inspired though, but in this case by religion, is Margaery Tyrell. Or so we think. We find her praying in the sept, wearing a rather plain dress, but still donning an elaborate crown. One would think a crown would fall under the High Sparrow's no worldly material goods list, but maybe he makes an exception for her well practiced faith. He finds her praying, and is greatly excited by her investment, but then pulls her to the side to ask her about a personal matter. Tommen is truly gung-ho about the Sparrow, for he came to him confessing that Margaery has not slept in their marriage bed since her return to the Red Keep. Margaery tells him that she no longer has the same urges she used to. Perhaps she realized that being with Tommen was statutory rape and decided against it. I think it was just her "religious awakening"though. The High Sparrow, who seemed hellbent on punishing every one else for having sex, is all for Tommen doing it though. So much so that he tells Margaery that it is her duty to give Tommen an heir, whether she wants to or not. She thanks him for showing her the light, for it is often hard to see. He leaves her with a final ominous warning, telling her that it is even harder for those who are still sinning to see, those like her grandmother. It seems the High Sparrow has got his eyes set on Olenna Tyrell.

Margaery goes to meet with Olenna, under the guard of Septa Unella (the "shame!" septa). It's not clear why Margaery, who's crime was literally just lying, and who appears to have been turned into a devoted believer of the Faith of the Seven, has a guard but Cersei Lannister, who was tried for virtually everything under the books, does not. Margaery tells Olenna that she is changed now and Olenna questions her sanity, asking her about Loras, who is still being kept in a cell. That's a good question Olenna. It seems like everyone has forgotten about Loras, even the writers. Margaery tells Olenna that all he would need to do to be free is confess and give up his claim to High Garden. Why is he not free now? Wasn't her whole plan to "make it stop" for him? I don't understand how she would think this was all a noble sacrifice for her brother or what playing the long game would do here exactly, seeing as even if Loras gets out, he would have nothing. Also, if Loras doesn't inherit, who does? In the novels, there are several Tyrell children, but on the show it's been narrowed down to just the two; Margaery and Loras. The High Sparrow seemed to want to keep the kingly line going, but I guess he's fine shaking up the entire inheritance structure of High Garden and the Reach. However, when all hope seemed to be lost for Olenna, Margaery insists she goes back to High Garden, grasping her hand and passing her a note. It is then that Olenna, and us as an audience, know for sure that Margaery is not in the least bit "converted," which makes her plan regarding Loras make even less sense. Olenna opens the paper inside and on it is a drawing of a rose, perhaps insinuating that Margaery is still a Tyrell at heart. If she had something to draw with though and a piece of paper, why would she at least not bother to write something of worth? I know it's more risky in terms of being caught, but what is Olenna going to to do with a drawing? She needs information.

Olenna seems to want to just get out of there though and avoid being possibly locked up in a cell altogether, so she starts making the arrangements. Cersei comes up to her and instructs her that they must work together to save Tommen and Margaery, a conversation they've already had, but Olenna wont hear it. She proclaims how vile Cersei is and tells her that the best part of all of this mess was seeing Cersei suffer from it. It seems rather odd that Olenna would just runaway from all of this with both of her grandchildren and the future of High Garden all put at risk. Hopefully she has a secret plan up her sleeve, otherwise, this characterization felt incredibly out of place. She tells Cersei to just give up, that her family deserted her, the people despise her, and she can't fight it alone. I'm not too sure what she meant by her family deserting her, as she actively told Jaime to leave, Tywin died, she called for Tyrion's head, and Kevan, despite not liking her, is still there serving as Tommen's hand, but it just seemed to be added there for Olenna to further tear her down. As suggested by next weeks sneak peek, it seems like Cersei has not taken any of that to heart though, and we're going to get a Sparrow face off, along with that "I choose violence," line from the initial season trailers.

Speaking of violence, we find Arya out and about in Braavos, trying to haggle her way back to Westeros. She seems to have acquired a great deal of coin via theft, and convinces one man to take her on his ship and give her her own cabin. We also learn that the Ironborn fleet are docked in Volantis. While waiting for their departing time to come, an older woman walks up to Arya and stabs her in the gut. It's of course the Waif, whose life goal is to make Arya miserable, for their cattiness knows no bounds. She stabs her in motions very reminiscent of Talisa's death blows in the Red Wedding, but Arya seems to fare way better, so much so that she was able to jump off the bridge into the water, and come out to walk across a market place, all while gripping her profusely leaking stab wounds. That scene of her holding needle in that candlelit room seems rather pointless now, for if she was not expecting the Waif or someone from the House of Black and White to come for her, then I don't know what she was doing. It's a miracle that Arya could survive this, but she definitely will as next week's preview shows her doing some parkour across Braavos. There are quite a few questions that come up from this scene. The Waif delivered a satisfied smirk when she saw the blood pooling in the water, but did she not need to bring Jaqen her face? Maybe if the Waif's emotions, the very thing she despised Arya for, didn't get in the way, she could have actually finished the job. Isn't this level of hatred against the rules as well? It seems very unprofessional.

Then, in perhaps the most disturbing piece of the episode, and maybe all season, we meet back up with the Ironborn in Volantis. Yara and Theon are sitting in a brothel-esque courtyard, surrounded by the half naked women who fill the nudity quota this episode. Yara pulls one of them over for a kiss, and she has a tear drop tattoo under her eye. Volantis still practices slavery, and they all have tattoos on their faces to mark their status as slaves. The tattoo for a sex slave is a tear drop. It's quite wide renowned cultural knowledge, so Yara would most likely know this. It's just so off-putting. This relationship or sexual interaction immediately becomes rape, for the slave had no choice in the matter. While Yara is at the very least bisexual, if not completely straight in the books, I'm all for lesbian representation in any form that I can get it in, but this was just shockingly bad. The first and only instance, other than when Little Finger exploits the sex workers in his brothels, of female on female sexual interaction is when only one of them has complete agency. This was only the beginning of the one scene that completely and single handedly assassinated Yara's character. Moving on from that toxic interaction, she turns to Theon, who is obviously perturbed and anxious in his atmosphere, to have another. He clearly doesn't want to be there, but Yara begins to force him to drink some ale and proceeds to give the most perturbing "pep talk" I've ever heard. She tells Theon he needs to man up and continues to verbally abuse him about his past abuse and assault, counting it down to just some "bad years." She tells him that he needs to be Theon again in order to go with her and reach Dany before Euron does, not whatever this person is. She then utters the final and troubling line of "Listen, if you're so broken there's no coming back, take a knife and cut your wrists. End it. But, if you're staying, Theon, I need you." At first, it seemed like they were painting Yara to just be an incredibly awful human being, but it appears that is just her showing her love, and what's worse is that it works. He looks up at her, and nods his head, determined to join her. In the "Inside the Episode," David Benioff and D.B. Weiss dared to use the words "tough love," "therapy" and "psychology," in conjunction with this scene. Abusing an abuse victim is never okay and it's certainly not a pep talk. This interaction was sickening as Yara Greyjoy flew from the top of a 'favorite characters' list to the bottom. What is the difference between her and Euron? She hasn't killed her sibling? She still has completely inherited the toxic masculinity present within the culture though, BECOMING it's walking embodiment, just in a woman's body. Is this meant to be empowering? She's supposed to be the breath of fresh air and the possibility of a brighter future for the Ironborn. Where did the woman who delivered that speech about the futility of reaving go? Where even was the girl who was willing to disobey her father in attempt to save her brother? So does she, just as Euron does, think that because Theon was castrated, he is no longer a man worthy? That's what it seemed like. The notion also runs deep in this conversation that Theon can just "go back" to being the old Theon, as if trauma and abuse can just disappear if you will it. Furthering this frustrating character direction, happy that she convinced him, Yara grabs another sex slave and proclaims that she is going to "f the tits off of this one." Are we supposed to now not come anywhere close to routing for any one of the Ironborn except perhaps Theon? This attitude and dismissal of the sex slave as "this one," and the willingness to partake in not fully consensual sex, with someone who cannot say yes with true agency, is just as disturbing watching a woman do it as it is a man. It is not empowering and it is not exciting representation. It's disturbing to say the very least and put me off of enjoying a lot of the previous aspects of this week's episode.

Overall, this episode has some truly nice moments, but unfortunately they were clouded with moments like this, where the revulsion towards Yara's treatment of her bother trumps over the genuine excitement and awesomeness of Lyanna Mormont! One can only hope Lyanna's in more episodes though! She's so great! I think it's safe to say she will be the most GIFed moment of this episode!

Next week we delve into Episode eight which begins the final three episodes of the season. As usual, this episode seems jam packed with action, as Thrones usually saves it all for the end. Cersei chooses violence, the Hound clubs someone, Brienne and Jaime reunite (although it doesn't seem as happy as we would hope), and Arya parkours herself out of Braavos.

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!

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