Game of Thrones Season Six has been lackluster when it comes to making us cry. We’ve laughed at quips from Tyrion, angrily grit our teeth when the head of a direwolf was presented and squealed in delight when Jon Snow came back from the dead. Finally, with “The Door” I’ve actually shed tears of sadness. “The Door” is directed by Jack Bender who will also direct the next episode “Blood of my blood”. Also, I now hate doors.
On the Iron Islands we see a much awaited event: the Kingsmoot. When Theon (Alfie Allen) finally made his way back to the Iron Islands we saw him receive a less than warm welcome from his sister Yara (Gemma Whelan) but in the end it proved to be good character building criticism. As a result when when Yara states that she will make a great queen for the Ironborn, and her statement is disputed by another who goes all male chauvinistic and says Theon should be king since he’s a dude, Theon opts to back his sister. I’m all for Yara being queen and she’s true about the Ironborn not really having an impact on the Seven Kingdoms and on the show itself. Alas, as with all things Game of Thrones, nothing ever sails smoothly. Euron Greyjoy (Pilou Asbæk) makes a dramatic entry to the Kingsmoot, stating he killed the previous King, Balon Greyjoy, whilst mocking Yara and Theon. And then he explains his grand plan: To sail to Essos, marry Daenerys and sail back with an army to conquer Westeros. You would think the Ironborn would hedge their bets with a more safe and sound plan but alas, Euron is made king after going through the complementary drowning initiation. His first royal decree? Murder his niece and nephew. Luckily, Theon and Yara escape with what looks like most of the Iron fleet, though where they head is unknown. I’d like to hazard a guess they’d go North.
“Build me a thousand ships.”
Or maybe they’ll head East, to Essos. To Braavos for instance. Where we are treated to yet another dose of Arya (Maisie Williams) having the life beaten out of her. You would think after 5 episodes, she would be able to hold her own, especially since the last time we saw her she actually managed to hold her own. But being given her sight back seems to be more of a hindrance than a boon, at least according to the show writers. But Arya’s story actually makes headway this episode as she’s given an assassination contract by Jaqen H’ghar (Tom Wlaschiha), specifically to assassinate a member of a theatre play, Lady Crane. The catch? The play depicts the killing of Robert Baratheon and her father, Ned Stark. As a result we see Arya struggle with relinquishing her former life (yet again) but she does slip by suggesting the person she’s supposed to kill “seems like a good person”.
“Does death only come for the wicked and leave the decent behind? “
Further East, on the outskirts of Vaes Dothrak, we see Jorah (Iain Glen) confess his love for Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) as well as reveal his incurable disease to her, in what I assume is supposed to be a bittersweet moment, but for some reason doesn’t have a grand amount of emotional depth to it, certainly nowhere near as much as another character’s moment this episode. Jorah has been going in and out of exile for the past couple of seasons now and now places Daenerys in a complicated situation. He did go all out to rescue her, but she did banish him and can’t forgive him. As a result her response to his exile is to command him to find a cure and then return to her. Which is pointless, considering his disease is incurable. It’s a weak response, considering this is a character who has time and again shown how badass she is and will do anything to have her way. The Vaes Dothrak arc finishes with Dany leading the Dothraki, probably back to Meereen.
Meereen itself is experiencing a tenuous peace, one orchestrated by the Masters and by Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinkalge). However, as everyone’s favourite dwarf points out: The peace is fragile and for it to not shatter into a million pieces, the populace has to think that the security the city is now experiencing was brought about by Daenerys and not by himself or any of the other advisers of the Queen, i.e: Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel) or Grey Worm (Jacob Anderson). So what does one do in such a situation? Why, call upon and request the help of the red priests and priestesses of the R’hllor. As a result, almost immediately we’re shown a new red priestess (who travelled all the way to Meereen in what seems to be a minute) Kinvara (Ania Bukstein).
“Everyone is where they are and what they are for a reason.”
Again we’re treated to the whole “this person is the chosen one, reborn in flames, etc”. It’s a statement that Varys (Conleth Hill) instantly shoots down and we’re once again reminded that Varys hates magic users. It’s a tense couple of moments as Varys points out how flawed Melisandre (Carice Von Houten) was in her belief in Stannis. While Tyrion tries to defuse the escalating situation we’re thrown reeling when Kinvara reveals she knows about Varys’ enslavement and mutilation, shutting him up in a way no one has been able to. Kinvara’s addition to the Meereen arc promises to bring more drama to the show, especially in regards to Varys who I can see butting heads with the red priestess during her tenure in Meereen. Furthermore, I’m actually surprised Varys even let it come this far, considering he without a doubt knows how giving power to religious heads wrecked King’s Landing.
Heading West and North to more frigid climates, Sansa (Sophie Turner) has received an invitation to meet Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen) at Molestown which is only a few leagues from Castle Black. Clearly a few weeks has passed since the last episode to allow Littlefinger time to travel North from the Eyrie and for his army of Vale knights to be encamped at Moat Cailin. So what does Sansa do when confronted with a person who willingly gave her to Ramsay Bolton? First of all, she brought Brienne (Gwendoline Christie) along and for a few seconds I hoped and prayed Littlefinger would be cut down and left for dead. Alas he isn’t and is instead forced to admit that he knew what would happen to Sansa when he left her to the monster that is Ramsay. Let me say this, Sansa is a character in the show who has seen the most amount of character development and whose character has arguably been through the worst. Every time a patch of sunlight landed on her it proved to only signal the coming of a storm which is why I was skipping with joy when she finally made it to Castle Black and to Jon Snow (Kit Harington). All the hardships she’s endured over the past 6 seasons has made her a tough character and as a result she does not give one sack of dried dragon dung about Littlefinger, forcing him to be at a loss for words. However, to seemingly undercut the emotionally powerful moment, he manages to convey to her that her uncle Brynden has retaken Riverrun and could prove to be an ally in reclaiming the North. As a result Littlefinger leaves unscathed, whilst also sowing seeds of doubt about Jon in Sansa’s head.
“Your brother’s army?… Half-brother”
While I would have loved to think Sansa trusts Jon, Littlefinger’s reminded that he is indeed her half brother seems to have worked. Later, at Castle Black when Jon, Lady Melisandre, Ser Davos (Liam Cuningham), Dolorous Edd (Ben Crompton), Tormund Giantsbane (Kristofer Hivju), Sansa and Brienne are plotting how to retake the North, her doubts about Jon are thrown into light. When she reveals that the Blackfish has retaken Riverrun and has an army, she lies and says she heard about the status of Riverrun from Ramsay and not from Littlefinger. Furthermore, she seems to undermine Jon’s claim to the North by saying he’s as much the son of Ned Stark as Ramsay is the son of Roose Bolton. As a result she’s confronted by Brienne who asks why she lied, a question that’s left unanswered. However, she does give Jon a fur cape she herself made so I’d like to think her insecurities about Jon don’t actually impede her ability to trust him. The scene closes with Jon, Melisandre, Brienne, Sansa, Tormund and Ser Davos leaving Castle Black and heading south, leaving the fortress under the command of the new Lord Commander, Dolorous Edd.
Further North, we once again travel through space and time as Bran (Isaac Hempstead Wright) traipses through the North alongside the Three-Eyed Raven (Max von Sydow). However, this flashback reveals something I never expected to see in the show: the creation of the White Walkers. It’s revealed that the first White Walker was in fact created by the Children of the Forest, specifically by Leaf (Kae Alexander) who states that they created White Walkers to defend themselves against mankind. Alas things clearly did not go to plan. Considering the actor who plays the role of the man being turned into a White Walker is Vladmir Furdik, it’s safe to say that this same first White Walker is also The Night’s King.
“We needed to defend ourselves.”
“From who?”
“From you.”
After this jaunt through memory lane, Bran decides to take another go at nostalgia, without the guidance of the Three-Eyed Raven. As a result he is once more transported to the same location where The Night’s King was created except it is present day, the place is covered in snow and the undead army is standing there. Bran, for some godforsaken reason opts to walk amongst the dead and is spotted by The Night’s King, who grabs a hold of him in the dream, leaving a bluish handprint on Bran’s actual body. The handprint acts much like the black spot in pirate folk lore, Bran is no longer safe and has to leave the Three-Eyed Raven, who states that Bran is not ready, before diving back into the past with Bran in tow. This time they travel back to Winterfell to see young Ned Stark leave for the Vale.Meanwhile Meera (Ellie Kendrick) and Hodor (Kristian Nairn) get ready to leave and while Meera contemplates the idea of having food that is not moss it’s soon revealed their current location is already surrounded by the undead army.
While the Children of the Forest try and put up a valiant defence, The Night’s King literally walks over their defences with his lackeys, stabbing and cutting them down. As undead rain down inside the inner chamber, Meera kills one of the White Walkers with a spear and Bran wargs into Hodor, from within his flashback/dreamstate. As a result Hodor carries Bran away with Meera and Leaf in tow. Summer, Bran’s direwolf, charges headfirst into the undead and is cut down. Another Direwolf bites the dust. Before PETA can even begin to express their horror at the killing of fictional animals, numerous things happen in quick succession. The Night’s King walks into the inner chamber and kills the Three-Eyed Raven, leaving Bran alone in the flashback. Leaf sacrifices herself to prevent the undead from catching up to Hodor, Bran and Meera. And then the unforeseeable happens.
We find out why Hodor is called Hodor.
As Meera yells at Hodor to “hold the door” to let her and Bran escape, the sound of her voice reverberates to Bran who has warged into Hodor. Furthermore because Bran is also visiting the past in a flashback he sees the younger Hodor, who experiences a seizure and continually yells “hold the door”, in quick succession only for him to slur it to “Ho-Dor”. As the crescendo rises Meera drags Bran to safety as Hodor holds the door that’s preventing an army of undead from killing them, sacrificing himself and fulfilling his fate. It’s a powerful scene. The one scene in the past few seasons that actually made me choke and tear up. Kristian Nairn’s character may have been the butt-end of jokes for years but I can assure you at the time of writing this article, people are shedding tears.
“Hold the door”
“The Door” is an episode that perfectly bridges the gap between the first half of the season and the second half: plots have been devised, a fleet has sailed and armies are being mustered. And what’s a better way to kick off an action packed second half of the season than a death that actually made us cry, something we haven’t done in a long while.
