{"id":35,"date":"2014-04-21T13:21:06","date_gmt":"2014-04-21T17:21:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/?p=35"},"modified":"2014-06-14T22:17:17","modified_gmt":"2014-06-15T02:17:17","slug":"game-thrones-breaker-chains-recap-liars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/2014\/04\/21\/game-thrones-breaker-chains-recap-liars\/","title":{"rendered":"Game of Thrones – \u2018Breaker of Chains\u2019 Recap: We\u2019re All Liars Here"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brought to you by our friends at Talk Thrones<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

At the core of Game of Thrones, behind the dragons, the sex, the violence, the cruelty, the accents, the sex again, and CGI, the series truly thrives on relationships, and how those connections between people, and usually the gap in power between two subjects, can inspire those characters to do extreme things. Good or bad. As the wise Ben Wyatt\u00a0once said<\/a>, excitedly, \u201cIt\u2019s a crossover hit! \u2026 They\u2019re telling human stories in a fantasy world!\u201d<\/p>\n

What forges these relationships? Oh, a great many things. Family is paramount. Those are the connections one can\u2019t choose. Next is married family. Those connections are almost exclusively strategic, and, as Cersei, Tyrion, Ser Loras, and Sansa Stark will tell you, are relationships that still one can\u2019t choose (in fact, the one instant in which a character does marry for love, and spites a strategically advantageous tying of the knot, he, his mother, and his dog were, as the Hound put it, slaughtered like livestock). After that, the only bonds left are the loyalty of a subject, that of a paid man or sellsword, then that of slave. And way, way down the list? That\u2019s where one can find friendship. After all,\u00a0 friendship is the blindest trust of all, and it\u2019s hard to remain friends when each knows to trust no one.<\/p>\n

\u201cBreaker of Chains\u201d, the third episode of this fourth season of Game of Thrones, runs the gambit of these complicated one-on-one relationships, and through them we can only glean the true intentions or past transgressions of each actor.<\/p>\n

The once and current Queen Regent accuses her brother of murdering her son, huddled over his blue and lifeless body. The last known living heir to Winterfell is rescued (or so we\u2019re led to believe) by her new uncle, moments before he kills the one person she considered a friend. A once-future-queen and her grandmother sit in a garden, the former distressed about her husband\u2019s assassination, the latter more perturbed by her granddaughter\u2019s whining than by the murder itself. The Hand of the King schools his grandson on the finer points of rulership while in arm\u2019s distance of the boy\u2019s brother\u2019s corpse, the old man going so far as to confirm what a terrible king he was. A member of the Kinsguard,\u00a0 and the murdered king\u2019s \u201cuncle\u201d (father) rapes his sister, his former lover, next to the body of his son. Another daughter of Winterfell is transported by a one-time sworn enemy to safety, although he\u2019d tell you it\u2019s for the gold and nothing else (well, maybe some silver, too). A kind and gentle farmer opens his doors to two travelers who trespass on his land. A member of the Night\u2019s Watch sends away the woman he loves, fearing for her safety among his colleagues at The Wall. The Lord of Dragonstone argues with his oldest friend and most trusted advisor. That same advisor then goes for reading lessons with the Lord of Dragstone\u2019s daughter. The Hand of the King reaches out to a prince of Dorne, who has a sworn hatred for the hand and his entire family, with yet another pragmatic solution to each\u2019s problems. The Master of Coin and accused murderer of the king thanks his young squire from his dungeon cell, only to tell him to flee and forget his master. A Night\u2019s Watch from Winterfell tells his fellow guards of the need to kill some of their former cohorts. And the Mother of Dragons has a most bad ass message for the slaves of Meereen.<\/p>\n

Through these actions, we\u2019re told one incongruent story. Standing between the viewer and the truth is only the dissonance between it and the deceptions told by our characters. And wading through that information on the quest for actuality is a lot of the fun of the series; what humanly devices characters use to get their way, or, in the weaks\u2019 case, get things \u201cthe right\u201d way, only to die predictably.<\/p>\n

This dynamic is especially interesting in \u201cBreaker of Chains\u201d because, unlike the events of the Red Wedding, the particulars of Joffrey\u2019s poisoning are a mystery to the audience, but also seemingly to those in and around King\u2019s Landing. Someone is lying. And when it comes to this crime, most are suspects, with the exception of the man that will actually be tried for murder.<\/p>\n

HOUSE LANNISTER<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mourning in the Lannister family is like mourning in any other family, with the slight exception that only one person truly gives a damn about the deceased and that incest probably doesn\u2019t occur mere feet from a cold dead body at most wakes. Tywin passes on valuable knowledge to Tommen, Joffrey\u2019s younger brother and the next in line to the throne, at this scene. Asked what makes a good king, Tommen offers three guesses at different times, each shot down by his grandfather. Pious?\u2014no, the most religious king named a six-year-old his High Septon and promptly starved himself to death; Just?\u2014sure, it\u2019s a good quality, but not the most important: we\u2019ve seen where that gets characters like Nedd Stark, and Tywin notes a king that was killed by his own brother because he was so trusting; Strong?\u2014well, Tommen\u2019s \u201cfather\u201d was one of the strongest ever to rule, but strength and leadership are two different things: King Robert \u201conly attended three Small Council meetings in 17 years.\u201d At the outset of the scene, Tywin notes that he believes Tommen has the right temperament to be a good ruler. The young Lannister\u2019s answer to Tywin\u2019s question, \u201cWhat do they all (the three kings previously mentioned\u2014holy, just, and strong) lack?\u201d shows that the eldest Lannister probably wasn\u2019t just blowing smoke up his grandson\u2019s ass. \u201cWisdom,\u201d he finally lands on the answer Tywin was looking for. Clearly he\u2019s eager for approval, but also seems genuinely concerned with the finer points of leadership. Tywin then offers some most precious advice that would do a great deal of good in our world, if only we knew enough people would consider it: \u201cA wise king knows what he knows and what he doesn\u2019t.\u201d Tywin stresses the importance of heeding the advice of experienced advisors, but interestingly leaves off a provision that might have been of considerable importance: knowing whom to trust and whom not to; to take great care in choosing one\u2019s advisors.<\/p>\n

Why leave off that provision? The obvious reaction is that Tywin, at this point,\u00a0is<\/em>\u00a0Tommen\u2019s top advisor, and so the Hand of the King\u2019s word is merely a pipeline running through him and out of Tommen\u2019s mouth. Why anyone in Westeros would want that to be their situation is obvious, but I can\u2019t help but acknowledge the level of suspicion it raises: Could Tywin have had Joffrey killed? There\u2019s enough evidence to build a case. The repercussions for the kingdom are obvious: a king as terrible as Joffrey could doom King\u2019s Landing on a whim, like, say, torturing the wrong prince or princess. But Tywin\u2019s love isn\u2019t for the kingdom. Cersei\u2019s lone positive trait is that she loves her children unconditionally. But Tywin loves his family\u2014particularly the family name\u2014and loves keeping it in power. Would it be worth killing one awful member of that family to prolong the reign of the rest of the Lannisters? I think so.<\/p>\n

HOUSE STARK<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sansa is stolen away from the scene of Joffrey\u2019s murder by Ser Dontos. He offers her his last kind words before she climbs up the ladder of a ship to what might be safety: \u201cYou\u2019re stronger than you know.\u201d Lord \u201ccall me \u2018Peter\u2019\u201d Baelish is at the top of the rope ladder, and has masterminded what became of Sansa and Dontos\u2019 relationship after the former saved the latter\u2019s life. Littlefinger\u2019s men give the fool his \u201cpayment\u201d: death instead of 10,000 gold. \u201cMoney buys a man silence for a time; a bolt in the heart buys it forever.\u201d He may be a dick, but Littlefinger knows how to navigate through power in Westeros. Which makes his being in possession of Sansa either terrifying or a relief. The jury\u2019s still out until more information arises. This dynamic manifests in the final exchange of the scene: \u201cWhat did I once tell you?\u201d he asks<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all liars here,\u201d Sansa recalls. To which Littlefinger can only grin.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome my lady. I know you\u2019ve had a difficult day, but you\u2019re safe now. I promise you that. You\u2019re safe with me, sailing home.\u201d Kind of a funny thing to tell someone immediately after telling her how untrustworthy he is. Baelish obviously had designs of extracting Sansa for quite a while. What are his intentions with her? And did he have a hand in Joffrey\u2019s murder? Or was Dontos just aware enough to recognize his only chance to \u201crescue\u201d the lady?<\/p>\n

The Arya-Hound buddy-cop comedy tour continues to admirably fill the void left by Jaime and Brienne\u2019s similar situation from a season ago. Arya uses her cunning to convince a farmer to give her and the Hound food and shelter, but in typical fashion, the younger Clegane takes advantage of the sad sack more than Arya had intended. It doesn\u2019t move the story along too far, but earns the two some silver, as well as some pointed remarks from the Hound: \u201cHe\u2019s a good man, and his daughter makes a nice stew, and they\u2019ll both be dead come winter \u2026 he\u2019s weak, he can\u2019t protect himself \u2026 dead men don\u2019t need silver.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arya expresses disagreement in so few words: \u201cYou\u2019re the worst shit in the seven kingdoms!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s plenty worse than me. I just understand the way things are. How many Starks they gotta behead before you figure it out?\u201d Much like Littlefinger, the Hound knows how things work and tries to impart that knowledge on a Stark girl. Although his intentions are selfish, he doesn\u2019t take pleasure in doing what needs to be done. But he lives with a hardened heart that allows him to make the right cold, calculated decisions.<\/p>\n

OTHER NOTES<\/p>\n

– I may have buried the lead, but Ser Davos strikes up a plan he certainly believes to be brilliant, and it involves the offices of the Iron Bank of Bravos. Considering his humble nature, I\u2019ve got to assume he\u2019s right.<\/p>\n

– Sort of related to Littlefinger\u2019s possible knowledge of Joffrey\u2019s impending doom: After a third re-watch of the king\u2019s death and lead-up, it\u2019s pretty clear that Varys knows what\u2019s coming, or at least that something is coming, including long before sitting down for the actual reception.<\/p>\n

– Daenerys\u2019 taking of Meereen is spectacular, the final shot garnering a giggle of excitement from this 26-year-old male reviewer. But that doesn\u2019t change how wrong for the part the new Daario Naharis is.<\/p>\n

And let\u2019s finish up with some out-of-context Hound quotes:<\/p>\n

\u201cAy, just point out the next map shop you see and I\u2019ll buy you one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSecond Sons could be \u2026 seems like a good fit for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Snot rocket<\/em>\u00a0\u201cI doubt it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I\u2019m standing on it, it\u2019s my land.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou going to do all seven of the fuckers?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe ask the stranger not to kill us in our beds tonight for no damn reason at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCall that a fight? Slaughterin\u2019 livestock, more like.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can a man not keep ale in his home?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brought to you by our friends at Talk Thrones. At the core of Game of Thrones, behind the dragons, the sex, the violence, the cruelty, the accents, the sex again, and CGI, the series truly thrives on relationships, and how those connections between people, and usually the gap in power between two subjects, can inspire<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":37,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,2],"tags":[7],"class_list":{"0":"post-35","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-game-of-thrones","8":"category-television","9":"tag-game-of-thrones-2"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}