White Walker Wednesday? Game of Thrones episode six

So Meera’s dragging Bran around in th emiddle of a snowy forest and Bran is absolutely useless. He’s having all of these visions: the Mad King, dragons over King’s Landing, falling from the tower, the White Walkers, Hardhome, and more. And all of a sudden his eyes blink back and he tells Meera that they’ve been found by the wights. Meera loses it because she feels guilty (as if she hasn’t already done everything for this guy) when a dude with a fireball on a chain comes in and saves the day.

Can I just say that this fireball reminds me of the incense burner the priest uses during Holy Week? Except they’re usually not on fire.

So big shock, it’s Uncle Benjen! And he serves Bran up a nice, tasty mug of rabbit blood. Just like home cooking. Apparently Uncle Benjen was saved from becoming a wight by the same thing that turns men into White Walkers, which is interesting.

Sam & Gilly are traveling to Sam’s horrible home and Sam’s giving Gilly the guided tour, including the various tree species available in the region and the fact that autumn is coming. Here’s the plan: Gilly has one job. Lie to Lord Tarly about everything. 

We meet Sam’s mom and sister, who are charming and sweet, and they sweep Gilly out of her wildling rags in an episode of What Not to Wear, Westerosi edition. And apparently Sam’s sister’s name is Talla. Talla Tarly. That’s unfortunate. 

Gilly clomps with Sam of the neatly brushed hair to dinner and endures the worst evening of her life, probably, which is saying something considering she married her own dad… or grandad… or something. 

Sam talks about things north of the wall, trying to sound interesting, but fails when he explains that the most interesting thing he hunts is squirrels. Gilly tries to stand up for him but lets it slip that she came from north of the wall while Sam rocks back and forth on his seat in misery. So the jig is up. 

Just when you think Sam is going to leave Gilly and run away to Oldtown, he takes Gilly, the baby, and even the family sword. Way to stick it to him, Sam! But now where will he go? The Citadel is a lady-free spot.

Ol’ No-Shoes has managed to warp Tommen’s brain but I’m not sure how this works exactly. Marjorie and Tommen play a game of 20 questions, trying to figure out what the other thinks about the High Sparrow before they say it. Tommen says, “He’s a lot more…” and Marjorie says, “He is!” That’s deep.

So Marjorie’s got some sort of game going here, but I don’t know what it is. When Jaime gallantly rides up the stairs on his beautiful white horse (the heavily plumed Mace Tyrell having just finished his very ineffective speech, perched precariously on his own horse in the background), you know swooned, ladies! But it was all for nought. Marjorie sold Tommen for her freedom, sans “SHAME” walk. I’m curious to see what the end game is there.

 Possibly the most exciting part of this episode was Arya’s. She watched the play, laughed at all the wrong places, and catches the understudy coveting Lady Crane’s role. Arya poisons the rum, but Lady Crane notices her and tells her about her own story – similar to Arya’s in a lot of ways – and so at the last possible second, smacks it out of her hand and tells her to keep an eye on the other actress, who clearly wanted her dead. 

So now the Waif wants Arya dead,1 or anyway she always wanted her dead, but now Jaq’en said okey dokey. Is it just me, or does it seem like the Waif knew Arya from the past? At least Arya has needle again, and we can all refer to her as Arya and not as “a girl.” Yay! I can’t wait to see what she does, where she goes, and how she can possibly survive, when every time she fought the Waif, she ended up flat on her back!

Have some fun. Take this quiz. I got Danaerys Stormborn… I guess there’s probably more to that then I want to admit.