Report Card for Betting Starks: Book of the Stranger
Whew. That feeling of relief is nice. Like when you rename your weekly Game of Thrones review column and it just sounds better. Like when a television show has taken over story-telling duty for your favorite book series and the showrunners seem worthy of showing you how it ends. Like when that same show picks up the pace and is on the cusp of delivering action, intrigue, pace, and answers. Whew. It really is nice.
And it was nice watching this week’s episode. There was a lot to enjoy, especially for a book-reader, and it seems the table is set for the viewer to feast upon some gourmet narrative and succulent visuals. Let’s see how our markets held up.
Sansa to the wall next episode? 90. 80. So this was hardly suspenseful. Sansa trotted into the yard like she owned the place in the episode’s first five minutes (nicely juxtaposed with Jon talking nonsense about being a hedge knight in the South). It seems I was overly concerned that the show would bait us with this Stark kid meeting only to pull the rug out and send Sansa off to a different Northern castle. I am very excited that we saw Ramsay’s (Pink) Letter, and it was the perfect thing to knock Jon off his perch atop the “should I or shouldn’t I help Sansa?” fence. Bastard Bowl is coming! And I hope it comes within next two espidoes. There may still be a reason for disappointment, though. Jon ignoring the threat of the fast zombie dead things that slaughtered his troops at Hardhome is a little far-fetched. In the books, it’s more believable that he’d turn his attention to Winterfell because he wasn’t an actual participant in that rather unsuccessful battle against the wights and the Others. Given that he has literally crossed swords (not the peeing kind) with the Night’s King in the show, you would think he recognizes that the immeasurably more important battle (the kind for the fate of all mankind) is due North. But on to Winterfell!
Jon still there to meet her? 70. 90. While I was worried Sansa may veer off course, I was rather certain that Jon had literally nowhere to go. Him tucking his tail and traveling to the South was the least believable plot turn the show has made for Jon. He saw the Night’s King do the Jordan Shrug and raise hundreds of recently toppled wights and brothers of the Night’s Watch back to their feet to serve him. For Jon to suggest that he’d prefer the life of a hedge knight while ignoring that imminent threat is simply laughable. On to Winterfell!
If they meet, do they discuss taking back Winterfell? 70. 90. On to Winterfell! Sansa makes a fair point about being unsafe as long as they don’t control Winterfell. But I hate that personal safety is her best argument. Why would the small folk fight for that? Why would Wyman Manderly fight for that cause? Why would the Brothers of the Night’s Watch? At least Ramsay threatened to kill all the wildlings, so Tormund has reason to back her. But she doesn’t think of any other person or group as she tries to convince Jon. She doesn’t even talk about it being right. Winterfell is hers. She seeks her personal revenge against Ramsay, and she wants to her throne and her power. Better leave rallying the troops to Jon…
Littlefinger conspires with a Northern lord in coming episodes? 20. 70. Littlefinger wants to help Sansa, and now it sounds like he’s going to lend the soldiers of the Vale directly to her cause! Maybe that’s a good idea. Sansa is probably not happy that she was handed over to a raping flaying murderous loon, and what better way for Littlefinger to earn her trust back than to lend her some armies? That being said, Littlefinger is probably not interested in letting his as-yet-unweakened army lose any more troops than it has to. What better way to limit his losses and guarantee the result than by bringing more Northern armies over to his cause? I would have said that Sansa is liable to do this on her own, but we see the two of them speaking together in the preview for next week. Maybe they do it together?
Does Wyman Manderly show up? 40. 90. Given that Ramsay, Jon, Sansa, Littlefinger, and many others are on a crash course for Bastard Bowl already, it seems like this will either happen soon or not at all. I vote that it will happen — Jon and Sansa already stressed that they need more troops, and Littlefinger will certainly like to hide behind as many other armies as he can. The story of Northern Houses rallying to the Stark cause (behind Jon and Sansa both) is an important one, and I think we have to see it happen on-screen.
Is Umber double-crossing Ramsay? 50. 20. If we were shown any reason to believe Umber has a foot in both camps, it could only be Osha’s assassination attempt. But it’s pretty easy to imagine her attempting that on her own. The Starks were nice to her. She protected Rickon for a long time. She’s a wildling and that means she’s capable of mounting (ha) a fake sexual advance to get close enough to a tyrant to murder him. It was never going to end well for her, but I appreciate the attempt. At any rate, I don’t think it says anything of Umber’s duplicity. I mean, if he were sending her on an assassination attempt, wouldn’t he arm her? House Umber is bad.
Does Ramsay send a body part of Rickon’s to Jon/Sansa? 40. 70. Hm. So far just the letter. But hey, it was a good letter! They did a good job capturing the spirit of Ramsay’s Pink Letter and tailoring it to the show’s slightly different circumstances. They even made it contain enough information that the Stark kids couldn’t help but believe the contents (just like in the book!). Rickon may be Ramsay’s prisoner and he may be getting tortured, but this Bastard Bowl will happen soon. You can’t keep marching couriers between Winterfell and Castle Black — it’s too time-consuming and the battle is about to begin!
Does Bastard Bowl occur by episode six? 20. 50. I will admit that the 50% is wishful thinking and is betraying my hopes rather than my calculated predictions, but I cannot imagine it happening any later than episode now that the Pink Letter has been sent and Littlefinger has gotten Robin to commit the troops of the Vale. One episode to march the wildlings to House Manderly (where Littlefinger will also be), and then on to war? I hope so.
Do Jorah and Daario get captured this week? 50. 90. Perhaps you thought this duo would have more success than I anticipated. That’s fine. Maybe you even thought Dany would win the Dothraki over in this episode and be leading them out of the valley next week. But did you think she would murder all the khals by reprising her Unburnt magic trick? Shut the hell up. No you didn’t. I was shocked, and I also think Daenerys is a ruthless, murderous terror that is no longer a heroine the viewer should be rooting for. More on that later in the week.
Does Drogon fly over the Dothraki this week? 60. 35. So Drogon won’t be a catalyst to her reversal of fortune, but he also didn’t fly over the Dothraki this week! I assume they will be on the march this coming episode or the one after, and that’s when we’ll see Drogon. But where will she march? Likely back to Meereen, perhaps just in time to save the city from an attack from the Wise Masters? Tyrion may not be on the sure-footing he believes .
Dothraki name Daenerys their Khaleesi? 40. 70. It wasn’t the way I envisioned it (neither did you — shut up, no you didn’t), but she is now they Khaleesi of all the khalasars! The Stallion that Mounts the Earth! Will she get these Dothraki screamers to Westeros before too long? I guess Meereen first, but how will she satisfy the requirement of going east to go west? Sail the long way around the world a la Magellan? Will Euron help her do that? Won’t that take too long? Ugh, tell me how this ends!
Theon gets to Iron Islands this week? 90. 95. So he has. And he has pledged fealty to Yara. Now she must claim the Salt Throne. But will Theon’s support help her change the outcome from the books? I doubt it.
Euron wins Kingsmoot? 80. 99. I cannot see Yara sitting atop the Salt Throne. Why even cast Euron if he won’t follow a similar path as his character in the books? Who else can provide Daenerys with boats? Will he lead her East around the globe to arrive in the West? If that was always GRRM’s plan, why did the Iron Islanders play such a small role in the books for such a long time (counterpoint — Theon was a ward of Ned’s since we first saw Winterfell in the books). At any rate, prepare to hail Euron, King of Pyke!
Arya puts on a new face this episode? 20. 55. On hold until they show her again? As an aside, how can you name the episode Book of the Stranger and not show lots of Arya? Get her out of Braavos already!
Faceless Men reveal something or larger Westerosi aims soon? 70. 50. Show us Jaqen’s plans! Tell us what he wants!
Sam makes first landfall in Braavos/Stormlands/Reach/Other? 10/10/70/10. 25/5/50/20. Let Sam off the boat! Show us Old Town!
Tommen orders Jaime to free Maergery? 60. 60. So Jaime is readying to mount an assault against the Sept of Baelor, but Tommen now seems unlikely to order it. Instead, the Small Council will use Tyrell troops to free the Queen and her brother. Excited to see this backfire gloriously. If Cersei dreamed it, it must be doomed to fail.
A lot has been made of the three brother-sister reunions this episode. Great, strong women, brother’s that are in need of finding their resolve again. Fine with all that. But two thoughts before I close. 1) For me there was a different important parallel the episode constructed for us, and it involved Daenerys. And 2) just one of the storylines had anything to do with the Book of the Stranger (Maergery and High Sparrow discussing it explicitly) and it was a poor title for the episode.
More Markets on Friday, and I am also planning to expound upon that parallel I mentioned in the previous paragraph before then. Look out for it! Valar Morghulis!
