Game of Thrones season six started off with an episode that disappointed some and pleased others. However, episode two is likely to get more positive reviews from fans than negative ones. Here is our recap of “Home.”
Warning: spoilers from the books, theories, and show may be afoot. Since we’re all caught up, it shouldn’t be a big deal, but just in case, don’t complain.
JON. SNOW. IS. BACK. AND. ALIVE.
OK, now that we got that out of the way, let’s recap the episode. We’ll be going through the different regions in the show, in order of appearance, except for The Wall. We’ll save that for the end, for obvious reasons.
North Of the Wall…
Bran Stark is back! Remember him? The Stark kid we haven’t seen since the end of season four? Yep, he’s back in this episode — as has long been reported and revealed in last week’s trailer for episode two. Bran returns all entangled in a tree, next to a new character we saw briefly at the end of the season four finale, the Three-Eyed Raven (portrayed by Max von Sydow).
Anyway, so the short recap of this vision: Bran is walking and watching his father Eddard as a boy fight his uncle (and Ned’s younger brother) Benjen, when their sister Lyanna (you know, the one people think is Jon Snow’s actual mom) comes riding in. She tells Benjen he should fight the stable boy Willis, who is actually the younger version of Hodor. Then Bran is told it’s time to go.
It was an interesting flashback to start off with, but doesn’t really tell us anything other than Bran is a lot older and can go on flashback journeys with the Three-Eyed Raven. It’s pretty similar to the flashbacks Harry Potter went on with Dumbledore.
To speculate, it’s possible this flashback was presented solely so that viewers were reminded that Ned’s sister is Lyanna. On the “next time on Game Of Thrones” preview, we see an older Ned fighting Targaryen soldiers. This could be the famous Tower of Joy scene mentioned in the books that could be key to unlocking the secret about Jon Snow’s parents.
In Kings Landing…
A poor man in what is possibly flea bottom makes a joke about Queen Cersei being possibly interested in his “manhood,” based on looks she apparently gave him during her walk of shame. Well, Sir Robert Strong heard about this and playfully bashed the man’s head into a wall. How kind of him!
We then find Cersei all alone trying to attend her daughter Myrcella’s funeral, only to be stopped by Lannister guards telling her King Tommen won’t let her attend the funeral. A fight nearly breaks out that most likely would’ve ended with a bunch of dead Lannisters, but sadly, it didn’t happen.
After Cersei goes back to her timeout, the show jumps to the funeral where King Tommen is having a nice chat with his father — I mean, his uncle, no, wait it’s his father Jamie — sorry it’s actually “his uncle.” The two talk about how Tommen didn’t allow Cersei to come because the High Sparrow would have kept her out. The nice talk between father and son, I mean uncle and nephew, ends with the High Sparrow (played incredibly by Jonathan Pryce) entering the room. King Tommen tries to talk the Sparrow into letting him see his wife Queen Margaery Tyrell, but just like every other conversation between the Sparrow and a Lannister, the High Sparrow wins.
Tommen leaves to go cry about it to his mother, and the Sparrow and Jamie begin having a nice chat about the Gods “spilling more blood than the rest of us,” and how Jamie hasn’t atoned for his sins. It nearly ends with Jamie killing the Sparrow, but then a bunch of the other crazy religious guys, the Sparrows, come out of the shadows wielding very weird weapons, thus stopping Jamie from attacking.
Finally, Tommen goes and talks with his mother about getting vengeance and how he should have killed all of the Sparrows to begin with. It was very similar to the conversation between Jamie and Myrcella last season, although this one wasn’t as touching and didn’t end with a deadly nosebleed.
In Meereen…
Tyrion Lannister is drinking some wine with Varys, Missandei, and Grey Worm. The conversation is mostly about dragons and how Tyrion thinks they need to be released after Varys informs the room the rest of Slaver’s Bay has fallen back into the hands of the Masters. One of the better lines of the episode comes when Missandei asks Tyrion how he knows so much about dragons and he responds with “That’s what I do; I drink and I know things.”
After making it very clear the dragons need to be free, Tyrion heads down to the cells where they are locked up to unleash the beasts. The one issue here is the dragons are much bigger, and their collars and chains are too. Did the collars magically grow or has someone replaced the smaller ones they received back in season five, episode five? Anyway, Tyrion tells a nice story about how he was told as a child that dragons no longer exist when he asked for one for his birthday. He eventually sets the dragons “free,” although he really just took off their chains, and quickly runs out with Varys after making a good impression with the beasts.
In Braavos…
Arya gets beaten up by the waif only to be greeted by Jaqen H’ghar, who agrees to take her back to The House of Black and White. Another week, another boring Arya plot.
At Winterfell…
RAMSAY IS A BAD ASS. Oh, and he’s also a psychopath, but probably more of the latter than the former.
Ramsay, his father Roose Bolton, and Harald Karstark are having a conversation about how Ramsay can win back some of the Northern Houses, now that Sansa has escaped. Remember, Karstark lost his father, who killed two Lannister boys and was promptly beheaded by Robb Stark. After a Maester informs the three that Roose’s wife Walda Frey gave birth to a son, Ramsay and Roose share an intimate moment. With the Maester and Harald as witnesses, Roose informs Ramsay he will always consider Ramsay his first-born son. Ramsay repays him and then butchers his father.
That’s when the most messed-up thing Ramsay has done in a while happens. He brings Walda and his new brother to the kennel where the dogs are kept and well, you know what happened after that. This show actually went there and had cute dogs kill a cute boy and his mother.
In the North…
Right from the beginning, it was made clear that Sansa and Arya Stark did not get along. But now that Sansa is back in the North and wants revenge on the families who wronged her, she wants to find her sister. Sansa and Brienne speak and Sansa learns her sister is alive, but nobody knows where.
After a brief discussion with Brienne, Theon Greyjoy tells Sansa he must go home because he can’t go to The Wall, where Jon Snow may kill him or anywhere else, but home because of Ramsay. Theon and Sansa share a nice moment before once again, Sansa loses someone who should be with her to protect her.
At the Iron Islands…
Hi Balon and Yara Grejoy, it’s nice to see you again! We haven’t seen the father and daughter combo in quite some time, but the two were back, although one for only a short time. Balon and Yara discuss their roles moving forward and how the Iron Islands must regain strength and power on the Westeros mainland.
The only problem for Balon is he walks out onto a creepy bridge in the middle of a storm and is thrown off by his brother Euron Greyjoy to his death, moments after Euron first appears in the series.
What’s interesting about this is Balon died way back in book three, A Storm of Swords, but isn’t killed off until season six of the show. At his funeral, the idea of a Kingsmoot is brought up to Yara to decide the next king, which is also something that happened earlier on in the source novels.
At The Wall Part One…
OK, let’s rewind to earlier in the episode when Alliser Thorne tells Davos Seaworth that it’s time for him and the other members of the Night’s Watch with him to surrender and give up Jon Snow’s body. Thorne and his friends break down the door, but then the giant Wun-Wun and the other wildlings barge into Castle Black.
Tormund Giantsbane quickly kills one member of the Night’s Watch before Wun-Wun plays ragdoll with another. Thorne nearly gets into a duel with Giantsbane, only to have Olly barge in like a chicken with his head cut off. Olly, Thorne, and the rest of the traitors are immediately thrown into a prison.
Davos then brings Giantsbane to see Jon Snow’s body, which sets us up for the end of the episode and…
At The Wall Part Two…
Davos goes to speak with Melisandre and begs her to try and bring Jon back. She mentions how she saw the Brotherhood Without Banners bring back people through the Fire God back in season two, but she’s not sure if she could do the same.
WELL, SHE DOES AND —BAM, SHORT VERSION — JON SNOW IS BACK, BABY!
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It Is Known…
Well, season six, episode two was a lot better than episode one, huh? This episode set up a lot of future plotlines for the next couple episodes. Here’s a quick preview of each.
Jon Snow is back: With the Lord Commander back, it’ll be interesting to see if he stays at Castle Black for much longer. Technically, his vows do mention that he is to serve until he dies, which he did. With Sansa heading back up North, maybe we’ll see the brother and sister combination reunite?
Bran and the Three-Eyed Raven: As I mentioned earlier, it’s very possible we will see The Tower of Joy sequence next week and can finally learn who Jon Snow’s parents are. Overall, this will be a very interesting plotline going forward. The actor who plays Bran, Isaac Hempstead-Wright, recently talked to IGN and said his plotline should move the story forward a ton this year.
The Lannister Revenge Tour: Cersei, Tommen, and Jamie are all pissed off at the High Sparrow, with Sir Robert Strong and potentially a Tyrell army on their side based on the season six trailers. It will be curious to see which side wins and how quickly.
The Iron Islands: We haven’t heard much about them in a while, so why are they now coming back and why now? A man must wait another week to potentially find out for what is dead may never die.
Their Watch Has Ended…
Roose Bolton, his son, Walda Frey, two members of the Night’s Watch, and the poor man in Kings Landing pretending he could’ve had a fling with Cersei Lannister.
