Episode three of Game of Thrones, season six had a big payoff for a certain Stark as the wheels were set in motion for major plot developments and potential revelations that could change the course of the pursuit of the Iron Throne. Here is our recap of “Oathbreaker.”
Warning: From this point onwards, the night is dark and full of spoilers, as details from past episodes, books, and theories are contained within.
At the Wall:
The prodigal son (well, bastard son, to be precise) made his triumphant return from the dead at the end of last week’s episode, thanks to Melisandre. We are thrust immediately into the return of the visibly shaken and naked Jon Snow, who appears on the surface to still be himself. Every stab wound is still fresh in his mind, as are the traitors who committed the crimes. Jon is just as surprised as everyone by his own return, but thanks to a pep talk by Ser Davos, he gathers himself, dons his winter garb, and presents himself before the Wildlings and the rest of Castle Black.
Outside of his official return to the world of the living, we see Jon carry out what would turn out to be his final execution as Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, sentencing the likes of Ser Alliser, Ollie, and their fellow conspirators to hang. Once the deeds are done, the words are spoken and the execution is carried out, Jon immediately gives his post of Lord Commander to Edd, stating that his watch has officially ended.
The action at the wall this week was a bit slower by usual standards, but Jon has, unsurprisingly to most, resigned from his post at Castle Black and departed by the end of the episode. With the Night’s Watch in more trustworthy hands, Jon Snow appears primed to step into a new leadership position along the Wildlings. While their initial actions in the coming episodes remain unknown, it appears very likely that he will have his sights on taking back Winterfell and reclaiming the North from Ramsey’s clutches.
North of the Wall:
Bran’s visions of the past continue for the second consecutive week and this time, we find him following an older Eddard Stark, as he and six fellow knights arrive at an unnamed tower to face what appear to be the Kingsguard. The leader among them, named Ser Arthur Dayne, is noted to be an exemplary swordsman. Looking closely at the sigils of the armor, the Kingsguard are clearly wearing the Targarygen sigil on their breastplates, signifying that this flashback is during Robert’s Rebellion, in which the Targaryens were usurped from power and Robert Baratheon took the throne following the death of the Mad King Aerys Targaryen by a certain Jamie Lannister.
This particular flashback sequence likely had the core Thrones fans on the edge of their seats, as this details a critical plot point of the series, in which a young Eddard rides to the Tower of Joy to rescue Lyanna, who has apparently been taken hostage. In the previous flashback, we were briefly introduced to Lyanna alongside a very different Hodor than the one viewers know. Eddard is thus charged to bring his sister back safely from the clutches of these Kingsguard led by Ser Arthur Dayne.
What follows next is some bloody yet dazzling swordplay from Ser Arthur Dayne and his fellow Kingsguard, who manage to slay all of Ned’s companions, save him and Howland Reed. Ned is forced into single combat against Ser Arthur, but is disarmed and defeated despite his best efforts. Just as Ser Arthur is set to to deliver the killing blow to Eddard, Howland, thought to be killed at the onset of the fight, gets him in the back, allowing Ned to finish him off. Screams are heard from the Tower and Eddard goes to investigate, but before viewers find out the cause of the screaming, the Raven says it is time for Bran to depart.
While the Three-Eyed Raven cuts the vision short of exactly what Eddard finds in the Tower (much to the dismay of Bran and every Game of Thrones fan), viewers are sure to be clamoring for the R+L=J theory, arguably one of the biggest fan theories surrounding the entire series. But, the showrunners are making us wait just a little bit longer when it comes to the validity of this particular theory of Jon Snow potentially being the offspring of a Targaryen. The flashbacks, while interesting enough, clearly have a greater purpose for the whole of Westeros, but how these will begin to factor into the bigger picture remains to be seen.
At King’s Landing:
Tommen takes his anger to the High Sparrow to demonstrate his strength as King of the Seven Kingdoms and defend his mother’s honor once and for all. With his fellow Kingsguard in tow, Tommen attempts to appear the authority figure early on, personally confronting the High Sparrow for the first time. But naive Tommen falls prey to the old man’s wistful rhetoric of repentence and virtue, and seems wowed by his seemingly harmless nature to put more good in the world.
On the other side, Tommen’s parents are fighting their own losing battle to take back power in King’s Landing. Cersei and Jaime attempt to take their places on the small council, but thus far, all the support they have been able to maintain has come in the reanimated form of ‘The Mountain” Gregor Clegane. Lady Tyrell and even Uncle Kevan Lannister, the new Hand of the King, want no part in Cersei or Jamie’s attempt to intrude in their affairs, as the entire council leave the twins sitting at the table alone with nothing but themselves and a whole lot of Mountain behind them. But it is also revealed that the Lannisters are planting children, the “little birds,” throughout various places in the region, so they have eyes and ears everywhere.
With no support within, the twin siblings’ claim to take back their power is certainly not an easy one. As the Lannisters plan out their counterattack, winning the support of the small council is essential. They certainly didn’t do themselves any favors this week, but don’t count out the twins yet. They have their debts to repay and as their wise brother says, “A Lannister always repays his debts.” It might take time and the Lannisters might be out right now, but it certainly doesn’t mean that they’re down.
In Unknown Waters:
While we didn’t visit the Iron Islands, the Greyjoys, or the beginnings of their Kingsmoot, we dropped in on a newly developing storyline: Samwell Tarly and his travel with the Wildling Gilly and their baby Little Sam. For a refresher, Tarly left the wall with Gilly and Little Sam to keep them safe and become a maester so as to be a better help to his (now former) Lord Commander.
Outside of some seasickness in the ship’s quarters, Sam drops the surprising information on Gilly that, instead of heading to OldTown as he originally told her, Sam intends to take him to his father Randyll Tarly where he hopes that his father will be merciful enough to take in his wildling lover and her baby. Gilly is at first taken aback by the news, but Sam eventually reassures her that she and her baby Little Sam would be much safer under the protection of a noble house than a place like OldTown. Gilly continues to put her trust in Sam’s judgment as they make their way to the Reach, where House Tarly resides.
This will be the first viewers will get an insight into Samwell’s family, who is much more known in the books than the show. This, like much of season six, is unexplored territory for viewers of the show and book readers alike, and just where this Tarly-centered storyline goes is as good a guess as anyone’s.
In the books, Randyll is the Lord of Horn Hill described as “a narrow man, but iron-willed, shrewd, and capable.” Samwell was originally the heir to House Tarly, but when he failed to show the adequate skills with the sword or mentality that his father desired, he sent him North to the Wall under the threat of death, passing the right of heir to Sam’s brother Dickon. In many ways, he appears to more or less be in the mold of Stannis Baratheon in terms of personality and military stock, and is regarded as a ruthless and fierce warrior on the battlefield. Randyll is set to be played by James Faulkner in the show.
Let us just hope this storyline does not set itself up to become another Dorne.
Across the Narrow Sea…
In Vaes Dothrak:
We are reunited with Daenerys this week as she is escorted to the Temple of Dosh Khaleen, where she is set to begin the life of a Khal widow. She is presented in front of a fellow widow, who is not all too impressed by her status as Mereen Queen or Mother of Dragons. Here, she is just a silver-haired Khal widow whose fate has yet to be decided, especially given that she went AWOL once her Khal died. Stripped of her dress and given the simple brown garb of the Khal Widow, Daenerys’s fate remains in the balance as she awaits rescue from Daario and the forever friend-zoned Jorah Mormont, who both remained absent this week as they continue to track their queen to Vaes Dothrak.
In Mereen:
In Mereen, we find a sweating Varys fanning himself in the throne room awaiting some much anticipated company. That said company comes in the form of Valla, the woman from season five sleeping with numerous Unsullied and then slitting their throats. Through some sly coaxing from Varys, it is revealed that the previous cities Daenerys liberated in her run throughout Essos have had a hand in funding the Sons of the Harpy. Through some masterful interrogation, Varys persuades her with silver and quick boat ride away from Mereen while quietly assuring the safety of herself and her son in return for the information he desires.
Meanwhile, Tyrion was had in a smaller dosage this week, though putting him alongside the solemn Grey Worm and Missandei certainly made for some great humor in the storyline this week. When Varys delivers the news, it is noted that one of these regions funding the Sone of the Harpy speaks a very particular language, and Missandei is the only means to communicate with them.
Thus far, Mereen has been among the slower storylines to start, but it looks like the information gained by Varys this week could provide the spark this storyline needs. Right now, Tyrion and Varys are the crux of the Mereen storyline, and this bit of information could make the hunt for the source behind the Sons of the Harpy more exciting and engaging than it has been thus far.
In Bravoos:
After the past two weeks as a beggar on the streets, Aryan finds herself back in the House of Black and White, continuing her training with The Waif to become a girl who has no name.
The series has not been one for training sequences, but this particular instance was a long time coming, especially given that Arya has not endured this kind of training since season one with her sword teacher Syrio Forel, also a native of Bravoos. From blind combat training to continued identity interrogation, Arya endured the gauntlet of whips and hits from The Waif this week. But in the end, she endured it all to overcome the trials laid out for her.
In the end, once she successfully defends herself while blind, she is beckoned forward by Jaqen H’ghar to drink from the poison pool. After all, if she is indeed no one, she has nothing to fear. As Arya drinks from the pool, Jaqen’s words prove true, as her sight is fully restored, signifying that, in her heart, she has given up her identity as Arya Stark.
This was arguably the best moment of this week’s episode and the biggest signs of Arya’s training since arriving at the House of Black and White. She’s clearly picked up on some new skills and her development has been a long time coming, and those signs came through today as she mastered her combat trials and drank from the poison pool to regain her sight. But if the season trailers were an indication, it is that Jaqen will not take further transgressions from Arya lightly, especially in light of her actions from the previous season in not following the instructions given to her.
Back to the North…
Winterfell:
With Ramsey Snow having wrested command of Winterfell from Roose Bolton, he has begun the process of completely reigning in the North under his command. House Karstark appears to have pledged loyalty, and winning over House Umber appears to be the next step in establishing control over the North. However, Umber quickly calls Ramsey’s play and murder of Roose and refuses to properly pledge his fealty. But it does not mean that he is against the Bolton bastard, as he comes instead bearing gifts to prove his loyalty: the Wildling Osha and Rickon Stark, as well as the mounted head of his direwolf Shaggydog for good measure.
And just like that, Ramsey’s reign over the North continues, and having a valuable Stark under his watchful eye yet again gives him a further bargaining chip in winning the favor of other Northern Houses.
It Is Known…
Obviously, the biggest pull towards this week’s episode was the return of Jon Snow, and his first actions upon returning are to eliminate the traitors within the Watch and break his oath as Lord Commander (though whether he truly broke it, given he technically died, is up for debate). With his watch as Lord Commander ended, it appears he is officially free to do as he pleases, and that first step appears to be leading the Wildlings in taking back Winterfell. And with Ramsey amassing forces and a bargaining chip in Rickon, the battle for Winterfell is set to potentially become the landmark battle of the season.
Meanwhile, Arya was the star of this week’s episode, as her long awaited training as an assassin commenced, and culminated with having her sight restored after drinking from the poison pool in the House of Black and White. With her sight returned, Arya is back on the fast track to continue her training as an assassin. However, previous trailers indicate that Arya is on thin ice, and that second chances will be far and few for her this time around. And just how easily she can truly shed her identity as Arya Stark remains to be seen. If we’ve learned anything about the Starks, it’s that family and duty runs deep in their blood, and they are not things that can be so easily forsaken.
A new storyline was introduced in the form of Samwell Tarly, as it appears a father-son reunion is on the horizon for House Tarly. As its former heir, Sam hopes his father will be gracious enough to take in his wildling lover and her baby. Given that this is the same father who threatened to kill his own son and former heir if he didn’t join the Knight’s Watch, it certainly does not make for favorable circumstances. Randyll Tarly’s presence has been much bigger in the books than the show, and choosing for his character to make his appearance now is certainly an interesting time. If Randyll is making an appearance, it is highly likely we will become well acquainted with the rest of House Tarly in the coming weeks, particularly Sam’s brother Dickon, who has yet to make an actual appearance in the show or the books. Looks to become a rather touching family reunion in the works.
There is hope for progress in Mereen, as some smooth moves by Varys and his spy network have rooted out the cities which have been apparently funding the Sons of the Harpy in their quest to keep the city afloat. At this point, the storyline is the Tyrion and Varys show, as Missandei clearly has little to do but sit and twiddle her thumbs as the dynamic duo solve their problems. Besides that, who of all people would turn down a drinking game with Tyrion? Nice to see her and Grey Worm being so sociable with each other. In regards to what we got with Daenerys, not much has changed on her front, as she continues being dragged back into the culture she abandoned following the death of Khal Drogo. For now, all one must do is wait for Drogon to appear. Oh, and Daario and Jorah. Maybe.
On a side note, it was great to see Osha and Rickon make their return to the North, despite it being in the most unfortunate of circumstances. Like his warging brother, it seems Rickon has aged quite well during his absence. It was sad, however, seeing that Shaggydog was no longer among the world of the living anymore.
Their Watch has Ended:
Ser Alliser Throne, Ollie, fellow Knight’s Watch conspirators, Ser Arthur Dayne, Other Targaryen Kingsguard, Ned’s fellow knights, Shaggydog (Rickon’s direwolf).
