Context: Varys is a member of the king's court and a eunuch and a foreigner to Westeros from the Free Cities. He speaks few words, but when he does they come with deep wisdom.
1. Varys meets with Nedd Stark and tells him that the king is a fool and will be dead soon unless Nedd can save him. Nedd asks Varys why he is telling him this and Varys says that he had to be sure Nedd could be trusted, but now he knows Nedd is an honorable and true man, and maybe just be the only one in King's Landing other than himself.
Why this is important: It gives us information concerning Varys character and also affirms Nedd's character.
2. Arya is chasing a cat down to the dungeon and overhears two men talking. She hides inside the skulls of the Targaryn dragons and listens in. The two men are Varys and Illryio, the man who helped Danerys and arranged her marriage to Drogo. Varys says that events have been set in motion and the the lion and the wolf will soon be at each other throats and that war will happen soon. Arya goes to her father and tries to explain, but did not recognize either of the two men since it was dark in the dungeon, and did not understand what they were saying, as she does not play the game of thrones and is not involved in politics of King's Landing. She tries to tell her father what she heard, but is too confused. Varys later meets with Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish (a man I utterly abhor) who runs the brothels in King's Landing. Petyr reveals that he knows Varys met with Illryio for unknown reasons and Varys reveals that he knows Petyr is doing illegal things. Petyr vs Varys. I'm on team Varys.
Why this is important: It gives us information concerning Varys and and Petyr and helps us understand the politics game more fully between those at court. We also find out something about Illyrio that we didn't know. It also reveals some of the secrets behind the game, and there are many many, many secrets involved.
3. The king's council meets and discuss Daenerys Targaryen. Since she is now married with a husband, soon to be son, and army, she is a threat and the child will have a claim to the throne. The king wants Daenerys dead and the council agrees, all except Nedd who says that it would be dishonorable and cowardly to murder her. Nedd refuses and resigns from being the King's Hand saying he will not go through with it.
Why this is important: More fully helps us understand Nedd Stark and his character and is an example of how honor drives every decision he makes.
4. The King and Cersei also discuss the Targaryens. Their conversation is in the video below.
Why this is important: We find out about King Robert and about Cersei and their stories, as well as Cersei's political ideas concerning the Targaryens. She's very smart and interested in politics. I feel sorry that she's trapped in a loveless marriage and sometimes I think she would make a better ruler without him.
Episode 6 is called A Golden Crown and is really about Danerys (Dany) but also about Sansa, Arya, and Nedd.
Arya begins training with her dancing master master, Syrio, from the city Braavos. She's learning how to fight and one day may need it if the Starks and Lannisters go to war.
He also consoles her when Jamie Lannister attacks her father, injuring him, and killing one of her father's friends.
Sansa on the other hand isn't fighting, but making peace and being in love. Joffrey apologizes and gives her a necklace similar to the one Cersei wears. She forgives him in her fairy tale state being that he is still her one true love. I abhor Joffrey, just like I abhor Littlefinger.
Nedd Stark has an astonishing discovery because of Sansa, actually. When he tries to send the girls back to Winterfell for their own safety, Sansa says she can't as she must marry Joffrey and bear golden haired children, Lannister lions. Arya is more worried about her dancing master, but does mention that Joffrey is a stag not a lion. Sansa retorts saying Joffrey is nothing like his father.
The former king of the hand was murdered because he asked questions and discovered something he wasn't supposed to. Nedd Stark discovers the same thing with the help of his daughters. Robert and Cersei do not have children, as the three children they do have are actually the result of Cersei's relationship with her brother Jamie. Nedd confirmed this by reading the history of House Baratheon and that all of the Baratheons have black hair, whereas all of the Lannisters are golden haired.
As for as Dany goes, she goes far in this episode.
First, we discover that she cannot be burned by fire. Despite Illyrio's words that the eggs have turned to stone, she wonders if they might be hatched with extreme heat. She places them on the fire, but nothing happens. One of her servants come and sees Dany doing so and takes the egg from her, worrying that it will burn her. However, Dany is not burned at all, but the servant is. Dany tends to her burns.
Second, Dany is summoned by the crones who rule the city, the wives of khals slain in battle. She undergoes a pregnancy ritual in which she eats the whole heart of a stallion. It's bloody and gross, but she does it, looking at Drogo the whole time wanting to make him proud. She succeeds and the crones declare that their son will be The Stallion that Mounts the World a great conqueror whose coming is long foretold in Dothraki history.
Dany names her son Rhaego after her brother (Rhaegar, the one killed by Robert Baratheon) and the Dothraki chant his name. Viserys, her brother, realizes they love her and claim her, that she belongs to them, no longer to him any more. He goes to her tent to steal her dragon eggs, but Ser Jorah stops him. Viserys tells him that to rule one must be either feared or loved and that he has never been loved like the Dothraki love Dany. In a previous episode, Dany had a discussion with Ser Jorah, saying that Viserys could not rule even if he could conquer Westeros.
Dany also realizes that she the true dragon and gets one step closer to her own destiny.
Episode 7 is titled "You win or you die" and comes from the words of Cersei Lannister and may or may not prove to be true.
It begins with Tywin Lannister(first appearance!), father to Jamie, Cersei, and Tyron Lannister, talking to his son Jamie about fulfilling his destiny as a great man and that this war will determine the fate of their House. They can either become a great dynasty or they can fall. Tywin tells Jamie to march to Riverrun and overtake it (as it belongs to Catelyn Stark's house) and begin the war against the Starks.
In King's Landing, Nedd Stark meets with Cersei and reveals that he knows the truth about her children. That they are bastards and her and Jamie's children. And we get the famous line from Cersei: "when you play the game of thrones, you win or you die." I think Cersei has the right to be angry with Robert for not loving her, because she was alive and they were given a chance, but he chose to continue to be consumed with his love for Lyanna. I understand that he loved and lost her, but he had another chance at love and he threw it away. Not everyone gets a second chance at love. If I were in her situation, I would also be angry.
It looks like Nedd Stark may be headed to the grave after his friend King Robert is injured in a hunting accident. King Robert names Nedd as lord protector of the realm until Joffrey is of age. Nedd rights "the rightful heir" rather than "my son Joffrey." King Robert also says that Nedd was right and that they should not murder the Targaryn girl (Dany) Varys, however, tells Nedd that the attack on her life is already undergoing and cannot be stopped now.
At least not by any of them. It is Ser Jorah that stops Dany from being poisoned. However, it turns out Ser Jorah is a royal spy for Varys and a boy gives him a royal pardon saying he can go home. Ser Jorah, however is very loyal to Dany and believes in her. So do I. She is the true dragon and has to have a great destiny. Angered at this attack, Drogo pledges to their son the Iron Throne and Westeros. I love how much Drogo has come to love Dany and how far he is willing to go for her and their son. I hope they have many more children and that Rhaego does grow up to become a great conqueror, the stallion that mounts the world.
It seems like Dany is going to get to go home after all. In an earlier scene she spoke with Ser Jorah about how Drogo does not want to cross the sea and conquer Westeros. Ser Jorah told Dany that the mad king, her ancestor, was born in the East and conquered Westeros because he has dragons. At that though it was her birthright, so is the East, even more so. There's also this really romantic scene that happens between Dany and Drogo that I will add here.
Back In Kings Landing, King Robert dies and Nedd writes to Stannis Baratheon (younger brother to Robert and rightful heir). Nedd is summoned to court by Cersei and Joffrey. Cersei tears up Robert's letter that says Nedd is to rule and that Joffrey is going to rule. That it doesn't matter what Robert said, because Robert is dead, no longer king, and there is a new king. Cersei tells Nedd that if he swears fealty to Joffrey, he will be allowed to return to Winterfell. Nedd says that Joffrey has no claim to the throne and Cersei declares him a traitor, captures him, and locks him in the dungeon.
On a happier, much better note, Jon Snow and his friend Sam take their vows and enter the Knight's Watch officially. This was one of my favorite scenes in the whole three episodes. I look forward to seeing where Jon will go in the future. Maybe over the wall to fight the dangers that lurk. Either way, Jon (just like Danerys) has a destiny to fulfill and he's on the right path to fulfilling it.
That's all I've got for now. I'll see you all later. Feel free to comment on favorite scenes, lines, characters, ect. Much appreciated, Rachel.
