These past few episodes of "Game of Thrones" has been pretty damn exciting if you ask me. Many points that were merely mentioned in the past are coming to light: Benjen Stark, Jon’s uncle and fellow member of the Night’s Watch, is alive (sort of), while Lyanna Stark may not have been captured by Rhaegar Targaryaen. And then there's so much more.
First things first: The Hound is alive! I’m sure I wasn’t the only one with a perplexed WTF look on their face as it was revealed. This man was not only viciously stabbed by Arya Stark, but he proceeded to fall off a cliff afterwards. But it would seem this Hound has a greater purpose that hasn’t been fulfilled as of yet, because he was found hanging on a thread of life by former soldier named Brother Ray. In order to atone for his former sins, Brother Ray finds people and saves their lives. He found The Hound almost bled out to death, complete with a bone sticking out of his leg and maggots eating at his flesh. The Hound came back to life right before his body was laid to rest, to which Brother Ray just knew was a sign.
Long after healing up The Hound, a clan of riders came to threaten Brother Ray and his people, an action that The Hound thought should be met with dominance.
"Fighting is a disease; you don’t cure a disease by spreading it to more people," said Brother Ray. The Hound responded that you don’t cure disease by dying either. Turns out that the broken man was right, because Brother Ray, along with all his people, were slaughtered while The Hound was chopping wood. He tried to be good, but refraining from a fight does nothing but get you killed in this world.
Meanwhile, Jon and Sansa are trying to build their army, something that’s proving to be a most difficult task. Most of the loyal northerners who they thought would fight by their side refuse to do so because of their affiliation with the Wildlings. They can all refuse now, but they’re going to have to come to their senses when the Night arrives.
Sansa, painstakingly aware of their current army’s shortcomings, sent a letter off to an unknown recipient. Did she write that letter to Blackfish? If not Blackfish, then to whom?
Poor Theon is forced to attend a brothel with his Yara and their soldiers, an event that he’s obviously uncomfortable with considering he’s missing his … parts. Yara is tired of seeing him cower like a dog and needs the old Theon back, so it’s either get it together or end his own life. She claimed that she would never bring any harm to Theon, but I don’t know if I fully believe her. I feel like, under the right circumstances, she would take his life in the name of power. It is, after all, "Game of Thrones."
The ultimate chameleon, Margaery, is playing the role she needs to stay on the High Sparrow’s good side. The High Sparrow urged her to lay with her husband, King Tommen, to bare him an heir to the throne. No matter what she does, this woman is always having to sleep with men to gain power. Is there ever going to be a time when she can get her own way without being objectified? That time might arrive soon enough, for she slipped her grandmother a drawing of a flower as a probable sign of her being as lucid as ever.
In another plot, Jaime Lannister arrived at Riverrun. Our old friend and my favorite knight, Bronn, was offered the position of Jaime’s right-hand man. This is a pretty good position for Bronn to be on, as long as they don’t get killed off by Blackfish. We all know that Bronn makes smart moves that will directly benefit his well-being, so I’m sure he’ll make the right decision.
Walder Frey told his army to offer Blackfish’s nephew, Edmure Tully, in exchange for Blackfish’s surrender. Edmure was the one who actually got married at the infamous Red Wedding; I bet you didn’t remember him at all. To Frey’s army’s dismay, however, Blackfish was ready to watch them slit his nephew’s throat before giving up his castle.
Jaime approached the gates for a little parley with Blackfish, and let’s just say that Blackfish finds the "Kingslayer" to be a non-factor. "Bargaining with oathbreakers is like building on quicksand," said Blackfish. Ouch. It may be harsh, but would you break bread with a man most known for his treachery?
To further bring down the Lannister House, Olenna Tyrell reminds Cersei of her downfalls that brought both House Lannister and House Tyrell into compromised positions.
"Loras rots in a cell because of you," hissed Olenna. "The High Sparrow rules this city because of you. Our two ancient houses face collapse because of you and your stupidity."
Olenna Tyrell’s words couldn’t be anymore true. Because of Cersei’s venomous ways, Olenna has to scurry back to her home to avoid the High Sparrow from throwing her in a cell as well.
The real kicker of the night involved my favorite, Arya Stark. Arya finally escaped from the House of Black and White and their faceless assassins – at least, so she thought. As she looked across the water contemplating her new start, the faceless wench, Waif, came and stabbed her up real nice. Arya somehow got out of it by jumping into the water, but she’s now left with multiple stab wounds to her abdomen. She walked throughout the market as people watched her blood trail the streets. How the heck is she going to survive this now?
I must say, if Arya dies after all of this, I’ll be one angry lady – no matter how good this season's been so far.
Zoe Benjamin, currently a senior at UW-Milwaukee, was raised in the South suburbs of Chicago. She is a foodie, an avid traveler and music junkie, with just the right amount of nerdiness to top it all off.
Growing up in a large Jamaican family exposed her to a lifestyle full of food, laughter and pride. Zoe’s appreciation for her family’s eclectic nature led her to celebrate the differences in others. She just so happens to especially enjoy the study of food, seeing that eating is her favorite pastime.
Ever since she was able to get on a plane by herself, Zoe has taken the liberty of traveling to every place within her reach -- whether that be the next state over, or across the seas. Her wanderlust has taken her to 10 different countries, with France being her favorite. Nothing excites her more than French food and wine. Zoe hopes to absorb and share as much culture as she can so that the world may become that much more accepting of all the bountiful diversity in the world.