Game of Thrones smacks you in the face with this! What a riot this episode was. I felt unhinged when I first watched it, I think I’ve got a handle on it. Sort of. Mostly.
Gosh- where do I even start with this one? There were so many awesome elements to this episode. This turned out to be an episode of major reveals and fantastic drama. Hold tight, cos this is about to get *spoilery*
All the Starks are in fine fighting form. Sansa shows her teeth and goes for Littlefinger at last- something I’ve been waiting for with baited breath since the season began. Arya’s training picks up pace. And (the honorary ex-Stark) Theon allies with his sister- against the fairly psychotic Euron (seriously- what kind of nutcase admits to killing his brother? And what kind of nutcases then elects said-nutcase as king?? Gah- the Iron Islanders are bonkers!)
And what of the actual door in question? Well aside from tepid metaphors I could make about doors equalling new opportunities, there was only one real mention of a door. But what a massive deal that door turned out to be. Because we finally got to see what caused Hold-the-door to be Hodor- which I *never* would’ve seen coming in a million years! I mean, Bran freakin’ broke Hodor’s mind with his power!
Time becomes very Doctor-Who-esque here as Hodor’s beginning and end become one and the same moment.
Bran witnesses the horror of his own actions, seeing his ability to Warg going terribly wrong. Everything slots into place and we finally understand why Hodor took it so badly when Bran took him over before- it was foreshadowing this tragic end- and it is likely that a part of Hodor’s brain knew what it foretold. He always knew what Bran’s journey would mean for him- but he couldn’t stop it because it was inevitable.
So another powerful episode from Game of Thrones! What did you think of it? Let me know!
(And I apologise profusely for the terrible puns)
the orang-utan librarian 