Okay let’s not beat around the bush, the biggest thing that happened in this week’s episode was the fact that Jon Snow finally opened his eyes again and entered the land of the living. So yes, we can conclude that Kit Harington and HBO were lying to us all along, but did anyone really think they would kill off Jon when there is still so much story left to be told?
‘Home’ brought us right back into the action that we are so accustomed to with Game of Thrones as we saw major characters get killed, got introduced to some new ones, saw the return of ones we haven’t seen in a while, had a mini battle, and of course that Jon Snow resurrection scene. The entire episode centered around the theme of death and dying and was beautifully portrayed.
So let’s get into the highlights of last night’s episode:
So who is dead?
Season 6 has no mercy when it comes to killing off main characters, no longer is that just reserved for the later episodes of the season, last week we saw the death of Princes Doran and Trystane Martell from Dorne, and this week the Boltons got their chance at diminishing their family tree.
Most of us, have been looking forward to Roose Bolton’s demise since the Red Wedding when he betrayed Robb Stark and caused his death, but to see him die by the hand of Ramsey Bolton, who is even worse than him, was a bit of Catch-22. We were glad to see him go, but not by that psycho. Even worse, Ramsey left Roose’s wife, Fat Walda and their newborn son to be eaten by the hounds. It was a harrowing scene, and made Ramsey officially the most despicable villain in Game of Thrones. It also, if anything, is a signal that the end is nigh for Ramsey, without his father, Sansa and Theon, he is losing the backing of the Lannisters, Littlefinger, the North and the Freys. He has the Karstarks, but it sounds as if his plans are becoming crazier as he carries on.
The other important death in this week’s episode was that of Balon Greyjoy, who was the de facto winner of the War of the Five Kings – mainly because the show seemed to take a break from the Iron Islands for a while. Balon, who was a terrible father to Theon, and it seems not much better to Yara, was killed by his brother, Euron. This brings about a succession discussion because only males are meant to inherit the throne, but all Balon’s sons are dead or gone, and Yara was much more of a son to him, than his others. But we will see how the Kingsmoot goes and who will end up succeeding Balon, it seems like things are about to become very exciting over in the Iron Islands.
There were other symbolisms to death such as Jaime and Tommen mourning at Myrcella’s funeral and Brienne revealing to Sansa that Arya is still alive, which was a beautiful moment for the Stark sisters.
And for the most important dead character, Jon Snow, we saw Davos approach a very low-spirited Melisandre to ask if there’s anyway she might be able to bring Jon back, and although she doesn’t think she is able to do it, she prays to the Lord of Light like she asked about Thoros of Myr about seasons ago, and Jon opens his eyes again. A brilliant way to end the second episode.
Bran and his visions
After a whole season away from him, we finally get to see Bran and co again. He is much older, and walking? We learn that while we were off following the adventures of Jon and Daenerys in Season 5, Bran had been learning to navigate his visions. We see a poignant scene at Winterfell with a young Ned and Benjen Stark training, Lyanna Stark riding in on a horse and Hodor speaking. It was adorable to see a snippet of the past of the Starks, but I’m more intrigued about what happened to Hodor that caused him to become mute?
Catching up on the other characters:
- Theon and Sansa parted ways in an emotional scene where he tells her he would have died to make sure she reached the Wall but she now had Brienne with her to keep her safe. So are we guessing Theon will be in the Iron Islands by next week?
- Tyrion has fanned the flames that he might end up be a dragon rider or a secret Targaryen when he went down to the chambers to feed Daenerys’ dragons and they didn’t harm him.
- Arya is making headway with her blind training.
- Tommen had been having a crisis of emotions whereby he doesn’t want to let Cersei leave the Red Keep because he fears she will be in danger.
What is dead shall never die
Death is a theme that has been prevalent throughout Game of Thrones since the death of Jon Arryn brought King Robert to Winterfell and ‘Home’ truly demonstrated what a many-headed beast that can be, sometimes death sticks, sometimes it doesn’t, sometimes it is caused by someone we trust, sometimes those we believe are dead are not truly, and sometimes they live on in visions.
Game of Thrones airs on HBO on Sundays at 9pm E.T
