There was no new Game of Thrones last night, as it was Memorial Day weekend and HBO aired “The Normal Heart.” So in the absence of new material, I decided to discuss some general thoughts about season 4.
Confession: I’m having trouble liking Daenerys anymore. And that’s a real shame. Her character arc used to be so good. She started as a battered woman who rose above her tormentors to become a feminist icon. Now that there’s no one in her way, though, she’s grown arrogant, self-righteous and disturbingly entitled. Get a few dragons and suddenly everything’s yours, basically.
I have to wonder if the writers don’t intend to distance the viewers from her. With the exception of that scene in the first episode with her dragons, we’ve never seen her alone this season for more than a few seconds. She’s always playing Mhysa for her subjects, queen for the people she’s conquered or Khaleesi for her inner circle — all masks.
In previous seasons we were always very close to Daenerys’ interior. When she walked onto the burning pyre in season 1, locked people in a vault in season 2 or burned Astapor in season 3, we always rooted for her because we felt what she was feeling. Now we don’t even know what she’s thinking. To her public she’s calm, detached and ruthless. Which is fine, in public. But we never see what’s underneath.
I don’t feel like I know her anymore. I can’t understand the decisions she makes because I don’t understand the emotions that motivate them. This is mostly about that fling with Daario. The two sleep together in the books, but only after hundreds of pages of mutual attraction and some immediate provocation. Here, the attraction looked one-sided until she said, “Take off your clothes.” It was an odd scene — totally unprompted and almost robotic. In the writers’ determination to subvert gender roles and present her as the dominant one, they forgot that there has to be feeling and justification for a romance to be satisfying. See the also poorly thought-out but passionate relationship between Robb Stark and Talisa.
Daenerys aside, though, there’s plenty I like about this season. A+ for how they’ve handled the storylines of Jaime and Tyrion, with the exception of that rape scene that never happened. Jaime’s extended screentime has done wonders for exploring the depth of his character, and Tyrion’s fall from grace has been documented with great finesse. The actors have never been better.
Sansa’s storyline has been great, too. Sophie Turner is really blossoming in the role. Arya’s is finally getting good, though that might be because of her delightful banter with the Hound. Those actors have fantastic chemistry.
I’m enjoying Brienne’s solo arc. We see a different side of her when she’s just got passive Podrick for company rather than snarky Jaime.
Jon’s story is stalling at the moment, but Kit Harington does a good job of portraying his budding leadership skills and torn loyalties between the Black Brothers he’s sworn to, the family he’s lost and the wildlings he befriended.
Last episode, Melisandre strongly implied that she intends to sacrifice Shireen to the Lord of Light. I’m puzzled at that, first because this isn’t a thing in the books and second because Stannis would never allow it. Do the writers intend to drive a wedge between Melisandre and Stannis this way? I’d love to see that.
And finally, the Greyjoys. I’m concerned about them. Except when we periodically visit Theon, the show generally ignores them. It’s justified for now, but I don’t think they can do it indefinitely. Practically half of “A Feast for Crows” is Greyjoy-centric. I’m hoping Yara’s failed attempt to rescue Theon was meant to segway into the Greyjoy storyline. Maybe she’ll return home to find the islands in an uproar.
Next episode will be the combat between Gregor Clegane and Oberyn Martell. More than one fate will be changed by the outcome, and that’s all I’ll say. Episode 9 should be the fallout of the combat, and I don’t know what episode 10 will be. Fallout of the fallout? It will be quite a dramatic turn of events, after all.
