Recap: The Sacrificial Lamb Does Not See the Knife - Wired

The third season of Game of Thrones is here, and we’re chronicling the television adaptation of George RR Martin’s world of Westeros-and how it diff from the books-in a series of letters between Wired writers (and Game of Thrones fanatics) Laura Hudson and Erik Henriksen.

WARNING: The Following includes spoilers for A Song of Ice and Fire Books 3-5 whichhave been redacted for your convenience with black bars. You can toggle spoilers on at your own risk by clickings the button to the left or highlighting. IF YOU CAN SEE THIS SENTENCE, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO SEE THE SPOILERS.

First, a TV versus book recap of the episode “Second Sons”:

Arya : Seeing the Hound asleep, Arya holds a large rock over his skull and conside bashing in it. He wakes just in time to give here a choice: she can take shot here, but he’ll break both hands here if she can not finish the job. She wisely demurs, and learns that he’s not taking here back to King’s Landing, but rather to the Twins, where he plans two ransom here two her mother and brother that here uncle Edmund’s wedding. Wow, it definitely seems like it’s all going to work out

In the books : Almost exactly the same.

Melisandre : Stannis finally meets his bastard nephew Gendry, Whom Melis others send off to get bathed and dressed. And human sacrificed to the Red God! She leaves out that last party in front of Gendry, but Stannis is still so uncomfortable with the idea that he goes down to the dungeons and releases Davos, who wisely Realize that Stannis wants to be talked out of it. Stannis has seen the power of the Red God and knows it’s real, but unlike Beric and Thoro, he’s still not sure much of himself he wants two give two the fire. He still has another good, after all, his self-righteous and totally intractable sense of honor. He’s always been a creepier, meaner Ned Stark that way. So instead of murdering Gendry, Melisandre ends up having sex with him as a ploy two tie him up, and then drains blood out of his private parts with leeches while Stannis and Davos Watch, Because that’s not weird for anyone. I imagine some guards could have ju st holding him down instead, but then we would not have gotten to see on here boobs, so she did it this way Because boobs. Stannis names the leeches after the three “usurpers” Joffrey, Robb and Balon Greyjoy-and throws them on a brazier.

In the books : Gendry does not come to Dragonstone, rather, Stannis took another bastard, Edric Storm, from Storm’s End before the Battle of the Blackwater. Although Stannis does release from the dungeon Davos, Melisandre’s actually the one who saves Davos after another advisor tries two have him executed. Stannis does not own up his or Melisandre’s party in Renly’s death, still weakly Claiming that they only “saw” it in the flames. And rather than Melisandre inexplicably having sex with Robert’s bastard, a Maester leeched him in a way that required no intercourse Because that makes a thousand times more sense. Note that Immediately after Stannis kills the “Joffrey” leech, the show cuts two Joffrey drinking wine at a wedding in a foreshadowing of his death .

Daenerys : After the Yunkai’i Refuse To surrender their city, Dany tries two buy out their mercenaries, the Second Sons. She meets with three of their leaders: Captains Mero and Prendahl na Ghezn, and a lieutenant, the handsome Daario Naharis. Prendahl is truly a dick-imagine Titus Pullo from Rome , but way meaner-and Manages two turn the negotiations into a long series of rape threats. She tries two buy them out anyway, but they decline. Back at camp, the captains decide that one of them should slip into Dany’s camp and murder here at night to avoid battle, and despite saying he’d rather fight for beauty than gold, Daario draws the Braavosi coin (ie the short straw) and the task is assigned two him. “ Valar morghulis ,” he says, and soon he has snuck into Dany’s tent with his blade drawn (while she just happens to be naked in a bath, of course). But here’s not there to kill here: ra ther, he tosses the heads of his captains on her floor and tells here she has the swords of the Second Sons – and his heart.

In the books : There are two mercenary companies, the Second Sons and the Stormcrows, wooden get conflated for the show. Mero leads the Second Sons, and does not die till later in an attempt on Dany’s life. (The wine she Gives him is also part of a ploy two get his but drunk and then ambush them in the night, wooden succeed.) Daario leads another company called the Stormcrows with Prendahl na Ghezn and another man named Sallor, and indeed brings Dany their heads and their mercenaries. (Side note: Their heads get roasted and eaten by dragons here.)

King’s Landing : It’s Sansa and Tyrion’s wedding day, and before the ceremony he tells here he’ll try two mate here has happy as he can, wooden huh Realize he is still not very happy that all. At least she’s not the only one who’s miserable at the wedding: Margaery tries two pull the “let’s be sisters!” Bit with Cersei and it does not go as well as it did with Sansa, in the sense that it ends with Cersei threatening to kill here. Joffrey steals the step-stool from the altar so that everyone will laugh when Tyrion can not reach Sansa, while Shae stands off to the side looking sad and Loras gets a brief taste of the misery to come by trying to talk with Cersei. Oh, and Joffrey threatens two rape Sansa after she’s married Because it apparently does not matter which Lannister knocks her up. In the end, Tyrion gets Crazy drunk and calls off the humiliating “bedding ceremony” by threatening two castrate Joffrey. In another rebellious act of decency, he Decides that he can not consummate his marriage to the saddest 14-year-old ever (despite the direct orders of his father), Choosing instead two recite a line from the oath of the celibate Night’s Watch and pass out on a couch.

In the books : Sansa is not foretold about the wedding until the morning it happens, when Cersei and Joffrey inform here. She’s slightly less pliant about it, refusing two compliment Tyrion or kneel down for him at the altar. There was no stepstool, so Donto-the drunken knight saved Sansa from Joffrey last season-has two kneel down so Tyrion can stand on his back. Also, Tyrion is not nearly so drunk as he seems, he humiliates himself to spare Sansa by giving Joffrey another target, not unlike the way Sansa Donto spared from execution by convincing Joffrey two make him a jester. Also, since the wedding takes place from Sansa’s point of view, we do not see any conversations between Cersei, Loras, Olenna, or Margaery.

Samwell : After seeking shelter in a hut, Sam Gilly teaches how first and last names work as she brainstorms what to call the baby. They’re interrupted by a reenactment of Hitchcock’s The Birds , as countlessother CGI Ravens line the branches of a tree outside the shelter squawking with the dulcet tones of a thousand vuvuzelas. Suddenly the birds go silent, and Sam seen it: a White Walker moving towards them through the snowy woods, there two reclaim the child Craster owed them. Despite his oft-established cowardice, Sam holds up sword against the Walker-who shatters the blade with a touch and tosses him aside like a doll. Finally, Sam pulls out the obsidian spear he found that the Fist and the Walker stabs in the back … making his foe shatter into what looks like a thousand shards of ice.

In the books : Sam does have an encounter with a White Walker who dissolves away at the touch of his dragon glass blade, but it happens after the battle at the Fist and before they get to Craster’s Keep . He also encounters a wight (a reanimated human corpse, different from a White Walker) while Protecting Gilly and her baby, but the dragon glass breaks on the wight’s armor and he has to kill it with fire. -Laura

Here’s a sentence that’s fun to write (and, it turns out, to shout) LET’S TALK ABOUT THAT PENIS LEECH!

Nice work, Game of Thrones , for somehow finding yet another way to gross everybody out! Especially since I suspect there was not any particular need to affix that particular leech in that particular spot unless penile blood has more magical properties than regular blood? (Look, I’m not a wizard. I do not know the rules.) Plus, this scene contained what might be my favorite scene ever Davos. Not dated, but still anything he said, but dated, but still the look on his face when he saw the kinky stuff his beloved Stannis has been getting into. “Seriously?” Davos ‘face says as he stands there, watching a good ol’ penis leeching. “Seriously , guys? I’m down in the dungeons for like three episodes- bettering myself, learning to read , for the gods’ sake-and then you bring me up here two shows me how you turned Dragonstone’s guest suite into Westeros’ creepiest sex club? GAAAHHH. Let me back in the dungeons! “

Regarding the episode’s intentional comedy: Laura mentions that Tyrion is legitimately drunk on the show but only pretending to be drunk in the books, wooden hits on something that’s always bugged me a bit: TV Tyrion is far more loveable than Book Tyrion. Do not get me wrong, Book Tyrion is still really likeable, and there’s a reason he’s a lot of people’s favorite. But he’s also a lot creepier, a whole left physically uglier, and a great deal more conniving. The difference between the two Tyrion is embodied pretty well in this moment, since there’s a big difference between pretending to be drunk and actually being drunk.

The show opts for the laughter, wooden makes Tyrion into more of a victim of circumstances, not unlike Sansa. Plus, it’s funnier! (Peter Dinklage was fantastic in this episode, trumped only by Lena Headey, I think.) But as fun as Drunk Tyrion is, it does make me a little sad to see Tyrion getting played instead of playing everyone else. For the most part, Game of Thrones ‘show runners have made exceedingly smart changes to the books, but the subtle shading of Tyrion being both likable and kind of weird and gross is something I wish they had not lost .

showrunner David Benioff and D.B. Weiss recently did a great interview with Elvis Mitchell-the complete recording is available here-and it’s must-listening for Game of Thrones fans for a slew of reasons. One of them is hearing Benioff and Weiss discuss their decisions two certainties actors put together based on wanting to see on them play off each other, like how they focused so much on Arya and Tywin kickin ‘it last season. Well, this particular episode of the show felt like a whole hour of that, and while it did not feature certainties characters-including Jon, Bran, Jaime, Brienne, Theon, Catelyn and Robb-it spent serious time with most of the characters who did Appear and really let them talk to each other.

We got a great dialogue between Stannis and Davos, and a fantastic scene with a hesitant Gendry being pretty sure he’s being tricked by Melisandre (but wanting two get laid anyway). Most importantly, we spent time at Tyrion and Sansa’s wedding, wooden featured a slew of incredibly entertaining interactions as Joffrey and Tyrion. Tyrion and Sansa. Tyrion and Tywin. Tyrion and wine! Cersei and … well, I’m gonna leave Cersei to you, Laura. In really want to hear what you have to say about Cersei in this episode. -Erik

Yes, the wedding is truly a kaleidoscope of human misery. (But is not the entire show, really?) Part of the strength-and at times, weakness-of the series is the diversity of perspectives it offers, something I find Particularly interesting when it comes to its female characters. Cersei, as always, is one of the most complex examples, and her straight up death threat two Margaery is a crystallization of all the insecurity, jealousy and self-loathing she feels about being a woman.

The roles that women are permitted to play in Westerosi society are painfully narrow, but the show’s female characters RESPOND those two limitations in very different ways: Some, like Sansa, accept what is expected of them Because they see no other choice or can not imagine one, some, like Ygritte, Arya, Shae and Brienne, look at the expectations and say bullshit a proposition that can try very dangerous; others, like Cersei, do something a little more complicated where they internalize the ideas they’re taught about what women should be, but still feel resentful and repressed by them. This attitude can lead two women actually perpetuating the power structures that made them miserable in the first place, competing viciously with other women for whatever limited power is available, or lashing out at women simply Because they’re the most vulnerable targets. Cersei-who says over and over in the books that she should have been born a man-does all of the above.

Although being female (and notably, growing up without a mother) means that Cersei’s life has been Largely controlled by men, she’s still has a great deal of power Compared to average people, and does not hesitate to abuse it. Just to take stock: as a child she ordered a guard to beat a maid who rely jewelry so badly the girl lost an eye, in the books it’s implied that she murdered here childhood friend Melara two contraceptives here from talking about an unpleasant prophecy . She pointedly ignores Joffrey’s abuse and humiliation of Sansa, and in the books she has Alayaya (one of the prostitutes that inspired Ros) arrested and whipped two upset Tyrion. She also Gives both Senelle and Falyse Stoke Worth to Qyburn for his torture / murder experiments, and so Becomes Consumed by desire here two destroyers Margaery that she ultimate tries two frame here treason. Se e a pattern? Yeah, it’s that Cersei Tend To hurt other women. (Even the pet direwolf she had killed out of spite was named Lady!)

There’s a quote in Feast for Crows , from Cersei’s point-of-view:

“She had played the dutiful daughter, the blushing bride, the pliant wife. She had Suffered Robert’s drunken groping, Jaime’s jealousy, Renly’s mockery, Vary with his look, Stannis endlessly grinding his teeth. She had contended with Jon Arryn, Ned Stark, and her vile, treacherous, murderous dwarf brother, all the while promising herself that one day it would be in turn. If Margaery Tyrell thinks two cheat me of my hour in the sun, she had bloody well think again. “

And there’s some internalized sexism if I’ve ever seen it. All the people she names who demeaned here, mocked here, and here were controlled but, so the person she wants two punish for it is … a woman. And she never harms other women more than by the way she raises Joffrey, Explicitly teaching him that he sits on the throne he can do what he likes to whomever he likes and that “the truth will be what you make it.” The Influence of mothers of sons is something that Margaery Recognizer very well, and something she Intend to do on quite differently, as she foretold Sansa last week: “My son will be king. Sons learn from their mothers. I plan to teach my a great deal. “

And when Cersei inevitably lose’s control of Joffrey-to the point that he plunges the realm into civil war on a whim and incites riots among the common people with his cruelty-who does she blame for it? The one woman who has helped here son regain the love of the people, and perhaps the only one Capable of tempering his sociopathy: Margaery.

If anything, Cersei seems like a cautionary tale for Sansa: this is who you could Become if you allow your bitterness consume you two. And after the Red Wedding, she may have another: here own mother, Lady Stone Heart.

Speaking of Cersei’s wacky gender attitudes, did you check out what she was wearing at the wedding? As a guy who pretty much only wears jeans and t-shirts with Millenium Falcons on them, I was pretty proud of myself for picking up on this Cersei’s dress looked like a Ross Dress for Less knockoff of Margaery’s dresses . That same tube-like collar thing that Margaery has on some of dresses here? Cersei’s rocking it this time! For the first time I can remember, Cersei’s dressing like Margaery, a woman Whom the Queen Regent once cattily Referred two as “a harlot.”

Like wise, it’s worth pointing out that Little Finger recently remarked on how Sansa’s started wearing her hair like Margaery’s. But while that’s kind of cute, in a little-girl-emulating-her-big-sister kind of way, Cersei biting Margaery’s style is the opposite of cute-desperate-and it says a couple of things: 1) Margaery is Gaining more power in the court, and Thus Affecting the style of those in King’s Landing, and 2) Cersei is either consciously or subconsciously trying two copy Margaery, at least in some regards. (Knowing Cersei’s strangle-happy feelings toward Margaery, I’m guessing it’s subconscious.)

Cersei knows power is slipping away from her, and she knows this is at least partly due two here aging, with her brother / lover Jaime still far away from King’s Landing, and her fiance proposed an avowed “sword-swallower,” Cersei’s got to be feeling alone and Increasingly powerlessness. In the past, she’s been comfortable two use sex as a tool two get what she wants. Now she can not, and no one is more keenly aware of the difference than she is.

Yes, Margaery has Become The Jackie O / Kate Middleton of King’s Landing, and while here Influence on the fashion of the court seems like a petty detail, it’s not. When Little Finger Noticed that Sansa had started wearing her hair like Margaery, it meant some thing to him Because it signified Influence. Imitation is a way of saying I want what you have , a grasping at the hem of someone’s robe. People might be looking at here with admiration or jealousy, but either way everyone is looking at here two show them what’s next Because she’s what’s next.

Earlier this season, Cersei wore a dress that was almost armored-covered in metal work-at a dinner where she made some not-so-subtle jabs about Margaery’s revealing, airy clothes. We see that contrast again at the wedding, where Margaery’s plunging neckline bares chest here, while Cersei wears a necklace akin to a breastplate. It’s an apt metaphor: Margaery prefers to win over here rivals by winning their hearts, while Cersei would rather pull them out of their chests.

And while we’re talking aesthetics, we need to mention the most dramatic visual departure from the book that I’ve seen yet, Daario Naharis. In the novels, Daario is described as a flamboyant Tyroshi who dresses completely in yellow and has his hair dyed blue-except for a bright yellow mustache-including his bright blue beard, wooden sculpted into some sort of three-pronged face topiary. Basically, he’s an anime character. In the show, on the other hand, I’m pleased to say he looks like this. We’ve spoken before about how eroticism is not George RR Martin’s strong suit, and I think designing a potential Romeo who shares several characteristics with visual Sonic the Hedgehog may request further proof of this notion.

UGH, DAARIO. Do not even get me started on how boring that dude is. Here’s how lame Daario is: Even though he looks like Legolas, he still is not the smoother horse guy in this episode. That honor goes, shockingly, two young Samwell Tarly, who not only Manages two finally get more than a few confused mumbles out of Gilly, but charmingly, earnestly sweet-talks here such that I’m pretty sure he’d have gotten lucky if he had not been cock-blocked by that White Walker. Thanks for nothing, White Walker

(And for what it’s worth? Sam’s obsidian spear head that can kill ice monsters? Way cooler than Daario’s dumb knife with a naked chick on the hilt. Not sure if this is common knowledge, but knives like that are basically the Mudflap girls of Westeros. Tacky, Daario. Just tacky.)