kimberlee rossi-fuchs is all throne up…
Game of Thrones has often raised questions about what makes a king, but this week’s episode, “What Is Dead May Never Die,” poses perhaps the most intriguing theory on the nature of power the series has offered to date. In a terrific scene between Thrones’ two most clever characters, Varys poses a riddle to Tyrion – if a king, a priest, and a rich man each order a common sellsword to kill the other two, whom does the sellsword obey? Tyrion posits that in such a situation, the sellsword has all the power, but as Varys points out, it’s not quite as simple as that or else every man with a sword would be a king. Rather, those who wield the swords are often merely obeying the orders of the men they choose to follow and a man will choose to follow a particular leader based on his own beliefs – whether he pays fealty to lords and kings, adheres to the laws of a god, or puts more stock in wealth and financial influence. In order to lead then, one only has to convince others that one is worthy of following, a simple matter of showmanship and appealing to a particular audience. “Power resides where men believe it resides,” Varys purrs. “It is a trick, a shadow on the wall, and a very small man can cast a very large shadow.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFOzk2h7YYc
And it is a trick that, so far, Tyrion has proven quite adept at. In another shrewd move designed to determine whom amongst the royal council he can trust, Tyrion approaches Varys, Littlefinger, and Maester Pycelle with his plans to arrange a strategic marriage for Cercei’s daughter, Myrcella, telling each man a different version of the story and instructing them not share the plot with the queen. When Cercei angrily confronts him about his plan to form a marital alliance with the Martells in Dorne (the version of the plan he told Pycelle), Tyrion successfully roots out the rat in the house and has the old maester tossed in a dungeon for treason. For now, Tyrion knows he can cautiously trust Littlefinger, whose loyalty can seemingly be bought with the promise of titles, land, and power. He also seems to have invested a great deal of faith in Varys, entrusting him with the safe placement of Shae, the paramour who is fast becoming his greatest weakness. As Shae, Sibel Kikelli may also be the series’ greatest weakness, as she brings no sincerity or complexity to the role, just a vaguely foreign accent and a willingness to get naked. Shae doesn’t fare much better in the novels, but she’s at least a bit mysterious. Here, she never comes off as anything more than a petulant whore and it’s hard to see why someone as clever as Tyrion would risk so much for her.
Perhaps even more so than Tyrion, self-proclaimed king Renly Baratheon is also skilled at creating the illusion of power, though his is rooted more in his social graces, likeability, and a politically influential marriage. When Catelynn Stark arrives at his camp to negotiate an alliance, she finds Renly, his new queen Margaery Tyrell, and his impressive host of followers engaged in a tourney. It’s a festival atmosphere, not a wartime one and when Ser Loras, Margaery’s brother and the commander of Renly’s Rainbow Guard, questions why Robb isn’t treating with Renly instead, the dour, serious Catelynn promptly bitch-slaps Renly’s court with the cutting remark, “My son is a fighting a war, not playing at one.” It’s an accurate observation, as Renly, the polar opposite of his brother Stannis, is all tourneys, feasts, and smiles. hough popular, he’s frivolous and believes he can rely on charm alone to win the throne and doesn’t seem to possess the necessary political acumen, as he’s more concerned with jousts and trysts with his secret lover, Loras, then any political or military strategy.
In fact, when Margaery reveals her knowledge and acceptance of his affair with her brother, Renly is taken aback by her cool, strategic approach to their arrangement. “Save your lies for court,” she tells him. “You’re going to need a lot of them.” From her first appearance on screen, vigorously applauding a joust, actress Natalie Dormer creates a cunning, social climbing character, a woman willing to turn a blind eye or even willfully indulge her husband’s homosexual tendencies so long as she can gain a crown in the end. In fact, Renly’s court seems to be populated with powerful woman, as we are also introduced to another major character, Brienne of Tarth, a fierce female warrior whose battlefield prowess earns her a place in Renly’s Rainbow Guard. Gwendoline Christie couldn’t be more perfectly cast as Brienne – from her imposing stature (Christie stands an impressive 6’3) to her plain features and gruff, masculine demeanor – “I’m no lady,” she informs Catelynn Stark – she’s just ideal.
Speaking of tough females, Arya Stark, despite her strong veneer, is still struggling with her father’s death and turns to Yoren for advice, who shares a similar traumatic tale with her and teaches her a new kind of bedtime prayer. Within moments of their heart-to-heart, Cercei’s men raid their hideout and the Night’s Watch recruits are called to battle. It’s a fight that Yoren doesn’t win, but he goes out in full bad-ass style, taking a crossbow shot to the chest and still managing to take down about six Gold Cloaks. Arya and crew are eventually overtaken and rounded up and headed to Harrenhal, but during the melee, she wins a friend by helping to free Jaqen H’ghar and also saves Gendry’s life, by claiming the recently deceased Lommy was the regal bastard whom the Gold Cloaks were looking for.
“What Is Dead May Never Die” managed to pack in a ton of storylines in an hour. Over on the Iron Islands, Theon attempts to bond with his father and sister by undergoing a baptism and denouncing his Stark alliance, agreeing to partake in a Greyjoy invasion of the North (tellingly, Balon grants Yara a fleet of thirty ships and Theon just one, the “Sea Bitch.”) Jon Snow survives last week’s cliffhanger with a few bruises and learns that different rules and gods govern beyond the wall. Sansa’s still hostage to the Lannister’s and bewildered by her incompetent new handmaid, Shae (an odd couple pairing if ever there was one), and Bran is still having his shape-changing wolf dreams, which everyone else continues to dismiss. There’s still a lot of ground to cover this season and I’m very interested to see where next week’s episode brings us.
