The Longest Night — Game of Thrones: ‘Fire and Blood (1x10)’
“I swear to you, that those who would harm you will die screaming.”
Writer(s): David Benioff & D.B. Weiss
Director: Alan Taylor
Plot/Events: With their father now dead, Sansa, Arya and Robb have their futures significantly altered; following the battle in the Riverlands, Tyrion Lannister is named Hand of the King; elsewhere in Westeros, Catelyn Stark holds Jaime Lannister prisoner in the Stark camp; Robb is named King in the North by his bannermen; Daenerys loses her son, husband and khalasar, but gains three dragons in the final scene; Jon tries to leave the Night’s Watch, but his brothers and mentors talk him round.
THREE-EYED-RAVEN’S WARNING: DO NOT READ THE FOLLOWING IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN ALL SEVEN SEASONS OF HBO’S GAME OF THRONES.
Considering the uproarious chaos that filled the closing scene of ‘Baelor’, it’s interesting to note that we hear nothing but the numb silence in Arya’s ears as that episode cuts to black. With such claustrophobic turmoil all around, it’s ultimately the stolen innocence of the children involved that’s the focus of the scene. ‘Fire and Blood’ drops us into the immediate aftermath, the crowd still heckling scornfully and baying for blood. We’re inside Arya’s head once more during the opening moments as she hears nothing but the overwhelming commotion and shouting, and sees nothing other than her father’s headless body being dragged out of sight. Sansa collapses in a heap as Arya is carried away by Yoren, who will now take her north to Castle Black.
The episode then immediately follows the rippling ramifications of Ned’s death all the way to the Stark camp in the south. Catelyn is inconsolable, wandering to a nearby forest to grieve alone. At least until she finds Robb striking a tree with his sword (“Robb! You’ve ruined your sword”). They’re both tearful with anguish and riddled with indescribable pain, a thirst for revenge is burning in them both. It’s the first sign of the hope this episode gives us, that Ned’s death doesn’t mean the tyrants of this world will continue to rule it with their iron fist, that good will out, even if vengeance is the driving force. As we now know, it’s a mere sliver of positivity under a wave of crushing defeat, but as Robb is triumphantly named King in the North, it’s something optimistic to hold onto.
Simply put, as their innocence is stripped away, we begin to discover that the children of this story are resourceful and resilient, and they might even find a way in this world with the right mentors. Arya is literally pushed down by Hot Pie until she pokes her sword against him and alerts Gendry — finally, Arya has someone to look out for her. As Jon attempts to leave Castle Black to join his brother in the fight against the Lannisters, his new brothers (Sam, Pyp and Grenn) bring him back, and Lord Commander Mormont gives him nothing more than a polite warning. Bran’s vision of his father’s death has come to pass, and he’s immediately grief-stricken, but Maester Luwin and Osha are there to comfort him.
Even Tyrion has a briefly tender moment with Tywin (“l always thought you were a stunted fool, perhaps l was wrong”) as he’s named Hand of the King and ordered to bring Joffrey to heel. It’s a thankless task, and it’s only tender by their standards, but it’s perhaps the first and last time that Tywin will ever look upon Tyrion with a sense of sincere admiration and respect. After such a bleak finale in ‘Baelor’, that saw children of all ages scattered around and left to fend for themselves, ‘Fire and Blood’ shows us how they’re going to fight back to regain some leverage, as well as outlining who their mentors will be along the way. But what of the children without protectors?
Sansa Stark, for instance, is now a political prisoner of the enemy, and Joffrey’s true sadistic tendencies have revealed themselves. He orders Ser Ilyn to remove a singer’s tongue before tormenting Sansa, walking her to where her father’s head is mounted on a spike. Her entire life, Sansa has dreamt of living in ginormous castles like the Red Keep, and being married to sweet princes like Joffrey appeared to be. Sure, she’s been a spoilt brat sometimes, but what child isn’t? Her dreams have now been ripped to bits by the one person who was supposed to fulfil them. Her father is dead, the rest of her family are too far away to help, and she’s trapped with violent strangers. There’s nobody familiar to comfort her, and she realises she must mature in ways she never envisioned in order to survive.
Like Arya in the previous episode, she briefly considers exacting revenge on Joffrey (“Or maybe he’ll give me yours”), but of all the people to suddenly protect Sansa from herself, it’s the Hound who steps forward (“Save yourself some pain, girl, give him what he wants”). In this simple exchange, Sansa, broken by the Lannisters’ brutality, learns defiance, and the Hound, warped by the Lannisters’ brutality, learns compassion. In this simple exchange, two of the show’s finest character arcs are spawned.
Of the characters who haven’t yet lost their lives, it’s perhaps Daenerys Targaryen who loses the most in this episode. She loses both her child and the ability to have more, she loses her husband thanks to the woman who killed her child, and she loses her khalasar. Before stepping into Drogo’s funeral pyre, she has next to nothing and is completely defeated. Her arc for the season seemed to be destined for songs of how the “silver lady” nearly threatened to rule Westeros but lost out when her husband died.
But like many of the other children in the episode, Dany finds defiance and resilience within herself when all seems lost. Putting three dragon eggs on the funeral pyre in the hope of them hatching seems like desperation to Jorah, but Dany is already convinced (“They were not given to me to sell”). And she’s right to be. In the season’s earth-shattering closing seconds, Jorah finds Dany alive in the ashes. Unburnt, and with three living dragons crawling over her, filling the morning air with their music. Much like Ned’s beheading in ‘Baelor’, the birth of the dragons is an event that changes this show forever. Only, where Ned’s death was shown as the ultimate consequence of Game of Thrones’ violent politics, the birth of three mythical beasts pulls the show into fantasy territory. It’s a point from which Dany, and the show, will never look back.
9.0
Season 1 average: 8.55
Lost ravens:
— Arya is now “Arry”, an orphan boy. It’s not the first time Arya’s identity has been challenged in the opening season, but it’s the first concrete step on the road to her becoming a faceless man. She’ll learn how to be Arry for now, then she’ll learn how to be Mercy, then she’ll learn how to be No One. It gets a little muddled after that, but we’ll get to that later.
— So, Arya does see Sansa faint once Ned is beheaded after all. Her POV shot clearly shows Sansa collapsing out of Ser Meryn Trant’s grasp and onto the floor in a heap. Unless it’s not her POV shot, it’s just from a similar angle? I don’t know, it’s probably better for my blood pressure that don’t I think about Arya and Sansa’s season seven plots until I absolutely need to.
— Varys and Littlefinger have something of a bookending conversation. They conspired early on, they conspired in the middle, and now they’re conspiring at the end. Littlefinger will eventually be involved in Joffrey’s murder, but for now they’re serving him. They admire one another for their duplicity and slippery natures, and they’ll carry on behaving as such while it suits them, but Varys’ intentions are clearly much fairer.
— It’s interesting to note that as Catelyn goes to the woods to grieve, the music choice is the version of the Stark theme that plays when Jon Snow is stabbed up at the end of season 5. I’m not sure why it’s interesting, but Ramin Djawadi’s work for this series is special, and I like noticing things. It’s also worth noting that the main opening theme for ‘Fire and Blood’ was re-recorded. Gone are the cheap, MIDI cellos, and in comes the stern, full-blooded, organic cello to guide that memorable ostinato. DUN-dun, dun-dun-dun-DUN-dun.
— Tyrion takes Shae back with him to King’s Landing. Tywin’s aware of this, and threatens to have her killed if she’s found in the Red Keep, but Tyrion defies his orders and takes her home anyway. It’s a decision that will eventually result in Tywin bedding her, Tyrion murdering her, and then murdering Tywin, but how are they to know?
— The Great Ranging beyond The Wall begins. At this stage, Jon is consumed with the war to the south, until his Night’s Watch brothers and Lord Commander Mormont turn his focus northwards. It won’t take him long to stop caring about the “games the high lords play” (thank you, Jorah) and desperately plead with them to deal with the oncoming threat from the Army of the Dead.
