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Book of the Stranger

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"Book of the Stranger" is the fourth episode of the sixth season of Game of Thrones. It is the fifty-fourth episode of the series overall. It premiered on May 15, 2016. It was written by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, and directed by Daniel Sackheim.

Plot Edit

Tyrion strikes a deal. Jorah and Daario undertake a difficult task. Jaime and Cersei try to improve their situation. Jon and Sansa reunite.

Summary Edit

In King's LandingEdit

At the Great Sept of Baelor, Septa Unella enters Queen Margaery Tyrell's cell and leads her to a private meeting with the High Sparrow. The High Sparrow asks her what she would do if he allowed her to leave that day. Margaery replied that she wants to return to her family and her husband Tommen Baratheon. The High Sparrow respects her love for her family but tells us that attachment leads to sin, citing his experience as a cobbler. Margaery manages to impress the Sparrow with her knowledge of the Book of the Stranger.

The High Sparrow recounts how in his youth he was a womanizer and drunkard. He underwent a conversion experience the following morning of an orgy, as his drunken guests were laying naked all around his house. Tired of what he was now perceiving as a meaningless existence, the High Sparrow then turned his life around and became a devoted member of the Faith of the Seven. He then left his job as a cobbler and devoted his life to the poor and destitute. Believing he has found a way to reach Margaery, the Sparrow allows her to visit her brother Loras Tyrell.

She finds a dejected Loras lying on the floor of his cell. Loras has lost the will to live but Margaery tells him to stay strong because he is the future of House Tyrell. Loras tells them that he only wants his imprisonment to end and pleads with her to help him. Margaery tells Loras that the Sparrow is trying to use them to break each other and again tells him to stay strong.

At the Red Keep, Cersei Lannister walks in on Grand Maester Pycelle advising King Tommen to accommodate the High Sparrow and the Faith Militant. Cersei requests that Pycelle leave the room while talks to her son alone under the pretext of meeting her son for updates about the previous Small Council meetings. During their conversation, Tommen proposes that the Iron Throne not antagonize the Sparrows further in order to avoid endangering Margaery's life. Cersei then reminds her son about the humiliation that she endured at their hands and exploits Tommen's love for Margaery. She convinces her son that the High Sparrow has no respect for kings, queens, and society. Tommen then reveals a secret that the High Sparrow shared with him.

Armed with this new information, Cersei barges into a Small Council meeting between Kevan Lannister, Olenna Tyrell, and Jaime Lannister. While Kevan and Olenna are initially hostile, Cersei convinces them to listen to her. She then informs the Council that the High Sparrow has planned to make Margaery do the walk of atonement. Olenna is horrified that the Sparrows plan to debase her granddaughter. Jaime then urges the Council to allow the Tyrells to march their army into King's Landing, crush the Faith Militant, and bring Margaery and Loras back to the Red Keep into Crown custody. To avoid making it look like the King against the Faith, Kevan will keep the Lannister and Baratheon forces away from the conflict. While Kevan is reluctant to get involved, Cersei is able to make him change his mind by exploiting his hatred towards the Sparrows for taking his last remaining son and heir Lancel Lannister. In the end, the Council agrees to petition the King to let the Tyrells march into the Great Sept.

At the WallEdit

At Castle Black, Eddison Tollett helps Jon Snow to pack up his things. Edd scolds Jon for leaving the Night's Watch after taking an oath, to which Jon replies that he gave his life for the Night's Watch and can't trust his brothers. At that moment, the horns sound for the arrival of travellers. Sansa Stark, Brienne of Tarth and Podrick Payne ride through the gates and dismount in the courtyard. Jon rushes out and sees Sansa for the first time since the Starks left Winterfell for King's Landing, and they embrace. Later that night, they converse and reminisce on their childhood. Sansa proposes they take Winterfell back from Ramsay Bolton but Jon says he's done fighting, especially after hanging Olly.

Davos Seaworth asks whether Melisandre will stay at Castle Black and she replies she will do as Jon Snow, the Prince that was Promised, commands. Davos asks what happened to Stannis and she replies he was defeated in battle. When Davos asks what happened to Shireen, Melisandre is reluctant to speak. Their conversation is interrupted by Brienne, who recognizes Davos and Melisandre as Stannis' former entourage. Still bitter over the death of King Renly Baratheon, Brienne warns Melisandre that she does not forget or forgive. She also tells them that she has executed Stannis after he admitted using blood magic to assassinate Renly.

Some time later, Jon receives a letter from Ramsay Bolton stating that he has Rickon Stark at Winterfell and if Sansa is not returned, he will slaughter every Wildling at Castle Black, let his men rape Sansa, and feed Jon and Rickon to his dogs. Tormund says he has 2,000 able fighters, far less than the estimated 5,000 Ramsay has. Sansa says that they have to try, to retake their home and rescue their brother and that the houses of the North will unite behind Jon as the son of the true Warden of the North. Jon reluctantly agrees.

In the ValeEdit

At Runestone, Robin Arryn trains at his archery in front of Lord Yohn Royce. Petyr Baelish arrives with a retinue of Arryn guards and a pet falcon as a belated name-day gift. Royce reminds Baelish that he told him that he was taking Sansa with him to The Fingers, but he received word that she had been married to Ramsay Bolton. Baelish tells him that he did take her to The Fingers, but that the Boltons found out about their location and took her away from him. A confrontation ensues, in which Petyr accuses Royce of giving away the information regarding the location of Sansa Stark to House Bolton, questioning Royce's loyalty in front of Robin, who demonstrates to all that he will always defer to Baelish. After a tense few moments, Lord Royce swears his loyalty to Robin, and he is let off without punishment. Petyr and Robin decide they have to muster the Vale knights to march North and aid Sansa.

In The North Edit

At Winterfell, Osha is brought before Ramsay Bolton, who says that while her fellow captive Rickon Stark has value to Ramsay, he is unsure of her worth. Osha denounces the Starks, saying that her servitude and loyalty to them were forced. She also attempts to seduce Ramsay, climbing onto his lap and kissing him, all the while trying to get the knife he had been using to peel apples. Ramsay seemingly falls for it, saying that it took much longer for him to get Theon Greyjoy over to his side but that Theon told him everything, including how Osha had seduced Theon in order to help Rickon and Bran Stark escape Winterfell. He then stabs Osha in the throat. She dies shortly thereafter.

In the Iron IslandsEdit

Theon Greyjoy returns home to Pyke, where he learns of the death of Balon Greyjoy. His sister, Yara, is unhappy about his return and betrayal when she made an attempt to rescue Theon from Ramsay. Theon explains that Ramsay "broke him into a thousand pieces" and Yara states that she knows, since Ramsay had sent Balon and Yara "one of those pieces." Yara then suspects that Theon has come back to claim himself King of the Iron Islands, but he insists that he does not want the crown and instead wishes Yara to rule the Iron Islands and he will help her.

In MeereenEdit

Tyrion Lannister along with Grey Worm, Missandei, and Varys meet with representatives of the Good Masters of Astapor, the Wise Masters of Yunkai, and the slave-trading city of Volantis; who have arrived by sea. As the diplomatic mission enters the harbor, Grey Worm advocates using military force. When Tyrion explains that he is able to empathize with slaves because he spent one day as a slave, Missandei counters that he has not experienced slavery. The emissaries are Tyrion's former slave master Yezzan zo Qaggaz, the Yunkai Wise Master Razdal mo Eraz and the Volantene triarch Belicho Paenymion.

In their meeting chambers, Yezzan marvels at how Tyrion, a dwarf slave, has literally climbed to the top of the pyramid. The slave-trading cities offer to give Daenerys Targaryen and her mercenaries a large pot of money if they sail away from Slaver's Bay. When Missandei defends Dany's actions in liberating slaves, Razdal contends that slavery has existed for centuries. After hearing their offer, Tyrion proposes a counter-offer. He offers to give them a seven-year grace period to phase out slavery and to compensate slave owners, however they must end all backing for the Sons of the Harpy (regardless of whether they admit this backing or not).  He then cautions them that they will not get a better offer. Tyrion then gives them time to consider his offer. Grey Worm and Missandei insist on abolishing slavery.

Tyrion and his entourage are later confronted by a crowd of former slaves in the Meereen throne room. A freedman demands to know when Daenerys will return and another one is appalled at the idea of Tyrion negotiating with slave traders. Tyrion insists he is doing his best to rule the city in Dany's absence. The freedmen have little time for the foreign dwarf's explanation and look to Grey Worm and Missandei for reassurance. Despite their misgivings, they both publicly back Tyrion's diplomacy in front of the freedmen. In private, Grey Worm and Missandei warn Tyrion that while he may try and use the slavers, the slavers will more likely end up using him. Grey Worm explains that the slavers merely see the slaves as weapons and whores despite Tyrion's assurances that the slavers will underestimate them.

In Vaes DothrakEdit

Ser Jorah Mormont and Daario Naharis approach the outskirts of Vaes Dothrak, Daario taunting Jorah about Daenerys's prowess in the bedroom. Jorah doesn't take the bait, however, and preps Daario for entry into the city, convincing him to bury his weapons since they are not allowed. Daario agrees, but is especially reluctant to give up his stiletto. During the exchange, Daario catches sight of Jorah's Greyscale infection; Jorah assures him that he hasn't passed the contagion on to Daario.

Within the city itself, Jorah and Daario run afoul of a pair of riders who see through Jorah's claims to be a wine merchant. Daario takes care of the younger one while the older one tackles Jorah. The knight is nearly undone, but Daario saves him at the last minute with the stiletto he smuggled in. Daario smashes the bloodrider's skull with a rock so that no one will think he was killed with a weapon.

Meanwhile, the High Priestess of the Dosh Khaleen gives Daenerys a commentary on the other crones. Some of them hate Daenerys, thinking the Dothraki should not interbreed with other races, but the high priestess dismisses them, saying that the dothraki have always interbred and have never been concerned with blood purity. To illustrate her point, the high priestess indicates another of the khaleen, a Lhazareen girl taken from her village at the age of twelve. Daenerys asks to relieve herself, and the high priestess sends the Lhazareen with her. As they walk, Daenerys learns that the Lhazareen's khal died when she was only sixteen. Noticing the young woman's limp, she observes it was a shame he didn't die when she was younger, to which Lhazareen grins. The pair are interrupted by Jorah and Daario, who take the Lhazareen hostage. Daenerys, unsurprised to see them, nixes their plans of escape – they have minimal chance of leaving Vaes Dothrak, let alone getting back to Meereen – and tells them that she has a plan. She asks the Lhazareen if she is willing to help them, calling her a khaleesi (queen) instead of a khaleen (crone). The girl reluctantly agrees.

During the khalar vezhven, the khals argue about how to deal with the corpse of the bloodrider; Khal Moro defuses the situation by reminding them that Aggo was a member of his khalasar, and he does not care about finding the killer. Daenerys is then brought in by the two priestesses she befriended before. Moro insists that she join the dosh khaleen but another khal expresses interest in making her his khaleesi, while another suggests ransoming her to the Wise Masters. Daenerys dismisses all of them; she claims that they are all petty and weak, and reminds them that Khal Drogo was willing to cross the sea in wooden horses for his conquests.

Stating that none of the khals is fit to lead the Dothraki, Daenerys declares that she will lead them herself. After a pause, Moro and the khals burst into laughter. Dany reminds them that her husband, in the same temple in which they all now sit, declared that he would lead a Dothraki army across the Narrow Sea to retake the Iron Throne for his khaleesi and that all the khals have done since is to raid and plunder villages in lieu of any meaningful conquest. Disgusted with her insolence, Moro declares that she will be raped by each of the khals, then by all of their bloodriders, and then, if she is still alive, by their horses. Daenerys' broad smile deepens at his threats – then she knocks over the braziers at the center of the temple, setting the entire building aflame. The khals desperately attempt to escape the rapidly spreading fire, only to find the temple's only door barred, the bodies of the two dosh khaleen guarding it lying dead nearby. Moro tries to confront Dany a final time, but she upends the last brazier on him, completing the conflagration.

As the flames climb higher, the dosh khaleen and khalasars gather in confusion. Eventually, the doors collapse and Daenerys emerges, naked and unburned. Many of the assembled bow immediately, with the high priestess and the rest of the dosh khaleen following after a moment. Jorah and Daario move to the front of the crowd and bow last.

Appearances Edit

First Edit

Deaths Edit

Production Edit

Cast Edit

Starring

Guest Starring

Cast notes Edit

Notes Edit

  • Dorne does not appear in this episode. Bran Stark, Arya Stark in Braavos, Samwell Tarly and Gilly on the way to Oldtown, and the Tully/Frey subplots do not appear in this episode.
  • The Eyrie returns to the Title sequence, last seen at the beginning of Season 5. As with that episode, the events in the Vale of Arryn do not actually take place in the Eyrie but at Runestone, the seat of House Royce, but the production team explained they can only justify the expense of creating so many individually animated map markers and they often use a region's capital as a stand-in for the whole area. Pyke doesn't appear in the opening sequence, despite being a place of action in the episode and being present in the previous episode, where it wasn't featured.
  • The Stranger is the aspect of The Seven that represents death. The holy text of the Faith of the Seven is The Seven-Pointed Star, which is divided up into internal books (like the real-life Christian Bible, etc.) - i.e. one internal division is the "Book of the Maiden" (devoted to The Maiden, another aspect of the Seven). The episode takes its name from when Margaery points out that the High Septon is quoting a verse from the Book of the Stranger. Only the Book of the Maiden has been mentioned by name in the A Song of Ice and Fire novels so far, but it is presumed each aspect of the godhead has its own book.
  • As David Benioff directly points out in the Inside the Episode featurette, Jon Snow and Sansa Stark have never actually appeared together on-screen before in the entire TV series. Even in the series premiere "Winter is Coming", when the Stark children line up to welcome King Robert Jon isn't standing alongside them because he is a bastard (he stands behind them with Theon Greyjoy, as they share a similar position). He was also not at the feast. Similarly, Jon and Sansa didn't have any scenes together in the novels either before they left Winterfell - Jon was always closer to Arya, who was also a social outsider of a sort.
    • Sansa speaks to Jon about "the day we left Winterfell": they did indeed leave the castle on the same day, in episode 1.2 "The Kingsroad". Jon took the opportunity to ask to join the Night's Watch, so he rode along with the royal party the short distance to the crossroads then he and his uncle Benjen Stark turned north, while the royal party turned south.
    • The only time that Sansa ever even thinks of Jon Snow is in the fourth novel, when she is still hiding in the Vale of Arryn with Littlefinger, and someone mentions in passing that Eddard Stark's bastard son was recently elected Lord Commander of the Night's Watch.She then realizes she has not thought of him since leaving Winterfell. In the TV show she was told about Jon's election in Season 5, but by Ramsay Bolton under different circumstances.
    • Sansa and Jon have not reunited as of the end of the most recent novel: Jon's storyline in the TV series surpassed the novels when he was stabbed to death, while Sansa's has loosely surpassed the novels but also been heavily condensed: in the novels she stays in the Vale and never even meets the Boltons. It is entirely possible that she will meet Jon again in an upcoming novel and their reactions will be very much similar to this, though several details have of course been moved around.
    • Sansa's view in this episode that she was "an ass" to Jon does seem to more or less line up with the descriptions given in the novels (though she's being self-deprecating, it's more that she was just arrogant). Sansa is very much her mother's daughter, and Catelyn Stark completely ignored Jon Snow - she didn't mistreat him, but she was not his "stepmother", and in fact it was a great shame against her that Eddard brought Jon to live alongside her lawfully born children. Jon didn't think Catelyn's resentment was unusual and never expected more of her. Similarly, Sansa apparently didn't have much regard for Jon and apparently ignored him most of the time, so they didn't interact much even "off-screen" in the books. Jon was always closer to Arya, who was another social outcast of a sort due to her tomboy nature. An early chapter does have Arya mentally note that Sansa was always careful to refer to Jon as their "half-brother" and a "bastard" (as a legal term, not explicitly pejorative) - probably under the influence of Catelyn. On the other hand neither Catelyn nor Sansa ever mistreated or mocked Jon, they just avoided him.
  • The encounter between Brienne of Tarth, Davos Seaworth, and Melisandre in Castle Black's courtyard addresses several logical questions about how they would react to each other, in rapid succession. First, Davos is indeed curious about what exactly happened to Stannis Baratheon and Shireen (whom Melisandre burned as a sacrifice). Second, Brienne accurately points out that she did in fact meet Davos before (and also Melisandre), as she was a member of Renly Baratheon's Kingsguard - they met during the formal parley between Stannis and Renly back in Season 2 episode 4, "Garden of Bones" (though Brienne didn't say anything at the time). Third, upon meeting Davos, Brienne bluntly admits that she "executed" Stannis (in the Season 5 finale), and that just prior to this Stannis outright confessed that he used blood magic to assassinate Renly (which she says while glaring at Melisandre, who killed Renly by birthing a Shadow monster in episode 2.5, "The Ghost of Harrenhal").
  • Tormund seems quite impressed with Brienne of Tarth - even though men in southern Westeros in prior episodes often thought she was some kind of freak or object of ridicule for being a strong female warrior. Recall that the wildlings actually have a strong tradition of warrior women - Ygritte, Karsi, etc. - so it makes sense that Tormund would actually think Brienne is impressive and/or attractive, instead of being dismissive to her like southern knights she has encountered in the past.
  • In Season 5 it was said that Jon Snow and Tormund only managed to save about 5,000 wildlings by getting them to the southern side of the Wall. Tormund confirms now that only about 2,000 are in fighting shape, the rest are children, old people, etc.  Other than Mance Rayder, the fate of the substantial number of fighting wildlings captured by Stannis following the Battle of Castle Black has not been specified.
  • Sansa says Ramsay remarked that the Bolton forces at Winterfell are around 5,000 men. It is unclear, but this might refer specifically to just the Bolton forces, not the added Karstark and Umber forces which came to Winterfell only after Sansa escaped at the end of Season 5.
  • Theon Greyjoy's homecoming scene to Pyke in the Iron Islands after being a prisoner of the Boltons at Winterfell visually mirrors his earlier homecoming to Pyke in Season 2, after years being a "prisoner" (Ward) of the Starks at Winterfell. Just as in episode 2.2 "The Night Lands", Theon is first shown looking at Pyke from a ship, then when he enters the main hall encounters a family member upset with him. Yara Greyjoy is framed the same way their father Balon was in the previous episode: seated in a chair and looking into the fire, not bothering at first to turn around and face Theon while talking to him.
  • The way Jaime Lannister's dialogue at the Small Council scene is framed is somewhat confusingly: House Tyrell actually has the largest army in Westeros, House Lannister the second largest, under normal circumstances. On top of this, Robb Stark slaughtered half the Lannister army, while the Tyrell forces have comparatively been only lightly bloodied in the conflicts - and Tywin explained in Season 4 that the Lannisters are bankrupt and can't simply hire new sellsword armies anymore. In this episode, Jaime walks to the table and says "you have the second largest army in Westeros", but the camera is in wideshot so it is unclear if he is referring to his uncle Kevan (commander of the remaining Lannister forces, which should now be the second largest) or to Olenna Tyrell. He then goes on to explain that the Tyrell army will come to besiege the Great Sept, while Kevan's army already in the city simply stands down and doesn't try to stop them (which in contrast to his last sentence, would seem to imply that he was actually referring to Kevan when he said "you" have the second largest army).
  • In the novels, Cersei was kept confined to chambers, and her uncle Kevan kept her under constant guard and wouldn't let her see visitors unsupervised. In previous episodes this season, Cersei wasn't under guard and it was vaguely implied she was free to move around the city, but chose not to out of fear for her safety. In this episode it is clearly stated that she is under house arrest, in that she is forbidden to leave the Red Keep itself (she did leave to see Jaime and Myrcella return at the docks, but presumably she would have received permission for that).
  • As Robin Arryn mentions, he is Sansa Stark's cousin - specifically her first cousin, as his mother Lysa Tully was the younger sister of Sansa's mother Catelyn Tully.
  • A promo image of Pycelle advising Tommen in this episode was previously released for the Season 6 premiere. Either the scene was moved to this episode or - more probably, given the context - the promo image was simply mislabeled.
  • The High Sparrow hasn't given any backstory about himself in the current novels - it is unclear if the story he relates about himself in this episode is an invention of the TV series or will be revealed in a future novel.
  • In Margaery Tyrell's prison cell, a large beetle appears, similar to the one that Tyrion chose not to smash in Season 4's "The Mountain and the Viper" (after giving a speech recalling his cousin Orson Lannister). This is obviously not the same beetle - given that Tyrion was imprisoned in the dungeons of the Red Keep, while Margaery is imprisoned on the other side of he city in the Great Sept of Baelor.
  • Tyrion says that a clever man once said that you "make peace with your enemies", otherwise you'd already be friends. It was actually Littlefinger himself who said this to Eddard Stark back in Season 1's "You Win or You Die", urging he should make peace with the Lannisters instead of openly revealing that Joffrey was a bastard. Littlefinger never said this to Tyrion on-screen, but could easily have used the same line again at an off-screen Small Council meeting Tyrion attended in early Season 2.
  • This episode once again brings up a discrepancy with the currency used in Slaver's Bay, the "Gold Honor" coin. In Season 5's "The Gift", Yezzan zo Qaggaz indeed bought Tyrion at a slave-auction for 1 Gold Honor, as he recounts in this episode. For Jorah Mormont, a well-trained knight being sold as a gladiator, the bidding started at 12 Gold Honors and he was bought by Yezzan for 20. In the novels, it is stated that a bid of 5,000 Gold Honors at auction for a pair of slaves sent to the fighting pits is actually thought to be an insultingly low offer. In the subsequent Season 5 Blu-ray set, the "Histories & Lore" animated featurette on "The Fighting Pits of Meereen" contradicted this, by stating that a champion gladiator slave can be worth 300,000 Gold Honors - a figure much more closely in line with the relative value of the Gold Honor given in the books. Benioff and Weiss wrote both "The Gift" and this episode, while Dave Hill writes the "Histories and Lore" featurettes - Hill understands the relative value of the Gold Honor given in the novels, but apparently never corrected Benioff and Weiss about this.
    • The episode accurately displays that the Dothraki "don't believe in money" and don't use any form of currency. They will take precious objects as plunder if they come upon it, but otherwise prefer barter and tribute of inherently useful things such as new steel weapons and armor, or horses. Thus it is mentioned that Yunkai offered the Dothraki 10,000 Horses in exchange for Daenerys, as opposed to a large amount of Gold Honors.
  • Razdal mo Eraz returns in this episode, the political envoy from Yunkai who was introduced back in Season 3 episode 7 "The Bear and the Maiden Fair". He also summarizes his encounter with her from that episode: he outright offered her a fleet of ships to transport her army to Westeros and just leave Yunkai's slave-masters to their own devices, which he felt was a generous and mutually beneficial offer, but she refused and insisted on staying to topple the slave-masters. His return now is not an invention of the TV series due to economy of characters: after meeting with Daenerys in the third novel (much as he did in Season 3), he later returned in the fifth novel, in which he was one of the lead politicians arranging the Yunkai/Astapor/Volantis slaver-alliance now opposing Daenerys's rule over Meereen.
  • In the novels, Yezzan zo Qaggaz was actually one of the Wise Masters of Yunkai - though the character was significantly changed, as in the books he is morbidly obese and one of the more powerful slave-masters. In Season 5, he bought Jorah and Tyrion at a slave-auction on the outskirts of Meereen - seeming to imply that in the TV show he is one of the Great Masters of Meereen, not of Yunkai. On the other hand, this never ruled out the possibility that he was a Yunkish slave-master visiting Meereen for the gladiator games (as it was stated the Yunkish slave-masters themselves wanted the games to open because they brought in a lot of money for the entire region). Now in this episode, it is stated that Yezzan is representing the (reconstituted) Good Masters of Astapor. Exactly which of the three major cities of Slaver's Bay TV-Yezzan is supposed to be from is therefore unclear. Then again, he doesn't necessarily need to be "from" one of them, as there are slave-masters and merchants that move around between the slave-markets of all three cities to conduct trade.
  • The large ship which the three ambassadors from the slaver-alliance arrive at Meereen in displays on its sails the symbol of a Harpy clasping chains-and-manacles in its talons - which is specifically the symbol of Astapor. This specific design was previously used on-screen at Astapor in Season 3. In the novels the different cities actually use slightly different variants of the harpy symbol. The symbol of the old Ghiscari Empire, which originally founded all three cities as colonies, was of a harpy grasping thunderbolts in its talons. As for the empire's present-day descendants, Astapor uses a harpy with chains and open manacles in its talons, Yunkai's harpy holds a whip and open slave collar, while Meereen's harpy holds nothing. Only the Astapori harpy has explicitly appeared on banners (or sails) so far in the TV series: it is unclear if it is meant to be the only symbol of the slave-masters in the TV continuity, with no variation between the three cities, or if this ship simply happens to be from Astapor. Given that Yezzan outright states that he is there as a representative of the reconstituted slave-masters of Astapor, it is entirely plausible that it is simply an Astapori ship.
  • Razdal represents Yunkai, and Yezzan says he represents Astapor, but the identity of the third slaver ambassador (who does have speaking lines) is not directly stated. By simply process of elimination he must be from Volantis, given that last episode Varys discovered that the foreign cities funding the Sons of the Harpy are Yunkai, Astapor, and Volantis. On closer inspection, however, there is another hint: this ambassador's costume style matches what was seen in Volantis when it first appeared back in Season 5 (see "Costumes: Essos - Free Cities").
    • Ironically, Volantis doesn't actually have its own unique costume style, out-of-universe. During production on Season 5, the few scenes taking place in Volantis were only in one episode and squeezed in very much at the last minute - after the budget and time for making entirely new sets and costumes had completely been spent on other new locations which appear much more prominently, such as Braavos. Necessity being the mother of invention, however, the production team was still determined to make functional sets and costumes for the brief scenes set in Volantis - by quickly repurposing and modifying pre-existing sets and costumes (in the industry, this is sometimes known as "kitbashing"). In the Season 5 Blu-ray commentary, costume designer Michele Clapton explains the process and that ultimately she was very proud of how it turned out and how much work her team put in with limited resources. The cast and crew also had fun trying to guess which bits and pieces of the Volantis set dressing were from what other parts of the TV show. For specifically the costumes of Volantis, many of them were actually costumes previously used in the Vale of Arryn, with some slight alterations, and intermixed with other pre-existing costumes from Slaver's Bay (see "Costumes: The Seven Kingdoms - The Vale of Arryn"). Notice that the Volantene envoy's costume is the same style that the characters in Littlefinger's scene from this episode are also wearing, just with some more jewelry and a few pieces changed up. Given the increased budget for Season 6, compared to previous time constraints, it is unclear why the costume department didn't invent a new Volantene style from scratch. Then again, Clapton left the TV series after Season 5 and was replaced this season by April Ferry as head costume designer: it is possible that Ferry was simply trying to be accurate to the "previously established" Volantene look from Season 5 when she designed the costume of this envoy, not realizing that the "Volantene style" in Season 5 was simply a kitbash of the Vale and Meereen.
  • The description of the layout of Vaes Dothrak which Jorah gives directly matches the novels: the main road leading through the Horse Gate (with the large horse statues) is called the Godsway (because it is lined with the broken idols of the gods of peoples the Dothraki have conquered), which separates the Western Market and the Eastern Market. Daenerys visited the markets back in Season 1 "You Win or You Die". The Dothraki are not merchants themselves and look down on trade, so the merchants in the two markets are actually foreigners - they don't come to trade with the Dothraki, but for caravans from the west and east to trade with each other (avoiding the heavy shipping taxes that Qarth exacts on sea shipping). Notice that Jorah specifically says they will claim they are from the Western Market: the Western Market is run by merchants from the west, i.e. the Free Cities, but the Eastern Market is run by peoples from the Further East, such as Yi Ti (in fact, the Yi Tish merchants that Daenerys observes in Vaes Dothrak are the only time in the current novels that any Yi Tish characters have directly appear in the narrative). People from Yi Ti are East Asian in appearance - Martin has stated that it is loosely this fantasy-world's analogue of Imperial China. Thus Jorah says they will claim they are merchants from specifically the Western Market because they can't plausibly be from the Eastern Market, as they obviously don't look Yi Tish.
  • In the novels, Vaes Dothraki is described as a city of tents, with a handful of permanent wooden structures (such as the Temple of the dosh khaleen). It generally had this appearance when it was introduced in Season 1. The alleys that Jorah and Daario make their way through in this episode, however, are formed by more permanent buildings of mud brick.
  • Daario remarks on a Dothraki couple having sex in public at a feast - as previously explained, the Dothraki think it is silly to consider the naked body shameful, and because entire khalasars are on the move together they don't really consider sex to be something that needs to be hidden away in private.
  • Some of the assembled Dothraki khals decorate themselves with bodypaint of different colors - Rhalko uses brown stripes, another uses black, etc. Khal Drogo used blue paint. The production team came up with the idea that the Dothraki decorate themselves with various paints made from crushed rocks, and Drogo used blue because it is the most expensive. Different khalasars, however, use different colors to distinguish themselves, i.e. Khal Jhaqo's horse seen in Season 2's "The Night Lands" used red paint stripes.
  • George R.R. Martin himself clarified that in the novels, Daenerys Targaryen is not "immune to fire" under normal circumstances. The hatching of her dragons from Khal Drogo's funeral pyre was very much a one-time, magical event - in part due to the rule of Blood magic that only life can pay for life (she needed to burn Mirri Maz Duur alive on the funeral pyre as a sacrifice to give the dragons life). The showrunners in the Inside the Episode featurette seem to believe Daenerys is "fireproof" all the time - Daenerys herself isn't certain of this in the novels, and doesn't exactly try to test it again by jumping into another raging funeral pyre. On the other hand, the nature of her relationship with fire is mysterious and ambiguous in the novels - and just because she was magically/miraculously unburned once doesn't prevent another miraculous event from happening a second time for her. For all anyone really knows, in the next unpublished novel she might indeed miraculously survive a fire unburned once again.
  • As when Daenerys emerged from the fire unburned in "Fire and Blood", Daenerys's hair remains unburned. In the novels, her hair was burned off, and took months to grow back. Practically, it looks much more dramatic if Dany keeps her signature hair, so the team apparently decided to let that detail slide.
  • Emilia Clarke confirmed that she actually appears nude in the final scene, without a body double, having not done a nude scene since Season 3. The lighting of the shot doesn't exactly match the background, which might lead to the assumption that they digitally added her head onto a body double (as was done with Cersei in the Season 5 finale). Actually, the reason the lighting is slightly mismatched is because Clarke filmed the closeup nude scenes on a closed set - not the large on-location set in Spain with hundreds of extras in the crowd (and also, of course, because she couldn't actually be standing unburned in the middle of a raging fire). In post-production the closeup shots of her entire body were then digitally inserted into the larger set.[2]
  • Osha hasn't returned with Rickon Stark yet in the novels, and it is doubtful that she will be killed by Ramsay Bolton - or at least, Rickon's capture is a condensation, so it seems unlikely she will die in this specific manner, though she might still die fighting Bolton forces. In the books, Osha took Rickon to the island of Skagos off the east coast of the North - a semi-independent isle only nominally part of the North, considered to practically be wildlings themselves, feared as savage raiders and rumored cannibals. So far, they haven't returned, though in his last chapter in the most recent novel Davos Seaworth learns that Rickon and Osha are hiding there, and he intends to retrieve them. Osha's death scene does flow logically for the situation - as Ramsay says, Theon would have told him everything about the Stark boys' escape under torture, so he'd know that Osha was specifically trying to seduce him to kill him.
    • That being said, George R.R. Martin pointed out that even in Season 1, "Osha" in the TV series was very different from "Osha" in the novels (who is older, more stoic, and not as sarcastic). In fact, TV-Osha was one of the very rare cases in which Martin said that (from Season 1) he actually enjoyed the TV version better than the minor character Osha is in the novels - in no small part due to the strength of Natalia Tena's performance. This is why they gave her more screentime in Season 2; and why she was even brought back for Season 3 (in the novels, Osha leaves Bran right after escaping Winterfell, but the TV version kept her around until they arrived at the Wall). Thus while Osha's death may be an "invention" of the TV series, most of "TV-Osha" was itself an invention of the TV series - she wasn't this prominent of a character in the novels to begin with.

In the books Edit

  • The episode is adapted from the following chapters of A Dance with Dragons:
    • Chapter 16, Daenerys III: someone offers Daenerys ships for leaving Meereen.
    • Chapter 36, Daenerys VI: Daenerys is informed about the Yunkai's terms for peace.
    • Chapter 44, Jon IX: A northern noble woman, fleeing an unwanted marriage, seeks shelter at Castle Black and protection from Jon Snow (Alys Karstark instead of Sansa Stark)
    • Chapter 50, Daenerys VIII: the Yunkai'i lords are welcomed in Meereen and fragile peace is achieved.
    • Chapter 62, The Sacrifice: Having fled Winterfell and Ramsay's control, Theon is reunited with his sister.
    • Chapter 69, Jon XIII: Jon receives a threatening letter from Ramsay, who demands his bride back, and Jon instead decides to challenge Ramsay.
  • The episode is adapted from the following chapter of The Winds of Winter:
  • The remaining material appears to be based on what will come in the sixth novel, The Winds of Winter, particularly the storylines of Cersei and Daenerys. The storyline in the Vale seems unique to the show

Memorable Quotes Edit

Daenerys Targaryen: "And here, now, what what great matters do the Great Khals discuss? Which little villages you'll raid, how many girls you'll get to fuck, how many horses you'll demand in tribute. You are small men. None of you are fit to lead the Dothraki. But I am. So I will."

Sansa Stark: "You're the son of the last true Warden of the North. The northern families are loyal, they'll fight for you if you ask. A monster has taken our home and our brother. We have to go back to Winterfell and save them both."

Gallery Edit


References Edit

  1. ↑ [1]
  2. ↑ [2]
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