Wisdom of Thrones: The Sons of the Harpy
In "Game of Thrones," Season 5, Episode 4, swords did their fair share of slashing; but as per usual, so did words.
Here, Westeros' new religious figure, the High Sparrow, offers a little insight on the after effects of war.
On religion...
...to which Cersei Lannister fires back a quip about the prowess of religion.
She then arms the High Sparrow's men; essentially gifting him an army of vigilantes... because it suits her purposes too, of course.
On mortality...
It wouldn't be "Game of Thrones" without at least one character verbally schooling Jon Snow per episode.
Here, Melisandre reminds the young Commander of the Knight's Watch that there is a big picture to keep in mind, as well.
On boredom...
In a rare moment of softness, Stannis Baratheon shared an anecdote with his likable deformed daughter, this week.
In doing so, Stannis revealed that 1) he is not ashamed of the little girl, and 2) his father was as stone cold a man as he has become.
Makes sense. You have to be pretty stone cold to march on the North.
On perspective...
"The Sons of the Harpy" was a rough episode for the Mother of Dragons; with not one, but two of her righthand men falling at the hands of Meereen's rebels.
If you hung around for scenes from next week, though, it looks like her fiery boys are flying home for spring break. And that can only mean one thing: total Targaryen domination.
On tactics...
Ever the lech, Petyr Baelish was back in Season 5, Episode 4 with more unsolicited advice for poor Sansa Stark.
Assuring Sansa that Stannis' army would arrive shortly to name her Wardoness of the North, Little Finger advised her to take Ramsay Bolton and make him her pawn, in the meantime.
Then, he forced himself on Sansa with a long, creepy kiss... because if he didn't, he wouldn't be Petyr Baelish, would he?
On agency...
In "Game of Thrones: The Sons of the Harpy," we met the Red Viper's three daughters in Dorne.
All hotheaded like their father, the girls agreed to choose war over diplomacy, and avenge their father's death with force.
We can only hope that they do so by crushing their enemies' skulls with their bare hands. At leats, that would be the most fitting form of revenge.
On tradition...
In "Game of Thrones," Season 5, Episode 4, the people of Meereen continued to petition their new queen to reinstall their beloved fighting pits.
But guess what, citizens of Mereen? The Mother of Dragons doesn't care if you like fighting each other to the death. She's more civilized than that, and she's never going to let those fighting pits of yours happen.
Okay, Gretchen?! "Fetch" is never going to happen.
On alcohol...
This week's episode saw funnyman Tyrion Lannister bound and gagged, en route to Meereen.
And despite informing his captor that he was ironically headed to Meereen anyway, Ser Jorah Mormont offered him very little kindness and even less wine.
On love lost...
After throwing herself at Jon Snow and getting rather insultingly rejected, the "Red Lady" offered this bit of wisdom before exiting the room.
Then, we can only assume she took the walk of shame back to Stannis.
Better luck next time, Melisandre.
On sin...
Here, the High Sparrow offers us a nice, neat little philosophy on the Gods' judgment of sin.
Welllll, that's all well and good; but we sort of hope his cohort, Cersei, is judged a tad harder than the rest of the sinners, when her time comes.
