Out of the lion's den, to be sure, but onto a ship with Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish. Sansa, on the other hand, has fled one prison but may very well have found herself in another. Loyalty is a kind of chain, too, and no less deadly, but maybe worthwhile nonetheless. He is bound to Tyrion by love and admiration, and won't betray him even though it could mean his own death. Podrick, against all self-interest, is loyal. There's a touching scene between him and his squire, Podrick Payne, that might just twist the chain motif on its head for a moment. Tyrion has more literal chains-manacles, as it were-in his lock-up in Kings Landing, for a crime he didn't commit. The cannibalistic Thenns might as well go work for Roose Bolton. We also get a glimpse at just how brutal and terrifying the wildings are, including red-haired Ygritte. And, of course, Gilly is chained to her vulnerability as a woman in a man's world and the rough lot that entails. Meanwhile, Sam is chained to his oath of abstinence and to his cowardice and inability to protect Gilly.
We're given a motif to follow, various sets of chains wrapped around our swelling cast of characters.Īt the Wall, Jon Snow is chained to his duty, unable to meet the raiders south of the Wall but just as incapable of sitting still when news reaches the Crows that the traitors are still alive to the north. The rest of the episode was better, was quite excellent actually. We could likely debate it for days to come, and many likely will. I'm not sure how Jaime 2.0 is reconciled against this Jaime.īut enough about that. In the show, on the other hand, we're given a very different set up, a very different dynamic, and an entirely new meaning to the scene. Cersei isn't telling him to stop because she doesn't want to have sex, she's telling him to stop because she's worried they'll get caught. Jaime isn't angry at Cersei, he isn't violent toward her. He never heard her.Īnd so on, and so forth. She pounded on his chest with feeble fists, murmuring about the risk, the danger, about their father, about the septons, about the wrath of gods. Then he knocked the candles aside and lifted her up onto the Mother's altar, pushing up her skirts and the silken shift beneath. "The Others can take the septons." He kissed her again, kissed her silent, kissed her until she moaned. "No," she said weakly when his lips moved down her neck, "not here. There was no tenderness in the kiss he returned to her, only hunger. Jaime hasn't seen Cersei in months at this point (longer perhaps, I don't recall) and there's no bad blood yet between them. Here's the book's version (chapter 62 for those who care to know.) And Jaime ravages her without ever uttering the line "Why did I fall in love with such a hateful woman?" Cersei learns of his missing hand in this scene. In the books, Jaime returns to Kings Landing just after Joffrey has died. The show is trying to mimic the source material even though all the stakes are changed. No doubt there's room here for some ambiguity.