What I’m Watching: Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones: Season 6, Episode 2 “Home” (B+)

It wasn’t enough that I had to hear it from other people and read it on the dependably spoiler-heavy TVGuide.com home page, but Entertainment Weekly made sure that I had the end of this episode ruined for me by boasting Jon Snow’s continued life on its cover. It’s not much of a surprise, of course, given how broadly the rumors have been circulating, and I actually think that the way it came about was creative and satisfying. I thought he’d return as some sort of sentient White Walker, but instead Melisandre magically compelled the life back into him. I knew there was some productive reason for the great Liam Cunningham to be on this show, and bringing Jon Snow back to life is definitely an immortal badge of honor. We got to spend some time in this episode with characters we haven’t seen in a while, namely with Tyrion’s visit to the dragons and Tommen apologizing to his mother for not protecting her honor. Bran’s flashback vision was a reminder of happier, simpler times, and we’re so far beyond that at this point. It’s a shame to see an atoning Theon abandon Sansa so that he won’t slow her down, and he’s been through so much that he’s really redeemed himself. Ramsay, on the other hand, has proven himself to be truly evil, directly leading a woman and her newborn baby to be torn apart by vicious dogs. Only on this show would that rank as the second most brutal killing of a child.