What I’m Watching: Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones: Season 6, Episode 6 “Blood of My Blood” (B+)

This show is getting back to a format in which certain characters are the focus of one episode and then doesn’t revisit them for an hour or two. The two female leaders from last week weren’t seen at all, and instead we had a rare focus on just a few main storylines. I didn’t comment last week on the stage play that dramatizes the events that we’ve seen play out over the past few seasons, with Ned’s execution, Joffrey’s death, and the scapegoating of Tyrion as the perpetrator. It’s strange to see everything framed in such a comedic and also archaic context, since obviously there is plenty of armor and medieval costuming on this show, but it’s a new thing to think of how the common people perceive the royal elite we saw warring for the top regal spot in the realm. Arya made her choice in saving the actress she was supposed to kill, and hopefully she’s thought her plan out well enough to avoid being eliminated by the people with no faces or whatever they’re called. It’s disturbing to see the crown and the faith united to spare Margaery and Jaime sent away, since Tommen is now a puppet of the High Sparrow. Kudos to Sam for defending Gilly to his disapproving father, and I just now realized that actress Hannah Murray was the star of 2015 Tribeca entry “Bridgend.” Daenerys is on top right now, and the triumphant, epic return of her dragon was almost extraneous considering the power of her stirring speech.