<em>Game of Thrones</em> Goes Off Script—for Better or for Worse?

Spencer Kornhaber, Christopher Orr, and Amy Sullivan discuss the latest episode of Game of Thrones.

Kornhaber: Finally, Game of Thrones has gotten around to answering the question that every little Westerosi boy and girl inevitably asks: Mommy, Daddy, where do White Walkers come from?

Or at least, I assume that was the upshot of tonight’s closing sequence, in which Snow Willie Nelson™ blessed a newborn Craster bastard with a fresh set of irises. Though it offered more CGI-driven style than substance, the scene nicely encapsulated the theme of the preceding 50 or so minutes: family not as an unbreakable bond but rather as one that can be forged and unforged.

Think about that infant’s squeals in relation to the episode-opening dialogue between the Khaleesi’s ex-slave confidantes. The baby in the North was inducted into a supernatural race within hours of taking his first breath; Gray Worm was conscripted into the artificial race of the Unsullied before he could form his first memory. Both events are horrific thefts of innocence, but in Gray Worm’s case we see that bondage at birth doesn’t necessarily mean bondage till death—well, as long as the nice dragon lady helps you unshackle yourself.

Once Meereen falls, Barristan Selmy points out that Daenerys’s growing family now includes the city’s immoral masters. Selmy sees that new affiliation as cause for mercy, but Dany—whose own brother, remember, sold her—believes that justice supersedes formal ties of clan and country. Her crucifixion of the aristocrats reminded me of Robb Stark’s beheading of a valuable but impertinent vassal last season; they’re both examples of a leader choosing principle over politics. Unlike in the Young Wolf's case, the bulk of Dany’s followers were antagonized by those she executed, but I nevertheless fret that Thrones has taught us to expect any ostentatious insistence on “justice” to come with consequences.

In King’s Landing, Jaime and Tyrion’s interactions offered a shockingly heartwarming portrait of fraternal loyalty. I wanted to when Bronn related regarding the Kingslayer last week is having an effect: Yeah, I wanna like the guy, but he just raped his twin sister. Why wouldn’t he be willing to slice up his lil bro?