‘Game of Thrones’ Recap: Full Circle
“The things we do for love.” When Jaime Lannister says this to Edmure Tully, his prisoner and bargaining chip, he’s quoting no less an authority than himself. These were the same words he uttered just before he tossed Bran Stark out the window to cover up his sexual relationship with his own sister, Cersei. Now he’s using them to describe the intensity of his love for her — confident that his prisoner’s feelings for his own family (especially the young son he’s never seen) will lead him to surrender the castle of Riverrun to save them. His gamble pays off, of course. If there’s one thing that tonight’s episode of Game of Thrones — “No One” — gets right, it’s how much our desire to see the people we care about one more time can motivate us. That, and how much leaving them behind can hurt us.
Indeed, Jaime learns his own lesson bitterly. As he stands alone on the battlements of Riverrun at dawn, triumphant but despondent after the castle’s surrender, he sees Brienne of Tarth — the closest thing he has to an actual friend — escaping in a boat down the river. He raises his golden hand to wave goodbye, a wave she returns with evident sorrow. As she slowly floats away from him, the cold gray light of the early morning makes his face look carved from stone, like a statue in a crypt. Yes, he loves Cersei enough to threaten to murder Edmure’s baby. But the promises he made to Brienne, and vice versa, are the best part of himself. Now he’s watching that part sail away, likely for good. “Honor compels me to fight for Sansa’s kin — to fight you,” Brienne had told him during their earlier meeting. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” he replied. Both are equally upset by the notion of having to battle each other. That their farewell comes in this fashion rather than at swordpoint is a mercy they’ll likely both think about for a long time to come.
If the Kingslayer and the Maid of Tarth’s goodbye was the episode’s most moving, Tyrion and Varys‘ was a surprisingly close second. As they walk to the docks of Meereen, where the spymaster plans to depart for Westeros to drum up support for Daenerys, the pair banters about politics and their physical deficits; doing anything else would be too painful to contemplate. The Spider is a slippery character, and the Imp a cynical one, but Conleth Hill and Peter Dinklage invest their unlikely friendship with a warmth that easily transcends whatever doubts you might have about their sincerity. These guys like each other, and that affection has saved countless lives across the world. Like Jaime and Brienne, they bring out the best in each other, understanding one another like only outcasts (self-made or otherwise) can.
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