Faceless Men might be the best episode of the season so far because it finally makes Criston Cole pay for the bad decisions that got him here, instead of giving him the death he thinks he deserves, its just crazy how on Seasons 2 he had everything he wanted for this war but probably never pull the trigger on time, Aegon getting burned really affect him too. He walks his exhausted army into a trap chasing the honorable last stand he has been picturing in his head, but Once Oscar Tully and Rodrik Dustin surround him, Cole asks for his men to be spared and tries to turn it into a duel, like his own skill with a sword still matters. Black Aly does not let that happen and puts three arrows in him before there was even a fight, I loved how little respect the show gives his fantasy since Cole spent this whole war acting like honor belonged only to him and he just start loosing it after the Rooks Rest fight and then with the River Man and the Gray Wolfs, it was just too much for him to handle. Instead he dies holding the favor Alicent gave him while the men he led there get cut down around him for nothing. He is still brave got to give him that but that does not erase that he marched his own soldiers toward a death he set up and his attempt to save them only comes after the damage is done once he wa against the wall, itt ends fast and ugly for him, I never saw that coming, always thought they were going to keep him as a prisoner similar to what happen to Jamie Laninster in GOT.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11198330/
- Platform: {{PLATFORM}}
Im starting to notice that the most realistic person on this series has to be Gwayne Hightower, if only Criston had heard him, because he is the only one paying attention to danger everybody else keeps ignoring and that gap shows the moment he gets back to Tumbleton. Gwayne has seen what this war does to soldiers, knows the army under Criston was never going anywhere good and knows Rhaenyra has too many dragons for Ormund to be this confident. Ormund just insults him, acts like the great houses will eventually fall in line and treats Daeron like a future king without caring what Daeron actually wants. He is really smart and has no need to give out a speech to prove he is right, he just notices things and when the fake Baratheon delegation shows up he clocks that the man does not match the real relative and attacks before the assassins reach Daeron and Ormund, for a second I and also Ormund thought Gwayne was wrong but then the rest of the assassin attack too, like this fucking ninja, how can he be that tired and that sharp. Ormund look happy and even flatered that great house supposedly joined him that he almost hands Daeron over without checking anything, then freezes and gets sick the second real violence starts while Gwayne and Jon Roxton handle it, which makes how confident Ormund acts look ridiculous. Gwayne later tells him straight up he is risking other lives to protect his own pride and Gwayne is just sick of all this so he has plans to head back to Oldtown since he is next in line there and Ormund says he will not stand in his way, Gwayne knows Ormund wont win this war at least under current circumstances, though Daeron begs him to stay, admits Ormund controls him and asks if he saw Alicent while he was gone. I wonder why he is now asking for his mother and if Gwayne might stay for Daeron, because he knows that after all this is over, Oldtown would still stand and will need someone to pick up the pieces.
I bet the closer we get to the end of this season Rhaenyra is harder to root for because every time she avoids one terrible decision she replaces it with another. She is right to shut down Daemon wanting to burn Tumbleton, since the people there already bent the knee to her and killing them just to get Ormund would make her as cruel as her enemies say she is. The problem is her backup plan, an assassination attempt using stolen Baratheon clothing falls apart because Gwayne is paying attention, Ormund was so damn lucky Gwayne was there and had to eat up his words for insulting him, treat him like a fool. Rhaenyra is trying to protect her reputation while using a method that hands Ormund more proof she is coming after Daeron, so she ends up looking careful in public and desperate in private, she basically working based on appearance and that is just too fragile, it wont get her anywhere and its time for her to start showing some strength. Her scene on the Iron Throne make it worse, people bring her real problems, missing supplies, kidnappings, the city falling apart and all she offers is blame and distant sympathy, then the throne cuts her and you can see how scared she is even while she hides the wound, not sure if she might even suffer from the same illness as her father getting cut by the throne and hot healing back his wounds. Rhaenyra is loosing so much grip and I wonder if it will be too late for when we get to that "this is finish" scene from one of the trailers, where she will probably go too far at Tumbleton, Alicent even tells her "I warn you...", about the things the throne will make her do. Then there are The Gold Cloaks quitting because they are unpaid and getting killed, so not only Rhaenyra but also Daemon loosing grip on his man, its just a shit storm everywhere the Targaryens go, considering they running the Throne, it suppose to be backwards. Daemon barely gets useful information before killing a Hightower man running the assassination of the Golden Cloaks, then takes his anger out on Ulf in front of everyone, big big mistake in my opinion giving another unhappy dragon rider reason to turn on them.
The episode was so well balance as everyone gets enough screen time, this time Alicent and Helaena had some really good moments because it shows how most of their problems came from choices Alicent already made, even though she still talks like freedom can be negotiated but Rhaenyra just shuts her down once again, I know its very unlikely Rhaenyra kills Alicent, they got a lot of history together. Her escape attempt fails, the news Helaena is pregnant becomes another threat Rhaenyra can use against them and their confinement gets stricter, but the worst part is that Helaena knows Alicent lie to her about Jaehaera during their escape and that was a very fucked up moment between the two. Helaena confronts her about leaving Jaehaera behind and asks why she ever allowed the marriage to Aegon, simple questions Alicent really cannot answer, for the most part during those times it was Otto who was making all this decisions for her. She says she wants to save Helaena, but Helaena has every reason to wonder if her mother is just saving herself again. Rhaenyra makes it worse by forcing Alicent to go to Harrenhal and help get Aemond killed by one of her assassins or who knows if Alicent will kill him herself in a moment of desperation, after all she already reconize most of her shield are monsters. I liked that the show does not pretend this is a clean deal between old friends, it is another forced choice by people who spent too long believing they could control what happens next. Aemond makes his own bad call at Harrenhal too, since Alys kills the stable boy to protect where he is hiding, shows him the hidden dragon eggs and offers him a way out of the throne fight. He knows she is dangerous and stays anyway because he does not have many options, which makes sense for his character but is not smart.
I never felt the episode gets crowded and but not every piece gets the same attention, still feels like one of those full of context, preparing everything for the next big episode full of action. Hugh sneaking into Tumbleton to find Kat should be a happy reunion, I really thought it would but she sees his claiming a dragon as the moment he left her alone during the worst part of her life, since he believes he earned a better future for them while she believes he just chose power for himself. The problem is that during that time she suffers way too much, they lost their daughter, then she had to take that long trip to Tumbleton where she probably got abbused based on her description, at the end makes Hugh felt like it was worthless to get such status and that he has lost more than he has earned. Ulf has a similar problem, he finally has the dragon and status he wanted but lost his freedom and Daemon treats him like like shit everytime he can, makes both men now have enough power to become dangerous if that resentment keeps building, which makes how carelessly everyone treats them look stupid. Aegon choosing Larys over Tyland also works, since he has finally figured out a useful adviser is someone willing to tell him an ugly truth. The parts that I felt they were too short or rushed it was Baela and Alyn kissing shows almost no context and got out of nowhere and the Vale section mostly repeats that Rhaena got a dragon while losing the life she wanted. The attack on Corlys gives the episode real consequence, his men were finally marching back to help Rhaenyra hold the capital when soldiers loyal to Ormund cut them off and Corlys ends up captured giving you more reason to want to know what happens next, this also makes me think if Ormund really has the advantage as he says, while Rhaenyra is still reacting from behind the whole time. Faceless Men is not the cleanest episode of the season but it might be the most satisfying one so far because pride, delay and reckless choices finally start costing everyone, and Gwayne stands out the most because he is the only one who understands that surviving this means noticing the danger before it becomes impossible to stop.
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Rating: 80/100
Originally posted through scrobble.life/tv.
