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Game of Thrones 4.04 "Oathkeeper" Review: The Quality of Mercy

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            This week’s episode of Game of Thrones, “Oathkeeper,” was written by Bryan Cogman and directed by Michelle MacLaren, both of whom will be familiar to long time viewers. Once again the show surprised me by revealing the mystery of who poisoned Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) way sooner than I thought they would. I assumed we would have to wait until at least the season finale – and I felt there was a good chance we wouldn’t find out until next season!

            This episode focuses on the concepts of justice, mercy, and honour, and these themes run throughout the various storylines. The story picks up with Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel) teaching Grey Worm (Jacob Anderson) the common tongue. Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) is adding to her army and her empire from many different countries, but they must all understand each other and the commander of her army, so they need a common language. However, Missandei and Grey Worm illustrate that all of the slaves do not have the same goals or memories. Missandei remembers her home before she was a slave, but Grey Work was taken as a baby and consequently has no memory of a time before and no desire to leave Daenerys to go back to something else. Grey Worm is motivated to kill all the masters while Missandei longs for the idyllic time before she was taken.

            Grey Worm and some of his men sneak into the city and Grey Worm arms and motivates the slaves there. He tells them that no one is going to give them their freedom – they are going to have to take it. However, he does bring them swords and tells them that there are three slaves in Meerdeen to every master. The slaves rise up and take the city. We see one master caught when he sees a sign that reads “Kill the Masters.” At first, I was struck by an English sign while the Master is speaking his native tongue – but it makes more sense for the slaves to communicate by the language of the free – the common tongue.

            Daenerys is welcomed into the city by the freed slaves. She asks Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen) to remind her of how many children they’d seen nailed to the mile posts. Barristan Selmy (Ian McElhinney) counsels her that “Sometimes it is better to answer injustice with mercy.” Daenerys, however, responds that she “will answer injustice with justice.” I couldn’t help but think of the quote from The Merchant of Venice: “the quality of mercy is not strain’d.” The reference is that both the bestower and bestowed benefit from the mercy, but the mercy must be freely given – it cannot be coerced. It resonates with both Grey Worm’s declaration that only the slaves can free themselves – only those seeking vengeance can free themselves too – and it resonates with Daenerys’ decision to choose justice over mercy. 

            The masters nailed to the mile markers are one of the most horrific scenes in the episode. Meereen itself is yet another example of a stunning location and the use of magnificent sets and effects. Daenerys is somewhat uniquely suited to identify with the slaves as even though she is of noble birth, she was treated as a commodity to be bought and sold through marriage – she was a slave in every way that mattered. In fact, this is a fact for almost all of the women in the show. It particularly resonates with the other scene of horror at the end of the episode when we see Karl’s (Burn Gorman) men raping Craster’s wives and daughters, who have merely gone from one cruel master to an even crueller one. 

            We move from Meereen back to King’s Landing and Bronn (Jerome Flynn) sparing with Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). The sellsword schooling the noble born in both loyalty and swordsmanship. Bronn tells Jaime about how he came to be in Tyrion’s (Peter Dinklage) service. He tells him that he wasn’t Tyrion’s first choice for a champion and that Tyrion would have waited for Jaime to come to his rescue, secure in the knowledge that his brother would ride night and day to do so, except that the Lady Lysa hadn’t given him enough time. Bronn presses Jaime about whether he will fight for his brother now. Bronn knows Tyrion well, and he tells Jaime that neither poison nor murder are really Tyrion’s style. Both brothers are honorable in their own ways.

            Jaime does finally visit Tyrion. Like all good brothers, Jaime has to prove that his captivity was worse – Tyrion has four walls and a pot to piss in whereas Jaime had been tied to a post, covered in his own shit! Jaime apologizes for not having come sooner, and Tyrion forgives him easily, saying he knows it’s complicated. Tyrion asks after Cersei (Lena Headey). Jaime points out she’s mourning her son. Interestingly, he doesn’t refer to Joffrey as his own son, even though he was, and stops Tyrion from doing so too. Jaime tells Tyrion that Cersei asked him to kill Tyrion. Tyrion half-jokingly asks if he should turn around and shut his eyes – the second allusion to how Jaime killed the mad King – Bronn having already mentioned it. Jaime then asks Tyrion if he did it. Tyrion makes a joke out of it to hide his hurt at being asked, saying “the Kingslayer brothers! Has a nice ring to it.”

            This is a fantastic scene between Dinklage and Coster-Waldau. Tyrion becomes quiet as he asks his brother, “Are you really asking if I killed your son?” And this answers the question of why Tyrion tolerated Joffrey at all – he did it for the love of his brother. Jaime then answers in kind by asking “Are you really asking if I’d kill my brother?” Regardless of his feelings for Cersei, Jaime does love Tyrion too. However, there really is nothing that Jaime can do for Tyrion. Anything he does will be seen as treason. Tyrion realizes that Cersei will never believe any evidence exonerating him – there will be no mercy from her quarter ever. Jaime increases Tyrion’s anxiety by telling him that not only does Cersei want Tyrion’s head on a pike, she also wants Sansa’s (Sophie Turner).

            We then see Sansa visited on board ship by Baelish (Aidan Gillen) who is taking her to the Vale of Arryn and her Aunt for safety. It’s interesting to see that Sansa is neither the innocent she once was nor is she completely stupid. She’s sure that Baelish had a hand in Joffrey’s murder. She rules out him being helped by Dontos because Baelish wouldn’t work with a drunk on something as serious as murder. She also tells Baelish she knows that Tyrion didn’t do it – just as Tyrion spoke up for her. While they may not be in love, they have clearly come to an understanding of each other. 

            Much was made of necklaces before the wedding – recall Lady Olenna’s (Diana Rigg) being so particular about what Margaery (Natalie Dormer) would wear and Dontos giving Sansa his family heirloom to wear. Baelish then points out that Sansa failed to notice it was missing a stone before he destroyed it and knocked it overboard. Recall too that Lady Olenna stopped to offer Sansa condolences before sitting down.

            Sansa is puzzled, however, that Baelish would move against Joffrey after the Lannisters gave Baelish both wealth and power. Baelish points out that Joffrey was not a reliable ally. Gillen is a joy to watch as this character, and Baelish has two great lines in this scene. Baelish tells Sansa that “A man without motive is a man no one suspects.” He goes on to tell her that “If they don’t know who you are or what you want, they can’t know what you plan to do next.” He goes on to tell her that he’d risk everything to get what he wants. And when she asks him what it is he does want, he tells her “everything.” He has pretty clearly wanted Sansa herself for a very long time. It’s possible that he feels his new allies may allow him to break his vow to marry Lady Lysa – but he’d still have to ensure that Sansa ended up a widow before he could marry her.  Baelish does tell Sansa that his new friends are both predictable and very reasonable. Those friends very much wanted Joffrey dead and poisoning him was a thoughtful gift to cement their friendship.

            The next scene takes us to those new friends and Lady Olenna reveals to Margaery that she was the one to poison Joffrey. Lady Olenna couldn’t let Margaery marry Joffrey and subject her to his cruelty. Lady Olenna also reveals that she is leaving town before the trial starts – a good idea considering she is the guilty one. There’s a great close up of Margaery’s necklace and it appears to be made of the same light blue stones as those on Sansa’s necklace. It could just be a coincidence, or it could be that Lady Olenna is leaving Margaery with some means of protecting herself. On the other hand, if she’s found with the poison in her possession that could be a bad thing too. 

            We learn that Lady Olenna, like her new friend Baelish, isn’t too concerned with honor when it comes to getting what she wants. We learn that she seduced her husband away from her own sister. She tells Margaery that she is even better than she is, and we see this in action when Margaery goes to visit her latest fiancé – Tommen (Dean-Charles Chapman). The age difference between them seems positively creepy as Margaery seems more like a much older sister than prospective bride. She doesn’t make the mistake of trying to seduce him, no doubt realizing that that might simply scare him. She does bond with him over Sir Pounce – his cat – and keeping a secret from his mother – subtly worming her way between Tommen and Cersei. 

            Jaime visits Cersei to see if there is any hope of mercy towards Tyrion. I found the scene particularly interesting. Cersei is getting drunk and is clearly still mourning Joffrey’s death. While she is cruel and cold to Jaime, she is not especially so. There doesn’t really appear to be any additional strain between them, which casts more light on what has been described as a rape scene last week. I have to agree with those, including Headey, who maintain that Cersei’s resistance is to allowing Jaime to take her in front of her dead son and that she has always had a resistance on some moral level to their incestuous relationship. I, like many, would have preferred that we clearly saw Cersei’s consent, but in the context of the show, I don’t believe it constituted rape.

            Jaime finds Cersei as bitter as ever. It’s clear that she is never going to have any mercy on either Tyrion or Sansa. Cersei asks Jaime why Caitlyn Stark set him free in the first place. He admits that he swore an oath to bring Caitlyn’s daughters back to her. Cersei points out that now that Caitlyn is dead he is free to bring her Sansa’s head. Cersei’s hatred for Brienne (Gwendoline Christie) is also clear in this scene. Jaime’s actions then attempt to satisfy his own honor and protect those he can from Cersei’s form of justice. 

            Brienne is reading from the book of the Lord Commanders, and there is yet a third reference to Jaime’s exploits as Kingslayer. It’s clear that Jaime wants to fill his own pages in the book with honorable deeds – perhaps more honorable than those already there. He then presents Brienne with his Valyrian-steel sword – half of Ned Stark’s own sword – and charges Brienne with using it to fulfill her pledge to Caitlyn Stark to protect the Starks’ daughters. He also gives her a new suit of armor. Brienne accepts the charge for Lady Caitlyn but also for Jaime. It’s a terrific scene between them. I have to wonder if at least part of Jaime’s hesitation in relation to Brienne is that he doesn’t see himself as worthy of her. 

            Jaime’s final gift to Brienne is a new squire: Podrick (Daniel Portman). Brienne insists she doesn’t need a squire. Jaime explains that “my brother owes him a debt. He’s not safe here. You’ll be keeping him safe from harm.” Jaime’s entire point here is to try to keep Brienne, Sansa, and Podrick safe from Cersei. Bronn presents Podrick with Tyrion’s axe. I am very sorry to see the terrific grouping of Podrick, Bronn, and Tyrion split up, but I’m hopeful there will be some hilarious exchanges between Podrick and Brienne – she’s going to be a completely different master to him! I loved the look on her face when he calls her sir! And once again, we see a master/servant relationship become important in this episode. Tyrion is determined to pay his debt to Podrick and spare him the injustice of Cersei’s wrath.

            Christie and Coster-Waldau are terrific as they take their leave of each other. Jaime asks her what she will call her sword and she tells him “Oathkeeper” which is fitting for her. She will be helping to keep Ned Stark’s, Jaime’s and her own with it. Jaime says good bye and there is another gorgeously long shot between them. Christie is wonderful as she fights back tears but doesn’t speak as she leaves, looking back as she rides away. She is compelled to put her honor before her attachment to Jaime – and in a way, by not forcing the issue, she is also affording him a kind of mercy too.

            In the north, Jon (Kit Harington) is trying to teach the men to fight. Ser Alliser Thorne (Owen Teale) stops him, putting his squarely back in his place as a squire. Thorne is clearly worried about Jon’s growing popularity with the men and this leads to allowing Jon to take an expedition to Craster’s Keep to take out the mutineers. When Jon actually manages to elicit the help of a significant number of volunteers, Thorne is not happy. It’s a good indication of the kind of loyalty that Jon inspires and means it’s less likely that Jon will be killed in the raid. Of course, Jon rallies his followers by telling them that the Lord Commander Mormont (James Cosmo) was like a father to them and he was betrayed by his own men. Jon tells the men “all we can give him now is justice.” Returning us once again to that theme in the episode. 

            Among the volunteers is Jon’s new “friend” Locke (Noah Taylor) who has been sent by Roose to kill Jon, Bran (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) and Rickon . Unfortunately, Jon and Bran will likely be reunited at Craster’s Keep. 

            We see Karl drinking gruesomely from the skull of Mormont, who he showed neither justice nor mercy. It is a horrible parody of Hamlet's musings with Yorick. He shows no mercy to Craster’s family. However, he does agree to honor the bargain between the White Walkers and Craster by giving them the last of Craster’s offspring. This may be a kind of honor, but it doesn’t appear to be a mercy to the baby who appears in the chilling (pun intended) final scene to be turned into a White Walker himself.

            It is the baby that lures Bran, Jojen (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) and Meera (Ellie Kendrick) to look for Ghost and get close enough to Craster’s keep to be taken hostage. Bran admits who he is in order to save Meera and Jojen has another fit. Karl proves himself at least somewhat worthy of being a leader in realizing that Bran is high born and will make a good hostage. However, his cruelty to the men, and Rast (Luke Barnes) in particular, is not likely to earn him the respect of his peers.

            This was another great episode in the series, bringing a number of storylines to bear on a central theme. The acting, as always, was fantastic. The sets and effects are some of the best on television. It would seem that a number of the Starks will be reunited soon, and I can’t wait to see that. What did you think of the episode? Will Jaime be able to save Tyrion from what seems to be certain death at Cersei’s hands? Were you surprised by who had actually poisoned Joffrey? Were you surprised to learn it so quickly? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
This is just such a beautiful shot that I had to include it here.

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