‘Arya Meets Ed Sheeran’ Was Not Pointless
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Hey guys-
Just listened to your instant cast and, though I’m not wild about the Sheeran cameo, it was not a pointless scene just to have him sing a song as you seemed to think upon first view. The scene gave very critical information about Arya as a character in 2 ways:
- She’s going to King’s Landing: The last thing she said in The House of Black & White was “I’m Arya Stark of Winterfell and I’m going home”. When we then see her killing Walder Frey in the finale, it makes sense because The Riverlands, geographically, would be on her way home. Going south from there to King’s Landing adds MONTHS to her journey home. I was very surprised to see her heading in that direction. That leads to….
- She is struggling with whether she is out for vengeance on specific people or if she’s just a murderer: When she refused to kill Lady Crane in Braavos, she was rejecting the idea of being a “faceless” killer who would murder someone who had never wronged her (who, in fact, was very nice to her). Instead, she chose to use the skills she learned in Braavos to exact revenge on the people who wronged her and her family specifically. But in the opening scene, by killing the entire Frey family, we see that the targets of her vengeance are now wider than the list she used to repeat to herself. When she comes upon the Lannister soldiers we learn, not only that she is going to King’s Landing, but there was conflict on her face. Lannisters were responsible for her father’s death….does that responsibility extend to Lannister soldiers? I think she thought about killing them once she saw that they were Lannister soldiers. After all, one of their faces might get her easier access to the Queen. But, they were very kind to her so that didn’t happen. At least for now, she seems to see that not all Lannisters and Lannister men are deserving of her vengeance. But will that last? Will she be disciplined in only using her skills on a small group of people, or will she just become a cold blooded killer? How does she determine who lives and who dies now that she’s not just restricting herself to killing a small list of specific people? This scene was key in framing up the conflicts that she is working through at the moment.
It also dovetails with what may become a theme through the rest of the show that was evident in John’s passing the Umber & Karstaark houses on to the eldest children of the house. As new leadership takes hold and there are battles for new physical and ideological boundaries, how beholden are new leaders to ‘old ways’? Dany has abolished slavery and commanded the Iron Born to renounce their ways of pillaging and raping. Jon has reached out to former enemies to bring them into an alliance. Will Jon’s view to not hold children responsible for their parents mistakes become the new way? Or will Sansa’s point of view about rewarding loyalty and punishing disloyalty – across an entire house? Arya’s dilemma is similar – if all Lannisters are responsible for her family’s murder, then she would kill the soldiers she passed in the forest. She didn’t hold them accountable in yesterday’s, but I don’t know if I think that will last and I’m worried that the character might be going down a much darker path than what I hoped for her.
Matt M.
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- Theme Song – “Seven Nation Army (Epic Orchestral Cover)” – Ciaran Burch
Hey Matt, I agree that it wasn’t pointless (I wasn’t at all bothered with the cameo). And to add to what you’ve said, the lyrics of the song are interesting.
“He rode through the streets of the city
Down from his hill on high
O’er the wynds and the steps and the cobble
He rode to a woman’s sigh
For she was his secret treasure
She was his shame and his bliss
And a chain and a keep are nothing
Compared to a woman’s kiss
For hands of gold are always cold
But a woman’s hands are warm”
In the books this song is about Tyrion and Shae (she was kept in a brothel in King’s Landing, away from the Red Keep, unlike to show), and we know how that relationship ended (Tyrion killed Shae choking her with the golden chain of hands he used to wear when he was the Hand).
Since they didn’t show this sing until now, it has to have a new meaning. And, since it talks about a hand of gold etc, I believe it’s about Jamie and Cersei, with the valonqar prophecy lingering heavy. Furthermore, it could be used as evidence to the theory that Arya will use Jamie’s face to kill Cersei (and Cersei would notice that before dying, because Jamie’s gold hand is cold, and Arya’s hands wouldn’t be), given that the song appears in an Arya scene.
Cheers!