Game of Thrones S04E10 – The Children Part 3

First I would like to apologize since it took me a while to write this post. I had some guests at home in the last few days, and I have been out the whole time. I also decided to watch for the second time the season finale to refresh my memory. Once the guests were gone I was also able to read “The Rogue Prince, or the King’s Brother”, a story about Prince Daemon Targaryen years before the first dance of dragons, a civil war in which most (literal) dragons perished. The story is published in an anthology called Rogues, edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois. All I can say is that Daemon Targaryen is a very interesting character and I do not think he died at all – his body was never recovered. If you are are interested in reading about him. Here are some purchasing links for the two stories about him.

The Rogue Prince, or the King’s Brother

The Princess and the Queen

The second link is about the story of the first dance of dragons, a civil war among the Targaryens for succession. It is a strong foreshadowing for the second dance of dragons which will be happening in A Song of Ice and Fire. Futures posts of mine will be referring to some extent to these two stories. These stories are not too long and each of them takes less than two hours to be read. The events detailed in them happened 100 years after the Targaryen conquest (200 years before the events of A Song of Ice and Fire).

Here are the last highlights for the  Game of Thrones’ “The Children”(S04E10), and they are about the Lannisters.

UnGregor: As mentioned in a previous post, Oberyn used poison in order to give Gregor Clegane, the Mountain, a painful death. Manticore venom was the poison Oberyn used. If interested in learning more about the poisons of A Song of Ice and Fire, and in which cases they have been used, here is a good discussion topic about them:

Poisons in ASOIAF and Their Uses

Cersei kicks out Maester Pycelle out of his lab since he thinks that the Mountain is “beyond saving.” Based on this scene and the dialogue between these two characters at the Purple Wedding, Cersei is distancing herself from the most loyal servant / supporter of House Lannister at court.  The viewer also gets a clue of how dangerous Qyburn can be – a man whose “curiosity is deemed dangerous and unnatural”. All I can say about Qyburn for now is that he likes to do experiments with people regardless whether they are dead or alive. Qyburn confirms that the experiment he will be conducting on The Mountain might change him without altering his out-of-this-world strength. Qyburn will make of Gregor an “undead” being, a zombie, like Beric Dondarrion and the wights. It has been speculated by readers that Sandor will be the one to slay unGregor.

Cersei-Tywin: Their interaction is probably one of the best scenes of this episode.  I think Lena Heady, the actress who plays Cersei, did a great job. My husband, a non-reader who has been spoiled with the main details but not much about Cersei, commented while watching this scene that she is crazy for the very first time. I think the TV show has been portraying Cersei as a mad woman for a while. However, Joffrey’s death has increased the level of madness in her. Here are the highlights of their conversation:

1. She confesses that she was about to give Tommen Essence of the Nightshade during the Battle of Blackwater. I think that scene from S02E09 is the first sign for TV viewers of Cersei’s madness. Before this scene, she would just be a cruel mean person. Why was she about to poison Tommen and not Joffrey? Another sign of her madness is that Cersei’s favourite son was psychopathic Joffrey as opposed to gentle Tommen (something that hopefully the TV show will portray in the future). 
2. She exhibits signs of increased paranoia. First, she does not want to be separated from her two surviving kids. She is overprotective of them. I think I mentioned a while back about how she is going to meet her end based on a prophecy she heard as a child. This prophecy is probably the main reason of Cersei’s insanity. She also perceives Margaery Tyrell as an enemy. This perception is not logical in the show since the viewer is aware that Margaery is not behind Joffrey’s death but her grandmother, Olenna Redwyne. In the books, the reader does not have access to this information since both Olenna and Margaery are not point of view characters. Everything the reader knows about the Tyrell plot in the purple wedding is given by Littlefinger. Based on this information, it seems that the only person responsible for Joffrey’s death is Olenna. One argument in favour of Margaery’s innocence is that certain secrets are dangerous, and must be kept hidden from even members of one’s family for their own safety. I think this is a good point since it applies to the saga’s biggest secret (this comes from Ned Stark’s point of view in the first book, A Game of Thrones). I believe at this point, that Cersei’s desire of not marrying Loras comes from the fact that she loves Jaime. It looks like she is doing it for her kids, which is also true but secondary to her love for Jaime. Cersei sees her kids as instruments to keep herself in power. Basically a sane Cersei would have opted for Eddard Stark’s proposal to keep her children safe from the game of thrones. (in which one either wins or dies). 
3. TV Cersei seems to be a better player than book Cersei. This scene between Tywin and Cersei never happens in the books. Towards the end of their conversation, she tells Tywin that she will bring (burn?) her own House down by telling everybody that her children are bastards born of her incestuous relationship with Jaime. She does this in order to be with Jaime first and then Tommen. The interesting thing here is that Tywin is in disbelief. As a person concerned with the advancement and legacy of his family no matter the cost, Tywin was highly aware of what was going on between Cersei and Jaime. His “pure-bred” grandchildren are everything to him since he is proud and considers House Lannister above all the other houses. Back in the second season, there was an interaction between Olenna and Tywin. They were arranging the marriage between Cersei and Loras, and some of the topics of discussion were Loras as a “sword swallower”, and Cersei and Jaime having an affair. Olenna even mentioned that incest is something that the gods would never accept. Basically Tywin is a perfect hypocrite. 

I think the TV show opted to have Shae as one of the reasons of Tyrion kiling Tywin since the audience has become more identified with her. TV Shae was in love with Tyrion. Book Shae was only using him. However, I do believe that Tysha might play some role in the TV show since she was mentioned in the first season.

Tywin-Tyrion: After being released, Tyrion goes to meet his father and finds Shae on his father’s bed. She attacks him, and he strangles her. This scene is very vivid. Sibel Kekilli, the actress who plays Shae, looks stunningly beautiful in this scene. I also like how Peter Dinklage (Tyrion) sheds a tear and apologizes for killing her. Tyrion proceeds in looking for his father whom he finds on the privy. What I like about this scene is how Tywin starts bargaining for his life once Tyrion starts pointing out about his innocence and how Tywin was willing to have him executed. I think the turning point is when Tyrion asks his father about his actions concerning Shae. Tyrion confesses he loved her and killed her; when Tywin calls her a whore, Tyrion goes mad and releases the final shot that kills Tywin. In the books, Tyrion asks for Tysha’s whereabouts, to which Tywin’s reply is “wherever whores go”, a line that leads Tyrion to kill his father and that will become a motif in Tyrion’s head.

This scene gives the viewer some of the most memorable lines ever: Tywin’s “you are no son of mine” and Tyrion’s “I have always been your son”. Tywin’s line and other details from the books have caused readers to formulate theories such as Tyrion being a bastard of Aerys II Targaryen. I guess Tyrion’s reply puts an end to these theories. I have always believed that Tyrion is a “real” Lannister and Tywin’s son. At certain point, I had my doubts about the Lannister twins. However, I believe now they are also Tywin’s. Two weeks from now I will write a post about the different theories about Cersei’s madness and the different parentage theories concerning the three main Lannisters.

Tywin’s fall and death is due to the fact that he neglected his children and used them for the political well being of House Lannister. As a result, he did not see their major flaws and assets. For example, he wanted Cersei to become  the queen, but she is not queen material at all. He hated Tyrion all his life without realizing that the future and well being of House Lannister lied on this little dwarf.

Here are some of my favourite pins concerning the Lannisters.

A fashion update will be coming this weekend. Regarding Game of Thrones / A Song of Ice and Fire, I will be posting some interesting stuff – it will be background information and casting speculations, so keep checking my blog weekly for updates.