GAME OF THRONES: Best Moments From Season 6, Ep. 8 "No One"
Warning: spoilers ahead for season 6, episode 8 of Game of Thrones, entitled "No One." If you haven't seen the episode yet, turn back now.
This season, I'm going to try to write up some quick thoughts about each episode the day after it airs. I won't get too deep into full-on recaps (you can find those all over the internet, and you've probably already read a few today if you're into that sort of thing) and will instead focus on what I consider to be each episode's best moments. This can be as many or as few as I want, and will likely vary every episode — today, there are three. I'll also toss in some additional observations that don't fit into the "best moments" category, which you can find at the bottom of the post. For the best moments of earlier episodes this season, click here. Onward!
3. Arya vs. The Waif
On a gut level, this confrontation was satisfying because the Waif has been straight up kicking Arya's ass for multiple seasons at this point, so it was cool to see Arya lure her into the darkness, where she's proven to be a better fighter thanks to her extended blindness (I don't think candles work that way, though — wouldn't the lit end have remained illuminated as it fell to the floor?). She settles her debt with Jaqen and the Many-Faced God by adding the Waif's face to the hall, and though this action apparently earns her the final approval of Jaqen (she finally became "no one"), Arya immediately rejects the title and heads for home. That, too, is satisfying, but when I step back and look at the larger picture of Arya's storyline over the past couple of seasons, I can't help but think there was an awful lot of wheel-spinning going on for this to be the final outcome of her training. Sure, she's good at fighting in the dark now, and yeah, maybe she gained a better sense of self in the process, but at this point I'm not sure the whole excursion to Braavos was worth it. Hopefully the rest of her plotlines in the show include many more moments that directly correlate to her time there in order to further justify it.
2. The Hound Reunites With The Brotherhood
The Hound tracks down the defecting members of the Brotherhood Without Banners who murdered Brother Ray and his village last week and absolutely destroys them with his axe, eventually reuniting with Beric Dondarrion, Thoros of Myr (who looks a lot like William Hurt), and the remaining members of the true Brotherhood. After a hanging, the gang tries to talk the Hound into joining, and whether or not the Hound eventually takes them up on their offer, it looks like they're all going to be heading north together soon. Far enough north to have any impact on next week's events at Winterfell? That's probably too much to ask for. (I thought we were going to see Lady Stoneheart in this episode for sure, and if you don't know who that is, don't Google it because it's a massive spoiler and could technically still be a reveal in the finale.)
1. Brienne and Pod at Riverrun
Well, that siege didn't last long. With the Blackfish (apparently) dead and Brienne and Pod rowing off into the distance with Jaime Lannister's approval, that whole subplot seems to have come to an end rather quickly. But I don't really care that much about the machinations at Riverrun — the best moments in this episode were character-based, like Bronn and "Podrick fucking Payne" messing around outside the tents while Jaime and Brienne spoke. The latter two have a complicated relationship and it was nice to see some flickers of that in their conversation, though it doesn't seem like they'll be seeing each other again any time soon. It's important to note that Jaime giving Brienne Oathkeeper for good is a big deal because it's a Valyrian steel sword, and as we've seen elsewhere, those and dragonglass (obsidian) are the only things that can kill White Walkers. (One thing I didn't realize: co-showrunner D.B. Weiss said in a post-show interview that there are probably only ten of those swords left in the world.) But my favorite lines in the episode were in the exchange between Brienne and Pod when they first arrived at Riverrun:
"Looks like a siege, my lady."
"You have a keen military mind, Pod."
Additional Observations
Tyrion seemed pretty pleased with himself that Meereen is back to some semblance of normalcy, and his parting with Varys seemed bittersweet in the way that often happens in TV shows and movies which indicates those two characters will never see each other again. Meanwhile, we get yet another scene of Tyrion attempting to get Missandei and Grey Worm to loosen up. This was the best one, but it was interrupted by the slavers attacking the city, which lead to one of the episode's worst moments: Dany strolling into the Meereen pyramid after being dropped off by Drogon off-screen. She's just going to stand there and not say anything? Do the showrunners pay Emilia Clarke by the word or something, and they're trying to save money? Talk about anti-climactic.
Bummer about Lady Crane. It was nice to see her put Arya's suggestions into practice and change the script in the play, but for God's sake, get a flask or something! Did you see how she was about to drink from that unattended pitcher in her dressing room even after she nearly died doing the same thing a couple of weeks ago?
Tommen banishing trial by combat seems like a pretty big blow to Cersei's grand plan to use the Mountain as her not-so-secret weapon, but it's an even bigger blow to the fan theory about "Cleganebowl," which guessed/hoped that Cersei would choose the Mountain as her champion and the Faith would choose The Hound, so we'd get to see the two brothers face off in a battle to the death. But Cersei has something far more incendiary up her sleeve (that mysterious "rumor" she spoke about with Qyburn), and I'm guessing we'll see it play out in the season finale in two weeks.
What did you think about this week's episode?