King Shithead is dead, and now begin the repercussions of his untimely murder. Joffrey was a Lannister and Lannisters always pay their debts, and when lions are in pain, they lash out violently. This episode focuses on bondage, both newly formed bonds or breaking free from established captivity. Let’s travel the Seven Kingdoms, shall we? (Spoilers ahead!)

King’s Landing

Immediately after the death of King Joffrey, Sansa is whisked away by her fool-knight Ser Dontos, who was apparently working for a man we see for the first time this season in this episode–Petyr Baelish or, “Littlefinger”. Littlefinger has been notably absent for the festivities at King’s Landing this season and it looks to be because he’s been setting up Sansa’s rescue. Littlefinger is a childhood “friend” to Catelyn Stark, and so Sansa believes him when Littlefinger tells her he means to rescue her from the wrath of the Lannisters, who most likely blame her, along with Tyrion, for the death of Joffrey. Littlefinger takes credit for killing Joffrey, giving Dontos the necklace that held the poison and for paying off a ship’s crew to take them away from King’s Landing. Unfortunately, Dontos doesn’t make it onto the boat. Baelish has his man put an arrow in the poor fool,

“Money buys a man’s silence for a time. A bolt in the heart buys it forever.” -Petyr Baelish

For all of his truths, LittleFinger also reminds Sansa that everyone at King’s Landing is a liar. Does this include him? I think it does and, although we don’t know where he is taking Sansa or what his end game is, we are certain to find out that his motives may be less than stellar.

In the meantime, Margaery Tyrell-Lannister wonders if, because her husband died before they consummated their marriage, she is actually queen. The short answer is, not really. No way Cersei is going to allow the young lady who stole Joffrey’s affections to sit on the Iron Throne. While the Queen Regent is currently busy grieving, I have no doubt that soon Cersei will be back to her evil antics, wrongfully accusing one brother of murder while asking the other to avenge their son’s death. Speaking of Jamie Lannister (trigger warning) this episode took a dark turn when Cersei and Jaime Lannister meet in the sept where Joffrey’s body lay. While Tywin steps away with his grandson, the new child-king, Tommin Lannister, to explain the birds and the bees, Jaime and Cersei have a moment alone with their son. As I’ve said, the GoT books and the show don’t always match up, but I felt this scene did a huge disservice to the character development of Jaime Lannister since the Kingslayer lost his hand and was forced to examine his own morality (and mortality) in his time with Brienne of Tarth. In the books (I’m currently reading book 5) and in the previous season, Jaime develops into a more sympathetic character as we delve deeper into his emotional state. Yes, he is in an incestious relationship with his sister and yes, he killed the Mad King, but he also saved Brienne and made a vow to Lady Stark to protect the Stark girls–a vow he seemed keen on keeping until Sansa disappeared from King’s Landing. He seems torn between loving his sister in a very inappropriate way and being an honorable man. Unfortunately, the character lost my sympathy vote when he forced himself onto his sister under the dead body of their son on the sept floor. While Cersei seemed to enjoy the kissing, she clearly asks her brother to stop, saying it isn’t right–whether she meant it was wrong to get physical on the floor of their son’s tomb or to continue the incestious relationship, viewers cannot be sure. This was a squick moment for me, and I wonder why the showrunners made this obvious deviation from the text when we were just starting to warm up to Jaime Lannister. If a rape scene was the only way that the director/producer/whoever felt able to get across the frustration that Jaime feels toward his sister, the anger that he needed to project to her–well, I call that laziness at its worst. The scene in the book, while disturbing and graphic, focuses more on the shared grief and loss the pair feel and less on Jaime’s need to force Cersei into a submissive role by having non consensual sex with her. I’m still going to watch, I’m just disappointed and a bit put off by the choices of the show’s creators, at this point.