S05.E10: Mother's Mercy

[Hecate7]

You're right that there's no contest, but it would be because she would choose to save her sister.

There isn't a single example where Arya has prioritized revenge over helping people she cares about. With Trant she prioritized revenge over killing some random guy for reasons she had no emotional investment in at all.

 

Not if it meant Trant getting away. What we were shown here, wasn't Arya just prioritizing Trant over a random hit. She prioritized him over the Kindly Man and her entire future with the Faceless Men. She knew it, too, but she sort of hoped to get away with it. Sorry, there is no way on earth Sansa is half as important to Arya as even one of the names on her list, because all of Arya's love, for her father, for Syrio Forel, for Yoren, for Robb, for Lady and Nymeria, for her friend Micah and even the very idea of friendship, is in that list.

 

When has Arya ever chosen helping someone she cares about, over revenge? When was that ever a choice she was confronted with in the first place?

[SeanC]

Not if it meant Trant getting away. What we were shown here, wasn't Arya just prioritizing Trant over a random hit. She prioritized him over the Kindly Man and her entire future with the Faceless Men. She knew it, too, but she sort of hoped to get away with it. Sorry, there is no way on earth Sansa is half as important to Arya as even one of the names on her list, because all of Arya's love, for her father, for Syrio Forel, for Yoren, for Robb, for Lady and Nymeria, for her friend Micah and even the very idea of friendship, is in that list.

She wasn't expecting to get caught.

 

I don't see anything in the series that suggests the list is that important.  Arya has always been about helping people, if she can, and her family; at the end of season 4, her biggest concern was to go to the Wall, to see Jon again.  What's happened since that would change that?

[Hecate7]

She wasn't expecting to get caught.

 

I don't see anything in the series that suggests the list is that important.  Arya has always been about helping people, if she can, and her family; at the end of season 4, her biggest concern was to go to the Wall, to see Jon again.  What's happened since that would change that?

 

Arya is about helping people? When did that ever happen? Whom has she helped? In what way? If Arya were about helping people, before bed she'd recite a list of people she wanted to help, or things she'd like to do to help people. Her prayer each and every night is a list of people she wants to kill. That's Arya's dream. That's her prayer and the God she worships.

 

I don't think the list is important in terms of the larger story, but it is the single most important thing about Arya Stark. It's who she is. The list, and Needle.

[Avaleigh]

Yeah, Arya seems to "help" people by killing them these days. 

[SeanC]

Arya is about helping people? When did that ever happen? Whom has she helped? In what way? 

Arya has always had a strong sense of justice.  That usually manifests in punishing wrongdoers, of course, but she always wants to stick up for people being victimized as well, and her family and friends are incredibly important to her.  The idea that she would ignore an endangered member of her family when they were in danger just does not fit with her characterization.

[Avaleigh]

I'm bringing my response over to Arya's thread.

http://forums.previously.tv/topic/1364-arya-stark-valar-morghulis/#entry397866

[supposebly]

Damn, I feared for Jon ever since the beheading of sniveling Janos and how it evoked Ned beheading that deserter. Say what you will about Dani but her dragons are a lot better at getting her out of difficult situations than Ghost is. He almost never seems to be around when absolutely needed. I'm guessing he went with Sam? Although I don't really know why Jon would do that.

 

I'm not sure I want Jon to be brought back from the dead. Certainly not by Mel. I hate her and I'm sure she will mess it up. Although I am very close to rooting for the White Walkers, so him joining them might be interesting.

 

I am curious what Jamie will do. Go forth to Kings Landing where Cersei most likely will behead the young prince herself. Or go back, take Bronn and go on a different adventure? I think Myrcelle's final scene answers that one.

 

Mel didn't tell them about Shireen being burned alive and that that was why Stannis was deserted by half his army. No one except her knows unless one of the deserters shows up and tells them. So, for now, all Davos knows is that they are all dead.

 

I hope Stannis is dead. He deserves it and he was dying anyway. Unless Brianne messed up here too. Her track record really sucks.

 

I hope Bran's story will be picked up and things will start looking up for the Starks starting next season.

 

Run, Sansa run! I hope she still can after that jump. I'm quite surprised Theon found whatever was left of himself.

 

A girl becoming blind is an interesting development. I wonder if that will help her sort out her priorities. And maybe find her humanity that might care about more than a sword and a list of soon to be dead people. I can't even begin to imagine how a meeting with her siblings would go at this point.

 

That walk of shame was quite long but I think that was the point she deserved every minute of it. It got her out of there and back to stupid impulsive scheming again. 2 children down, one more to go.

[JennFrost]

I love Arya Stark! She's been my favorite character for a long time. Usually my favorite characters don't end well though :(

[ElDosEquis]

They killed Jonny, You bastards.

[The Companion]

On 6/14/2015 at 9:55 PM, anyanka323 said:

I thought that Headey did do some of the Walk of Shame but not all of it.  It was probably shot before she was pregnant or in the early stages.  If I had to guess, it was her at the beginning, the middle when she falls and we see her bloody feet and the end.  That was a worthy payoff for all of Cersei's schemes.  I hope she wins the Emmy.

 

So happy that Varys reunited with his bestie Tyrion.  I hope that Varys' little birds bring him news of Cersei and we get to hear their take on the Walk of Shame.  Tyrion knows his sister too well and probably knows she's not sorry.  She's more than likely added the High Sparrow and his acolytes, especially that Septa, to her enemies' list.  Dorne also will be added to the list when she finds out about Myrcella. 

She can add to her enemies list all she wants, but her shortsighted reactionary personality is going to make it tough to deliver. Wouldn't it be nice if she, say, had some allies with deep pockets who might have several familial ties? I am just spitballing here, but perhaps a family with some marriage aged children. Oh wait . . . She burned her only bridge there, most likely. This is what I hate about her in general, she doesn't understand the idea of allies. She wants puppets and full control, which only works if you have enough resources to stand on your own. It was a nice payoff, but I doubt it sticks. I would have LOVED if she walked into the doors to find Margaery there with long flowing locks and a gorgeous dress smirking and offering to send her home "for her safety." 

On 6/14/2015 at 10:05 PM, HumblePi said:

Um.....oh yeah, Selyse Baratheon hung herself from a tree but really, who cared?

Even in death, she was upstaged by the red witch riding away. I have to say that was a masterful scene. Each "Your Grace" brought more bad news. 

On 6/14/2015 at 11:49 PM, FishyJoe said:

This show has never been shy of showing people being killed or their heads being cut off. I don't see any good reason why they wouldn't show Stannis getting his head cut off, if that's what actually happened. 

Perhaps they didn't like the visual of one of the few surviving honorable characters cutting off the head of a broken and injured man. Not saying the worthless jerk didn't deserve it, but it might have felt less noble. 

On 6/15/2015 at 1:21 AM, Donny Ketchum said:

I know everyone's pissed at Olly, but in slight defense of him (very slight), he did watch Jon let in the people who murdered his parents last season.  I can kinda see how that pushed him to his breaking point.

I agree with this and other posts about Olly. While it is a tough life in the GOT world, he is on a small farm where the biggest worry is potatoes and suddenly everyone he ever knew is horribly slaughtered. The Thenn even made sure he knew that they would be eaten (as a tactical move to try and draw the Night Watch out). After that, he was subjected to a second brutal battle at the hands of the same group. It is hard at any age to see that there are good guys on both sides, but he is just a kid. Perhaps if he could have spent more time with some of the non combatants or perhaps had he been given more time to heal. However, at this point I get why he feels a deep betrayal. 

Overall, a lot to sit with in this episode. It is one of the times I am glad I am catching up and don't have to wait months for resolution. I hope there is hope for Jon and the rest of the Stark clan. For me, it does seem that triumph for each house and/or viewpoint ebbs and flows, so perhaps this means season 6 will have a lot of good outcomes. If not, each family may want to consider sending some heirs to a nice island somewhere for heir producin' because things are getting pretty thin.