Looking Forward, Game of Thrones Ep. 403 and The God of Pies and Wine

Hello all good WiC Sers and Sultanas, and welcome to another edition of the in-season version of Looking Forward!

Hopefully, you all have had enough time to mourn the loss of your King and are prepared to forge ahead.  The God of Pies and Wine will show you no mercy, so cut a slice and hand over your goblet.  Surely you know by now, all men must serve… dessert.       

If there is such a God of Pie and Wine, the diety was not watching over Joff on his day of matrimony.

The way I see it, this post and the ensuing weekend discussion could go one of two ways… we could continue our infinite discussion on the potential who and why.  Or, we could look forward to other events that might be taking place in the episode to come.  My choice would be the latter, but you guys run this joint, so a man will defer to your judgment.

Regardless, this is not a place for SPOILERS.  So, just don’t do it.  Not even a subtle hint.  A man (and the mods, especially Fury) thanks you in advance.

The only addition I will make to our early week discussion of the suspects and the timely (or un, depending on your POV) death of King Crossbow is this:

On the third viewing of the purple reception, something did jump out at me as being, well, suspect.  This occurrence is quite faint and leaves a lot to be desired.  But it does open the door to whom, after a couple of days of pondering, might be the guilty party.

That being said, there is a hole in my theory and so to avoid looking more of an idiot than already conceded, I shall keep said theory to oneself.  For isn’t it “better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt”?

Should we choose to skip the sleuthing and the impressions of Sherlock for this round, than the next question apparent would be, when will the show reveal the true culprit?

This won’t make you feel better:

When I was a wee-bitty child (partial Oz age reveal here), there was a huge television travesty that occurred where a mystery person shot J.R. Ewing from the show, Dallas.  If you were too young to remember it, or perhaps not even born at the time, the resulting campaign was a cash cow for CBS.

I was too young to know what the hell was going on or who Larry Hagman was.  But I distinctly recall a bevy of t-shirts throughout my small town that either said “Who Shot J.R.?” or the more popular, look-at-me version that stated “I Shot J.R.”.

This campaign would have made a ton of money on the popularity alone.  But when the show and CBS didn’t reveal the shooter for a full 8 months after the fact, it became an obsession.

CBS was not totally at fault for the long delay (although it was planned to be answered in the following season).  Hagman held out for a raise.  And SAG went on strike.  And 8 months after the shooting, the “Who Done It” episode aired to approximately 83 million viewers, which was the highest-rated television episode in the U.S. at the time.

I say all of this to say that I do NOT believe that the show runners of GoT will make us wait until next Season for the answer of who poisoned Joff, but my money is that we will not be given a definitive answer this week or next.  If in fact we are made to wait until S5 for the true explanation in-show, I have reserved the rights to the t-shirt asking “Who off’ed Joff?”  (copyright pending).  Who wants one???

What we do know is who currently holds the blame…

Episode 403, Breaker of Chains

Tyrion is in a mess, to put it lightly.  The only way I see him coming out of it is if the true assassin comes forth or is discovered.   And what are the odds of that?

The justice system doesn’t seem to be very fair and balanced in Westeros (or many other places in the real world for that matter).  A fair trial seems unlikely and besides, almost everyone that matters witnessed the festivities.  Another interesting aspect is who if anyone will stand by him during this ordeal?  Maybe his gold-handed brother?

On a related note, did Shae actually make it out of town?  Inquiring minds…

And what will become of the planned wedding between Cersei and Loras?  Jaime is somehow convinced it will never happen, but I wonder if Tywin will put a rush on the plan now that Marg and Joff are permanently off.  Will Marg marry Tommen now?  Tune in tomorrow for another episode of As The Westeros Turns.

Stannis: Another Unsullied mentioned to me that he felt like Stannis was beginning to have doubts in Melisandre, which I found quite curious.  To me, he has gone all-in with Red Velvet in allowing his brother-in-law to be burned at the stake.   And now, another leeched usurper is dead.

When will they start their trek North?  Speaking of…

The Thenns look like they see some action if you watched the ep. preview which means that business may be picking up at the Wall very soon.  Any possibility of a Mance citing this week?

Potentially the most important aspect of the show has once again been overshadowed by events at a wedding.  Bran had what seemed to be a very important vision and now knows where he and the new folk band, Hodor and the Reeds, need to go.  I wish I knew.

Their future destination has made me think about the visions at the Weirwood tree almost as much as I’ve thought about the death of Joff because I think that at some point in this tale, it will prove to be a hell of a lot more important.

The visions bounce back and forth between the past and the future; the raven underneath Winterfell; Ned sharpening Ice which no longer exists; then Ned in the dungeon; the tree standing alone; the little girl Wight from the very beginning of the series; the murder of crows; the snowy throne room; the dead horse; then back to the fall of Bran accompanied by the voice of Cersei; the dragon flying over KL; and then one last look at the tree, all while the voice says “Look for me, beneath the tree.  North.”  Beyond the visions, I’ve also been attempting to decipher whose voice that could be.  Maybe Benjen?  Did he share some of the same powers that Bran has?

I would really like to see more of his story arc sooner than later and learn more about it, but I have a feeling we won’t this episode because…

Dany and the Jedi arrive in Meereen (or at least it looks that way in the preview).  Out of all of the story lines that are active in GoT, Dany’s interests me the least.  I think Emilia does a wonderful job of her portrayal, and anyone who reads my posts regularly know that I am Team Jorah without fail.  But the freeing of the slave cities seems repetitive.  However, I am optimistic that this encounter at Meereen will re-spark an interest in Khaleesi (and pessimism is a bad habit anyway).

It looks like we will be given another chapter of The Stark and the Hound which is fine by me.  The most unlikely duo of Westeros has also become the most entertaining (what the fuck’s a Lommy?).  And since the Hound mentioned her in Ep. 1, could the duo possibly be going to see…

AUNT LYSA???

Ok, listen.  This shit is getting serious now.

In last week’s Looking Forward, I mentioned forgiveness for the Lysa no-show in Ep. 1, but warned serious repercussions if she did not show up in Ep. 2.

I’m willing to overlook since the end of Ep. 2 included such a historic incident.  But come on…

I realize my obsession with Lysa is strange and eccentric, and there may not be many that share the same connection I have with Lady Arryn.  But almost everyone wants to see Littlefinger. Yes? Almost everyone wants to see if Robin has been weaned off of the bewb.  No?

And adding insult to bewbie injury, reportedly some scenes at the Vale were filmed last year and were not included in S3 possibly due to time constraints.

So can we go to The Vale please?  Breast feeding boys unite!

That concludes this installment of Wishing Away the Weekend with Oz.  Tell me what you guys are looking forward to for the next ep. and if you celebrate Easter, then Happy Easter and here’s hoping your eggs are filled with chocolate dragons.  But please, no spoiled eggs in the comment basket.

I am relatively new to twitter, so if you would like to join me, I can be followed  @ozofthrones.

I’ll catch you guys early Monday morning in U.S. time with an all-new Unsullied Recap.

Until then, have a safe weekend, and may there always be peace in your realm.  –Oz

SPOILER NOTE:  PLEASE BE RESPECTFUL OF NON-BOOK READERS AND DO NOT POST SPOILERS IN THIS COMMENT SECTION.  

• Published on 04/19/2014 at 11:19 AM CDT
• Last updated on 10/21/2016 at 12:42 PM CDT