The Small Council: A final look back at “The Gift”

“The Gift” kicked off the countdown to the finale as several plots sprang to life—Daenerys and Tyrion met face to face, Cersei got arrested, and Tyene Sand performed a three-minute striptease. Well, that last one might not have moved the story forward much, but two out of three ain’t bad. The Small Council sounds off on “The Gift” below.

DAN: A number of fans have criticized Season 5 for moving too slowly. I’d argue that there’s been a lot of value in the quieter moments that made up the first half of the season, but will admit there’s something satisfying about the kind of dramatic forward momentum we got in “The Gift.” By my count, this episode paid off two plots the series has been setting up for weeks. First, Tyrion and Daenerys finally met. That’s what Tyrion set out to do in the premiere, and the producers deserve credit for cutting his meandering journey from A Dance with Dragons down to size. More importantly, the show finally did right by the Cersei’s story, something it’s struggled with for weeks.

I’ve been complaining for a while now that the Faith Militant have been coming across as too thin. The High Sparrow’s speech to Lady Olenna, the one about the many and the few, went a ways toward giving the movement some shape and weight.

Olenna came close to the point when she questioned why the High Sparrow was zeroing in on her grandchildren when there was a whole city full of sinners out there. The sparrows represent a populist uprising as much as they do a religious one—they’re a reaction to all the high lords and ladies who care more about playing the game of thrones than taking care of their subjects, the French Revolution by way of the Protestant Reformation. With some of those details (but by no means all of them—see Katie’s response for how the show could be taking it further) in place, Cersei’s smaller-scale tragedy felt far more satisfying, and I’m looking forward to seeing where this plot goes for the first time all year.

There was a lot to chew on in “The Gift,” but I want to touch on the scene between Bronn and Tyene before I give up the floor. Now, this scene mainly functioned as an excuse to show Rosabell Sellers’ breasts, but it also marked the moment when the Sand Snakes stopped acting like action figures and started acting like characters. As Tyene began her seduction, her sisters looked at each in exasperation, as if to say, “There Tyene goes again, always poisoning men and exhorting them for compliments before handing over the antidote.” It’s an awfully weird quirk, but at least it’s a quirk, which is something these three have been sorely missing.

This was a busy episode—I didn’t even mention any of the goings-on up north. What did you guys make of “The Gift?”

KATIE: I was pretty overwhelmed by “The Gift” — not in a bad way, but rather in the sense that the episode set up a lot for us to look forward to. By most scenes’ end, the events we just saw remained largely unresolved. While Game of Thrones is an intriguing series on the whole, “The Gift” leaves us with more questions than usual, especially considering we only have three episodes to go to find answers:

Will Stannis choose to sacrifice his daughter? How will Daenerys handle her reunion with Handsomest Man On the Planet Ser Jorah? Will Jon need to use Sam’s dragonglass, and what is Sansa planning with the bung reamer (which, as it turns out, is the mystery object I couldn’t identify in my Unsullied recap)? Will Bronn form some alliance with the Sand Snakes, and what will that mean for Myrcella? Will Cersei be able to talk herself out of the mess she’s landed herself in (probably not), and what exactly will that mess culminate in?

On that last note, one thing I wonder is what impact, if any, Cersei’s imprisonment will have on Loras and Margaery. Petyr seemed pretty self-congratulatory while reassuring Lady Olenna, and while self-congratulation is sort of the man’s forte, I would still think there’s a reason behind it. But the Tyrells aren’t just contending with Cersei now, but the Faith Militant as well, so I don’t really see how Cersei’s downfall will benefit them at this point. While I’m looking forward to Cersei’s comeuppance as much as anyone, I’d like to see the Faith Militant get theirs as well.

I’d also still like to see an on-screen explanation as to where the Sparrows came from. I had to ask book-readers for that backstory, which, if included on the show, would really help to explain and flesh out the Sparrows’/Faith’s motivations and overall purpose. Right now they still seem like religious zealots who just popped out of the ground for no discernible reason, which is unsatisfactory and really, just bad storytelling. The High Sparrow likes to hear himself talk enough, you’d think he could tell us a little about this history. I suppose it’s a moot point by now, but the more action they take, the more viewers would benefit from a little origin story. Antagonists without foundation just come off like basic douchebags.

DAVID (RAZOR): I thought Episode 507 was one of the better episodes of this season. Anytime you have a potential time-space-continuum-crashing extinction event like Daenerys Targaryen meeting Tyrion Lannister for the first time, it’s a good thing! I also really enjoyed the subtle nods to book readers. It’s almost as if they knew we’ve been out of sorts with this season, and decided to throw us a few bones. Not only did we have Maester Aemon uttering that tear inducing line “Egg, I dreamed I was old,” but we also got Left and Right (Lady Olenna’s guards), and Septa freaking Unella!

As with most Game of Thrones episode titles, “The Gift” had a number different meanings. After all, what else would you call Ramsay’s very thoughtful gift of the flayed old woman to his beloved wife, Sansa? The gift of seeing badass Ghost snarl his way onto the screen was neat. Or how about the gift of sexytime for Sam from Gilly? Perhaps the gift of a beautiful body in the form of Tyene, plus the gift of life for Bronn in the form of the antidote is more your speed.

Because of all this, “The Gift” definitely quieted my restless soul regarding what I have perceived to be an all around weak season. Now I can’t wait to see what happens at Hardhome, and if the spoilers I’ve personally seen are any indication, Episode 508 might just be in the running for top 5 greatest Game of Thrones episodes ever.

ANI: Katie, if you have to ask the book readers, that means the show has failed you. I hate to be so blunt about it, but it makes me kind of sad that the Faith Militant really haven’t been properly explained on screen. It also, for the first time, made me aware of how things from the books that I assumed would not work on screen were actually vital to the narrative.

One of those things is Brienne and Pod wandering the Riverlands, while Jaime heads to Harrenhal (again!) to clean up the messes that resulted from all this endless war. Neither are especially cinematic—Jaime’s story in particular is very “in his head” type stuff. But one thing they do both run into a lot of is men of the kind that Arya and the Hound saw over the course of last season: men who are dying because they are the weak being preyed upon by the strong; farmers starving to death, or frantically trying to put away grain as the first flakes of snow creep down the continent; and angry commoners who’ve lost everything, living in hovels and latching on to traveling priests.

That last part is so important in explaining the Faith Militant in King’s Landing. Yes, these people seem to have sprung out of the ground, but the place they’ve really come from isn’t Flea Bottom. They are those farmers, those homeless, those starving, traveling to the capital in search of protection, or following preachers like the High Sparrow. I understand why the show chose not to have our characters aimlessly wander, and why they thought  sending Jaime to Dorne might solve the Dornish Problem (spoiler alert, it didn’t work). But in doing so, they robbed the Faith Militant of important context, and have to lean completely on Pryce to give the movement some kind of authority. It’s a good thing he’s a great actor, as a lesser one would not have brought it forward the way he did this week.

• Published on 05/29/2015 at 3:57 PM CDT
• Last updated on 10/21/2016 at 1:04 PM CDT