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    A fantasy TV show on HBO, filled with war and political intrigue. The show is based on author George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series of novels.

    Game of Thrones Episode #502: "The House of Black and White"

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    inferiorego

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    Edited By inferiorego  Staff
    No Caption Provided

    Note: There's gonna be some spoilers in here.

    Recap?

    On this week's episode, Arya is on her way to Bravos. She's taken to The House of Black and White. One door entering the large, house on the water is black and one is white. The man she seeks is not there, and Arya waits on the front step, through rain, sun and night repeating the names of those who wronged her. After some time, she throws the coin into the water and leaves.

    Petyr Baelish and Sansa Stark are in a hall eating and Podrick spots Sansa. Brienne of Tarth approaches and tells Sansa she was to watch over her as a promise to her mother. Sansa refuses to go with Brienne. Baelish asks her to stay. Brienne and Podrick ride off and are chased. They lose each other.

    Jaime heads to see Bronn, to head to Dawn to save Jaime and Cersei's daughter. Jamie says he'll get Bronn a better girl and better castle.

    Grey Worm searches for the Sons of the Harpy and finds one of their masks in a home where a man is hiding. Daenerys decides the son of he harpy will get a fair trial and not executed on the spot.

    Cersei, meanwhile, has sent out hunters to kill all the dwarves in the land in order to find/end her brother Tyrion. Cersei informs those on the high council who has new jobs. There's a bit of a mix-up and it doesn't go over too smoothly.

    Stannis gives Jon Snow the option to bow before him and become Jon Stark and lord of Winterfell. However, while talking to Samwell, Jon says he may refuse because he's pledged his life to the Watch. There are nominations for the Watch, Samwell speaks up nominate Jon Snow as commander. Everyone votes and it turns out that there is a tie between and the Maester chooses Jon Snow.

    Arya hunts pigeons in the streets of Bravos. She is approached by three thugs. She draws her sword. The three men run and the man from the house of black and white approaches. He brings her back to the house and it turns out it was Jaqen H'ghar all along.

    The Son of the Harpy is killed by a young man. He does not want the Harpys to return as the Masters. Daenerys orders him to be taken away. Daenerys speaks to the people of Meereen. The young man is brought before the people. She orders his execution. Half of the people beg for mercy. The young man is killed and the ex-slaves begin to riot and take on the rich and throwing rocks at the queen. That night, Daenerys walks outside and sees her dragon, perched on top of the pyramid, Drogon, her dragon. She gets close to touching it and it flies away.

    No Caption Provided

    Thoughts

    Arya is back! Her journey has certainly been an interesting one and it's great to see her on this week because she wasn't here last week. She seems to have reached a dead-end and hope is lost, but she never gives up. She's a compelling character and she's a character everyone will root for no matter what.

    We get to learn a bit more about Gilly's past and how two of her sisters had Grey Scale, which Shireen Baratheon has. It's a great moment which shows the differences between how the north and south treat the sick. Then again, Gilly's husband (father as well?) was a monster.

    Daenerys really screwed up by killing the man who killed the Son of the Harpy. She's got a full-scale riot on her hands now and half the city hates her. She's trying to step out of the shadows of her father, the Mad King. That's a huge moment in this episode because she finds out that her father was truly who everyone says he is and she's walking the line of becoming just like her father or the just rule she originally wanted to be.

    For the longest time, King Joffrey was my least favorite character on the show, and probably everyone else's least favorite too. There was a raging fire in my veins for that little brat and now, it's continued over to his mother, Cersei. Every word out of her mouth is enraging. There's times where we really should feel for this character as she wants to get her daughter back, but nah, I'm glad to see her upset. Serves her right.

    What's going on with Sensa? Has she gone to the dark side? I'm not just talking about her hair, obviously. Her and King Creepo, "Lord" Baelish are real tight and she has this weird allegiance to him. Obviously, she's not just going to go off with Brienne because she's a complete stranger, but doesn't she notice just how creepy and manipulative Baelish is?

    Jon Snow's time has come to be the new Commander. Jon Snow's story is full of HUGE decisions from season one to now. While lots of the characters in this world have had it pretty hard, Jon's decisions are major and lead to major life changes. He's presented a big decision by Stannis here, but the cool thing about this episode is that the major thing that happens to him here is in the hands of his brothers in the Watch. The guy has had it tough, but his accomplishments and leadership are recognized by the people. That's a pretty awesome moment.

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    AlKusanagi

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    Oh Dany, you are the worst... The crowd surfing, the ridiculous hissing in this episode. Why does she always find herself in the dumbest scenes of each season.

    Arya/5

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    comicvine_is_jericho529

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    *incoming I saw this episode a week ago comments*

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    Mr. Kamikaze

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    God, Meliasndre is a gorgeous woman...

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    deactivated-5a04a566e9ae3

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    God, why did Dany send Jorah away? He made everything better.

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    MrMazz

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    Bravoos seems like a cool place.

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    deactivated-5a04a566e9ae3

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    @dernman: There was a lot of man butt in the first episode.....if that counts as nudity.

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    MadeinBangladesh

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    loved this episode

    ~MiB

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    the_stegman

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    #10 the_stegman  Moderator

    I really think Daenerys is a bad leader. She makes so many dumb decisions.

    But yeah, this is Def 5 stars.

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    MrMazz

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    @the_stegman: How is Daenerys a bad leader? She is stuck between a rock and a hard place trying to unify and bring agreed upon rules to two sides that do not liek eachother (to say the least). She made the right decision twice this episode. Giving the Son of the Harpy a trial is the just move. Publicly executing the the councilman who killed him, defying her orders and authority, was also the right call. Unpopular decisions to be sure but she is caught between the Dragon and Mythsa, a figure who wants equality but rules through monarchy and arguably facisit dictaorship.

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    JakeN7

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    Mrmatchesmalone

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    Great episode! I could watch Arya all day! So, Jaqen can change his body size too. I wonder if Arya will be able to shift into a taller person? Can't wait to see the adventures of Jaime n Bronn. And bring on the Sand Snakes too!

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    JediXMan

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    #14 JediXMan  Moderator

    ... so this episode essentially just consisted of me freaking out during each Braavos scene. The rest of the episode is just a blur.

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    The_Kidd

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    Jaime and Bronn road trip should be entertaining.

    Jaquen H’gar & Arya are back!

    Danny should watch How to Train a Dragon.

    Danny’s decision was a bit imbecilic, there was no completely right answer if she had let him go it would be seen as weakness by Sons but it would have kept thing chill for little while longer.

    @jaken7 said:

    @comicvine_is_jericho529 said:

    *incoming I saw this episode a week ago comments*

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    ...but I did *kicks rock*

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    Crimsonlord53

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    On Sansa thoughts are there going to roll her and lady stonehart into one story.

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    JonSmith

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    My thing is: Why did Daenerys execute the dude? She was planning to hold a lawful trial for the Son of the Harpy, and he killed defenseless people as well. How hard would it have been to say, "This man killed a a prisoner, a Son of the Harpy's, defying my rule and wishes. What would you have your Queen do with him?" And if they all called for mercy, boom, public speaks, let him go. She's still loved by her people, and since she was already planning to give a trial to the Son, something the Harpies wouldn't care about anyway, she's not appearing any weaker to them than she already would have. As for setting the precedent of majority rule, state that this particular case is unique due to the politics at play, and this is to be a display of the public's opinion on the matter, telling their queen their wishes. So it's a one off thing. Everybody wins.

    But no, let's kill the dude. That'll solve everything.

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    Prospero_Locke

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    the neglect of dorne in both the show and this article hurts my heart..... otherwise a great episode.. I was on my feet like a kid on Christmas morning when it showed dorne and mentioned the sand snakes.

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    danhimself

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    #19  Edited By danhimself

    @jonsmith said:

    My thing is: Why did Daenerys execute the dude? She was planning to hold a lawful trial for the Son of the Harpy, and he killed defenseless people as well. How hard would it have been to say, "This man killed a a prisoner, a Son of the Harpy's, defying my rule and wishes. What would you have your Queen do with him?" And if they all called for mercy, boom, public speaks, let him go. She's still loved by her people, and since she was already planning to give a trial to the Son, something the Harpies wouldn't care about anyway, she's not appearing any weaker to them than she already would have. As for setting the precedent of majority rule, state that this particular case is unique due to the politics at play, and this is to be a display of the public's opinion on the matter, telling their queen their wishes. So it's a one off thing. Everybody wins.

    But no, let's kill the dude. That'll solve everything.

    because half of the city wanted him dead and the other half wanted him spared....there was no right decision....either way one of the two sides would have been pissed off

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    BlackLegRaph

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    @jonsmith said:

    My thing is: Why did Daenerys execute the dude? She was planning to hold a lawful trial for the Son of the Harpy, and he killed defenseless people as well. How hard would it have been to say, "This man killed a a prisoner, a Son of the Harpy's, defying my rule and wishes. What would you have your Queen do with him?" And if they all called for mercy, boom, public speaks, let him go. She's still loved by her people, and since she was already planning to give a trial to the Son, something the Harpies wouldn't care about anyway, she's not appearing any weaker to them than she already would have. As for setting the precedent of majority rule, state that this particular case is unique due to the politics at play, and this is to be a display of the public's opinion on the matter, telling their queen their wishes. So it's a one off thing. Everybody wins.

    But no, let's kill the dude. That'll solve everything.

    The former masters would have wanted him killed though, so it would basically be a split vote and she'd have had to break that tie anyway.

    There's also the undermining of power if everytime someone disobeys her the public would just set them free.

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    legacy6364

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    I love Arya's character, and I did not see enough of her in this episode. Daenerys messed thing up real bad. She could have locked the man away or banished him, but instead went the complete opposite route.

    But I can't really blame Daenerys. She's a new ruler, and hasn't quite grasped what that is. But inevitably she'll realize for where there's great power, there will always be those that oppose.

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    Xrated48

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    Good episode better than the first. John snow becoming commander of the night - watch was my favorite moment.

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    schillenger420

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    @mrmazz: The right call for Dany would have been to give the other guy a trial as well. Instead she just had him publicly executed. He should have gotten a fair trial, a fair jury, and a fair hanging. Instead she essentially went with the "off with his head." Approach. If she was willing to give the first guy a trial, she should have given the second one a trial as well.

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    Mooty_Pass

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    Jon Snow is sexy :)

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    Mark_Stephen

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    I think Sansa is just looking for a way to survive and she knows what Balish wants, but what choice does she have now? Imagine what Cersi would do to her?

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    Xrated48

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    #26  Edited By Xrated48

    @mrmazz: The right call for Dany would have been to give the other guy a trial as well. Instead she just had him publicly executed. He should have gotten a fair trial, a fair jury, and a fair hanging. Instead she essentially went with the "off with his head." Approach. If she was willing to give the first guy a trial, she should have given the second one a trial as well.

    I agree she should had given him a fair trial. Hopefully when Tyrion arrives he helps her out a lot with dealing decisions such as this

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    Lone_Wolf_and_Cub

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    There are rumors that the 3 Dragons symbolize the 3 siblings. Tyrion, John Snow and Dany. My friend has read all the books an has a suspicion that those 3 are related by blood. Supposedly a The Mad King raped Tyrion's mother and that's why Tywin tried poisoning his wife to abort Tyrion while he was in the womb. Only this plan backfired by killing his wife instead an probably caused Tyrion to become a dwarf. I'm not sure but I believe John a Snow really isn't Ed Stark's Bastard but a blood relative of Dany. That would make them all siblings. These are just speculations but they do sound believable.

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