It Can Always Get Worse - Game of Thrones - Season 5, Episode 7

If there is a Murphy's Law of Westeros, it's that things Can Always Get Worse.  You can be a teenaged girl imprisoned in your husband's bedroom, covered in bruises and raped every night.  But it can get worse, because you can be hauled out of your prison to see your partially flayed maid and the candle you thought was going to save you in your cruelly abusive husband's hand.

Sansa appears to have only two things in her favor right now; Ramsay still doesn't know it's Brienne of Tarth who waits for a signal, and Stannis is coming.  She also has a bit of hard-lost knowledge: Reek is not her ally, even if it could mean his own freedom.    When Ramsay showed her the bloody, strapped up body of her maid, complaining the woman died before his torture could get any information, who wasn't reminded of Joffrey showing her Ned Stark's head?  Sansa certainly was.

Stannis and Davos bitch and moan about the weather holding up their march towards Winterfell, killing horses, and driving sellswords to sneak away.  Stannis is desperate not to spend winter at Castle Black.  He's also desperate to win, because while he rejects Melisandre's request for Shireen as a human sacrifice to the Lord of Light, he knows that Melisandre's last spell with king's blood killed two of his enemies.  Or, so he thinks.  Is her magic worth his daughter?  Not only is Shireen his beloved daughter, which we know; he's also Stannis' only legal heir.  If he wins the Iron Throne by spilling Shireen's blood, who will reign after him?  Stannis has shown himself a good long-term thinker; surely, this occurred to him?

The Queen of Thorns tries to have it out with the High Sparrow.  It take a few seconds to register that King's Landing's Pope is scrubbing floors, but is that really a surprise?  We saw, last week, that he still dresses in the same simple coarse and loose clothes he wore on the streets.  The High Sparrow, who still lacks an actual name, wields moral authority likes it's the King's Seal.  The High Sparrow threatens to expose that the noble families of Westeros don't really believe in the gods they appear to worship, if Margaery and Loras don't go to trial, and don't pay for crimes that have nothing to do with the running of the Realm.

Olenna Tyrell tries every trick; she tries to see if the High Sparrow can be bribed.  Look at him, Olenna, what do you think?  She tries pointing out how little she cares about the rules they broke.  To be fair, Loras's homosexuality isn't a crime anymore and the audience completely understands why both he and Margaery have lied about it.  But, the High Sparrow is obsessed with using the gods' laws to bring down the nobles of Westeros who think they're above those laws.  He makes that clear when Olenna threatens to stop feeding King's Landing.  High Sparrow points out that class warfare won't go well for her.  When desperate, hungry people outnumber you 100 to 1, don't stop feeding them.

Olenna, brushed aside by the guy scrubbing the floors, sneaks off to Littlefinger in his vandalized, closed brothel.  Olenna wonders what the point of killing Joffrey was if her own grandchildren face execution by religious fanatics.  Littlefinger offers her something to prevent her despair. Does he have Olyvar, the prostitute who incriminated Loras?  Without Olyvar, High Sparrow has very little of a case.  Notice how everyone has to go to Littlefinger to get their problem solved.  Olenna is right to suspect Littlefinger's appearance in the capital just as she needs a favor.

Tommen appears just as lost as Olenna, fasting and brooding about his own helplessness while he beloved wife rots in prison.  Cersei tries to rein Tommen back in as her baby boy, but Tommen openly declares his love for Margaery and that he can't live without her.  Cersei's face visibly cracks as she realizes Margaery can work on Tommen even when she's languishing in a prison cell.

Cersei decides to visit Margaery herself, to make sure that Margaery really is in prison and not traipsing around Tommen's chambers.  Margaery is bitter and dirty and angry and defiant, throwing Cersei's leftover venison back at her, openly calling her Dowager Queen Mother-in-law a bitch.  Cersei is riding high as she returns to the High Sparrow, as the two confer on whether the Tyrell kids will get the Mother's Mercy or the Father's Judgement.  Cersei is all for Judgement.

The High Septon may scrub the floors of the main, ornate, Sept above-ground.  But it's in the dark and dank-looking stone chamber underground that he actually worships in, and it's here that he and Cersei confer.  High Sparrow has shown in two episodes that he's not the kind of guy to be used by the powerful; he all but declared moral war against the rich to Olenna.  So, why is he so nice to Cersei?

Oh, it's so he can do what we've been waiting for for four seasons now:  throw Cersei into prison.  Lancel, who we all know was going to confess the affair and the murder of Robert Baratheon, stands next to his new leader while septas (basically, nuns) drag Cersei away.  They are stern and unafraid when Cersei threatens them with death for having the nerve to make the shows' audience wildly happy.  One wonders when Margaery will know that Cersei is her new neighbor.  One wonders when Tommen will find out his whole family has either left him or been thrown in prison.  Will he turn to Olenna for advice?

Jaime, while his son Tommen struggles in King's Landing, must now deal with his daughter while calling her his niece.  Jaime insists that she's not safe in Dorne; Myrcella tells Jaime that she's done obeying her mother.  Juliet, I mean Myrcella, insists that she loves Romeo- I mean, Tyrstane.  Notice how both Baratheon kids are pulling away from their elders to favor their own loves.

Bronn thinks he's making a similar love connection with Ellia Sand, who turns out to be quite the poisoner.  Bronn nearly dies in a Dornish prison, saved only because he knows when to tell a woman she's the fairest of them all.

Dany is enjoying some pillow talk with Daario, despite being engaged to Hizdhar zo Loraq.  Daario admits being jealous, but Dany reassures him with promises and nuzzling that he's still the man she wants.   Dany thinks marrying Loraq will cement a bond with Mereen's old families.  Daario suspects Loraq is running the Sons of the Harpy himself.  Now that he's got an impressive fiancee, Loraq would suspend the gang's violence to cement his bond with Mereen's new ruler.

Dany isn't convinced Loraq is her secret nemesis, but it's entirely believable that Loraq's willingness to get along with the new queen and new order is an act.  Maybe his act is believable enough to keep Dany from considering Daario's advice to simply murder all of the old, noble families of Mereen when the Main Fighting Pits re-open, and they're all assembled out of tradition.  Dany doesn't want to be her father.  Daario insists that playing fair will get her killed.

Jorah and Tyrion are still alive, thanks mostly to Tyrion's quick thinking and talking.  When Jorah is auctioned off, a humiliation he bares stoically, Tyrion manages to convince Jorah's new owner to buy him as well, by managing to beat his young captor with the chain holding him.  Mildly impressed, the new owner buys Tyrion on a whim and hands both new slaves some pocket change that's supposed to last them...  forever.

We soon learn that forever isn't supposed to be that long, maybe a day at most.  Jorah and Tyrion will be the opening act of the big Games of Mereen.  These opening acts are expected to kill most of the "fighters", while the truly brutal will survive to be the Main Attraction.  The Games are probably held in honor of the re-opening of the fighting pits, and it's important to see how Mereen has just ignored Dany's rule that only free men can fight there.

In fact, Dany would have little idea of how The Games actually go if Hizdhar hadn't cajoled his new fiancee into going to these introductory "fights".  Hiz insists that Mereen's leaders always go as a PR stunt for the fighters who are hastily assembled for her, their "manager" completely desperate to please Dany.  Dany walks in like a fashion designer attending a WWE event.  She's bored at first, until the blood is spilt so close her it's a wonder her dress isn't stained.  Mereen's noblemen, including Hizdhar, enjoy the slaughter.  Dany is horrified, and is about to walk out in a huff when one fighter decides to emerge from the dugout in an unholy rage that defeats every other warrior in the pit.

While Jorah fights his way back to his Khaleesi, Tyrion fights to get off the bench and to see the queen he's journeyed so far for.  He flails until an enterprising fellow helps him with his chain.  Tyrion manages to emerge from the dugout just in time to save Jorah; Jorah and Tyrion both insist that Tyrion is Jorah's offering to Daenarys Targaryen.  She's repulsed at first, until she hears the name "Lannister".  She may not know much about Westeros, but she knows the family name of the Kingslayer.

Sam Tarwell manages to do well at Castle Black, even after Jon parades a peaceful and unchained Tormund Giantsbane to the ships that will bring the Free Folk to Westeros.  Alliser seems content to just air his opinion, one last time.  When Aemmon Targaryen's watch ends during the night, as he mistakes Sam for his younger brother, Aegon The Unlikely, Sam knows that Aemmon's death is the end of an era for Westeros.  Aemmon would be Dany's great-great-uncle, the brother of her great-grandfather.  He would have remembered hearing of not just the fall of the Mad King, but the fiery death of Aegon The Unlikely, with most of the Targaryen royal family, almost two generations ago.

Alliser decides to bully Sam a bit about losing his mentor, but the real trouble comes from two of the younger Brothers, who decide that it's time to rape Gilly.  Both she and Same try to fight them off, and fail.  Her spirit and Sam's bravery are the only good things happening until Sam stands and shows them that he was just stalling for time.  Jon may have left, but Ghost didn't!  Maybe realizing how vulnerable his friend would be, Jon left someone behind to guard his allies.

Despite the fact that Ghost saved them, not Sam, Gilly decides that tonight is the night for Sam, and we leave them having the first consensual sex either has ever had.  Will their love last?  Or, will Gilly be driven away?

And, where the fuck is Rickon?  We know, from a season and a half ago, that he was bound for Last Hearth, the home of the Umbar family.  Hasn't Stannis reached that place, yet, to discover there's a Stark to put back in Winterfell?  Rallying for Rickon has the potential to put the North in Stannis' hands.  The bold and tough men of the North haven't risen against Roose, but would they if they all knew a male Stark lived?

Pants On Fire - Game of Thrones - Season 5, Episode 6

An entire episode about lies.  Arya learns how to lie, Tyrion remembers how to lie, Cersei actually gets Loras and Margaery to lie.  Ramsay turns out to have lied to Littlefinger, who lies non-stop to Cersei.  At this point, the only honest people of Westeros are in Dorne.  Really.

Arya has been washing body after body after body.  And she's good at it. But there's always a door she doesn't get to go through.  This one leads farther down, below the House of Black and White.  And Mean Girl won't let her cross through to see what happens to bodies she washes.  Arya decides that learning how to play the Game of Faces will get her through that door.

So, she tries playing with Mean Girl, only to find that it's basically a game where you lie and try to get away with it.  Mean Girl is kind of a master of it, and Jaqen demonstrates later that Arya can't even sneak in a little lie with him.  That's a lot of hits with a switch, and they hurt worst at statements Arya thought were true.  Jaqen accuses her of lying to herself.

When Arya is free from Jaqen's switch and scrubbing floors, a father brings his sick, suffering daughter to the House of Black and White.  It's a terrible choice he's making, and he knows it.  But no healer has ever been able to heal her.  And she's clearly suffering.  Her face shows she gets no sun and no rest.  Unable to even sit up, she lounges along the side of the pool of "water". Does this kid know what's going to happen?  Apparently not, because she swallows whole Arya's story of being healed by the water from the pool.  Jaqen watches as Arya manages to lie successfully and gently gives the kid her release from sickness.

Arya is washing the girl's body as Jaqen approaches.  He says nothing, but leaves the door to the downstairs squarely open.  Arya doesn't need an engraved invitation, she descends into the bowels of the House of Black and White after him.  Stair after stair is lined with pots of candles, lighting the walkway but not much else.  It's quiet.  The chamber at the bottom is dim, with fewer candles illuminating a series of structures.

Each structure contains numerous niches, all displaying a human head.  Vast numbers of heads fill the room, and you realize, The House of Black and White is making a many-faced god.  Jaqen asks her; is she ready to give up what makes Arya Arya?  Is she ready to give up her face, her loves, her hates?  No, Jaqen says, she's not ready to become no one, but someone else.  Maybe after becoming enough other people, Arya will eventually be nobody.

Why not just join Facebook?

Tyrion and Jorah are rediscovering who they are.  Barristan Selmy left Westeros before news of Jeor Mormont's death could reach King's Landing; but Tyrion would have heard of it all.  And it's his sad job to tell Jorah how his father died.  Does Jorah feel any guilt?  That was supposed to be him on The Wall, not his father.  Instead, Jorah strides along the coast, towards Mereen,  Tyrion follows, and wants to know what happens when Jorah has put a teenager who hasn't seen Westeros in ten years on the Iron Throne.  And he wants to know what's in it for Jorah?  Jorah's answer, that Dany will rule, short and curt, reveals that he's still super devoted to her.  Dude, Jorah, she's totally moved on.

Tyrion can't point this out, which is just as well, since they've got slavers to deal with.  They're captured by some real jerks, who want Jorah for a galley slave and Tyrion dead.  But, it's Tyrion who saves the day with his fast tongue, playing the massive-not-to-be-believed-dwarf-cock card.  Who, exactly, pays for the cock of a dwarf?  And would you really want to touch the money after they've handled it?

I'm a tripod, dude

Way back in Dorne, teen lovebirds Trystane Martell and Myrcella Baratheon make googly eyes at each other and Trystane tries to get to second base.  It's hard to say if he really loves her, although she clearly hearts him.  Jaime and Bron manage to get to the Water Gardens, just outside of the Martell home Sunspear, at the same time that Ellaria Sand, and her lover's daughters don the stupidest veil/masks ever.  They're going to they're uncle's house, and they think no one will recognize them?  Jaime and Bron's disguises are even more outlandish, especially when their plan is ride in behind some merchants, and then try to sneak the horses away.  In real life, we can hear the horses wandering away, through the estate.

The awkward confrontation is cartoonish, and it's hard to say what Myrcella should do when her "uncle" and some unknown friend show up to break up Trystane and Myrcella.  Myrcella doesn't understand why she's being whisked away, Trystane tries to take out his sword.  But, sadly, the thing's mostly for show and Jaime quickly knocks Tigerbeat Martell to the ground.  Jaime is ready to whisk Myrcella away when the Sand Snakes strike.  The fight between the three women and two men while Myrcella frets over Trystane resembles a fight scene from an early 80s television show.

Does this sword go with this robe?

Thank the gods that Areo Hotah, bodyguard to Doran Martell, breaks up the whole thing quickly before it can get any more trite.   Ellaria turns out to be the most incompetent ringleader when she surrenders, trying to look scared and helpless. The Sand Snakes question Areo's loyalty to Dorne, but Areo is from Norvos, a city across the sea.  His only loyalty is to Doran Martell.  Who, wants Myrcella to stay with his son as he was promised by the Lannisters.  Bronn tries getting in a snide compliment to Ellia Sand, who will try to rip him apart later.

Olanna, the Tyrell matriarch, returns to King's Landing, shit-smell and all.  Confronting Cersei is useless, as Cersei feigns having no power in anything at all.  Olanna reminds Cersei who provides the money and food to King's Landing.  Cersei looks unconcerned, but maybe she should be.  If she gets the Tyrell heir killed, Tommen might find himself divorced.  And Cersei will be left to rule a starving city.

With her uncle returning to the Lannister's home, Casterly Rock, her allies are dwindling and she's pissing off the most important one.  Olanna reminds Cersei that this is not how her dad rolled. Cersei has more important scheming to do with Littlefinger, who returns to intimidation tactics by the Faith Militant, Lancel in the lead.  Lancel tries threatening Littlefinger, as he owned the city's most expensive brothel.  But, Littlefinger's not scared, especially since he doesn't even believe in Lancel's gods.

Littlefinger sits down with Cersei and assures her he's got total control of the Vale, which is mostly true.  He's got the other lords and ladies of the Vale in his pocket.  He then proceeds to totally sell out Sansa Stark, detailing that she's, somehow, back at Winterfell and about to marry into the Boltons.  Cersei hasn't heard anything of Sansa's whereabouts, and is desperate to have her head on a spike.  Littlefinger says she needs only a little patience; Stannis has departed The Wall and is heading toward Winterfell.  Littlefinger tells her to let Stannis and Roose duke it out, and attack the weakened victor.  And then she can have Sansa's head on a spike.

Littlefinger, knowing Cersei lacks an army, offers the warriors of the Vale to do the job.  Is his plan to march the soldiers of the Vale north in time to defeat Stannis, then cement his deal with Roose?  Or, is his plan to march on Winterfell, arrive just in time to claim it and Sansa for himself?    Either way, his price for doing all this for Cersei is to be named Warden of the North.  Cersei agrees, thinking she's ahead on the deal.

Whatever Littlefinger wants to do to bring down the Lannisters, he better do it soon, and in coordination with the Queen of Thorns, because Margaery and Loras Tyrell are in deep shit.  The High Sparrow has Olivar, from the raid on Littlefinger's brothel, and Olivar uses his knowledge of Loras' birthmarks to incriminate Loras in homosexual sex.   Olivar also testifies that Margaery knew of Loras' secret sex life, despite her testimony that she knew nothing of any of the charges against her brother.

Cersei is relaxed as she watches her plan to get both Tyrell kids executed.  Tommen is completely useless, perhaps worried that he's got to look like he cares about morality so the word "incest" is never uttered in his presence.  Margaery is livid when she looks back to Tommen, who looks like he'd rather be hearing about anything else than his brother-in-law's sex life.  Olanna looks at Cersei, shocked that she'd conspire against her own daughter-in-law.  And, furious that Cersei means to eliminate any ally who might become more powerful then Cersei.  Olanna, in one look, decides it's on.

You wanna' play, bitch?  Let's play.

Was using the High Sparrow and the Faith Militant this way a good idea?  She certainly thinks so, as she can simply say she's doing the will of the king in giving them weapons and judicial power.  Tommen will lose a shitload of popularity with the people for executing a popular queen, and he'll have to rely on his mother and her protection even more.  But, Lancel, as we saw in the premiere episode, has a ton of shit on her.  And, he's the most militant of the Faith Militant.  It's only a matter of time before he decides that Margaery needs a cellmate.   And, it's only a matter of time before Olanna decides to use the uncertain parentage of Tommen against him.

Winterfell gets to see a wedding.  It's not as ornate as a wedding at Baelor's Sept in King's Landing.  It starts with Sansa getting a bath before the big wedding night, courtesy of her betrothed sending Miranda to do the honors.  Miranda takes the opportunity to scare Sansa with stories of Ghosts of Ramsay's Girlfriends Past, but Sansa grows tired of hearing a maid try to threaten her.  She only puts up with abuse from other nobles, not serving girls.

Reek shows up, allowed to be Theon for a night, and Sansa is reminded that this traitor to her house has to escort her to wed the son of the guy who killed a brother they both loved very much.  Theon looks like he gets no joy out of any of this, and only wants to do it to avoid a beating.  Sansa marches along with him trailing after.  It's not that she doesn't want an arm to hold on to; but all the arms available belong to men she will never trust.

The wedding is just as creepy as can be, taking place after sunset, with lanterns along the way, not unlike the candles that lit Arya's descent earlier.  The godswood, where Northerners worship, has a small group, including her future in-laws.  No one looks happy.  Theon has to give away his foster sister to a guy he wouldn't give a dog to.  Ramsay has to appear gentle and loving.  And Sansa has to fight every instinct to run away and hide from the whole world when she takes forever to accept Ramsay as her husband.

Still trying to figure out what I'm getting out of all this....

Ramsay, now married forever to Sansa, escorts her to his chamber, which is going for that 70s love hideaway look.  Ramsay himself has decided that it's totally time to break his promise to Littlefinger and become the Bolton version of Joffrey, which Sansa realizes a little too late.  Sansa reminds Ramsay that Tyrion, her first husband, was a kind man.  Ramsay takes that in for a second, then lets Sansa knows that kindness isn't his thing.  It's like old times when Sansa has to take whatever a powerful man dishes out to her.  And, Reek has to watch as Ramsay crudely rapes Sansa.

It's painful and worse because it's in the home they shared together in past happiness. He watched Sansa grow up, he probably feels she's more his sister than his own sister is.  And, now he has to watch Ramsay treat her like property good for only her name.

Is Sansa done being threatened in her own home?  Can she deal with her hatred of Reek long enough to get his help getting out of there, or getting rid of the Boltons?  Sansa wants to be done being abused; is she willing to act, even if it's a risk?  Look for the highest window in the broken tower to get some use.  And soon.

Her Biggest Supporter - Scandal - Season 4, Episode 22

Imagine a version of Sleeping Beauty in which Aurora frees herself from Malificent's curse, slays the dragon, and gets her Prince in the end.  Maya Pope feels that Olivia's story has been too much about Olivia needing a dragon to slay.  Half the last three seasons has been Olivia realizing she even had a dragon to slay in the first place.  Then she wavered between trying to remove the dragon from her life or make her peace with it.

Halfway through Season 4, she realizes she will just have to end B-613 and bring a hammer down on Rowan.  Olivia used her Gladiators, always happy to help, she brought Fitz on board, she even tried to get a KGB agent to finally end Rowan's reign over American espionage and her own life.  In the end, she ended Rowan the same way the Feds busted Al Capone:  the money.  And she played a little dirty.

Rowan starts the episode in fine form, at the top of his game, blackmailing Mellie the Senate candidate right in front of Lizzy Bear with Lizzy not even realizing what was happening.  And Mellie, trained for years in smiling through catastrophe as a politician's wife, uses that to try to bluff her way through Rowan's takeover.  Rowan, however, has a red button that will trigger the end of Fitz's career and her dream of a career.

You know all that bad shit you've done?  So do I!

She manages to get away from Rowan, but only after Rowan browbeats her into finding out what exactly Rowan wants.  And while Fitz and Lizzy Bear complete their last-minute veteran strategizing, both seem confident the race is theirs to lose.  Only Mellie looks like she's losing.  With so much at stake, she decides to make Lizzy Bear complicit in her crime by have her provide her the list of names Rowan wants so much.  What names?

Olivia is pacing the lobby of a Federal building while Rosen's attentive and horrified grand jury gets the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth from Jake Ballard.  Olivia tells them to expose Operation Remington, as the downing of a civilian airliner after the terrorist had been removed but the bomb hadn't is probably the most shocking of B-613 and Rowan's orders.  The grand jury's reaction is so intense Rosen is already anticipating their indictments.  No one has warned Fitz this is coming.

In fact, Olivia does just opposite.  She calls Fitz, in what is to presumably be the last of their phone chats.  He's on his way to signing his police camera law, named for Brandon Parker, with Clarence watching, where Brandon was shot down.  Fitz is glad he got a law passed that will mean something; Olivia is glad his Presidency will be remembered for more than Fitz's resignation.  She sounds nostalgic for their friendship already as she says good-bye.

She said good-bye too soon.  Huck is panicking as he brings Olivia to the Federal Building's garage where, Jake is speechless, Rosen is openly puking (looking like he's been poisoned for a second, but no), and the jurors are all seated in their bus, presumably going somewhere for lunch or something.  Blood spatter from the massacre is all over the seats and windows and victims.  The entire fucking grand jury is horribly dead.  The entire list of them.

Rosen freaks out.  He survived the cover-up of Project Defiance.  He survived Jake killing James and two whistle-blowers right next to him.  He survived Rowan's attempt to kill him with his own secretary.  Rosen may have the country's biggest case of survivor's guilt.  Ever.  Especially when the stenographer from the grand jury hearing room is killed while walking a dog she never had.  Rosen is finally, fearfully, ready to call it quits.  He can't even keep the grand jury safe.  How could he ever take any of this to trial?

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go wet my pants

Lizzy Bear and Mellie are having their own panic attacks as the news of a grand jury massacre goes live on TV;  they realize why "Damascus Bainbridge" wanted that list of names.  They've just made themselves accessories to a major homicide.  As the person who got Lizzy Bear into this mess, Mellie has little choice but to roam the White House halls, desperate to explain to Cy.  Cy is barking orders and threats to people, in fine form, until Mellie gives him his emergency of the day.

Cy stops his routine long enough to sit Mellie down in his office and decline to do anything.  Mellie is supposed to be transitioning to being someone else's problem.  Until Mellie mentions Operation Remington, one of "Damascus's" blackmail points.  She has no idea what Remington was, but Cy does, and the realization that Damascus is going for Fitz as well as Mellie puts him in the zone.  He shoos Mellie away, telling her he'll deal with it.

Olivia doesn't know what to do as she paces the corridor outside her office.  Comforting her is useless.  She's angry, she's desperate, she knows that she can't live her own life until Rowan is removed from it.  She is a tiger pacing her cage, wanting her prey but unable to pounce.  So, she decides to visit the one person who's managed to fool Rowan, even if only briefly.

Maya Pope has no desire to be helpful.  She instead tells Olivia that this crusade is entirely manufactured.  Olivia is only trying to end Rowan because she's making a big deal out of everything.  If she would just accept that her parents had priorities other than her childhood, she wouldn't be so worked up about Rowan now.  Olivia is about to walk out on her mother when Maya finally offers something she can use; find Rowan's enemies, and expose Rowan to them.

Cy is making his own visit, confronting Rowan, or, rather, Elijah Pope, humble paleontologist at the Smithsonian, while working on some bones.  Cy wants to be judgemental, but Rowan points out killing the grand jury was as much a favor for Fitz as protection for himself.  Cy can't disagree with this, and also can't turn down Rowan when he demands that Cy shut down Olivia's next attack on him.

Which turns out to be at CIA headquarters.  Holding one of Rosen's remaining banker's boxes of B-613 files, Olivia's plan is to go to Rowan's competition, CIA Director Lowery, she of the horrified shock during Olivia's captivity.  Lowery won't like that B-613 infiltrated her own organization.  Lowery pretends to not believe Olivia's story, but file after file turns out to explain something Lowery couldn't, and Olivia realizes Lowery always knew B-613 was in her organization.  Lowery knew, but she had no idea it was so extensive and when Cy tries to get her to help him cover it up, she resists on the grounds that she feels her toes were stepped on.

So much of Olivia's importance finally makes sense, as well as Cy's desperation that Olivia be killed rather than turned over to any enemy of the US.  Cy isn't successful, at first.  But he plays on Lowery's fears of people more powerful than her, and Olivia and Jake are hauled off to Federal Prison.  The files Olivia brought in are no doubt destroyed while Jake and Olivia stew in separate cells.  Is Olivia reminded of her kidnapping?  She should be, especially when she's brought into an interrogation room facing a video camera, not unlike the one Ian used.

Cy, before confronting either Olivia or Jake, lines Rosen up.  Already scared, Rosen expects Cy to arrest him.  Oh, no, Rosen.  You're too useful.  Cy instead threatens to do terrible things to Abby while going on about pressure points, leading one to wonder, what's Cy's pressure point?  The daughter he never sees?  No, it's Cy's job and access to power.  Cy likes running the country behind the scenes, accountable only to Fitz, serving him and himself and no one else.

Does Rosen go between Jake and Olivia repeatedly, or does he manage to convince Olivia to sign first, then trudge to Jake's prison to spend some time with him?  We know Olivia signs first, mostly because Rosen tells her they'll make Jake and his family's life miserable until she does.  What a reversal.  Rosen was, for so long, the moral impetus to stop Rowan.  Now he's thoroughly beaten and trying to get Jake and Olivia beaten, too.  

Lizzy Bear pops in on Mellie, wondering if that whole conspiracy-to-commit-murder thing has been handled.  Mellie lets her know they're off whatever hook Mellie got them on.  It's not enough for Lizzy Bear, who gently nudges Mellie to tell her of the bullet they dodged by giving Damascus Bainbridge that list.

While Mellie tells all, Cy finishes up the clean-up job; he sends Jake and Olivia home after getting their ironclad vow of silence; he gives Maya a deal she doesn't even have to think about.  She's happy to sign and be released and free and probably out of the country by dinnertime.  Back at the White House, situation handled, Abby tries asking questions, wanting to know just what he's been up to all afternoon on such short notice.  Cy brushes her off.  He swears off having a soul, which is where he's been going ever since getting over his grief at losing James.  

Mellie and Lizzy have done all they can do; Fitz puts the finishing touches on their campaign, which the two look like is already won.  His speech to important backers the night before the election is everything a devoted husband would say, and it's easy for Mellie to think that, at last, she and Fitz could have a real marriage.  Or, at least, a real partnership.  That there's still some affection down there that they could nurture again.

While Fitz congratulates Mellie and heaps praise on her, Rowan has his own congrats for a recovering-from-prison Olivia.  While trying to relax in bed, Rowan lets her know over the phone that she's won, in a way.  Rowan has decided to kill B-613 for his sake.  Yes, an agency Rowan claimed was vitally important to The Republic, without which representative government would fall, can now be dismantled for the convenience of Command.  Rowan's liquidation strategy is to let Not-Virgil do all the work of killing what few agents remained.  This, I assume, includes Russell.  Although, if it did, why bother freeing him?  Why not leave the body for Huck and Quinn to fluff 'n fold?  

Not-Virgil then gets to torch the boxes of B-613 files stolen at the mid-season finale.  Yes, those finally make a brief appearance until they're up in smoke.  Didn't Not-Virgil realize that Rowan wasn't going to stop liquidating B-613 until Not-Virgil was dead too?  The guy is walking away without a care, making it easy for Rowan to shoot the last person who could ever testify against him.  Free of his pesky criminal past, Rowan is just going to ride things out as his original identity, Elijah Pope.  Old, doddering paleontologist at the Smithsonian.  It's a nice retirement, if you're willing to kill for it.  

Olivia promises her father that she'll get him, somehow.  Rowan almost laughs at her, telling her that there's no more B-613 and no more Command to ruin.  He tells her she won, but she doesn't feel like a victor.  He gets to leave a trail of dead bodies and retire to his museum. Olivia assembles Huck and Quinn, more to commiserate than anything else.  Quinn points out that they have one last bit of evidence; the 2 billion dollars Huck stole during the original shut-down of B-613 a season ago.  Huck complains that he found it after so many digital re-routes that it's impossible to say where it really came from.

That sounds like a dead end.  But, Olivia has learned how to turn a problem into a solution.  That money could have come from anywhere.  So, she'll decide it came from the Smithsonian.  And that Elijah Pope, humble, doddering paleontologist, embezzled it.  

Eli Pope tries to bluff the cops who show up to arrest him for embezzlement.  But, like he said before, he's just some anonymous old guy now.  Or, rather, a garden variety crook.  So, Elijah Pope is stewing in a holding cell when Olivia and Jake show up to let Elijah know that now they have won.

Eli scoffs at their confidence; he thinks he'll be out soon.  But, Olivia reminds him that now, he's nobody.  With no agents remaining to spring him, or high-level status to slip him away.  Now, he's just like the guys crowding the benches in his holding cell.  Eli Pope realizes that the Last Man Standing has no allies.  It's wonderful watching him freak out as Olivia strides away, a life to live.

Mellie has her own big, life-affirming win tonight, too.  Fitz watches, satisfied that he helped make this happen, that his and Mellie's partnership produced something for a change.  Lizzy ruins it, accidentally at first.  But once Fitz sees the photograph of Command, smiling next to Mellie, he needs to know all, and Lizzy is perfectly willing to tell him every cringe-inducing detail she knows.  Fitz is horrified, all while Mellie is fifty feet away telling everyone that Fitz is her biggest supporter.  Like a proper supporter, he manages to smile big for the cameras.  He even manages to hug Mellie.  The crowd is totally fooled.  Mellie is totally fooled.  

Quinn interrupts Huck's solo reverie back at Gladiator HQ.  For some reason, she's been to the morgue to see the bodies of the jurors; she recognized the "style" in it.  And she demands an explanation from Huck- why would he do it?  This grand jury was going to free him.  Except that he was already free- he killed to protect that immunity he got from Rosen.  Huck tries to use his family as an excuse.  Quinn, almost in tears, tells Huck that he can't possibly go back to his family, not as what he's become.  He's a killer, practically an animal.  She breaks down as she tells him that she can't pretend he's okay anymore.  She can't even pretend he deserves to live.  Huck, beat down, with no friends left and only hoping Olivia doesn't find out how low he's sunk, ends up agreeing with her.  We don't see if she pulled the trigger on the big gun she's pointing at him.  We don't know if they find a way for Huck to live.

Mellie has given her victory speech, and now, the only thing left is for a quiet, three-way toast in the Oval with Cy and Fitz.  Cy, loving a winner no matter what, enjoys the job prospects of maybe being in the White House for another eight years in the not-so-distant-future.  And Mellie wants Fitz to comment on her being President.  Fitz is calm as he informs Mellie he wants her nowhere near the Presidency.  He doesn't want her near him, not after what she's done.  Not after who she helped.  

She doesn't know it, but she helped the man who killed their son, and she doesn't even know why that grand jury was marked for death, does she?  It's not so much that she did it, but that she didn't know anything that would have explained why Damascus Bainbridge wanted that list, yet helped him anyway.  It's a little hypocritical from the guy who invaded West Angola for his former mistress, but it's what we feel, so it's okay that Fitz feels this way, now, too.

Mellie can't believe it.  This was supposed to be Victory Night.  And Fitz is now trying to make her feel like a bad girl.  She tries to explain what she did- she was trying to protect them both.  Fitz can't believe how easily she crumbled to blackmail.  And how weak she seems right now.  And he can't live with her.  Not for another minute.  Mellie tries to reconnect to him; he won't even let her touch him.  She can take her Senate seat.  It was a parting gift.  But that's the last of Fitz's help.  That's the last of him.  She can go to Virginia.  That's where her life is now.  She doesn't argue. She doesn't shout.  She doesn't erupt.  She just disappears from the room.  Leaving Fitz with Cy.  

Does Fitz know how much Cy did today to shut down Olivia's crusade?  Did he maybe call Rosen, who would have known what the grand jury was hearing?  Fitz does know that Cy, somehow, covered everything up.  Without telling him.  It's like Project Defiance all over again- dirty deals done behind his back on his behalf and he's supposed to be grateful.  And it's the same people doing it.  And it's too much.  Fitz quietly fires Cy.  Ah, so this was Cy's pressure point.  And it hurts him to lose his job, his power, his Fitz.  They guy he spent a decade saying "Yes, sir" to.  Abby tries real hard not to gloat as she oversees Cy turning in his badges.  Cy looks back to see Lizzy Bear moving into his old office.  The woman Cy loved besting is getting his job.  I bet that's a pressure point, too.

Mellie looks sad, but calm as she carts a suitcase out.  She doesn't look like she particularly needs to ever return.  As Mellie leaves home, Olivia returns home, thinking she's going to celebrate with Jake.  But he can only stand in her hallway.  He points out that their quest is over.  And that she's now safe and sound at home, no worries about her father.  Rowan can't hurt her now.  Is Jake's part in her life really over?  Olivia doesn't want to believe it.  But, Jake insists that the man she loves is now hers for the taking.  And he loves her enough to get out of her way. 

Where will Jake go?  And, will there be good cheeseburgers and beer there?  We don't know.  Jake looks like a man whose life gets to start now, probably somewhere far from Olivia.

Fitz is alone in the residential wing.  The house is quiet.  And dark.  And Fitz, for the first time since Mellie left briefly in Season 2, is alone.  But, this time is permanent.  This time, he's going to get used to the solitude, drink it up, maybe even enjoy it- oh wait, he's not alone on the balcony.  You know, from the moment Nina Simone starts to sing about the sun coming out, that Olivia and Fitz are now going to let themselves be happily in love.  Olivia looks happier and more relaxed than she's looked in years.  She looks like she knows she's no longer being watched, and judged.  And now, neither is Fitz.  Which makes this time, finally, right for them to have their moment.  And for us to leave them to it.

At this point, Fitz is surrounded by:  Olivia, Abby, David Rosen, Lizzy Bear, and Susan Ross.  Is this new team, acquired over the course of a Season, a signal of a better President to come?  Of a better Fitz to come?

Where's Jerry, Jr.? Did Mellie leave her baby with Fitz?

Did Maya get away soon enough that Fitz can't put her back in prison?  Does Fitz even know she's loose?  Does Olivia?  Will that be a fun episode in Season 5 when they find out?

Huck! Are you still alive?!?!?!?!?

Charlie?  How 'bout you?  You still there????

A Series of Awkward Events - Game of Thrones - Season 5, Episode 5

Grey Worm lives!  And Missandhei wants to be there when he wakes up, watching him sleep, agonizing over the bad news she must confirm for him.  Selmy is dead, and Daenarys Targaryen sits in vigil over his body.  It's cold in that room, as Daario and Hizdar Lo Loraq attend her.  Loraq, realizing his position is more fragile than ever, tries to offer consolation.  But, there is none.  The Sons of the Harpy didn't trust kill a trusted advisor and guard; they showed they can strike at Dany's elite, and draw blood.

Also notice:  Dany now has no advisors from Westeros.  For a character that eventually wants to sit on the Iron Throne, Tyrion is sure going to valuable when he shows up.  Let's hope Varys is on his way to Mereen, too.  'Cause Jorah ain't gonna' make it.

In the meantime, Dany's got a full-blown revolt going, that has taken her Queensguard, and put the Commander of the Unsullied in bed.  Daario wants to set up a zone by Dany's great pyramid for civilians, then sweep through the rest of the city, Fallujah-style.  Hizdar is mortified by this idea.  Besides, didn't Dany's armies and armed rebelling slaves already do that?  Dany decides that the first demonstration of her execution powers wasn't enough.  It's time for her kids to earn their allowance.

Viserion and Rhaeghal haven't seen any action for four episodes now, but they're already behaving better to Dany.  Mostly because she brought someone else for them to roast alive.  Dany rounds up the heads of the richest Mereen families, confident they were the organizers of the latest bloodbath. Hizdar is horrified by the idea, mostly because that includes him.

About four men, chained together, are frightened and pleading for their lives.  Except Hizdar, who slowly decides he'll die without showing Dany any fear of her or her children.  Dany wanders among her condemned, bemusedly explaining that her dragons always come first.  She only gives her two imprisoned children one of the men to "judge".  They return a "guilty" verdict after, like, no deliberation.  His execution is to be burned alive, then torn apart.

Off with his everything!

Only Hizdar stays silent.  Dany reaches out to touch him, only to find that he's not even trembling in fear.  Maybe he's disappointed that Dany's killing them without a trial.  Maybe he feels that Dany really doesn't mean to write a new future for Mereen. Something about him convinces Dany that she can feed Viserion and Rhaegal more Mereen noblemen later.

That Dany is struggling with little guidance from anyone who has ever ruled before is obvious all the way at Castle Black, where Sam Tarley is reading what was the latest news a month ago out to Maester Aemmon Targaryen, who is her great great uncle.  Jon interrupts, looking for the advice Aemmon wishes he could give Dany; if half of your men will hate you for doing the right thing, issuing the right command, then so be it.  Aemmon is quite clear; pissing people off is a part of growing up.

Jon first takes his idea to Tormund Giantsbane himself, the last of the Free Folk who could lead the other Free Folk.  Tormund doesn't want to be a leader, and he doesn't want a peaceful resolution to his imprisonment or his people's very lives.  Jon shames him into accepting his deal of ships to bring the Free Folk to Westeros,.  He's not afraid of Tormund Giantsbane, which he proves by unchaining him.  He's afraid that the Free Folk will be wiped out by the dead, and march on The Wall as warriors that can only be killed with fire and dragonglass.  The Wall will protect them from the White Walkers, and prevent them from being more Fighting Zombies for Jon to worry about.  

Almost every Brother, even Ollie, hates the idea.  The Free Folk butchered his family, relatives, and friends.  How could they possibly ever be allowed into Westeros?  Jon tries to comfort Ollie with talk of this being necessary to guard against the White Walkers to come.  As Aemmon says, Winter isn't coming.  It's here.  Time to band together, even with people you hate.  Because the enemy coming isn't human.  Stannis isn't fond of loaning Jon the ships needed to gather the Free Folk and bring them to Westeros.  But, it's Jon's Wall now, and he can let people through if he wants.  

Sam understands.  And Stannis, though he hasn't seen these creatures, is willing to accept that Sam and Eddison aren't lying or crazy about the White Walkers.  He wanders into the library at Castle Black while Sam is trying to remind Gilly that her skills tending to home and hearth are as valuable as his book learning.  One is reminded, once again, how sad it will be that Sam and Shireen are being separated.  They both love their books, while appreciating that not all of life is in them.

However, Shireen is off to Winterfell with her father, mother, and Melisandre.  While she's riding under what protection her father's guards and hired armies can provide, Sam is sweeping through the library of Castle Black, looking for any information on White Walkers and how to fight and kill them.  He's currently got very little information, mostly rumors of the Children of the Forest, last seen at the end of Season 4 saving Bran's ass.  Stannis wants more, showing more leadership of Westeros in the space of a month than Cersei has in years.

Stannis, finally, rides off, south, through the gates of Castle Black.  Melisandre, seeing that Jon can't wait to be rid of her, rides at Stannis' side.  His army and family follow.  Ser Davos, in another bonding moment with Shireen, bucks her up for the ordeal and bloodshed ahead.  They won't overwhelm Roose Bolton like they did the Free Folk.

In fact, they won't even surprise Roose Bolton.  With Stannis' army coming and Roose fully aware, one would think that that might be more important than a double dinner date.  Shouldn't Ramsay be readying his troops, instead of locking down his future mistress with a naked death threat?  Miranda, it turns out, is the daughter of the guy who keeps Ramsay's dogs, so she, of course, knows where a certain person Sansa would be interested in is kept.  After kind of a fruitless conversation, where Miranda tries to make Sansa sad over her dead mother, she leads Sansa to a classic Mean Girl Trick.  

In fact, Sansa totally expects one of Ramsay's dogs to leap out its cage, and for Miranda to quick close the gate and lock her in with a homicidal beast.  Miranda, knowing she'd never get away with killing someone so valuable, really just wanted to horrify her with the current sight of Theon Greyjoy, now thoroughly beaten down into Reek.

Ramsay Bolton, literally, looks and acts more and more like a vampire everyday.  He spends the evening riding Reek, humiliating him in front of Sansa, by making him serve dinner, and publicly apologize to Sansa for killing her brothers.  Ramsay presents Reek and his stuttering apology like a wedding gift to his fiancee, who isn't particularly impressed.  After all, the guy who murdered her brother, his wife, and her mother is sitting right across from her, and he doesn't have to apologize at all.  

So, no apology about Robb?  Really????

Roose, while he won't scold his son at the dinner table, will make him uncomfortable by letting Lady Walda announce she's pregnant.  With, presumably, a second possible heir for Winterfell.  Everyone at the table knows how little Ramsay will like the news.  The second Roose has a second son, he's expendable.  He told Miranda that jealousy bores him.  Must be a family thing, because Ramsay's jealousy of his yet unborn sibling bores Roose.

In order to placate his son, who he'll need to beat back Stannis, Roose launches into the sad story of Ramsay's conception, which involved rape and murder.  Roose has no remorse about raping a commoner under her husband's hanged corpse.  When presented with the result of his rape, a baby, Roose was ready to kill it as a fraud; but one look confirmed the babe was his blood.  Without a legal son, his plan has probably always been to get Ramsay declared his heir.  Ned Stark was very likely loathe to help him, since Ramsay is a psychopath; the Lannisters had no such qualms.  

Both Ramsay and Shireen Baratheon have, lately, wanted their fathers to validate them.  Ramsay wants to make sure his inheritance is secure, while Shireen just wants her father's affection.  And, Stannis has spent the last six episodes earning our grudging respect, mostly because he's a caring and fair father.  Roose has earned our grudging respect, but we'd love to see him lose. and his private moment with Ramsay only confirms why.  Roose isn't much better, deep down, than Ramsay; he just has better table manners.

While Roose and Ramsay reaffirm their commitment to keeping the North for themselves, Sansa finds that they don't hold as much power over Winterfell as they think.  Brienne finds it easy to persuade a local servant to sneak a message to Sansa's new maid.  Podrick wonders if she's not better off at Winterfell.  Brienne thinks that anywhere Littlefinger took her or Roose Bolton keeps her isn't safe.  Brienne is wrong about one thing; Sansa knows she's not safe at Winterfell.  After all, the North remembers.  And, she's going to remember where to light that candle, even if it's the window her brother fell from all those months ago.  Does she know that Brienne is her secret protector?

We join Tyrion and Jorah, still on their tiny boat headed towards Mereen.  Tyrion would like to pass their voyage with a little conversation.  Or, at least, some wine.  Jorah has none of either.  Tyrion reminds him that sullen silence and sudden violence is his family trait, but the two are slowly engrossed by where Jorah's route takes them; through the smoking ruin of old Valyria.  

Valyria is the ancestral homeland of the Targaryen line, and their dragons.  It's a series of islands, with a ton of volcanoes.  Guess how Valyria went down?  Turns out, it wasn't a good idea to build magnificent cities right by active volcanoes.  Valyria was destroyed, with the few who lived spreading around Essos to conquer.  The Targaryens conquered Westeros from the Andals and Rhoynar and First Men.

Jorah's turned in here to avoid pirates. We know, from Stannis last week, that victims of Grayscale known as Stone Men live here.  And we now know that Jorah should have taken his chances with pirates.  Because Stone Men strike at the worst time, just as you've bonded a bit with your traveling companion, and you've both been wowed by a dragon flying overhead.

You're not hungry, right?

Their wonder at Valyria's flying resident is stopped by a splash right in front of them.  From that, the Stone Men assault the boat, and only Jorah has free hands to fight them.  We learn real fast that if someone with Grayscale touches your bare skin, you're done, and Tyrion ends up jumping into the water before he can be infected.  A cold hand grabs his boots, trying to drag him under, but Jorah ends up rescuing Tyrion and dragging him to an unnamed beach.  

Boatless, with Jorah carrying him and swimming to shore, they can only look at Valyria, now distant in the setting sun, as they commiserate that they must travel on foot.  Jorah hides from Tyrion that he's got a new, more dire problem; he's been infected.  There are no Maesters to treat him.  And, we heard from Gilly that Grayscale ruins the mind.  Does Jorah hope to reach Mereen, and some kind of treatment?

Back in Mereen, Grey Worm finally wakes to Missandhei having to give him the bad news about Selmy.  Grey Worm is angry at himself, but he also decides that it's time to admit to Missandhei that he can't live without her.  They share a tender kiss, but that doesn't solve Mereen's problems.

Dany manages to pull Missandhei from nursing duty.  She needs advice.  Her counselor, a man who knew her father, is dead.  Jorah is gone.  Daario wants to clean the city of potential rebels.  Missandhei doesn't think she's qualified to counsel a queen.  But she has a good memory, and she reminds Dany that her greatest triumph was when she found a solution that had occurred to neither of her counselors.  In fact, the stunning victory from going her own way brought her new allies.

Dany now has to come up with a way to stop the nobles from rebelling without killing them all.  She now has to come up with something that's not mercy or justice.  So, she does what she does best; she forges a new way.  She visits Hizdar, still locked in prison, who's not so brave now, and has no problem admitting that he doesn't want to die.  Dany reminds him that it takes a certain courage to admit when one's afraid.  Just like it takes courage to admit when one's wrong.  She tells him that she'll give him his repeated wish to re-open the fighting pits of Slavers' Bay, though to free men willing to fight only. 

And, she decides that the nobles need to see her as their queen.  The best way to do this is to cement a tie to an old family.  And, wouldn't you know it, there's this guy who's young, healthy, and not a dick around.  Hizdar realizes he's engaged.

Keep in mind, that with a foreign husband, Dany just made getting the Iron Throne harder.  With herself to offer as a wife to a family she could use in Westeros, she could have gained armies and loyal lords.  Instead, she's embedding herself more deeply into Essos' society.  Will Dany have to choose between being a Queen in the East, and the Dragon of the West?

You Don't Get to Die - Scandal - Season 4, Episode 21

There are times, watching Scandal, that there shouldn't be a case of the week for Olivia to handle.  Olivia is trying a massive effort to bring down B-613 and her father for good, and she really doesn't have time for these things.  But, the show has this one touch with reality- those cases that you and I feel are a distraction pay the bills.  They also show how unbeatable Olivia is at her job and how unbeatable her father is at his job.

Today's case provides Rowan with a chance to spy on Olivia, and foil her kidnapping of Russell.  It also provides a way for Mellie to prove Cy right while advancing her campaign for Senator.  And it also provides one of the bravest moments I've seen on television. In. A. Long. Time. Think back; you've probably seen everything the universe can throw at someone on TV.  But have you ever seen an abortion?  Olivia holds Martinez's hand as the vacuum tube is switched on and starts sucking the embryo out.  Martinez lets a tear fall; she would probably have loved to be pregnant by a man she cared for.  Instead, she's aborting her rapist's reminder of how he violated her.

Olivia's treatment of Ensign Martinez, raped and desperately wanting an abortion, is in stark contrast to Russell's new status.  Olivia seems to have bought the apartment next door.  Maybe so it can be her kidnapping HQ instead of someone else's.  It's empty, the only remains of the previous neighbor her old curtains, blowing in the wind and letting golden light shine in on Huck and Quinn's brutal torture regimen.  Who did not cringe in empathy pain when Quinn power-drilled into Russell's kneecap?

All this trouble, which Olivia assures Russell will be worse than the death she refuses to give him, is to discover the meaning of "Operation Foxtail".  Jake, in Olivia's bed, recuperating to the sounds of Russell's agony, would like Olivia to tell him what's going on.  He'll settle for relieving Huck of torture duty for a while so he and Russell can share a beer and jointly bitch about what a shitty boss Rowan is.  They trade his most stinging barbs with each other.  Rowan's gift is in guilting his agents.  He likes to break them down, and build them back into machines that just want to please Rowan.  Rowan also likes to remind his agents that they really are just pawns in his games.  Let your agents feel they're important to someone, and they just might feel like real people.

Russell is happy to have a pain-free moment to trash talk his boss; but he's still Rowan's loyal soldier.  Does he think the Gladiators have no chance, and wants to stick with a winning side?  Or, does he think Rowan will finally give him some validation?  Jake's attempt to help Olivia cope with yet another boyfriend turning out to be her father's informant is a preview of events to come, and from the most unexpected place.

Susan Ross continues refusing to obey Fitz on principle; she semi-kidnaps Olivia's next client from a Navy aircraft cruiser, so the woman has a chance to actually get some justice against her rapist.  With her alleged attacker a man in command of a huge chunk of the Navy officers that will try him, justice is a slim shot, even with Olivia in her corner at Susan's request.  Who didn't enjoy Olivia readying herself to see Fitz when she saw the Secret Service, knowing she was getting someone much more formidable?

Who didn't enjoy the way that almost every woman on the show rallied to Ensign Martinez's side?  Only Lizzy Bear looked neutral, willing to let the military handle the matter, while every other woman demanded that Fitz Do Something.  Fitz wants everyone to have some faith in military justice; but the female Scandal characters long ago lost hope that regular justice can help rape victims.  Abby detests having to dodge questions when she'd rather personally castrate Martinez's attacker.  Mellie can't believe Martinez would just be left to fend for herself in a system that salutes the guy who raped her. (Remember, Mellie's been raped by a powerful man herself; she knows what Martinez is enduring).

Olivia and Quinn basically have to do the investigative work that Martinez's JAG lawyer, Virgil Puckleberry, doesn't even know how to do.  He shows up to the first deposition, with books he obviously hasn't read, and complaining of an Ambien hangover.  Olivia and Quinn are already convinced that the guy is no help; his incompetent questioning only confirms their first impressions.  Virgil is privy to their strategizing on finding evidence of Admiral Halsy's whereabouts during the crime, and getting Martinez an abortion.  He decides that Naval Traditions have nothing on Olivia and her Gladiators.

In the end, Fitz's secret help to Olivia's investigation, which turns up security logs, and probably some surveillance videos, also helps Mellie's campaign.  While Abby has to pretend to not be involved or on Martinez's side, Mellie and Fitz work out Mellie's position on Martinez's search for justice.  It involves Mellie ditching the idea to rehash her son's death on the same stage he died on, for a speech that links supporting justice for rape victims with support for the troops.  If you support the troops, you need to support justice for military rape victims.  And by the way, voting for Mellie is a way to thumb a supposedly-not-concerned President in the eye on the issue.

So, Cy is right; but, will every advance Mellie makes in her own career be at Fitz's expense?  So far, Fitz is willing to take a hit.  Maybe he hopes that this season's legislative successes will help historians forget about West Angola.  With his next ambition to be the mayor of a small Vermont town, maybe he feels he can afford the political hits.

Mellie is great at describing how she's got to disagree with Fitz, because of course she's right.  She's great at making her political opinions appear to be the values of whatever people she's speaking to.  Their support of her can be a message to a President.  Even Lizzy, in the doghouse for pressing Mellie to play the dead-son card, has to be impressed, using Mellie's success at campaigning to line up her next big donor.  Lizzy wants Mellie to use the energy she just created to wow him into supporting ads that can run until election day.

Olivia and Quinn, saying goodbye to a relieved and happy and vindicated Martinez, say nothing about where the video of Halsey violently attacking one of his subordinate officers came from.  Huck was busy torturing Russell for Operation Foxtail Easter Eggs.  Was Fitz the inside source?  Martinez's JAG lawyer, Virgil, isn't around to praise the Gladiators.  Quinn and Olivia, leaving Martinez in some Naval Office Building that is also the headquarters for JAG, quickly realize why.

Olivia also realizes it was a big mistake, earlier in the episode, to invite Virgil to her apartment for a strategizing session.  Virgil asked why one of her gladiators needed to go to the apartment next door; Olivia's explanation that it was getting some work done that she was responsible for didn't convince Rowan's inside man at all.  We see three discordant images, all made possible by Martinez's case and Olivia's work:  the photo of the real Virgil: the real Virgil's dead body as his impostor readies for the role Jake described earlier; and Russell's rescue.  Despite Russell's assurances that he gave no info, I fully expect Rowan to kill Russell.

But then, I didn't expect Operation Foxtail's target to be Mellie.  Rowan is gracious as he meets Mellie, the big donor she's got to impress for some major campaign cash.  Is his goal to co-opt her?  Or, is she his next victim?  Let's hope You-Don't-Get-To-Die applies to her, too.

A Brand New Night - Gotham - Season 1, Episode 22

Bad guys play their end games.  Barbara goes totally freaking insane.  And, once again, Bullock is the only one with some sense in his head.

First, I really hope we've seen the last of Fish Mooney.  Nothing made the overall action of the show stop deader than one of her scenes.  Does anyone remember the name of the girl who she used to get to Falcone half a season ago?  Does anyone know what an island approximately two days' travel where people lose parts has to do with Gotham?  Her whole purpose, as a character, was to try to kill Oswald and Falcone.  And fail.

Speaking of Oswald, Jim has officially called him Penguin.  And, he is raving like a lunatic on a roof edge by the night's end, so I think we can retire the name "Oswald".

Bruce will basically spend the episode looking at all his dad's books, so we can leave him for the end.  Instead, we'll note that the show put Cat in Fish's new, punk gang simply to get her in the season finale without having to come up with a separate plot for her.  Maybe Fish could have been the mentor that Cat needed to truly become the pilfering thrill-seeker we'll come to love; that could have been a great addition to the series.

But, the series is really about Bruce and Jim, revolving around each other, in and out of each others' lives.  The other characters wander in and out of both Bruce and Jim's lives, creating a chain of heroes, villains, and soon-to-be villains.    This show isn't about how a homeless teenager becomes the stuff of burglary legend.  This show is how a rookie cop led a crusade to clean up a city, and a scared boy will grow up to help him.

The show has yet to tackle one of the Batman Legend's central conflicts: how do you stand for law and order when you're a vigilante?  Jim has spent a season working inside the system, outsmarting and outfighting every attempt to knock down his ideals.  Now, just as he appears to be the leader GCPD needs, he's already given up on staying in Gotham, and decides Falcone needs to be running Gotham's criminals.  It's a strange reversal, but it allows Jim to confront Falcone in the hospital right when the crime boss needs him.

Falcone, injured in an RPG attack on him while he indulges in his fondness for chickens, is about to be slashed by none other than Penguin.  Penguin literally parades through the hospital, with Butch openly carrying a high-powered rifle along the hall with him.  Penguin just can't help grinning as he confesses his plot to kill Falcone.  Penguin assures Falcone that he actually likes the guy, but he wants Falcone's job.

Everyone, it seems wants Falcone's job.  Maroni is coming to the hospital with the same aim as Penguin, and it's only a just-informed Jim standing between the two crime bosses and the would-be crime boss.  By the time this happens, Penguin and Butch are handcuffed in the hospital room, and a pissy Penguin has to remind Jim that since he and Butch are in police custody, Jim will have to protect them, too.  Oh, and Jim still owes him that favor.

Well, Jim more than repays the favor in a shootout throughout a quickly-emptied hospital.  Right after telling Commissioner Loeb, who briefly appears in something that resembles a dream sequence, that the guy's a disgrace.  Side note: the action of the shootout, shot with some sort of yellow ochre filter over the lens, is supposed to distract you from the question: isn't anyone there to mind the other patients???? Were they evacuated, too????  It takes Jim a whole minute to get through them all.  Unlike other episodes, Bullock doesn't arrive in time to save the day- he arrives right after Jim's shot all the bad guys, hands up so Jim doesn't shoot him, too.

Falcone, at first, wants to reclaim his empire,  He says it will take two days. So, Jim, Bullock, Penguin and Butch escape the hospital by plowing through Maroni and his extra gunmen in an ambulance.  They spend some time skulking through the city after dark, presumably because there are no more cars in the city.  During which time, they're found by a ragtag gang of punks.

Who, turn out to be Fish's loyal buds from the transplant "hospital" island.  And a new recruit: Cat, with a Pat Benatar hairstyle.  Oddly enough, no one asks her, even during the brief villain/hero chat  what's the deal with her new blue eye.  Everyone's too busy wondering why she's killing all the main characters in the first place.  Turns out, she's putting together her own deal with Maroni.

When it turns out the deal comes with Maroni as her boss, and a wildly sexist boss at that, the deal's off and Maroni is finally dead.  But, hey, at least Fish is relaxed.  Jim and Co. briefly scurry away, only to be dragged back, then they get to scurry away again when Penguin decides he's had enough of this shit day.  Penguin storms the place with a machine gun, then demonically pursues Fish, who he's sure is the cause of all his problems.

Sometime between the morning, and the first time they escape Fish, Falcone has decided that he's done with this town.  Jim is calling him the least of the bad options, and grudgingly accepting that Falcone can actually control Gotham's criminals better than GCPD can, when all of a sudden Falcone just decides to hand Gotham to Jim.  Now, free of Fish, Jim decides to take them all to a place he has no business being:  Barbara's apartment.

Which, due to a Fatal Attraction-like plot point, has become the scene of a screaming, panting brawl between Lee and Barbara.  I won't get too much into it, as it involves Lee doing psychiatric work she's not really qualified for, in Barb's apartment, which is also wildly unprofessional.  It involves knives, and breaking down a bathroom door, and Barb's head being repeatedly bashed into a stone floor until she passes out.

Bullock sums up Barb's entire character arc perfectly.  And, since he mentions it, he did warn Jim that Barb was trouble.  Twenty episodes ago.  Can she go to Arkham now?

Nygma's got his own girl troubles.  Basically, the clue he left in Doherty's note, causes the inevitable trouble it was going to cause.  Kris Kringle's had plenty of time to go over the note again and again, which women will do, looking for Doherty's emotions in every word.  Instead, she found the first letters of each line spell out a very specific name.  Nygma is interested, but treats it like a coincidence, and Kris can only walk away, not convinced but not helped.

Ever since killing Doherty, Nygma's been starting to talk to himself.  He doesn't do it in the distracted way normal people do.  He's having a full-blow conversation between what's left of his sanity and some gleeful thing that loves leaving word puzzles to cover his crimes.  And the gleeful word puzzle guy really likes a good laugh.  And wonders if maybe Kris is too dangerous to let live.

Falcone and Jim, presumably after getting Barbara in handcuffs and sent to a hospital for her head injury, have decided to hang out in Barbara's apartment.  Cause, reasons.  The city's war, without Maroni and Falcone to fight it, has started to die down.  Falcone is still retiring somewhere nice.  And, he reminds Jim that he was friends with Jim's dad by giving him something of Gordon, Sr.'s.  A knife.  A wicked-looking knife.  Gordon carried it during his career as a prosecutor, until he gave it Falcone.  Falcone points out that Gordon, Sr., was an honest man.  But honesty didn't protect him.

Falcone has realized that Jim doesn't need a relationship with the mob to do his job; Jim can already do his job.  Just as long as Jim remembers that he's got to protect himself, Jim can keep his honesty.  Falcone, the only lesson he has to teach Jim taught, can now walk away into his future.

After apprehending Jim and Co. the first time, Fish has been worrying over Butch.  Butch, who was programmed to be Penguin's assistant, becomes a scared little boy when the programming starts to wear off.  He doesn't know which part of his brain to listen to.  So, when Penguin finally finds Fish for their final fight, and Butch gets a gun, he doesn't know who to shoot.  Fish pleads with him to remember who loves him; Penguin screeches that Butch is his!

Butch does what anyone confused in Gotham should do; he shoots both criminals.  Fish is moaning in pain, but still alive and awake.  Butch goes right to her, and she's surprisingly forgiving, still blaming whatever programming Butch endured.  Penguin is not so charitable.  Butch is quickly knocked over with a wood plank, and Penguin simply charges Fish, launching her over the rooftop.  She screams before she hits the water below.  She doesn't surface.

While a horrified Butch watches, Penguin has the most childish victory celebration ever.  He extends himself from the parapet, screaming his triumph in Gotham's crime world for all Gotham to heed.

Bruce, after a day of searching all his dad's books, based on some reminiscing by himself and Alfred, still hasn't found anything his dad might have done or hidden to bring down Wayne Enterprise's criminal leadership.  Until, that is, someone tosses out a line originally written by a Stoic philosopher, which leads Bruce to a book that he didn't search before?  Which reveals a remote hidden in the cover.

Alfred double dog dares Bruce to press the remote's one button.  And, we're treated to Prokofiev's Dance of the Knights, blaring through the study as the fireplace, somehow, floats away (pulley system?).  Bruce has either discovered he's really been living in Hogwarts the whole time, or he finds a tunnel his dad made, Shawshank Redemption-style.  It's dark and leads to steps going down.  Bruce and Alfred peer into the darkness from the warm light of the study, hoping that maybe it's a rec room or something.

And, that's our season.  Characters are pretty set at this point.  Bruce is the older-than-his-years persistent searcher.  Alfred is his often-disregarded voice of caution.  Jim is the clever, talented, badass pursuer of justice, while Bullock is his often-disregarded voice of caution.  Lee proves that Jim really doesn't have to worry about her after all, while Barbara will be in a madhouse.  Penguin has all of Gotham's criminal underworld to take for himself, if he can.  Nygma's one crime will lead to more.  Essen will float in and out, trying to make sense of what Jim and Bullock are up to. Cat will float in, declare everyone is wasting their time, and float back out.

Is this enough for a whole show?  The show tries to use a case-of-the-week to show Jim's slow progression to the Commissioner's office, while Bruce eventually has to give up on Jim's investigation, and then his own.  Will the next season show them actually taking charge, as we know they will?  Will Jim decide it's time for Loeb to go, and get him fired?  Will Bruce decide it's time to really learn how to fight?

The format is great for a show that you don't want to spend too much time thinking about.  With everyone's progression into characters we'll come to know later, there's plenty of time to just skip through, and check in occasionally.  One gets the feeling that no one episode is special, and that you don't actually have to watch every episode.

Does the Odyssey approach really work with a mass audience, though?  Ulysseys takes ten years to fight a war, then ten more years to get home.  Do we really want to live through twenty years, day by day, in each episode?   My own opinion is that the characters will have to become more engaging to watch, week in and week out, for that to happen.  Donal Logue's Bullock is a joy to watch, but will need to become less repetitive.  Lee needs to stop wavering between His Girl Friday and Dana Scully.  Pick one, Lee. Cat needs to successfully pull a crime off, now and then. Penguin is already awesome, he just needs to get awesome-er.  Jim needs to start acting more like a regular guy.  And Bruce needs to get his ass in school, for fuck's sake.  With every step away from comic book tropes of the mid-20th century, the show becomes better able to stand on its own.

Tales From The Crypt - Game of Thrones - Season 5, Episode 4

What a difference a dead dad makes.  Cersei, Jaime, and Tyrion are all having a completely different season than last year.  All because they get to make their own fuck ups, instead of hanging around King's Landing bitching about everything.  What a difference a dead knight-for-babysitter makes.  With The Hound gone, Arya is no longer wandering in search of a plot.  What a difference a dead King-Beyond-The-Wall makes.  What a difference a soon-to-be-gone King makes.  With Mance Rayder executed, and Stannis more worried about leaving to take Winterfell from the Boltons, Jon can get to the work of running the Night's Watch.  What a difference a lost spymaster makes.  Now, Tyrion must go back to living by his wits.  What a difference a lost family makes.  Sansa is reclaiming her family heritage, on her terms.

The authority figures are all gone; we are left with characters who have learned the fine art of muddling through, and intend to do it to their utmost. The episode presents characters in pairs, and lets them play off each other.  Jon and Sam, then Jon and Melisandre.  Stannis and Shireen, who share a brief warmness while a cold, snowy Castle Black looms around them.  Jaime and Bronn play off each other every waking moment.   Cersei and her newest would-be lackey, the High Sparrow, dance around each other.  Dany and Selmy, and then Selmy and Grey Worm.  Tommen and Margaery. Petyr and Sansa.

The only bigger grouping is that of Ellaria Sand, her daughter Ellia (the youngest with short hair),  and her "step-daughters", Nym (the whip wielder), and Oberra (the spear thrower).  All the young women are the daughters of Prince Oberyn, dead by trial by combat against The Mountain.  And all the women want revenge, and are willing to bring war to get it.

With Lord Mace Tyrell sailing to Braavos and unable to help his children should they need him, Cersei's uses the High Sparrow to close Petyr Littlefinger's brothel and arrest Loras, her own betrothed (well, probably not now; that's one way to get out of an engagement).  It has the bonus of ending Tommen and Margaery's honeymoon.  The new, head-stamped Faith Militant, armed with hand weapons and self-righteousness, resemble a Westerosi version of the Taliban, ruining everyone's good time.  The men at Littlefinger's brothel there for gay sex get the worst of it.  Lancel isn't the quiet young man he was at Tywin's funeral.  He's one of the most spiteful of them all.

Cersei thinks she's getting ahead; but how many of King's Landing will turn against her, since on top of everything else, they must now endure the morality police?  And, how long does she think Tommen will back down and displease his wife?  Cersei has boxed her own son up, leaving him no good choices.  He can order the Kingsguard to slay the Faith Militant so he can demand Loras be released, or back down and face Margaery's contempt, as well as admit to the populace that he'll run like a mouse away from their now openly shouted accusations against his mother.   Surrounded by his Kingsguard, he doesn't have to fear being harmed- but the crowd's open contempt of his mother and true parentage have him realizing his reign really isn't secure.

Margaery, instead of pouting and withholding, should really be handling this for him.  Then, she could present it to Tommen as a means of securing his complete trust and loyalty.  She's just as clever as Cersei, if less experienced.  And, she should know Cersei's weaknesses by now.  Cersei's already put herself in danger; Lancel knows her past adultery, and how Robert Baratheon really died. With the crowds of King's Landing openly insulting her son as a product of incest, how long until the High Sparrow comes for the Dowager Queen?

At the Wall, a different King gets ready to roll.  With the snows of winter already at Castle Black, Stannis should already have left to make the trudge to Winterfell easier.  But, there are still some scenes to play out.  Jon has to decisively reject Melisandre; and Stannis has to have some quality time with Shireen.  Their scene is the second description of Grayscale this season;  Gilly described the end of the disease last week.  This week, Stannis describes the beginning.  He could have learned to avoid all displays of affection after his first one went so disastrously.  Instead, he's spent her childhood seeing to her every need, raising her to be a good-natured, mature young woman.  Stannis isn't one for hugs, but Shireen's whole-hearted embrace can't be refused.  Not even at gloomy Castle Black.

Far away from the shafts of sunlight interrupted by snowflakes, Ser Jorah "commandeers" a fishing boat for his and Tyrion's use.  Separated from Varys, boredom and apathy quickly leave Tyrion and now that he's sober, his mind goes to work.  From Jorah's armor, he figures out who his kidnapper is.  And, he even figures out what direction they're going to.  When Jorah only tells him that he's taking Tyrion to Queen Danaerys Targaryen, Tyrion breathes a sigh of relief.  He tries to assure Jorah that's where he was going anyway, but Jorah's not in a trusting mood.

Jorah's funk makes Tyrion's mind work again, and he also quickly deduces that his new traveling companion is a desperate man.  Tyrion, after he comes to, is going to be working on a way to make sure Jorah is executed while Tyrion is brought into her inner circle.  Getting kidnapped is the best thing that could have happened to him.  Without Varys to arrange everything, Tyrion will have to use his head, or lose it.

Sansa, now home at the new Winterfell, now the seat of Roose Bolton and his heir Ramsay Bolton, makes a stop at the underground crypts of Winterfell.  Last used when Bran and Rickon hid from Theon Greyjoy among the tombs and statues, Sansa is now trying to re-enact her father's old habit of visiting the statue of Lyanna Stark.

Petyr joins her in her vigil; together, they recite the sad history of house Stark.  Lyanna, Ned Stark's sister, was engaged to Robert Baratheon, who loved her passionately.  Lyanna and just about every other noble person in Westeros turned out for the last turney before Robert's Rebellion, when all the fighting would be real.  Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, eldest son of the Mad King, won all his matches, even against famed Barristan Selmy of the Kingsguard.  It must have been a good-natured jousting, as we find out later in the episode the two were good friends.   Prince Rhaegar was married with two kids back then (to Oberyn's sister, Ellia), but that didn't stop him from presenting his trophy to Lyanna Stark, instead of his own wife.  The insult wasn't just to his wife, or Lyanna, or House Stark.  House Baratheon was insulted as well.

Rhaegar must have known what he was doing, and risking, that day.  To insult the Houses of Martell, Stark, and Baratheon in one move was foolish for a Crown Prince who would need loyal noblemen one day.  It was an injury to Lyanna, as she was pretty much forced to accept a gift from a  man not her betrothed.  To make it worse, that one incident wasn't enough.  Rhaegar ended up later absconding with Lyanna, whisking her away.  This led to Houses Baratheon and Stark rebelling against the Mad King.  And, led House Lannister to the slaughter of Princess Ellia and her children.  And Oberyn's attempted revenge a generation later.

Houses Baratheon and Stark were convinced that Lyanna was kidnapped and raped.  But, there's no record of Lyanna's will in all this.  Maybe because she was a woman, maybe because no one had the chance to ask her anything in the fighting.  What we know, is that when Robert's Rebellion didn't end, Rhaegar himself joined the fight against the Rebels, culminating in his 'bout with Robert Baratheon, and his end from Robert's hammer.  Ned later found Lyanna stashed away in Dorne, guarded by a few knights loyal to Rhaegar.  He had only hours with her; she died of some untreated disease, but not before extracting a promise out of Ned.  A promise that Stannis hints at, briefly, tonight.

Stannis isn't convinced that Jon is Ned's bastard.  Sure, he looks like Ned.  But, Ned never bedded prostitutes, and there was no time for torrid love affairs during the Rebellion.  No, Stannis is already wondering if, maybe, Jon isn't Ned Stark's son but his nephew.  Which would make his father... well, you can guess.  I hope.

Sansa doesn't sound so convinced that Lyanna was raped; she can only repeat what her father told her.     And adopt a new reserve around Littlefinger, even after he kisses her.  Sansa's still wearing her raven's feather necklace, a trophy of surviving the Eyrie.  But she can't guarantee that she'll be willing to wait for Littlefinger's schemes to come to fruition.  She doesn't even promise to wait until Stannis' army shows up and makes her the Wardeness of the North.  She can only suspect that she'll be married, with her own problems, and no time for Littlefinger, when he eventually gets back from King's Landing.  Whenever that will be.  I really hope Littlefinger isn't expecting to stay in his brothel when he arrives in King's Landing.

Bronn and Jaime arrive in Dorne, secretly.  Or, so Jaime thought.  While on the merchant ship, waiting for their adventure to begin, Bronn moans that they'll be doing way more fighting than fucking, while Jaime mutters that he has no love for Tyrion anymore.  Something about killing their dad on the shitter.  They spend their first day in Dorne napping, then trading preferred deaths over a snake dinner.

Bronn's way of dying is watch his spoiled sons fight over his wealth in his old age.  Jaime's a little disappointed- nothing chivalrous, or even maybe dashing?  Bronn's had dashing, and has no use for chivalry.  Nope, a nice easy death after all the fighting he's had to do will suit him fine.

When the dynamic duo realize the Dornish authorities are already looking for them, it leads to Bronn having to save the day.  Or, rather, three-quarters of the day.  Bronn manages to kill two of the armed riders who confront them, hobble one's horse, and take care of his third, all while Jaime rolls around in the sand trying not to get killed by the one Bronn left for him to deal with.  All while discovering a use for his fake gold hand.  Turns out, it's a nifty shield and sword trap, enabling him to skewer his opponent easily.  Bronn's slightly impressed, though pissy about having to dig four graves.

Jaime is right to be trying to get Myrcella back to King's Landing. And, they're right to leave no trace of their fight today; Ellaria Sand is already plotting her revenge, and already receiving word that Jaime Lannister has arrived in Dorne.   Nym Sand has quite a way of interrogating snitches.  It involves a shovel, a rope, and some scorpions.  Don't ever go to the beach with this woman.  Ellia Sand is willing to do whatever her mother asks.  And Oberra decided long ago to fight her way through her troubles.  She makes her point by perfectly aiming her spear at the snitch's head.  It's a beautiful shot that creates a shit way to die.

Dany hopes the view from her balcony of a peaceful city is real.  And, it does appear to be settling down.  Dany gets another history lesson from Selmy today, this time kind of a funny one, about her eldest brother Rhaegar.  Turns out, that besides fighting, Rhaegar could sing.  Not like Frank Sinatra, but he usually pulled in some coins when he gave it a go on the streets of King's Landing.  Selmy has a laugh to himself as he reminisces how Rhaegar never actually kept the money, usually giving it away or getting himself and Selmy good and drunk.

Mereen's sequence, tonight, shows Hizdhar Lo Loraq, once again asking Dany to open the fighting pits of Slaver's Bay.  It's a place for men to win glory; Dany isn't swayed.  The degrading nature of fighting to the death for one's daily bread doesn't make up for the glory it wins men who win to fight tomorrow.  Dany's about to get a fighting pit she, nor Grey Worm, counted on.

The fight scene itself is a messy, bloody, painful study of Grey Worm's triumph through skill and will.  Selmy hears the commotion and goes toward the danger everyone else is running from.  He's happy to join the fight, and the masked Harpy Sons go down one by one.  Even after Grey Worm has been viciously stabbed, he stays up to fight.  Even when Selmy is surrounded, he keeps striking masked enemies.  Selmy goes down, stabbed in the chest, by one of the last masked Harpy Sons; Grey Worm sees, stabs Selmy's murderer, and collapses himself, next to Selmy.  But, not before gently resting his hand on Selmy.  The man went down a badass.  And, the next moment, so does Grey Worm.  No one won the match in today's fight.