This episode turned the season from marathon to sprint. Full of lust, regret, betrayal, and Khaleesi finding her man. Westeros girls love the way it goes down, except Sansa of course. Plenty have said that this season has been dragging, I hear them. The third season has an unusual slow pace. However, there are seven books people so patience my young padawans. This episode put some things in perspective and slowly but surely pushed things along as we have only two more episodes left until the season finale. Here’s what went down in Second Sons.
We started another episode with Arya. Picking up where episode 7 left off, she wakes up somewhere in the plains with the Hound, she plots to split his skull open by grabbing a big rock and tip toes towards him. It was quiet though, without even opening his eyes, he warns her to think again or her hands will be chopped off. Intelligently, she backs off and climbs on the Hound’s horse as he offers to ride off after their near duel. Back to King’s Landing is where Arya thinks she’s going but the Hound is now more like a hungry wolf. Screw his loyalty to the Lannisters, he’s going to sell Arya to her family at Edmure’s wedding, Arya is apprehensive but accepts.
Yunkai, Khaleesi’s most recent desired city to takeover, has 2,000 warriors of it’s own known as “Second Sons,” to fight the Mother of Dragons and her Unsullied. “The Titan’s Bastard” who is actually more bastard than titan is one of the leading generals of the Second Sons.
At the meeting, Mero (the man in the middle) comes off as a pompous degenerate. Ignoring his wild requests and peculiar behavior, Daenerys offers the Second Sons more than the Yunkish are paying them to fight for her. Mero, not knowing just how real Khaleesi is, makes a barbaric remark regarding her loins. Grey Worm offers to cut his tongue out but Khaleesi calmly defuses the situation with savvy humor. As they walk away, she tells Ser Jorah “if we go to battle, kill that one first.”
Cue the regret, the lies, and the “it’s complicated” relationship status that’s about to come to life with Sansa and Tyrion. Man, this s*** is f****** ridiculous (RZA voice). This poor girl has had her fate chosen for her, twisted, and reversed countless times. Lord Tyrion asks for Sansa’s time, alone, hinting his squire and Shae (his former main squeeze) to exit the room. Tyrion guarantees his bride to be that she won’t be a slave to the Lannisters and that he will care for her. At this point, sharing the Lannister name is enough torture. It’s painful to watch as this girl is being convinced to look at the brighter side of things. Tyrion, being the master wordsmith that he is, manages to get a smile on her uncorrupted face. It’s the point where they realize their fates are sewn, sealed, and shipped off.
Pre-ceremony, Margaery tries her charm with Cersei, looping her arm around hers and informing her that they should be friends because after the queen regent weds her brother they will be “sisters.” Cersei is not with it, at all. She wants no part of this friendship – giving Margaery a fastidious stare. With a sarcastic smile on her face, she tells Margaery a story, a story that falls heavy on one’s stomach, if you know what I mean. She then ends the conversation with: “If you ever call me ‘sister’ again, I’ll have you strangled in your sleep.” Margaery has to brush the threat off as Sansa is set to enter the reception.
