Game of Thrones 6x04 Book of the Stranger

This entire episode could have been just Tyrion wasting time or increasingly boring Ramsay is cruel scenes and it would still be 10. Why? Because we got that Stark reunion and it was everything.

At Castle Black Jon tells Edd he intends to go South. Edd tells him that he shouldn't leave after everything they saw that happened at Hardhome and reminds Jon he should be with the Watch till the end. Suddenly a horn is heard and we see the gates open and Brienne, Sansa and Podrick arrive.
Though Sansa and Jon never interacted (they were present in one scene together in the series' very first episode but they never talked) that scene was still a huge emotional punch. Sansa, escorted by Pod and Brienne, who catches the eye of mesmerized Tormund (more on that unexpected gem later), finally reached Castle Back. Jon sees her. And then Sansa runs to him and they hug. And we all wept so fucking hard. Even though I kept thinking how they must have built Kit Harington a ramp for that scene.

It was the best and most beautiful moment of the season so far. The last time I cried s hard at something good happening was when Catelyn saw Robb emerge victorious from the battle in season 1. Seeing the good guys, Jon and Sansa, finally reunited with each other, the Stark children, was mesmerizing. It doesn't matter they weren't particularly close - they are the heroes and they've been through so much. And now they have each other. After that moment, Jon and Sansa are talking. It was am incredibly sweet scene with Sansa telling Jon she is sorry how awful she used to be to him. Sansa asks Jon where will he go and he corrects her - "where will WE go?". He also mentions how he needs to protect her because Father's ghost would know if he didn't. Jon is still reluctant to fight but Sansa tells him they need to fight and defeat the Boltons.

What was even sweeter than witnessing Stark reunion was seeing Sansa after the abomination of a storyline in season 5 and basically an entire series of being a bystander finally take charge and have the will to fight for herself, for her family and for Winterfell. Sophie Turner also looked incredibly gorgeous in this episode. As much as I dislike the interviews she gives, she owned the episode. I finally saw the strength of Catelyn alive in Sansa.

All of the scenes at Castle Black were fantastic this week. Davos talks to Melisandre who tells him she will go wherever Jon commands. Davos then starts asking her about Stannis and Shireen. Brienne overhears that and mentions she was sworn to protect Renly and she executed Stannis. Brienne and Sansa have the biggest balls in Castle Black at the moment. Even Melisandre looked fearful when Brienne mentioned she knew Renly died because of blood magic.
Then we move to the Vale where for the first time in this season the accent changing, teleporting piece of shit Littlefinger appears. He distracts Robin with a barbie doll falcon and owns Royce basically using lies ("oh gee the Boltons took Sansa") and then plays Robin to get him to agree to gather the knights of the Vale and go rescue Sansa. Don't let him arrive a hero, D&D. I will haunt you down.

In Meereen the douchbag slavers Daenerys won with arrive to have a parlay with Tyrion. Tyrion, to Grey Worm and Missandei' rage announces the slavers have 7 years to deal with slavery. Then the representatives of the slaves approach Tyrion angry about the deal he struck with the masters. Still that scene was an improvement over last week's and it was sweet to see Missandei briefly take Tyrion's side and seeing him smile as she did that. It's always awesome seeing Tywion own people just by using his words but the writers of the show don't write as well as Martin - just compare this scene to any of Tyrion's amazing ownage scenes in season 2 when he was the Hand of the King.

The A Team of Daario and Jorah are still in pursuit of Daenerys. When they take off their weapons Daario notices greyscale on Jorah's arm but does nothing about it. They sneak into Vaes Dothrak and fight two dothraki and win. Meanwhile Daenerys is talking to the widows and befriends a young girl.  She then meets Jorah and Daario and tells them to do nothing because she has a plan.

Back in King's Landing Septa Sadistic Spoon leads Margaery to the High Sparrow who tells her that he used indulge in drinking and sex but saw the futility and ugliness of such life. He then allows Margaery to see Loras who looks like total shit. Seriously Loras is this the reaction to spoon hitting and Bible lessons? Get a grip.

Elsewhere Cersei finds Pycelle advising Tommen and tells him to leave. Pycelle does just that but throws a snaky smirk Cersei's way. I see Gregor smash in his future. Tommen and Cersei talk and Tommen confides in Cersei something High Sparrow told him. Turns out Margaery is to do the walk of shame very soon. Jaime and Cersei pass the information to Kevan and Olenna and they all decide to work together and take Margaery from he Sparrows with the help of Tyrell army.

In Pyke Theon finally returns home. Yara is angry with him for not coming with her (you know when Ramsay was shirtless and unleashed the dogs) when she tried to rescue him. She yells at him and asks Theon what he wants. Theon tells her she should be the one ruling Iron Islands and says he wants to help her.

In Winterfell Osha is brought before Ramsay. She tries to seduce him and fool him and use the opportunity to kill him but Ramsay knows who she is because Theon told him how she rescued the Stark brothers and how loyal she is to them. Osha goes for the knife but Ramsay stabs her in the neck, killing her. It was sad to see Osha, a wonderful character, die after such long absence in her only second appearance in this season. The only consolation is that she died quickly and didn't suffer too much.

Back in Castle Black Edd, Jon, Tormund, Pod, Brienne and Sansa eat dinner while Tormund throws lustful looks towards amused Brienne. Everyone is shipping it now. Everyone. I really hope there will be more interaction between those two. It is so nice to see Brienne appreciated in this way. While they are dining a letter is brought to Jon. It's the show's version of the Pink Letter, a horrific message filled with details of what is going on in Winterfell and what is going to happen.
The letter is awful - Jon reads it and is author, Ramsay, taunts Jon as a bastard and tells him he wants his bride, Sansa, back. He reveals he has Rickon at which Jon stops, horrified and looks at Sansa. Jon continues reading Ramsay's threats - that he will kill and flay and rape the wildlings and kill Rickon.

Finally Jon cannot read anymore and Sansa grabs the letter and finishes reading its awful contents. Sansa grabs Jon hand and tells him that he is the son of the last true warden of the North and if he asks those loyal to the North will follow him. Jon finally agrees. I am just in tears again at Sansa doing all of that. I pray those tears will flood my brain so I don't remember her season 5 storyline anymore.
Back in Vaes Dothrak Daenerys once again must fight the patriarchy of morons and pigs as she is brought before the khals. They throw insults her way, threatening to rape her and Daenerys owns them telling them of Drogo, of the Stallion who will Mount the world and that they will not serve her. They will die. She then starts the fire in the hut. The khals try escaping but there is no escape, they die one by one as Daenerys walks around, smiling.

The dothraki start to gather outside as the hut is now completely on fire. Suddenly a naked Daenerys emerges from it, unharmed. One by one they kneel before her, mesmerized. Daenerys stands there with that badass look on her face as she is getting yet another khalasar. Daario and Jorah approach too and kneel but not before Daario looks completely stunned, for the first time seeing the power of the Queen.
Of course there is whining because Martin said Daenerys being Unburnt was the one time thing. But as with Hotness of the Morning wielding two swords last week, I ask - who cares? Let her be unburnt. I did like how in a very long time for the first time Dany managed to save herself without the help of her dragons.

This was a terrific episode - all of the scenes were very good and moved the plot forward. The episode also continues the show's long awaited raise of the female characters. One of my favorite episodes in the entire series is the forth episode of first season entitled "Cripples, Bastards and Broken things". Here we saw sisters of cripples (Theon), bastards (Jon) and broken things (Loras) take charge as their brothers were filled with fear and doubts. Seeing Sansa finally step up and stand up not just for herself but for her entire family and country was just wonderful. Let's hope the show doesn't waste my goodwill (Stoneheart watch 2016) and Sansa finally becoming awesome by having her forgive Littlefinger. Don't do it. Stab him. Right in the dick.
Next it's The Door. Sansa confronts Littlefinger, Brienne is dispatched on a mission, Yara faces her uncle and Bran's visions grow perilous.
PREVIOUS RECAPS: