Josh recaps Season 4 Episode of Game of Thrones, titled The Laws of Gods and Men, which had a lot more going on than the last couple weeks. The trial for Tyrion has begun! Yara Greyjoy makes a daring attack, and Davos figures out a way to get some much needed financial aid for Stannis war efforts. Following the recap, both Josh and Violet share their thoughts on the episode.
Don’t need the Game of Thrones episode recap for The Laws of Gods and Men? Click here to jump directly to Violet’s thoughts on the episode!
To see Josh’s thoughts on this week’s Game of Thrones episode, click here to get directly there!
Brief Summary of Game of Thrones: The Laws of Gods and Men:
Here is a quick episode recap of Season 4 Episode 6 of Game of Thrones:
- Davos convinces the Iron Bank to fund Stannis war efforts, since Tywin is an old man and someone new will need to step up for Westeros.
- Yara Greyjoy attempts to rescue her brother, but seeing that Theon is mentally dead and Ramsay is about to unleash vicious hounds on her men, she opts to retreat.
- Ramsay in the aftermath rewards Theon with a bath, and has a secret mission for Theon in Moat Cailin.
- Khaleesi hears the troubles of her new subjects. All 212 she will have to listen to. Ruling, she is finding out, is a tiresome venture.
- The King’s Council meets, discussing various concerns in the kingdom-the Hound, Khaleesi, and the like. Afterwards, Varys and Oberyn discuss Varys’ motives.
- Tyrion’s trial begins, and the case against him is strong with all of the damning testimony from witnesses. Jaime makes a plea for Tyrion’s life from Tywin, to which Tywin agrees if Tyrion goes to Castle Black and Jaime leaves the Kingsguard to carry on the Lannister name.
- The trial resumes and Tyrion agrees to plead guilty to spare his life–until Shae testifies against him. He then demands a trial by combat. Tywin does not look pleased.
Here is the detailed episode recap for Season 4 Episode 6 of Game of Thrones: The Laws of Gods and Men
On this week’s episode of Game of Thrones, the episode, titled The Laws of Gods and Men, begins with Stannis and Davos heading to the Iron Bank. They are looking for a loan to fund their military. After waiting impatiently for some time, they are finally greeted rather coldly by the bank authorities. They decide that Stannis is a poor investment, and shoo them out. Davos however, is able to make a sound argument as to why their war could be beneficial to the bank–considering Tywin is old, and he is who both Davos and the Iron Bank consider to be in charge in King’s Landing. Davos asks the bank who is next to lead when Tywin dies. Davos claims Stannis is the next best option.
It turns out Davos may have had some luck with his rousing speech, as in the next scene we meet a Salladhor Saan, a smuggler Davos had previously worked with. Davos walks in, and they have a conversation. Davos informs Salladhor they are sailing at sunrise, and has the money to pay for him.
In the next scene, Yara Greyjoy is with some of her men on a ship. She is reading the note that Ramsay mailed to the Greyjoys, with Theon’s man parts. She rallies her men, and they head into Ramsay’s castle, to rescue Theon. The soldiers stealth their way in, and locate Theon. He is caged with animals, and has become loyal to Ramsay like an abused animal, and refuses to leave his cage. Ramsay and his men discover Yara’s incursion, and the two factions begin to fight. It would seem Yara has the upper hand until Ramsay releases the dogs. Yara decides to flee, leaving Theon behind.
Ramsay decides to reward Theon, now embracing his name Reek. His reward: a bath. Probably the first he has had since being taken. Ramsay then tells Reek that he will pretend to be a different person for him. He will pretend to be Theon Greyjoy. Ramsay plans to send Wreak to a castle. This Castle appears to be Moat Cailin.
Meanwhile, Khaleesi’s dragons are causing trouble, eating the livestock of some shepherds. Khaleesi is sitting on her new throne (who has an entirely too long of a title), hearing the troubles of her new kingdom. A shepherd complains to Khaleesi, who awards the man payment as compensation.
The next man to come in is the son of one of the men Khaleesi had crucified a few episodes ago. He is a noble named Hizdahr zo Loraq. He requests to be allowed to take his father down for a proper burial. It turns out this man’s father may not have been as bad as a guy as Khaleesi thought, as the father tried to overrule slavery in the past. Khaleesi seems to be a bit offended by this man’s claims, but eventually concedes to allow his father to be buried. Khaleesi seems a bit exhausted from her two encounters so far, and she asks how many more people are waiting to speak to her. It turns out to be a lot: 212. She will be sitting there a while.
Back in King’s Landing, Oberyn, Tywin, Pycelle, Mace Tyrell, Varys and Cersei are waiting to meet with Tywin for the King’s Council meeting. Tywin shows up, and they discuss the affairs. Tywin puts a bounty on the Hound, and they discuss Daenerys and her dragons.
After the meeting Oberyn and Varys have a conversation in the throne room. Oberyn seems to deduce that Varys is from Essos. Varys is shocked to learn he figured it out. Oberyn tries to figure out why Varys had some parts removed, and what his interests were prior to the surgery. Varys informs Oberyn that the “absence of desire frees” him to do “other things”. He then eyes the Iron Throne, and walks away.
Jaime then pays his brother a visit, who is still in the stockades. The trial is about to begin. Tyrion is brought in, and chained to his podium in the throne room, which currently has an audience, along with the judges, Tywin, Oberyn, and Mace Tyrell. Tommen initially sits on the throne, but excuses himself to allow the court to judge the trial. Tywin takes a seat on the throne–perhaps a hint to us as audience who really rules Westoros.
The trial begins, and we see witness after witness providing detrimental testimony against Tyrion. The court adjourns, and Jaime has a conversation with Tywin in private. Jaime tries to convince Tywin to not kill Tyrion in this trial. Jaime tries to bargain with Tywin–telling Tywin he will leave the Kingsguard if Tyrion is shown mercy. Tywin immediately agrees, but says Tyrion will have to plead guilty, and be banished to Castle Black. Jaime will then leave the guard, and marry a “proper” woman to carry on the Lannister name. Before the trial resumes, Jaime tells Tyrion the plan, and Tyrion seems to agree.
The trial resumes, and the next person called to witness is Shae. She crucifies Tyrion as well, crushing Tyrion. Tyrion breaks down, and wants to confess. He confesses that he saved the city, and tells the audience he wished Stannis had killed them all. His confession is to being a dwarf. He refuses to admit to killing Joffrey, but does admit that he wishes he did do it. He then makes a demand for trial by combat.
Josh’s Thoughts on Season 4 Episode 6 of Game of Thrones: The Laws of Gods and Men:
There was a lot more excitement going this episode than the past couple. I am a bit disappointed in Yara’s attempt to save Theon though. She made a daring, stealthy break in, only to have to flee with her tail between her legs, essentially sacrificing men for no reason.
Ramsay has completely taken over Theon’s mind, it seems. I am curious what Theon will do when he gets to go on his errand to Moat Cailin. I am hoping he snaps out of whatever Ramsay has done for him, and eventually gets some revenge on our serial killer buddy Ramsay. I have a feeling that Theon will be committing some traitorous acts against his own people before that happens though.
As for the meeting Stannis and Davos had with the Iron Bank, I am curious to see where this goes. Obviously the bank wants to follow the money, and Davos must have made a good enough claim to the bank, to sway them to lend Stannis some money. I am curious if there will be a shift in power towards Stannis now, or is the bank simply hoping that this war continues indefinitely so that they can make their money off both sides. The biggest question I have here though is this: What happens if these war torn factions become so battered and impoverished from fighting, that neither side is able to return the money? Does the Iron Bank have its own enforcement soldiers that will attempt to collect on debt? I would like to see more of the infrastructure of the Iron Bank.
Now time to discuss the biggest chunk of the episode: Tyrion’s trial. It is really sad to see Tyrion going down for the murder of Joffrey when we know he is innocent. I guess Jaime has done the best he can for Tyrion, sacrificing his incestuous love for Cersei to save Tyrion’s life. Jaime would have to find a woman to marry to carry on the Lannister name, and that person cannot be Cersei.
But is that all out the window now that Tyrion has requested a trial by combat? It wasn’t really made clear what would happen in this situation. I am curious to know who would fight for Tyrion however. He doesn’t have a lot of friends left in King’s Landing. He could go back for his old buddy Bronn, but we haven’t seen him for a few episodes. I am curious to know where he has been hanging out.
All in all, I am curious to see what happens tonight. I have a feeling whoever Tyrion picks, will be the winner. Tyrion is just to good of a character to kill off! The last big question I have about this episode though is Shae. I would never have thought she would have turn-coated on Tyrion so quickly. Are there other factors in play that we do not know yet? My best guess there is that Shae was either personally threatened to be killed, or Tywin threatened to kill Tyrion if Shae didn’t burn him in the trial. It would be a great way for Tywin to get what he wants. If Tywin would predict that Jaime would leave the Kingsguard, and Jaime would convince Tyrion to plead guilty, the trial would be over quickly for Tywin, and he would think that this would be best not only for himself, but for King’s Landing to move on. Shae probably would think it is a win-win as well, as she would probably hope that Tyrion would be banished, and she and he would be able to live their lives together. I guess I will see tonight if this theory holds true!
Violet’s Thoughts on Season 4 Episode 6 of Game of Thrones: The Laws of Gods and Men
A bit more of an eventful episode this week than has been as of late. Of course, the most eventful and best part of the episode was Tyrion’s trial, which it feels like it took us awhile to get to. This was one of the great scenes from the book, and I’ve been waiting for it, because I just knew it would be one of the highlights of the season. Judging by other people’s reactions on Twitter, I think a lot of you agree with me on that point. Peter Dinklage gave a superbly emotional and moving performance in this episode, especially when it came time to make his “confession.” I was glad to hear lines of dialogue taken straight from the book and put into this part of the episode.
What’s up with all this Iron Bank stuff recently? I don’t remember any of that from the books. Though it did give Davos an excuse to prove his worth and make a convincing argument on behalf of his king. Also, I’m not sure how aware the audience was before this of Stannis having chopped the top parts of Davos’s fingers off. It’s something I knew about because of the books, but I can’t remember if it was brought up on the show before.
Poor Theon, apparently he is so much farther gone than most of us probably realized. Ramsay Snow has really done a number on Theon’s mind, conditioning him to be so loyal to him that he won’t allow himself to be captured by his own sister, because he doesn’t even recognize her anymore, and doesn’t even know his own identity. Yara is just as cutthroat as she is in the books (although her name is Asha in the books), and can definitely hold her own. Now Ramsay has sent “Reek” on a mission “pretending” to be Theon Greyjoy, so that he can carry out his father’s orders to take Moat Cailin. Not sure how soon this is going to happen. As I’ve mentioned, I don’t think this happens in the books, at least not to the point that I’ve read to so far.
The dragons are back! For a brief moment anyway. When I first saw this scene with the dragon, and the shepherd presenting the bones of his herd, I actually thought it might be a similar scene that’s much later on in the books and I was like whoa, they’re doing this already? But that turned out not to be the case. However, I am wondering if that particular scene will come up this season. In any case, I think Dany’s second visitor may have her rethinking her methods of conquering and ruling the various kingdoms, since she crucified a man who was actually not so guilty as she assumed everyone she crucified was. But also, having to deal with over 200 subjects per day might give her second thoughts about staying put rather than going to Westeros!
Speaking of dragons, as a reader, I find it odd that the King’s Council was just nonchalantly discussing the fact that Danaerys has three dragons. In the books, no one in Westeros even believes that she has dragons! It’s just a rumor that people hear about, but don’t give any credence to, given the fact that dragons have long been dead. I’m disappointed, because when Dany finally does show up in Westeros on the show, there will be no element of surprise about her having dragons! Annoying.
So in the next episode we shall get to see who Tyrion names to fight for him in his trial by combat. Having read the books, I already know who he names, but I think the viewers will be a bit surprised at who he picks at first, but it will definitely make sense, and people will think this person was the obvious choice in hindsight.
There’s a lot of really exciting stuff that’s supposed to happen relatively soon. I’m hoping at least some of it happens in the next episode. If so, this season will really pick up and gain some speed! Also, is that Wildling attack ever coming? It really should have happened by now! I hope they don’t put it off until the last episode, because there are some really important things that need to occur at Castle Black before the season wraps up, if they’re going to accomplish everything that happens in Book 3!
Scenes from Game of Thrones, Season 4 Episode 7: Mockingbird
Scenes from Game of Thrones: Mockingbird
They’ve been taking their time getting to some of the events of season 3, but it’s nice that they are starting to have a few of them start unfolding.
Tyrion is such a badass. I swear if he gets offed, I’m going to get really angry. I might even cry.
Peter Dinklage better win an Emmy…these past episodes have shown some of his finest work.
The heat is being turned up from the looks of things. I can’t wait to see the next episode tomorrow.