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==Memorable Quotes==
  
==Memorable Quotes==
 
'''[[Samwell Tarly]]:''' Whilst Lord Janos was hiding with the women and children, Jon Snow was leading. Ser Alliser fought bravely, it is true, but when he was wounded, it was Jon who saved us. He took charge of the Wall's defense, he killed the Magnar of the Thenns, he went north to deal with Mance Rayder, knowing that it certainly meant his own death. Before that, he led the mission to avenge Lord Commander Mormont. Mormont himself chose Jon to be his steward. He saw something in Jon and now we've all seen it too. He may be young, but he's the commander we turned to when the night was darkest.
  
'''[[Samwell Tarly]]:''' Whilst Lord Janos was hiding with the women and children, Jon Snow was leading. Ser Alliser fought bravely, it is true, but when he was wounded, it was Jon who saved us. He took charge of the Wall's defense, he killed the Magnar of the Thenns, he went north to deal with Mance Rayder, knowing that it certainly meant his own death. Before that, he led the mission to avenge Lord Commander Mormont. Mormont himself chose Jon to be his steward. He saw something in Jon and now we've all seen it too. He may be young, but he's the commander we turned to when the night was darkest.
  +
  +
'''[[Arya Stark]]:''' Well, who are you then? <br>
  +
'''[[Arya Stark]]:''' No one, and that is what girl must become.
   
 
==References==
  
==References==

Revision as of 10:18, 20 April 2015

"The House of Black and White" is the second episode of the fifth season of Game of Thrones. It is the forty-second episode of the series overall. It premiered on April 19, 2015. It was written by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, and directed by Michael Slovis.

Plot

Template:S05E02 Synopsis

Summary

In the Crownlands

Jaime asks Bronn for help rescuing Myrcella from Dorne.

In the Free Cities

Ternesio Terys and Arya Stark arrive at the House of Black and White on a boat. Arya waits outside waiting for admittance, but is rejected despite showing the coin Jaqen H'ghar had given her and speaking of their relation. While hunting for pigeons, she encounters several boys who challenge her, but they scatter as the man from the House of Black and White appears again. At the house again, Arya demands him for his identity, and he returns the coin she threw in the water to her. His face morphs into that of Jaqen, and reveals that "a man is not Jaqen H'ghar", and they enter the house.

In the Vale

In Meereen

Daario and Grey Worm find a house belonging to a son of the Harpy allegedly responsible for White Rat's death. Daenerys and her council debate executing him. Barristan tells her about her father, and confirms his madness. Daenerys promises Ser Barristan that there will be a trial for the accused. Before the trial begins, Mossador kills the Harpy son. Daenerys has Mossador publically executed, causing the freed slaves to hiss at her and throw rocks at her as she leaves.

At the Wall

Jon Snow is elected Lord Commander of the Night's Watch.

In Dorne

Ellaria Sand asks Doran Martell for Myrcella so that she can send her piece by piece to Cersei as revenge for Oberyn Martells death. Doran refuses saying that small children will not be killed while he rules. Ellaria asks how long he expects to rule for.

Production

Cast

Starring

Guest Starring

Cast notes

Notes

  • The episode title is a reference to the House of Black and White, the headquarters of the Faceless Men in the Free City of Braavos.
  • Almost every major faction in the TV series appears in this episode, except for House Bolton, as well as House Frey (who have not appeared on-screen since Season 3), House Tully (Brynden and Edmure, more of an extension of the Starks, but not seen since Season 3 either), and House Greyjoy (whose subplots from the fourth novel seem to have been omitted from Season 5). The producers already confirmed that Bran Stark and his associated storyline will not reappear until Season 6. Mace Tyrell does appear, representing House Tyrell, though Margaery, Loras, and Olenna do not appear.
  • This episode marks the return of Cersei and Jaime's second child and only daughter, Myrcella Baratheon. She was last physically seen back in Season 2 episode 6, "The Old Gods and the New", when she sent off on a boat to Dorne. Myrcella was originally played by Aimee Richardson in Seasons 1 and 2, but after a two season absence, the producers decided to recast the role now that Myrcella prominently features in Season 5, and the role is now played by Nell Tiger Free.
  • Jon Snow has been elected as the new Lord Commander of the Night's Watch.
    • The voting scene is significantly condensed from how this played out in the novels. Indeed, Jon's storyline is actually relatively behind several others. Unlike how Bran Stark's storyline caught up with his material at the end of the fifth and most recent novel, the Night's Watch election occurs at the end of the third novel, right after the Battle of Castle Black. This got pushed into the beginning of Season 5, because the battle was used as the climax of the season in episode 9, so there wasn't enough time left over - though the producers have frequently said that they feel they are adapting the story as a whole, and have been willing to let parts from one book spill over into earlier or later seasons, instead of forcing the pacing by trying to make them neatly match up.
    • In the novels, every member of the Night's Watch gets to vote - and there are about 600 men left alive in the Night's Watch at this point. Not all of them can come to Castle Black, but their commanders report how each garrison votes. The tally mechanism in front of Aemon visibly doesn't have nearly that many tokens in it. Moreover, it is impossible for there to be a tie in the novels, as such, because the office is won by a two-thirds majority. If no one candidate gets a two-thirds majority, voting just continues until a clear front-runner gathers enough votes, and other minor candidates drop out. Samwell shouting out Jon's name is fully within the rules: any black brother can put forward himself or another as a candidate (officers just stand a more realistic chance of winning than a stable boy). The production team apparently just wanted to make it visually clear how the voting went (long tallies of numbers would be more difficult to process). It is the equivalent of if Jon was one vote short of that two thirds majority, and Aemon added his vote to put him over the top.
  • Ser Denys Mallister was played by actor J.J. Murphy, who died only four days after filming his first scenes, at the age of 86. Co-creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have announced the character will not be recast as Murphy "was a lovely man, and the best Denys Mallister we could have hoped for. And now his watch is ended."[1] It is unknown if he finished every scene they intended to film with him, but apparently all or at least most of Murphy's primary scenes were already finished (it is possible that a few scenes were rewritten to work around his absence, i.e. in the preceding episode Samwell describes Mallister even though he is not present). Ultimately Murphy gave no speaking lines in the finished episode.
  • This episode marks the first time that Dorne has been seen in the TV series, and the introduction of much of the rest of House Martell, after the first view of them given when Oberyn Martell and Ellaria Sand visited King's Landing in Season 4. This episode marks the introduction of Doran Martell, Oberyn's older brother and ruling Prince of Dorne - played by Alexander Siddig, known for his role as Dr. Julian Bashir on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Dorne in the novels was loosely inspired by Moorish Spain, and by the time that the narrative was going to show it in Season 5, the unprecedented success of the TV series convinced HBO to invest the extra budget to actually film Dorne scenes in Spain, in the very medieval Islamic palaces which inspired the fantasy counterpart.
  • This episode also marks the first full-scale introduction of the Free City of Braavos. It was previously seen for the first time in Season 4's "The Laws of Gods and Men", but other than a wide-shot of the Titan of Braavos and the city, that episode focused on just the interiors of the Iron Bank. For Season 5, the production team built expansive, fully realized sets of the streets and buildings of Braavos.
    • Captain Ternesio Terys tells Arya that in the old days of Braavos, according to legend, the Titan statue would walk out into the ocean to rain down fire on attackers. The statue can't actually do this, but there are some elements of truth behind it: the Titan is not merely a decoration, but is a stylized fortification that commands the only major passage into the harbor, and the statue is filled with murder holes from which the defensive garrison can rain down fire and burning oil on enemy ships that try to pass.
    • It isn't clear why no one in Braavos speaks Braavosi Low Valyrian, but even a gang of street toughs apparently speak in the Common Tongue of Westeros. Representatives of the Iron Bank such as Tycho Nestoris know how to speak the Common Tongue because they are used to dealing with foreigners, as are sailors such as Ternesio Terys (who brought Arya to Braavos), and also the Faceless men assassins. The Common Tongue is a major world language, and Braavos is extensively involved in international trade, so it is not implausible that perhaps the street toughs recognized that Arya was Westerosi by her clothing and appearance, and thus knew to speak to her in the Common Tongue. In the novels, Arya has to spend some time learning Braavosi Low Valyrian.
    • Arya was last seen hunting pigeons in Season 1's "Baelor", when she was hiding out in the slums of Flea Bottom in King's Landing.
  • Jaqen H'ghar gave Arya Stark his special coin back in the Season 2 finale, identifying her as a friend of the Faceless Men, in gratitude for saving his life. She carried it around for two years before finally using it in the Season 3 finale to obtain passage to Braavos.
  • In the novels, the member of the Faceless Men that Arya meets at the House of Black and White can't be the real Jaqen, because he's still pursuing his original assignment in Westeros. Arya nicknames this other man as "the Kindly Man". In the TV series, a longer amount of time has passed, and Jaqen's other subplot seems to have probably been omitted. Therefore it isn't clear if in the TV continuity, it has been changed so that he actually is the original man that Arya physically encountered at Harrenhal, or, if he is just another shapeshifter who can take on the same appearance. Indeed, there never was a "Jaqen H'ghar", it was just a fake persona that the Faceless Man that Arya encountered happened to be using. Another factor is that the Faceless Men practice extreme self-abnegation, describing themselves as "no one", and basically consider each other to be interchangeable (if you aid one Faceless Man, you aid all of them, if you harm one, you harm all of them).
  • In the novels, Jaime Lannister did not personally go to Dorne, this is a condensation of the plotlines involving Myrcella. Instead, Jaime went to the Riverlands to take command of the ongoing siege of Riverrun, whose garrison (commanded by Brynden Tully) had been completely surrounded by the Freys but defiantly continued to hold out for months after the Red Wedding.
  • The Small Council was gutted after the loss of Tywin Lannister, Tyrion, Littelfinger, and Varys. Of the original Small Council when Joffrey seized power, only Pycelle still remains. In the novels, Cersei's takeover of the Small Council and stacking it with sycophants was a major running plotline affecting politics in the capital city. The TV version significantly condenses this, though keeping the general thematic points the same:
    • In the novels, Cersei appointed Harys Swyft (Kevan's own father-in-law) as the new Hand of the King, Orton Merryweather as Master of Laws, Gyles Rosby as Master of Coin, and Aurane Waters as Master of Ships. She appointed Qyburn as the new Master of Whisperers (spymaster) in both the books and TV series. Mace Tyrell was the Master of Ships under Tywin (because after the Royal Fleet got destroyed at the Battle of the Blackwater they need the Tyrell's large fleet), but Cersei grew so distrustful of the Tyrells that she removed him from the office and sent him to besiege Stannis's remaining garrison at Storm's End.
    • In the novels, Tywin made his brother Kevan Lannister the new Master of Laws (which was Renly Baratheon's position back in book/season 1). In this episode, Kevan makes it clear that he was not made Master of Laws "off-screen" in the TV version, but was commanding armies in the field and only just returned to the capital city for Tywin's funeral - meaning that in the TV version, the office has apparently been simply left vacant since King Robert died, and it remains vacant.
    • Given that these characters were not introduced in the TV series before and the audience wouldn't be familiar with them, Cersei's reshuffling of the Small Council in the TV version is condensed: Cersei isn't bothering to name a new Hand of the King at all, shockingly leaving the office vacant while functioning ruling over the council. In the novels, Cersei is technically still Tommen's Regent - but in the TV version, Tommen has apparently passed the age of legal majority in Westeros by this point, and she is no longer his regent: Kevan specifically says that she is only the Queen Mother, and makes no mention of being a regent. A Queen Mother has no right to sit on the council if not a regent (though a king can in theory invite any advisors he wants onto his council - but Tommen isn't even present). Mace Tyrell is retained, and simply made both Master of Ships and Master of Coin. Qyburn is the new Master of Whisperers, and Pycelle remains Grand Maester. As Kevan was apparently going to point out, as Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, her brother Jaime is also supposed to be a member of the Small Council, but he has left the capital (though as it turns out, he volunteered to leave, to deal with events outside the city).
    • There is no such thing as a "Master of War". The crown's armies are commanded by the "Protector of the Realm" (usually the king, unless he is underaged), who in turn commands the four Wardens. This reflects a more complex development in the novels, in which Cersei basically starts making up titles on the Small Council, at her whim (which she technically doesn't have the right to do either). In an act of petty resentment, she comes to loathe the idea of anyone else calling himself "master" in his title on the Small Council, feeling this means a loss of control. Therefore, she picks new names based on a few titles from the Free Cities: the Master of Coin is renamed the "Lord Treasurer", the Master of Ships is renamed the "Grand Admiral", and the Master of Laws is renamed the "Justiciar". She did try to make Kevan the new Hand of the King, but he bluntly refused her, openly told her that she completely failed as a mother to raise Joffrey, and demanded that she yield over custody of Tommen. She refused, and he returned to Casterly Rock. Essentially the same plot development happens here, though significantly condensing these characters and plotlines.
  • Lollys Stokeworth was first mentioned in Season 4's "Mockingbird", when Bronn explained that Cersei bribed him with a marriage into the nobility - albeit to a younger daughter - if he would not be Tyrion's champion in the trial by combat against Gregor Clegane. Bronn accepted, because even if he wasn't bribed, he doubted he could defeat such a monstrously large and strong opponent as Gregor. Tyrion described her at the time as "dim-witted", though in the novels it isn't clear if she is meant to actually be a "lackwit" (i.e. has some sort of diagnosable mental handicap), or if she is just quite simple-minded and not very intelligent.
    • Lollys's gown features embroidery in the center with the heraldry of House Stokeworth: a white lamb holding a golden cup, on a green background.
    • There was some concern back when "Mockingbird" aired: within the same episode, Oberyn Martell said that his father took him on a trip to Casterly Rock when he was young, where he encountered the newborn Tyrion, and also, Bronn explained that Lollys's older sister Falyse would inherit Castle Stokeworth when her father died - when in the novels, Oberyn's mother was the previous ruler of Dorne, who led him on a journey to Casterly Rock, and Lollys's mother is the current head of House Stokeworth. This led to some fears that female inheritance in Westeros, and the fact that sometimes Houses end up being headed by women, had been cut from the TV series. Apparently, however, the TV producers simply used condensed dialogue at the time because they felt it would take too long to explain the intricacies of Westeros's inheritance system. Later, in the Histories & Lore animated featurettes included in the Season 4 Blu-ray set, Oberyn made it clear that his mother was actually the previous ruler of House Martell. In this episode, Lollys also confirms that her mother (whose name is Tanda Stokeworth) is indeed the current head of House Stokeworth, not her father. In-universe, Bronn may simply have been mistaken and assumed her father was still alive when he explained this in Season 4.
  • Pycelle recounted in Season 1's "Baelor" that Daenerys's father King Aerys II Targaryen, known as "the Mad King", was actually a normal and even charming man in his youth - and also lamented how his insanity was a late-onset and progressive condition, and how horrifying it was to watch as his friend gradually melted away before his eyes until after many years nothing was left of him but a raving lunatic.
    • The Targaryen madness, the noted strain of insanity that ran in their bloodline, was the result of multiple generations of heavy compound inbreeding, incestuously marrying brother to sister to "keep the bloodline pure". Based on the example of her father and others, there is actually no guarantee that Daenerys (who is nearly 20 years old in the TV series) will not also suddenly and without warning turn violently insane twenty or thirty years in the future.
    • Speaking privately with Jorah Mormont in Season 3 "Kissed by Fire", Ser Barristan openly described King Aerys as "a lunatic". His comments about how Aerys had men burned alive with wildfire and laughed, and had sons killed in front of their fathers, also refers specifically to how the Mad King killed Eddard Stark's father Rickard and his older brother Brandon. In the throne room itself, he had Rickard held aloft by chains while burning him with wildfire, and had Brandon dragged in front of him, attached to a torture device consisting of a noose around his neck, arranged in such a way that the harder he pulled on it the tighter it constricted. Brandon strangled himself to death trying to break free and save his father, while Rickard was cooked by flames so hot that the gold from his stirrups melted onto the floor. No one has mentioned which of them died first, though certainly, Aerys brought Brandon in to let both of them know that he intended to kill each of them.
    • Jaime Lannister also remarked to Eddard Stark himself on encountering him in the Red Keep's throne room, back in Season 1 episode 3 "Lord Snow", how odd it must be to stand in the very room where the Mad King had his father burned to death. Eddard points out that Jaime did nothing to save them, to which Jaime said that a room full of five hundred other men were too scared to do anything - and that when he ultimately drove his sword into Aerys at the end of the rebellion, his thoughts were of how the Mad King had laughed hysterically while Eddard's father burned alive.
  • Sansa Stark's storyline has been drastically changed from the novels and all of the scenes of both Sansa and Brienne of Tarth in this episode have no real equivalent in the novels. Very loosely, they seem to be heavily condensed from Sansa's future storyline in the unpublished sixths novel - but just as Brienne never actually met Arya Stark in the novels, Brienne never found Sansa Stark either. Instead, she continued to wander through the war-torn Riverlands desperately hunting for the girls, and witnessing first-hand the utter devastation caused by the war - entire swaths of the region reduced to burned out ruins, and even with the war technically over, it would take a full generation to recover.
    • Notice that Brienne's sword cuts one of the guard's swords completely in half. Brienne's Oathkeeper is made of Valyrian steel, as explained in Season 4, incredibly strong and incredibly sharp.
  • Even though Shireen Baratheon was first introduced in Season 3, this is actually the first time that any explanation has been given on-screen for why half of her face is heavily scarred: she had the dreaded disease known as Greyscale when she was an infant. Against all odds she was able to be cured and survived, though it left half of her face disfigured. This is also the first time that "Greyscale" has been mentioned by name in the TV series. It is a a leprosy-like disease found across both Westeros and Essos.
    • In the novels, Mance Rayder's sister in law Val (omitted from the TV series), later sees Shireen and warns that the girl is "unclean": Gilly loosely takes Val's place in this regard, though her reaction is much more sympathetic. The wildlings actually call it the "grey death": Gilly probably doesn't know this because she doesn't know much in general about the culture of other wildlings outside of Craster's Keep. The TV series also invented the detail that two of Gilly's sisters once caught greyscale and died, though this could have happened. Gilly says that Craster quarantined the girls in a hut, but when they were completely covered in greyscale and no longer coherent, he dragged them out into the woods by ropes to kill and possibly burn them. This is also not particularly more harsh than how those with greyscale are treated in centers of civilization like King's Landing or Pentos: those with greyscale are often mercy-killed, or burned to halt the spread, or exiled to essentially leper-colonies in ruins around Chroyane or possibly Valyria.
  • This is actually the first episode in which Shireen has ever interacted with her mother, Queen Selyse Baratheon. Kerry Ingram (Shireen) only had scenes with three people in Seasons 3 and 4: Stannis, Davos, and Melisandre, and only in her chambers set. In fact, Ingram said that she never even met Tara Fitzgerald (Selyse), until they both appeared in the Castle Black set for the funeral pyre scene in the Season 4 finale.
  • Although unmentioned when all three of them are in a scene together, Shireen, Samwell Tarly, and Selyse are all related. Selyse was born into House Florent, and Samwell's mother - born Melessa Florent - was Selyse's first cousin, making Samwell and Shireen second cousins.

In the books

See: Differences between books and TV series - Season 5#The_House_of_Black_and_White
  • The episode is adapted from the following chapters of A Storm of Swords:
  • The episode is adapted from the following chapters of A Feast for Crows:
    • Chapter 2, The Captain of the Guards: at the Water Gardens, a Sand, enraged by the murder of her loved one, Oberyn Martell, arrives to call on Prince Doran. Areo Hotah, the Prince's bodyguard, blocks her passage, yet Doran tells him to let her in. She tells him everyone in Dorne is asking what the Prince intends to do to the Lannisters in retaliation for his murdered brother, yet Doran says Oberyn was lawfully slain during a trial by combat. Angered by Doran's inaction, she storms out.
    • Chapter 5, Samwell II: at the library of Castle Black, Sam learns that the youngest Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, Osric Stark, was chosen at the age of ten.
    • Chapter 6, Arya I: Arya arrives in Braavos, awestruck by the Titan, which lets out a loud blast announcing their arrival, startling her. Captain Ternesio Terys has her rowed through the city to the House of Black and White, where he told her Jaqen H'ghar might be found. Arya finds its door locked, and begs to be let in, as she has had to cross the Narrow Sea. When a robed old man receives her, she shows him Jaqen's coin and asks for him, but the old man claims not to know Jaqen. Though she swears to have no place to go, he tells her that this is no place for Arya. However, upon her insistence, the old man accepts her as an apprentice.
    • Chapter 7, Cersei II: Kevan Lannister spurns Cersei's offer of a position in King Tommen's small council, unmoved by her attempts to convince him by appealing to Tommen’s need of him.
    • Chapter 13, The Soiled Knight: Princess Myrcella and Prince Trystane are getting along nicely.
    • Chapter 16, Jaime II: Kevan returns to Casterly Rock in anger. Bronn now resides in Castle Stokeworth.
    • Chapter 17, Cersei IV: Cersei is presented with a dwarf's head that is not Tyrion's, yet decides not to punish the hunters, as it would dissuade others. She walks with Qyburn to meet her new small council. Qyburn's appointment as Master of Whisperers infuriates Grand Maester Pycelle. Cersei sends a Kingsguard to Dorne in order to bring Myrcella back.
    • Chapter 22, Arya II: Arya's instructor tells her she must become "no one."
    • Chapter 24, Cersei V: Cersei plots to undermine Bronn and his position at Castle Stokeworth.
    • Chapter 27, Jaime III: Jaime recruits his sword partner as a companion and sets upon his mission away from King's Landing.
  • The episode is adapted from the following chapters of A Dance with Dragons:
    • Chapter 1, Tyrion I: when Tyrion learns that Cersei has offered a lordship to the man who brings her his head, he points out she should offer her sex as well; “the best part of him for the best part of her.”
    • Chapter 3, Jon I: having demanded the loyalty of the northern lords, Stannis shows Jon the laconic reply of the ten years old Lady of Bear Island, Lyanna Mormont: "Bear Island knows no king but the King in the North, whose name is STARK."
    • Chapter 5, Tyrion II: Tyrion is smuggled out of Pentos inside the litter of Illyrio Mopatis, and he and his companion head to Volantis, in order to sail from there to Meereen.

Memorable Quotes

Samwell Tarly: Whilst Lord Janos was hiding with the women and children, Jon Snow was leading. Ser Alliser fought bravely, it is true, but when he was wounded, it was Jon who saved us. He took charge of the Wall's defense, he killed the Magnar of the Thenns, he went north to deal with Mance Rayder, knowing that it certainly meant his own death. Before that, he led the mission to avenge Lord Commander Mormont. Mormont himself chose Jon to be his steward. He saw something in Jon and now we've all seen it too. He may be young, but he's the commander we turned to when the night was darkest.

Arya Stark: Well, who are you then?
Arya Stark: No one, and that is what girl must become.

References

  1. ↑ WotW.com, Actor J. J. Murphy dies after beginning filming for Game of Thrones season 5
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