Game Of Thrones: High Sparrow

'High Sparrow' contained a lot of exciting developments, from the unveiling of Littlefinger's latest scheme to Tyrion encountering Jorah a lot of exciting stuff is happening as the many threads this show weaves are starting to converge. I think I can safely say we're into the 'meat' of the season now, the introductions are over.

- Well, maybe not entirely. We were introduced to High Sparrow in Kings Landing this week, the leader of the religious sect that Cersei's cousin Lancel has joined. Based on what we've heard so far you would be forgiven for thinking that the 'Sparrows' are a bunch of religious nuts, and to be fair they still could be, but High Sparrow actually seems like a really nice and humble guy, partly because of Jonathan Pryce's selfless performance. Judging by the star casting High Sparrow is clearly going to have a large role this season, maybe as another, saner, adviser to Cersei? I like this character so far, and after this week there seems to be a vacancy for the High Septon position sooo....Jonathan Pryce as Pope anyone? That would be cool.

- After this week Tommen is now a happily married man. They make no bones about the fact that he's clearly having the time of his life having his brains f*cked out by Margaery, you kinda feel a little grossed out by staggering the age difference between the two of them however. All this sex is obviously wrapping the king around his bride's finger, which Margaery unwisely rubs all over Cersei's face. Considering how impulsive Cersei can be I don't think taunting her is the best course of action: right now we're waiting for events at Kings Landing to explode so Cersei's general stupidity when it comes to decision making along with her hatred for the Tyrells is undoubtedly going to end in bloodshed. Most of all I feel bad for Tommen, he's a nice kid who will inevitably get brutally murdered at some point or another, probably due to his mother's stupidity.

- This week my suspicions about that crazy doctor were confirmed. WTF is Qyburn doing to the body of the Mountain?!! By now we're encroaching Frankenstein territory, I'm honestly terrified by what's under there. Frankenmountain is inevitably going to be unleashed at some point, god help anyone who has Cersei's ire...

- Has it occurred to anyone that this is the third episode in a row where we've had a public execution? Just something I've noticed. The man to hit the chopping block this week is Janos Slynt, a sniveling bastard who I think we can all agree has had this coming for a while now. Thankfully Jon proves himself to be a competent leader and didn't back down this time (he was very much emulating his father's footsteps this week), gorily slicing that bastards head off much to Stannis' approval. We also had a juicy convo with Davos (one of my fave secondary characters by the way), who rightfully called Jon Snow out on his sh*t from last week about honoring his vows to the Nights Watch in a very Davos way. Everyone should listen to Davos' advice, especially Jon. Also: YOU ARE THE COMMANDER NOW JON, CHANGE THE F*CKING RULES! 

Enjoy while you can, kid.

- We saw a bit more of Arya's journey into the assassins guild this week. Jaqen H'ghar is as usual being annoyingly cryptic about everything, which is probably because so far the house of black and white seems to be a glorified suicide booth where people worship the god of death before offing themselves. After getting into a fight with a bitch played by Faye Marsay Arya is told by Jaqen that in order to become one of the faceless men she must first become 'no one' and that means giving up all of Arya Stark's possessions. This leads to the emotionally charged scene of Arya deciding whether or not she should give up Needle, the sword that Jon Snow gifted to her back in season 1 before he left for the Wall. She's obviously not willing to let everything go just yet, choosing to hide the sword instead of committing it the depths. They seem to be hinting at an identity crisis for her this season (or in this case a lack of one), her lust for revenge is the reason why she came to this place and itgoes against EVERYTHING the assassin's guild stands for, because they're all about removing any emotion you might have once had. Arya not being Arya is a grim prospect so I hope she will continue to retain who she is. Also can we skip the floor sweeping and just get straight to the assassin training? 

- No Jaime/Bronn this time: BOOOOO! 

- We got a lot of good stuff with Tyrion in 'High Sparrow'. It's sad to see the Varys/Tyrion pairing end (I hope this isn't the last we see of Varys this season) but Jorah kidnapping him is a great cliffhanger that instantly makes you want to grab the remote and switch over to the next episode, mainly because this is the first time any of Dany's people have interacted with anyone from Westeros, plus Jorah is a badass and there's a lot of potential in this team-up. The irony is of course on Jorah, who is taking Tyrion exactly where he wants to go. Will delivering a Lannister be enough to sway Dany back to his side though? I think he's grasping at straws. Aside from the ending scene did anyone else think that the actress who played the prostitute was a bit too good for a simple extra? She had great chemistry with Tyrion in that short little scene, I wonder if we'll be seeing more of her? 

Littlefinger, king of badass quotes.

- So the best segment this week was Sansa's, who's storyline has gone from 'we'll see where this goes' to 'HOLY CRAP THIS JUST GOT INTERESTING' as Littlefinger has convinced her to marry Ramsay Bolton, of all people. This was quite the reveal, we're once again seeing two separate storylines converge into big events (Stannis/Jon, Tyrion/Daenerys?). Seeing the two biggest schemers on the show ally is quite exciting, even if Petyr Baelish is leagues ahead of Roose Bolton when it comes to scheming. Suffice to say they're wisely untrustworthy of one another, which is kind of hilarious considering their backstabbing backgrounds. Littlefinger's reasons for arranging this deal are a bit murky, it's hard to tell if he's genuinely caring for Sansa or just using her as a pawn in his next big power grab. Either way this is an extremely intriguing development which means a) Sansa is going to interact with Theon, b) when Stannis attacks the North it won't look good when Sansa if married to the enemy and c) Ramsay's girlfriend(s) are out for blood. By the way did anyone else shout 'NOOOOO!' when Baelish said he knew practically nothing about Ramsey? Surely that's something he would have looked into, but I guess if he even had passing knowledge of Ramsay's escapades this deal wouldn't even be a consideration. As for Ramsay did anyone else think he was oddly...genuine towards Sansa this episode? It would be interesting to see if he will be any different in Sansa's presence, maybe she can rein him in with her womanly wiles? Again, his girlfriend doesn't look happy.

- We also mustn't forget the third party in all this, Brienne is still on Sansa's tail and will likely be at Winterfell in the next few episodes. It's interesting to see different factions converging around Winterfell and the Wall, Sansa marrying Ramsay in time for Stannis launching an all out attack on the North would be epic enough for the infamous upcoming ninth episode. Brienne is a big wildcard in the midst of all this, her desire to kill Stannis (who isn't aware of her threat) could very well prove to be his undoing...or she could bust Sansa out of Winterfell, foiling Littlefinger and the Bolton's plans. Let's also not forget that Stannis's offer to Jon is still very much on the table, what if Jon is the one to attack Winterfell? This is all very exciting.

So a great episode this week then, with all featured characters undergoing significant developments. Nothing can beat Game Of Thrones when it's running at full steam, and this week things are getting very heated indeed. GOT ranking: 8,5/10.