Re: Game of Thrones (S5E07) -- "The Gift" -- 5/24/15
 

This scene from Season 2 ( LINK ) shows just how much dragonglass was found.

(But I wonder what happened to that horn thing that was found there as well?)

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E07) -- "The Gift" -- 5/24/15
 

Yep. Cersei thinks only politically and assumed the High Sparrow was her political ally and that he was loyal to her for giving him power. She doesn't understand that he's a religious fanatic and probably attributes his rise to power entirely to his piety in the Faith of the Seven, so to him it was a gift from the Seven and he gives no credit for it to Cersei at all. And he has said no one is exempt from the laws of the Seven, which are really his own interpretations of those laws. When people get a "little" religious, they tend to look inward and apply its rules to themselves. But if they keep going down that path and get a "lotta" religious, then they typically want to apply its rules to everyone else with no exceptions. That's what Cersei didn't understand.

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E07) -- "The Gift" -- 5/24/15
 

Daenerys Targaryen and Tyrion Lannister

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E07) -- "The Gift" -- 5/24/15
 

About halfway through episode 1 of this season, there's an interesting scene (in hindsight) during the funeral for Tywin in which Lancel wearing the monk-like sparrow garb first appears.

Lancel expresses sympathies to Cersei for her loss, but then his father Kevan Lannister walks up and talks to Cersei in front of Lancel.

Kevan: "I apologize for my son's appearance."

Cersei: "That's quite all right."

(Lancel walks away)

Kevan: "They call themselves 'Sparrows'... bloody fanatics. Religion has its place, of course, to a certain point. They never would have come to the capital when Tywin was alive."

Cersei: "I'm sure he'll grow out of it, whatever it is."


This scene shows that Kevan understood what the Sparrows were from the get-go, something which Cersei never truly got until they locked her up. And it makes me think that Kevan will be returning to King's Landing before the season is out.

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E07) -- "The Gift" -- 5/24/15
 

At this point, seems like Tommen might need to call on his Great Uncle.

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E07) -- "The Gift" -- 5/24/15
 

HBO put the Cersei and High Sparrow scene online. As Cersei's realization of what's going on starts to sink in, Lena Headey does a marvelously subtle job of acting without talking.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fbvnPanLmfY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

(NOTE: avoid the subtitles with this because they are a computer-generated mess... well, unless you want a laugh that is)

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E07) -- "The Gift" -- 5/24/15
 

interesting. I don't recall her saying "I am the queen!" She obviously has lost sight of the fact that a) she is not the queen anymore and in fact had a hand in throwing the queen in the same jail she's headed for, and b) that she is responsible for the fact that a queen (or queen mother) can be thrown in jail by the High Sparrow.

And yes, this isn't the first scene where she has displayed some excellent acting chops.

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E07) -- "The Gift" -- 5/24/15
 

Yeah, I noticed her reaction of delusional-grandeur-under-stress.

Hey, Cersei, you were totally the queen until you decided that that wasn't good enough for you!

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E07) -- "The Gift" -- 5/24/15
 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Cersei has ever called herself the Queen Mother (or if she has, she probably did it while grimacing). Everyone else does call her that and it is actually the best title she has left, but I don't think she likes it. Being the "Queen Mother and nothing more" as Kevan said earlier this season is not enough for Cersei - she still wants to be the Queen.

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E07) -- "The Gift" -- 5/24/15
 

I don't know if episode titles are considered spoilers so:

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E07) -- "The Gift" -- 5/24/15
 

It will be interesting to see how they handle a certain upcoming scene which had to be moved from some location over religious objections (and shielded from view by gawkers).

(Even though it's been talked about months ago in Entertainment Weekly, if that seems too spoilery, I'll delete).

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E07) -- "The Gift" -- 5/24/15
 

Until the most recent episode, Cersei has had more power than ever this season. I'm not sure why the show hasn't been referring to her as Queen Regent as they did back in Season 2. Just like with underage Joffrey, Cersei has been heading up the Small Council. Under Tommen, she was Hand of the King in all but name.

As the wife of the ruling king, Margaery is Queen Consort and as the de facto ruler of Westeros, Cersei should be Queen Regent.

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E07) -- "The Gift" -- 5/24/15
 

I sort of understand the objection but

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E07) -- "The Gift" -- 5/24/15
 

Yeah, I'm still trying to figure out how their system works. As I understand it, the Hand of the King leads the Small Council meetings if the King isn't there personally.

So Ned as Hand of the King lead them in Season 1, Tyrion as acting Hand of the King sometimes lead them in Season 2, and Tywin lead them in Seasons 3 & 4. With Tywin's death, there is not a current Hand of the King, so Cersei is heading them up as the King's representative as she claims, which would make it seem that she's still the Queen Regent and ruling in Tommen's stead.

But the fact that Kevan disputed her authority and said she's the "Queen Mother and nothing more" suggests that she is no longer the Queen Regent which makes me think Tommen is now of age (whatever age that is) and is the King in title and in power. As to why King Tommen hasn't simply designated Cersei as the Hand of the King, I guess women are not allowed to have that role. And that may explain why there is not a Hand of the King right now: Cersei will be losing all power she still has once that happens, so she keeps Tommen from designating anyone for that role.

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E07) -- "The Gift" -- 5/24/15
 

Yeah that's a terrific scene, she's doing some great eye acting. She held me entranced, watching her reactions, as that played out.

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E07) -- "The Gift" -- 5/24/15
 

Queen Regent rules while their kid is underaged, but by the time the King takes a Queen (and the marriage is consummated) I'd think the regent bit is done for. Remember what set off Cersei was Margaery trying to get Tommen to send his mother back to Casterly Rock (plus the fear that Margaery is the younger girl from the prophecy).

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E07) -- "The Gift" -- 5/24/15
 

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E07) -- "The Gift" -- 5/24/15
 

I suspect that folks aren't exactly lining up to be The Hand of the King considering the fates of the last four.

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E07) -- "The Gift" -- 5/24/15
 

The last four? Tywin, Ned, Jon Arryn, and who else?

(I'm not counting Tyrion because he was only temporarily appointed as acting Hand of the King in his father's stead and also he is still alive and far away from his family, so a win-win on his fate at this point)

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E07) -- "The Gift" -- 5/24/15
 

Tywin was the Hand before Jon so does he count twice?

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E07) -- "The Gift" -- 5/24/15
 

If the social justice warriors start applying their single-minded political correctness to "Game of Thrones" again, I'll just link to this video:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/v7m5VcpMCtU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E07) -- "The Gift" -- 5/24/15
 

Do you think we'll get an episode this season where it's just one single battle from beginning to end?

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E07) -- "The Gift" -- 5/24/15
 

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E07) -- "The Gift" -- 5/24/15
 

All I know is the director listed for episode 9 this season is NOT Neil Marshall, who has been the big battle director of the show so far, directing both the 2nd season Battle of Blackwater episode and last season's Battle of Castle Black episode.

Instead this season's episode 9 lists David Nutter as the director and, in Season 3, he directed the Red Wedding episode. He also directed a few episodes of HBO's WWII miniseries Band of Brothers and The Pacific, so that shows he does have some past experience directing battle scenes.

Re: Game of Thrones (S5E07) -- "The Gift" -- 5/24/15
 

Reading those ep titles, 9 I'm guessing will indeed be epic. Not that that's a big surprise given past seasons...