Game of Thrones Season 4 Episode 5 “First of his Name” Recap: Framily Plan

amily and friends are important people in your life and the 5th episode of the 4th season’s Game of Thrones deal and is the general theme of the episode. The forging of bonds between people, protecting the ones we love, trusting the ones closest to us, learning to let go of them, and how crazy some of our friends and family can be are some of the things that this episode analyzes. 

Cersei seemed concerned with protecting Tommen and her daughter while also seeking vengeance on Tyrion for the death of Joffrey. Her quest for revenge was the most interesting because she seemed to be politicking with two of the judges in Tyrion’s trial, Tywin and Prince Oberyn, and plotting for them to see it like she does: that Tyrion is guilty no matter what. She also made sure that her daughter was safe in Prince Oberyn’s kingdom. In a strange turn of events, she also seemed to be asking Margaery about whether she’d want to marry Tommen realizing that he’d need 2 strong women by his side. What could Cersei possibly have up her sleeve or is she really looking outside of the box in trying to protect her children. Instead of looking outside the box, she should probably prevent her brother, Jamie, from getting in hers. HAIYOOOOOOOOOOO! Anyways, the moments leading up to the Cersei and Margaery dialogue consisting of Cersei walking her way up to Margaery were some of the most tension filled moments of the season by far. Some excellent acting by Lena Headley in this episode.

Meanwhile, Danny Targaryen is learning that ruling Essos isn’t a piece of cake but she’ll get by with a little help from her friends. After acquiring a navy to cross the ocean with in order to attack King’s Landing, she learns that some of the cities that she’s freed in Slaver’s Bay have started to revolt. Instead of attacking King’s Landing, she heeded Ser Jorah of Friendzone’s advice of keeping the cities of Essos in line before going abroad and taking what’s theirs. BASICALLY THEY ARE WASTING EVERYONE’S TIME WITH DANNY IN ESSOS SO THEY CAN WRAP UP SOME STORYLINES IN WESTEROS BEFORE THE BIG BATTLE BETWEEN KING’S LANDING AND DANNY. Ugh, this is going to take a while everyone.

Meanwhile, Brienne is really annoyed with Podrick. I mean, can’ts this guy do anything right? The guy was pretty much a glorified butler/bartender (albeit with the magic stick) for Tyrion as Brienne is starting to figure out. HE DIDN’T EVEN KNOW TO SKIN A RABBIT BEFORE COOKING IT! What an imbecile. Everyone knows that. Gosh. Anyways, Brienne started forming a soft spot for Pod once he told her his humbled version of the story of how he saved Tyrion at the Battle of Blackwater. I wouldn’t be surprised if Pod started working his magic on Brienne.

Meanwhile, we see Sansa is being taken to her Aunt Lysa Arryn’s castle by Littlefinger. When there, we find out that Aunt Lysa is a freak and she has the hots for Littlefinger. Littlefinger’s feelings aren’t mutual but he plays along as this seems to be all a part of his endgame. During this arc, we find out that Lysa is batshit crazy. She’s also paranoid which is not a good combination with being certifiably insane. She practically almost snatches Sansa’s hand off for thinking she slept with Littlefinger. Woman needs to get a hold of herself.

However, the best parts of the episode were Jon Snow and Bran Stark related. The last scene of the episode was the raid of Craster’s Keep against the mutineers and we see a couple of awesome kills. One by HODOR, by tearing Locke in half, and another by Jon Snow in making Karl swallow a sword. However, the most touching part of the arc was when Bran wanted to reach out to Jon because he missed his brother. However, Jojen asked him to reconsider the circumstances because Jon would have brought Bran and all of them back to the Wall. Bran decided that his mission was more important than reuniting with his half brother and goes on his way which is one of the more depressing parts of the episode.

Thoughts/Observations/Tumblrs/Tweets, etc.

– Tywin lets Cersei in on a weakness….which is something that we aren’t used to from Tywin at all. He always seems to project strength and being calculated. However, he lets Cersei know that they are seriously in debt to the Iron Bank. Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh, the Iron Bank? I can’t wait to see them make their appearance on the show. I’m imagining a bunch of people that sound like Woody Allen in Iron Man suits.

– Vulture featured a dope write up on the lies of Littlefinger that you can check out here.

– You thought we weren’t even going to mention the pimp slap of the year from The Hound on Arya?

What did the five fingers say to the face?

And I don’t condone hitting women or little children but if this would have happened, I wouldn’t have blamed the Hound:

– Oh, how about Hodor (while being possessed by Bran) tearing Locke into two?

– Boom, headshot.

– Sansa’s love for lemon cakes knows no bounds.