10 Things I Hated About Season 6 Of Game of Thrones: #2 The High Sparrow
Yup, I accused of Benioff and Weiss of Catching George Lucas Disease, Sorry For The Hate
Were you convinced that Season 6 of GoT was pure greatness?
Not me.
So, over the next few days, I am going to post the ten things that drove me crazy about Game of Thrones Season 6.
I fully realize that I am in the minority on this but I am okay with people disagreeing with me. I also don't usually write because of ego or certainty that I am right.
In fairness, I did enjoy much of Season 6 but every time I started really enjoying things another Benioff and Weiss "consolidation" problem would appear on the show. I really don't mind Benioff and Wiess taking a different route to GRRM's conclusions, my problem is when the shortcuts undermine the logic of the characters and plot.
The picture of Jar Jar is a reference to me giving out Jar Jar awards throughout Season 6 based on my feeling that they frequently catch what I have called George Lucas Disease.
Why High Sparrow, Why?
One of the best moments of the season, for me, was Cersei (Lena Heady) blowing up the sept. It was one of the few moments that was entirely in line with Cersei’s character in both the books and on the television series.
Her recitation of her character motivations to Septa Unella (Hannah Waddingham) was pure genius and entirely in line with explaining what has always been her fatal flaw - she always acts purely for short-term emotional reward and only accidentally towards some long-term strategic vision.
What didn’t make sense was the High Sparrow (Jonathan Pryce) unwittingly going along with her plot.
Queen Margaery (Natalie Dormer) correctly suggested (well in advance) that Cersei's failure to show up for the trial probably meant that something terrible was about to happen and that everyone in the sept should exit immediately. But, for some inexplicable reason, the High Sparrow choose to deploy his forces to ensure that nobody left.
Why would he do that? He is not an idiot, and what Margaery said was clearly true.
I get that Benioff and Weiss had him reveal in an earlier episode, the one where he was talking about being a cobbler, that he was just as vain as any other character on the show and as vain as any other ruler. His sparrow rags are as symbolic of his ego as any crown, throne, or scepter but he was never short-sighted or stupid.
Throughout all of his time on the show, the High Sparrow time and again proved to be several chess moves ahead of his competitors. It strains credulity to believe that he had so much political capital invested in a successful public trial of Cersei that he would not retreat when it was obvious that something sinister was afoot.
You just cannot spend years establishing a character as a quiet but incredibly efficient political actor and then have him act entirely out of the arc of his character just because it makes your scene work. Well, let me rephrase, apparently, you can make your scene work in just this way, it is just a cheap way to pay off years of investment in a characters development.
It has been at least a month since the season ended and this one still just makes my head spin.
Need To Catch Up?
So far this series includes:
#10: Margaery Tyrell - You can read this post by clicking HERE
#9: Dorne - You can read this post by clicking HERE
#8 Euron - You can read this post by clicking HERE
#7 Littlefinger - You can read this post by clicking HERE
#6 Three-Eyed Crow - You read this post by clicking HERE
#5 The Blackfish - you can read this post by clicking HERE
#4 Umber's Gift - you can read this post by clicking HERE
#3 Ramsay Bolton - you can read this post by clicking HERE
And you can read all of my recaps of Season 6 by clicking HERE
What did you think of the death of the High Sparrow? What do you think should be #1 on my list? What would be #1 on your list of complaints? Let me know, leave a comment!
