Game of Thrones: "First of His Name"

 Spoilers Below:

 “Everywhere in the world they hurt little girls.” - Cersei

“First of His Name” begins on the crowning ceremony of Tommen Baratheon, the titular first of his name getting officially made king. But the episode quickly shifts focus; the opening scene isn’t about a new male taking power, but rather it’s about the woman behind the man, the true source of power here, Margaery.

It’s a moment that emphasizes what “First of His Name” will really be about: the place of women in society. And the episode keeps reiterating through different variations what life is like for women in Westeros (and Essos as well) and the continual answer is that it’s pretty terrible. 

The theme of the episode is admittedly a little more nuanced then that though. Director Michelle MacLaren keeps pushing the camera out, showing characters as specks on the horizon. It places them as small and helpless, and a little daunted. But MacLaren does something else; she keeps framing people in doorways and arches, suggesting they’re trapped and boxed in. It’s an image that’s highly fitting for the women of this world. No matter how great they are as part of the system, at playing it to their advantage, they’re still limited by their gender. 

The central throughline of the episode is the two characters and stories we keep coming back to, Cersei and Sansa's. These characters are very different individuals and they’re in rather different circumstances, but both find themselves hitting a wall. 

After claiming power for so long, Cersei is forced to concede power and authority to other people in hopes that she can gain leverage later. We see Cersei go to Margaery and for once act if not kindly, at least diplomatically. Cersei realizes that with the precarious position the Lannisters are in that she needs to sacrifice what she wants a little bit to create some stability. So she offers Margaery the marriage to Tommen and the position of queen. Cersei also gives into the demands of her father to marry Loras, after long refusing to. Both acts secure the power of her family but at the cost of her own power. 

Sansa has even less options than Cersei. Sansa arrives at the Eyrie with Littlefinger pretending to be his niece. In short order her aunt Lysa has married Littlefinger, who is so clearly manipulating her for his own gain and none of the happiness she assumes. Lysa has lost a few marbles. Not only does she admit to poisoning her former husband John Arynn at Littlefinger’s request, but she also jealously accuses Sansa of sleeping with Littlefinger. Lysa has been worked over by a man taking advantage of his male privilege.

Outside of these storylines the episode stops in briefly on a number of other female characters. What we end up seeing is a spectrum of women, powerful and powerless. 

Dany takes power in Mereen but discovers there’s consequences to upsetting the power structure in Slaver’s Bay. Against the advice of her male counselors to head to Westeros and take the throne, she, instead, decides to stay in Mereen and prove she’s capable as a ruler. 

Brienne takes having Poderick as her squire as an insult, a gesture suggesting she’s incapable of handling being a knight. Poderick slowly grows on her as he tells her of the time he saved Tyrion’s life at the Battle of Blackwater. Brienne is hesitant to accept Poderick because she has experienced too many men judging her for her choice to be a warrior and this will hang over Brienne always; she’s a woman doing something people believe is suitable only for a man. 

Ditto Arya, who the Hound catches practicing her "water dancing", something not very lady-like masquerading as something that is. When the Hound knocks down Arya it stands in for him beating down all the aspirations of females in this world.

And that’s why so much of what happens in that last sequence of the episode greatly matters. 

First we get a dark, painful scene where the mutineers threaten to rape Meera. It’s the situation of women of this world in a nutshell. All women are seen as good for is satisfying the desires and whims of men. They’ve deprived Meera of agency and a right to herself and her body. Jojen, Hodor and Bran look on aghast not just because terrible things are about to happen to their friend but because they also are unable to assert their masculine dominance. Being tied captive has deprived them of what they believe is their male duty, that chivalric calling, to defend the lady, when in fact we know if Meera weren’t tied up she would be plenty capable of defending herself. 

That’s why we ultimately get a female beating the Big Bad and not Jon Snow. It’s a moment of female agency being asserted in an episode structured so that we get countless moments of females being denied agency until this instance. After being abused and mistreated for so long by Craster and other men, Craster’s wives (note the language I even have to use to describe them) stand up for themselves. Given the opportunity to go with Jon and the other Watch members they decline. “Burn it down,” one of them says in regards to Craster’s Keep (What’s the expression: a man’s home is his castle). They’ve burnt down the symbol of patriarchy they’ve been trapped in for so long. And damn it feels righteous.

Stray Thoughts:

-A moment of dark comic beauty: Sansa lying in her bed hearing her aunt scream loudly while having sex.

-Another very funny moment: the Hound complaining about Arya reciting her death list before bedtime. Followed by her adding him as the last name to the list.

-Sansa doesn't ever catch a break; she's being forced to wed her dweeby younger nephew Robin.

-Tywin again provides us with more murmurs of the power of the Iron Bank which the kingdom is apparently in serious debt to. Take note of this for later I suppose. Also, the Lannister's stopped mining gold about three years ago. All their talks of always paying their debts is apparently for show.

-In a weird moment of sort-of-kindess, Tywin admits he sympathizes with Cersei's lack of feelings for Loras ... but he still will see her marry him.

-We also get that kind of clarity from Cersei who confesses that Joffrey was a monster to Margaery.

-There's a bumbly, adorable charm to Poderick. He may not be Jaimie but give him a chance Brienne!

Grade: A