The Dance of Dragon took place hundreds of years before the events of Game of Thrones. It was relevant in the world of Westeros as it was the last great war to involve dragons, hence the poetic title, “The Dance of Dragons”. Targaryens fought Targaryens for the Iron Throne. King Viserys I Targaryen had wanted his daughter, Rhaenrya, to inherit the Iron Throne since he didn’t have any sons. After Viserys’ first wife died, he remarried and had sons with her. Despite this, Rhaenrya was still in line to succeed her father by his decree.
After Viserys’ death, Rhaenrya’s half-brother, Aegon II, made a move to claim the Iron Throne for himself after pressure from his mother. This led to half the kingdom supporting Rhaenrya and the other half supporting Aegon II. By the end of the war the kingdom was in shambles. Brothers killed brothers, dragons killed dragons. Dragon body parts were still said to wash up on shore years after the war ended. It led to the decline of the Targaryens – a majority of their dragons died and the dragonlings whelped after the war never grew big enough to be mounted.
Ultimately this instigated the rule in Westeros where the men are always placed ahead of women in the line for succession. Since Stannis Baratheon’s mother is Aerys Targaryen’s aunt, this would make Stannis Danaerys’ uncle. Going by the rules set after the Dance of Dragons, Stannis have a better claim to the throne than Danaerys. This is the very reason why Stannis will stop at nothing to claim his birthright.
Shireen was reading the Dance of Dragons before her Father made the request. “Is there anything I can do to help?” Shireen asked innocently. “Yes, you can,” Stannis replied. He asked a question, she gave an answer. Whatever the question is, it doesn’t matter. “I am Princess Shireen of the House Baratheon. I am your daughter.” No backsies. Ramsay’s twenty men did a number on Stannis’ supplies. His army no longer has enough food to march back to Castle Black and he doesn’t have the siege weapons to take Winterfell.
Thanks to Ramsay, the battle was already lost before they even reached Winterfell. His options were to starve to death or make one of the hardest decisions in his life. We learned earlier in the season Melisandre wanted to sacrifice Shireen to ensure Stannis’ victory. In Stannis’ mind, Shireen was going to die either way. We can only guess what the Boltons would do if they have Shireen in their custody. And now we get to see one of the hardest moments to watch in Game of Thrones history. We see Shireen clutching the toy stag that Davos made for her before leaving for Castle Black. Davos knows something is up and Stannis knows Davos will want to stop it so he sent Davos back to Castle Black to ask for supplies.
We see Shireen clutching her toy stag as she walks to her destination, surrounded by soldiers. In her mind, she is doing something that will make her father proud. It was not until she saw the pyre that her expression changed from pride to terror. She cries out for her father to no avail as Melisandre’s cronies tied her to the stake. Stannis and Selyse step out and could do nothing but look on.
It looked like a decade went by since Stannis left Castle Black. As they lit the fire Selyse suddenly had a change of heart but it was too late. The camera pans to the soldiers, their morale slowly draining away. Stannis is a broken man; Selyse is prostrated on the ground – only Melisandre smiled. If there ever was an evil juxtaposition for the Icy Night’s King glare, it’s the Fiery Red Woman’s smile. The subtitles for the scene speak volumes.
(Fire crackling)
(Shireen screaming)
Pan to the look of defeat on Stannis’ face…
(Screaming stops)
Kerry Ingram, the actress who played Shireen was spot on in every scene she was in. If ever there were an Emmy for Best Supporting Actress on Fire, she would win it, no contest. It was a painful scene to watch and an almost unnecessary scene. They never burned Shireen in the book. Fans first reaction was horror, and then despair and finally anger directed at the show runners. So why was it an almost unnecessary scene? The initial thought was because book readers haven’t read it yet so it must’ve been the machination of the show writers.
However, at the very end of the episode, the show runners spilled a little secret: George told them about this. That hinted at Stannis burning Shireen in the yet-to-be-released book, The Winds of Winter. That would also mean Stannis must’ve survived the battle at Winterfell. But Shireen was still in Castle Black at this point so it could be Selyse who had Shireen burned by Melisandre or Stannis fled back to Castle Black at some point, or perhaps he had Shireen sent to Winterfell after the victory. The plot thickens and there’s now more fuel for the conspiracy theory fire.
Back at the Wall Jon Snow is coming back. Allister Thorne is not too happy opening the gates for the Wildling, but Allister have never met the White Walkers. He stayed behind during the fateful ranging that killed Jeor Mormont and he wasn’t around when the White Walkers attacked. All he knows is that the wildlings were the only enemies he had ever fought. It was good to see Wun Wun survived, but not even the sight of a real giant can persuade the Night’s Watch to welcome their new visitors with open arm. Olly is still staring daggers. Jon is going to have a heckuva time trying to sell this to them. It will be an interesting season finale to say the least.
A whole bunch of nothing happened in Dorne. Dorian Martell scolded his sister-in-law, Bronn got elbowed in the face, and they’re sending Myrcella back to King’s Landing. Why are they kowtowing to the Lannisters? Is Dorian Martell really that big of a pushover or does he have something else up his sleeves? Do Dornishmen even have sleeves? If you cast Alexander Siddig of Deep Space 9 fame, you know you’re not casting an idiot. Dr. Julian Bashir appears to have a greater plan in mind, a plan he cannot even share with his own family. If what his plan is indicative of what was in the books, it’s reveal in the season finale will be the only thing that can redeem Dorne this season. After all that’s happening in the north and Meereen, King’s Landing and Dorne is starting to feel like a filler episode.
Finally we’re in Meereen at the Diznak fighting pit. The banter between Daario, Tyrion and Hizdhar (The Lenny Kravitz lookalike) was amusing, the later betting on the bigger fighter while Daario and Tyrion had their hopes for the smaller one. Speed will beat strength anytime, according to Daario. The showoff sellsword demonstrated some neat dagger tricks until the larger fighter beheaded the smaller guy. So much for that theory.
An all-out melee followed the initial fight. A Braavosi water dancer, a spearman, a swordsman and Jorah Mormont. Danaerys looks pretty conflicted with Jorah. No matter how many times she sent him away he keeps showing up like a cockroach. At times her emotions exposed when it felt like Jorah was going to die, but of course, this is a show, so Jorah gets to live, and just in time to grab a spear and chuck it at a would-be assassin.
And here this author will come in with all the wet blankets. All of a sudden Sons of Harpies emerge, all around the arena. How are they able to hide all their weapons and masks? What happened to all the security in the coliseum? Stannis would’ve had them hanged, guilty or not. How did the guards let one get so close to Daenarys? The unsullied are supposed to be the best fighters in the world and here they’re acting like Star Wars’ Stormtroopers, bumbling around, getting slaughtered by noblemen who had never lifted a finger to work in their life.
This is all wrong. The novel used poison, that was slicker, more believable, and undetectable. Lenny Mo Kravitz didn't die. His death here indicates he was not a part of the plot. Jorah touched Daenaerys with his hand to lead her into the arena. Does he not care about giving her greyscale? Why are they heading into the middle of the arena? What’s their master plan? The whole scene looks so pathetic and unprepared. The Unsullied, the greatest warriors ever to be advertised. She should've returned them for a refund, but that's unlikely since Dany burnt that bridge. Dany is shown holding Missandei’s hand as they think they're about to die. Missandei might be Greyscale positive at this point. Finally Drogon swoops in to save the day. He lit a few on fire, ate a couple of baddies, but that all stopped when the harpies started chucking spears at him.
He didn’t even bother to fight back. Mother Dany yanks a spear out of her poor baby. Someone’s getting belly rubs tonight. Yes, Dany finally gets to ride on her dragon for a few seconds. That's a cool moment. And yes, she is leaving behind Tyrion, Daario and newly reinstated friend-zone champion, Jorah. That’s not a cool moment. In the novels, Ser Baristan Selmy is still alive and he ruled in her stead until she could return. Who out T, D or J could have enough clout to control Meereen? Overall it was a satisfying scene and kind of cool to learn Dany is the first Targaryen since the Dance of Dragons to mount her dragon. But it wasn’t cool enough to make us forget about Princess Shireen of House Baratheon.
Takeaway: The story is called A Song of Ice and Fire. As GRRM had mentioned, in this world there is no true evil or true good. One can say it’s not about Ice vs. Fire. We see some side of the good in the Ice, the Starks. We also saw the bad Ice, the Night’s King. The same can be said for the Fire: Melisandre vs. Danaerys. Yes there are good men, but they die. And there are evil men who get to live. It’s almost as if GRRM is playing a game of Dungeons and Dragons and some of his heroes rolled a 1 while the villain had some nice critical role. The story will end and it will ultimately involve the Ice and the Fire. However mixed up those two elements are within the boundaries of morality, we’ll just have to enjoy the song.
