The last two weeks on Game of Thrones have been difficult for secondary characters. This week’s episode, “The Last of the Starks” began with tributes and funeral pyres for those fallen in the Battle of Winterfell. It ended with another falling at the hands of the truly mad queen.
Everyone seems to be characterizing this as a “quiet” episode. Sure. One of the world’s two remaining dragons got shot down into the sea, and a six-year character with a touching romantic story arc had her head hacked off atop the gates of King’s Landing. In the context of Game of Thrones and juxtaposed between a last week’s enormous battle and the one that is poised to happen next week, quiet may not be altogether inaccurate.