The House of Black and White

Meets. And words. And propositions. And choices. Nothing new, at the first sigh. But important for define not the story itself but the atmosphere. Long ways, strange and fragile alliances. And key moments, from the door opened by H gars to the dialogue between Stannis and Jon to the travel of Jaime.

When you think of opposites in Westeros, who do you think of? To me, there are no two characters who are more different than Littlefinger and Brienne of Tarth (except perhaps Pod and Brienne, but that's another story). Littlefinger is the most duplicitous person in Westeros; even by politician standards, he's a slimy little weasel who is perfectly suited for that smarmy little goatee and moustache and he's never met an opportunity he wouldn't milk dry. Meanwhile, Brienne is completely artless; were it not for her Lannister sword and armour, she'd be as plain as her haircut. As if that study of opposites wasn't enough, the episode also features the triumphant return of Bronn, his new intended Lollys Stokeworth (a great, hilarious performance from Elizabeth Cadwallader), and none other than the Kingslayer, Jaime Lannister, who needs Bronn at his back for a sensitive mission to steal his daughter Myrcella Baratheon back from the Dornishmen. The structure of the script works really well. Writers David Benioff and D. B. Weiss do a very good job of splitting things up and balancing them out pretty evenly between Westeros' rulers. We get a bit more of Dany's story, since she's the one learning first hand how ruling can be terrible, but she needs to learn the lesson that what is right isn't always popular, a lesson that Doran Martel (Alexander Siddiq AKA Dr. Bashir from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) knows quite well. Perhaps it is a lesson that Jon Snow, new Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, will learn in time. Snow's election scene was masterfully done by director Michael Slovis. Everyone knows that Sam is going to speak up for Jon Snow, otherwise we wouldn't get those reaction shots of him, but it's teased out wonderfully, with Samwell speaking up at exactly the last minute before Maester Aemon starts the voting process. The speech itself is a fun character moment for John Bradley's Sam-who is finally learning that his wit and his humour is a great weapon in his role as future archivist-and Kit Harington's Jon Snow-whose mopey expression works great as he celebrates his election to Lord Commander of the Night's Watch by looking like he wants to crawl into a tankard of ale and die. It doesn't really matter how well you're trained for leadership, to someone you'll always be Joffrey, and in a world like Westeros, political enemies are more dangerous than White Walkers. Maybe Sansa and Arya have it right; Sansa's learning to play the game from a ruthless expert, and Arya's not playing the game at all, instead learning to be a Braavosi assassin rather than a lady in a damp stone castle somewhere. On-the-job training tends to get rulers poisoned in this world, and a black-and-white world view is no match for the Faceless Men from the House of Black and White.

Greetings from Lithuania.

Both first episodes of season 5 are 8/10 in my opinion. While the story haven't moved drastically or very intriguingly, it's still a show to wait and to admire. The production values here are like no other - you can simply watch this show for production values - they are truly create this rich world.

Acting was as usually very solid from everyone involved. Directing is good, but this show has seen better, as well as writing. It's good, but not as good as it gets and this show has featured some series that were as good as they could possibly be.

Overall, season 5 started good, but not great. I know that it's a slow burner start which will definitely lead us to a great and unforgettable moments, so it has to build it on something, and this "something" are these first two episodes.

So far a slow paced episode split in some speedy sequences and some lengthy, those more faster I figure out that weren't enough attractive meaning, too much talking at my point of view, the most striking sequence were when Brienne randomly meets Sansa Starks together Petyr in a tavern and offers its aids that her swore for her mother years ago, but promptly denied by the faltering lady, leaving the place Brienne and her sidekick were deadly pursued by the Petyr's hirelings fiercely, dazzling sequence indeed.

The most meaningful sequence quite sure when Jon Snow faces Stannis after he breaks the King's decision, hardly faulted by its undeniable contempt aside it was fully justified indeed, however arguing with Stannis in the same extent, soon a election takes place to pick a next leadership, thus an implausible contender comes to win, the underdog and bastard by the way, auspicious sequence by the flawed Jon Snow past day outcome.

Plus the mystic sequence certainly was when Arya Stark reach at Braavos a sort of temple of black and white door hoping be invited by the odd concierge displaying her coin at him, but somehow she wasn't recognized or something else, then she throw away her coin into the water, later the same being returns with her coin at your hand, meanwhile Daenerys deals with a hard reproof of the people, advised by their counselors she steadfast in its feelings, although mysteriously a dragon appears at night, bleak signal at sight.

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First watch: 2023 / Source: Blu-Ray / How many: 1 / Rating: 8.25.

Arya Stark sails to Braavos and arrives at the House of Black and White to seek out Jaqen H'ghar; however she is not welcomed to enter in the house and she throws her coin away into the sea. Brienne and Podrick are eating in a tavern and she contacts Sansa and Little Finger, but Sansa refuses to follow Brienne. The men that are escorting Little Finger and Sansa unsuccessfully hunt Brienne and Podrick down on the road. Cersei shows to Jaime that their daughter Myrcella is in danger and Jaime seeks out Bronn and makes an offer for him to travel with him to Dome. In Meereen, the Son of Harpy is captured and Daenerys has a meeting with her leaders to decide his fate. Barristan advises her to give a fair trial to the man; however Mossador disrespects her order and kills the Son of Harpy. Daenerys sentences him to death and there is a riot in Meereen. Jon Snow is invited by Stannis Baratheon to serve him; in return, he would give the North to Jon and he would be Jon Stark, Lord of Winterfell. But Job Snow turns the invitation down and he is chosen to be the new Commander of the Night Watch. Arya is finally invited to come to the House of Black and White.by Jaqen H'ghar.

"The House of Black and White" is the preamble of the Fifth Season. The destiny of Arya in Braavos is a mystery. Sansa seems to be lost following Little Finger. The journey of Jaime and Bronn will certainly be full of action. Daenerys is following the path of her father. Let's see how Jon Snow will deal with Janos and Alliser Thorne. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "The House of Black and White"