Game of Thrones 6x8 'No One': No One is Just

Game of Thrones 6x8 crushes its society's walls to leave it lawless and unpredictable, setting up for intriguing dilemmas.

Reviewed while listening to remixes of Solomon Grey and Yumi Zouma.

It seems fitting that a Mr. Drumpf should go trolling on a judge this week just because said judge is exposing all the crooked habits of Drumpf University. Objectively, everything about what Drumpf did with his faux university is unjust and must be brought to the balance, and hopefully him with it (for the record, I have that Chrome extension where his name is always Drumpf on my laptop). The problem is, justice and the rule of law are rarely, if ever, done objectively. There is no greater power playing a hand in justice that we can fully discern. I mean, I guess karma, but that’s not proven. Like it or not, we are our own judges and executioners. We are the ones who decide what is right, based on things that are entirely subjective. Our experiences paint the way we perceive right or wrong. And while some things are more commonly accepted as wrong than others, like, say, rape… well, on other things there’s a broader discourse, like punishing rape. The absurd judge who gave Brock Turner six months in jail views rape as wrong. But his experience as a white male administering justice to another white male alters his perception of justice from what… well, most of everyone else perceives. It’s awful, but all we can do is try to improve upon everyone’s subjectivity, so that maybe we can come to an agreement on justice for a better world.

And that’s the problem with the shattered, bleeding heap of a world that encompasses Westeros and Essos. Justice was already based on the whims of whoever was wearing the crown or satin sash. See: Joffrey saying ‘Fuck it. Kill Ned Stark,' even against the advice of his mother. With society collapsing, justice is really nothing more than whatever the next person down the road says, and how big his or her sword is. The Waif’s justice is based on her many-faced god, regardless of how good and kind Lady Crane is. There’s no room in the Waif’s mind to consider any other possibility than Arya- I mean No One (hehe, right)- killing Lady Crane. When No One dissents, the Waif’s justice shifts to the girl herself. One could argue the Many Faced God wouldn’t want the Waif to kill Arya (Fuck it, that’s her name). But the Many Faced God plays no direct role. It’s only what the Waif decides. The Brotherhood Without Banners believe justice means they should be the ones to execute their rogue members, who slaughtered innocents. Sandor liked those innocents, so for him justice is getting to slaughter them right back. Now, Beric and Thoros (I missed them) ultimately come to an agreed shared justice with Sandor, but it’s only because no one else is there.

This is the foundation of the episode’s message. How can a world function, or be saved, if everyone makes up the rules for themselves? Tommen’s abolishing of trial by combat is the right and just decision in the eyes of the audience, an audience influenced by the experience of a more modernized world than Westeros. But trial by combat had been a staple of the ‘justice’ system in Westeros for so long, and Tommen got up one day and decided ‘Nah, forget it.’ Because the High Sparrow told him so. The High Sparrow decided trial by combat was not his justice, so it would not be the King’s, and it would not be the Kingdom’s. Is that right? ‘No One’ establishes this question very well, taking what should be a clear cut choice for the viewer that suddenly becomes an actual question of whether Tommen just showed signs of injustice by trampling on established law. It frames the world, and all actions done by its people, in an uncertain light. And it allows the show to tease the idea that anything can truly happen. It’s harder to predict a narrative after all if we don’t fully know the rules. We may know the characters, but those characters are products of this virtually lawless environment. This adds tension, suspense, back into a show that had begun to lose its flair for suspense and surprises in recent seasons. There may never be a moment like the Red Wedding again, but as we follow all these characters vying in the game of thrones without rules, there’s always an increased sense of unpredictability there that few shows can pull off.

Because the characters aren't acting out of character. They're reacting to the lawlessness. That's Edmure's game now. He tries to force Jamie to search his soul, and judges the Kingslayer's actions, which had been done before. But never had it been so personal, or perceptive, as Edmure's appreciation of Jaime's honor. When Jaime responds stubbornly, choosing to stand by what he is and what he's done, for Cersei, he's his own judge, and Edmure is left only to react to that, and betray his family.

This all is helped by the lack of literary sources now, without Winds of Winter. In the books, we’ve yet to see the conclusion of the Riverrun plot, or what Brienne is doing with Jaime. So the show has an added advantage, and plays it out well. Anything could happen. Who knows who’ll hold Riverrun in the end? And who cares, really? This is about Brienne and Jaime, reunited. Brethren, disagreeing on what is right, accepting that justice for them is based on honor and their word. And because of that, they may have to fight one another. Brienne is loyal to the Starks and Tully’s, Jaime to his sister and family. Their perception of justice is similar, but the result still leads to potential chaos. The Blackfish now disregards the rule that you follow your lord’s orders. Because their lord is Edmure, who is under duress from the Lannisters. But his men don’t see it that way, so Edmure and the Lannisters are allowed to take Riverrun, and the Blackfish is allowed to choose his own fate. Everyone gets their own brand of justice, everyone acts on what they see and believe is right. And a family, and home, is fractured for it.

As for Jaime and Brienne… they part their ways, perhaps with a stronger bond than ever. This was a subtle, more somber plot journey than what we’re used to on Game of Thrones, and it leaves the door open to split loyalties. Because Jaime still is left with the choice he will likely have to make sooner or later: betray Cersei, or betray Brienne. A much harder choice in the show than in the books. Suspense, and unpredictability. His own personal rule was once to do whatever his evil sister says. He claims to still do anything for her. But how much do we believe that? How can we take that without question after seeing the way he talked with Brienne, looked at her? Bronn’s crude statements were right. He wants to fuck her. And he probably loves her. At worst, he respects her too much. So ‘No One’ smoothly lays out the dilemma for a future date.

The conundrum of choosing justice on the fly is perhaps most exemplified by Tyrion’s issue. I spoke before how even a good man like him is not pure, that he had to compromise because what was right to him was choosing to end violence now, slavery later. Well… how’d that pan out? It’s the other layer of deciding what to do, facing the consequences. The Masters swindle him (GASP! SPOILERS!!) and now the Queen herself has returned. She may decide that Tyrion’s truce was unjust, and they’ll likely be at odds now. At the time, he was the one standing and presiding. Now Danaerys has returned, and a whole civilization’s framework shifts again. This is perhaps the closest we’ll get to ‘objective’ justice, as well. Only by default of Danaerys having dragons and being currently unkillable. She’s the closest to a deity who can set the world’s laws straight that they have. And she may be corrupted by her myopic goal. Because she is human. She is not objective. Thus her justice cannot be as well.

And ultimately, the question of justice falls to the supposed No One who is really Arya. She could not kill Lady, because it was wrong. It was against her worldview to kill the innocent. The ones who bring joy. So when the Waif slays Lady Crane anyway, and then proceeds to chase Arya, it confirms for Arya what she must do. It answers the question of what is right for her. A Girl is not No One. A Girl is Arya Stark of Winterfell, and she is going home. This itself may have been a foregone conclusion narratively, but the journey to get Arya there set the stage for us to observe a world in another form of crisis. Blood, war, vengeance. And now justice. Or lack thereof. No true laws except what the person next to you decides. ‘No One’ presents this problem to the audience, so that we may continue to guess and wonder as to what will happen. What will one person or another decide is right? Because they won't find the answers anywhere in the world anymore. Not from their faith, their rulers, or the assassins and righteous executioners. Well done, ‘No One.’ Truly. With the walls of law and order demolished, we’re left to wonder yet again what will happen. Some things perhaps can be predicted, but overall we’re back on an intriguing and mostly unpredictable path.

Too bad for Zombie Mountain. He could’ve killed in Trial by Combat legally. Now thanks to Tommen and the whole switcheroo justice thing, he’ll just have to smash whoever says he’s wrong.

Grade: A-

After the Review (since everyone has a post-show show now)

-New ship: Bronn and Pod. PRONN!! BRODD!!

-You see that sparrow's expression when he saw the size of Gregor? Even the Faith can't protect him, and he knows it. When God gives you Zombie Gregor you FIND A NEW GOD!!!

-Bronn School: ‘Lesson Number One. Assume everyone wants to hit ya. Cuz they do, Pod. Everyone wants to hit a squire.’

-Tyrion's drinking game: 'Here’s to our queen- Anyone not drinking is disrespecting our Queen!’

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