High Sparrow (episode)

"High Sparrow" is the third episode of the fifth season of Game of Thrones. It is the forty-third episode of the series overall. It premiered on April 26, 2015. It was written by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, and directed by Mark Mylod.

In King's Landing
As Cersei Lannister passes a large crowd on her way to the Great Sept of Baelor, she is increasingly annoyed as people cheer on Margaery, completely ignoring her. Tommen Baratheon and Margaery Tyrell are wed, much to the dismay of Cersei. That night, they consummate their marriage. They are elated and discuss their future together. Tommen thinks that his mother is unhappy in King's Landing. Seeing an opportunity, Margaery manipulates Tommen into thinking that as long as Cersei stays in King’s Landing, she will continue to treat him like a child, watching over him. The next morning, Tommen and Cersei are out for a walk. Tommen tells his mother that he thinks she should return to Casterly Rock if it will make her happy, since she used to talk so fondly of it, but Cersei declines. Deducing that this is Margaery’s doing, Cersei pays her a visit, to find Margaery busy gloating about her “exhausting” night with the King. Greeting her mother-in-law, Margaery now more confident than ever, subtly rubs her queenship in Cersei’s face. Seeing herself losing, Cersei walks away.

In Littlefinger’s brothel, the High Septon who is busy playing with prostitutes dressed as the Seven, is attacked by the Sparrows. He is forced to walk naked through the streets, while the Sparrows proclaim him a sinner. Angered by the humiliation, he wants the small council to arrest the Sparrows and execute their leader, the High Sparrow. Although unsympathetic, Cersei decides to meet with the High Sparrow, who turns out to be a humble man serving food to the poor, barefoot. The High Sparrow makes no efforts to hide the actions of the other Sparrows. Cersei tells him that he will not be arrested or executed, but the High Septon has been imprisoned instead, which surprises the High Sparrow. Returning to the Red Keep, Cersei has Qyburn send a message to Petyr Baelish. As Qyburn writes, behind him, the body of Gregor Clegane begins shaking, but Qyburn shushes him calmly.

At the Wall
King Stannis Baratheon tries unsuccessfully to convince the new Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, Jon Snow, to accept his offer to be legitimized as a Stark. However, Jon declines Stannis's offer and reiterates that his place is with the Night's Watch. Jon also reiterates the Night's Watch's neutrality in the affairs of the Seven Kingdoms. When Stannis suggests appointing Alliser Thorne as the new commander of Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, Jon retorts that "it is better to have your enemies close by than far away." As Davos Seaworth prepares to leave with his liege, he invites Jon to ponder on the second-to-last stanza on the Night's Watch oath: "I am the shield that guards the realms of men."

Later, at the mess hall, Lord Commander Jon Snow begins assigning roles to members of the Watch. He assigns one new black brother to oversee the digging of a new latrine pit to accommodate the wildling prisoners. Snow also appoints Alliser Thorne as the new First Ranger and commends his experience with leading ranging parties. Finally, Lord Commander Snow assigns Janos Slynt with the task of manning the abandoned castle Greyguard. When Slynt refuses and insults Jon, the Lord Commander orders him to be taken to the courtyard outside and calls for Olly to fetch him his sword. Despite Slynt's pleas, Jon executes the cowardly former Commander of the City Watch with Longclaw.

Appearances

 * Main: High Sparrow/Appearances

First

 * Lord Medger Cerwyn (corpse)
 * Lady Cerwyn (corpse)
 * The Waif
 * The High Sparrow
 * Red Priestess

Deaths

 * Lord Medger Cerwyn (off-screen)
 * Lady Cerwyn (off-screen)
 * Despondent man
 * Lord Janos Slynt

Cast
Starring
 * Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister
 * Lena Headey as Queen Cersei Lannister
 * Kit Harington as Jon Snow
 * Aidan Gillen as Petyr 'Littlefinger' Baelish
 * Natalie Dormer as Margaery Tyrell
 * Stephen Dillane as King Stannis Baratheon
 * Liam Cunningham as Ser Davos Seaworth
 * Conleth Hill as Lord Varys
 * Alfie Allen as Theon Greyjoy
 * Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark
 * Maisie Williams as Arya Stark
 * John Bradley as Samwell Tarly
 * Gwendoline Christie as Brienne of Tarth
 * Dean-Charles Chapman as King Tommen Baratheon
 * Tom Wlaschiha as Jaqen H'ghar
 * Michael McElhatton as Lord Roose Bolton
 * Iwan Rheon as Ramsay Bolton
 * with Iain Glen as Ser Jorah Mormont

Guest Starring
 * Jonathan Pryce as High Sparrow
 * Julian Glover as Grand Maester Pycelle
 * Anton Lesser as Qyburn
 * Owen Teale as Ser Alliser Thorne
 * Roger Ashton-Griffiths as Mace Tyrell
 * Ben Crompton as Eddison Tollett
 * Faye Marsay as The Waif
 * Daniel Portman as Podrick Payne
 * Dominic Carter as Janos Slynt
 * Ian Beattie as Ser Meryn Trant
 * Eugene Simon as Ser Lancel Lannister
 * Brenock O'Connor as Olly
 * Will Tudor as Olyvar
 * Finn Jones as Ser Loras Tyrell
 * Charlotte Hope as Myranda
 * Rila Fukushima as Red Priestess
 * Elizabeth Webster as Walda Bolton
 * Paul Bentley as the High Septon
 * Brian Fortune as Othell Yarwyck
 * Michael Condron as Bowen Marsh
 * Stella McCusker as Old woman
 * Mishael Lopes Cardozo as Brothel guard
 * David Garlick as Despondent man
 * Matt McArdle as TBA
 * Eddie Elks as TBA
 * Gwyneth Keyworth as Clea
 * Emina Muftic as TBA
 * Samantha Bentley as TBA
 * Xena Avramidis as Whore
 * Portia Victoria as Brothel Smith goddess
 * Em Scribbler as TBA
 * Rebecca Scott as TBA
 * Rosie Ruthless as TBA

Cast notes

 * 18 of 28 cast members for the fifth season appear in this episode.
 * Starring cast members Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister), Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen), Carice van Houten (Melisandre), Indira Varma (Ellaria Sand), Kristofer Hivju (Tormund), Hannah Murray (Gilly), Jerome Flynn (Bronn), Michiel Huisman (Daario Naharis), Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandei) and Diana Rigg (Olenna Tyrell) are not credited and do not appear in this episode.
 * Michael McElhatton is added to the main cast with his name appearing in the opening credits, starting with this episode. He previously appeared in a recurring role in the second, third and fourth season.

Sansa Stark's storyline

 * Littlefinger makes no attempt in the novels to make a marriage-alliance between Sansa Stark and Ramsay Bolton, this is a massive departure from the book narrative.
 * In the novels, Sansa remains at Littlefinger's side in the Vale, becoming his protege of sorts as he engages in various subplots to tighten his initially weak hold over the major Vale lords. Sansa has become so hardened at this point that she is willing to stand by and do nothing even as she knows Littlefinger is plotting to kill innocent Vale lords to make way for his own allies, but she has learned to play the game of politics and that she must bide her time. Eventually, at the end of the most current novels, Littlefinger explains that his plan for Sansa is indeed to enter her into a marriage alliance - to Harrold Hardyng, the closest living relative of Sweetrobin Arryn (his first cousin once removed). Unlike the sickly runt Sweetrobin, whose presence crippled the Vale during the War of the Five Kings, "Harry the Heir" is every inch a handsome and honorable young lord and warrior. Littlefinger's plan was to trick the Starks and Lannisters into fighting each other, until both sides were either dead or nearly exhausted, while keeping the Vale itself out of the war and its armies at full strength. Littlefinger explains to Sansa that he plans to gradually poison Sweetrobin to death, at which Harry will be the new Lord of the Vale, and she will marry him. At the wedding ceremony, he plans for her to finally reveal herself as not his own bastard daughter "Alayne", but as Sansa Stark, by wearing a stunning gown emblazoned with a Stark direwolf and making an emotional plea to the honorable knights of the Vale to lead their armies to retake the North from the terrible Boltons.
 * The Boltons' storyline also involves a wedding: to secure their claim over the North. Tywin Lannister granted them a marriage-alliance between Ramsay Bolton and the captive Arya Stark - except that Arya was never the Lannisters' captive. Both the Lannisters and the Boltons think Arya is dead, but they plan to publicly pretend that the Lannisters captured her when Sansa was captured, and just pass off a servant girl claiming to be Arya. Brienne was even going to charge in and try to rescue Arya when she first arrived in King's Landing and found out that the girl was heading north, only for Jaime to pull her aside and explain that it can't be Arya (he met her once during the feast at Winterfell, but some girl that Tywin is passing off as her.
 * In the fifth and current novel, it is revealed that "Fake Arya" is none other than Jeyne Poole - Sansa's best friend from Winterfell. Jeyne actually does exist in the TV continuity but only appeared in the feast scene at Winterfell in the first episode of the TV series. Sansa assumed Jeyne was dead after the massacre of Eddard Stark's household servants when Joffrey seized power, during which Jeyne's father Vayon Poole (Eddard's household steward) was killed (Vayon actually did appear in the TV series and had a few speaking lines before he was killed). Jeyne is the best replacement for Arya, because she grew up alongside the Stark girls and can easily pass off as one of them due to her knowledge of the castle - enough time has passed that she could plausibly be an older Arya, and when Northern lords quiz her knowledge on things like who the Starks' blacksmith was, she knows (but it takes her almost too long to remember) the answer is "Mikken" because she grew up in Winterfell alongside the Stark girls. Had anyone looked at her closely, the truth would have been immediately revealed - because Jeyne's eyes are brown, not grey. Theon wonders how can anyone miss such a conspicuous detail. He assumes that if anyone noticed that - they'd be wise enough to keep their private doubts to themselves, knowing well how the Boltons deal with their enemies.
 * The fifth novel not only revealed that Jeyne Poole was alive, but where she had been for the past three years. After the massacre of Eddard's household servants and Sansa's capture, the Lannisters secretly handed Jeyne Poole over to Littlefinger to keep prisoner. For no apparent reason other than abject cruelty, Littlefinger then had the eleven year old Jeyne sexually enslaved in one of his brothels. She spent the next three years being repeatedly beaten and raped (she was more valuable if her virginity was intact, but they forced her to please men with oral sex, etc.) It isn't even clear if Littlefinger ever had future plans for Jeyne, or simply did this because he could. Much later on, Jeyne arrives back in Winterfell along with Roose Bolton, where she is forced to marry Ramsay. "Reek" (the broken thing formerly known as Theon Greyjoy) is made to walk her down the aisle, to "prove" that she is the real Arya, because as a ward of the Starks he grew up alongside Eddard's children and would presumably recognize her. Reek realizes that she is actually Jeyne Poole but dares not help her - as Fake Arya she has value to the Boltons, but if she is exposed as a fraud she is useless to them and will kill her without a moment's hesitation.
 * Once Jeyne is married to Ramsay, her suffering truly begins. He tortures her in several violent and sadistic ways, bizarre even by his own standards. Even as the wedding guests remain in the castle, her crying and wails of terror echo through the castle halls - Ramsay simply doesn't care that the assembled lords of the North can hear what he is doing, though his indiscretion in this regard angers his father. At one point Ramsay apparently forced Reek to "warm up" Jeyne by performing oral sex on her, for his own enjoyment at their suffering (Reek complied because he knew Ramsay would severely torture both of them further if he resisted). Jeyne also heavily implied that at one point Ramsay forced her to have sex with one of his hunting dogs for his own sadistic amusement, seriously threatening to cut off her feet one at a time until she gave in.
 * The general point is held in the TV version that "Littlefinger wants Sansa to enter into a marriage-alliance which will directly lead to her retaking the North from the Boltons". The TV show didn't entirely invent this storyline whole-cloth - it drastically condensed together two subplots which were related to each other in the novels. In the book version, it was to marry the handsome heir to the Vale, to lead an army of Vale lords against the Boltons. In the TV version, this was heavily condensed so that Sansa's marriage-alliance is instead to Ramsay Bolton himself, in order to destroy the Boltons from within (much as Margaery Tyrell is doing to the Lannisters). The general point also stands that "Ramsay marries a Stark girl" to secure his hold on the North - but instead of Jeyne Poole posing as Arya as in the novels, he is actually marrying the real Stark daughter Sansa.
 * Littlefinger's reasoning is slightly different in the TV version: in the novels, he actually didn't know that Stannis and his remaining army were at the Wall (or thought they were nearly defeated), while in the TV version, Littlefinger is quite aware that Stannis is at the Wall, and this has altered his plans. Littlefinger goes on to explain (as revealed in previews from next episode) that he thinks that Stannis will ultimately defeat the Boltons: Stannis is one of the best military commanders in all of Westeros, and his core army might be small but if he rallies the remnants of the other Northern Houses the Boltons will be unable to hold Winterfell against all of them. However, on the off-chance that Stannis randomly dies in battle, he had to have a contingency plan. The Boltons are wary of marrying the Sansa Stark, because when Cersei realizes Sansa escaped to them she will be enraged - but Stannis's presence has made them desperate. If Littlefinger waited until after the assault on Winterfell, and if Stannis happened to die in the attempt, the Boltons wouldn't be open to making such a marriage alliance anymore. Therefore it only made sense to marry Sansa to Ramsay Bolton before Stannis arrived: she can help undermine the Boltons from within to aid Stannis, if Stannis wins (as Baelish thinks he probably will) she will be made ruler of the North (as Littlefinger's puppet, he hopes), and if Stannis dies, Ramsay will have already married Sansa, at least leaving her in a position to undermine them from within in future plots.
 * While this internal logic generally holds in the TV version, there are two unanswered questions:
 * In the novels, Stannis Baratheon hates Littlefinger, and by this point in the novels it seems probable that he would execute him if he encounters him again. Stannis and Littlefinger were both on Robert's Small Council, and a lawful man like Stannis loathed a corrupt whore-monger like Littlefinger who kept bribing all of the court officials. Stannis is no fool, and accurately deduces that Littlefinger must have played a major role in helping the Lannisters seize his throne after Robert died. In the TV version, Littlefinger might just hope that Stannis's situation is desperate enough that he cannot afford to oppose Littlefinger's rule in the Vale (given that he doesn't even have the North yet).
 * It isn't clear how this will fit with Sansa Stark's character arc across the entire TV series, in which she grew from an innocent girl-turned-victim, to a hardened and cunning player of the political game. If Ramsay tortures Sansa as he tortured Jeyne Poole in the novels, it would simply be reversing Sansa's entire character arc. Then again, on the few occasions when his father absolutely forbids him to harm someone (like Lady Dustin), Ramsay has been known to torture people they care about like a whipping boy, perhaps one of the servant girls at Winterfell. Sansa would then be left to stand back and not intervene as Ramsay tortures innocent people, biding her time - which is actually not that far removed from how her storyline in the most recent novel involved her standing back and doing nothing as Littlefinger had innocent people killed in order to bide her time - particularly that a key part of Littlefinger's plan is to gradually poison Sweetrobin Arryn, a young boy crippled with seizures and Sansa's own first cousin. This is therefore a drastic condensation from the novels, but there is still some chance that it may thematically remain relatively close to the general points that happened to these characters in the books.
 * Basically, Sansa's storyline has finally reached the long-dreaded point where it has officially surpassed the current novels: it is condensing Ramsay Bolton's subplot from the fifth and most current novel, with what Sansa's storyline was apparently going to be in the unpublished sixth novel.  Therefore it is hard to judge how well Sansa's storyline is being condensed - Sansa is apparently going to return to Winterfell at some point in the sixth novel, and for all anyone knows, there might be similar dramatic moments in it such as Sansa being stunned to be standing in Winterfell again.

In the books

 * See: Differences between books and TV series - Season 5


 * The episode is adapted from the following chapters of A Feast for Crows:
 * Chapter 4, Brienne I: Brienne recalls that she first met and fell in love with Renly when he visited Tarth. He was the only man ever to treat her courteously. She also recalls how her father tried to arrange a marriage for her.
 * Chapter 6, Arya I: Arya meets the Waif.
 * ​Chapter 7​, Cersei II: At his laboratory in the dungeons below the Red Keep, Qyburn experiments with the Mountain.
 * Chapter 12, Cersei III: Cersei bitterly observes as King Tommen and Margaery Tyrell wed at the Great Sept of Baelor. At the insistence of the Tyrells, the newlyweds sleep in the same bed on their wedding night.
 * Chapter 14, Brienne III: Podrick tells Brienne how he came to be Tyrion's squire: during the War of the Five Kings, Pod attached himself to the hedge knight Ser Lorimer, who stole a ham from Lord Tywin's personal stores and shared it with Pod. The knight was hanged, but he was spared due to his family's name.
 * Chapter 15, Samwell II: Maester Aemon's health is deteriorating.
 * Chapter 17, Cersei IV: Cersei gets rid of the High Septon.
 * Chapter 20, Brienne IV: Brienne recalls how some noblemen played with her by pretending to seduce her, and mockingly dubbed her "Brienne the Beauty."
 * Chapter 22, Arya II: In the House of Black and White, Arya is frustrated that she is only given menial tasks. She witnesses people entering the temple to drink from the pool and die before the statues. Her instructor chastises her for seeking to use their training for her own purposes, instead of to serve the Many-Faced God. Arya asks which of the statutes is Him, and he says all of them are. He orders her to dispose of Arya’s possessions to truly become “no one”, and in a pier she trows most of it to the water, except for Needle, which reminds her too much of home, so she hides it under a stone near the temple. The Waif is assigned to guide her. Arya asks her instructor to teach her how to become a Faceless Man.
 * Chapter 24, Cersei V: After their wedding, Margaery manipulates Tommen to resist Cersei's commands, angering Cersei. A prominent septon is followed by the Sparrows to a brothel, dragged naked into the street and shamed.
 * Chapter 28, Cersei VI: Cersei meets the High Sparrow.
 * Chapter 41, Alayne III: Littlefinger arranges a marriage for Sansa with the unlikely heir of a Lord and Warden. Petyr's plan is for the Vale to rally for Sansa after her marriage and help her win Winterfell back.


 * The episode is adapted from the following chapters of A Dance with Dragons:
 * Chapter 3, Jon I: After being chosen Lord Commander, Jon Snow definitively refuses Stannis's offer to be legitimized and become Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North.
 * Chapter 7, Jon II: In order to get rid of him, Jon gives Lord Janos Slynt the command of Greyguard, but Slynt refuses, as it is a ruin. Jon gives Slynt one last chance, but he refuses him again and tells Jon to "stick his order up his bastard's arse." Jon instructs Edd to take Janos outside. Ser Alliser Thorne reaches for his sword hilt, but he reconsiders and steps aside to let Edd take Janos. Jon decides to behead Slynt himself, with Longclaw. With his head on the block, Slynt begs for mercy, but Jon executes him anyway. Jon meets Stannis's eyes, and the King nods in approval.
 * Chapter 17, Jon IV: Jon realizes there is not enough in Castle Black to feed the Night's Watch, the wildlings, and Stannis' men through the winter. Stannis decides he will leave the wildling prisoners in Jon's care when he marches to Winterfell.
 * Chapter 22, Tyrion VI: In a city under Volantene rule, a guard rubs Tyrion's head, claiming it's good luck to do so to a dwarf, to which Tyrion replies it's even better luck to suck on a dwarf's cock. Tyrion and his companion listen to a Red Priest preaching of Daenerys Targaryen, who is believed to be a prophesied savior, which reminds him of the only Red Priest he ever knew, Thoros of Myr. Tyrion convinces his companion to let him go to a brothel, where he selects a whore. Tyrion stumbles into a Westerosi man who takes him prisoner to be "delivered to the queen".
 * Chapter 27, Tyrion VII: Tyrion and his companion arrive at Volantis and cross the Long Bridge, in order to look for a ship to take them to Meereen.
 * Chapter 32, Reek III: Roose Bolton berates his son Ramsay for being so openly cruel, since the northmen already despise House Bolton. In order to ensure their hold over the North, Ramsay is to wed a “Stark” procured by Littlefinger.
 * Chapter 37, The Prince of Winterfell: At Winterfell, Ramsay meets his intended, who Reek recognizes from Theon’s life.
 * Chapter 45, The Blind Girl: Arya is given the task of disrobing and washing the bodies of those who seek death at the temple. She is curious about what the Faceless Men do with the bodies, but nobody tells her.


 * The episode is adapted from the following chapters of The Winds of Winter:
 * Chapter unknown, Alayne I: Sansa meets her intended. Myranda is envious of Sansa, as she is in love with him.

Memorable Quotes
Brienne of Tarth: Nothing's more hateful than failing to protect the one you love.

Varys: Someone who inspires priests and whores is worth taking seriously.