One thing that I’ve neglected so far from my weekly reviews is considering each episode’s title.  They’re easy to miss, as they aren’t shown during the opening credits sequence, but just like the title of a book or film they are yet another opportunity to get an idea of what a show’s creators find most impactful within their own work.  With this week’s title being the provocative ‘Kill the Boy’, I figured now would be an appropriate time to start giving each episode’s heading its due.  While such a dire command recalls Melisandre’s thwarted sacrifice of the bastard Gendry in season three, these words are actually spoken by Maester Eamon when Jon seeks his advice on a difficult decision.  ‘Kill the boy, and let the man be born,’ Eamon states, and the full quote reveals the title’s meaning, an idea that unites and propels all three of this episode’s major characters.

Jon, Daenerys and Sansa are all going through major changes this season, and have all found themselves thrust into delicate positions where thousands of lives depend on their actions and every choice, right or wrong, comes with sacrifice.  But while Sansa is alone and encircled in her family’s home, Daenerys and Jon are lucky to be surrounded by advisors and supporters (though both circles shrank this episode with Ser Barristan’s death and Stannis’s departure for Winterfell).  However, rather than lean on others for help, all three characters are driven to make their choices independently, to show the strength that marks them as leaders in the first place.

‘Winter is coming, we know what’s coming with it, and we can’t face it alone.’

When Missandei tells Daenerys that, ‘I have seen you ignore your councilors, because there was a better choice, one only you could see,’ it echoes the Maester’s words to Jon earlier in the episode: ‘you’ll find little joy in your command, but with luck you’ll find the strength to do what needs to be done.’  Both Daenerys and Jon have had a myriad of role models as they grow into their positions of power, but now it is time for both of them to forge their own paths and make their own choices, regardless of what others may think or advise.

Striking out on his own, Jon will have a difficult time convincing the Rangers to ally with their sworn enemies, especially with his current approach of stressing perspective, equality and sympathy for the wildling people.  It seems like the young Lord Commander is overcomplicating what is, at its heart, a simple situation to understand.  The Night’s Watch have seen the White Walkers and their army, they know how difficult they are to fight and they know that anyone killed by a White Walker becomes one.  Jon’s campaign slogan should be simple: Would you rather have the wildlings on our side of the wall fighting against the Walkers, or added to their ranks?  Does anyone want to go up against a White Walker giant?

‘A good mother never gives up on her children. She disciplines them if she must, but she does not give up on them.’

Daenerys also uses her encouraged independence to take a firm stance on a delicate issue.  Her first response to the attacks of the Sons of the Harpy is that of retribution, threatening to feed the leaders of the Masters to her dragons in a grisly and impressive scene.  Ultimately though, she understands that retribution brings retribution in kind, and continuing to punish the Masters will not stem the Harpies’ attacks.  After deliberation and Missandei’s words of advice, the Mother of Dragons decides to ‘bring the people together’ by reviving the city’s traditions, rather than continue to divide the previous masters against the previous slaves. This makes sense if Daenerys holds any hope for lasting peace.  If Danny has truly brought parity to Meereen, then all of its citizens should be equal and together, rather than divided and at each other’s throats.  Her botched attempt at a fair and public trial from the season’s first episode illustrated this problem nicely, as the Masters were kept on one side of the platform and the freed slaves on the other, continuing a distinction between two groups she is trying to unite.  Daenerys already has experience assuming a foreign culture in order to solidify her leadership, as embracing her role as ‘Khaleesi’ gained her a Dothraki following even after Khal Drogo’s death.  We’ll have to see if another political marriage unites the people of Meereen under her cause.

‘Doesn’t everyone feel better? I know I do, that was getting very… tense.’

While Jon and Sansa have been groomed to become leaders, Sansa has been trained to be a survivor, and marriage into the Bolton family is certainly a test by fire.  An early scene between Ramsay and his lover shows the kind of ferocity needed to keep Ramsay from being ‘bored’, and a walk past the dog kennels alludes to the type of fate that awaits Sansa if she fails in keeping her betrothed’s interest.  Luckily, years of being the victims of both psychological torture and courtly jabs has helped Sansa to build herself a shield of polite courtesy, and Ramsay’s smirking parading of the disgraced Theon is met with more boredom than shock.  Whereas many of the other highborn characters throughout the series are caught up in the intrigue and drama of endless cycles of revenge and advancement, Sansa just seems over it all, unfazed by one killer of her family forcing another killer to grovel for forgiveness.  The supposed last remaining Stark even gets her own small victory after Ramsay is shocked to discover he has a brother on the way.  ‘I’m very happy for you,’ Sansa states demurely with the tiniest of smiles.  Cersei would be proud.

All these characters are growing up, and relying less on others.  For Daenerys and Jon this means making bold decisions without leaning on advisors, while for Sansa this means surviving on her own surrounded by enemies without lords or knights to protect her.

Check in tomorrow for my review of Veep!