'Game of Thrones' Season 5, Episode 7 - 'The Gift' Recap

The ongoing "let's add in rapes that didn't happen in the books just for the hell of it" count on "Game of Thrones" is up to two. Let's see if they manage to add any more this week.

Castle Black

Jon is heading out to attempt to rally the Wildlings, and Sam makes a big deal of giving him some dragonglass as he says goodbye. "I hope you won't need it," he says. We're guessing he might.

Sam and Gilly wait at Maester Aemon's side, as he's fallen ill and is near death. He passes away in the night, and Sam speaks for him at his funeral the next day.

But Sam doesn't have much support from the men, as proven by a run-in with a couple of Night's Watchmen later. The two attempt to rape Gilly (there it is! We knew these guys couldn't go ONE EPISODE without sexual violence of some kind) and Sam takes a beating to defend her with Ghost eventually scaring them off.

Sam and Gilly then have sex, because that usually happens right after an attempted rape. Yep. Totally.

Winterfell

Sansa appeals to Theon in an attempt to get him to help her, but his conditioning at the hands of Ramsay gets in the way. It would seem that Sansa is brutally raped nightly, so the show is indeed continuing to brutalize a character who never suffered any of this in the book. At least they're not showing it on screen anymore.

Unfortunately Sansa doesn't know that help is very close...Brienne is still waiting outside Winterfell.

Sansa still pushes Ramsay's buttons when she gets the chance, mocking him for his bastard birth and noting that his claim as lord of Winterfell isn't legitimate. She also manages to smuggle a weapon under her cloak for later use. But Ramsay counters by showing her the old woman who said she was loyal to Sansa, now killed and flayed in the usual Bolton style.

Outside Winterfell, Ser Davos counsels Stannis to retreat due to the incoming winter. Stannis is as stubborn as always, though, shutting Davos down for the umpteenth time and sticking to his plan to sack Winterfell.

Melisandre has other ideas, attempting to convince Stannis to sacrifice his daughter in order to get "king's blood" out of her. Stannis refuses...for now.

Meereen

Outside the city, Jorah is put up for sale at a slave auction and purchased for a pretty good price. Tyrion convinces the slaver to buy him as well by calling himself  a "great fighter" and beating the crap out of the guy holding his chains.

In the city, Daario and Dany have a short discussion about the state of things and how to solve it. "I'm not a butcher," she says, in response to Daario's suggestion to basically just kill all who oppose them. "Rulers are either butchers or meat," he responds.

Jorah prepares for his first fight in the pits, as a qualifier for the Great Games. However, he's surprised to find Daenerys already seated in the stands at this small exhibition.

She almost leaves, which causes Jorah to join the fray unannounced and make quick work of everyone there...even managing not to kill any of them. When he reveals himself, she's visibly pissed off...but Tyrion reveals himself as Jorah's "gift" and stops her cold.

Dorne

Jamie speaks to Myrcella, who refuses to go home as she's in love with her betrothed. Down the dungeon, Bronn's cell is right across from the Sand Snakes' and they actually strike up a conversation. "How's your arm?" they ask. Bronn says he's fine, but when one of the girls gets his blood pumping, the poison that was on her blade takes effect and nearly kills him.

It's only when the girl takes pity on him and tosses him the antidote that he escapes death. Close call!

King's Landing

Lady Olenna confronts the High Sparrow in an attempt to get Loras and Margaery out of their sentences. Unfortunately, the High Sparrow cannot be bought or intimidated by any means that Olenna can think of just yet.

Sure enough, Cersei goes to visit Margery and doesn't do anything of much help, other than offer some venison and gloat in her face. She then meets with the High Sparrow and gets the details of the upcoming trial straight: if Loras and Margaery confess before the trial, they'll be at "mother's mercy" instead of going through the trial.

That meeting takes a major turn for Cersei, though, when the High Sparrow reveals that Lancel has confessed everything that happened with Cersei, which leads them to throw Cersei into a cell of her own.

That, we have to admit, was pretty satisfying.