GoT S4: Whodunnit?
Oct. 3rd, 2022 12:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerIn Game of Thrones S4E2 a major character is murdered. There's obviously going to be hell to pay for it, so the obvious question is, Whodunnit?
Ep. 2 provides a little bit of clue immediately around the murder, in the form of a person who's involved and a person who's accused. Ser Dontos emerges from hiding near Sansa Stark as Joffrey is dying and tells her she must flee immediately to save her life. It's evident Dontos is part of the plot. He— like many in the story— had reason to want to kill Joffrey. But as a drunkard and a disgraced knight he doesn't have the sophistication to plot such an assassination.
Then there's Tyrion Lannister, the one publicly accused for the assassination. I never believed for a second it was actually him. Yes, Joffrey had severely humiliated him in front of the entire court at the wedding reception... but he's not the sort to immediately turn around and poison the man. And while he could've planned the poisoning in advance, he's actually not the murderous sort. Season 2 showed that he's willing to put rivals in harm's way, whether it's sending the former head of the city guard to The Wall or locking the maester in the dungeon, but outright killing is not his style. Plus, as he quips to another character in Ep. 3, if he'd plotted to murder the king he would've plotted better than to have himself standing, mouth agape, 20' away in front of 100 witnesses when it happened.
"Whodunnit?" is apparently not meant to be a mystery in this series as the writers reveal more about the plot in the next two episodes. In S4E3 we see Dontos escort Sansa via rowboat to a ship offshore where Petyr Baelish is waiting. Baelish as much as admits to it. And it fits within his character. I especially recall his dialogue with Varys in the previous season where he objected to characterizing chaos as a pit of trouble, arguing instead that "Chaos is a ladder, if you are but brave enough to climb" (paraphrased).
Baelish was not in the city, though. He'd already set sail days if not weeks (passage of time is hard to gauge in the TV series) before the wedding and murder. Who carried out the poisoning? There'd have to be a co-plotter. ...And not just a flunky like Dontos— whom Baelish had killed once Sansa was aboard his ship. It'd have to be someone equally conniving and sophisticated for him to partner with.
More detail is revealed in S4E4. Baelish admits even more clearly to Sansa that he plotted the assassination. And he implicates the Tyrells— Margaery and Olenna, both of whom were close enough to slip poison in the king's drink at the crucial moment. Later, in a different scene, Olenna as much as admits to her granddaughter, Margaery, that she poisoned Joffrey.
Meanwhile, Tyrion remains the only suspect, locked in a dungeon awaiting what he expects to be a show trial. His sister, Cersei, is so blinded by hatred for him that she doesn't even attempt to find evidence of who actually did it. You'd think that when someone murdered her oldest son, the king, she'd want to get to the truth. Nope. Even Twyin Lannister, who'll head the tribunal that tries Tyrion for regicide, seems content to ignore actual facts about who murdered his grandson, the king, content to use it merely as a pretext to get rid of his unloved son, Tyrion. From the POV that "Chaos is a ladder", I understand them taking advantage of the situation to bump off someone they hate. But wouldn't they also want to identify and punish who murdered the king? Such persons might come for them next.
Ep. 2 provides a little bit of clue immediately around the murder, in the form of a person who's involved and a person who's accused. Ser Dontos emerges from hiding near Sansa Stark as Joffrey is dying and tells her she must flee immediately to save her life. It's evident Dontos is part of the plot. He— like many in the story— had reason to want to kill Joffrey. But as a drunkard and a disgraced knight he doesn't have the sophistication to plot such an assassination.
Then there's Tyrion Lannister, the one publicly accused for the assassination. I never believed for a second it was actually him. Yes, Joffrey had severely humiliated him in front of the entire court at the wedding reception... but he's not the sort to immediately turn around and poison the man. And while he could've planned the poisoning in advance, he's actually not the murderous sort. Season 2 showed that he's willing to put rivals in harm's way, whether it's sending the former head of the city guard to The Wall or locking the maester in the dungeon, but outright killing is not his style. Plus, as he quips to another character in Ep. 3, if he'd plotted to murder the king he would've plotted better than to have himself standing, mouth agape, 20' away in front of 100 witnesses when it happened.
"Whodunnit?" is apparently not meant to be a mystery in this series as the writers reveal more about the plot in the next two episodes. In S4E3 we see Dontos escort Sansa via rowboat to a ship offshore where Petyr Baelish is waiting. Baelish as much as admits to it. And it fits within his character. I especially recall his dialogue with Varys in the previous season where he objected to characterizing chaos as a pit of trouble, arguing instead that "Chaos is a ladder, if you are but brave enough to climb" (paraphrased).
Baelish was not in the city, though. He'd already set sail days if not weeks (passage of time is hard to gauge in the TV series) before the wedding and murder. Who carried out the poisoning? There'd have to be a co-plotter. ...And not just a flunky like Dontos— whom Baelish had killed once Sansa was aboard his ship. It'd have to be someone equally conniving and sophisticated for him to partner with.
More detail is revealed in S4E4. Baelish admits even more clearly to Sansa that he plotted the assassination. And he implicates the Tyrells— Margaery and Olenna, both of whom were close enough to slip poison in the king's drink at the crucial moment. Later, in a different scene, Olenna as much as admits to her granddaughter, Margaery, that she poisoned Joffrey.
Meanwhile, Tyrion remains the only suspect, locked in a dungeon awaiting what he expects to be a show trial. His sister, Cersei, is so blinded by hatred for him that she doesn't even attempt to find evidence of who actually did it. You'd think that when someone murdered her oldest son, the king, she'd want to get to the truth. Nope. Even Twyin Lannister, who'll head the tribunal that tries Tyrion for regicide, seems content to ignore actual facts about who murdered his grandson, the king, content to use it merely as a pretext to get rid of his unloved son, Tyrion. From the POV that "Chaos is a ladder", I understand them taking advantage of the situation to bump off someone they hate. But wouldn't they also want to identify and punish who murdered the king? Such persons might come for them next.
