game of thrones

[overthere]

Tommen was talking about starting a war with them. He could, but wouldn't that make things much worse.

This High Sparrow is clearly a populist and has the support of the working class, see his interactions with Lady Olenna last night.

How could they be worse? The Queen, her brother and Queen Cersei are all captive. Tommen must be wondering if he is next.

I see LittleFinger intervening.... and gaining advantage...

The working class? There is no working class in a medievel society.

Peasants, slaves, clergy, guilds, warriors,ruling class.

[Boges]

How could they be worse? The Queen, her brother and Queen Cersei are all captive. Tommen must be wondering if he is next.

I see LittleFinger intervening.... and gaining advantage...

The working class? There is no working class in a medievel society.

Peasants, slaves, clergy, guilds, warriors,ruling class.

OK the servant class then sorry. The High Sparrow's point was that Nobels don't actually do anything, they're power is wielded by the tacit approval of the masses. If the Tyrell's take their support away from the Capital it'll still be the nobels that will face the wrath not the Sparrow. .

Cersei implies that starting a war to save Margery would make her the first casualty.

Personally I do find this whole story line to be lazy actually. Cersei can mobilize an entire group of religious fanatics that don't have to answer to anyone. And absolutely no one question her? It doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

But then again, the whole King's Landing arc is irrelevant now that Tywin is dead and Tyrion is in Essos. Got to do something to keep it interesting I guess. All the interesting stuff is happening in the North and in Essos.

Edited May 25, 2015 by Boges

[Black Dog]

OK the servant class then sorry. The High Sparrow's point was that Nobels don't actually do anything, they're power is wielded by the tacit approval of the masses. If the Tyrell's take their support away from the Capital it'll still be the nobels that will face the wrath not the Sparry. .

Cersei implies that starting a war to save Margery would make her the first casualty.

Personally I do find this whole story line to be lazy actually. Cersei can mobilize an entire group of religious fanatics that don't have to answer to anyone. And absolutely no one question her? It doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

But then again, the whole King's Landing arc is irrelevant now that Tywin is dead and Tyrion is in Essos. Got to do something to keep it interesting I guess. All the interesting stuff is happening in the North and in Essos.

Who is left who can, though? Her child? Uncle Kevan left in disgust, Mace Tyrell was ineffectual to begin with and was shunted off to Braavos anyway, Qyburn is her creature. That's about it for movers and shakers in the capital.

[Boges]

Who is left who can, though? Her child? Uncle Kevan left in disgust, Mace Tyrell was ineffectual to begin with and was shunted off to Braavos anyway, Qyburn is her creature. That's about it for movers and shakers in the capital.

Perhaps other nobel families that are getting the Faith Militants treatment as well. I understand that no one is there to question her, but that idea itself is laughable on the surface.

It's just not a good story arc.

But it did provide us with those scenes with Lady Olena and The High Sparrow and now Cersi's plan is backfire.

So that's good.

Edited May 25, 2015 by Boges

[Black Dog]

Perhaps other nobel families that are getting the Faith Militants treatment as well. I understand that no one is there to question her, but that idea itself is laughable on the surface.

Not really. By winning the war, the Lannisters and Crown have consolidated their power enough that there's no other noble house who can stand up to them except for the Tyrells, which is why Cersei sought to marginalize them with the Faith Militant. Not a great plan as it turns out, but the intention was clear.

[Black Dog]

What I don't get with the Ramsay Bolton storyline is: what's the payoff? We've seen him torture Theon, rape Sansa, hunt girls for sport with dogs, face down the Ironborn with nothing but a knife and his schmeckel, skin people alive blah blah blah: by now we pretty much get it. He's a bad guy. Is the idea then that when he does get his comeuppance that we'll appreciate it all the more? Because we probably would have been stoked to see him get spitted a half dozen atrocities ago. Or is it just Game of Thrones once again delighting in rubbing our faces in its edginess and realism (in a show, again, that features dragons)?

[Boges]

What I don't get with the Ramsay Bolton storyline is: what's the payoff? We've seen him torture Theon, rape Sansa, hunt girls for sport with dogs, face down the Ironborn with nothing but a knife and his schmeckel, skin people alive blah blah blah: by now we pretty much get it. He's a bad guy. Is the idea then that when he does get his comeuppance that we'll appreciate it all the more? Because we probably would have been stoked to see him get spitted a half dozen atrocities ago. Or is it just Game of Thrones once again delighting in rubbing our faces in its edginess and realism (in a show, again, that features dragons)?

So they shouldn't have had him raping and abusing her? I think the point is to show how Reek is so incapable of doing the right thing at this point.

I don't know if anyone caught it, but Sansa picked up some sort of sharp object when she was following Ramsay before she found out that Reek betrayed her. That's gotta be a Chekov's Gun scenario.

It's LOL that Sansa is a good 4 inches taller than Ramsay though. Dude's got a Napoleon complex.

[Mighty AC]

So they shouldn't have had him raping and abusing her? I think the point is to show how Reek is so incapable of doing the right thing at this point.

I don't know if anyone caught it, but Sansa picked up some sort of sharp object when she was following Ramsay before she found out that Reek betrayed her. That's gotta be a Chekov's Gun scenario.

It's LOL that Sansa is a good 4 inches taller than Ramsay though. Dude's got a Napoleon complex.

Was that a weapon? I couldn't tell what it was. The table is now set for the big finish to the season. Sansa will kill Ramsay during the war in the North, Reek and Brienne will help out in some way. Cersei will be humiliated but survive and retain power. I'm not sure what Daenerys will do. I suspect Ser Grayscale will get back into the friend zone and Tyrion will be part of moving her towards conquering Westeros. I wonder when Varys will rejoin the plot.

[kimmy]

Not really. By winning the war, the Lannisters and Crown have consolidated their power enough that there's no other noble house who can stand up to them except for the Tyrells, which is why Cersei sought to marginalize them with the Faith Militant. Not a great plan as it turns out, but the intention was clear.

I think it's to do with Cersei herself afraid of becoming marginalized. She hatched this scheme after Tommen started talking about her returning to Casterly Rock. When Tommen started talking about her returning to Casterly Rock, Cersei knew for sure that Margaery would get rid of her one way or another. She worried that as Tommen grew into the role of King, she would be replaced by Margaery as the real power in the Kingdom. (and perhaps, she fears being replaced as the woman in Tommen's life.)

It wasn't a big picture strategy move (the big picture strategy move for Cersei would be to go ahead with the sham marriage to Loras, and to let Tommen father a bunch of children with Margaery.) Rather, it was a move motivated by personal jealousy and insecurity over her diminishing role in the kingdom. She can't accept being pushed to the side. When she's apprehended, she screams "I'm the QUEEN! I'm the QUEEN!!" just like Margaery did. She hasn't been queen since Robert died, but in her head she never stopped being queen, and she refuses to be swept aside.

-k

[kimmy]

What I don't get with the Ramsay Bolton storyline is: what's the payoff? We've seen him torture Theon, rape Sansa, hunt girls for sport with dogs, face down the Ironborn with nothing but a knife and his schmeckel, skin people alive blah blah blah: by now we pretty much get it. He's a bad guy. Is the idea then that when he does get his comeuppance that we'll appreciate it all the more? Because we probably would have been stoked to see him get spitted a half dozen atrocities ago. Or is it just Game of Thrones once again delighting in rubbing our faces in its edginess and realism (in a show, again, that features dragons)?

The Boltons are the obstacle Sansa has to overcome. The payoff is, either Sansa wins, or she doesn't. This show being what it is, the latter outcome seems equally likely, if not moreso. Her journey has been as difficult as anyone's in this show, and enduring Ramsay is her toughest test yet.

That said, I do find it a little disappointing how thoroughly uncreative the Ramsay character is. He's just an adult version of Joffrey. If Joffey had been a grown man who could fight instead of a weak-ass teenager, he'd have been Ramsay. There's other kinds of effective villains on the show, but it seems as if GRRM felt like putting Sansa face-to-face with psychotic monsters-- first Joffrey and now Ramsay-- is the only way to make the audience truly fear for her. I think it reflects a lack of creativity that he couldn't find a different way to make Ramsay truly frightening.

-k

[Boges]

The Ramsa thing is new to the show. In the books they take a former friend of Arya and hook her up with Ramsay and pretend she's Arya. In the books, the Sansa storyline isn't as formed I've heard. I think she's still in the Vale.

[Black Dog]

The Boltons are the obstacle Sansa has to overcome. The payoff is, either Sansa wins, or she doesn't. This show being what it is, the latter outcome seems equally likely, if not moreso. Her journey has been as difficult as anyone's in this show, and enduring Ramsay is her toughest test yet.

That said, I do find it a little disappointing how thoroughly uncreative the Ramsay character is. He's just an adult version of Joffrey. If Joffey had been a grown man who could fight instead of a weak-ass teenager, he'd have been Ramsay. There's other kinds of effective villains on the show, but it seems as if GRRM felt like putting Sansa face-to-face with psychotic monsters-- first Joffrey and now Ramsay-- is the only way to make the audience truly fear for her. I think it reflects a lack of creativity that he couldn't find a different way to make Ramsay truly frightening.

-k

Like Boges said, the RB/SS pairing is new to the show, but that almost make sit worse: given the opportunity to do something else with the character they decide to....go over the same ground we already went through with Joffery. Not only is it repetitive, it completely flies in the face of the way they set it up to make Sansa a strong character in her own right. She remains, as always, a helpless victim of powerful men.

[Mighty AC]

She remains, as always, a helpless victim of powerful men.

For now. Growing up Sansa just wanted to be a traditional, respectable lady while Arya was the independent and adventurous type. It seems that years of mistreatment and hardship are about to change that and make her an active player in the game of thrones. However, as Kimmy mentioned, based on the track record of this series there is a very good chance she will not actually achieve the justice we all want for her. I think she will, and a Stark will again rule Winterfell just before winter arrives.

Edited May 26, 2015 by Mighty AC

[Boges]

Here's a good little write-up about why Tommen can't do shit against the Faith Militant.

http://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/ask-the-maester-aemons-life-tommens-power-and-littlefingers-gift/

David asks, “If Cersei deputized the religious fanatics, ostensibly on Tommen’s orders, why is the king powerless to stop them? Can’t the king unauthorize Jonathan Pryce, and free the queen?”

Sure he could. Let’s pretend for a moment that Tommen is a strong, able king, and not the kitten-loving mama’s-boy punk that he actually is. Simply declaring the Faith Militant disbanded is pretty simple. Getting them to actually put down their weapons is much less so. As I wrote after Episode 4, it took three Targaryen kings, backed by the might of full-grown dragons, nearly 50 years to subdue the Faith back in the first century AC. Remember the trial of seven from Maester Aemon’s section above? The only other time that we know such a trial was invoked was when King Maegor the Cruel and six champions fought off Ser Damon the Devout of the Faith Militant and six of their champions for control of King’s Landing and, indeed, the entire realm. That trial ended with 13 dead bodies and the winner, Maegor the Cruel, in a coma for 29 days. It would take roughly another decade of off-and-on war before the Faith agreed to disband during the reign of Maegor’s successor, King Jaehaerys the Conciliator.

You could argue that since the Faith have only recently been rearmed, a sharp engagement involving the Lannister army and the City Watch could clear out the Faith Militant — at least in King’s Landing — with only a few thousand deaths. Like, a low-four-digits body count. Even if Tommen had the stomach for going down in history as Tommen the Butcher or whatever, Cersei has stacked things in such a way as to make that difficult. Tommen could send a raven to Casterly Rock, asking his uncle Kevan, who is ostensibly the realm’s Master of War, to send troops. That would require going through Pycelle — who would probably send the raven — or Qyburn, who probably wouldn’t, at least not without Cersei’s OK. Asking the Tyrells for help would make sense, but doing so would weaken his mother’s Lannister family connections and give the Tyrells a tighter grip on power. The real answer: Royal power exists in great part in the minds of those who are subject to it. It’s Cersei who has wielded that power and therefore it behooves everyone — like, on pain of death — to assume that the buck ultimately stops with her. At least for now.

[kimmy]

kitten-loving mama’s-boy

Speaking of kittens, where has Ser Pounce been lately? He's been as rare as dire wolves.

So I just re-watched the scene with Jaime and Myrcella, and was thinking poor Jaime must have felt like he'd been punched in the gut when she said "You don't know me." She's right. He gets to Dorne, discovers that his little girl has grown to become a beautiful young woman, and he wasn't there for any of it. And even when he was there, he never got to be her father. He was "Uncle Jaime".

I also re-watched the very first scene of the season, where Li'l Cersei visits the witch and demands to be told her future.

The witch tells her:

-she'll never marry the prince, she'll marry the king.

-she'll be queen... for a while.

-someone younger and more beautiful will come along, cast you aside, and take all you hold dear.

-you and the king won't have children. The king will have 20 children. You'll have 3.

-gold will be their crowns, and gold their shrouds <sinister laugh>.

Politifact rates the first four statements as MOSTLY TRUE, with the issue being that Cersei hasn't yet lost everything she holds dear. As for the fifth... one of her golden-crowned children already has his gold shroud. Myrcella's life is in danger. And kings don't have a great life expectancy on this show either.

-k

[Black Dog]

So, what was the point of the Bronn/Chained Heat scene? DO they actually have a bare breast quota that they have to hit every week? Gotta say though: that's quite the nice set of pipes on ol' Bronn. But then he's had practice.

[Mighty AC]

Ouch, I'm a little embarrassed for Bronn.

[Boges]

So, what was the point of the Bronn/Chained Heat scene? DO they actually have a bare breast quota that they have to hit every week? Gotta say though: that's quite the nice set of pipes on ol' Bronn. But then he's had practice.

Best Sandsnakes scene so far.

[Black Dog]

Best Sandsnakes scene so far.

I'm starting to think I know where they are going with Sansa: they are going to use her to fill the Lady Stoneheart role from the books. Maybe it won't involve her raised from the dead, but it will definitely involve a even greater level of trauma before they get to the point where she inflicts vengeance on those who wronged her. Might even tie in with Brienne (and not in a good way for Brienne).

Edited May 27, 2015 by Black Dog

[Boges]

I'm starting to think I know where they are going with Sansa: they are going to use her to fill the Lady Stoneheart role from the books. Maybe it won't involve her raised from the dead, but it will definitely involve a even greater level of trauma before they get to the point where she inflicts vengeance on those who wronged her. Might even tie in with Brienne (and not in a good way for Brienne).

I think that would add a lot of complication to an already complicated storyline. Brienne wants Stannis dead, but he's supposed to come save Sansa. That'll be an awkward scene.

[Black Dog]

I think that would add a lot of complication to an already complicated storyline. Brienne wants Stannis dead, but he's supposed to come save Sansa. That'll be an awkward scene.

You're right I forgot how this show likes to keep things simple...

[-1=e^ipi]

Petyr Baelish is in a position to really take advantage of the chaos in King's Landing that Cersi created via the Faith Militant. Petyr is the only one in a position to save Cersi, Loras and Margaery.

Firstly, the 'young man' that Petyr Baelish was telling Olenna Tyrell is obviously Gendry Baratheon. We haven't seen Gendry Baratheon since we escaped from dragonstone on a rowboat (this was during the same time Petyr had boats in that area as we saw when he snuck Sansa out of King's Landing).

Regardless of whether or not people believe that Tommen is a bastard, Gendry Baratheon is the eldest son of Robert Baratheon. As we saw in Season 1, Robert Baratheon left his eldest son as his heir on his death bed with the help of Ned Stark.

In the last scene for the last episode, the leader of the faith militant mentioned 'simple, solid and true' as his hand was near a book. This was the book Ned Stark was reading in season 1 about how all the Baratheons had black hair, therefore it is unlikely for Robert Baratheon's son to have blonde hair since blondness is a recessive trait. So the faith militant is going to accuse Cersi of incest, which would suggest that Tommen is no longer king (so likely the faith militant will not listen to Tommen's orders). However, if Tommen is not the legitimate king, then no legitimate king allowed the faith militant to rearm, which means that the faith militant wouldn't have had the ability to delegitimize Tommen in the first place. Gendry allows for a way out of the paradox as he is the legitimate king. I expect that Gendry, under the suggestion of Petyr, will order the faith militant to disband.

The leader of the faith of seven told Olenna that she is the few and he is the many, indicating that the faith militant have more popular support than the nobles. This means that nobles will have difficulty confronting the faith militant, this means that Gendry (raised in flea-bottom) and Petyr (not of noble birth & runs a prostitution ring) are able to truely confront the faith militant. Most of King's Landing are not religious fanatics, as we see by the popularity of alcohol and sex outside of marriage, and likely the people will support a 'King of the people' like Gendry.

Lastly, Petyr really only has 2 enemies at this point: The faith militant and Varys. Varys is all the way in Essos, so Petyr's only immediate enemy is the faith militant. If anything, the faith militant represent an existential threat to Petyr because Petyr is a heretic that ran a prostitution institution. So Petyr absolutely has to annihilate the faith militant quickly before they get out of hand (fortunately, he used to be master of coin, so probably has the financial loyalty of a lot of sell swords in kings landing).

So Petyr will probably defeat the faith militant at the end of this season and establish Gendry Baratheon as the new king. This leaves a few questions though:

1. What happens to Cersi and Tommen? They might be eliminated, or they might be allowed to live as pawns. Given that Jaime is a King's Guard, Tyrion is exiled, Twyin is dead, Joffery is dead, and Lancel is a member of the faith militant, Tommen is the logical heir to the ruler of the Westerlands. So maybe Gendry might befriend Tommen as brothers and convince Tommen to be the ruler of the Westerlands.

2. What happens to Margaery? Will she be engaged to Gendry Baratheon? Or will she stay married to Tommen? She wants to be queen, but she has already invested a lot of time in Tommen. If Tommen is given control of the Westerlands, then the Tyrell's might want to cut their losses (given how dangerous King's Landing is) and decide to settle for control of the Reach and the Westerlands.

3. What will Petyr's 'reward' be? He mentioned to Cersi that he wants to be lord protector of the North, but he already has other ways to control the North via Sansa, and being the protector of the North might ruin his relationship with the Boltons. Perhaps Petyr will be given control of the Westerlands, although this would involve the Tyrells deciding to throw the remaining Lannisters under the bus. Another option is the Petyr will become the ruler of the Stormlands, although this would put him in conflict with Stannis.

4. How will Stannis react to Gendry becoming king? Stannis already accepts Gendry as his nephew, but Gendry is a bastard. However, Robert Baratheon left his eldest son as his heir, so Stannis might make peace with Gendry (and therefore Petyr). Although I doubt the fire priestess will accept Gendry as king.

5. How will the worshipers of the Lord of Light play into this. We haven't seen Thoros of Myr in a while, and Thoros did meet Gendry. Given that the faith militant is his enemy, Petyr might try to replace the faith of the seven with the faith of the lord of light as the state religion of Westeros. Fight religion with more religion, I guess.

So right now, Petyr is:

-allied with the Boltons, via marriage of Sansa

-allied with Sansa, and therefore the northerners that don't agree with Bolton rule

-controls the vale, as well as Harrenhall (so a fair amount of the riverlands)

-allied with the Tyrells, and therefore the Reach

-allied with the Lanisters, and therefore the Westerlands

-allied with Gendry, so potentially Stannis

-may potentially become ruler of the Westerlands, Stormlands or the North depending on how he deals with the faith militant and the Stannis-Bolton conflict.

-probably has a good relationship with the Iron Bank, and therefore Bravos.

-is neutral with respect to Dorne and the Iron Islands.

-is an enemy of the faith militant and Varys (and therefore Daenarys... eventually).

Edited May 27, 2015 by -1=e^ipi

[kimmy]

That's an interesting theory, but I'm not sure that I agree with you 100% on your detective work there, Lou.

First off, I think we already saw Littlefinger's gift to Olenna: the young man Baelish spoke of is Lancel Lannister. Or Brother Lancel or whatever he's called now.

First off, Lancel himself had incestuous relations with Cersei. Second he may have helped kill King Robert by getting him either drunk or drugged on his ill-fated boar-hunting expedition. Lancel is neither particularly ambitious nor particularly bright, and it's obvious he wouldn't have hatched a plan like that on his own. It's more than likely he was acting at Cersei's bidding; nobody wanted Robert dead more than her. And all this happened in King's Landing while Littlefinger was in full effect there; he most likely knew all about Lancel and was keeping that in his back pocket for a rainy day.

I'm also not convinced that was the book of bloodlines that the High Sparrow had; I'd assume it would be a scripture book. I expect the book of bloodlines (whatever it was called) is a pretty important document that's not likely to have gone missing from the Red Keep and fallen into the hands of the Sparrows.

As for the prospects of Gendry becoming king: slim to none, I believe. I think he would (as Ramsay did) need a letter to legitimize him. He's still a bastard, after all. And who, other than the king, could write such an important letter? If Tommen's real parentage were revealed, I think that Stannis is the first *legitimate* successor to Robert Baratheon. With no son of his own-- yet, at least-- perhaps Stannis would consider legitimizing Gendry as his heir, but Stannis has a long way to go before he's in any position to do that.

My purely uninformed guess as to how things play out in King's Landing: I think that in sheer desperation to save his wife and mother, Tommen will make some sort of ill-advised move against the Sparrows. It will fail, ultimately costing Tommen his head and bringing the witch's prophecy one step closer to completion. The High Sparrow will be the reigning power in King's Landing, establishing a little theocracy there. This will last about 3 episodes, until Daenerys W. Targaryen arrives in Westeros with her ships and dragons and Unsullied, to bring Freedom.

I think your comments about all of Littlefinger's options are on-point, but I think he has already more or less decided to betray the Boltons. The only question left is whether he stabs them in the back, or stabs them in the face.

The thing about Littlefinger is, the driving force in his life was losing Catelyn to Ned Stark. This was really driven home in the book, and to a lesser extent in season one when he monologued about it in one of those "sexposition" scenes while Rather Attractive Roz had hot girl-on-girl action with another of Littlefinger's girls. Getting both physically beaten and emotionally humiliated by Ned Stark in the battle for Cat's heart is what made him what he is. His life's mission is to prove wrong everyone who ever said he wasn't big enough, strong enough, not of noble birth, etc etc. Not good enough for Catelyn Tully? He will prove them wrong. Ever watch the movie "The Social Network"? When Zuckerberg meets with the twins in the Phoenix Club, or whatever it's called, and they tell him that non-members aren't allowed past the bicycle room? And Zuckerberg is pissed off by that, immensely. He's not mad that this privileged institution exists, he's just mad that he's not one of the privileged few allowed inside. To me, that's Littlefinger's deal. He wants to get past the bicycle room.

So I think that he will want to kill the Boltons (as well as Walder Frey) because of what they did to Catelyn.

And I think that Sansa is the trophy he truly desires. He couldn't win Catelyn, but he can win Sansa. It's validation, redemption, revenge on everybody who mocked him and doubted him, etc. She would be truly the greatest trophy wife he could land. What's he even working for if he can't get Sansa? When he weds her, that'll be his way of showing all of Westeros that he got past the bicycle room.

-k

[-1=e^ipi]

First off, I think we already saw Littlefinger's gift to Olenna: the young man Baelish spoke of is Lancel Lannister. Or Brother Lancel or whatever he's called now.

I can't really see how Lancel can be considered a gift to Olenna. Petyr has no control over Lancel, and if anything, Lancel wants to see Petyr imprisoned for his crimes against the faith of the seven. Lancel can't be used to free Olenna's grand children. Olenna also probably knew about Lancel before Petyr talked to her. I can see how some people could be mislead based on the order of presentation though. Gendry as a 'gift' makes more sense imo.

And all this happened in King's Landing while Littlefinger was in full effect there; he most likely knew all about Lancel and was keeping that in his back pocket for a rainy day.

I understand that Petyr knew about Lancel, but I don't really see how he can keep it in his back pocket. Lancel is controlled by the faith militant and Olenna would not benefit by having Cersi accused on incest (since it would not free her grandchildren and if Tommen becomes illegitimate then Margaery has no claim to the iron throne).

And who, other than the king, could write such an important letter?

What about Robert Baratheon's will that he wrote with Ned Stark in the first season?

This will last about 3 episodes, until Daenerys W. Targaryen arrives in Westeros with her ships and dragons and Unsullied, to bring Freedom.

Is she even in a position to go to Westeros any time soon? Seems like things would have to move quite rapidly in 3 episodes (even including a supposed conflict between Tommen and the faith militant). Seems like there will be way too much downtime where very little will happen in king's landing.

And I think that Sansa is the trophy he truly desires. He couldn't win Catelyn, but he can win Sansa. It's validation, redemption, revenge on everybody who mocked him and doubted him, etc.

He probably wants to put Sansa on the Iron Throne, although I don't think that's his only goal (otherwise he wouldn't put Sansa's life at risk sending her to the Boltons). But to do that he needs more power, and that can be difficult if the faith militant are running around making prostitution illegal. Also, if he doesn't help Olenna, she will reveal his role in the death of Jeoffery.

Another wild card is the mountain, who has probably become a zombie or something.

[kimmy]

I think that Littlefinger's "gift" was not necessarily Lancel himself, just information about Lancel's various misdeeds with Cersei. No control over Lancel is required; all Lancel has to do is what his new faith requires him to: tell the Sparrow everything.

Earlier in the episode, Olenna went to the Sparrow and had the chat in which he informed her that no amount of bribery or threats could dissuade him from enforcing the law of the divines. From the lowest of the low to the highest nobles, all are subject to the holy laws! It is easy to envision Olenna returning to him and mentioning the news she's received regarding Cersei and Brother Lancel. Lancel would, of course, be obligated to tell the Sparrow everything he knows. And the Sparrow would, of course, be obligated to act. All are subject to the holy laws!

After the last episode, it was just Margaery and Loras in prison awaiting trial, with Cersei only feigning concern over the situation and counselling Tommen against action. "We're all faced with situations beyond our control." After this episode, with Cersei's own neck on the line, Tommen will be even more desperate, and there won't be anyone trying to hold him back.

Keep in mind that Olenna knew full well that Cersei engineered the imprisonment of Margaery and Loras. She knew that Cersei would be acting against any efforts to free them. Now Cersei's behind the scenes support for the Sparrows has been removed and Cersei's allies, whatever she has left, will be wholly behind efforts to free them.

At best, Tommen (and whatever help he can rally) can free all 3 captives and put an end to the madness. At worst, Cersei shares the fate of Margaery and Loras. I think that's a better gift to Olenna than some longshot plan involving Gendry somehow staging a popular revolt and becoming king.

-k