As I said previously, I am a HUGE fan of both the books and the television series, so I will be reviewing each episode of season three as and when they come out. There'll be spoilers, there'll be opinions, I'm going to try and compare the content from the episodes to the content in the books, and after this season finishes I'm going to bring everything together and list all ten episodes in order of best to worst.
!SPOILER ALERT!
!READ ON AT YOUR OWN RISK!
Episode two was a bit of a mixture in terms of pros and cons, noticeably more so than the first in my opinion. There were few scenes of entrancing dialogue, such as the one between Tyrion and Cersei in the previous episode (though Tyrion did have one, if only a single briefly hilarious scene with Shae). Territories were not won or lost by warring houses in large, dramatic battles. There were no betrayals or any of our favourite or hated characters meeting their inevitable fate. However, even with all this lacking, there was equally as much to love about this episode as how important it was to the many overall story-lines that there are. With that, let me do my quick and brief summary of what happened this week:
Bran is strong in the ancient ways. The Reed siblings magically arrive. The 'Queen of Thorns' is as funny as Tyrion. Theon is terrified for his life. NO Dragons. Jamie insults Brienne. Thoros of Myr is Robin Hood.
So grab a goblet of your finest Dornish Strongwine and get comfortable, for I'm going to start with what I think to be not only the most important point in this episode, but also potentially its saving grace; the plethora of new characters that we were suddenly introduced to.
I'll start with the Reed siblings, Jojen and Meera, played by Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Ellie Kendrick respectively. Many fans believed that these two had been written off of the show when they didn't appear in season two, as they originally made their original appearance in the second book in the saga (A Clash of Kings), but thankfully the show wrote them in a little later than expected. I'd be curious to find out if they had that planned all along, or whether they listened to the negative feedback from fans and adapted things accordingly.
Their introduction was rightly tied into Bran finally getting some screen-time (and wow, hasn't Isaac Hempstead-Wright noticeably aged and grown!?) and confirm that Bran has both the "Greensight" (the magical ability to perceive future, past, or contemporary but distant events in dreams) and is a "Warg" (the ability to enter the minds of animals and perceive the world through their senses and even control their actions); we also see warging in action beyond the Wall when Jon Snow is introduced to Orell, a warg of the Free Folk played by Mackenzie Crook. The Reeds tie nicely into the ancient, supernatural aspects of the worlds settings and are a nice tie to House Stark's past (their father being a good friend of Eddard, saving his life in Robert's Rebellion), so it's an excellent step in the right direction to have them introduced into Bran's story-line!
We also get a closer look at the Tyrells down in King's Landing where they have now officially set their own pieces in the game of thrones - granted they seem to be playing it a lot better than Eddard or Renly managed. Most importantly is the introduction of Lady Olenna, the Queen of Thorns (played magnificently well by none other than Dame Diana Rigg). When I laugh while watching this show it's usually thanks to the often sarcastic and witty comments from Tyrion or the crude but intelligent remarks from Jamie, but now we have a new contender with Lady Olenna. Her somewhat grumpy insults towards her relatives and her somewhat impassively blank responses help portray the character perfectly; actually helps remind me of other elderly relatives I've known!
And then, last but certainly not least, we are finally introduced to the famous Red Priest Thoros of Myr, who is now seemingly the Robin Hood of Westeros, leading a band of surprisingly merry men, who's intentions were are currently unaware of; even if they do state they are fighting for the land. "You've got nothing to fear from us, son. The Lords of Westeros want to burn the countryside; we're trying to save it." he tells Arya, Gendry and Hot Pie as they sort of capture them/don't capture them. Played by Paul Kaye, Thoros is instantly likeable and doesn't seem to take things too seriously. We're yet to see much of his religion (remembering that he is akin to Melisandre in his regards), and hopefully that'll come more in to play in the upcoming episodes!
If you asked me who my favourite new character was so far this season (because there's bound to be loads more, if rumour has it and the books are anything to go by) I would be hard-pressed to name one, but if push came to shove it would have to be Thoros.
New characters aside, we are not left without interesting scenes! Still chained and being dragged towards King's Landing, Jamie Lannister continuously battles Brienne with the one weapon that he is most proficient with above all else, his wit. Though amongst all this humour there is a somewhat touching moment where it seems as if Jamie begins to understand what Brienne has felt and gone through, though it is quickly interrupted. Eventually Jamie manages to steal one of her swords and the two battle. Jamie is arrogantly playing at first and you get the impression that he doesn't really want to hurt her, but eventually it seems that a weakened and shackled Jamie isn't fit enough to defeat Brienne. Unfortunately, perhaps for the both of them, they’re then discovered by bannermen of the North and seemingly captured, though their fate is unknown.
So there was a fair amount that happened this week, and though there loads of parts that stand out to you, you do get a feeling that perhaps a little too much happened. Separate scenes with Jon and Sam felt like filler rather than character building, and were far too short. Theon went from being betrayed in Winterfell to being horribly tortured, and suddenly being rescued in what felt like a few minutes. There was also a few bits of CG around Bran's direwolf, Summer, that seemed as if it could have been a little bit better - though I understand that's nitpicking.
Despite all of this there was great humour, some amazingly fantastic new characters that were all done extremely well, and some scenes that were truly magnificent. Specifically a scene between Talisa (Robb's new wife) and Catelyn Stark, where she shows a great deal of remorse at her ill-treatment of Jon Snow, blaming herself for everything that has happened to her family. Joffrey (and how I hate him) also had one or two short scenes, with Cersei and Margaery, that showed potential for a little bit of a rivalry between the two very clever and very politically smart women. There is also a mind-blowing bit of archery from Anguy, one of the men under Thoros' command, and the surprise cameo from Sean Bean in one of Bran's dream scenes (if only in voice alone)!
All-in-all this weeks episode was far more action packed that the first episode in the season, the groundwork now beginning over the sturdy foundation that they had previous set-up. Many unanswered questions still remain, and even more have been added to steadily extended list; who are these outlaws that Arya has found herself with? Will Brienne ever get Jamie back to King's Landing? Just what are the Tyrells real motives? What fate awaits those still beyond the Wall? I don't know about you, but I just can't wait to see more!
4 Rebel symbols out of 5!
The heightened action was an added bonus from the last episode, but the real saving grace was the outstandingly played new characters. If for no other reason, they make this worth watching!
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