Game of Thrones is an American fantasy television series produced by the HBO cable network. It is based on the best-selling novel series A Song of Ice and Fire, written by George R.R. Martin who serves as a producer, creative consultant and scriptwriter on the television series.
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.
Anyone who knows anything about the books will know that the ongoing storyline of the Song of Ice and Fire series is almost too big to summarise. It feels that with each new chapter a new sub-branch of the storyline blossoms, usually followed by yet another new character that has been added to the seemingly ever growing character-count. If you are unfamiliar with the books then try to imagine a sprawling vine growing over countless years, and you might have some concept of how in-depth and widespread the overall story is. What I love most about the TV series is that it mirrors the books in this regard, as best as a ten episode season can. I think that's why the first episode of any season, especially with Game of Thrones, can often feel as if it's geared more to trying up all the cliffhanger loose ends from the previous season.
In true television style season two ended with countless unanswered questions and cliffhangers, specifically aimed to draw you in and drive you crazy while you wait near a year for the next season. As I mentioned above, season three began by methodically settling those cliffhangers and answering some of the questions we've all been wrestling with since the 3rd June last year (oh don't worry, I'll be speaking about how much I hated waiting that long for more of this show, likely in another post). But I digress, how would I summarise episode one of season three? Well, like this of course...
The Night's Watch are in big trouble. Samwell had ONE job. Cersei IS Westeros. Tyrion is still cleverer than you are. DRAGONS. Daenerys doesn't like slavery. SER BARRISTAN SELMY. Stannis broods more than Batman. And Jon Snow still knows nothing.
Now let me break it down for you in a bit more detail. We begin the episode beyond the Wall, with Samwell Tarley having somehow survived the battle at the Fist of the First Men, which we don't get to see. The Night's Watch seem victorious, though severely lessened in numbers and in terrible shape. Those of you who know the books will know that the Night's Watch were in fact not victorious against the dreaded White Walkers and instead had to flee, the survivors numbering at close to fifty out of the original several hundred. What's most disappointing about this is that we don't get to see any of the battle, which was one of the things I was most excited about after the ending of season two. Nevertheless, the performance by James Cosmo as Jeor Mormont perfectly shows the urgency and distress that the Night Watch faced with the single quote "We have to warn them, or before winter is done you and everyone you've ever known will be dead."
Presumingly while this is happening, Jon Snow reaches the Wildling camp where he sees his first Giant. I loved that scene because it's also our first time seeing a Giant, so our expressions and disbelief are mirrored in Jon. Shortly after he meets a fantastically cast Mance Rayder (played by Ciarán Hinds) and bends the knee to the King Beyond the Wall. This was one of my favourite scenes in the books and I was somewhat disappointed that they changed it. There wasn't as much misdirection and a lot of the speech was edited. However, had I not read the books I would have loved what they did with this scene. "I want to fight for the side that fights for the living." Jon tells Mance in an attempt to convince him of his loyalty, and convincing he is; perhaps a little too convincing for a spy.
In Kings Landing a previously injured Tyrion is now recovered, but paranoid for his life after one of the Kingsguard attempted to kill him in the Battle of the Blackwater, presumably on orders from Queen Cersei, his own sister. There is a wonderful scene when Tyrion and Cersei have a bit of back-and-forth banter, of which I believe Tyrion comes out on top, but this does not diminish Cersei's absolute air of grandeur. But the best scene involving Tyrion, perhaps one of the best scenes in the episode, comes when he meets his father, Tywin. Affronted by the fact that his father did not visit him while he was injured, Tyrion demands Casterly Rock, the ancestral seat of House Lannister, as it is rightfully his. Tywin responds with perhaps a level of cruelty that surpasses anything we've currently seen from him, resulting in him denouncing his son as heir.
Meanwhile, across the seas on the distant continent of Essos, Daenerys Targaryen arrives in the slave city of Astapor, renowned for the “Unsullied” slave soldiers that are trained and sold there. There's a short scene where the owner of the Unsullied is demonstrating just how obedient his slave soldiers are, even going as far as to cut off one of their nipples to prove it, while his slave assistant translates to Daenerys and Ser Jeor. Much of his words are insults, which are obviously not translated to Daenerys, but you get the impression that she silently knows. Nevertheless, the moral dilemma that Daenerys faces, disliking the slavery but knowing she needs warriors, is portrayed very well by Emilia Clarke.
This event is flanked by two scenes that are equal parts important and fantastic. Preceding it is a scene with Daenarys and her Khalasar travelling across the sea on a ship (it should be noted that this is a big deal, since the Dothraki hate the sea), but what's truly wonderful about this scene are the dragons in flight! The CGI is truly brilliant and I'm thankful that the show has a big enough budget to do them, as well as the direwolves, justice. However, succeeding it is a scene where the the sorcerers from the House of the Undying attempt to assassinate Daenarys, only for her to be saved by Ser Barristan Selmy, who then pledges loyalty to her and requests to join her Queens Guard. In the TV show there was a lot less mystery surrounding the identity of Ser Barristan, which is a shame as it was dragged out for a little longer in the books, but its understandable considering that the TV show is a visual medium and its a lot harder to hide such things.
There are a few others scenes that I've not mentioned, such as when Davos and Stannis reunite after the Battle of the Blackwater, or when "Littlefinger" has a somewhat creepy encounter with Sansa, and even when Robb pushes further into the Westerlands and reaches Harrenhal only to find that Ser Gregor Clegane has slaughtered all the prisoners within and abandoned the castle. As well as all this there are several key characters that are missing from this episode, such as Jamie Lannister, Brienne of Tarth and Arya Stark, which was disappointing, but with so many important characters to involve it's also understanding.
Minor issues and quiddity aside, mostly in terms of comparison between the books and the show, I think that the first episode of this new season did what it needed to do, albeit in a much slower pace than the first episode of season two. It leaves us once again caught up on the conflict that has engulfed the land and the state of some of the characters involved. There's a distinct feeling that no progression has been made from where the final of season two left us, but at least we're content knowing that we're planted firmly on the floor and ready to delve deeper as the season progresses. Many believe that the book that this season is primarily based on, A Storm of Swords, is the best in the saga to date, and if everything goes well then we'll no doubt have a very exciting, mouths gaping, bloody season three and four to look forward to.
With that I'll be awarding Game of Thrones season three episode one with...
3 Rebel symbols out of 5!
A brilliant episode that any fan of the show or books should watch. Though potentially SLIGHTLY disappointing in parts to die-hard fans, you'll be left greedily wanting more and excited for episode two.
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