We're now up to episode 3 of season 3, and this episode truly helped lessen my fears and reservations I may have previously had about this season feeling slightly disjointed. I'm a little behind in my reviews of this show, so over the next set of days I'll be reviewing an episode per day until I catch up, gaining the pleasure of re-watching each episode as I do. Stay tuned because it should be an experience to rival best whores of Littlefingers establishment! Well, maybe not THAT good, but I'll give it my best shot nonetheless.
As 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!
So where to begin? I think with some rightly given praise. David Benioff & D. B. Weiss have done a spectacular job with the show so far, adapting one of the intricate and complex book sagas imaginable into a brilliant television series; this is increasing apparent with this season, even only three episodes in. Being up-to-date with the books, I know what's coming before it happens on the TV show. But instead of feeling an impending dread of what's about to happen to certain characters (oh I still feel this, but in a different sort of way) I find myself feeling anxious for them and drawn in so much that I forget everything I know will happen until after its happened! This sort of "what's going to happen next?!" feeling is interwoven throughout the third book, A Storm of Swords, in the A Song of Ice & Fire saga, especially in the first chapters of Part 1 - which season 3 is primarily based on. I think it's truly impressive and a testament to them both to make a reader feel the same as someone watching the show without any prior knowledge of what unfolds.
But that's what Game of Thrones is all about, both in the books and the show; misdirection and the often merciless events that shock us, surprise us and leave us in a near perpetual state of awe. For example, though not realm changing, in this episode we're treated to yet another scene involving Tyrion Lannister (played by the amazing Peter Dinklage) and Bronn (Jerome Flynn) within Littlefingers brothel. However, much to our surprise it isn't either of them who are the most interesting character this time, but rather it's Pod the squire! The show is littered with these surprises, however small or grand they might be, and it never fails to tug at your attention, a little more each time.
But how would I quickly summarise episode 3? Well like this of course:
Pod is a ladies man. The Night's Watch does some walking. Musical Chairs! Littlefinger has Big plans. Robb arrives at Riverrun. BLACKFISH. The White Walkers are surprisingly artistic. Jamie is in dire need of a hand.
We finally got to see Riverrun in episode 3 and were introduced to some of the more important members of House Tully - specifically Catelyn’s foolishly proud younger brother, Edmure Tully (Tobias Menzies), and her uncle, Brynden “the Blackfish” Tully (Clive Russell). The introduction of these characters is done so well that it instantly aligns them with their book counterparts, which left me very impressed. I was especially impressed by the Blackfish, who I thought was portrayed outstandingly well. I think, in true fanboy tradition and more so than anything else, I have been most impressed with the new characters that this season has so far dished out to us; this tradition held strong with this episode.
We quickly learn that Edmure, now the Lord of Riverrun (the death of his father, Hoster Tully, being the reason that Robb travels to Riverrun in the first place), has made a strategic mistake and allowed Ser Gregor Clegane to escape, having disregarded Robb's specific orders. This is the first real time I felt we've seen "Robb Stark the King" and he asserted himself as a King should and would; it made for a magnificent scene. Unfortunately the Blackfish doesn't have too many scenes in this episode, and even in the book he is more of a minor character who doesn't get as much focus as he deserves.
George R.R. Martin is clearly a fantastic author (even if he writes slower than any author ever should!), but I do find that sometimes he is giving the wrong characters misplaced focus. I get this feeling with Robb Stark. Even though he gets ample focus in the books, I never really connected with him as a character, for reasons I am unsure of. However, in the show I find his story-line positively enthralling! I suspect largely in part to Richard Madden's fantastic performance of the character. Hopefully the show will edge away from this trend and give characters like the Blackfish some much needed "Robb Stark treatment". Then again you can counter that it is his story to tell, and no one knows what's needed for a story better than the man or woman writing it! So "In Martin we trust".
Beyond the Wall with the Wargs and Giants and White Walkers and Wildlings, we are once again gifted with a scene of Jon Snow. Though it plays out as more of a cameo if I'm honest. It's an interesting scene, with the Wildlings going to the Fist of the First Men, but where are all the dead bodies? Only the frozen, mutilated bodies of the horses remain, in a sort of Damien Hirst style piece of art. This prompts Mance Ryder (Ciarán Hinds) to order Tormund Giantsbane (Kristofer Hivju) to take 20 men, along with Jon, and climb the Wall. We're getting a real sense that the Wildlings are about to make their big move against the Night's Watch, but they don't seem as much a threat in the show as they are in the books.
All the while the Night Watch, or rather what remains of them, finally reach Craster's Keep, but not much else happens here besides Sam (John Bradley) witnessing Gilly (Hannah Murray) giving birth to a baby boy, and we all remember what Craster does to his sons. To be honest I'm slightly disappointed in the story related to the Night's Watch. It feels empty and missing a great deal of content, starting with the battle on the Fist of the First Men (in my opinion one of the greater and more tense battles in all of the books) and now with Sam's personal story. We know that the men are cold and starving, but what more? There should be more tension vibrating in our very bones by this point. Hopefully they'll focus more on the events beyond the Wall in the coming episodes.
Now we fly on the wings of a dragon over to Essos and the much loved Daenerys.
She needs an army, but are the slave soldiers known as the Unsullied the right choice? Her two guardians, Ser Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen) and Ser Barristan Selmy (Ian McElhinney) both have different views on the matter. There's a bit of back and forth banter between the two grizzled knights, which I loved watching, with Barristan taking the noble route and Jorah taking the practical route. In the end Dany decides to buy them, but bargains away one of her dragons in the process, much to the open horror of her two knights; finally, something they can agree on. Dany also manages to haggle the ownership of the beautiful servant, Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel), as a gift. They all depart, Dany furiously warning her two guardians never to question her in front of others, and then sharing perhaps the best quote of the entire episode with Missandei, where the latter states "Valar morghulis," and the young Mother of Dragons replies "Yes, all men must die...but we are not men."
Back in Westeros we have this fantastic scene in Kings Landing where Tywin Lannister, now the Hand of the King, calls a council meeting, but when Cersei and Tyrion arrive it almost turns into a game of musical chairs. Of course each action is a less than subtle way of the siblings trying to show everyone their power and influence, but as as he often does, Tyrion outshines them all in a humorous way. It is revealed that Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen) is to wed Lysa Arryn to deprive Robb Stark of more allies in the war, and that Tyrion will become the Royal Treasurer in Littlefingers place. This scene is clearly setting up a lot in terms of future stories, which makes it stand out in particular.
And lets not forget poor Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen). In the books he mostly vanishes in the books, popping up at brief moments before disappearing back into a mysterious obscurity. A lot of what happens to him is said in past tense, which makes you feel a little disconnected to his hardships, but does help add the "Whoa! What?!" factor instead. However, the scenes we've had with him so far this season have been tantalisingly interesting. Having escaped, Theon is is chased and assaulted by the guards attempting to recapture him, one of them attempting to rape him in the process, though just in time he is surprisingly saved. Who is this "boy" (played by Iwan Rheon) who's not only helped him to escape and also saved him from the horrid fate that almost befell him? It almost seems too good to be true, but will it prove to be that way in the end?
Last but not least we return to Jamie and Brienne, who are still being held captive on their way to Harrenhal. When they finally stop to camp for the night the men attempt to rape Brienne, much like Jamie warned her would happen, but in a surprising moment of compassion Jamie convinces Locke (their captor, played by Noah Taylor) that Brienne's father is rich and would pay handsomely to have her back unharmed. The lie works and Jamie attempts to secure his own release by offering Locke gold and titles as a bribe. Jamie is released and his plan seems to be working, at first, but then things quickly turn sour for Jamie as the episode cuts to a close. Even after all these spoilers I cannot bring myself to tell you what happens - if you don't already know and you haven't seen this episode, you need this one surprise. Trust me.
So, my view on the episode as a whole? I like it a lot. There were some interesting new characters, some enlightened revelations, and some shocking moments. There are no major flaws with this particular episode and the pacing of the story is quite good, but I couldn't help but feel some of the scenes didn't quite feel...complete. With only an hour to work with, and only 10 episodes a season, a lot has to be crammed in to each episode. This combined with how many important stories there are to tell, and jumping back and forth from each one, can sometimes leave you feeling unsettled and wanting more. Though not so much in this episode, and you can't really blame the show as they're clearly doing the best with what they have.
3 ½ Rebel symbols out of 5!
An interesting episode that you will not feel disappointed with. You'll be left with a strong feeling that episode 4 will really be interesting if even 5% of the theories you've no doubt formed come to fruition.
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