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!
Like I already mentioned, this episode was written by George R.R. Martin. He has taken upon himself to write just one episode per season, and not to take anything away from the other writers, who have done an amazing job to date, I think it's a huge shame that he doesn't write more of them. He's the man who invented the world and all of the characters that inhabit it, so it's very easy to understand why he would perhaps have the most adroit touch then it comes to writing these episodes. You can see and feel the greater bond he has with his creative work, and just how much more he understands it all. Nevertheless, what did George R.R. Martin make the characters do this week?
Daenerys & Dragons lay down demands. Tyrion and Sansa are both upset. Robb gets a surprise from his Queen. Things get worse for Theon. Brienne dances with a bear.
Daenerys (Emilia Clarke), Ser Jorah (Iain Glen), Ser Barristan (Ian McElhinney), and her army of Unsullied reach the yellow city of Yunkai. It takes little more than the young Queen being told of the 200,000 slaves within the city for her to decide that she will free them, despite the city holding no strategic value. It isn't long before Grazdan mo Eraz (George Georgiou) is sent by Yunkai to offer terms of peace in the form of gold bars and as many ships as Daenerys wants to sail her and her army straight to Westeros. Daenerys refuses his offer, demanding the slaves of the city be freed and paid for their service.
This scene did little more than showcase Daenerys strength, her unwillingness to bend to slavery, and reminded us just how awesome the Dragons are on screen - especially when they're angry. The CGI of the dragons was again faultless, above and beyond what we'd expect from a mere television show, but besides that I couldn't help but feel that Dany's entire situation was a little boring. She should have taken the ships and sailed towards Westeros, to take back her throne and home! Instead she's camped outside of a seemingly pointless city, trying to free slaves; admirable, but slow and a little boring to watch.
In previous episodes the show has been guilty of somewhat haphazardly jumping from one place or character to the next, sometimes with little to no connection between anything, but these back-to-back scenes with Tyrion and Sansa, both directly linked and talking about each other, really do help to bridge the gap. I also loved how it helped emphasise the differences between Sansa and Tyrion, as well as the company they keep; Sansa is truly innocent while Margaery is anything but, while Tyrion's company is all bought - Bronn a sellsword/bodyguard and Shae a whore. The Lannister Imp and the Stark girl are worlds apart in more ways than just height.
On their way to the Twins for Edmure's (Tobias Menzies) wedding to Roslin Frey, the army of the North is held up because of the rain. Here we further get an insight into the sort of man that Walder Frey is when Catelyn (Michelle Fairley) and her uncle Brynden (Clive Russell) discuss how he will no doubt see their delay as a further slight against his family. Robb (Richard Madden) takes no heed of this and retires with Queen Talisa (Oona Chaplin), who later reveals to Robb that she is pregnant with their child.
This season I've felt that the stories following the male members of House Stark (Robb, Jon and Bran/Rickon) have really been sporadic and without any true depth, so I was glad to see this much needed development between King Robb and his Queen. However, why now and so sudden? The scene seemed purposely slow, almost as if they were trying as hard as possible to make the audience sudden care as much as possible for the young King and his Queen, which considering the show that this is, makes me...uneasy. But a new heir to the North means that House Stark will continue and live on! That's good news, right?
Then we move onto Theon (Alfie Allen) in his still mysterious location. Still a captive for unknown reasons, Theon is surprisingly rescued by two young and beautiful women who give him water and begin to clean his wounds. Paranoid and apprehensive of their help, having already been deceived by someone pretending to rescue him, Theon soon forgets his worries when the two women undress and begin to pleasure him. However, the enjoyment is short-lived as his tormentor (Iwan Rheon) returns wielding a knife, the entire situation having been set up. Restrained by guards, the tormentor moves to remove Theon's genitals before the scene ends...
I can't help but feel worse and worse for Theon with each passing episode that returns to his ever worsening story. I'm not even sure you can call it a story any more, just scene after scene of torment and torture. We never see his apparent dismemberment, so we don't know if it happens or not, but I'm willing to bet that it did...and as a man I can tell you that this scene made me feel particularly uncomfortable and my legs were immediately crossed! I doubt there's a single male member of the shows audience who doesn't now pity Theon completely.
Perhaps the best scene of the episode, and one of the last, was the namesake of the episode; the Bear and the Maiden Fair. Having already left Herrenhal and on their way towards Kings Landing, Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) manipulates Steelshanks (Jamie Michie), the party leader, to head back so that he can save Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie) from potential rape and death, having learned that they do not intend to ransom her back to her father. When he arrives he finds Brienne in a fighting pit with a bear, with nothing more than a wooden sword to protect herself. With little-to-no hesitation Jamie jumps into the pit without a weapon and only one hand, and puts himself between Brienne and the bear.
Jaime’s transformation throughout season 3 from the arrogant, horrible and carefree Lannister we almost all disliked to the now selfless, brave, and dare I say almost chivalrous man, has been absolutely fantastic. Though not even a couple on the show, the relationship between Jamie and Brienne has been the one of two that I've enjoyed watching above all others, and has most certainly included the most character development by far. I've said it before but I do believe that Nikolaj Coster-Waldau has blown away all performances this season, and when it comes to handing out awards it should be he who is nominated.
Of course, there were a few other notable scenes to this episode. Jon (Kit Harington) and Ygritte (Rose Leslie) shared some cute banter, and despite his attempts to explain to her that the Wildlings will never take the North she doesn't listen. Tywin (Charles Dance) speaks with King Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) and much like he has done to many people this season, puts him in his place while teaching him a lesson in ruling. Melisandre (Carice van Houten) reveals to Gendry (Joe Dempsie) that his father was King Robert Baratheon. And Arya (Maisie Williams), angry about Gendry being taken, runs away from the Brotherhood without Banners, only to be taken captive by Sandor "The Hound" Clegane (Rory McCann) before the Brotherhood can find her.
All in all I felt this episode was quite slow, though very well written. On several fronts you get the sense that they're building up to something big, but the "War of the 5 Kings" seems to have all but fizzled out with Tywin in Kings Landing, Robb on his way back to the Twins, Stannis sulking in defeat and Balon Greyjoy not having been mentioned in longer than I can remember. I think the audience needs a battle or two, to be better reminded that there is an actual war that is still very much happening!
3 ½ Rebel symbols out of 5!
A well written episode, especially in terms of dialogue, but quite slow. The pieces seem to be moving in place for something big and no doubt horrendous...and things are already bad enough for the people of Westeros. I can't wait to see how it unfolds.
