This week's episode, "Second Sons," was an anomaly in that this was one of the few episodes this year where it was unclear exactly what was going to go down during the hour.
Tyrion (Dinklage) was at his best this week, getting drunk while remaining noble at his own wedding. This season of Game of Thrones has been an interesting one for fans of the books. Many things have been changed, but the major story beats have remained, which allow the readers to predict which episode is going to contain certain moments. This week's episode, "Second Sons," was an anomaly in that this was one of the few episodes this year where it was unclear exactly what was going to go down during the hour. Thankfully, this turned out to be an outstanding episode that focused on a small amount of characters, giving them plenty of time to shine.
The episode started off giving us some relief as we learned that The Hound (Rory McCann) did not intend to kill Arya (Maisie Williams). Rather, he was going to return her to her family for a ransom at the wedding between Edmure (Tobias Menzies) and the Frey girl. We've seen a lot of characters turn the corner from outright evil to somewhat likeable, and it's entirely possibly The Hound may be following that formula, which may turn Arya's expectations on their head.
From there, we shot on over to Dany (Emilia Clarke), who was introduced to the Second Sons, lead by three mercenaries, most notably Daario Naharis (Ed Skrein). While the other two men did not respect er or her army, and planned on killing her in her sleep, Daario chopped off their heads and delivered them, and the Second Sons, to Dany. I continue to be impressed with Dany, and Clarke's portrayal. I'm fully convinced she is a powerful leader who can win back the seven kingdoms once she has everything she needs. Now, with Daario, it will be interesting to see what happens to her with three advisers, all of which have different morals and ethics.
Speaking of leaders, we spent a lot of time in King's Landing this week. The wedding between Sansa and Tyrion (Sophie Turner and Peter Dinklage) was the occasion, though the series of scenes gave us plenty to watch. Tyrion was trying as hard as possible to be honorable to poor Sansa, who was, naturally, very unsure about the whole situation. At the same time, the Tyrells attempted to bond with their future family members unsuccessfully, and Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) continued to be the Worst Person in the World, ridiculing Tyrion at every opportunity. There's a lot going on in the capitol of Westeros, and I don't think things will slow down there for a very long time. As it stands, Tyrion and Sansa are now married, though they may never have children, as Tyrion refuses to impose himself on her.
The game continued in Dragonstone this week, as we finally saw what Melisandre (Carice van Houten) had planned for Gendry (Joe Dempsie), and suffice to say it wasn't pretty. We always knew she wanted his blood, and she took it this week, though not in the same way she took Stannis' (Stephen Dillane). Rather, she used leeches in a rather disturbing scene. A the same time, Stannis has freed Davos (Liam Cunningham), most likely because he no longer fully trusts Melisandre, and knows Davos will be as honest with him as possible. This sequence ended with Stannis tossing the leeches into a fire, and naming Robb (Richard Madden), Balon Greyjoy (Patrick Malahide), and Joffrey as targets for the next magic spell.
Finally, and most excitingly, we were reminded about the supernatural danger facing the world as we caught up with Sam (John Bradley) and Gilly (Hannah Murray). They haven;t had all that much time together this season, but I've been very impressed with the relationship these two characters have been able to manufacture from pretty much nothing. I love watching them together on screen. It's also extremely difficult not to cheer for Sam as he has his first real success in the series, decimating a White Walker with his obsidian dagger that he found last season, in an impressive action sequence.
There were a lot of small moments this week that actually pushed the plot ahead farther than one would expect, but the payoff will be revealed much further down the road. The real kicker this week is that we will now have to wait two weeks to see the penultimate episode of the season. For now, Game of Thrones is back on track, and things are shaping up for what is sure to be an exciting final two episodes.