This week, things progressed at a leisurely pace, with no characters really stirring the pot. Somehow, though, this episode still made for riveting television.
Stannis is confident, but I don't think even he knows the type of power that is on his side.Ah, yet another episode of Game of Thrones that was over far too quickly. How did everyone like that ending? Don't worry; I'll get there soon enough. This week, things progressed at a leisurely pace, with no characters really stirring the pot. Somehow, though, this episode still made for riveting television. Read on for my full thoughts...
The episode started by letting us catch up with Robb (Richard Madden) for the first time in a very long time. As it turns out, he is still decisively winning battles, and his wolf is still ruining every Lannister's night. Robb also met a mysterious young healer during a brutal amputation scene. Despite my best efforts, I can't pinpoint who, exactly, this character is supposed to be. She says her name is Talisa, and it looks like Oona Chaplin, who was supposed to be playing Jeyne Westerling. Unless things develop differently throughout the season, the introduction of this character is the first major deviation from the book the show has attempted. It shouldn't make too much of a difference in the end, but as of right now it's just confusing me. Let's not forget that we also briefly met Roose Bolton (Michael McElhatton) who seems to be advising Rob in the battles. A note for those who are having a hard time following the characters: pay attention to this man.
A good chunk of this week's episode focused on reminding us how terrible Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) is. Clearly, the boy enjoys watching women suffer, but like any real coward he never wants to be the one getting his hands dirty. The sense of honor and duty in Westeros is a bizarre beast in and of itself, when someone like Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) can be hated for killing his king, who was by all means a terrible person, while Ser Meryn (Ian Beattie) can justify beating Sansa (Sophie Turner) as his duty to his king. Knowing what Joffrey is capable of, though, I think you'd have to be a fool to directly disobey him.
Which is what makes Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) one of the consistently outstanding characters on the show. He continues to amaze at how well he understands the inner workings of King's Landing, this week providing Joffrey with some... guests... to keep him company for him to abuse. It was even more entertaining, though, to watch him so easily break down Lancel (Eugene Simon). The poor boy doesn't seem to have any idea of the world around him, but he just got his first dose of reality from Tyrion. Throughout each episode this season, he has slowly gained the upper hand on Cersei (Lena Headey), but I imagine it will only be a matter of time before something blows up in his face.
We also got to see the stalwart leader of the Lannister family, Lord Tywin himself (Charles Dance). This was, of course, at Harrenhal, which has made its way into the opening credits. Harrenhal is a castle that is rumored to be haunted, as we learned last week, but it is also one of the hardest castles to lay siege to in the entire kingdom. A lot goes down here, starting with the wonderful torture scenes in this week's episode. It seemed like poor Gendry (Joe Dempsie) was about to meet the same terrible fate as the man before him, but then good ol' Tywin saved the day. Honestly, if all Lannisters were like Tywin, it would be much harder to hate them. As it stands, it seems like Arya (Maisie Williams), who has taken to repeating the names of those she wants to kill as she tries to sleep, has ended up in perhaps the worse hands possible.
And then we finally got to see Daenerys (Emilia Clarke), this time with much more hope than when we last saw her. Her ragged group of followers finally got to make their way to Qarth, an eccentric, but giant, city. There, she met Xaro Xhoan Daxos (Nonso Anozie) (by the way, spell check loves this show), who seems to be the only friend she has amongst the suspicious Thirteen who rule Qarth. We only caught a brief glimpse of the inside of the city this week, but it will be interesting to watch Dany navigate the strange land, now with many more people she needs to be weary of.
On the Baratheon front, Renly and Stannis (Gethin Anthony and Stephen Dillane) have finally met on the field. I thoroughly enjoyed Stannis in this scene, as he is so confident and matter-of-fact that it's hard not to smile as he all but brushes Renly aside. You get the sense that he really doesn't care if he get's Renly's forces, or if he has to eliminate him. Perhaps it has to do with Melisandre (Carice van Houten) and her...baby.
The shadow-baby-thing was always going to be a tough bit for the show to pull off. I think they succeeded as best as they could, making a creature that is more menacing than how it is described in the books. One thing of note here is how little Davos (Liam Cunningham) has been used so far this season. His close relationship to Stannis, and hatred of Melisandre, makes him an interesting middle man whose beliefs just got that much more complicated. As for the shadow creature itself, I don't think it's reaching too far to say it spells trouble for someone.
What did you guys think of the ending, which represented Game of Thrones' most fantastical moment yet? Sound off in the comments below, and I'll see you all next week. Thanks for reading!