Three weeks in and already things are incredibly exciting on HBO’s Game Of Thrones. The storylines for the season are starting to emerge and after two episodes that acted primarily to set things up, we finally get a sense of where our favorite characters are headed this year and boy does it look exciting!
So, where do start off? Tyrion, Theon, and Renly take the spotlight this week and while I enjoyed all the plot threads this episode, the most enjoyable was Tyrion’s. In an attempt to root out a potential mole, he creates a clever scheme. He spins a story about his intentions to marry off Myrcella and he tells the story to Littlefinger, Pycelle and Varys. But, in an attempt to see which one is not loyal to him, he names a different groom in each story.
Tyrion expects one of the men to run to Cersei with the news and in turn, he expects Cersei to confront him about it. By naming a different groom to each man, he’ll know which one is Cersei’s spy as he expects Cersei to confront him about the issue. As expected, Cersei does learn of Tyrion’s “plans” and while confronting him, she names the groom that Tyrion told Pycelle about, which lets Tyrion know that Pycelle is Cersei’s spy. As punishment, Tyrion has him arrested and as he does, Pycelle reveals that he told Cersei about Jon Arryn discovering her affair with Jaime.
Elsewhere in King’s Landing, Sansa has an unpleasant dinnertime conversation with Cersei. Cersei tells the young girl that when Joffrey kills Robb, Sansa will have to respect it. After dinner, Sansa receives a new handmaiden. Shae is tired of being locked up in Tyrion’s room so he arranges for her to become a handmaiden for Sansa.
Beyond the wall, we pick up where we left off last week. Jon Snow comes to after being knocked out and as he awakes, he’s still confused about Caster’s baby sacrificing ritual that he witnessed. He comes to Mormont about the issue but to his horror and surprise, Mormont knows about it and has turned a blind eye towards it. Being the honourable man he is, this doesn’t sit well with Jon. Apparently, Caster is a vital component to the Night’s Watch activities beyond the wall and so, they leave him alone when it comes to his odd rituals.
On the Iron Islands, we catch up with Balon Greyjoy, who’s still planning his war on the North. He’s joined by his children, Yara and Theon, the latter of which is still hoping that his father will have a change of heart. Theon tries to convince Balon to form an alliance instead but the old man refuses. He tells Theon that he needs to know where his loyalty lies. Is it with his adopted family or his real family?
After much thought, Theon chooses his real family. To show his loyalty, he goes through a baptism of sorts. He tries to write a warning letter to Robb but realizes that it’s too risky and so he burns it before it can be sent out. Despite his choice, Balon still doesn’t resect his son much and gives him a minor role in the upcoming attack on the North.
Arya’s storyline continues this week as we see her discussing Ned’s execution with Yoren. Shortly into their discussion, the Lannister bannerman arrive, demanding that Yoren hands over Gendry. Refusing to do so, Yoren meets his end at the hands of Ser Armory Lorch, who then murders one of the children, Lommy Greenhands. Still looking for Gendry, Arya tells the men that they just killed him, referring to Lommy.
Bran continues to get little to no screen time as he has only a few minutes of story this week. We see him having another dream and when he discusses it with Maester Luwin, the old man tells him that dreams don’t always come true. Despite Luwin’s reassurance, Bran isn’t totally convinced.
Finally, the last major storyline this week was focused on Renly Baratheon. The man has already assumed the position of King and has taken a new wife, Margaery. Catelyn Stark arrives and Renly assures her that they’re fighting the same war. He has an army of 100,000 men but tells Catelyn that they’re not all experienced.
Later on, Renly is seen with Margaery’s brother Loras. He refuses to have sex with Renly until Renly has done so with Margaery. Renly agrees but when he tries, he runs into problems down below. Margaery tells him that she knows about his affair with Loras and offers to have him come in and help. Renly is shocked that she knows but Margaery tells him that she’s ok with it. She just needs him to get her pregnant so an alliance can be formed between the Baratheons and the Tyrells.
As I said before, this is the first episode of the season that really felt like it was moving with some momentum. The first two episodes were great but they didn’t move much, they focused more on setting things up and putting everything in place, which is fine. This week though we actually got some movement and we’re starting to see the shape that this season is going to take. The quest for power is a theme made very prevalent this week and everyone seems to want it.
Tyrion once again stole the show and his ruse was incredibly delightful to watch. It was edited together wonderfully and was hands down the highlight of the episode. Peter Dinklage continues to ace every scene he’s in and though I do enjoy just about every character in the show, Tyrion is still my favorite. I get the most enjoyment out of his scenes and I loved his storyline this week.
I’m still disappointed with the lack of focus on Bran. Having not read the books, I’m not sure how big a part he plays in everything but I do enjoy his character and I also think the actor that plays him, Isaac Hempstead-Wright, is quite good. It’s a shame that he’s not around much this season but hopefully things will pick up with his storyline.
Lastly, I’m upset that we didn’t get more answers about Caster and his ritual with what we assume to be the White Walkers. When we saw it go down last week, I was very intrigued. I expected to get a lot of insight into it this week but they kind of just brushed over it, not really giving it much importance. That being said, I’m sure it will be revisited later on, it’s too big to just ignore.
Of course, the major plot threads this week were with Renly and Theon and both were done very well. Seeing Theon side with his father was surprising and I’m curious to see how Robb will take it. As for Renly, I still don’t love his character but the whole love triangle developing between him, Loras and Margaery could lead to something interesting. We’ll have to see.
Anyways, that’s about it for this week’s Game Of Thrones but we’ll be back next week with our recap of episode 4!
