SEASON 3 EPISODE 8
SECOND SONS

Last week I was admittedly disappointed in the episode as little forward progress was made in the majority of the story lines.  Game of Thrones usually follows up slower episodes with huge moments…  And that’s exactly what happened in ‘Second Sons’.

Leaving behind most of the stories and characters we visited last week, this episode focused on three main threads.  All of which gave us incredible moments yet none of them won the episode.  If you’ve been reading my recaps this season you know exactly which moment I loved the most.

Before we got that that moment, we got to see Gendry’s arrival at Dragonstone play out…  The poor guy found out he’s not on vacation in the worst way.  The thought of a leech to the nuts is absolutely terrifying.  (Though not as terrifying as Theon’s experience last week.)  We’ll see what his… ahem…  King’s blood will accomplish through Melisandre’s scorcery soon enough I’m sure.  Are we destined for a super smoke monster or something worse?

Back in King’s Landing, Tyrion and Sansa got married in a ceremony laced with Joffrey’s mischief.  He’s an asshole.  Still, putting up with the King’s antics led to one of the best moments of the season.  Tyrion stabbing that knife into the table and threatening the King was fantastic.

Daenerys has really grown this season.  Last year, she spent the majority of her time trying to win people over without much success.  Now, she gets what she wants and managed to get the titular second sons to join her cause with ease.  No dragons required.  She just had to be hot apparently.  Side note: What ever happened to the Warlocks that were hunting her?

Those three stories were awesome but I HAVE to award the moment of the episode to the White Walker!

FINALLY A WHITE WALKER APPEARS IN SEASON 3!

If there is one thing that frustrated me about Season 3 it was the absence of the characters that ended season 2 so brilliantly.  A whole army of White Walkers marching on The Wall only to disappear without a mention for 7 episodes.  I thought for sure Jon and Ygritte would spot a few as they scaled The Wall.  They didn’t.

I’m not sure how they will factor into the final 2 episodes of the season but I’m glad to see they haven’t been forgotten entirely.  Although, it did feel a bit random to have one attack Sam and Gilly considering there is an army of them roaming somewhere in the North.

Regardless, watching him shatter like that was pretty fantastic.  These guys are probably a huge drain on the shows budget so saving them makes sense.  I would have been happy with a mention before now but I’ll take it.  Welcome to Season 3 White Walkers!  It’s about time.

COUNTDOWN | Best Moments: Game of Thrones Season 2

XTRA | Screenwriting & The Game of Thrones Theme

CATCH UP:

Episode 1 Moment: Valar Dohaeris

Episode 2 Moment: Dark Wings, Dark Words

Episode 3 Moment: Walk of Punishment

Episode 4 Moment: And now his watch is ended

Episode 5 Moment: Kissed by fire

Episode 6 Moment: The Climb

Episode 7 Moment: The Bear and the Maiden Fair

SEASON 3 EPISODE 7
THE BEAR AND THE MAIDEN FAIR

This week’s Game of Thrones was basically an update on all the relationships in Westeros.  Everyone just sat around discussing relationships.  Jon and Ygritte,  Tyrion and Sansa and  Robb & Talisa all got updates.

Outside of romantic positioning and strategy, we also got more vicious Theon torture.  I understand that they are holding back information from Theon while they literally break his balls but can’t the audience learn something new?  Week after week we’ve watched Theon suffer with little to no advancement of his story.

Speaking of which, Arya & Bran seem to be stuck in their own black holes when it comes to advancing their stories.  Both are trying to get back to their family yet they never seem to get any closer.  This week Bran essentially (and literally) stayed still while Osha talked about her past relationship.

Even Jon Snow’s storyline stalled this week.  His relationship with Ygritte was discussed at length but they made no progress other than walking closer to doom according to Snow.

Outside of King’s Landing, Gendry finally found out what we’ve known for 2.5 seasons.  Yes he is the bastard son of King Robert but why bring him back to King’s Landing?

Inside King’s Landing, we finally got to see Tywin interact with his awful grandson King Joffrey.  Tywin didn’t barge into the throne room and belittle the King but what he did do was far more interesting.  With body language alone he caused Joffrey to back down.  While this method of intimidation was fantastic, it was King Joffrey who stole the show.  FINALLY someone mentioned a certain Queen who happens to command a growing army and three dragons.

Speaking of Daenerys, her story was one of the few that advanced as she now stands at the doorstep of her next conquest.  It was awesome to see her dragons intimidate her guest.  Her story was by far my favorite of the episode because it offered at least a hint of what’s coming.

I suppose the big moment of the episode was Jaime’s rescue of Brienne from a bear.  It was an awesome sequence but I couldn’t help but feel disappointed.  Jaime and Brienne have come a long way this season but we are right back where we started now as they head for King’s Landing…  It’ll be awesome once they get there and the confrontations begin but it’s taking a really long time.

As you can probably guess, I wasn’t a big fan of this episode.  If I had to choose a moment it would be tie between Daenerys negotiation tactics and King Joffrey acknowledging her existence. Other than that, there weren’t many BIG moments. We did get a TON of character development and many relationships advanced but the story stalled.  The Bear and the Maiden Fair almost felt like the first episode of the season.  All we did was check in on all the characters and move on.

There is a silver lining though.  This is probably the last episode of this kind.  They’ve repositioned characters, updated us on their relationships and journeys and now it’s time to start revealing the destinations.  With so few episodes left, I feel confident that there won’t be room for stalling.

It’s strange, this episode wasn’t my favorite but I’m even more excited for next week because they never air back to back episodes like this.  Next week, something will go down!

…  Maybe we will finally catch up with Commander Zombie?

COUNTDOWN | Best Moments: Game of Thrones Season 2

XTRA | Screenwriting & The Game of Thrones Theme

CATCH UP:

Episode 1 Moment: Valar Dohaeris

Episode 2 Moment: Dark Wings, Dark Words

Episode 3 Moment: Walk of Punishment

Episode 4 Moment: And now his watch is ended

Episode 5 Moment: Kissed by fire

Episode 6 Moment: The Climb

SEASON 3 EPISODE 6
THE CLIMB

This week’s game of thrones was some how the slowest yet one of the most violent simultaneously.  I’m not sure what to make of that. It wasn’t the best episode of the season but it did offer several eye opening moments.

Poor Theon. Having to endure torture is one thing but being fed false hope like that is pretty grim. His torturer has yet to reveal his true intentions but its definitely haunting to prolong the answers this way.

The episode was very much focused on arranged marriages and their use in Westeros. So much power at stake.  I thought the scene between Olenna and Tywin was fantastic. I hope this isn’t the last time we see these two in a battle of words. Tywin may have won the first battle but the way he avoided speaking about his children’s incestuous ways was great.  It was a little disappointing to cut away as Tyrion essentially proposes to Sansa… Sort of. I suppose it made sense given the chilling final shot of Sansa crying as her escape from King’s Landing sailed away.

In the North, Robb continues to make strategic moves marrying off his uncle to pay for his own mistakes. He also offered one of my favourite lines of the episode:

“I win every battle but I’m losing the war.”

In the end, the moment I chose this week belonged not just to Jon Snow but the view atop The Wall.

WINTER IS COMING

Finally, Jon and Ygritte climb the wall. It wasn’t easy but I loved the final shot of the episode. On one side, a winter wasteland. On the other, endless possibilities for future Game of Thrones moments.  With only a few episodes left, worlds are bound to start colliding soon! I can’t wait to see it.

Another week… Still no White Walker sightings?

COUNTDOWN | Best Moments: Game of Thrones Season 2

XTRA | Screenwriting & The Game of Thrones Theme

CATCH UP:

Episode 1 Moment: Valar Dohaeris

Episode 2 Moment: Dark Wings, Dark Words

Episode 3 Moment: Walk of Punishment

Episode 4 Moment: And now his watch is ended

Episode 5 Moment: Kissed by fire

SEASON 3 EPISODE 5
KISSED BY FIRE

Last week, Game of Thrones delivered a fantastic episode capped off by Daenerys big moment.  It was a battle that won her an army of slaves she then freed.  This week arguably boasted the best writing we’ve seen in the series thus far.  Writer Bryan Cogman managed to include nearly every group of characters in one episode.  That’s difficult enough but to weave their stories together with such harmony was masterful.  In every scene, talk of broken vows, oaths and loyalty.

Arya’s big moment came as she screamed “Burn in hell” to The Hound.  She’s always been one of the stronger characters because of the depth we see each week.  She scream “Kill him!” yet moments later she delivers the touching “I can be your family” to Gendry.

Jon Snow made his return to the series this week and something good actually happened to him…  He had to break his Oath to the Night’s Watch in the process but this series has always been about complicated characters.  It’ll be interesting to see how his decision to sleep with Ygritte affects him moving forward.

As always, Daenerys screen time was brief but effective.  As she continued to reorganize her army.  I love the contrast between army’s who are forced to serve and an army of former slaves who choose to serve.  The other side shown in Gendry as he spoke about the men he’s served.

We saw a moment of weakness in Robb as he faced a tough decision that ultimately lost him half his army.  It will be an interesting journey to Casterly Rock for the King who lost the North.

One of the best moments of the episode came courtesy of Tywin, Cersei and Tyrion after they discovered that Sansa was to be married to Loras.  I loved watching Cersei smirk as Tyrion learned that he would have to marry Sansa.  The look on her face when Tywin informed her that she would marry Loras was priceless.  It was almost worthy of best moment but once again, Jaime Lannister stole the show.

THE KING SLAYER

Only two episodes ago, Jaime lost his hand in one of the more brutal moments of the season.  Here he pours his heart out to Brienne in one of the best monologues of the series.  A single speech that beautifully summed up the themes of duty and loyalty woven throughout the episode.  It was certainly the strongest moment of the season as it offered a glimpse into the past and a window into the King Slayers mind.

Jaime has turned into one of my favorite characters and I hope we see more moments like this in the future.  Kissed by Fire was a brilliantly written episode highlighted by one of the best scenes of the season.

…  Still…  No sign of this guy…

COUNTDOWN | Best Moments: Game of Thrones Season 2

XTRA | Screenwriting & The Game of Thrones Theme

CATCH UP:

Episode 1 Moment: Valar Dohaeris

Episode 2 Moment: Dark Wings, Dark Words

Episode 3 Moment: Walk of Punishment

Episode 4 Moment: And now his watch is ended

SEASON 3 EPISODE 4
AND NOW HIS WATCH IS ENDED

It’s not even a close battle.  This was, by far, the best episode of Season 3.

It turns out I was wrong about Jaime’s absence from this chapter.  This episode immediately deals with the fallout from episode 3′s big cliffhanger.  Jaime has lost his sword hand and even though there is still fight in him, he’s losing faith in himself.  It’s incredible to compare a famished Jaime who won’t eat to the King Slayer we met in season 1.  A man who pushed children out windows.

From there, we got a great moment where Varys revealed how he lost his manhood.  The violent tale of sorcery and his lack of faith in magic was a big moment for this character.  His journey to revenge involved patience and careful maneuvering.  A lesson Tyrion definitely learned when Varys opened the crate revealing the sorcerer responsible.  A genius bit of writing when you think about the sorcerer sitting in that great listening to Varys tell his horrible tale.

Varys continued to dominate this episode with a phenomenal exchange with Olenna.

“He would see this country burn if he could be king of the ashes”

Also in King’s Landing, we got to see Margaery’s manipulation skills in full force sending Cersei to her daddy to complain.  This led to another great moment where Tywin reveals how much he actually knows about his spoiled children.  He’s actually becoming a favorite of mine because of these little scenes.  Whether it’s Tyrion or Cersei, they expect him to fix their problems and he points out how dumb they are.  In Tyrion’s case, it’s sad because of all he has accomplished in King’s Landing.  But calling Cersei and idiot was pretty satisfying to watch.

Speaking of satisfying/sad moments.  Theon was led on a horrible journey full of regret but also hope that he had escaped his torturers.  What a terrible thing to do to someone.  Now he’s back in shackles.  It’s tough to feel bad considering what he did in Winterfell but that was pretty cold.

Things are also pretty chilly in the North where members of The Watch finally had enough of Crastor.  This was a great scene as a whole but I would have much rather caught up with Jon Snow.  I’m sure we’ll see more from him next episode.

All of these moments combined with Arya’s confrontation of The Hound made the episode spectacular…  And I haven’t even mentioned the best moment yet!

DANAERY’S CAN DEAL!

She probably has the least amount of screen time among the main characters in this series but they are all great.  It was pretty obvious she wouldn’t part ways with one of her dragons but I didn’t expect such an epic moment.

Watching her speak to her army after freeing them was awesome.  Now she has a devoted army AND three dragons.  It was a fantastic closing to one of the best episodes this series has given us.  In my opinion, it’s right up there with Blackwater.

Lots to think about until next week but…  Still no sign of this guy:

COUNTDOWN | Best Moments: Game of Thrones Season 2

XTRA | Screenwriting & The Game of Thrones Theme

CATCH UP:

Episode 1 Moment: Valar Dohaeris

Episode 2 Moment: Dark Wings, Dark Words

Episode 3 Moment: Walk of Punishment