Summary: Catelyn takes Tyrion to the Eyrie to see Lysa, who she discovers has gone off the rails. Tyrion is imprisoned there. Varys reveals to Ned that Jon Arryn was poisoned. Varys meets with Illyrio in secret but Littlefinger takes notice. Ned resigns as hand after Robert chooses to murder Dany. Littlefinger takes him to follow a lead on Jon Arryn but he is confronted by Jaime and his men. Jaime is angry about Tyrion and kills Jory and leaves Ned wounded.
The Good: This was a great episode with a lot of great scenes throughout which left me intrigued and excited for more. There was only one scene which felt like it existed for exposition and that was the scene between Bran and Maester Luwin. The scene worked though as it was a good way to give us more of an idea of the world of Westeros and the families that live there. More information on the Greyjoys as welcome too. The show has frequently mentioned them, so I'm sure they will turn up soon. More importantly, the scene turned into a moment for Bran as he called out Luwin on the fact that his mother left him, which felt real and effectively called out Catelyn for doing something which I didn't think fit her character. At least the show has acknowledged it which makes it a little less bad. Most of everything else was terrific though and it moved the story along really nicely. The follow-up on Tyrion's capture was great and furthered the story. Catelyn has taken him to the Eyrie but thankfully Tyrion never sat still and accepted his fate. He improved his situation and fought for his innocence, bringing up good points which make Catelyn seem like a fool for taking him in, which she most certainly was. However Catelyn being foolish for taking in Tyrion isn't a bad development because we know that her hand was forced when Tyrion called her out and she chose to take action on instinct, not on thought. And now she is facing the consequences as Ned gets attacked and Lysa proves to not be as sane as she would have expected. I really liked the time they spent on the road too. Tyrion of course managed to gain the friendship of Bronn, one of the mercenaries by once more using his wit and charm. It fit his character nicely and I'm interested to see what role Bronn will play in the story. I also liked the hill tribe attack as it added some tension to the episode and gave us a hint at what action would be like in this show. I really enjoyed Varys in this episode. The way his character is played is superb as he seems untrustworthy on every level yet he has charm and information which makes us trust him a little bit, similar to Littlefinger. I love the way that we are made to trust Varys after he gives information to Ned, but then immediately after we see him plotting some shady dealings with Illyrio (see: The Unknown), making us once more question our idea of what his motives are. Often times I hate when characters motives aren't clear, but when shady motives are used like this to create an atmosphere where nobody can be trusted, I'm all for it. The story is never about who they are as characters as much as it is about how these characters affect the story, which I think is a fascinating way to tell a story. The one scene which exemplified my point about how these characters affect the story is Littlefinger's conversation with Varys. Both of these characters are minor and they are not people who the story directly focuses on, but they are characters with hidden allegiances and one single motive: to gain power. Because of that, they feel important as they have the ability to influence so many characters and the roles they play in the story. This one scene of them subtly blackmailing each other and trying to gain leverage was superb to watch and it shows us how good they are at manipulating and ensuring that they rise up in power. These dynamic characters may never be the most central to the story but they are perhaps the most interesting to watch. Ned's story was great in this episode. As it was foreshadowed back in "The Kingsroad", Ned and Robert have come into conflict about Dany and what to do about her. Their blowout scene was well done and more importantly, I sympathized with both characters and understood why they took the stance they did on Dany and what to do about her. Furthermore, I bought into Ned resigning as Hand of King, as ill-advised as it was. Ned has always been an honourable man with a rather short temper, so I could understand his emotional reaction leading to him making a bad move which puts himself and his family in pretty major danger, especially with Tyrion captured by Catelyn. I thought the final confrontation was very good too. While we don't quite understand the significance of it (see: The Unknown), I'm willing to wait to find out and I don't think I detracted much from the scene, which I thought was all about the Starks poor decisions finally catching up to them and potentially kickstarting a major conflict. The fight between Jaime and Ned was very tense and served as an exciting climax to a great episode which rapidly began to build tensions and conflicts within the story. My favourite part of the episode was with Robert and Cersei however. I love the fact that the role of king hasn't been glorified by the show and it is shown that becoming king has done nothing for Robert and given him no peace as he is now more in pain than ever before as he can no longer do what he enjoys and is still left hurting from when he lost Lyanna. The conversation with Cersei did a terrific job of showing us Robert's pain and his mental state at the moment. Furthermore, we got to learn that Robert really isn't an idiot as he understand the threat of the Dothraki and has thought far ahead to think of how Viserys could take the throne from him. It also adds on to the significance of Dany's story since we are now aware that her actions could result in the destruction of the Seven Kingdoms, which makes her every move feel a lot more important to the story than it had felt before. There were a lot of little things I enjoyed, which is a big reason as to why I enjoy this show so much. I love things like a man singing songs about Tyrion, the existence of a rogue hill tribe, Arya having to aggressively force her way back into the castle, and more. Every episode has had these fascinating little bits of information and character which I think have added a ton to the experience of the show. The Bad: I didn't like The Mountain's outburst at the tournament because he got no consequences for attempted murder. I understand that it's meant for us to hate him, but it felt like he needed to have some sort of punishment for what he did, especially seeing that he attacked a wealthy man like Loras. I wish we had a better idea of what Catelyn was expecting to do with Tyrion. Why does she want him at The Eyrie? How can her sister help her out? I don't understand all of this and that's a big problem for a central storyline. This show is starting to have a gratuitous nudity problem. I don't think any bit of nudity was needed in this episode, yet we had at least 3 scenes with half naked or fully naked people to ensure we don't get bored. It's unnecessary and insulting to the audience. The Unknown: Are Renly and Loras just talking or will they actually take a shot at getting Renly to become king? He could become a big player later. Also, who is Stannis? Another brother of Robert? Where is he? Where are Varys' allegiances? Why was he talking to Illyrio? What information did they share and what are their goals? How did Littlefinger know about that? Could he potentially use this against Varys? That would be counteracted by Varys likely leaking that Littlefinger told Ned to suspect the Lannisters so perhaps not. What are Jorah's motives? Does he just want to get into the good graces of Westeros again by giving away all of Dany's movements? How will it play out if he is discovered? He does seem genuinely fond of Dany though so perhaps he is a double-agent of sorts? We will have to wait until we see him again to find out. What will become of Ned and Jaime? Surely Jaime will have to be punished for doing something illegal. I'm just interested to see what comes next. Best Moment: Robert and Cersei's conversation as stellar. Character of the Episode: Robert. Conclusion: This was great episode with great plot movement, dramatic moments and an impressive pace. This was the most important the show has felt and it is an absolute blast to follow everything that is going on. Score: 69
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
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