Summary: Yara tells Theon to leave Winterfell as it has little strategic advantage for them but Theon doesn't want to. Tyrion plots King's Landings defense against Stannis and realizes they have a massive disadvantage. Catelyn sends Brienne to take Jaime to King's Landing to trade for Sansa and Arya, angering Robb and others in the camp. Robb falls in love with Talisa and sleeps with her. Jon reunites with Qhorin who has also been captured. Dany prepares to go to the House of the Undying.
The Good: Theon's story continued to be very strong in this episode. We got more exploration of his relationship with Yara, which was much needed for him. Yara was really good as her experience puts her on a higher level than Theon in terms of battle strategy and she completely destroys Theon's reputation which is deserved. Yara explains with sound logic why Theon's maneuver was stupid and did nothing in the long run for the Greyjoys yet Theon's immature need to prove himself makes him not listen and still refuse to cooperate. Then the scene takes a better turn as Yara stops humiliating him and speaks with him alone, showing some genuine affection which adds even more to their relationship. I really enjoyed these interactions. Arya's storyline was pretty good as well. I liked her trying to kill Tywin when she learns of her plans. Some will complain about her not doing this earlier, but she knows that she only has three names and she is still a child who likely isn't thinking far enough into the future to realize how significant it will be to kill Tywin. It also made sense that Jaqen wouldn't be able to kill him since he is still human after all. It's good to get some insight that Jaqen isn't a godly being or a plot device. Additionally, I liked Arya manipulating Jaqen to get out of Harrenhal quickly with her friends. I loved the scenes which hyped up Stannis' upcoming siege of King's Landing. The build-up was tense and dramatic and makes this upcoming battle feel like a huge deal. Most of this season has been set up, and this episode did a great job of demonstrating that the pay-off is upon us and we will be getting a really satisfying climax soon. To make this better, we were treated to a number of good scenes as this went on. Tyrion's interactions with Bronn are hilarious and fantastic, I love seeing them talk with each other and I'm invested int heir unique friendship. Tyrion and Varys were terrific as usual as they discuss the happenings in the world with great wit and humour. There was also a fantastic scene between Tyrion and Cersei, albeit one with a different tone from the previous episode. This time Cersei is back to being hostile, as she begins to cave under the pressure of Joffrey's awful reign combined with Stannis' looming threat. So she chooses to cement power over Tyrion once more, threatening to kill his whore, though luckily for Tyrions he has the wrong whore. Robb was very good in this episode too and continues to be a terrific king. His anger at his mother for freeing Jaime (see: The Bad) is certainly warranted as she has embarrassed him in front of all of his men and taken away his advantage. I liked seeing Robb open up more to Talisa as well in these times of pressure. He is still young and thrust in a major role, so it makes sense for him to need to find a way to relieve some pressure. Unfortunately this leads to him breaking his vows to Walder Frey which can't possibly end well. It's a stupid decision, but we understand easily why he chose it, and he further tries to support it by telling himself that since he doesn't need to go south anymore, he didn't really need passage at The Twins anyways. It's dumb but understandable, unlike a similar decision made by Catelyn in this episode (see: The Bad). Stannis and Davos had some great development in this episode. It has been hard to care for them too much this season, but this one scene has done an absolute ton for their story. Now we understand their relationship, their backstory and their dynamic together, adding to my investment in them as a whole. This makes the upcoming battle much more interesting, as it's difficult to choose a side to root for. I definitely want Joffrey to be unseated as king more than anything, but Tyrion is my favourite character so I'm pretty torn. I liked some smaller things in this episode as well. Jaime remains terrific and his scenes with Brienne were witty and well-written. I also liked seeing a brief glimpse of Jon dealing with the consequences of not being able to kill when he needed to. It's a good lesson for him and I doubt that he will make the same mistake again. The Bad: Catelyn's choice to free Jaime is beyond stupid and nonsensical. I understand that she would do anything to get her daughters back, but I have no idea why she thinks that the Lannisters would just send Sansa and Arya back. She knows they are evil and yet she agrees to a deal which they can either choose to honour or ignore entirely. It's stupid and motherly instincts do not excuse her motivation in the same way that being young and stressed excuses Robb's. The Unknown: What will Tyrion do to protect King's Landing? He still has that wildfire which he can use. What was the significance of the dragonglass that Sam and the others found? Best Moment: Tyrion goes to Shae after fearing that Cersei had captured her. His raw emotion and love for her is on full display and it makes for a genuinely touching scene. Character of the Episode: Tyrion. Conclusion: This was another really good episode. While this one was another calm set-up episode, I really enjoyed it overall since it has promised a ton of action in the season's concluding episodes which are coming up next. The only flaw was Catelyn's decision and while that hurts the score slightly, I still have a very positive outlook on this episode as a whole. Score: 67
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
March 2024
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