Summary: Joffrey chooses to marry Margaery, relieving Sansa of marrying him. Theon is surrounded by Stark men and his troops turn on him so they can go home. Winterfell is sacked by unknown people. Luwin is killed. Tyrion loses his position as hand and falls back down the hierarchy. Dany goes to the House of the Undying and has a vision of snow. She finds her dragons and kills Pyatt Pree and then she leaves Xaro for dead. Jon kills Qhorin. White Walkers arrive at the Fist of the First Men.
The Good: Tyrion's story was very good here. I enjoyed seeing him as Hand of the King but now he has been stripped of that title and we get to learn that he enjoyed the role too. His emotions come out in a terrific scene with Shae as he reflects on how much he enjoyed having some power for once. It's easy to understand his sadness as he has fallen to the bottom of the totem pole again, established by him no longer having any friends with power, and Pycelle's rediscovered confidence when speaking to Tyrion. I enjoyed Joffrey awarding heroics to Tywin after the battle. The whole scene felt consistent to the time period and also established some important new plot points, notably Tywin's confidence in his new role and Joffrey's new wife. Regarding the latter, it was good follow-up for Sansa as she gets rewarded for choosing to stay in King's Landing. I loved seeing her smile in joy afterwards only to fake sorrow when Littlefinger goes to talk with her. That scene with Littlefinger added a lot too as it sets up another potential partnership while also assuring us that Sansa still isn't safe and will never be safe as long as she is in King's Landing. The conclusion of Theon's story was very strong, just like the rest of his story. I loved seeing his frustrations when he realizes that he is trapped and almost certainly dead. The horn-blower was also a funny way to focus on Theon's anger and displeasure towards his current situation. I loved his conversation with Luwin where his regrets all come pouring out as he realizes all of the mistakes he has made by siding with the Greyjoys and wanting to prove himself. It would be easy to hate Theon for all he has done, but it's a testament to how good the writing has been that I actually sympathize with him and everything he stands for. The final moments in Winterfell were terrific as well. Theon's speech was awesome and he did very well to be inspiring, but he failed to give the Ironborn a reason to throw away their lives, and in return they knocked him out and appeared to have given him over to the Boltons who were outside. Dany's story came to a good conclusion in the House of the Undying. The way these scenes were put together was fantastic and the entire vision sequence was a spectacle to witness. I loved the way everything fit together thematically as it highlighted the final confrontation between ice and fire while also signalling the threat of the White Walkers which will likely descend on King's Landing. I also enjoyed seeing Dany take vengeance on Pyatt Pree and Xaro as she gives us another glimpse of her ruthlessness which hasn't been seen at all this season (see: The Bad). I enjoyed Jaime and Brienne once more. Their dynamic is very good and we get to learn more about them in scenes like the one we saw in this episode. The confrontation with the three Stark men was really well done and allowed Brienne to demonstrate to Jaime and to us how she is loyal to Catelyn and not all of the Starks. As a side note, I really liked the way that the man set up Brienne and Jaime to reveal the truth by asking them to both say Jaime's name at the same time. I liked Stannis' scene too. Stannis' anger at Melisandre was warranted as he has lost literally everything and didn't end up getting what he was promised to get by her. He has lost his friends, his fleet, his brother and his end-goal of being king, making it easy to understand how he feels. The ending scene with the White Walkers was a great cliff-hanger to make me excited for season 3. The surprise of a third horn was great and the tension was palpable as Sam was left alone within the incoming army. The Bad: Unfortunately the final scene was hurt by the fact that the White Walker just left Sam alive. It's hard to feel threatened by them if they don't kill, so that was a pretty weak moment. Luwin's death lacked impact since he has hardly done anything of note. Bran and Rickon's reactions also did nothing since they have done nothing to make me care about either of them as characters. The Qarth storyline accomplished nothing and felt like a means to stall Dany for a season. She has made no progress since the end of last season which is frustrating. The Unknown: What will become of Varys partnering with Ros? What did Stannis see in the flames? Jaqen is very interesting. How does he have all of these mysterious, almost god-like powers? I presume Arya will go to Braavos at a later point in the story. What will she find there? What happened to Winterfell? Who burned it down? It doesn't make sense for the Boltons to do it, but they must have as the Ironborn surely couldn't have. What happened to the Ironborn anyways? WHat happened to Theon? Best Moment: I'll pick Tyrion's sadness at being relegated to the bottom again after losing his position. Character of the Episode: Theon. Conclusion: This was a very good season finale with good closure and some strong moments to make it stand out more. The set-up for next season was good, though it didn't live up to the excellence of the season 1 finale. The second season as a whole was a bit of a step down from season 1 but it was still pretty good. Like season 1, it started slow and picked up a lot of momentum towards the end of the season with good storytelling, powerful moments and epic twists. My one major complaint is how familiar the show still feels after this season. Through season 1, the show took a massive change in direction and every character was at a different place than they were at the beginning. I don't think that the same could be said about this season as many characters find themselves in the same position as season 1, or in similar positions, with Stannis and Dany standing out in this regard. I hope that the next season is a little more ambitious with what it wants to do so we don't end up with another season which felt like it was stalling for lengthy periods of time. Score: 69
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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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