Summary: Dany begins to take more control of her situation and starts to win over Drogo with better sexual performances. Bran has survived. Jon leaves his family to go to the wall, and Ned promises to tell him about his mother the next time they meet. Tyrion joins Jon. Ned departs with the King and his daughters to King's Landing. Joffrey walks in on Arya sword fighting with Mycah. He terrorizes Mycah so Arya attacks him and Nymeria bites him. Nymeria runs away. Cersei wants justice and gets Robert to declare a sentence of death on Lady, Sansa's direwolf. Catelyn chooses to go after Ned after an assassin attempts to kill Bran. Bran later wakes up.
The Good: This was a very good continuation of the story as I continue to be hooked in by the world and the characters living in it. I really enjoyed Dany's storyline in this episode. The show could have wallowed in her misery to make us sympathize with her, but instead we are able to do more than sympathize, as Dany refuses to play the victim. After just a few days she takes action, looking to make the most of her bad situation as Drogo's wife, and by the end she gets her reward as Drogo lets her take control of their intercourse, making it no longer a pain for Dany. This strength shown by Dany is a fantastic way to make us like her and root for her, as she appears to have incredible willpower to still gain power in whatever way she can. If Drogo can be subdued, that would be a huge thing for the Targaryens and they may pose a genuine threat to Westeros. Their story is also tying in nicely to the main storyline as well. It's revealed that Jorah has bad blood with Ned Stark who banished him from Westeros, which could be a major conflict down the line. While the tie-in doesn't affect the story too much, it does suggest that both storylines will be playing off of each other, despite taking place on entirely different continents. While on the topic of Jorah, I'll also mention hat his relationship with both Viserys and Dany has been interesting so far and I'm excited to see what it will develop into. The other characters in the main story were very well done too. Tyrion is immediately likeable as he has a sarcastic and entertaining vibe to him which hasn't been present in any other character. It makes him likeable and relatable as he comes off as the most modernized character on the show. It also helps that we see him disciplining Joffrey first up in this episode, which is certainly something we could use more of seeing Joffrey's cowardly and unsympathetic nature. Jon's story was very good too. I liked seeing him say goodbye to everyone as it allowed us to get a good idea of his relationship with each of the Starks. I was particularly fascinated with his scene talking to Bran as he is clearly well-loved by Bran, but Catelyn still harshly sends him away, showing that there are large amounts of animosity between them. I was also pleased to see Jon talk to Robb afterwards, who asks if Catelyn said anything to him and he replies with no. Across two scenes which take up maybe 1 or 2 minutes, we learn a lot of basic things about Robb, Catelyn and Jon which is very impressive. The condensed nature of the show has helped the show accomplish a lot in these early episodes without slowing the pacing down to a halt. I also really enjoyed the budding conflicts between Robert and Ned about how Robert rules the kingdom. The two have been interesting and exciting to watch as we learn more and more about their characters through conversations with each other, which also serve a double-purpose as they also help build the world and our understanding of how it works. I want to see where their storyline goes as its clear that there are sources of conflict between them, with their differing views about Dany, as well as Cersei who seems to be a manipulative Lady MacBeth type character. The central conflict in this episode was by far the most gripping and enjoyable part though. The tension in the scene with Arya, Sansa and Joffrey was great and when Joffrey was take down it felt like a big deal despite it not being much because of what we have learned about this world. And naturally, the small confrontation had huge consequences as Lady was executed for Joffrey and Arya's conflict, and Mycah killed. Perhaps the innocent being killed as consequences for the actions of the rich will be a recurring theme in this show. This conflict helped establish that, and that will almost certainly pay dividends in the story later on by adding tension and excitement to other conflicts like this. The Bad: Jon's goodbyes were a bit of a double-edged sword as I'm a little conflicted about them. They were good as scenes to introduce us to character relationships, but what good is that if the characters likely won't see each other for a long while? There are lots of characters, so other relationships should be prioritized. Furthermore, I don't like that the scenes were played for emotion, as it's hard to care for characters that you have only seen for like 15 minutes of screen time. I enjoyed the mystery of somebody attacking Bran (see: The Unknown), but I didn't like Catelyn's reaction to it. Beforehand she wouldn't even leave Bran's side, and this was before she knew somebody wanted him dead. But now that she is aware he is in danger she chooses to... leave? It's ridiculous and I can't understand why her character would choose to leave him alone now instead of being even more clingy to him. The show is doing a great job of progressing a lot of stories, but there is a bit too much happening. The show feels a little bit cluttered and I feel that it diminishes how enjoyable it is to watch. At the moment, I am watching the show because it fascinates me, not because I enjoy it. The Unknown: Does Tyrion know about Jaime and Cersei's relationship? He implies that he is aware which is very interesting. Who is Wyla? There is very clearly something significant about her but I can't figure out what. We learned some fascinating tidbits about the history of Westeros. Apparently the Targaryens were former rulers, hence Dany and Viserys wanting to go home. But we learn that the last king wasn't loved and killed Ned's family which caused conflict. But more interestingly, we learn that this king had selected the father of the Lannisters as a trusted hand, yet he was killed by Jaime. There are a lot of details which don't quite add up and I want to learn more details about what happened. Who did try to kill Bran? Was it really the Lannisters? That seems a bit too obvious to be true. I really liked seeing the differing superstitions in the world. We got some interesting ones in Dany's storyline as the two maids talked about the moon. It's interesting stuff which adds a lot of world-building, but it also makes me wonder if any of these stories will have significance to the story. Will Nymeria come back later? What happens now that Bran wakes up? He will likely explain hat he saw and the Lannisters will be screwed. I'm interested to see the consequences for their actions, if there are any. Best Moment: Robert's judgement scene was tremendous. What I loved the most is how all of the characters stayed true to what we know about them in this scene. No dialogue or action felt forced and that is a sign of fantastic writing. Furthermore, the scene has left the core characters involved with conflicts with each other which will presumably carry on throughout the series. Character of the Episode: Robert. Conclusion: This was another really well done episode. While the show hasn't gripped me emotionally yet, it's been fascinating to watch and I'm ready for more. Score: 66
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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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