Summary: At The Wall, Benjen doesn't return from his ranging. Jon is selected as a steward for the Lord Commander who wants to groom him as his successor. Across the sea, Dany is almost killed but Jorah has a change in heart and saves her. Drogo decides to go after Westeros. In King's Landing, Ned tells Cersei to leave before he tells Robert about Joffrey. Robert returns but he is wounded by a boar and is dying. He names Ned as Protector of the Realm. Ned gets options from Renly and Littlefinger to take power but refuses and decides to be honourable. Joffrey assumes the throne after Cersei disregards Robert's words. Ned gets the City Watch on his side courtesy of Littlefinger and tries to take down Cersei but Littlefinger betrays him.
The Good: This episode made terrific use of tension to succeed on a higher level than anything else that came before. While the show didn't engage my emotions to that next level yet, it had me more engaged, excited and on-the-edge-of-my-seat than ever before. The main reason for this is Ned's storyline which was handled brilliantly. It was immensely tense seeing Ned confront Cersei early in the episode and it was surprising to see him directly address Cersei with his suspicions about Joffrey's lineage. It would have been smart for Ned to just quietly destroy Cersei after discovering the truth, but he is honourable and he wants to give Cersei a chance to flee which ends up being his undoing. We know that Cersei is aware of Ned's plan and will be plotting everything to make sure that she is able to trump whatever he tries, so that adds a lot of tension as we know that Cersei will be plotting during all of this time that we see Ned plotting. The episode does a spectacular job of explaining why Ned loses this battle of wits. He is given multiple options, from Renly and Littlefinger, which all would give him a big victory, but Ned refuses, opting to be honourable and give the rightful crown to Stannis. His honour is his undoing and it's painful to see him making so many mistakes leading up to that final scene. We still root for him to overcome the evil Cersei, but there is this sinking feeling that he has dug his own grave. It adds a lot of tension to that final confrontation as well, especially as Ned appears to have a clear numbers advantage, though Cersei seems completely unfazed by anything that Ned does, setting up for that shocking final moment (see: Best Moment). One bold move that I really appreciate this episode doing is killing off Robert. His character was interesting and had depth, but his death needed to happen to properly fuel the plot. Everything had pretty much been explored already about him, and we even got more about his relationship with Cersei in this episode. With his role in the story done, he needed to die and I think they did it in a very smart way. The manner of his death leaves us uncertain about the Lannisters (see: The Unknown), and also feels poetic as Robert's own unhappiness with his life has brought about his death. It's a fitting end for his character and did lead to some nice lines of dialogue in his final scene with Ned. Tywin's introduction is another really strong part of this episode. His character oozes control like no other character so far, and I applaud the writers for introducing him the way they did, with him skinning a boar. It immediately shows how tough and gritty of a man he is as well as how serious he is, giving him a soldier-like vibe while he addresses Jaime and pretty much makes him look like a fool for everything he has done so far. Just a terrific scene overall as it sets up a character I'm very excited to see more of. Lastly, I enjoyed the storyline across the sea. The assassination was some good drama and it nicely set up Jorah's decision to side with Dany instead of returning to Westeros. Furthermore, it was a logical way to get Khal Drogo to decide to attack Westeros as he is not going to take Robert's attempt at Dany's life lightly. While there is nothing spectacular here, it's all really solid stuff and it comes at a good time, as we are all yearning for Joffrey's reign as king to be cut short, and having a Dothraki army attack would be the perfect way to accomplish that. The Bad: Littlefinger's scene in the brothel was too much with the pointless nudity and sex. It wasn't necessary and only detracted from the scene and annoyed me. That's a shame too because the content of the scene was great as it crystallized Littlefinger's motivations a little more, which helped the twist at the end make a lot more sense. The Unknown: What happened to Benjen? Was that his arm that Ghost found? Is he dead? Will the Night's Watch search for him? Did the Lannisters get Robert killed? Perhaps Cersei instructed Lancel to get Robert so drunk that he would likely get killed. Where did Renly run off to at the end? Did he run away to escape justice or for another reason? Best Moment: The ending twist was stellar and surprising, but it made so much sense. Of course Littlefigner would betray Ned as he has nothing but hatred for the man that wedded the woman he loves. Furthermore, it's a smart decision for him to side with the Lannisters, who currently have all of the money and power. Why be a hero siding with Ned where you have nothing when you can win the affections of the rich who may reward you with better stuff? Character of the Episode: Ned, as despite all of his mistakes, it was still easy to root for the guy. Conclusion: This episode didn't fix everything I wanted to be fixed, but it committed to the overall nature of this show. This show will be different and it will do everything to ensure that it is compelling with every storyline. An episode like this launches the plot into forward motion and it is very exciting to follow. There was so much to love about this episode, and that makes it the best one yet. Score: 70
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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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