Summary: At The Wall, Jon is faced with a decision on whether to stay with the Night's Watch or go help Robb fight his war. Across the sea, Drogo's cut festers and he is on the verge of death. Dany gets Mirri Maz Duur to save him by doing witchcraft, which the Khalasar does not appreciate. Robb has to cross at The Twins and is forced to broker a deal with Lord Frey to marry one of his daughters in order to cross. Tywin's army is attacked by a small force and they win easily but it is a decoy as Robb has gone to Riverrun and captured Jaime. Ned confesses his treason and declares Joffrey as the true king but Joffrey has him killed anyways.
The Good: The opening Ned and Varys scene was just as fascinating as the last as it continued to play on Ned's current emotions while also building more mystery around Varys as a whole. The conversation didn't accomplish much, but it was terrifically written and engaging all the way. It was good to get a look at Ned's emotional state before his big scene at the end as it built up more tension regarding what he will do when called up in front of everyone. That leads me to the biggest moment of the episode, right at the end when Ned actually does confess his sins. It was really surprising for me to see Ned debase himself to save his daughters, but also really powerful as it was one of the few genuinely smart things that the honourable Ned has done in the show. And yet it was all for naught because Joffrey had him killed anyways. This scene was terrific and did so much good for the series. For one, it succeeded in establishing that anything can happen, as the show's main character was just killed after nine episodes which is a huge shock. Secondly, it develops Joffrey as a major villain who we all universally want to see killed for what he has just done to the Stark family. And also, it was a terrific moment in a story as the only fate suitable for Ned after all of his mistakes was death. It gives a huge sense of consequence to the show which is terrific, as I always love shows which actually make characters face the consequences of their decisions. "Breaking Bad" was a terrific show for this reason and "Game of Thrones" is succeeding because of it as well. Furthermore, I love the tragic element of Ned's death as the honourable guy ended up being hated by everyone as he was executed, given no credit for the honour he holds. The side storylines were fantastic in this episode too. I really loved Jon's brief storyline and it's the most excited I've been to see more of The Wall since the show began. I'm glad that the show has explored Jon's struggle with committing to the Night's Watch and abandoning his family, while also showing the turmoil that it's put him through. I especially loved the reveal that master Aemon is a Targaryen as it provides a great example for Jon showing what could happen if he chooses to abandon his family for the Watch. Furthermore, Aemon's story is quite horrifying and does a great job of telling us how it must feel to watch your entire family die while you are helpless to do anything. Tyrion's past being revealed was another fantastic moment. His relationship with his father was just introduced, and this episode fleshed it out through Tyrion's backstory by showing how despicable of a man he is and how much he has ruined Tyrion's life, along with Jaime. The story was very sad and helps us sympathize with Tyrion even more to ensure that we aren't totally against the Lannisters as the show's best character is part of that family. I enjoyed the entirety of the drinking scene too, not only the story. "I Never" scenes in TV shows tend to be great as they get to show the personality of the characters involved while also giving us a little bit of their backstory. I also really loved how Tyrion couldn't predict Shae's life accurately which confused him, adding a lot of great levity. Though we don't know very much about Shae so far, I hope we get a lot more since she has made a big impact as a character so far and I would like to see her relationship with Tyrion develop. Dany's story was very well done too. Last episode showed some cracks forming within the Khalasar and now with Dany bringing witchcraft into the mix, I suspect that we will have something big happening in the next episode. The show has done a terrific job of showing how Dany is slowly gaining the hate of members of the Khalasar, and here it finally explodes as Dany is completely alienated from everyone and Jorah is left protecting her, being forced to get into a major fight with Qotho. What I really love is that I have no idea what happens next, which builds up a lot of tension and excitement for the season finale. Robb's story was another really good one. The problem of crossing The Twins was a great idea as it allowed us to grow attached to Robb as we see him face his first real test as a commander. His resolve also makes him immediately likeable as he is willing to do whatever it takes to save his father. As a side note, I also loved Walder Frey who was a brilliantly senile old man who was awful in all of the worst ways. I enjoyed the way the show handled the battles too. As cool as it would have been to see a massive ground battle, it would have been very tough to do with the budget that this show has so I think they did a good job of avoiding the battles while still showing us how Robb outsmarted the Lannisters to put himself in an advantageous position. The reveal that he has captured Jaime is huge as he now has a Lannister to properly bargain with, though it may be too late seeing that Ned has been executed. I liked the small moment of Jeor giving his sword to Jon and all of the Night's Watch wanting to see it and touch it. It was a great little moment of world-building. The Bad: Nothing I would call as bad. This was a great episode all around. The Unknown: Will Robb actually follow through and marry Walder's daughter? What is Drogo's fate? Will he actually be brought back to life? What will happen to Dany now? I can't imagine anything good will come out of Jorah taking her into the tent. When did Bronn go past The Wall and why? That interests me a lot and makes me want to see more of his history. Will Jon choose to stay with the Night's Watch or leave? Best Moment: Ned's death was a pivotal moment for the show. Character of the Episode: Tyrion. Conclusion: This was a terrific episode which progressed all stories in interesting ways which developed characters, added mystery and suspense and also gave us some powerful storytelling. The best episode of the series so far. Score: 74
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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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