Summary: Joffrey tries to punish Sansa but Tyrion saves him. Tyrion sends him some whores to calm him down but Joffrey makes them beat each other. Lancel goes to Tyrion with requests from Cersei to free Pycelle. Tyrion agrees but also gets Lancel on his side. Littlefinger delivers Ned's ashes to Catelyn. Stannis and Renly threaten each other with war. Arya is taken to Harrenhal and is selected to be Tywin's cupbearer. Robb wins battles in the west. Dany secures entry into Qarth. Melisandre births a shadow.
The Good: This episode was a blessing for this season. The tone took a sudden shift into darker territory as scenes of this episode often unsettled me with tough to watch moments. As rough as this was, it elicited a reaction from me and made me care about what was happening on screen, making it the most tense and exciting episode in this season. Joffrey was one of the worst parts of the episode in a good way. He is despicable and awful and I dread to see him on screen due to whatever new way he develops to torture Sansa and those around him. But this makes him one of the most vile villains I have seen in television and I don't think I've ever wanted to see a character die more than I want to see Joffrey get what's coming to him. Thankfully we do get tastes of Joffrey getting some comeuppance from Tyrion who stands up to Joffrey all the time and puts him in his place. The scene with Sansa was getting uncomfortable but Tyrion's arrival made it more lighthearted and enjoyable due to how he handles Joffrey's menace. Furthermore, there was Joffrey's scene with the two whores which I don't even want to begin to talk about. It was cruel and sadistic, and showcased Joffrey's pettiness as he gets back at Tyrion in a really awful way. Tyrion as a whole was terrific once more in this episode. I loved seeing him counter Cersei's attempt to get Pycelle back by getting his own spy in Lancel. Tyrion's mannerisms in that conversation were superb as he turned the tables around on Lancel with a calm demeanor and made Lancel go from being dismissive to actively begging for his life. It was fascinating to watch and was a definite standout scene in the episode. The Harrenhal scenes were very good too. There was a darker tone present as people were being starved, tortured and brutally killed, which is a far cry from the lightheartedness of Arya's storyline a few episodes ago. More notably, Tywin arrived at Harrenhal and picked Arya as a cupbearer which is really significant development as it seems to hint that Arya's identity will be discovered very soon. I enjoyed seeing Renly and Stannis face off. It builds up nicely to an eventual battle an also does a great job of showing the contrast between the two brothers and how they are polar opposites of each other in terms of personality. Catelyn's scene with Littlefinger was very good as well. I loved to see Catelyn get a chance to let out some pent up emotion from Ned's death and Littlefinger is a good character to receive her anger seeing how he betrayed Ned. But more impressively, Littlefigner wins over Catelyn again by the end using his mouth, proving that he is one of the most effective manipulators on the show I really liked the opening scene as well. It had a great use of misdirection with that opening bit with the soldiers and also did a good job of showing us a brief glimpse of what it's like being a soldier in battle. I'm intrigued by the development of Robb meeting Talisa (see: The Unknown). The ending of the episode was huge. It's the show confirming the existence of proper magic which is very unexpected, but I really like it as it makes Stannis' storyline feel very important and makes him feel like a more powerful character, similar to Dany with her dragons. Speaking of Dany, her story was solid in this episode as she forced her way into Qarth with the help of one of the 13, but I did have some problems (see: The Bad). The Bad: Dany's story lacks momentum still and it has been nothing important for the first four episodes. It's a jarring transition after the huge ending to the last season with the introduction of dragons. There just doesn't seem to be much to Dany's storyline this season. Also, the scenes of Dany's entry made little sense to me. I don't understand why Dany didn't just show the dragons as they would easily grant her access. Additionally, Daxos using Sumai felt like a cliché as it feels like a plot convenience for him to get Dany into Qarth. Littlefinger is a master manipulator, but scenes like the one with Margaery contradict that entirely. Littlefigner doesn't come off as cunning when he openly reveals his knowledge to others in ways that don't give him the advantage and it hurts his credibility. The Unknown: Will Robb break his vows to Walder Frey with Talisa? That could be very dangerous. Who are the Brotherhood and why do the Lannisters want to know about them? What is Sumai? I doubt we get any more information on it as it feels like a convenience through and through. What the heck was that shadow baby? What will it do? Best Moment: I'll avoid the temptation to pick Tyrion once more and I'll go with the ending scene for what it means for the show as a whole with the introduction of proper magic. Character of the Episode: I'll go with Joffrey actually for being such a despicable villain. Conclusion: This episode had a much darker tone and was all the better for it. There was a good sense of urgency here and that made this the best episode of the season so far. Score: 68
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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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