Summary: Davos convinces the Iron Bank to support Stannis. Dany is confronted by a man who wants to bury his father, a master who was crucified. The small council discusses Dany's impending threat. Varys sends his little birds to Meereen. Yara assaults the Dreadfort and tries to break Theon out, but he refuses and Yara leaves. Tyrion's trial occurs and it is heavily biased against him. Jaime bargains with Tywin and the come to a deal where Tyrion will be allowed to live in the Night's Watch if Jaime resigns from the Kingsguard to further the Lannister line. Shae is brought into the trial and Jaime's deal isn't fulfillef when Tyrion angrily calls for a trial by combat.
The Good: Another episode goes by, and "Game of Thrones" continues to over-deliver in what has easily been its best season so far. This episode had a number of solid plot lines and also a few pleasingly powerful moments. Davos remains one of the best overall people in Westeros. He is genuine in his loyalty to Stannis, so much so that he singlehandedly makes everything involving Stannis a lot more interesting. Thankfully, this episode had a good story as well to aid this. The Iron Bank's introduction was really great, complemented by characetrs who feel out of place from everything going on in Westeros, making them feel more special. Furthermore, the visuals of Braavos were brilliant and I was breathless seeing the beauty of the special effects. But things like this enhance stories, they don't make them good. What does make them good is providing genuine conflict for main characters who are forced to find a way out of it, which is exactly what we get here with Davos. The Iron Bank puts down Stannis' cause entirely, proving to only be interested in numbers, not caring at all about honour. But Davos uses his wit to play into their game and defeat them, managing to give Stannis a huge bonus, making him a threat once again. It has been a season and a half since Stannis was defeated, and now it looks like he is finally ready to get back into things, and I am pretty excited as I care much more about Stannis' cause than I did back in "Blackwater". Dany's story has expanded in a nice way too. It seems like she will be in Meereen for the next while, and so far I am enjoying it. I liked that we were shown somebody who wasn't pleased by what Dany did to the masters, which is both realistic and compelling. It was good to see Dany forced to look through the eyes of the non-slaves living in Meereen, teaching her a little more. Furthermore, I also love the scenes when Dany is discussed back in Westeros, as it is nice to get the reminder that she is still a threat for all of the characters in King's Landing. The small council scene was really well done (as usual), and I like the development that Varys will be sending his spies across the Narrow Sea. Presumably this will mean that Dany will be discussed more often in Westeros, and perhaps her story can start blending more into the main plot of the show. Also, I have to take a moment to mention the electric Oberyn/Varys scene. I love seeing this show create these interaction scenes carried by charisma and character. It's fascinating to watch and gives us so many fascinating little details about these characters who remain mostly a mystery to us. Then this takes us to Tyrion's trial, which delivered for the most part. The most fascinating part of this all was Tywin's involvement. He and Jaime had an important discussion (long overdue Jaime) about Tyrion's fate and there were a lot of great surprises. First and foremost was the heavy implication that Tywin manipulated the entire situation to get what he wants. The moment when Tywin rapidly accepts Jaime's offer was a fantastic moment because it was when everything about this situation made sense. Tywin never wanted to kill Tyrion, rather he was using him as leverage to get Jaime to do his bidding to continue the family line. Not only was this a great moment, but it also made the biased nature of the trial much more clear as it was intentional on Tywin's part to oust Tyrion as a villain. Tyrion was outstanding in this episode. It was extremely easy to sympathize with him as he is essentially attacked for every little thing he has done with everyone despising him for it instead of sympathizing with the fact that he was trying to just help Westeros as a whole. However the emotion was lacking at first (see: The Bad), and I was worried that the trial would be a boring dud. But then, Shae was introduced and as she lies through her teeth about Tyrion, the trial becomes much more tense and emotional. Then this leads to an explosive final scene where Tyrion erupts and unleashes all of his anger upon the ungrateful swine who are attempting to sentence him to death for no reason. The final speech is a massive moment which is not only satisfying, but powerful and understandable. Then we get hit with the huge twist at the end as Tyrion refuses to take Tywin's deal and demands a trial by combat, shaking things up once more, and adding a ton of possibilities (see: The Unknown). The Bad: Yara's assault on the Dreadfort didn't work. I find it tough to buy into the fact that Yara got inside a fortified castle so easily and managed to make it all the way to Theon without any difficulty at all. Then Ramsay comes in to fight shirtless to make him even more psychotic. Ramsay doesn't interest me at all because his character is receiving every single cliché in the book to make him seem evil. But then it suddenly awkwardly cuts to Yara outside of the Dreadfort having escaped off-screen. It felt awkward and I find it difficult to believe that she got away after being cornered by Ramsay and his men. The first part of the trial was pretty flawed. It was biased and I was aware that Tyrion had no chance to prove his innocence. But then the scene kept going on with many, many characters coming up on the stand to make their points. It felt aimless and the scene was lacking in drama as Tyrion was unable to defend himself. Because of the time period, and the style, this never had the chance to be one of the classic courtroom scenes, and that's a bit of a shame as I am a sucker for some quality courtroom drama. Shae testifying against Tyrion is intriguing (see: The Unknown), but it could have some terrible effects on her character if she just wanted to get back at Tyrion as her only motive. Shae was introduced as an intelligent character, and there is nothing dumber than what Shae did if she wasn't paid off or something by Tywin. The Unknown: What does Ramsay have in plan for Theon? Is he going to try to fulfill his father's wishes by using Theon for a trade? Who steps in to fight for Tyrion? I don't imagine it will be Jaime. Will Bronn be back once more to help Tyrion? Also who will fight for Tywin? The Mountain? What were Shae's motives? Was she paid or something else by Tywin to testify? What happens to her now? Best Moment: Tyrion's speech was an outstanding moment. Character of the Episode: Tyrion. Conclusion: This was another great episode with some stellar moments. There were flaws for sure, but the good absolutely outweighs the bad and it made for another impactful and memorable episode. Score: 73
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
February 2024
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