Summary: Flashbacks show Cersei getting a prophecy from a witch. In the present, King's Landing deals with the fallout of Tywin's death. Lancel returns, having joined a new religious group called the sparrows who arrive following Tywin's death. Dany learns of a group calling themselves Sons of the Harpy causing an uprising. Tyrion arrives in Essos with Varys. Varys takes him to meet Dany. Stannis wants Mance to kneel to him and give him his men. He enlists Jon to help. Mance refuses so Stannis plans to have him burned. Before Mance is burned, Jon mercy kills him.
The Good: This was a quiet, but solid season premiere. I liked the first scene due to what it uncovers for the story. Through this prophecy we are given some more information about what will happen to Cersei, and thankfully it adds to the plot. Cersei's fate to be unseated by a younger, more beautiful queen and to lose her children are very interesting reveals (see: The Unknown). I really liked the fallout of Tywin's death. Cersei is as insufferable as ever as she torments Jaime for his role in Tywin's death and further condemns Tyrion for murdering Tywin. What's more interesting is that Cersei is likely in charge now that Tywin is gone, so it should be intriguing to see what she does to King's Landing. The best development of the episode in my opinion was Lancel's return. He has become part of a religious group called the sparrows who have only now arrived because Tywin is gone. This is an exciting development because it implies that there are organizations waiting in the shadows for a time to rise, and the sparrows could be setting up for the formation of a new faction, or even a new set of factions within King's Landing. With Tywin gone, it appears that there is nobody left to stop them. I was pleased with Tyrion's story. His drinking habits continuing after everything that has happened made sense and I enjoyed his interactions with Varys. Their pairing is excellent and I think it will lead to good television to see them together in Essos. I also like that we got the reveal of who Varys is actually supporting, as he is clearly trying to get Dany back in charge of Westeros. Finally, we get to the story at The Wall which I thought was the strongest. The conflict of Stannis wanting Mance's men but Mance not wanting to kneel was well fleshed-out. Mance's motives for not wanting to kneel to Stannis made sense and I appreciated his scene with Jon, who tried to save Mance's life. Of course it just wasn't meant to be and Mance ended up being burned anyways. The stand-out moment however was Jon showing his heart and shooting Mance with an arrow, giving him a merciful death. The Bad: Dany's story is feeling pretty repetitive. It feels like largely stalling to keep her away from Westeros until it is time for her to invade. I enjoyed the developments in her story in the past few seasons, but the big moments were all setting up for something big which never came. Dany keeps learning lessons but she isn't really applying them, making everything feel like a waste of time. Because of that, it's hard to invest in this new storyline which is being introduced because I fear that it won't lead to anything particularly enjoyable. This episode suffers from being extraordinarily slow. That in itself isn't a problem, after all "Better Call Saul" is one of my favourite shows and it is extremely slow. But "Better Call Saul" is put together with more innovation and care than "Game of Thrones" and because of that, the slow pace isn't an issue. For "Game of Thrones", a show driven by a sprawling narrative rather than a condensed character story, this slow pace feels dull and doesn't make for a particularly enjoyable episode. I'm not saying this episode was bad, but it is certainly weaker than the exciting episodes last season. The Unknown: Who is the beautiful queen that was referred to in Cersei's prophecy? Is it Dany? Margaery? Or perhaps somebody else altogether? Apparently Tommen and Myrcella are both doomed according tot he prophecy. Who is going to kill Tommen now that he is king? Does Stannis successfully attack and take over King's Landing? Is Tommen assassinated like Joffrey? A lot of questions. And what about Myrcella? Is she a casualty of Dorne going to war against the Lannisters? That seems likely, especially after Oberyn's death. We still haven't seen how Dorne has responded to that. Who are the Sons of the Harpy? Will they provide an actual threat to Dany? Or are they just another force that will be easily taken care of? Who are the sparrows? Why did Lancel join them? What did they do to him? Will the sparrows make any moves in King's Landing? Or are there other organizations to worry about in King's Landing? Best Moment: Jon killing Mance. Character of the Episode: Jon. Conclusion: This was a slow, but solid season premiere. While this episode doesn't do much to stand out on its own, it does nicely set up for the rest of the season. Score: 62
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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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