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shapinglightOh boy, that was a good episode!
More behind cut with spoilers
I think it was my favourite so far (except for the Theon bit, which I watched from behind my hands while feeling very sorry for Theon and wishing this was the last we'd see of him for a bit, though I fear very much that it's not).
There were some terrific scenes for everyone, particular favourites being Cersei and Tywin (I agree with his assessment of her), Granny Tyrell and Varys, Jaime and Brienne, and the last scene with Dany, the dragons and the Unsullied, which I thought was just brilliant. I love Dany - which is not to say I think she's a wonderful, kind, nice person. She's not. But she's very queenly. Also, I think she did learn something from what happened to Mirri Maaz Duur's people. She may have sentimentalised Khal Drogo's memory to some extent, but I think she would see him for exactly what he is now, were she to encounter someone like that again.
Re: Arya and the Brotherhood Without Banners, bit of a shock to discover they all worship this Lord of Light (not a nice god, IMO), and this Beric Dondarrion - I only know who he is because I've been re-watching season 1 and I remember the scene where Ned Stark sent him off to catch the Mountain and bring him to justice. What happened to him? Did he bump into Melisandre and get converted, or come across the Lord of Light some other way? Now I'm worried they'll try to convert Arya and throw her on a bonfire if she refuses.
Margaery continues to be a complete delight. I love her Princess Diana act, though woe betide her if Joffrey ever gets jealous because the people love her more than they love him. I hope Margaery means what she said to Sansa. I don't want to see Sansa go away with Littlefinger.
I'm enjoying the way the dynamic between Brienne and Jaime is changing too. I hope they escape soon, but not very hopefully. Also, despite what he said to Cersei, just what exactly is Tywin doing to try and recover Jaime? Whatever it is, it's not working.
Finally, good riddance where Craster's concerned, though I am a bit upset about Lord Mormont. Doesn't seem right he should die that way. Also, run, Sam! Run!
Boy, this review's inadequate. Terrific episode. Loved it. Is it next week yet?
Trivial stuff: They keep saying winter's coming, but it still looks pretty summery at Kingslanding. When is that going to change? Also, now Dany has an army, how on earth is she going to feed them all?
And then there's Pod. Seems from what Ros said to Varys that the girls Tyrion set him up with weren't just being kind. There really was something about him they liked so much they refused the money. Hmm. Not sure I believe that, have to say.
More behind cut with spoilers
I think it was my favourite so far (except for the Theon bit, which I watched from behind my hands while feeling very sorry for Theon and wishing this was the last we'd see of him for a bit, though I fear very much that it's not).
There were some terrific scenes for everyone, particular favourites being Cersei and Tywin (I agree with his assessment of her), Granny Tyrell and Varys, Jaime and Brienne, and the last scene with Dany, the dragons and the Unsullied, which I thought was just brilliant. I love Dany - which is not to say I think she's a wonderful, kind, nice person. She's not. But she's very queenly. Also, I think she did learn something from what happened to Mirri Maaz Duur's people. She may have sentimentalised Khal Drogo's memory to some extent, but I think she would see him for exactly what he is now, were she to encounter someone like that again.
Re: Arya and the Brotherhood Without Banners, bit of a shock to discover they all worship this Lord of Light (not a nice god, IMO), and this Beric Dondarrion - I only know who he is because I've been re-watching season 1 and I remember the scene where Ned Stark sent him off to catch the Mountain and bring him to justice. What happened to him? Did he bump into Melisandre and get converted, or come across the Lord of Light some other way? Now I'm worried they'll try to convert Arya and throw her on a bonfire if she refuses.
Margaery continues to be a complete delight. I love her Princess Diana act, though woe betide her if Joffrey ever gets jealous because the people love her more than they love him. I hope Margaery means what she said to Sansa. I don't want to see Sansa go away with Littlefinger.
I'm enjoying the way the dynamic between Brienne and Jaime is changing too. I hope they escape soon, but not very hopefully. Also, despite what he said to Cersei, just what exactly is Tywin doing to try and recover Jaime? Whatever it is, it's not working.
Finally, good riddance where Craster's concerned, though I am a bit upset about Lord Mormont. Doesn't seem right he should die that way. Also, run, Sam! Run!
Boy, this review's inadequate. Terrific episode. Loved it. Is it next week yet?
Trivial stuff: They keep saying winter's coming, but it still looks pretty summery at Kingslanding. When is that going to change? Also, now Dany has an army, how on earth is she going to feed them all?
And then there's Pod. Seems from what Ros said to Varys that the girls Tyrion set him up with weren't just being kind. There really was something about him they liked so much they refused the money. Hmm. Not sure I believe that, have to say.
no subject
Date: 2013-04-23 09:18 am (UTC)Well, you might have seen it if I hadn't managed to tick the inexplicable box on the comment form that stops the post showing up on people's friends lists. ;)
Starting to think Robert Baratheon had kind of a point, awful as it was...Maybe every stag in the forest is working for him or something?
It's possible, but if so, they're not doing a very good job either. Perhaps they keep being hunted and killed before they can report? I like the Joffrey-outsourcing too. It's sort of slapping by proxy. Granny Tyrell is great. I want her to spirit Sansa away and look after the poor girl.
Too bad about Mormont. I wonder how Jorah will take the news? Come to think of it, doesn't this mean that the Night's Watch is effectively gone? (Well, there's still old blind man Targaryen and Sam, but they're not much of an army...)
I think it does, which means a very poor look out for Westeros when the White Walkers move south. But then, all through season 2, I wasn't quite sure what all that pratting about north of the Wall was for in the first place.
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Date: 2013-04-23 09:58 am (UTC)Actually the Robert-Ned discussion about Dany from s1 (damn, it seems like a long time ago, doesn't it?) really encapsulates a lot about the series. Ned refuses to have Dany assassinated because it's Just Not Done. She's a child, she's a woman, therefore she must be harmless because HIS HONOUR and THE RULES and STANDARD FANTASY NARRATIVE! Not completely unlike Mr Dragontoast in this episode. Our hero, ladies and gentlemen.
...Not that I'm saying that murdering Dany would have been the right thing to do, but it's interesting to see that the character we're (officially, while the writers giggle maniacally) expected to have sympathy with is blinded by his own prejudice of what a mere girl can be capable of. I actually love that they have her separated from the main story; when she gets started, Dany's going to cut right through this whole plot like a knife through butter. She's the joker in the deck. (Well, not the only one.)
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Date: 2013-04-23 11:17 am (UTC)I'm beginning to wonder what is wrong with this post. When I wrote an answer to your comment, I'm sure I included stuff about Dany, but it's not there. I said - or something like - that yes, though what she does in this ep seems very right-on- free all the slaves etc - there's no one more dangerous than an idealist who thinks they have a destiny. She's a very scary person.
I agree that she's the wild card in the story. Well, her and Jon. Not sure what his deal is (I understand GRRM hasn't revealed it yet, five books in) but I'm sure it's not just that he's Ned Stark's bastard son.
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Date: 2013-04-23 11:33 am (UTC)Well, there are certainly no saints in this story, that's for sure. I can applaud what Dany did, while at the same time finding it deeply disturbing. Idealists - especially those motivated by a belief in their own destiny- are always the scariest people.
I think you may have missed closing an html tag or something, but I'm not sure why that would strip away an entire paragraph?
I agree that it looks like Jon has a role to play, but so far I don't find it nearly as intriguing as Dany's. Wake me up when he actually does something besides drift along in others' wakes and look sad. (Of course, IIRC he's a few years younger in the books, so that might delay his story a bit...)
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Date: 2013-04-23 11:44 am (UTC)Yep. That really is weird.
I agree Jon's story isn't exactly riveting. Far from it. I'm way more interested in Sam than I am in Jon. Sam has way more reason to be emo than Jon, yet he isn't at all. He's just nice.
Where's Jon's concerned, you can only hope that Ygritte will slap him around a bit and bring him up to scratch.
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Date: 2013-04-23 12:06 pm (UTC)Yep. Part of what I enjoy about the Stark childrens' stories (and wish there'd be more of) is that while yes, their lives have sucked over the past year or so, they're still very privileged upper-class brats by birth and are starting to realise that (except for Robb who's going the other way, I guess). Jon has spent his life fussing over what he doesn't have, never realising what he did have (not unlike Theon, though to Theon's credit, he does seem like he's starting to see that...) Jon never saw the Night's Watch as anything but a prison or at best a duty; for Sam it became liberating* - oddly enough it was Jon who helped him see that, but he never saw it himself...
* Well, by comparison, at least, and even if the other crows didn't quite see it that way.
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Date: 2013-04-23 12:18 pm (UTC)Very much so. It's possible that will crop up in Arya's story, given that she's fallen in with these people who claim they're just trying to help the innocent victims of the war, who are mostly the ordinary folk.
As for Jon and Sam, yes, Sam has done way more growing up than Jon. People keep dropping these anvils on him (like Sam's story of how he came to end up taking the black), but Jon just seems to forget over and over.
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Date: 2013-04-23 12:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-04-23 12:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-04-23 12:53 pm (UTC)I know I'm not conveying it properly but it was a really funny scene that made clear that Granny Tyrell knows that Loras is gay, is fine with it, but thinks Sansa would be better off with a husband who is straight. Since the show already has a bazillion characters and Loras is already established and prominent it isn't really a surprise that the show decided to just use Loras rather than going through the need of creating another Tyrell grandson as Loras can more than adequately fill the role. Still, it was a funny scene in the book.
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Date: 2013-04-23 01:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-04-23 01:58 pm (UTC)The Tyrells are an interesting juxtaposition to the Lannisters. Tywin is all about the Lannister legacy, but as Cersei pointed out he loves his legacy more than his actual children. Tywin's style is to constantly test his children, to make his 'approval' an impossible goal. Granny Tyrell snarks and gruffs about her offspring, but she also accepts them. They are who they are. She can work with that. {Which strikes me as possibly the real purpose of the "Oh honey, no," scene in the book. It's contrast. On the one hand we have Tywin ripping Tyrion a new one for being a dwarf and thus 'unacceptable' while on the other you have Granny Tyrell clearly aware of the fact that her grandson is gay but continues to love him and isn't bothered by it... even as her plans for a dynasty proceed).
The Tyrells may be every bit as scheming as the Lannisters and I wouldn't want to be someone who crosses them, but one thing to be said for the Tyrells is that their family dynamic isn't screwed up royally like the Lannisters. The Tyrells genuinely care for their own.
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Date: 2013-04-23 02:16 pm (UTC)That's nice to know. With the Starks scattered to the winds, it was beginning to seem like there were no families left in Westeros of whom this was true.