At King's Landing, Tyrion awakes heavily bandaged, and Maester Pycelle informs him that he is no longer the hand of the king. Poor Tyrion, it must be so difficult for him to be a part of the family he is in. Despite this, when Shae suggests they travel to Pentos where they could be safe, an candid Tyrion tells her how he loves to thwart his family's plans. I wouldn't have it any other way Tyrion, but please be careful.
Tyrion's not the only one deserving of sympathy however. Joffrey rewards those who served him well in the battle, he makes his grandfather, Tywin Lannisater, his Hand, and gives Petyr Baelish the castle of Harrenhal for facilitating the alliance between the Houses of Lannister and Tyrell. Loras Tyrell asks Joffrey to marry his sister, Margaery, in order to solidify the relationship between the Houses. Joffrey, however, is betrothed to Sansa. Cersei convinces him that this union can be broken, however, because of the Stark's betrayal, and Joffrey then agrees to marry Margaery. Sansa is momentarily delighted that she must no longer be married to Joffrey, but Littlefinger reminds her that now Joffrey has no further plans to wed her, that she cannot go home, and she will have to remain at King's Landing under Joffrey's rule.
While last weeks enormous battle was good, this is what Game of Thrones does best. What makes the show so enjoyable is the game itself, of tactics, betrayals, alliances, and sacrifices, mostly portrayed through passive-aggressive discussions and snide comments. This is what the Game of Thrones is, and it is oh so good when done right. The King's Landing storylines are the best in the show, and with plenty of dynamic changes; Tywin as the new hand, Margaery as Joffrey's new betrothed, I very much look forward as to what will happen next.
Back at Dragonstone island (that was an unusually fast and successful retreat), Stannis confronts Melisandre about his defeat at King's Landing, when her and her Lord of Light promised him victory. She tells him it was a small loss in a much grander battle, but he proceeds to strangle her. She manages to tell him that her god is inside him, referring to the ghostly creature they created to kill Renly, and he releases her. She tells him he will be King, but still sceptical, Melisandre lures him to look deep into a fire, in which he seems to become mesmerised by visions of his future.
It would have been interesting to see what Stannis saw to convince him of his futuer success, but alas, all we get is Melisandre word. Stannis will obviously have to start another army if he's to be a contender for the thrown, but just how much help will be be receiving from Melisnadre and her mysterious and vengeful Lord of Light?
Meanwhile in the Riverlands Robb decides to break his promised vow to marry a daughter of the House Frey, by marrying Talisa, a woman he has known for five episodes, against Catelyn's wishes. I wouldn't be listening to Catelyn either, bet really Robb? Oh well, at least this sets up the possibility for another House to enter the brawl that is the Game of Thrones. I can't imagine that Walder Frey will take too lightly to Robb breaking his oath, especially after he gave them that bridge and all. At least Robb and his army now have the possibility of an enticing storyline, instead of sitting around all season.
While I very much enjoy the characters of Brienne and Jamie, their trip to King's Landing is taking an awfully long time, and there's only so much awkward banter I can take between them. Here's hoping they'll arrive at their destination soon, and that we can finally see all the Lannisters under one dysfunctional roof. And I can't wait to see what Brienne will get up to there.
At Winterfell, Theon's short rule came to an abrupt end. Surrounded by a northern army under command of Roose Bolton's bastard son; sent by Robb, Theon is left with few options. Maester Luwin suggests he joins the Night's Watch to redeem himself, but Theon realises he is too far gone, and that the only way to protect his honour is to lead the twenty men as has into battle. Theon presents a rousing speech to his men, before one of the, Dagmer, knocks him unconscious, with the intention of handing him over to the Northmen in exchange for their lives. Maester Luwin tries to intervene, and Dagmer stabs him with a spear. Later, Bran, Rickon, Osha and Hodor emerge from their hiding place in Winterfell's crypts and find the castle burnt to the ground. In the godswood they find Maester Luwin dying. He tells them that they must go north to the Wall, as there are too many enemies in the south, and that once there Jon will be able to keep them safe and tell their mother of their survival.
I loved watching Theon's disintegration this season, the lengths in which he went to please his family, and to betray the Starks, showed a truly desperate and conflicted character, and I can't imagine next season as anything too promising in store for him when he is reunited with Robb. On the other hand, it seems were are going to have another several characters travelling in Bran, Rickon, Osha and Hodor, and I can't see there journey to the Wall being at all exciting, and then once they get then and find no Jon...
Speaking of travellers, Arya, Gendry and Hot Pie are unfortunately already on their own tedious journey after escaping Harrenhal. They are surprised to meet Jaqen H'ghar who offers to take Arya with him to Braavos, where she can learn the skills of killing he has and find a way to kill those on her list. However, she refuses, wanting to be reunited with her family. Jaqen gives her a silver coin and the words "Valar Morghulis", telling her to speak them to any man from Braavos should she ever need to find him again. Jaqen bids Arya farewell and departs, changing his face to that of a different man as he leaves.
While I'm sure will be seeing the mysterious Jaqen again, it seems for now that he, and any interesting storyline for Arya, have moved on. I'm interested to see where they are headed, and can only hope they get there soon, or that something mildly interesting happens to them along the way. Perhaps the time to start up a relationship between Arya and Gendry?
Daenerys finally arrives at the House of the Undying as we all knew she would when she first meet Pyat Pree five episodes ago. Her arrival there, thankfully, provided some of her most entertaining scenes of this season, including walking through the snowy, ruined throne room of King's Landing, and a tent with Khal Drogo, and what would have been her infant son Rhaego. Both of which where magical illusions created by Pree. When she eventually finds her dragan, Pyat Pree appears and tells her that she and her dragons are the source of their magic and that they make each other stronger. He then proceeds to chain her up alongside her dragons. Before he can complete this however Daenerys commands her dragons, and they shoot flames at Pree, who catches on fire and is burned alive. Daenerys returns to Qarth to confront Xaro, who betrayed her. She finds him asleep in bed with her Dothraki handmaiden, Doreah, who she thought killed during her dragons abduction. She takes them to Xaro's fault, which he had previously claimed had untold riches inside, but which they find empty. Daenerys then locks the pair of them in the fault, leaving them to starve to death. Jorah Mormont tells Daenerys that that could possibly salvage enough of Xaro's belongings in order to acquire a small ship.
I'm glad we can all move on now Dany, and please, please, please, no more season long journeys! For Daenerys or any of the characters. She better find a boat soon is all I can say.
Beyond the Wall, Qhorin Halfhand takes his ingenious plan to get the wildlings to trust Jon to a ridicoulous level. He grabs a swords, fights with Jon, yelling obstencities all the while, until Jon kills him. The man sure knows how to die for a cause. Impressed, the Lord of Bones cuts Jon free and Ygritte shows him their vast army, gathering in a valley below with a promise to take him to their King Beyond the Wall, Mance Rayder.
At least this season long journey looks like it's going to pay off, it's going to be really interesting to see how the wildlings live, and even more so how Jon is going to survive among them. I'm sure Ygritte will be more than willing to give him a helping hand if you know what I mean...
Back at the Fist of the First Men, Sam, Grenn and Edd hear three horn blasts; the warning call for White Walkers. They flee, but Sam is left behind, caught in a sudden blizzard. Seeing shadowy figures moving through the snow, Sam hides behind a rock and watches as undead warriors walk past him, led by a fearsome White Walker mounted on a horse. Sam cowers, but the Walker ignores him and orders its army, to advance on the Fist.
Zombies? It was cool and all, but I'm not too sure how much magic I can take from Game of Thrones, particularly when where already dealing with smoke monsters and men who can change their faces. Still, it was one hell of a foreboding way to end the season.
Rating: 3.5/5
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