Ragnarfan's Blog

This review contains spoilers.

2.8 The Prince of Winterfell

When dealing with the Game of Thrones, not every week can feature dramatic turns of events. Sometimes, to properly build up to the end of a season, you have to spend an hour getting all the pieces into position. This week’s episode was a set-up to a bigger blow-up down the road (specifically, the upcoming battle scene they’ve been hinting at all season as Stannis’ troops head towards King’s Landing, the Lannisters head towards a clash with Robb Stark, some other Northerners head into a clash with the Iron Islanders at Winterfell, and the wildlings perhaps head for a clash with the Night’s Watch?). In order to have a feast, you must first set the table.

Just ask Arya, she knows all about setting tables now, having been Tywin Lannister’s serving girl for quite some time. Now, she’s been handed over to the Mountain while Tywin and his army moves off to engage Robb Stark. However, the girl’s clever—too clever for her own good and more clever by half than any of her brothers—and she devises a brilliant way to get Jaquen to risk his neck by busting her, Gendry, and Hot Pie out of Harrenhal. With no Tywin around, Arya should take off anyway; she’s too good of a character to have rusting away in a burnt-out relic of a castle.

That’s why getting Tyrion to King’s Landing and making him the Hand of the King has been the move that will vault Peter Dinklage from Best Supporting Actor to Best Actor at this year’s Emmys. The scene with Shae (Sibel Kekilli) was wonderfully heartbreaking, and Dinklage’s expression throughout his face-off with Cersei about his secret whore (the very unfortunate Ros) was a brilliant mask. Playing concealed emotions has to be difficult, considering how much of acting is about expressing. Their reunion was touching, albeit unsurprising; Tyrion, as a character, makes sparks with whomever is crossed with him, from Cersei and Joffrey to Bronn and (perhaps most fun of all) Varys. I’d love to see Tyrion, Bronn, and Varys just get one whole episode amongst themselves to dish on the plots and intrigues of the city and the relative merits of testicles versus height.

There was another touching moment this week, this time from an unexpected source. Yara and Theon Greyjoy’s reunion scene at the opening of the episode was fascinating. Theon is so far in over his head that even an Iron Islander would drown, and it’s clear that Theon has managed to end up as a prince without a kingdom. Nobody in Winterfell wants him around anymore after he “killed the Starks” and the Iron Islanders think he’s a fool for “killing the Starks” and thinking like a landlubber. Granted, Theon’s first mate Dagmer Cleftjaw (Ralph Ineson) knows what happened to the missing little lords, but he’s not talking because, it seems, he’s enjoying watching Theon screw everything up royally. He’s not as stupid as his lord, but I can’t see why he’d give Theon this advice if he wasn’t there simply to see Theon fail and die so Yara could become Queen of the Iron Islands. It’s nice to see that she doesn’t hate her brother; she seems to pity him and knows that he’s a fool destined to suffer as a result of his many misfortunes, and urges him to have an Islander’s death near the sea since there’s no way he’ll be able to hold Winterfell with a boatload of pirates.

If Theon is the king of mistakes, Cate Stark must be his queen. She takes Robb’s biggest bargaining chip and, unless we are being misled, simply gives it away for the hope of getting back her daughters. Robb, wisely, puts her under guard, but the damage has been done. The Kingslayer is gone to recreate Huckleberry Finn with Brienne of Tarth (to a similar extent, Stannis and Davos Seaworth are doing a similar song and dance, but only if Huck Finn could turn Jim into a powerful lord). Of course, maybe Cate isn’t going to give Jaime away and that’s why she kept yelling at him as he stormed off to hook up with a strange Volanti nurse.

This is going to be an interesting final two episodes. Yes, season two is almost over, and it seems like only yesterday it started off. George R.R. Martin himself is going to be penning next week’s episode, with direction from Neil Marshall. Talk about your special events! As good as Alan Taylor has been throughout the run of the series (ditto writers Benioff and Weiss), I’m looking forward to seeing what a director as good as Marshall can do with a script from the creator of the Game of Thrones universe.

Rating : 8/10

source:denofgeek.com
by:ronjones

This review contains spoilers.

2.6 The Old Gods and the New

This season, Game of Thrones has been slowly upping the ante. The stakes get higher every week. The number of claimants to various thrones increases as various underlings get their leathers in a twist and start declaring independence. More tellingly, the violence gets more extreme every week. Game of Thrones, even in the quietest episode, is still full of killing, but this week’s episode featured more killing, and more graphic killing, than any episode of the entire series thus far.

The violence in this show is sudden and shocking, but when you add significant gore, what was once a grimace becomes very uncomfortable and stomach-turning. This episode had several uncomfortable moments, from the rioting crowds in King’s Landing apparently dismembering someone bare-handed to Sansa’s narrow escape from a band of rapey peasants (via the Hound, who brought the ultra-violence in defense of the auburn-haired Stark in a spectacularly-directed scene by director David Nutter), and Jon Snow’s adventures beyond the wall with the prettiest wildling possible (Ygritte as played by the gorgeous Rose Leslie, late of Downton Abbey)—which was uncomfortable in a completely different way from the other two, and also very amusing.

This week’s episode was rich with the usual suspects excelling, but there was a stand-out scene featuring two of the show’s MVPs and one of the important characters from the first season. The triumvirate of Arya, Littlefinger, and Tywin Lannister was impressive this week, and the scene that the three shared was awesome. Arya’s careful dancing around Littlefinger somehow both amusing and tense at the same time, as was the way Arya called in her second death card from Jaqen. I laughed a great deal at the way that particular death was executed, and it was a polar opposite from all the other deaths this week. Much like the Jon Snow story this week, it went from tense to lighthearted, and was the polar opposite of Theon Greyjoy.

The unexpected character growth for the little-used Theon Greyjoy has been greatly appreciated and oddly satisfying (much like every time Joffrey gets slapped around or otherwise insulted; I swear, that kid is as obnoxious as Draco Malfoy). While he was popular enough at Winterfell when he was a ward of the Starks, his return this week was, ahem… far from successful. He’s a joke on the Iron Islands, and he’s hopelessly ineffectual as a conqueror with his boat full of scummy pirates. Granted, he took an undefended Winterfell, but it’s pretty clear that no one respects him in the North, either. Not Bran, who sleepily dismisses his attempts at conquest, and certainly not Ser Rodrik Cassel. It seems like the guy can’t win for losing; the way this character is going seems right in Alfie Allen’s wheelhouse as an actor. His expressions this week were very impressive, and I’ve considered him one of the weaker points of the show. He has a great “Oh yeah, I’ll show you I’m a man!” face, and it doesn’t matter if he’s bedding an odd-looking captain’s daughter or failing at being a prince.

I like what Greyjoy is trying to do, which is to impress his dad, and I like that no matter what he’s doing, he seems like he’s going to fail because he’s Theon Greyjoy and he kind of sucks at everything. He can’t intimidate a crippled boy until he goes way over the top, he gets outsmarted by a kitchen slut when his success goes to his head, and his smartest tactical decision was handed to him by his first mate and promptly bungled.

The plot in Westeros is definitely getting thicker, and it’s overshadowing Dany and her adventures across the Narrow Sea. Even with the events that transpired this week, I’m growing a little bored with Dany. Now that she lacks her horde of Dothraki, her Khal, and Viserys, she’s kind of boring. Even with her weird new friend Xaro Xhoan Daxos, there’s not a lot going on with Dany yet aside from the show showing off its set designers and weird-looking character actors.

Granted, Dany is the mother of dragons, but fire-breathing leather kittens aren’t enough to keep my attention when there are much more interesting games afoot in Westeros.

Rating : 8/10

source:denofgeek.com
by:ronjones

This review contains spoilers.

2.5 The Ghost of Harrenhal

Just when you think the first clash of kings promised in the book of the same name is coming, something just has to get in the way. While the Starks and Lannisters war for the North and Greyjoy of the Iron Islands prepares his assault on Winterfell, Baratheon and Baratheon ends up being something of a dud. It’s hard for brother to fight brother when one brother ends up dead, a giant Tilda Swinton-alike bodyguard ends up on the run, and the Baratheon bannermen switching teams. Might the balance of power have shifted in Westeros, or does Littlefinger have his little fingers on a new pawn in the Game of Thrones?

I love the way Game of Thrones is handling its large cast. They can’t get everyone in every episode, but what they have been doing is finding a way to pair off characters who seem to complement one another. For example, the new pairing of Brienne and Catelyn Stark. Brienne is the brawn, Catelyn is the brains; like Tyrion and Bronn, they work well together. Another pairing that works well is Arya and Tywin. (Or Arya or anyone, really; Maisie Williams is great, and her character plays nicely with Gendry, Tywin, Jaquen, Syrio, or her late father Ned.) This allows characters to flesh out and establish relationships with one another and move the plot along briskly.

It’s also a showcase for the dialogue. Tyrion and Bronn’s walk through the city alone was brilliant, and while Arya’s reaction shots to Tywin’s discussion of the war for the north were great moments, the real showcase was her brief exchange with the deliciously weird and murderously skillful Jaquen (Tom Wlaschiha). We found out more about the mysterious killer this week in one scene with Arya than we had in weeks of the walk to the Wall.

Since it seems like the show has introduced all its locations for this season, it must be said that the shooting locations were incredible this week. From the looks of the North beyond the wall, Game of Thrones must be shooting in Iceland, because it just looks cold and foreboding and terrifying where the Night’s Watch are marching in their war on Mance Rayder and his wild savages. Ditto Qarth, which was one of the most impressive stages the show has had. It’s so vibrant and full of life, and it only needs a few interior shots to live up to the promise it revealed when Xaro Xhoan Daxos (Nonso Anozie) cuts his hand to give her entrance. Dany is a queen in need of a king, and Xaro Xhoan Daxos is a savage from the Iron Islands in need of pedigree.

As the show has established, everyone wants something from someone else. Dany needs troops and ships to recapture the Iron Throne, Xaro wants political power to go with his wealth, Robb wants freedom for the Northmen, Greyjoy wants his position back, the Lannisters want to hold onto the Seven Kingdoms, and Stannis wants his brother’s old seat on the Iron Throne. Will the participants, like Stannis, make compromises to get what they want and betray their principles, or will they, like Brienne, try to do things honorably while still getting their desires met?

Speaking of Stannis and his flexible morals, Game of Thrones is handling the supernatural in some interesting ways. There’s power in the magic of Melisandre and her shadowy vaginal assassin, but there’s more power in steel and good men at your side and in the wildfire of the Targaryens. Even Dany’s dragons, small and mostly helpless now, are nothing without handlers and riders and a team to control them. Magic is fun—as we saw with Dany meeting the warlocks of Qarth—but it is of limited use in this universe. At least, so far. Power takes many forms in Westeros and, for the moment, it seems to be the least powerful form of power behind arms and knowledge. Then again, the dragons were dead for hundreds of years before making a comeback; maybe by the time the show is into season four, magicians will be fighting warlocks and magic knights will be riding dragons into battle.

Will dragons and their magic fire be able to ward off the cold of the north? After all, winter is coming.

Rating : 8/10

source:denofgeek.com
by:ronjones

This review contains spoilers.

2.4 Garden of Bones

The major point of pride for Game of Thrones is their ability to capture entire cultures and condense them to particular areas or bits of architecture. This week’s episode adds not one, but two major points to the clockwork animated map in the credits. They are very different, and unlike anything seen on the show thus far. One of these, the walled oasis of Qarth, is merely hinted at. The other, Harrenhaal, is shown in great detail. Both are quite unlike anything we’ve seen so far.

That is the brilliance of this show and its production crew. From the fire cultists to the Iron Islands, every place we’ve stopped at on our tour of Westeros and on the other side of the Narrow Seas has been completely self-contained. The fruit bazaar where Danerys is almost poisoned in the first season is completely different from Qarth, which feels like some kind of Egypto-Indian caliphate. The scene in which the Thirteen – the various rulers of Qarth – square off with Danerys and her ragged Khal was beautifully shot, and the brief glimpse into the oasis on the other side of the Garden of Bones was enough to really make me want to explore it in greater detail.

Kudos to director David Petrarca (dozens of TV shows) for his ability to paint beautiful scenes with his camera. There’s a brief scene where Cersei is sitting at a table with a bowl of fruit on it that looked so appetizing that I had to get myself a banana after the episode. Pretty impressive for a television show! The show usually looks gorgeous, and even the most repulsive locations (Harrenhaal) look amazing in HD.

As for Harrenhaal, that’s the sort of place that I’d love to avoid. From the melted (!) stone walls to the stockade/pig sty for the prisoners, it’s a terrifying place that left my television with a palpable coating of stink. In short, it’s a wonderful prison camp, and the torture method chosen by the Lannister men there is simply brutal while also being great television. Their torture reason is a little vague, but that doesn’t seem to matter as they’ve got plenty of people to murder and plenty of pikes to impale heads upon. Amazingly, the torture and mutilation at Harrenhaal and the outing of Arya Stark as a girl, if not a Stark, is not the most horrifying thing this week.

As usual, Joffrey Baratheon finds a new level of disturbing evil to sink to. Given the scarcity of Joffrey last week, you forget just what a smarmy little slime ball he is. However, this week he was just completely over-the-top, and boy was Jack Gleeson good as a gleeful little sociopath. Every time I see that kid, I want to Tyrion-slap him. Of course, that would probably be a bad idea, as even a great birthday present from Uncle Tyrion ends up being, ahem… used to send a message. See also poor Sansa, who Joffrey seems to love humiliating in public pretty often for someone who is supposed to be his future queen. Fortunately, Tyrion is there to step in, and good old Bronn is there to serve as the muscles of the Hand of the King.

Tyrion, more than anyone else on the small council, knows how to play the game. He could certainly give lessons to his dear sister, and I’m sure even Littlefinger could take some pimping lessons from the imp (since Littlefinger picks the worst times to hit on Cat Stark). I love the way he Sherlock Holmes out the relationship between Cersei and the former cup bearer turned knight/Lannister cousin whose name escapes me. It’s clear that the imp’s powers of observation and manipulation give him an advantage over the less height-challenged members of his family. He may be the son most like Tywin Lannister after all.

Speaking of Tywin Lannister, Charles Dance really is brilliant in his performance. His stag-gutting monologue in season 1 was brilliant, and his brief appearances this year have also been brilliant. I like that not every character can see through Arya’s disguise, only those on the ball (Gendry, Tywin).

This is going to get very interesting. A Stark serving a Lannister? A Stark marrying a Lannister? The inevitable Baratheon vs. Baratheon warfare? Robb Stark getting into a full-on battle and HBO possibly spending the money to show it? To their credit, they’re doing a great job of implying massive battles AND doing a great job of creatively shooting around the battles, as in this week’s wolf attack smash cut with post-battle trauma. That said, eventually, we’re going to have to get some full-on combat. Given how well the show implies fighting, and how well the individual combat scenes are choreographed, I’m really looking forward to the titular clash of kings.

Rating : 9/10

source:denofgeek.com
by:ronhogan