By Jamie Kennett
The title of this week’s episode comes from the funeral chant for a deceased brother of the Night’s Watch. I’m sure there were a great many of us who thought this might have referred to Jon Snow when we first saw the name of the episode, but worry not; it was just somebody at Craster’s Keep. There are quite a lot of deaths this week as it happens, not to mention all of the betrayals, double-crossings, investigations, fights, and things catching fire as they so often do in the world of Game of Thrones. With this week’s episode containing arguably the best scene of the whole series so far, it made for some good watching and some equally enjoyable reviewing. Read on, if you so desire, but do beware as the review is dark and full of the usual spoilers…
The title of this week’s episode comes from the funeral chant for a deceased brother of the Night’s Watch. I’m sure there were a great many of us who thought this might have referred to Jon Snow when we first saw the name of the episode, but worry not; it was just somebody at Craster’s Keep. There are quite a lot of deaths this week as it happens, not to mention all of the betrayals, double-crossings, investigations, fights, and things catching fire as they so often do in the world of Game of Thrones. With this week’s episode containing arguably the best scene of the whole series so far, it made for some good watching and some equally enjoyable reviewing. Read on, if you so desire, but do beware as the review is dark and full of the usual spoilers…
The one thing I’ve learnt in reviewing this season of Game of Thrones is not to waste all my fellow geeks’ precious time by writing a thousand-word synopsis of the episode itself. There will however be a repeat of last week’s short-but-sweet run down of the episodes important bits. A veritable Top Ten*, its right underneath this line I’m writing at the moment…
1. The now left-handed Jaime Lannister and Brienne find themselves in further trouble as the Kingslayer loses his temper and attempts to overwhelm their captors. A brief and bodged swordfight takes place, culminating in Jaime unsuspectingly drinking a flask of horse piss.
2. Theon, who was nearly raped last week, is taken to Deepwood Motte (which is under the control of his sister Yara) by his rescuer, “Boy”, only to find out he’s been returned to where he was released from in the first place. He’s now strung back up on the torturing rack he was on before.
3. Arya and Gendry are taken to the secret cave lair of the Brotherhood Without Banners, and get to meet Beric Dondarrion. Whilst there, The Hound is brought in to the centre and an impromptu trial takes place wherein Beric accuses him of war crimes his brother Gregor is actually guilty of. Arya finally gets to pin the death of her friend the butcher boy from season one on him, however.
1. The now left-handed Jaime Lannister and Brienne find themselves in further trouble as the Kingslayer loses his temper and attempts to overwhelm their captors. A brief and bodged swordfight takes place, culminating in Jaime unsuspectingly drinking a flask of horse piss.
2. Theon, who was nearly raped last week, is taken to Deepwood Motte (which is under the control of his sister Yara) by his rescuer, “Boy”, only to find out he’s been returned to where he was released from in the first place. He’s now strung back up on the torturing rack he was on before.
3. Arya and Gendry are taken to the secret cave lair of the Brotherhood Without Banners, and get to meet Beric Dondarrion. Whilst there, The Hound is brought in to the centre and an impromptu trial takes place wherein Beric accuses him of war crimes his brother Gregor is actually guilty of. Arya finally gets to pin the death of her friend the butcher boy from season one on him, however.
4. Tyrion seeks information regarding the person who sanctioned his assassination in season two, -who is undoubtedly Cersei-, by visiting Varys and asking after anything his spies may have heard or seen. He is instead treated to the gruesome tale of how Varys came to be eunuch.
5. Varys seeks some info of his own, regarding his colleague Littlefinger. He visits Ros at one of Baelish’s “establishments” and the two slowly realise he intends to marry into the North by wedding Sansa Stark.
6. It all kicks off beyond the wall; a miniature civil war breaks out at Craster’s Keep when some of the remaining Night’s Watch demand more rations from their host. Craster himself, Commander Mormont, and some other loyal watchmen are killed in the ensuing fight. Sam attempts to flee with Gilly; one of Craster’s daughters who he first met on his way to the Fist of the First Men in season two.
5. Varys seeks some info of his own, regarding his colleague Littlefinger. He visits Ros at one of Baelish’s “establishments” and the two slowly realise he intends to marry into the North by wedding Sansa Stark.
6. It all kicks off beyond the wall; a miniature civil war breaks out at Craster’s Keep when some of the remaining Night’s Watch demand more rations from their host. Craster himself, Commander Mormont, and some other loyal watchmen are killed in the ensuing fight. Sam attempts to flee with Gilly; one of Craster’s daughters who he first met on his way to the Fist of the First Men in season two.
7. Danaerys finalises the deal with Kraznys Mo Naklos in Astapor, momentarily parting with one of her dragons for eight-thousand Unsullied soldiers. However, being who she is, she tells her dragon to then incinerate Kraznys and orders her army to kill everyone who enslaved them. After that’s dealt with, she sets them free and asks them to follow her of their own free will. Jorah and Barristan share a nod of mutual appreciation for their queen amidst the fire and blood.
*it’s only seven, I know.
It was the usual fare of finely acted, finely produced scenes this week. There were some particularly strong performances from Emilia Clarke (Dany), Nicolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime) and Conleth Hill (Varys), who were some of the stand-out characters in the episode.
There wasn’t a great deal of emphasis on anybody else; we caught a glimpse of Bran as he had another one of his three-eyed-raven dreams, and Tyrion appeared for all of approximately five minutes as he conversed with Varys. Other than that it was the usual fare of brief interludes from various characters spun into a larger plot involving a conspiracy in King’s Landing and/or some things catching fire in Essos. Jon Snow and Robb Stark, however, didn’t even appear. To be honest though, there isn’t a great deal going on in Robb’s world at the moment, and all Jon would be doing is walking towards the Wall with Tormund Giantsbane and some of the other wildlings raiders.
*it’s only seven, I know.
It was the usual fare of finely acted, finely produced scenes this week. There were some particularly strong performances from Emilia Clarke (Dany), Nicolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime) and Conleth Hill (Varys), who were some of the stand-out characters in the episode.
There wasn’t a great deal of emphasis on anybody else; we caught a glimpse of Bran as he had another one of his three-eyed-raven dreams, and Tyrion appeared for all of approximately five minutes as he conversed with Varys. Other than that it was the usual fare of brief interludes from various characters spun into a larger plot involving a conspiracy in King’s Landing and/or some things catching fire in Essos. Jon Snow and Robb Stark, however, didn’t even appear. To be honest though, there isn’t a great deal going on in Robb’s world at the moment, and all Jon would be doing is walking towards the Wall with Tormund Giantsbane and some of the other wildlings raiders.
For the majority of the hour we were darting around various parts of King’s Landing; this is where the episode was emphasised, as Varys, Margaery Tyrell and Sansa were some of the more central characters to the story this week. Margaery continues to manipulate Joffrey into some kind of Mr Nice; I’m starting to see a horribly out-of-place humanity emerging from the baby-faced king. Sansa, on the other hand, is becoming caught up in a conspiracy regarding Littlefinger and an aquatic escape from King’s Landing. Cersei is becoming increasingly concerned about Margaery’s influence around the court, and the on-going lack of her brother, so she goes to her father Tywin for some advice on Margaery and the situation regarding Jaime. Tywin is his usual miserable self of course, and says he’s doing all he can to free Jaime. Cersei ends up challenging his characteristic loyalty to the Lannister legacy over that of his actual children, to which he doesn’t seem to be particularly arguable about. They’re such a lovely family, the Lannisters.
But, as I said earlier, it was Jaime, Varys, and Dany in particular that caught my eye this week. Jaime Lannister has been reduced to a grovelling cripple since his hand was sliced off in the previous episode, but he can’t be blamed; the one thing he was famous for (besides sleeping with his sister) has been taken from him, his “my father” excuse has been made completely redundant, and he’s sunk so low that he now has to take abuse off of Brienne of all people. This lead to a brilliant scene between the two of them; as their captors set up camp for that night, Jaime and Brienne sit by a fire as the former stares off into nothingness and laments the loss of his sword-hand. Cut to Brienne and we see a genuine look of concern for the Kingslayer. She asks him what the matter is and he simple says “I’m dying”. There’s a brief pause as we momentarily see a bond between the two of them in the wake of their capture, until Brienne cuts it short by chastising Jaime’s reaction to his dismemberment, summarising her rant with “You sound like a bloody woman”, which is funny considering the Kingslayer spent the entire of his time in Brienne’s custody mocking her for being of the female persuasion and by association an awful swordsman. She of course still has both her hands and can actually use a sword, so who’s come out worse Jaime?
But, as I said earlier, it was Jaime, Varys, and Dany in particular that caught my eye this week. Jaime Lannister has been reduced to a grovelling cripple since his hand was sliced off in the previous episode, but he can’t be blamed; the one thing he was famous for (besides sleeping with his sister) has been taken from him, his “my father” excuse has been made completely redundant, and he’s sunk so low that he now has to take abuse off of Brienne of all people. This lead to a brilliant scene between the two of them; as their captors set up camp for that night, Jaime and Brienne sit by a fire as the former stares off into nothingness and laments the loss of his sword-hand. Cut to Brienne and we see a genuine look of concern for the Kingslayer. She asks him what the matter is and he simple says “I’m dying”. There’s a brief pause as we momentarily see a bond between the two of them in the wake of their capture, until Brienne cuts it short by chastising Jaime’s reaction to his dismemberment, summarising her rant with “You sound like a bloody woman”, which is funny considering the Kingslayer spent the entire of his time in Brienne’s custody mocking her for being of the female persuasion and by association an awful swordsman. She of course still has both her hands and can actually use a sword, so who’s come out worse Jaime?
Back in King’s Landing we see another, darker side to the otherwise charming and affable Master of Whisperers. This week, Varys puts the camp spymaster act on hiatus for a bit as he finally reveals the reason when, why and how he lost his “gentleman’s region”. All the while he’s opening a large crate in the middle of the room, and as Tyrion and us all wonder what’s in it, Varys recounts the gruesome tale of how he came to be a eunuch and how he managed to ascend to a seat on the Small Council. By the time the story reaches its climax, we release lovable ol’ Varys is as ruthless as everyone else in Westeros, and the man in the crate is “the sorcerer” that cut his bits off all those years ago. Conleth Hill is always great in his role as Varys anyway, but this week we got to see him portray the character in a new light. This only lasted the duration of the above scene however; he was back to “mincing” around King’s Landing, -as Lady Olenna Tyrell put it-, minutes later.
But it was Emilia Clarke who really stole the show this time around. I’m a massive fan of Danaerys as it is, and a strong follower of her cause, but this week my opinion of her soared to new heights. Here’s the reason why, in a nutshell; she brokered a deal with an Unsullied merchant for the purchase of eight-thousand soldiers in return for one of her dragons. After arriving on the day of the deal, with said dragon, she hands it over to Master Kraznys and is given said army in return. After that, she reveals she can speak fluent High Valyrian, much to Krazy’s surprise (he had been referring to her as “that whore of a westerner”, among other things, on the assumption she only spoke the Common Tongue), and orders her new army to slaughter everyone in the courtyard bar her, Jorah, Barristan Selmy, and Missandei (Kraznys’ “translator”).
But it was Emilia Clarke who really stole the show this time around. I’m a massive fan of Danaerys as it is, and a strong follower of her cause, but this week my opinion of her soared to new heights. Here’s the reason why, in a nutshell; she brokered a deal with an Unsullied merchant for the purchase of eight-thousand soldiers in return for one of her dragons. After arriving on the day of the deal, with said dragon, she hands it over to Master Kraznys and is given said army in return. After that, she reveals she can speak fluent High Valyrian, much to Krazy’s surprise (he had been referring to her as “that whore of a westerner”, among other things, on the assumption she only spoke the Common Tongue), and orders her new army to slaughter everyone in the courtyard bar her, Jorah, Barristan Selmy, and Missandei (Kraznys’ “translator”).
Whilst said slaughter is occurring, she turns around, looks Kraznys dead in the eye, and simply utters “dracarys”. In typical Targaryen fashion, everything then catches fire amidst some well-choreographed death and some desktop-worthy close-ups of Dany. Emilia Clarke’s a good actress anyway, and I couldn’t picture anyone else playing Danaerys, but this week she really inhabited the character. It was a testament to her own acting skills considering she spent most of her time on screen speaking in a made-up language with just as much, -if not more-, emotion and passion as she does when she’s speaking English/The Common Tongue. This scene, the finale to the episode, was one of those moments when I actually found myself rooting for a character out loud, quite strongly as well as I recall. When you find yourself in that position, you know the performance and the production must be good. I can safely say it was the best scene of the entire series so far, in my own humble opinion of course.
I’ll be back again next week with more of the same.
I’ll be back again next week with more of the same.
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