Episode 10 Preview
Still reeling from last week’s Red Wedding? The ramifications of Walder Frey’s drastic actions will surely be felt across the entire realm. As Tyrion wastes no time in pointing out: “The Northerners will never forget.”With the Stark family decimated, the threat to the Lannister’s power is all but gone. Only Stannis remains to challenge Joffrey’s claim to the throne. The strategic use of black magic worked well against his brother, but hasn’t been tested against one of the Lannister five. Now that Melisandre has an endless supply of Gendry’s blood, Stannis could come back strong.Arya is still wandering the hills of Westeros, in the company of the Hound. Her brother and mother dead, her little brothers assumed dead, her sister married to Tyrion, she’s pretty much a dead girl walking. Her best bet, strangely enough, is to stick with the Hound until she finds herself someone she can trust. At least he’ll keep her alive until he finds someone to pay for him to do otherwise.Only two of the Starks stand a chance of being reunited–Bran is just a stone’s throw away from Jon Snow, just this side of the wall. Bran’s newly discovered ability to enter and control the minds of men and beasts gives him the upper hand as they navigate the Wildling-infested area, which could come in handy as Jon outed himself as a Benedict Arnold–he’ll need someone to be watching his back.But Jon may not be long for the wall–once Sam gets back and tells everyone about the White Walkers making their way straight for them. Oh yeah, and about the dragonglass he found that kills them with one stab.
Meanwhile, we haven’t seen Theon since his anonymous torturer removed his testicles. Hopefully this whole season holds more from him than misery–but perhaps not. At the very least, I hope we’ll find out where and why he’s being held and who the sadist is who keeps dreaming up his horrible punishments.
As confident as Tywin may feel following his obliteration of the Starks, it’s not clear yet whether he’s even begun to estimate the power of Danaerys. Having sacked every city she’s come upon, it’s beginning to look like Robert Baratheon had the right of it in ordering her death back in Season 1. As hard as Ned lobbied that killing an innocent was unethical, it would have saved the Lannisters quite a lot of headaches in the future.
Episode 9
Episode 9 Preview
The second to last epsiode has traditionally been the point in the
season where the shit hits the fan: season one saw the beheading of Ned
Stark (which I’m still not over), season two gave us the mind-blowing
battle of Blackwater. Suffice to say, it’s a high bar.Here in season three, Robb is plotting to hit the Lannisters where
they hurt: Casterly Rock. The source of all his money, and hence his
power, Tywin has left the Rock without a Lord as he plays monarch in
Kings Landing. If only he’d listened to Tyrion when he offered to take
over as protector of the seat of Lannister, perhaps they’d stand a
chance against Robb’s army.Robb’s march on Casterly Rock means he may just miss Arya, who is
being borne to him at Riverrun by the Hound. Despite having found a
tenuous treaty in the last episode – she agrees not to try to kill him,
he agrees not to maim her – things seem to have deteriorated between
them, and once again we find Arya threatening bodily violence (and
meaning it, despite the disparity in their size and experience).
As things come to a head between the Starks and Lannisters, Jon Snow
finds himself in the middle of a clash between the wildlings and the
Nights Watch. He’s already killed one of his compatriots in the name of
his double agency, and is now faced with being an accessory to the
murder of many more.
Unbeknownst to him, his conflict is about to get much harder: it
looks like little brothers Bran and Rickon have finally managed to trek
all the way to the Wall, just in time for the wildling attack. Luckily,
Bran’s being tutored by Jojen Reed on the art of greensight and may
well be able to save his brother from yet another siege.Over in the desert lands, Danaerys continues to battle-test her
dragons. Now with (the impossibly good-looking) Daario by her side, she
plots to sack Yunkai, her third conquest since becoming Khaleesi.
Daario is clearly after more than just glory – he and Danaerys have
made quite the connection in the short time they’ve known each other.
It’s a threat to the hopelessly loyal Jorah, who has been in love with
her for ages. But a Khaleesi needs a Khal, and Daario certainly has
shown the necessary blood thirst, beheading his fellow leaders of the
Second Sons without even a thought.Distinctly absent from the trailer is Stannis – who could present
perhaps the most real danger to everyone in King’s Landing. After all,
it’s his lady priestess, Melisandre, who gave birth to the smoke demon
that killed Stannis’ baby brother, Renly. Now that Melisandre has a
fountain of King’s blood from Gendry, she could create an army of
little demons, one for each of Stannis’ enemies. That is, if Davos
Seaworth doesn’t stop her.
Episode 8 preview
It was only a matter of time until the psychopathic Joffrey got
tired of his grandfather’s power-grab. In fact, the little bastard has
been lying pretty low this season. Other than killing a whore here and
there (Ros, we barely knew ye) or hoisting his crossbow with the help
of Margaery, Joffrey’s been pretty subdued. He hasn’t tried to kill
anyone in his family, he hasn’t started any more wars. In fact, things
have been so calm that it’s unsettling. We’re all just waiting for the
other shoe to drop.
From the looks of the preview this week, that’s all about to change.
As terrifying as Tywin Lannister may be, even the most obedient
children eventually rebel. Joffrey is many things, but obedient is not
one of them. His pointed confrontation with his grandfather in the last
episode didn’t exactly go as planned – but from the looks of this
week’s preview, Joffrey has changed tactics. No longer calling Twyin to
a civil meeting in the throne room, Joffrey faces him on even ground.
But Tywin’s hold over Kings Landing is strong, and it will take more
than a little tantrum for him to let it go.................
Episode 7 preview
Jon Snow’s been left out in the cold – literally – by his new
wildling friends, and the trailer makes it seem that his most trusted
partner, Ygritte, may not be all she purports herself to be. Of course,
the man warning Jon about Ygritte is the very same one who cut the
safety cable tethering Jon and Ygritte to the wall. Suffice to say,
it’s growing even more difficult for Jon to figure out who to trust.
Meanwhile, the fate of Brienne hangs in the balance as she and Jaime
are torn apart. Methinks they won’t be separate for long – as cold as
Jaime can be, he likes and even trusts Brienne, an eventuality he
didn’t see coming. Now that he’s found someone he can confide it, and
someone who has managed to return to him a modicum of confidence
following his behanding, I don’t believe he’s likely to let her ride
away to an uncertain fate so easily.
Arya and Gendry find themselves in the possibly the worst situation
of all – in the clutches of true believers. Poised to disclose to him
his true parentage, Melisandre’s actual need of Gendry is still murky.
Our only clues were revealed in her brief exchange with Stannis –
something about needing the blood of a king. But how much blood? And
for what purpose? And what will Gendry do when he discovers who his
father was? Lord knows the last thing Westeros needs is another king
angling for the throne.
Episode 6 preview
Last week, all the characters in Game of Thrones seemed to be on a
roll. Robb is growing into a strategist with an exacting will, Ygritte
and Jon Snow’s needling foreplay finally led to the real thing, and
Jaime faced up to the events that turned him into a king slayer.
In this week’s episode, “The Climb”, it seems like the obstacles are thrown up, and everyone has but one choice go over.
With the wildlings having reached the wall, Jon Snow is within
spitting distance of Castle Black. His role of double agent within the
clan is becoming more complicated – it’s only a matter of time before
he comes face to face with one of his friends. In this plot, the
episode’s title is on the nose: the Wildlings must scale the
thousand-year-old wall, climbing hundreds of feet up its sheer face to
meet whatever protections lay on the other side.
Meanwhile, Robb’s decision to throw over Lord Frey’s daughter in
favor of Talisa is coming due. With his banners decimated, he must win
over the Twins in order to have a prayer against Tywin’s army (I’m
really looking forward to the imminent return of David Bradley, the
brilliant actor who played Frey in the second season)...................................
Episode 5 preview
As the title suggest we will finally get to know more about a
specifically Wildling, Ygritte. The Wildlings use the term 'kissed by
fire' to describe redheads, also redheads are considered lucky amoung
the free people beyond the Wall. So it seems like our favorite crow,
Jon Snow, gets pretty lucky when his captor ends up being Ygritte. From
the preview it seems like we will finally see Jon disply is vulnerable
side and give in to his manly desires, Jon KISSES Ygritte! The devoted
man of the Night's Watch seems to forget his vows for a sweet moment of
passion. And all we have to say is, it's about time!
The Lighting Lord will fight the infamous Hound in a trial by
battle. The Brotherhood Without Banners calls upon the Lord of Light,
R'hllor, to how them wisdom and truth. Thoros of Myr and the rest of
the Brotherhood believe that the Hound's fate now rests in R'hllor's
hands. However everyone is not convinced, Arya Stark just want him
hanged, because of his crime of killing Micah, the butcher's boy.
Jamie Lannister and Brienne are still captives with the Boltons,
Jame is brought before Lord Volten it remains to be seen if Jamie and
Brienne will be treated with kindness or maybe more limbs will be
coming off. Good luck Kingslayer!
Episode 4 preview
When almost everyone on “Game of Thrones” possesses the ability to do some sort of damage with a sword, we like to believe that some of the most dangerous opponents are those who engage in combat using something else entirely: the power of their words.At this very moment, we’re not sure that there are two characters stronger when it comes to deception than the ones pictured here in the new photo for Sunday night’s “And Now His Watch Is Ended.” Varys is a constant listener, and may know more when it comes to information than almost anyone in Westeros. Meanwhile, Olenna Tyrell is really just starting to get her hands dirty with the way of the world, and she has a real knack for finding way in which to make those close to her comfortable with telling her their deepest, darkest secrets. After all, she with the help of Margaery managed to get Sansa to admit to the sort of man that Joffrey Lannister really is, and this is something she has kept under lock and key largely in fear of losing her own life.Let it be clear that while we don’t know quite what these two characters are talking about just yet, we imagine that it is going to ultimately mean bad news for many of our other characters … in particular those in the Lannister family. After all, there has to be a reason why Cercei Lannister decides in the preview for this episode that she has had enough of this family creeping around, and really wants nothing more than to see them completely dispatched from this world.
episode 3 review
Episode three, titled "Walk of Punishment," will feature Jaime
Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and Brienne (Gwendoline Christie) in
the cold-hearted hands of the northmen. Brienne is helpless without her
mighty sword, and although the preview hints that she's violated by the
nasty northmen, we all know the brute strength of Brienne. She'll
manage to escape grasp and bust some skulls, we hope. She has to.
The northmen have decided to take Jaime directly to Robb Stark
(Richard Madden), but it's unclear what the King of the North will do
with him upon his arrival. If the King's aggression gets the best of
him, Jaime may never make it to Kings Landing, thus leaving Sansa Stark
(Sophie Turner) to rot in the malicious little hands of King Joffrey
(Jack Gleeson).
Meanwhile, tensions grow beyond the Wall. Jon Snow (Kit Harington)
and the wildings aren't becoming the best of friends to say the least.
In the preview, Mance Ryder (Ciaran Hinds) tries to have Jon thrown off
the Wall to "see if crows can fly." Thing's aren't looking good for the
Stark's bastard son, but like Brienne, he's sure to find his way out of
such dire circumstances, perhaps sparking some bloodshed along the way.
Finally, fans will finally get what they've been waiting for all
winter. The dragons are back. Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) returns, which
means her dragons loom nearby, as she purchases 8,000 slave soldiers to
fortify her army.
The new season of "Game of Thrones" has begun, now hopefully Dany's dragons can heat things up.
episode 2 preview
"Dark Wings, Dark Words" is sure to give fans more of the "Game of
Thrones" they've come to love. No more of this talk we saw in episode
one, it's time to get out the shields and swords. Tensions between
Sansa and the royal family will worsen as she speaks poorly of the
malicious King Joffrey to the wrong people, Jaime Lannister will find a
way to cope with his unfavorable situation, Shae asks Tyrion for a
favor that could put him in serious peril, and Arya has a run-in with
the Brotherhood Without Banners.
The preview shows Margery's grandmother grilling Sansa for the truth
about King Joffrey and later shows Margery telling him that he should
"do whatever he needs to do." Could she be referring to actions taken
against Sansa? If word got back to Joffrey of Sansa's disloyal remarks,
it wouldn't be out of his character to have her head. The preview also
shows a number of crows, dead crows for that matter, which represents
impending death.
Meanwhile, Jaime Lannister entertains himself by toying with Brienne
of Tarth, telling her that she's not the type of woman for Renly,
calling her too fat and mannish. "It's a shame the thrones isn't made
of cocks, they'd have never got him off it," he jabs. Brienne decides
she's heard enough and violently grabs the back of his head and tells
him to shut up, but that's not enough to keep the punk quiet. He then
seemingly comforts her by telling her you can't choose who you love,
most likely reminiscing on his incestual relationship with his sister
Cersei....
screen
Screen episode 1
Preview Episode 1
A word, before we start, on what we mean by spoiler-free in our
reviews. You’ll find not a sausage of plot, character or location
details in the next few hundred words, nor allusions to any of the
above. We’ve said it before but it bears repeating: to us, spoiler-free
means exactly that. The last thing we want to do is take away even a
smidge of the delicious surprise that comes from watching a brand new
episode of a drama as assured and beautifully-composed as
Game of Thrones.
The first thing we want to do is link your arm in ours and jig about in
a mad circle yelling “It’s back! It’s finally back! And it’s still
brilliant!” (though that last bit may be explained by this having been
written in the wee small hours after a modest application of free
post-screening booze).
Written by showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff, in terms of narrative,
Valar Dohaeris is
more preparatory intake of breath than fiery roar. It clarifies
purpose, and deftly re-establishes the allegiances and locations of
Westeros with a series of largely static, tense two and three-hander
scenes.
Like that of the writers, Daniel Minahan’s work in the opening
episode has the steady assurance of a director who knows he’s playing
with a winning hand. The camerawork is unobtrusive and unflashy for the
most part, a still witness to that series of ground-laying weighty
conversations.
Minahan certainly
can do flash of course, as proved by a playful sequence showcasing
Game of Thrones’
impressive CGI dragons, a fluent travelling shot circling the
post-battle walls of King’s Landing, and another swooping through the
Wildling camp, but on the whole he holds back here, allowing the
script, cast and locations the space to piece together their story.
Weiss, Benioff and Minahan all have the confidence of people building
something in this episode, preparing a foundation to support future
action. Like Littlefinger, they’re playing the long game.
A certain amount of recapping is done here, both by the script and
visually as the audience once more learns how to orient itself in the
vast space of the Seven Kingdoms (icy and white – we’re Beyond the
Wall, hot and dusty – we’re across the Narrow Sea, dank and black –
we’re in Dragonstone…), and once again, that this show manages to get
us roughly up to speed with nothing so clunky as a ‘Previously on
Game of Thrones’ is a feat of its narrative dexterity.
Bargaining emerges as the theme of the opener, which is structured
around a succession of pairings in which the question “What do you
want?” is posed and answered more than once. The slow-paced,
tension-thick exchanges are leavened by short bursts of humour and
bawdiness (in true
Game of Thrones style, one character
shares an uncomfortably long amount of screen time with a scantily clad
groin), but the overwhelming tone is serious and sombre. Fittingly so,
what with death and destruction being threatened at every turn.
Gravity and comedy are combined in one of the episode’s most
impressive two-handers; one between Charles Dance’s Tywin and Peter
Dinklage’s Tyrion Lannister that bounds fluidly from humour to cruelty
to wretched pathos. That on-screen pairing alone is worth investing
your time in
Game of Thrones, before we even come to the locations, layered story and the rest of the impressive cast.
Speaking of which, the rivalry between Lena Headey’s Cersei and her
future daughter-in-law, Natalie Dormer’s Margaery, with whom she’s
forced to share King’s Landing, promises great things this season.
Dormer’s character in this episode demonstrates that the path to power
in Westeros is as much about PR, photo ops, and pressing the flesh as
it is in Whitehall or Washington, something the ever-detestable Joffrey
(surprisingly more unpleasant in wooing mode than he is meting out
physical cruelty) is yet to take on board.
One development to note is that the magic drip-fed into
Game of Thrones
early on, a trickle that pooled towards the Khal Drogo-resurrecting and
dragon-hatching season one finale, is in evidence right from the start
here, as well it should be on a show that doesn’t tread water. The
dragons are growing, and with them, magic is returning to Westeros and
settling in for the long haul.
For years now, the acid test for any TV serial has been its ability
to produce something we’ll call the HBO sigh. You know the one, it’s
that involuntary expulsion of breath at the end of an episode, often
accompanied by a weak, protesting “No!”, caused when the screen turns
unexpectedly black. It was heard in the screening room this evening,
and no doubt will be in the US next Sunday and the UK on Easter Monday.
It’s the sound you made at the end of countless episodes of
The Sopranos or
The Wire, and roughly translated it means “That went too quickly, I want more”. Luckily for us, with a further nine episodes of
Game of Thrones stretching gloriously into the distance, more is exactly what we have.
