First, I am loving how season three is so much better than season two, as I feel like it has finally reached its stride. It has found a way to still appeal to the non-book viewer, and the diehard book reader (like myself). As a book reader, the foreshadowing in 3.01, & 3.02 is fantastic, but we will see how I feel when we get to the half way point of the season. Oh, and take note that the weirwood tree is alive and well, outside the burning Winterfell.
Dedication of 3.02: Arya Stark
Our girl is back! I am so glad aged her up, as I believe that she is 13 now? Perfection. So our girl, is in the middle of arguing w/Gendry about why she did not have Jaquen kill Tywin or Joffrey, so she could have ended the war. Arya, is like whatever, you don't know anything.
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| Stay away from my friends |
Anyway, Arya walks from behind a tree, with a sword, THREATENS three older men that she will kill them, and commands them to do as she asks.
Naturally Gendry and HotPie have already been discovered, so they have to come out of hiding. I love Thoros of Myr, who looks at her and says ,"you're a dangerous person, I like dangerous people". She demands to know which side they fight for, and they are "The Brotherhood of the Banners", and they fight for the people. Arya is just like, cool, okay.
So, then we have an awesome moment with the guy who shoots the arrow up in the air, and it almost lands on HotPie. I kind of thought, that maybe Arya was drooling a little, thinking, "mmm, another thing that I can use to kill someone, I need to be amazing at this too.". Jaquen saw who our girl will truly become, and I still think he was sent to recruit her to the Faceless Men. We are now in the inn, where the three musketeers are eating with Thoros and some other men, when he calls them children. Arya, says "We are not children", and I love Thoros who says, "young persons". She then proceeds to challenge him to some swordplay, at which she is instantly disarmed and humbled.
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| I challenge you, Thoros of Myr ( we love you Arya, oh yes we do!) |
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| Crap! I am so screwed. |
Let's see what everyone else is doing!
Bran
Speaking of beginnings, we open to our boy Bran running, and we know that he is dreaming:
This dream has Bran chasing the three eyed crow with his bow and arrow. He remembers the last time he was with his brothers (It is the first and last time would see the brothers will ever be happy and together, and why it is the photo for my blog), when he was learning to use a bow and arrow. We also hear Ned's voice as Bran looks up at the the rustling leaves. As a book reader, you know that Arya, Bran and other characters whether praying at the weirwood or elsewhere, the rustling leaves, are a sign of being heard by the "gods" or acknowledgement of their prayers, or even hearing voices.
Jojen and Meera Reed
I commend the writers here, as they introduce Jojen Reed in this dream, so the non book reader will understand that maybe Bran will finally be getting some answers:
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Jojen telling Bran in the dream, that he can't kill the raven,
because the raven is BRAN.
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Jojen & Meera Reed, were originally sent to Winterfell in CoK to swear fealty to Robb, to take care of Bran and teach him to fulfill his destiny. They are older in the book, as Bran is very young, but here it is much more fun, that they are in the same age bracket. The Reeds are important because they are also the children of Howland Reed, who saved Ned's life at the Tower of Joy. If you would like to know more about the Tower of Joy, check out the book or look it up on the many fab ASOIAF sites, as it is very important.
Book Jojen is not as powerful as he is indicated here, as he has green dreams which serve as a guide to helping Bran, but he is never actually in the dream. However he does understand that Bran is a warg, and that Summer is essential to his survival.
I really love the casting and the introduction of these two characters. Initially, Osha has a spear in Jojen's neck, only to have knife at her neck, courtesy of Meera. Jojen immediately walks over to Summer, who is growling, and says "This must be Summer", as he puts his hand out for him to sniff. Remember Summer had been in attack mode a minute earlier, but now Summer just goes on his merry way.
I love when Meera says this amazing thing to Osha in regards to the fact her brother does not yield a weapon, as we look at the image below they look at two people they love:
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| "Some people will always need help, it doesn't mean they aren't worth helping." |
Jojen looks at Bran, and remarks that they have been looking for him a long time. He begins talking to Bran about his dreams, and informs him that he is a warg.**
He will be able to inhabit Summer both in and out of his dreams. They also chat about the three eyed crow! Apparently, the three eyed crow is something bigger and better, it is the SIGHT. Jojen is just like "We saw it together, you haven't forgotten?". Apparently with the sight, you can see the past, the present, the future, all of it! And finally:
Bran: "What else did you see?
Jojen: The only thing that matters. You."
Theon
We will just fly throught this one...He's tied to a giant "X", being pulled, cut, and tortured in a variety of ways that involve a hood. He is also being asked why he wanted Winterfell; that's it. Oh and some kid, loosens some screw, and says he will come back later to set him free.
The King of the North
Well, sexy Robb is gazing deeply into a large fireplace, and whatever her name is, says some stuff about how hot he is, and they kiss. Roose Bolton shows up with two messages:
one from Riverrun, and one from Winterfell. Robb is seen telling his mother that her father has passed, and she mourns his loss, and as she asks if she will be in shackles, he informs her of the burning of Winterfell, and the missing Bran and Rickon.
Well apparently Lord Karstark, and rightly so, informs Robb that the day he married her, aka Talisa (I remember her name now), is the day that he lost the war. He knows that defying the Freys, who are a craven, no good bunch, is a bad idea. In the book, apparently they arrived at the final battle in the Trident, when it was on the verge of being won, ie. they will swear fealty to anyone who helps them in one way or another.
He is also complaining that going to the funeral of of his grandfather, is a diversion. I think he has lost both sons on the show, but in the book, both of his sons are killed when Jaime, knowing he was about to be captured started fighting his way to try to kill Robb, and in the process killed the Karstark boys. His grief and desire for vengeance is always in the background in the book, as it is here,and his anger grows after Cat lets Jaime go.
Robb has definitely grown into a strong, confident man, while at the same time, he is also losing control of the campaign. He is a brilliant strategist, and he truly believes that the North should be free, and honestly in s1, when Cersei says the North is too big and wild to control, it just makes me wonder, why does anyone care? I guess it's a pride thing, and of course a winning thing.
He is much older than book Robb, who married Jeyne Poole, (HBO Talisa) because she healed a war injury, and he slept with her. So, instead of doing the smart thing, he did the right thing, proving that he is truly his father's son.
I like how he is older on the show, and the fact that he is doing things. like marrying Talisa, not because he is too young, but because deep down he wants to do what her wants, and he's tired of being King of the North. He naively thinks that that betraying the Freys will not be a big deal.
As I mentioned in the last post, he is battle weary, and he has said, that he does not want to be King. He is tired, and after his father was killed, the mission changed to saving his sisters, via a trade using Jaime. There was a clear purpose, vengeance for his father's death, and retrieve his sisters. Plus he was also winning the war. When his mother did a very, very bad thing, she not only caused a rift between them, it made him look weak, and it started to put the chinks in the armor of a man who was thought to be invincible at this point, and turns into a wolf at night. He lost control of Theon who betrayed him and took Winterfell. Winterfell has been "put to the torch", and he thinks that his brothers are dead, but HBO Robb is supposedly holding onto the hope that they are still alive.
He is doing the right thing once again, by going to the funeral of his grandfather with his mother. The smart thing to do was to remain on task, and have his mother attend the funeral alone, and perhaps remain at Riverrun under guard. He does say that they need his Uncle's men, as justification for his actions, and remain on task so that they can defeat the Lannisters and get his sisters back.
Talisa and Cat
I know many people loved this scene, but I hated it. I do not like HBO Cat feel like she is suffering as a result of the bad karma she has, by not acknowledging Jon as a Stark. It was no secret she hated Jon, and in the books it burned stronger, because Ned refused to ever speak of it. I do not think that he even showed any regret for bringing, Jon, who he claimed was his son to his home. Jon is scarred by the thoughts of how she looked at and treated him through all five books. Her cruelty, and the knowledge that he had no right to Winterfell, or being part of that family because of it, impacts his character development. So I give Cat a big "whatever" on this conversation with Talisa.
Admittedly, I never understood why she felt so angry, as it was my impression in GOT, that she and Ned met once on their wedding night, slept together, and he left to continue with the war. She was betrothed to Brandon, his older brother, whom she had already met several times before she met Ned. Remember in S1 when Ned arrives at the council of weasels and Baelish mentions that he still has the scar from Brandon? Cat even said that Ned was so different from Brandon because he was very serious, which was very unlike his brother who was very confident, and good looking. She knew that Ned had no desire to be Lord of Winterfell, as his brother was trained for it, and he wanted nothing of it. But she said that she eventually fell in love with his heart, and that did not take place on their wedding night. So, it was not like they had this strong marriage, and he went to war, betrayed her, and brought home his bastard son.
Beyond the Wall
Jon Snow
Well, it seems Jon really has lost Ghost, but HBO Jon, does not seem to notice, which is soooo wrong.
It seems Jon and Mance have become rather friendly, and are chatting about the Half-Hand, did he like him, were they friends, would Mance kill Jon if he betrays him. It was fascinating, until we finally hear something interesting about how did Mance get all of these races, who speak 7 languages, and who all pretty much hate each other follow him?
"I told them that we were all going to die if we don't all go south"
We also meet Orel! Who apparently is amongst the living, and as we know, his sidekick is an eagle, whereas Jon and Bran's is a direwolf. I have to say that I enjoyed seeing how they showed a person, outside of the dreamworld, being a warg.
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| Orel doing some recon as he sees through the eyes of his eagle |
When Orel comes back to his body, he informs everyone that he has seen are dead crows @ The Fist of the First Men, and everyone looks at Jon. Ugh.
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| Don't worry Jon! Maybe Ghost will come and back you up |
NightsWatch
We see poor Sam looking like a he's in a coma, at the end of the line, while some other guy (I did not get his name), keeps calling him Fatty. He is a lovely brother, as he continues to insult Sam, and tells him to just lie down and die, because he is slowing them down.
I never understood both here and in the books, how Sam remained so fat and out of shape. If you recall they had been walking for miles to arrive at Caster's place and then walked even further uphill to the Fist of the First Men! He was even digging trenches, so it was never like he spent all of his time, sitting around and reading. Maybe he is like Hurley from "Lost", but I seriously doubt it.
Irregardless, Grenn and Doloures Edd, come back and find Sam, pick him up, and tell him to keep moving. Then the Lord Commander stops by, and forbids Sam to die.
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| I forbid you to die Tarly! |
Kings Landing
Tyrion and Shae
This was a throw away scene for the non-book reader. However, as a book reader we know that Shea pitching a fit about Tyrion thinking Sansa is pretty, is foreshadowing to some very interesting, and bad things.
Cersei and King Sociopath
So King Sociopath is being fitted for his wedding, and admiring his psycho self, and wants all flowers off of his outfit. While this is going on, Cersei tries doing some prodding about how Joffrey feels about the lovely Margaery. Cersei tries to warn him about how everything Margaery does, is for a reason, and he needs to be thinking about that. He also says something stupid about how its a good match, because then they have the Tyrells on their side, and they can tame the north, and rule the earth with out any rebellions for 100 years.
I have to say that it is getting really annoying to hear King Sociopath, say all these stupid things like last season: I'll use my new sword (really Ice which has been broken into pieces, which always made me sick, as a good, strong man's sword, was given to a cowardly, sociopath monster, just because Tywin Lannister was always PO'ed he didn't have a valyrian sword), and he'll create a bloody smile on Stannis. Naturally he is not even there for the battle, and like here, he starts spouting the stuff about taming the the North. We then hear him saying "She married Renly because she was told too. that's what intelligent women do, what they are told". It is getting so old, I wish someone would just get rid of him already, and before that, can we see Lord Tywin give him a smackdown?
Sansa meets the Women of House Tyrell
We start off with more of Sansa's naive self, because she has no idea why Baelish, who is so much older than her, would want anything to do with her. Zzzzz
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| Lord Baelish, is so old, why would he like me? |
We reach the garden, which is beautiful, and filled with light, and fun, which is exactly what Margaery is in the book, and here as well. Margaery, is waiting for them, and kindly brings Sansa to meet her grandmother, the Queen of Thorns.
They move over to the table for lemon cakes, and cheese, (lemon cakes are imp't! remember Sansa loves those damn cakes). So the magnificent Queen of Thorns, starts immediately talking about how stupid her husband was, and now her son is as well. , and how dumb it was for Renly to think that he could be king, when he had an older bother. As to how she describes the death of Margaery's grandfather:
"....my husband fell of a cliff while hawking. Some say he was looking up at the sky. Now my son is doing the same thing, but riding a lion.
Then we get into the nitty gritty: Sansa, terrified, immediately began her usual, blah, blah, blah, and the QOT says they have heard stories about him, and that she is amongst women and that she is safe. FYI: In the books, The Tyrells do try to get Sansa out of there, and legitimately try to help her, until Lord, I mean King Tywin, shuts that down.
The QOT asks about King Sociopath, because like everyone else, she has probably heard about his proclivities, and that his parents are twins.
Cue Sansa:
"My father always told the truth"
QOT :"he had that reputation, and they named him traitor and took his head."
Sansa blurts out: "Joffrey, Joffrey did that. He promised he would be merciful, and said that was mercy, and took me to the wall and made me look at it."
Margaery adds, "look at her grandmother, she's terrified".
She also says that she is going to marry him (aka I need some juice so I can manipulate the little psycho), and needs to know what she is getting into. I actually do feel sorry for Sansa at this point, as she has probably been wanting to tell someone that for a year now. She naively says, "Please, don't stop the wedding", and these two are like, no way man, Margaery is going to be "The" Queen. The Queen of Thorns receives her cheese, and Sansa says "He's a monster.", and the QOT says, "Well, that's a pity, Lord Oaf of Highgarten thinks that Margaery should be Queen".
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| Ugh, the King is a psycho, but no matter, this strawberry is delicious! |
Well it would seem that King Sociopath has summoned his bride to be, to his chambers. Natalie Dormer as Margaery, is once again so brilliant, she makes these scenes some of my favorite ones so far.
One thing that I have noticed about Joffrey, which worked quite well on Sansa, is that he clenches his fist when throwing out the accusation, using a menacing tone of voice. It shows two very disturbing things about King Sociopath (not like it could be any worse): he is working up to some sort of violent behavior, and how he is uncomfortable with any sexual intonations, that do not involve some form of violence. See below:
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| "I would not speak ill of the dead" "I do beg your pardon, the subtleties of politics are lost on me." |
Then we move into King Sociopath's favorite thing, his new design for his bow. Naturally, she is thrilled to see the new design in action, and well we know what this looks like:
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| Need we say more? |
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| Ahhh, yes, we can kill things together |
The show continues on as our favorite pair are walking through the fields, with Jaime whining and insulting Brienne, all along the way. The chit chat includes her role as Kingsguard for Renly, and Jaime figures out that she was in love with him. And then he says something, which is why I fell in love with Jaime after reading this book:
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| "I don't blame him, and I don't blame you either, we don't choose who we love" |
Finally, we see them on the bridge, in a scene that is all kinds of awesome in the book, but rather underwhelming here....the sword fight. In the book it seems a lot more exciting, but irregardless the most important thing is that he begins to have a measure of respect for Brienne when he notices how amazing she is with her sword. So, they are fighting on the bridge, Jaime is very weak, yet as tired as he is, he comes alive when he has the sword in hand. He loses, and then Roose Bolton and his men show up, dragging in front of them, the man they met on the road. This poor soul confirms that Jaime is, indeed the Kingslayer.
See you for episode 3.03!
**Images and quotes courtesy of HBO "Game of Thrones"3.02
**It is important to note that Bran is a warg, Book Arya is a warg, and Book Jon is one. He is seen in ADWD, by another powerful wildling warg, who notes that he is very powerful. However he does not know as of yet. (he is seeing things through the eyes of Ghost, in his dreams). HBO Arya has not been introduced as one yet, and well, you know about Jon.
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