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EPISODE 3: Breaker of Chains
THE PLOT : The long summer is at an end, winter truly is coming and with it the cold winds of war as five self proclaimed Kings claim dominance over Westeros, but there can be only one winner when you play the game of thrones.
THE LOWDOWN: (The following column contains MAJOR SPOILERS, so I don't recommend reading this if you haven't watched this episode). We pick up right where we left off last week with Cercei screaming bloody murder, putting Tyrion in chains yet again. Ser Dontos showing up at the absolute perfect moment to get Sansa the hell out of dodge raised a red flag for me as dude just isn’t that smart. Sansa’s role in everything was a bit hazy, but then I remembered good ol’ Littlefinger. Varys was right in naming him the most dangerous man in Westeros. He hatched quite a plan, and looks to be involved in Joffrey’s murder on some level. God only knows what he’s got planned for Sansa. Let’s hope it’s something better than the fate served to Ser Dontos. I’m curious about whether or not Littlefinger knows about Catelyn Stark at this point. I want to say he does, but I’d like to think it would be something he’d mention to Sansa immediately in hopes of sparking an emotional connection between them.
Speaking of emotional responses, Tyrion’s visit with Podrick was even more gut-wrenching than his farewell to Shae. There are very few people in King’s Landing with Pod’s level of earnest loyalty. He looks up to Tyrion and would do anything for him. When Tyrion says, “This is farewell,” I teared up a little. I can only imagine how hard it must be for non-readers to see this shift in Tyrion’s arc, it’s hard enough for those of us who knew it was coming, and I love how no one is even questioning his guilt, as like he said himself, if he’d planned a royal assassination, he’s be smart enough to not be left gawking like an idiot. It’s a shame Tywin’s such a dick, because the man is beyond brilliant when it comes to leadership and warfare. His speech to Tommen about what makes a good king is marvellous. Although, I can’t help but wonder why he let Joffrey f*ck things up so royally to begin with. It was beyond hilarious to hear him say Joffrey wasn’t a good king…as they’re standing over his corpse.
I guess the only thing stranger than that, was to see Jamie pretty much rape Cercei on the floor beside the body (maybe I wouldn’t call it rape, she didn’t put up much a fight). One thing’s for certain, Cercei’s bitchiness is growing at an exponential rate and poor Jamie’s caught in the storm. There’s a storm brewing at Castle Black when a little boy shows up to tell them about the wildlings wiping out his village (think the opening scene of Conan the Barbarian, only instead of taking him captive, they send him off to lure more people out of hiding) and if that’s not enough, a couple rangers return to fill the boys in on what happened back at Craster’s Keep. Jon’s ‘one thousand men’ lie comes back to bite him in the ass, which it was bound to, but I can’t wait to see the boys head back beyond the wall for justice. Jon owes it to Mormont to put Longclaw through his killer’s skull. And, um, where the hell is Ghost?
GAME OF THRONES SEASON 4's third episode stirs the pot rather nicely, but I’m starting to feel that ‘there’s not enough time with each character’ feeling creeping back into the pit of my stomach. To be precise, I felt that way every time Sam and Gilly’s god awful storyline was on-screen. I know, there’s always going to be at least one story that drags ass, but MAN, this one will leave it chapped and blood red. Arya and The Hound have an interesting turn of events, just when Arya was starting to warm up to him too. I have to take The Hounds side here though. This was a flashback to what those guys were saying in the tavern when he was talking about chickens—“there’s always more like them, hiding gold, silver or more daughters.” He’s right, they’ll be dead come winter and there’s not a damn thing anyone can do about it while the war’s still raging. I loved the pissing contest outside of Meereen. Daario’s got more than a few tricks up sleeve, and I’m looking forward to seeing him play his hand. That said, Dany’s whole ‘free the slaves’ rant is getting old, and by old I mean boring, and by boring I mean get the hell to Westeros already! Her character is so hot and cold—one minute you’re rooting for her, and the next your rolling your eyes waiting for her to be off-screen. Sweet episode regardless, counting down the days until next Sunday.
SEX/NUDITY: Prince Oberyn and his woman have a fivesome in the brothel. Must be great to be royalty.
VIOLENCE: The wildlings tare through a town like hot butter with axes a flying and arrows piercing skulls, the Hound knocks the shit out of a scrawny dude (after his little girl made them supper and everything), and Daario takes out Meereen’s champion like a boss. That poor horse.
SHARPEST QUIP: Tyrion’s response to being blamed for Joffrey’s murder, “I would like to think if I were arranging a royal assassination I’d plan it in such a way that I wouldn’t be standing there gawking like a fool when the king died.”
MOST EPIC SCENE: Though it may not seem like it after only one viewing, you may change your mind after you’ve watched it a second time. The scene where Tywin interrupts Oberyn’s sexy party to offer terms that he knows Oberyn can’t refuse. The beauty here is the way with which Tywin is able to effortlessly turn a mortal enemy into an ally, and an eager ally at that. The whole thing is beyond mesmerising when you really sit back and take it in. Oh, and the look on Tywin’s face when Oberyn asks if he’d like to sit…priceless.
FINAL VERDICT :
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And, here's a preview of next week's episode "Breaker of Chains"