Writers: David Benioff, D. B Wiess.
Directors: David Benioff, D. B Wiess.
Cast: Emilia Clarke, Kit Harrington, Lena Headey, Peter Dinklage, Charles Dance, Jack Gleeson, Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Gwendoline Christie.
Synopsis: Tyrion welcomes a guest to King’s Landing. At Castle Black, Jon Snow finds himself unwelcome. Dany is pointed to Meereen, the mother of all slave cities. Arya runs into an old friend.
And breathe. After a year away Game Of Thrones is finally back on our TV screens. After last years Red Wedding debacle we at THN decided that this show should not be watched without a support network, so this year we will be here to hold your hand through the fourth series of the show with our very own Blog of Thrones.
Before you read any further please be aware that the following contains a detailed commentary on the plot. DO NOT read this if you have yet to see the episode!
As with all first episodes of a series, Two Swords acts as a catch-up show. The episode gives us the chance to catch-up with all the warring factions, as well as giving us an opportunity to introduce a few new folks who may or may not be pivotal to later plots.
The first of the new arrivals is Prince Oberyn, one of the Princes of Dorn, seemingly out for Lannister blood. He gives us the first of what is bound to be many acts of violence this series as he deftly took on two lower-level Lannisters that he stumbled across in the local brothel. ‘The Lannisters aren’t the only ones who pay their debts’ is the rather ominous veiled threat that Tyrion is given as he welcomes the new man.
The King Slayer is now back in Kings Landing, complete with a new haircut. His father Tywin is insistent that he return and take over his position at Casterly Rock, but he is adamant that he wants to stay in the King’s guard, declaring that he does not want a wife or children (we all know that technically he already has children). Jamie is struggling with his new disability and is now sporting a rather expensive metal hand. His relationship with sister/lover Cersei is on the rocks too with him being well and truly in the doghouse. She can’t forgive him for abandoning her for so long.
Sanza is finally starting to see the world for what it is and is in a state of depression, and much like the audience, fixated on how her mother and brother were brutalised. Tyrion tries his best to comfort his young bride but that in itself causes problems with Shae and, given Cersei’s spy, it seems that something bad will happen to one or all of them.
Dragons are finally well and truly here and it seems that the mother of dragons may have bitten off more than she can chew with these three offspring as they begin to show their feral ferocity. Daenerys is on her way to the ultimate slave city to add even more people to her army – which is already epically large – and is still as defiant as ever to free those in chains. The face-change of Daarius Naharis is a little off-putting, though Daenerys doesn’t seem to mind as she continues to flirt with him.
The Sam and Frodo of Game Of Thrones are back together, as Jon Snow is back amongst his brothers in the Knightswatch. He, like Sanza, appears to be struggling with the death of Rob, admitting to Sam that he was always jealous of his half-brother, to which Sam professes that to him Jon is like Rob. Not everyone is happy to see Snow back however, and he finds himself on trial, something which he manages to get out of, for now at least.
The highlight of the episode though has to be seeing tom-boy Brienne of Tarth in a very flowing and feminine skirt. She arrived with Jamie Lannister and is around to make sure that he follows through on his vow to protect the Stark girls, something which he dismisses as technically Sanza is now a Lannister.
Arya is still under the arm of The Hound; as the episode progresses it becomes apparent that their relationship is changing and given that she had more than one opportunity to flee, but stayed, showed that this duo are one to watch. Arya has clearly been marked by witnessing the slaughter of most of her family, and with her actions in tonights show, this has evidently taken her down a dark path. Now reunited with ‘Needle’ will she seek vengeance on more who have done her harm.
Overall Two Swords does exactly what it needs to in order to keep fans happy. Keeping to actor Liam Cunningham’s promise that the action will take off earlier this series, the battle of The Hound and Arya against Joffrey’s men in the tavern sees the episode end on a bloody high.
Having not yet read the books, I do hope that Daenerys is on her last stop to collect more army members. Her character has been stuck on the outskirts of everyone else for too-long now and it’s time we see what these dragons can do in Westeros.
We’re given a whistle stop tour of almost everyone. though given the vast cast size and the limited amount of time in an episode there are of course people who we aren’t given the opportunity to catch-up with. We had no news on the Red Witch and Baratheons or the youngest Stark children, but that’s what episode two is for.
[usr=4] Game Of Thrones airs on HBO in north America, and Sky Atlantic in the UK and Ireland.
