Written By: David Benioff & D.B. Weiss.
Directed By: Daniel Minahan
Synopsis: Jon meets the King beyond the Wall; Tyrion attempts to claim his reward for leading Kings Landing to victory in the Battle of Blackwater; Daenerys encounters both the army of the Unsullied and a potential new ally.
The Verdict: GAME OF THRONES returns for a third season with an episode that, whilst light on action and revelations, is big on intrigue as to where the main storylines are heading.
As ever the best moments here are the scenes with Tyrion (played as ever by the legendary Peter Dinklage) and the rest of the characters in King’s Landing. Tyrion’s story especially takes a nice new direction, with the former Hand of the King now a cautious and paranoid underdog (though still gifted with a great deal of wit), forced to plot and scheme more then ever to regain whatever little power and respect he once had. The Cersei and Joffrey scenes get a good shot in the arm as well, benefitting from the arrival of Margaery Tyrell, who clearly starts to turn the two against one another, resulting n some great underplayed humor between the Queen regent and her son.
The reveal of Davos’ survival and his subsequent attempt to kill Melisandre is a great little twist. But it’s both Jon Snow and Daenerys who get the real good chunk of the story this week, which, after the painfully slow and laborious storylines of season two, are most welcome.
Only half the characters have been reintroduced thus far, and some of them are mere glimpses this week, but already one gets the feeling that this season is going places! Next week had better roll around quickly, or there’ll be blood, I tell ya!
Best Bit: Tyrion’s conversation (or should that be confrontation) with Tywin is a beautifully played piece of solid scripting, with some very revealing character moments for the reluctant father and his son. Charles Dance is magnificent here, as is Dinklage!
Other Best Bit: The ‘prologue’ with Samwell and the Nights Watch in the aftermath of the battle against the White Walkers is creepy and grim. Sure, some fan boys and fan girls will complain about the lack of battle scenes, but seeing just the bloody aftermath is more powerful and hard-hitting then a fight scene any day.
Great FX: GIANTS!!!!! YES!!!!! That is all.
Titles: The rejigged intro this year is great – Winterfell is burned (a nice, if somewhat sad touch), whilst the addition of new locations like Astapor will have book fans squealing with delight.
Best Line(s):
Tywin: You choose to spend your days as you always have. Bedding harlots, and drinking with thieves.?
Tyrion: Occasionally I drank with the harlots.
Our THN Game of Thrones Blog returns next week (as does Game of Thrones. What a coincidence!).
