After what seemed like months and months of torture, the fight for the Iron Throne returned on Sunday night with the premiere of season 3 of Game of Thrones. I was beyond excited when the episode finally came out. The build up was so enormous. Was anyone else a little underwhelmed with what we were given? Granted, this episode was clearly setting the stage for what was to come but since I had been waiting for so long I was yearning for more action.
Yet the episode was wonderfully put together and gave the audience the taste of Westeros we had all been aching for. This episode was less about the physical battle and more internal and within various relationships in the kingdom.
Open on Sam running for his life in the snow. Poor guy is running as fast as he can away from the grasp of the White Walkers. He sees a man sitting in the distance, and as he draws closer he finds the man dead and grasping his own head. Gross. A minute in and it’s bloody already. Got to love HBO. Here comes the Walker Sam was presumably running from when a dire wolf comes and jumps on the beast. Seriously I really need a dire wolf. Then the rest of the Night’s Watch comes and sets the White Walker on fire. Sam gets scolded for not sending out a raven. Although, who wants to put Sam in charge of important things like that? The boy can barely remember his own name.
Credits appear again, Winterfell is on fire in the credits because of last year’s finale. And a new city is added. I love the little intricacies. Now focus on Jon Snow. Poor Snow, always mixed up where he shouldn’t be. He is still being held by the Wildlings just getting abused. Do you think he will be breaking the Night’s Watch vows to be with Ygritte, the Wildling woman who seems super into him in a pull-your-pigtails-3rd-grade-love type of way? Only time will tell (or the book, but who knows where deviations and such will come in!) In Mance’s tent Jon is asked why he wants to defect and be a part of the Wildlings. His first answer is shot down by Mance, but then he tells the Wildlings about how much he hates the agreement the Lord Commander has with that awful Craster and how much he wants to fight the White Walkers. This answer comes across much better and Jon is safe.
Returning to King’s Landing Tyrion awakes and is checking out his battle scars. The Queen comes into his room assuring Tyrion that she doesn’t want to kill him. Oh the bond between siblings is a powerful thing. I always need to preface to my family that I don’t want to murder them before entering a room. The conversation between the two is tense. Finally Cersei gets to the reason she came and asks Tyrion why he wants to see their father. Tyrion says he wants to visit him since his father did not see him once during his recovery. Cersei is sure he wants to spill the beans on what awful things she has done (namely trying to kill him, incest, trying to kill the king, getting the previous hand of the king killed, you know, the usual stuff). Then she finally leaves and Tyrion walks off with his bodyguard who is now demanding more money to protect him.
Would you be holding your mom prisoner? Robb Stark still is for letting Jamie Lannister go. When they get to Harrenhal they find 200 more dead Northerners strewn about the place. It’s a gruesome site. There is one survivor who is quickly tended to. The awkwardness of the mom/prisoner situation shows on Robb’s face and the rush to find Jamie Lannister is even more imperative now.
Ahh Tyrion has finally found his father, who is now Hand of the King. Tyrion expresses his sadness about his father not visiting him to which Tywin says in the most nonchalant way possible that he knew the wounds were not fatal and therefore did not see a point. Tyrion then gets down to the heart of the matter, he wants Casterly Rock. Tywin is an awful man. I mean his disdain for Tyrion is so outright rude and terrible and Charles Dance portrays it brilliantly. He rejects Tyrion’s request so brutally and Tyrion turns his back on his father and leaves. Wow, I’m really feeling the Lannister love in this episode.
Oh look Sansa is still here. SHe is hanging out with her fake handmaiden Shae. Then Littlefinger comes over and tells her he is working on getting her out of King’s Landing. His servant warns Shae to be careful about Littlefinger and what he is doing for Sansa. Duh.
Oh look Dany, the dragons, and the Dothraki are on a ship on their way to Astapor. The Dothraki are vomiting everywhere and just all around miserable from being on the sea. Aww they don’t seem so tough now. The dragons are much bigger but Dany says they aren’t growing fast enough. They are on their way to get an army.
Aww man, I was hoping to get out of this episode without seeing Joffrey. But let’s be real, we all love hating him so it’s almost nice to see him as well. His betrothed Margaery stops the carriages they are in to meet with some orphans. Cersei is not pleased and does little to hide this fact. Joffrey also seems to be getting impatient with his mother and they exchange quick remarks. But really, do any of the Lannisters like each other? Guess we will have to wait for the Cersei-Jamie reunion to know for sure.
Seems like Dany has found her army. It is an army of slaves from a man named Krazny who clearly has no respect for Dany. His subtitles are rude but his translator softens each blow as she speaks with Dany. Death means nothing to them. Then Krazny shows the evidence of this when he chops off one of the army men’s nipples. Eww gross. That just happened. Dany is taken by a little girl who seemingly wants to play with her. The girl rolls her a ball and a scorpion pops out. She is saved by Ser Barristan Selmy. Interesting.
Hmm..that’s the end of the episode. What did you think? Can it keep the momentum of the past two seasons going? Are you excited for what’s to come in season 3?
Spoiler Alert! 