Another week, another look at the obnoxiously consistent Game of Thrones. Have I ever mentioned it is often more fun to write scathing commentary on a TV show than it is constant compliments? Damn Team GoT for making this show so good.
You can find my five biggest thoughts on last night’s “The Ghost of Harrenhal,” and make sure to share your thoughts in the comments.
1. “Anyone can be killed”
Arya! The only character who might rival Tyrion Lannister for the vaunted title of my personal favorite had an incredible episode, highlighted by her line “Anyone can be killed” in response to Tywin Lannister’s questions about her take on Robb Stark. Maisie Williams may be one of the youngest members of the cast, but man, she lacks nothing in acting talent. Whenever she’s on the screen, the show improves. The aforementioned line was particularly great, if only because of the bevy of different meanings behind it and what it means in the grand scheme of the show.
I also wanted to give a shout out to her deal with Jaqen H’ghar, the man she saved a couple episodes ago. He owes her three deaths of her choosing, and he proves himself scarily capable as he dispatches The Tickler, the artist of torture who threatened her and her people last episode. This dude is just straight up amazing, and between him, Gendry and Tywin, Arya has plenty of worthy opponents and allies to deal with now.
2. SMONSTER SMASH!
This episode starts with the smoke monster (nicknamed “Smonster” by a friend of mine and I) that was…born at the end of last week’s episode just straight up murdering Renly Baratheon. It’s a huge moment for many reasons, chief of which was that he had just finished laying out a plan with Catelyn Stark on how he and Robb Stark’s team-up is going to work.
Combine that open with Davos’ increasing discomfort with Melisandre (given her proclivity for bearing smoke assassins instead of normal people children), represented most strongly by his imploring of Stannis with the line “Nothing is worth this. Not even the Iron Throne.” and you have a very strong and important episode from the Baratheon camp. It also continues to prove that George R. R. Martin hates his characters.
3. Who’s really got Dany’s back?
Everything going on at Qarth is just fascinating to me, especially because, on one hand, you have Dany, the “Mother of Dragons.” Then on the other hand you have rivals lining up to earn her favor. Not only are major characters like Jorah, Xaro and other members of The Thirteen battling to draw her under their influence, but there was even a fantastic scene featuring Dany and her two hand maidens, as they disagreed about how she should handle herself in Qarth. Maintain her Dothraki ties? Go back to her old ways? She’s in a tough spot, as everyone in her orbit seems to want something different from her. I can’t wait to see how it plays out.
4. Brienne + Catelyn = great pair
This is where I take some time to throw some serious props at Gwendoline Christie and Michelle Fairley, aka Brienne and Catelyn, who just killed it in their screen time together. Brienne is a fantastic character, and her pairing with Catelyn is electric. The scene where Brienne pledges allegiance to her until her dying day is powerful stuff, even in an episode that was like a highlight reel of everything you want from this show.
5. So much going on!
I was just telling MC EIC Matt Meylikhov about writing this compared to doing it for The Walking Dead. Every week for TWD, I struggled to find five topics to write about. This show I always have a million things to say. I mean, look at the previous four things I wrote about and then realize I completely omitted awesomeness from Tyrion (all the wildfire business and the brewing discontent with the family Lannister in King’s Landing), Theon Greyjoy plotting against his former kinsmen and Bran’s continual evolution into a strong and thoughtful leader, even as his dreams begin to influence his reality dramatically.
Each of them could see a paragraph or more dedicated to what they mean and how awesome they are.
