Tuesday, 10 May 2011

Game of Thrones Episode 4: Cripples, Bastards and Broken Things

Huzzah! A lot happened this week, as per usual, in Game Of Thrones. The curly haired Jon Snow is now top dog on the Nights watch and has made friends with a fat, clumsy coward named Sam, protecting him from bullies before confessing that he's a virgin due to being afraid of bringing another bastard into the world. I don't know what to make of that. Jon and Sam bond over them being outcasts The writers are really exploring the possibilities of what being an outcast and being branded a bastard could do to poor Jon, to being an overachiever in order to be accepted into the family, to being so mentally scarred that he hasn't had sex. In a way, Jon is the most relatable character to its main audience. He's a socially awkward loner, yet skilled at fighting and virtuous towards his family. The mystery of his birth mother has been sizzling under the surface for a while now, and this week we see the effect it has on him. No doubt the truth of his parentage will be a huge milestone in the series and I'm looking forward to it. Because of the possibilities of the character, I'm warming to him more and more. In a nice scene, Jon and Sam are put in their place by the jerk-ass turned bad-ass drill sergeant, and we learn what winter is like in the seven kingdoms. Winter is coming, as Ned and King Robert say. Jon never knew his mother. A war is coming. Mysteries, mysteries.
Ned Stark (Sean Bean) looked into the death of Jon Arryn, former steward to the former king, hinting that he may have been murdered. I would say that was a given due to the murder and treachery we've seen already. His investigation leads him to meeting Chris from Skins, who he identifies as King Robert's bastard love child. Another bastard. Speaking of treachery and murder, Catelyn has Lord Tyrion Lannister seized, thinking he was behind the plot to kill Bran, who we learn this week has lost the use of his legs, a "cripple" if you will. What makes it interesting is that Tyrion sympathises with the boy, being abnormal like him. The twist being that Tyrion, so far one of the more likeable characters in the show, he seems to have no inhibitions and is an id personified, is the one who is now in danger of being punished for his siblings' treachery. Or, in fact, is he innocent? He does seem to know something, as he asked Bran what he saw in the tower. Could he be in on it, is the friendliness a façade? Or is Catelyn being taken for a ride? The only way she knows the blade belonged to Tyrion is from her friend, Baelish, another slippery customer. The scene in the inn where Catelyn has Tyrion arrested is a nice and long scene which built up tension towards the climax of the episode and set the scene for a must watch episode next week. These kind of scenes, which normally go just under ten minutes, are what makes drama for me. Catelyn has returned from Kings Landing. Tyrion thinks he has missed her when he came from Winterfell, and greets her with mirth. And then she begins her monologue about how much power and influence she has over the inn alone and ends the episode by ordering Tyrion's capture. Good stuff.
Speaking of Baelish (see above), this week saw a couple of scenes from him that thickened this late-coming character. We are given a scene which simultaneously shows us two sides to his character. During the King's tournament joust, he speaks to Sansa, first charming her before telling her a chilling story which no one should be told. He gleefully tells her a anecdote about The Hound, aka the guy who killed the butcher's boy in episode 2, and his brother (dubbed "The Mountain"), of how the Hound got his facial scarring. Afterwards he warns her about telling the story to anyone, as it could mean death. What is this guy's deal? How does he exactly know Catelyn? What is he plotting? A coup? As always, mysteries, mysteries.
Finally, Daenerys learns what the viewers knew all along: that the Dothraki won't follow Verserys north for a rebellion against King Robert, and that Verserys isn't a born leader. Paranoid that his sister is becoming commander over the Dothraki over him, he beats his sister until she fights back and threatens to have his hands chopped off. There's also a lot of talk about dragons and dragon eggs which will no doubt come back later as an important plot device. The only gripe I have is that Verserys already attacked Daenerys for going over his head last week, so this week it was slightly repetitive. We did get a good scene between Verserys and his whore slave in a bath talking of dragons, but apart from that there wasn't much going that had already been covered. Maybe Daenerys will take up the army and lead the rebellion herself so she can finally go home. That seems a logical and excellent pay off, if I may say so myself. We shall see.

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