Welcome, Watchers, to another trip down Memory Lane! This time your humble Geoffery will be guiding you through the second episode of the second season of Game of Thrones: “The Night Lands.”
Written by David Benioff & D.B. Weiss and directed by Alan Taylor, it premiered on April 8th, 2012. At the time, I was holding off on watching season two for a few months until I had finished writing my thesis; apparently the undergraduate Geoffery of 2012 was far more resilient than the postgraduate Geoffery of 2016 who has no such plans with season six.
“The Night Lands,” late as a I came to it, was an important episode for me as it properly introduced a still-Unsullied me to my favourite house: House Greyjoy, in case you couldn’t tell from my avatar. But let’s start at the beginning…
The episode opens with Arya continuing her masquerade as ‘Arry.’ She doesn’t take it well when three be-caged ruffians ask her to fetch them a drink, even when one of them is lovely, lovely Jaqen H’ghar, making his debut in this episode.
Trouble arrives in the form of two Gold Cloaks who are after Gendry. Luckily, Yoren is on hand to deliver one of my favourite Thrones lines.
I could shave a spider’s arse if I wanted to.
Meanwhile in King’s Landing, Tyrion does a great whistle cover of “The Rains of Castamere.” Shae, Varys and he engage in the most gloriously innuendo-laden conversation before the Spider delivers another one of my favourite quotes.
The storms come and go, the big fish eat the little fish and I keep on paddling.
It’s taken almost word for word from the book, and it’s a great summation of how sneaky ‘neutrals’ like Varys are still playing the game four seasons on. Still, it’s a shame noone in King’s Landing except Tyrion takes the threat of the wights seriously. They might regret that when winter comes.
Speaking of wights, we head beyond the Wall for a very serious discussion about farts. Samwell expresses his regrets about his lack of experience with er…wrestling. We get to meet Gilly properly, played by the excellent Hannah Murray. Sadly Sam cannot steal her, as she’s a person not a goat. I adore the relationship between Sam and Gilly, and the way the show portrays the two of them, one of the reasons this episode is one of my favourites. That and the fart discussion of course.
Over on the Iron Islands, Theon prepares for his long awaited return by making the most of the time he has left with…Little Theon. The Captain’s daughter is worried her father will punish her and call her a whore until Theon points out he hasn’t paid her. And to be fair, you can’t fault his logic.
Speaking of whores, Ros isn’t having a good day. I know Ros was divisive within the fandom, but I think the scene between her and Littlefinger is a nice reminder of the baby massacre (if there’s such a thing as a nice reminder of a baby massacre) from the week before and a slimy character moment for Littlefinger.
And now for someone who can keep all the whores in King’s Landing entertained, enter the one true king of Westeros, Podrick Payne! In an excellent verbal sparring scene between Tyrion and Dominic Carter‘s note-perfect Janos Slynt we’re also introduced to Daniel Portman‘s adorable squire. Long may he awkwardly aid other characters on their quests. Plus Bronn pops up for a minute and I can never get enough of Bronn.
Back on the Iron Islands, Theon makes the most brilliant cocky (no pun intended) mistake by seducing his sister. If only he’d been born a Targaryen. The thing I really love so much about this episode is how well Theon’s return is handled. There’s such a great shift in tone from his arrogant presumption of welcome to the lacklustre response he receives from his family. Theon’s downward spiral more or less begins here, as he tries to live up to the salty standards of his House. I also love Gemma Whelan as Yara, altered a little from the books, yes, but still a brilliant character.
We catch up with the Dragonstone gang and are introduced to the ever fabulous Salladhor Saan. Fact: until I re-watched this episode while writing this article I had totally forgotten that Davos’ son was cast in the show. Probably too busy being creeped out by Melisandre to remember. In a carefully worded conversation she promises Stannis a son; as Bryan Cogman later explained in an interview with Westeros.org the showrunners weren’t certain if Shireen was going to be included in the show at that point. Shame Mels didn’t mention it would be a creepy, shadow-baby, brother-stabbing son. That’s why you should never listen to bewitching Asshai priestesses, even when they show you a good time on the war room table.
The episode concludes with Jon Snow (may he rest in peace) catching Craster at his sinister baby-dropping-off-in-the-woods game. White Walker babies would of course come to the fore in later seasons. It also inspired this Beautiful Death:
And here my ends my rambling, gif-heavy trip down Memory Lane, for this week. Stay tuned, for what is dead may never die!
HODOR!
Finally. I can rest easy now and enjoy the fruits of my labor.
Hodor
Don’t you try to steal my thunder. I won’t have it!
Where did it go? 😉
You know, it’s interesting that DnD apparently didn’t know the future fates of major characters yet at this point, if they didn’t know if they would include Shireen.
I wonder when they had THE conversation. And how it went. Maybe it was after this season that Martin called them to say, ‘hey, about Shireen, you know…’
The actor playing Yoren really made the character memorable, particularly considering he wasn’t around very long.
Hannah Murray is one of the more underappreciated regulars, I think. Gilly isn’t exactly a scene-stealing role, but she’s a valuable perspective, being probably the closest thing to a true civilian amongst the main cast.
I quite like Gemma Whelan, who has gotten a ton of flak in some quarters, partly because fan art regularly depicts Asha as some sort of supermodel pirate queen, which her actual physical description doesn’t support; and partly because the character is definitely written and styled less vibrantly than the book version comes across. But I find a lot of the arguments around casting in this show tend to conflate how a character is written with how they’re acted. Whelan is entirely credible playing the stoic and somewhat dour Yara.
The scene in the brothel featuring multiple people spying on each other having sex is many respects even less justifiable than the “play with her arse” scene in episode 107, but it doesn’t last nearly as long, so it’s not as egregious. It made for a great moment in that SNL parody, though.
Yaga,
It seems like it had to have happened between the writing phases of Seasons 2 and 3.
If so, I would find it a little odd that GRRM didn’t tell them that upfront. He was a lot more involved in the writing process at that point, able to, for instance, suggest that they change Jeyne Westerling’s name after they changed everything else. When the first draft of the script for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix omitted Kreacher entirely, JKR sent the writer a note saying that leaving him out was a mistake (hence, his little cameo). I’d have thought GRRM would have told them that Shireen was important if there was some debate about whether she’d be in at all.
Yaga,
I think it has more to do with the fact that, while writing season 2, the idea of adapting the whole ASOIAF saga was still a far-fetched dream. There was no guarantee that the second season would be as succesful as the first, let alone multiple future seasons.
It doesn’t follow that B&W did not know their fates just because they were undecided about including Shireen. It might instead indicate that they had not figured out a way to make her important on screen given what is done with her in the books. Shireen is, after all, very much a background character in the books, and we do not yet know if her death there is going to be something that is really powerful if and only if she is Stannis’ daughter.
(I, myself, am wondering how her death is going to go down in the book:
I love Arya’s story line in season 2 !
After rewatching season 2 a couple of months ago, I enjoyed it more than have before and I had seen it like three or four times. Just didn’t enjoy the iron islands stuff much, but I love Yara!
also, loved Yoren.
heh, it’s not like anybody remembered that cameo 3 or 4 years later! They actually took fewer of Rowling’s suggestions after the huge 20% drop in box office following the first film and WB’s post-mortem surveys finding that a huge reason why people did not return was “extraneous scenes” that didn’t amount to anything in the end. And those were, of course, “it will be important later” scenes as well as Quidditch. (It seems that Quidditch went over about as well as the Senate Scenes in the Star Wars prequels….)
Quite frankly, they probably could have just used Dobby in the last movie, too.
Got to hand it to D&D – they didn’t have a large amount of experience with writing good stuff previously to GOT (unless I’m terribly mistaken) and I know they had lots of help, but they wrote so many eps that were so great.
Shireen’s execution is so important to Stannis’ arc, of course she had to be introduced and her long relationship shown on screen with Davos was important also in making her death so meaningful.
Oh, I wish HBO would drop S6 all at once, like Netflix does for its shows….I’d pay for that!!
The poster is so creepy. I love it!
I wonder how Jaqen managed to be part of the Lannister army lol. Also, I would have done a few things differently about the Jon/Gilly meeting (the king hints and all), but anyway. Love Yara (one of the two Ironborn I can put up with, sorry OP).
I still think D&D knew where the main characters were going, but tertiary characters like Shireen were still up in the air at this point (or they didn’t have time to introduce her and Selyse in season 2, since they weren’t as necessary). You can see this with how they kill off smaller characters that are still alive in the books, since their roles can be taken over by someone else (like Tyrion taking over for Barristan, or Edd taking over for Grenn/Pyp).
Sean C.,
Yeah, precisely (about your reply to my point). I think it may be in part what
oier wrote, that they did not know if HBO would pay for the entire series, so they didn’t ask what happened after the Red Wedding, which was the nearest plot point they wanted to get to.
Still, must have been an awkward conversation. ?
Wimsey,
The only way Stannis’ arc works as an arc is if he does it himself, though. And you, of all the people, a self-admitted veteran fan of many stories, should know that.
But let’s not discuss this matter *again*, please.
Wimsey,
Since Dobby didn’t know anything about RAB, no, they couldn’t have. And the point of including him in Order of the Phoenix is simple storytelling consistency.
curious, what would you have done differently about Jon/Gilly?
agree about yara 🙂
Oh, true! But that’s also the big difference between the show and the books: Show!Stannis is given an arc in the 5th season when they basically made him a minor protagonist. Book!Stannis never has his own arcs: he’s never even a PoV character, never mind a protagonist. Instead, Stannis is a big part of Davos’ and then Jon’s arcs (and mostly by being absolutely unbendable himself).
But if B&W had not hit on the idea of making Stannis a minor protagonist in Season 5 by Season 2 (and they might not have done), then this idea for Shireen would be far away. Moreover, B&W might not have known if making secondary book characters main TV characters would work, as they had not yet tried it. However, it worked out very well with Robb in Season 2, which might have gotten them thinking about whether other secondary characters could become main characters, too. Stannis would have been an obvious candidate.
But Kreacher was not relevant to the story being told in Order, and what hurt the Harry Potter films so badly (and the #1 reason why the audiences dropped off so much after the first two films while audiences for comparable franchises were actually increasing) was including things that were not relevant to the Stone or Chambers stories. Moreover, the audience was not going to remember him from a cameo 3 years later: to do that, they would have had to make Kreacher a big part of the movie between Order and Hallows. Still, they did not dwell on Kreacher at all in Order (I do not even remember how he was included, but it’s been 9 years since I’ve seen the film), and what really hurt the first two films was dwelling on things that never were important in that particular story. It’s exactly the sort of thing about which Chekhov warned!
Alternatively, Kloves & Heyman could (and probably should) have had Harry discover Kreacher in the Hallows film so that he could be properly introduced to the audience. Didn’t they resort the stilted “Let’s quickly reintroduce the character that nobody is going to remember” sorts of lines anyway? (I do not think I’ve seen that film since I saw it in the theater nearly 6 years ago!)
Wimsey,
The whole series is one big story. Setting up details at times when it is logical is vital to avoid making the entire thing come across like a series of last-minute deus ex machinas. If it’s important to the overall plot that the Blacks have a disgruntled house elf living in their house, then said elf should reasonably come up at the point where the characters spend a lot of time in the house.
Stannis changes a fair bit between books 2 and 5. His demeanour doesn’t change, but he does. You don’t need to be a POV to have an arc.
Wimsey,
Eee. Stannis in the books very clearly has a minor-protagonist arc, same as Robb, same as Ned. It’s just that it’s a tragic one, and ends before the end of the end of the series. Why are you conflating being a POV with being a protagonist? Is Areo Hotah a protagonist just because he’s a camera?
…This actually tells me, I have no idea what to call minor protagonists in a series with so many of them. If there are two, they are prot- and deuter-. If there are so many? Agonists, maybe? But this sounds like the receptor activator chemicals…
That Littlefinger eyebrow gif is the best.
Deesensfan,
I’m a Jon fan, so I naturally tend to nitpick a lot and analyse his scenes lol. Anyway, there’s quite a lot of foreshadowing in their conversation and Jon’s thoughts (in the books) such as:
– Jon refusing guest right from Craster by not eating or drinking anything from him; Gilly points this out because he can help her escape, as he’s not Craster’s guest and doesn’t have to obey his rules (this also becomes important during the Red Wedding, since Robb and Cat are killed despite being protected by guest right; it’s a nice hint)
– Gilly asks Jon to help her get him out because she assumes he’s royalty (due to Robb being King in the North); there’s some foreshadowing here. But also a part of Jon’s arc is him struggling with his bastard status and being envious of Robb (Jon wants to be Lord of Winterfell, but he also tries to fight against all the stereotypes associated with bastards and their greed)
– some more hints are thrown in about what Craster does to his boys
– and then there’s this thought from Jon: “We’re here to fight wildlings, not save them.” – which is ironic because Jon ends up trying to save them later.
I don’t think it was necessary for them to include Shireen or his wife in season 2. There isn’t much for them to do at this point, and all the possible scenes they could have had were covered in seasons 3 and 4. Plus there are just so many characters in this story, you run the risk of overloading the audience by introducing too many.
How come no section at the end with the “Introductions” and “Deaths” from the episode? I have really been enjoying those.
PoV is a good example of “necessary but insufficient.” All protagonists are PoV characters and all non-PoV characters are non-protagonists. However, there is more to being a protagonist than just PoV: and PoV characters lacking those other conditions also are non-protagonists. GRRM uses characters like Hotah for 3rd party development of the main characters. After all, we know what (say) Jon thinks that people think of Jon (“they all hate me!”), but it’s handy to read what other people think of Jon.
Mista C,
These posts are not all identical. The authors can write pretty much whatever they want to in their memory lane.
Mista C,
Yeah, I really liked that part.
That’s why part of why Chekhov wrote what he did. It is not just that building false expectations with emphasis on extraneous matters irks audiences: it also is that too much stuff distracts the audience from the main message and not seeing a main message irks audiences. One thing about which the show has been very consistent: it introduces characters and plot items when they become relevant, and not before.
Wimsey,
OT: I have just watched Federico Garcia’s Lorca’s play Bloody Wedding. In the first scene, a worried mother spends a lot of time worrying about the knife as a symbol of the murders of her husband and older son. As much I appreciated the Chekhovian approach at a playwrite who pays more attention to language than to plot, the insistence seemed excessive. I was sure that the younger son would be murdered even before knowing what his story was supposed to be.
Otherwise, I fully agree with hanging the Chekhovian gun early in literature/ theatre/ film. I just wanted to point out to an example of bad use of this device.
And here’s my least favorite episode of the entire show,how can people claim season 5 was the worst when they see episodes like this is beyond me,anyway i remain with the opinion that besides the King’s landing plotline and Theon’s plotline with the ocassional fun Arya stuff,season 2 was a failure .
Love this episode. One of my favs for sure.
Heh, I will forever dub this the “She Lady Dragon Knife”!
But here is the same thing. If you are sick, then it is bad to not take medicine. It also is bad to take the wrong medicine or too much of the right medicine. Storytelling is a lot like that: pulling the knife out of thin air in the end is bad (Deus ex Machina) and misportraying the knife so that it’s surprising that it can stab people is bad (crappy communication) but over-emphasizing the knife is bad (She Lady Dragon Knife).
That stated, we fans have to worry about what really is a She Lady Dragon Knife and what we have turned into one. People were joking about Chekhov’s Olly here last year, and that might have been a touch overdone. However, a lot of things where fans go “that would be too obvious” are only “too obvious” to us because we’ve spent years chatting with each other online about it and dissecting a lot of details. (Indeed, if anything, then fans are very prone to miss the forest for the trees, or even the moss on the trees, because of this.) So, what is obvious to us, and what is obvious to the other 99+% of viewers is not going to be the same.
The photo accompanying this article reminded me: has Balon ever had a scene away from that fireplace?
Well, I disagree on that point. I don’t think that it’s necessary to be a POV character to be a protagonist – a protagonist is a person who, through their decisions, trials, tribulations, and sometimes uncertainties and doubts, drives the plot. Stannis certainly drives his. He’s the one who makes the calls – in the books: to kill Renly; to attack King’s Landing (and to do so without Mel); to imprison Davos; to release him; to help the Wall; to attack Winterfell. In the show, and presumably in the books, to burn Shireen.
And so does Robb.
Sean C.,
Wasn’t he by the sea when Theon got baptized?
Jon Snow's Curling Iron,
Oh, that’s very interesting analysis.
some of these thoughts come from the books no?
While this is my least favorite GoT episode so far (I rated it 7/10), it still contains some memorable moments: Janos Slynt being sent to the Wall is definitely my favorite. I liked Theon confroting his father and Yoren threatening Gold Cloaks. My biggest complaint is, that there were too many sex scenes/brothel scenes in this episode.
Anyone else hear Jaquen say to Arry “You’re called Arya?”. Is that a slip up in the script, a hint that Jaquen knows bloody everything or something else?
What I really love during this rewatch is that there is some excellent acting in the smaller screen time roles. Yoren, Maester Luwin and Syrio are examples
It’s not a „Shy Lady Dragon Knife“, but all the talking about Stannis made me remember that Mel totally blabbed out Stannis‘ arc in S2E10. “You will betray the men serving you, you will betray your family, you will betray everything you once held dear…“ Can’t say they didn’t tell us so… 🙂
Wylie,
Yeah, that is prophecy for you: exactly what it says, but not close to what you thought it means.
Loved Jaqen’s introduction. TW played him just right: subtle, mysterious, and above all dangerous.
This is one of the weaker episodes of the show, given it was clearly meant to be there to start setting up certain storylines and events before big stuff started happening. That said, Jaqen’s intro is indeed terrific, and I enjoy Janos getting sent to the Wall, and we didn’t get enough of Tyrion the cold-hearted bastard in subsequent episodes.
And of course Balon Greyjoy and Yara. They’re so well played (and well costumed) by Patrick Malahide and Gemma Whelan, and I’m always happy to see them on-screen. Theon’s late-by-a-second “What is dead may never die” recitation is another terrific moment.
In fact, Theon’s sum storyline is one of the show’s greatest achievements – he essentially, to quote one of America’s greatest philosophers, ended up like a dog that’s been beat too much, till he spent half his life just covering up. After the clear demonstration in Season 1 of his snippy treatment from Robb, his non-brother, and the rejection he gets from his father, that he would end up being susceptible to the kind of torture that turns him into what he is is not so far-fetched.
A Jaime Lannister – arrogant that he is – would, upon being released by Ramsay in Season 3, only to be tricked, may have realized the game was up, and run from or beaten Ramsay when he “saved” him, but Theon’s not of that mindset, having never known where he stands in this world.
Yes, I reread the scene to put together the comment :). I think it’s a bit difficult for them to adapt Jon’s story for TV, because there’s a lot of interior monologue. Jon tends to be melancholy and moody, and as a result he doesn’t communicate all his thoughts freely to other characters. However, I think there might have been ways to deal with some of the issues. He thinks about his own ambitions and Robb a lot, for example, and we don’t really get that on the show too much.
Jo,
I still think Jaqen is Syrio.
Of topic: HELP! brienne of tarth and jaime lannister are losing a battle of dynamic duo’s vs sevro and darrow on http://suvudu.com/2016/03/cage-match-2016-round-2-sevro-and-darrow-vs-jaime-lannister-and-brienne-of-tarth.html
I’ve said many times that I love every Game of Thrones episode, and I genuinely do. However, when people ask me which episode of the series is my least favorite, I generally say “The Night Lands”. I’m not entirely sure I have a great answer as to why.
It’s not like the episode is bad (I resist calling it “the worst” because that pejorative seems far too harsh). But perhaps the reason it falls so low in my personal rankings is because I don’t feel particularly passionate about it, especially relative to the enthusiasm and joy that Game of Thrones typically inspires in me. I bear the episode no ill-will, but with a series like this one, where the quality is so absurdly and consistently high, something has be last.
Let’s focus on the positive, however! 🙂 One scene in the episode that I do absolutely love is when Tyrion dismisses Janos Slynt, which is richly earned, in addition to being comedic gold. (“I’m not questioning your honor, Lord Janos. I’m denying its existence.”) It’s followed by a nice moment with Bronn when Tyrion realizes that he doesn’t quite possess the moral high ground that he’d like to believe he does when it comes to his choice of allies.
I also love the follow-up scene between Tyrion and Cersei, when she explicitly blames him for their mother’s death … or her mother, as she bitterly frames it. The way that Tyrion responds “She was my mother, too” is just perfect. It’s one of Peter Dinklage’s best line-readings in the series – and he’s had no shortage of those.
All of Tyrion’s scenes in this episode are great, to be honest. As people were saying yesterday, this is probably the character’s best season (Season 4 perhaps reaches greater heights, but this one is more consistently stellar, as being confined to a cell does limit what Tyrion can do a bit).
Oh, and Salladhor Saan! Lucian Msamati is brilliant, and his introduction is absolute gold. All hail the Sex Pirate Extraordinaire!
But why would this color your opinion of the episode? I felt the sex scenes in the episode were done fine and added to the story, after all LF does own a brothel. LF wiping off the cum off the whores face just before she immediately starts making out with that one guy was hilarious. And the Theon ship scene was great, love the actress who played the ship captains daughter.
I noticed this too for the first time when watching the episode today, it’s a really good question.
And you’re so right about the minor roles! The casting has been so unbelievable on this show, I don’t think there is one major or minor casting choice that I’ve disliked.
Let’s get to the Greyjoys. At the time I saw this episode, AFFC and ADWD were still relatively fresh in my mind, and I must admit I was pretty down on both that family and the Iron Islands in general. As time has passed, my interest in them has recovered somewhat, especially now that I know that the brutal dullard Victarion – one of my least favorite characters and POVs in ASOIAF – will be cut from the show. I’m actually genuinely looking forward to Euron in Season 6.
The rest of the introduction to the Iron Islands and the Greyjoys is very well-done, I must say. I don’t particularly like Balon Greyjoy, but Patrick Malahide is perfect casting for that role. Gemma Whalen asserts herself quite well as Yara, too. (I remember the whole controversy when it was announced that Theon’s sister would be renamed Yara instead of Asha because “Asha” sounded too much like “Osha”. That made nominal sense to me at the time, but it does seem a little unnecessary now).
One exception – I’ve never liked the scene between Theon and the captain’s daughter, in either the show or the books. It’s definitely an illuminating moment for Theon’s character, but the girl’s extremely sycophantic attitude, coupled with the way that Theon treats her, makes me queasy (as it’s supposed to, I think).
Game of Thrones has a huge cast of recurring players, so it’s impressive that the death of Rakharo represents one of the very few times in the show’s history when they’ve lost an actor to another project (I believe that Elyes Gabel left to take a role in World War Z). Still, it’s nice that he returned for the premiere so that he could be written out properly and give Rakharo a send-off. His little flirtation with Irri was a nicely understated subplot in Season 1. The heartbroken cries that Irri unleashes when she sees that he’s been killed are agonizing to hear.
Perhaps if Gabel had been able to stay, Irri would have survived as well. Then she and Rakharo would have had a a little slow-burn romantic subplot, like Missandei and Grey Worm … or perhaps instead of them (since an Irri-Rakharo romance is hinted at in the novels, I have to wonder if that subplot would have been better received by some, or it would still be decried as a time-waster). As I’ve said many times, I’m a fan of the Missandei-Grey Worm romance, so it worked out OK in my book. But, if nothing else, it’s an interesting what-if.
I had somehow forgotten about the scene where Littlefinger tells Ros about the “sad girl from Lys” until recently. Jesus Christ. Most people who watch the show seem to agree that Littlefinger is selfish, ambitious to a fault, and creepily fixated on Sansa, not to mention the callous disregard he exhibits for her in selling her to the Boltons. But this scene is one of the times when I think the character overtly dips below the line into outright evil. His voice is malevolent in its whispered assurance, and his eyes just go dead (it’s some good acting from Aidan Gillen, if nothing else). It’s a hard watch, especially knowing what he does to Ros later.
That scene with Littlefinger and Ros is amazing. It starts out so subtle, with him comforting her and all, and then as he tells her the story and the dark music creeps in, you realize what he’s doing there, and how much of a vicious cunt he really is. Such a subtle, yet powerful threat.
Don’t understand me wrong. In my opinion, there are no bad episodes in GoT and this one was not the only one I rated 7. When I watch other TV series, my episode ratings span from 6-10 with some possible exceptions if the episode is really bad. In Game of Thrones, I’ve never rated an episode lower than 7.
Usually I have no problems with sex scenes but when they follow one after another, I get a little tired of them. But the sex scenes were not the only reason for this episode to be my least favorite.
I’d never really thought about this before, but I think the cull of Dany’s Dothraki supporting cast would probably have happened anyway. Throughout Season 3 she acquires no less than four new supporting characters (Barristan, Missandei, Grey Worm, and Daario), all of whom have more defined roles than Irri or Rakharo had from this point going forward.
Granted, in retrospect maybe there wasn’t a huge point to bringing Barristan back, given how they ultimately downsized his role, but the writers are unlikely to have known that at the time.
Yup, a great scene.
Sean C.,
You make a good point about Dany’s Dothraki supporting cast not really having a defined role once she acquires her new allies in Season 3. The characters likely wouldn’t have had much to do beyond say “Yes, Khaleesi” and “No, Khaleesi”. In light of that, keeping them off-screen makes sense.
Furthermore, the main reason I’ve found Missandei and Grey Worm’s romance compelling (besides liking both actors) is because it subverts the idea that the Unsullied are supposed to be asexual automatons. There’s also a built-in conflict because Grey Worm and Missandei can’t really consummate their relationship in the way that they might like to. Rakharo and Irri wouldn’t have faced a similar obstacle.
Perhaps it’s for the best. Dany becoming reacquainted with her Dothraki roots will be a major storyline in Season 6. The fact that we haven’t seen her khalasar for several seasons may help underscore the idea that she’s lost touch.
After I watched GoT for the first time, I also had a feeling that S2 was the least interesting. However, when I re-watched for the second and the third time I decided that it was as good as other seasons (and good in case of GoT means super).
However, there was a story line I disliked from the beginning to the end and that’s the Ironborn. I noticed, that most of the fandom are Ironborn fans but for me they are the most unrealistic and inconsistent player.
1) The Ironborn live on a bunch of tiny islands and I haven’t seen a single tree on them. Please, explain – how can you have a fleet without timber?
2) “We don’t sow”. OK, how they survive – especially in winter? And how they earn their living? Vikings had a well developed agriculture and next to that they earned fortune from trade – slave trade, primarily (they sold them to the Arab Caliphate). Meanwhile, the Ironborn have no connection to the Slavers’ Bay and the Slavers’ Bay is supplied with slaves by the Dothraki etc.
3) Theon’s decision to reunite with his kin which is basically a bunch of annoying losers with no loyalty whatsoever. Wonderful acting made it more or less believable but still I can hardly imagine the Ironborn in the real world. For me they are sort of deus ex machina and knowing that they will re-appear in S6 annoys me a lot.
Please, help me to change my opinion!!!
Dragonmcmx,
Mr Fixit,
Yeah, the Enigma that is Littlefinger is well-advanced in this episode with that scene. He’s ruthless and remorseless, but for all the fact that the show gives him so much more face time than do the books, he is still quite opaque. I am hoping that the payoff on him is worth it.
Shy Lady Dragon,
d’oh! I just realized that I’ve been miscalling you She Lady rather than Shy Lady! My apologies….. (And I usually do well with names attached to distinct icons, too!)
I have just realized that Littlefinger’s chat with Ros gave a motivation for Sansa’s arch in S5 – she also became a rather risky investment after showing that she had power to destroy him, so it made sense that Littlefinger married her to Ramsay.
They have slaves for that. And it’s not meant to be taken that literally — not that nobles farm, anyway.
That would only follow if Littlefinger knew about Ramsay, which, per the writers, he didn’t.
Sean C.,
Regarding the Ironborn. There is no slavery in Westeros, so it would be rather serfdom than slavery. But anyway it would be of little use, because the Ironborn are to be short of arable land.
Regarding Littlefinger knowing nothing about Ramsay – do you really take his words seriously? I don’t.
Inga,
It’s not his word, it’s the word of the writers of the show. Bryan Cogman was very clear on that point.
Sean C.,
I see: sending Sansa to Winterfell was a hard decision for Mr. Cogman. However, on the screen it looked very natural – just exactly what Littlefinger should do in his situation.
This was, as I remember it, my least favorite episode of my least favorite season of Game of Thrones. That said, Tyrion’s dismissal of Janos Slynt is one exceptional moment. And to say that this is my least favorite episode is like saying it’s my least favorite piece of pie of a really good pie.
Wimsey,
No problem, ser!
Inga,
Careful you will make Sean C angry by liking or saying LF choice made sense. 😛 (don’t get mad Sean, it was a joke. 🙂 ).
Talking about the Ironborn, no you’re not the only one who thinks their story is bad.
When AFFC was released there where dozens of debates on book forums about this.
To put it short, this is how it was:”The Ironborn Suck!!”, “no you idiot, Dorne Sucks more!!”, ”Dorne’s no where near as bad as the Ironborn. LOL!!”……etc.
I myself am firmly in the ”Dorne sucked more” camp. The Ironborn had 1 good chapter, and a somewhat decent character (Euron) but way to over the top…thank god he won’t have a eye-patch, in the show!
I hope the writers improve Euron the same way they did Oberyn! That is the sole reason why I’m mildly interesed in the Ironborn.
Inga,
I can’t really help you, because I don’t like the Ironborn, except for Asha/ Yara 🙂 While reading, the Iron Islands chapters didn’t manage to catch my interest, which I couldn’t explain, because I like everything with Vikings. Balon Greyjoy was a well done character in the show imo. What I hate to watch are Theon’s choices and behaviour in season 2. But Tywin, Arya and Tyrion were terrific, so I can’t say anythig bad about season 2.
I am always a bit surprised at how low this episode usually ranks with the fans. In my recent rewatch, I once more came to the conclusion that it’s actually pretty solid. A bunch of very good stuff: I liked the re-introduction of Arya, Yoren, Gendry and what little we see of Jaqen. All the scenes in KL are great especially one of the all-time best moments with Tyrion and Janos. On Dragonstone, Msamati’s Salladhor is a joy to watch (I hope he returns!). Theon’s homecoming is a very good start to the season’s best storyline. I liked that we saw a White Walker in a surprising twist (at least to me as a book walker; I certainly didn’t expect to see Craster offer his son to the icy bastards).
I gotta think — wrongly perhaps — that much of the ire fans have towards this episode is due to the total over-the-top sexual content with no less than 3 explicit scenes: Theon with the captain’s daughter, peeping hole stuff in LF’s brothel (possibly the most unintentionally hilarious scene it the history of GoT), and Stannis getting cozy with the Red Witch (okay, that one I could have done without. Sort of demeans Stannis’ character).
I don’t know, I thoroughly enjoyed this one and am a bit baffled with the negative reception..