We’re down to 20 days on our season 6 countdown clock! There’s now less than three weeks to go until the premiere of the new season. Fittingly, today we turn our attention to a beloved season premiere, “Two Swords,” written and directed by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. Here to walk us down Memory Lane is a guest contributor, WotW regular Morgan! – Sue the Fury
Season premieres are always tricky episodes to get right. You have to have a good balance of reminders of how the last season of Game of Thrones ended, while tying in plot points for the new one. “Two Swords,” the fourth season premiere, with iconic scenes such as Oberyn’s introduction and the final fight at the Inn, garnered a huge response from viewers. Fans loved moments such as Jaime waving with his golden hand, Olenna tossing jewelry like it was trash, and the newfound camaraderie between the unlikely pair of Arya and the Hound.
The Hound and his chickens were by far the most memorable part of the entire episode; you couldn’t go anywhere on the internet the week after it aired without seeing it mentioned. It became the inspiration for many great gifs, memes and fan art. The ability of this show to foster creativity among its fans is one of the best aspects of it, and this episode was a perfect example of what it can do.
“Two Swords” begins with a very symbolic cold open, from which the episode gets its name. Tywin has tasked a blacksmith with melting down the ancestral sword of House Stark, Ice, and forging two new blades. Considering what happened last season, this scene represents how the Lannisters have defeated the Starks and move forward with their reign over Westeros. Tywin, being the cold, distant father we all know and love, presents Jaime with one of the new Valyrian swords as a veil for his true desire- Jaime resigning from the Kingsguard and becoming the lord of Casterly Rock. Unsurprisingly, this offer is refused and Tywin continues to be disappointed by his children.
The premiere is a rather eventful one for King’s Landing as most of the episode is spent here, and it provides us with the long-anticipated introduction of a fan-favorite character from the novels.
The main attraction of King’s Landing for this episode is the introduction of Oberyn Martell. This is a character fans had been looking forward to since the series began and he did not disappoint. We first meet Oberyn with his paramour, Ellaria Sand, a bastard from Dorne. It had long been speculated that he was bisexual; however this was never explicitly been confirmed until now. It’s just one of the many more progressive aspects of Dornish culture in comparison to the rest of Westeros.
Interrupted by the sound of “The Rains of Castemere,” Oberyn encounters two Lannister soldiers. There has long been discourse between the two houses and this scene gives us a taste of it, resulting in Oberyn stabbing a soldier in the wrist. Finally, we have the first of many conversations between Oberyn and Tyrion, and we learn more about what caused the hatred between these two families: the murder of Oberyn’s sister Elia during the sack of King’s Landing. It was a fabulous introduction that gave us a great taste of this new character.
Next, we move onto Daenerys, who is on the road to her final destination in Slaver’s Bay, the city of Meereen. We’re given a little tease of what’s to come for her this season. Her dragons continue to grow every day and are becoming increasingly unruly. In addition, her conquest of Meereen is not going to be an easy one as she discovers the Great Masters have crucified children along the road as a warning that she is not welcome.
Back in King’s Landing, we’re given a recounting of some events from previous seasons. Sansa is still grieving over the loss of her family at the Red Wedding and gives account of the gruesome fates of her mother and brother.
Meanwhile, Cersei reminds Jaime of all of the things he missed since leaving the city back in season one, while noting that everything has changed. This scene also introduces us to an iconic piece of Jaime’s new look: the golden hand Cersei had made for him. Later, Brienne reminds Jaime of promise to keep the Stark girls safe and questions whether or not Sansa is truly safe in King’s Landing. As the girl prays in the godswood, Sansa encounters a familiar face- the former knight, Dontos Hollard.
Back at the Wall, the show makes it a point to remind us that tensions are coming to a head, and there will soon be a clashing between the wildings and the Night’s Watch. Ygritte and Tormund are headed south to position themselves for the coming attack and are joined by another wilding clan, the Thenns, a vicious and unforgiving people. Meanwhile, Jon tries to warn the Night’s Watch of the threat that’s on its way, and that they are nowhere near ready to defend it.
Finally, we catch up with Arya and the Hound who we spend the last portion of the episode with. This whole sequence of events is one of the most memorable things the show has ever done. We get the beginnings of the new strange friendship between this unlikely pair, and a handful of iconic lines. The two come across an inn while traveling through the Riverlands only to discover a character from Arya’s past- Polliver, the man who killed Lommy Greenhands and took her sword Needle.
Arya is overcome with anger, determined to get back her prized sword. Much to the Hound’s disdain, they end up going inside. Tensions rise as the Hound is recognized by Polliver and his gang of Lannister soldiers. All the Hound wanted was to eat some fucking chicken in peace but just Polliver couldn’t leave them alone.
The fight that breaks is marvelously shot and choreographed. The decision to not use a score until the stakes rise and it becomes clear that the Hound may be outnumbered is a great one, as it increases the feeling of unease for the viewers.
However, he is still a better fighter than all of the others in the inn, and is able to overcome his attackers. As the fight is coming to a close, we see the violent side of Arya come to life, something that has been slowly creeping to the surface since last season. She sees her opportunity to get Needle back and avenge her friend, and takes it.
After the fight’s won, Arya and the Hound ride away, chicken in hand.
Overall, this was a fantastic season opener and in my opinion, the best one the show has done to date.
Memorable Lines:
“If he’s so damned important, why did they send you?” – Bronn
“They’re dragons, Khaleesi. They can never be tamed, not even by their mother.” – Jorah
“I don’t pray anymore. It’s the only place I can go where people won’t talk to me” – Sansa
“I grew up in King’s Landing.” – Maester Aemon
“What the fuck’s a Lommy?” – The Hound
“I understand that if any more words come pouring out your cunt mouth, I’m gonna have to eat every fucking chicken in this room.” – The Hound
Introductions:
Oberyn Martell – Going into the season this casting was hotly debated and talked about. Many people were not sure if Pedro Pascal would be right for the role but even after just one episode, he was the man for the job.
Ellaria Sand – Played by Indira Varma, this was very much an introductory season for this character as she would play a bigger role in future seasons.
Daario Naharis – This was actually a reintroduction as Michiel Huisman has taken over the role from Ed Skrein, who appeared as the character in season 3.
Styr and the Thenn clan – A terrifying subgroup of wildings, the writers also decided to make them cannibals, a trait that belonged to the Skagosi in the books.
Deaths: Polliver (played by Andy Kellegher) and random Lannister soldiers, a rather low death count for an episode of Game of Thrones
Arya’s killing of Polliver, from the Beautiful Death series
Leading up to the season 4 premiere, the Game of Thrones main theme was performed by the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center, with conducting by composer Ramin Djawadi:
Fandom was very inspired by the infamous chicken scene:
Hodor!
One of the best episodes ever. In fact, I don’t think it’s ever been quite this good again. Oberyn’s introduction was note-perfect. The Arya and the Hound sequence was a tour de force, right through to the magnificent closing shot of them riding through a war-torn landscape. There were a few things that didn’t come off (Daario and Grey Worm, Sansa and Dontos), but I remember coming away from this episode buzzing with excitement for the rest of the season.
“What the fuck’s a Lommy?” is a great line but for me the exchange that makes me laugh out loud is:
Arya: “Lots of people name their swords”
The Hound: “Lots of cunts”
The fight is brilliantly done – feels realistic. Although The Hound wins it is not a cartoon-ish stroll in the park for him, its a real proper fight. And it forces us to look at ourselves when we cheer Arya toying with Polliver and relishing killing him. Talking of Polliver – just yet another brilliant performance in a minor part. That might be one of the things to be most grateful for in GoT – people come in for these small parts – whether Mero, The Spice King, Polliver, whoever – and absolutely make you believe in them as fully rounded characters.
Now we’re getting into the meat and potatoes of the series! Season 4 is my absolute favorite, followed by Season 5. They also have the 2 best premieres in Two Swords and The Wars to Come.
20 days!
This one is simply terrific, from beginning to end.
Besides being one of the best season premiere episodes, “Two Swords” also features the best (in my opinion) season recap ever.
The last ten seconds of the recap featuring Ice give me chills every time.
I thought D&D’s season 3 directorial debut was very well done, but this episode, especially the fight at the inn and the great humour, absolutely surprised me, and I’d love to see them both direct again (the credit only goes to one of the showrunners, but they co-directed, like the Coens.) Hopefully before the show ends they can direct an episode penned by GRRM.
This is my favorite premiere episode (and my favorite season).
Loved: the Hound and the chicken, Arya getting her pony and Needle, the opening scene with Ice and the Stark theme dissolving into the Lannister one, sassy Jon Snow, Aemon, Ser Friendzone clearly wishing he’d be the daddy of dragons 😛
We’re getting ridiculously close now! ONLY 20 MORE DAYS!!
Fantastic episode, certainly the best season so far.
This is probably the best season premiere to date.
The scene with the Wildlings is good, though I think the only major structural issue I had with this season is the placement of the Battle of Castle Black at episode 9. It necessitates creating stuff for the characters to do in the interim, or, in the case of Ygritte and co., leads to them basically vanishing all season until then. The resolution of Jon and Ygritte’s arc would have worked a bit better had she not been such an ephemeral presence in the preceding eight episodes.
All the scenes relating to Jaime’s return to King’s Landing are very strong, with the exception of the stuff relating to Brienne. I don’t, per se, have a problem with them bringing Brienne and Jaime back to KL prior to Sansa’s escape. That could have been finessed. But the writers make absolutely no effort to justify when Brienne hasn’t so much as spoken to Sansa since getting there, even though she’s shown to have time to pay social calls on Margaery. And it’s not like it would have been hard; just say Tywin isn’t letting her near her, or something like that.
Cutting Sansa’s involvement in her escape plot does the character a huge disservice. The contrast between her meeting with Dontos here and the equivalent book scene really shows what was lost, namely, any sort of active role for Sansa.
Oberyn is probably the best one-season character on the show other than Ned. Pascal definitely made him feel like somebody who would be a real player going forward, which facilitates the twist in episode 408.
This episode reminds me why I love the Hound so much. The chicken scene had me balling.
This scene made laugh too:
Arya: Lots of people name their swords
Hound: Lots of cunts.
Ahahahaha.
Sean C.,
I agree. I think if the battle had been scheduled earlier (maybe episode 7), Jon and Stannis would have had more things to do. Season 4 could have realistically ended with Jon getting elected as Lord Commander in the finale (Mance still could have been executed in season 5…it doesn’t really matter). That way, we would have had time for more politics at the Wall, more setup for Jon’s stabbing, and Stannis’ season 5 arc would have been less rushed.
Loved the episode.
God was Pascal good. He improved Oberyn to god-like heights!
Flayed Potatoes,
Then everything would need to be changed.
The entire pacing of S3 and even 2.
I’m glad they didn’t went into all those politics when electing Jon as LC.
Mihnea,
Umm….not at all. Those season are before 4.
The election can still go on as planned. It’s things in between the election and the stabbing that change (more time to focus on characters like Thorne, Melisandre, the other mutineers, show Jon leading & manning the Wall, Stannis trying to tempt Jon with Winterfell, and so on).
I’m going to join the chorus saying this was the strongest season premiere so far (Season 1 episode 1 was a *series* premiere, that’s in a category unto itself).
Martells great, Arya great, other stuff great.
I loved the introductory of all the official heraldry for the Dornish Houses, even though they were only in the background — non-book readers wouldn’t quite understand why I was squeeing over “OMG, House Jordayne’s heraldry!” etc.
Bronn needs a sigil!
My *only* complaint: why say “only three men know how to reforge Valyrian steel and this one was from Volantis”….when THE defining feature of Qohor in the novels is that its smiths can reforge Valyrian steel? Very odd.
They had to choose between a better structured and paced season for Jon/Wildlings/Stannis it been in 4×07 or delivering a momentous and grand episode 9. It was a difficult choice no matter what, since the show would suffer in both scenarios. I liked Stannis’ trip to the IB a lot, not a big fan of Jon’s mission to Craster’s. Glad the Wildling were largely kep off-screen as both Ygritte and Tormund really only have a function when interacting with Jon (Tormund’s scenes with Jon in 4×10 and 5×05 are particularly great). Overall it worked out pretty well, I’d say.
Flayed Potatoes,
The only thing I will agree here is with the offer of WF. It should be at the beginning of the episode and the election at the end.
I completely disagree on seeing the mundane administrative stuff like counting food. It would have been awfull on TV. We saw enough of Jon leading during S4.
His mission to Craster’s keep, witch I thought was really good, and we saw even more during the battle in EP9.
And don’t forget
The Hound: The little lady wants a pony.
Arya: The little lady wants away from your stench.
plus The Hound’s echo of Omar Little’s “A man’s gotta have a code”
Just great badinage
The Dragon Demands,
It is not odd. Given the appearance of Volantis in season 5 and (likely) season 6, it is logical they would want the audience to remember the name of the city and its location beyond the narrow sea, at the least. Qohor, on the other hand, will probably never appear and its “defining feature” is trivial at best.
Dutch Maester,
They needed something BIG in EP9. That way you have 1 episode left to settle things and get ready for the next season. Not to much, not to little.
Having 3! Episodes of ”cooldown” would have been a huge mistake. The pacing would have been terrible!
I like this Oberyn Martell character! I think he should stick around for a while.
And this gentleman who’s playing him … Pedro Pascal, is it? He’s got some talent. He might do a thing or two in this business.
Oh, and this Rory McCann who’s been kicking around the show for a few seasons? He’s not bad either.
In other unsurprising news, “Two Swords” is a fucking stellar hour of television. I’ll do my usual deep-dive on the episode a bit later, but for now, that’s an adequate summation of my feelings. 🙂
Dutch Maester,
Yeah. It’s really not worth even bothering with.
So Volantis makes Valyrian swords instead/togheter with Qohor….So what?
Ser Not Appearing in this Series,
hah was going to say – ‘dont forget, Arya got her Pony’
You’ve got an internet kudos.
Jared,
Oberyn was perfect!!
The casting was amazing!! Pascal turned a character I thought was ”nice” in the books, into one of my absolute favourites!!
The writing also helped! There where some briliant decisions there. Those scenes with Tywin and Oberyn where amazing.
And the decision to have his talk with Tyrion while he is in prison, instead of when he arrives was one of the best decisions they ever made!!
Mihnea,
I never said I wanted scenes of Jon counting food though. There are many ways to show leadership and make it exciting for TV.
Mihnea,
Oh I agree. I completely understand and agree with D&D’s choice here.
Also loved the shot of the Riverlands burning. Perfect to show the devastation but not to much to get on your nerves.
While I was reading AFFC the only thing I could think of was:”We get it! The Riverlands are screwed! War is bad!”
Glad they didn’t over did it. Especially when it wasn’t really important at this point.
I think we’ll get more into this with Jaime and Bronn this season, when they’ll meet Maribald.
Dutch Maester,
I also have gripes with that episode.
For one, the fact that it was entirely about that story.
On one hand I liked the focus and atmosphere but on the other I don’t think it needed the entire episode. 20-30 minutes like Hardhome did it, would have been enough I think.
Mihnea,
I totally agree with all of this. Especially the decision to move Oberyn’s story about meeting Tyrion as an infant from their initial meeting to the dungeon cell. Had that scene been in this premiere, it would have come across more as Oberyn mocking Tyrion than anything else. Worse, it would have undercut the purity of Oberyn’s declaration that he means to make Tywin answer for Elia’s murder by dragging the scene out for two minutes longer than necessary.
Maybe it would have been fine – that’s the function that the scene serves in the novel, and it works well enough. But by taking what was essentially the same dialogue and transplanting it to a moment when Tyrion is at his lowest emotional ebb, the moment ceased to be yet another example of Oberyn antagonizing the Lannisters and became one of the most powerful moments in the season, if not the series.
Enter this case into evidence as yet another reason why rigidly faithful, word-for-word, beat-for-beat adaptations seldom produce the best film or television. That list is quite long, but this example belongs near the very top.
Ser Not Appearing in this Series,
Good memory. Just finished binge watching The Wire.
Omar Little – “It’s all in the game.” (Littlefinger: The only game, the game of thrones)
“You come at the king, you’d better not miss.”
What a great character.
No. They can’t just condense together the Free Cities like that.
Moreover it didn’t really “set up” Volantis so much as simply “name-drop” it, out of context. The casual viewers who can’t even remember Tyrion’s name and call him “the dwarf guy” wouldn’t pick up on it. By which I mean….the only people who would have picked up on such a small line are the ones who would actually care about its accuracy.
Also changing Talisa to be from Volantis wasn’t even commented on when we actually saw Volantis in Season 5.
Yes they can.
The final 10 minutes of this episode is simply sublime television. Drama, action, comedy… a genuine rollercoaster of emotions.
My favourite moment, aside from the wonderful Lommy line, is the smirk on Arya’s face and the look she casts Polliver when the Hound says “F**k the King!”.
It’s absolutely wonderfully played on Maisie Williams’ part, perfectly conveying Arya’s internal sense of delight at seeing Polliver confronted by somebody bigger, tougher and who he isn’t going to be able to bully.
The ending as they ride off, the Hound with his chicken and Arya with her pony, and with the score rising leading into the credits is one of the most satisfying moments of any series so far.
The Dragon Demands,
The casual viewer is more likely to pick up on a name that they’re unfamiliar with, only serving to confuse them.
Whereas name-dropping a city that they’ve heard of, and which they will hear of again in later seasons, provides consistency and ease of understanding.
Many always wondered if ICE would get reforged, as of now I’m starting to really think not; though I hope it does.
Unless Jamie brings Widow’s Wail with him Oath Keeper and WW won’t be together at all.
poliver :”You lived your life for the King. You’re going to die for some chickens?”
hound: “Someone is.”
I won’t ever forget this scene …….
hahaha best got episode 1 ever ….I am a chicken lover ………and hound is an icon for all the chicken lovers if the world
S4 was the strongest season of GoT.
This was a great premiere.
It is true that after Jon return from Craster’s keep they are literally waiting for E9, but I think that it was a good idea to have Jon’s election in S5, because it shows his rise and fall in one season, creating a coherent arc for him.
Except for Janos’s death and Mance’s burning, and FTW of course, I don´t remember anything interesting from Jon’s chapters in ADWD. And I mean interesting for TV.
He is literally interacting with minor characters after Stannis leaves CB. That is something completely unimportant for TV.
Why not?
mau,
That’s exactly why the election needed to be in S5. It creates a season long arc.
You are right, Jon does nothing. Count food, talks about putting Wildlings in some castes and waits for Tormund to bring the wildlings to the Wall.
This is also why I believe we will have the Pink latter this season, as it creates a season long arc and will most likely be the (main)catalyst to the conflict
Also
The Zenith of the Arc, so far.
Being fairly new to the online fan universe I’m tickled that so many agree this ep is a favorite. Arya and Hound at their on the road best. My other half likens the tavern scene to something out of “The Outlaw Josie Wales.” Anyone else see that? The composition and music of the last shot is stunning, so emotional , the ugliness of a never ending war, lightly sprinkled with insider comedic touches, perfection. I soooo miss the Hound!
“Fuck the King!”… I agree totally. The Hound wanting his chicken is one of the funniest scenes ever in GoT 🙂
I often re-watch that clip to have a good laugh. You can see the look of pleasure on Arya’s face just before she plunges Needle into Pulliver’s neck when he suddenly recalls who she is on hearing “Fine little blade – Maybe I’ll pick my teeth with it!”
Great acting from all and the final scene with Arya now with her own horse with a smug expression and the Hound getting stuck into his KFC, LOL 😀
There’s one thing that’s always bothered me about this episode.
Arya asks the Hound why doesn’t he have any money, despite having seen the Brotherhood without Banners taking his gold in Kissed by Fire. Continuity error?
Really good premiere and a top 15 episode. Unfortunately, the rest of the season fell rather flat for me and remained until “Hardhome”.
No, it jumbles up the facts when they don’t keep context clear. Plus the Blu-ray animated featurettes already stated “only Qohor knows how to reforge Valyrian steel” — I don’t know how well Dave Hill communicates with D&D on this.
John Johnston,
This is Season 4 mate….
Well, cheers The Dragon Demands, you’ve just ruined the whole the show for me now by pointing that out. I guess I’ll just pack my bags and move over to westeros.org… 😉
Mihnea,
The show remained flat for me until “Hardhome”. There were a few passable episodes in between. But even the big events either lacked vigor, were poorly paced and/or left me rolling my eyes. This premiere had me so excited for the season. It is the best premiere of the series. But for nothing clicked after that until late season five.
I don’t think they were thinking Skagosi when they added cannibalism trait to the Thenns. They were just merging them with another “tribe”of Wildlings united by Mance.
http://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Ice-river_clans
And yeah, excellent – very assured – direction in this episode.
After the Thrones, a new weekly recap show will stream on Mondays on HBO GO and HBO NOW starting Monday 4/25!
https://twitter.com/andygreenwald/status/717034542972973056
Andy Greenwald, Chris Ryan, and Bill Simmons will team up for After the Thrones!
https://medium.com/hbo-cinemax-pr/hbo-and-bill-simmons-team-up-for-after-the-thrones-91a5324383b1#.2wgh1euj5
Jack Bauer 24,
What? Oh hell nooo.
Following in the footsteps of AMC and FX? Honestly, you will stoop so low, HBO?
mau,
I agree. The major take from me was that Jon continued to take actions (rescuing Alys Karstark, assisting Stannis, etc.) that were arguably the “right” thing to do but conflicted with his duty to the Night’s Watch (to take no part in the politics of the seven kingdoms) providing additional nails in the coffin that culminated in the decision re the Pink Letter. I was more interested in Meliandre’s thoughts and actions – not Jon’s.
Jack Bauer 24,
No idea who they are but I will check it out before judging it.
Yeah that’s my favorite line from that dialog.
That’s of course the last line before all hell breaks loose.
Andy Kellegher and Rory should get a award for how they played that scene.
The Hound who had no social graces tries to cut slack for Poliver , but Ploliver is too stupid to catch on and just pushes things way to far.
I love the pause after Rory says “Someone is.” Arya realizes what is going to happen and jumps back the exact instant that the Hound kicks the table over.
Of all the ‘small’ fights on the show this is the best choreographed and it’s D&D who do it. Camera angles and pacing would have made Sam Peckinpah proud!
It’s also interesting to observe that D&D had read Mercy from WoW because we get piece of that here. Oddly we get a little more of it, reworked, in season 5 in Braavos.
Mercy will not appear now on the show, too bad since that is one of the most lyrical bits of poetic brutality in all the books.
sounds good but I hope that doesnt mean that they will not be able to talk so openly about the show anymore, in their podcasts they have always discussed spoilers and what is going to happen in the future storylines; with this involvment they probably constantly have to hype up the show and play “dumb” to not spoil anything.
Jack Bauer 24,
Great news!
Andy Greenwald’s probably my favorite TV critic (even if he’s hasn’t written much since Grantland ended). He was also far and away the best GOT recapper for the past few seasons – Unsullied or otherwise. His Watch the Thrones podcast with Chris Ryan was a ton of fun last year, and this looks to be the spiritual successor to that show.
I know that the immediate instinct with this kind of post-show is to compare it to AMC’s Talking Dead (particularly since these guys will now be operating inside the HBO family). But honestly, I’ve been listening to Greenwald and Ryan talk about Game of Thrones – and many other shows – for a long time. They’re better than that.
The Dragon Demands,
No, it doesn’t jumble up the facts for the average viewer.
They hear Volantis a few times, they understand. It’s clear.
They hear Volantis, Qohor, Norvos, Lorath… and so on… they might become confused.
The average viewer, who you suggest can’t even remember Tyrion’s name, aren’t going to be watching the blu-ray featurettes. Hell, I love this show and know more than the average viewer about the ASOIAF world and I haven’t watched all the animated featurettes.
The only people worrying about the context and the accuracy of saying Volantis instead of Qohor are the obsessive fans, who could always just chalk the change up to D&D not wanting to throw extra information at the average viewer and move on.
Hey, I think they could have just said Qohor and been done with it. But I figure they probably changed it for a reason, so I’m over it.
If the Hound does come back (which I hope), it would be very interesting to see if his presumed new religion would have influenced him to be gentler, less angry and bitter. I don’t think it’s great storytelling if he comes back as exactly the same man, as much as I loved his old, crude persona. I also believe his contribution to the character development of the Stark girls is done (no SanSan bs for me please!) so what his new role would be is intriguing as well as of course I have no idea where the writers will be taking him.
I just can’t wait for S6.
Jack Bauer 24,
yes yes and yes
Yoyo,
He’ll marry Sansa, take the Stark name and become King in the North!
Hahahahahahaha!
Yoyo,
Yep absolutely. Also if he comes back, will he look markedly different? Obviously he won’t be armoured. Perhaps the hair is gone too, revealing the true extent of his injury.
Fantastic premiere. Even the scenes that are just okay – Brienne/Jaime, for instance – don’t really drag things down. Oberyn’s intro is one of the show’s best; so too the intro of the Thenns, and their great thumping music that accompanies them. The idea of people so awful that they make Tormund blanch is fun. The cold open is so great – there’s no dialogue at all!
But the Hound really rules this entire episode. He gets off a season’s worth of one-liners in 10 minutes, and as I’ve said previously, this fight is the show’s best ever that involves more than two participants. The blocking and choreography are dead-on, and never make you feel like “why aren’t they all attacking at once” because each participant is notably incapacitated or not in a position to attack given the set-up and obstacles presented in the room. And the way it ends – just perfect. The balance of mordant humor (the Hound gets his chicken, Arya gets her pony) against the reality of war (the Riverlands in smoke) is just great.
This episode is a top 10 for me, easy.
A couple more memes, season 4 was just brimming with possibilities for them.
http://img.pandawhale.com/110358-Arya-Stark-Hound-zero-fucks-gi-KdFO.jpeg
https://llwproductions.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/funny-picture-arya-pony.jpg
It’s not that big of a disservice. It’s all Littlefinger’s plan. Sansa simply said yes and did whatever Ser Dontos told her to do.
Young Dragon,
That’s an extremely reductive look at it. Sansa didn’t come up with the plan herself, of course (not that it would make any sense for her to be able to; she doesn’t have the information, resources, or freedom of movement to do that on her own), but that does not mean she was not an active participant. There’s a huge middle ground between being completely inactive and doing everything yourself, and going from the first to the second generally involves traversing said middle to get there.
The difference between the two Godswood scenes is emblematic of that:
Book: Sansa receives a mysterious note telling her to come to the Godswood if she wants to escape. She reasons it could easily be a trap, but decides to risk it anyway. She sneaks through the castle in the middle of the night, having armed herself with a knife, and upon meeting Dontos, has to decide whether to trust him or not. Again, despite thinking he’s rather inadequate, she decides to gamble on the only option. Ultimately, this leads to her deliberately carrying out her escape. In the course of that storyline she on multiple occasions has to think tactically to facilitate said escape (e.g., refusing Tyrion’s offer in ACOK) and keep her meetings with Dontos secret.
Show: Sansa is sitting in the Godswood, hears a mysterious noise, runs away, then runs into Dontos, who blabs a bit, offers her a necklace, then leaves. Later, he drags her away from KL with no idea what’s going on.
Sean C.,
I wasn’t trying to imply that Sansa should have formed an escape plan herself. I certainly don’t fault her for it. And I do agree that Sansa is more developed in the books, just not as much as you seem to think. Those examples you gave prove that the plot in the books is more complex, which is a good thing, and even though it helped Sansa’s character by getting her involved in the escape plan, it also harmed her character when she trusted Dontos, which, as you and I know, was a big mistake.
How does that harm her character? She knowingly gambled on this guy in a situation where her only other option was doing nothing. He wasn’t quite what he seemed, but that’s how characters learn stuff, and she still escaped, whereas not trusting him would have left her exactly where she started. And in any event, Show!Sansa also trusted Dontos quite blindly, and in general was played in KL as a completely trusting dupe (to the point of having her regularly talk about how she trusts Shae even though Shae tells her not to).
Sean C.,
Sansa trusted Dontos after some debate, and he proved to be untrustworthy, showing she’s a poor judge of character. If she was truly on the fence about trusting him, she shouldn’t even have considered telling him about the Tyrell’s marriage proposal. Sansa in the show also blindly trusts people, but her trust never harms her like it does in the books.
I seem to recall her thinking she could manipulate Ramsay in the show, completely missing his true nature, which didn’t go so well for her. And trusting Littlefinger completely, absent any of the circumstances where the book character is forced to rely on him.
Sansa’s in a court where she has no natural allies and has to learn to play politics. If she unerringly identified who to trust and who not to, and never had to deal with any consequences, it wouldn’t be much of a story. You learn by doing, is the point; Sansa in the books is learning stuff in KL, Sansa in the show is not (or if the show wants us to think she was, they weren’t showing it, which is bad storytelling). Book Sansa actually accomplishes something by escaping; Show Sansa is entirely passive.
Sean C.,
Yes, I just remembered about Ramsay and was about to edit when you posted. My mistake.
But she doesn’t learn very much, is the point. I don’t find her decision to escape all that impressive, tbh. Like I’ve said, Sansa is more active and more developed in the books, but not by much. And that may change next season. Right now, show Sansa has done what book Sansa hasn’t been able to do yet: She is out of the hands of those who want to control her.
I have to agree with this. There was much uproar about show Sansa’s lack of agency, but let’s be honest here. Her “agency” in book King’s Landing is so miniscule you’d have to use a microscope to find it. I mean, the extent of it is sneaking out at night and agreeing to follow a plan laid out to her. Proactive character she is not.
Agree with all of this. And I think this is when I started to be on the fence with Brienne. Zero attempt at even talking to Sansa and when she was watching her pray, she took her cue from Jaime. The “vow” seemingly forgotten at the time and it was so frustrating. I would’ve loved a moment where Brienne got to at least tell Sansa about her Mother and her promise to her, even if she couldn’t do anything at the moment to help her.
The Ser Dontos stuff could’ve played really well but it fell a bit flat. Excited to see Sansa out of KL but dammit, couldn’t they have shown her actively make it happen?
But, even with those two minor gripes, Two Swords is perhaps my favorite episode to date. For sure my favorite premier. The opening sequence and last 10 minutes where perfection.
Mr Fixit,
It’s not an insignificant decision at all, when it could easily be a trap, nor is it really a minor accomplishment to have kept all this going on in the castle, which is supposed to be pretty much a police state where eyes and ears are everywhere. And the plotline informs all the decisions she makes subsequently, like rejecting Tyrion’s aid to keep meeting with Dontos. The story certainly, by design, does not give her much room to act, but the point is that it does give her some, and the character consistently tries to take advantage of it. Her escape, even if it’s not quite what she imagines it to be, is a real, tangible payoff for her own efforts. Whereas in the show, it’s something that just happens to her.
Interesting. I really liked the Dontos encounter. The way he uses Sansa’s basic decency to achieve what he (well, Littlefinger) wants is very shrewd. I like the music and Sophie’s acting quite a bit. Look how her face lights up at the end. It’s a great little scene in my opinion.
Also, for those of you sick of hearing me talk about what I don’t like about the show’s Sansa plot, good news: we’re entering a period where I think the show did a mostly okay job.
Oh, I talked about the Wildlings but didn’t say anything about the Wall: good scenes there this week (including a too-rare appearance by Maester Aemon, in top form here), and Jon’s arc continues the improvement it showed from mid-Season 3 onward.
Mr Fixit: Interesting. I really liked the Dontos encounter. The way he uses Sansa’s basic decency to achieve what he (well, Littlefinger) wants is very shrewd. I like the music and Sophie’s acting quite a bit. Look how her face lights up at the end. It’s a great little scene in my opinion.
I loved that scene too, especially after seeing how grieven-stricken she was in the previous scene. It was like a moment of grace in an unforgiving world. I felt a bit cheated and disappointed that it was slime-made-flesh Littlefinger orchestrating that meeting. The girl can’t catch a break.
Yoyo,
I would actually love to see Sansa as Queen of the North with The Hound as her Queen’s Guard. She wouldn’t need anyone else! 🙂
Aryamad,
Actually my endgame is Sansa as queen of Westeros. The Hound as her queen’s guard would be pretty awesome. But I do hope the Hound finally gets some peace and joy in his life and I don’t know if being in the queen’s guard would accomplish that.
I didn’t care for Oberyn’s introduction. Seemed cheesy, boring, and cringe-worthy but enough about Ellaria. The scene with Oberyn’s finger in Tyrion’s face could have been his intro.
I always thought S1 was the best season and S1E1 was the best episode because puppies, but S4E1 rivals it. My favorite shot is the Hound standing in the doorway of the Inn. He looks massive like how I always pictured him in the books. This was also my favorite directing. Too bad D&D can’t direct all of the episodes.
The fight at the inn was one of the best chapters in the books & the adaptation was the best scene. The guy who played Polliver was excellent. Finally they showed the Riverlands burning, and it looked fantastic.
Maybe people should start badgering Rory on whether he’s dead or coming back.
Will he answer so definitively as Kit has?
This was easily the best of the premiere episodes. Just from the opening with Tywin watching over the forging of the Valyrian steel swords, to that old fashioned, western showdown at the saloon. Rory and Maisie are note perfect and they found a rhythm that still resonates. I love how Maisie just sits there the whole exchange with Polliver, but her reaction subtly shifting with the flow of the conversation. The acting she does with just her eyes is spectacular. And what else is there to say about the actual fight scene? Better than even the Oberyn v. Mountain scene, imo, right down to the punchline in the last show when both characters get what they want at the beginning of the scene: TheHound his chicken, and Arya her pony.
This might be the best episode in the series, from top to bottom, all the way from the cold open right through Ramen’s brilliant score playing during the credits.
Sean C.,
I feel like when they alter characters’ paths and timelines a bit so they deviate from the books, the result is either brilliant or flat/contradictory to a character as we know them.
My example here would be with Brienne’s presence in King’s Landing this season. While I enjoyed her interactions with the Tyrells and Cersei etc, it bothered me that Sansa was RIGHT THERE and Brienne made no attempt to contact her or show her moral support/comfort, or try to get her out of the capital. I can see she might have been trying to be reasonable, understanding the politics, Sansa is now Tyrion’s wife after all. But we don’t see that she’s appalled by the marriage or even simply tried to befriend Sansa.
All it would take is a line or mention that something or someone is preventing Brienne from making contact with Sansa, but they were both guests at the Purple Wedding. It surprises me how calmly Brienne acted at that event, when she was with the family who were behind the Starks’ slaughter.
Which brings me to one thing that bothered me most overall, where was Brienne’s grief over Catelyn’s death? She can be honest around Jaime at least, even if she was forced to be polite to the others at court.
Mr Fixit,
Completely agree. Sansa’s ”Agency” in the books is a joke. There is none.
She is a pawn being used by LF.
Her hardcore book fans, see ”agency” and character development where there is close to none, only because they want to see it.
This entire idea that Sansa will play ”the game” is a fantasy, that will die when Harry rapes her in the books and LF won’t give a damn.
Her story is in the north, not in the south.
Being bisexual is not a progressive.
Don’t know what people love so much about this episode, personally, I found it rather boring. It kind of felt like comedy was the main focus of this episode. Episode 2 was great though, and so was the rest of S4 (most of it anyways).
I loved the opening scene of this one though.
While I don’t agree the episode was boring, I do think the brilliant final scene influences judgement of this episode overall.
Contrast this with another episode which has a standout scene – Hardhome – where even the non-Hardhome stuff was excellent, making it a brilliant overall episode rather than a solid episode with a brilliant scene (which I think is true of Two Swords).
Ross,
The fight in the end was alright, but when the credits rolled I was thirsting for more not because of how good the episode was, but because of how disappointed I was (I needed a new, better episode because this one left me unsatisfied). 501 “The Wars to Come” is still the best season premiere imho (aside from “Winter is Coming” of course).
I agree. While Two Swords is by far my favorite premiere, it is not in my top 10. It is still my second favorite 9rated episode, preceeded by 13 10-rated episodes (5 season 4 episodes among them) and Second Sons, and follwed by The Gift.
The scenes that I really enjoyed were the intro, Oberyn’s introduction and final fight scene (which exceeded my expectations)
This is one of my favorite premiers…my other favorites are Season 1 episode 1 which this one ties with and Season 5 episode 1.
Testing=time. Is everyone’s time stamp on their comments accurate, or does anyone have an hour difference.
I don’t like GRRM’s Sansa plot either.