I have been so excited for the second series of Game of Thrones it's unreal. I was as giddy as a schoolboy when I sat down to watch the first episode and the danger was that perhaps I was expecting too much. Would it experience second series syndrome? Would it spend too much time re-introducing us to the characters? Would there be too many storylines to keep track of? Happily, the answer to all of those questions is a resounding "no". GoT picks up right where the first series finished and if this episode is anything to go by, we're in for a very enjoyable (if all-too-brief) ten weeks.
We open in King's Landing and the celebrations for King Joffrey's Name Day are underway. Sandor "The Hound" Clegane (Rory McCann) bashes his way to victory over a hapless opponent with a gigantic mace and Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) is a dick to Sansa (Sophie Turner) as usual. The next bout is delayed when one of the knights is late because he has been drinking. Joffrey feigns pleasantries with the man, then has his guards drown him in wine. Sansa pleads with him and Joffrey agrees to have the buffoon serve as his new court fool instead. Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) then arrives, sarcastically praising Joffrey for running the kingdom while everyone else is at war and then chastises him for not being sympathetic to Sansa's having lost her father, having lost his own. Sansa cuts a meek and forlorn figure and Tyrion clearly feels for her.
At the Small Council meeting, Grand Maester Pycelle (Julian Glover) informs everyone that summer is drawing to a close. Lord Baelish (Aidan Gillen) says that they have enough wheat for five years of winter. Any longer and people will starve. Well, peasants will starve, the rich and powerful will carry on as usual. Janos Slynt (Dominic Carter), the commander of the City Watch complains that refugees are flooding into the capital and he lacks resources. Queen Cersei (Lena Headey) tells him to shut up and do his job. Tyrion's arrival doesn't improve her mood and her annoyance turns to outright fury when he shows Lord Varys (Conleth Hill) the letter from their father appointing him Hand of the King. After throwing everyone else out, Cersei complains that she has done nothing to warrant his appointment as Hand. Tyrion agrees: she did nothing to prevent Ned's execution. He then tells her that Lannisters and Starks are alike in one respect, and it's the best line of the episode: "You love your children, it's your one redeeming quality. That and your cheekbones." We have two Stark children, he continues, before she breaks the news to him that they lost Arya. From three Starks down to one, that doesn't bode well if they're to attempt a trade for Jaime. "It must be hard for you, to be the disappointing child", he finishes.
Back at Winterfell, Brann (Isaac Hempstead-Wright), who is acting as Lord in Robb's absence, is hearing requests from Lords. He hates doing it but Maester Luwin (Donald Sumpter) reminds him that it is his duty. In a dream, Bran rushes through a forest, pausing to look up at a comet with a bright red trail, before looking into a pool of water and seeing a dire wolf staring back at him. When he wakes up, he goes into the forest with Osha (Natalia Tena) to look for the pool. On the way, they talk about the comet. He has overheard some men say it's an omen that Robb will win a great victory. She replies that she has heard that the red means the Lannisters will win or that the red signifies blood to mark Ned's death. She believes that the comet means only one thing: dragons. Bran dismisses her, reminding her that the dragons are all dead and have been for centuries.
Yeah, not any more. On to Essos and the desolate Red Waste where Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) and her retinue are crossing the desert. They must go east and try and penetrate the desert because if they go any other direction, Dothraki or any number of unsavoury people will kill them and steal their dragons which are still only the size of parrots and too young to fight back. When the horse that Drogo gave her collapses and dies, Daenerys laments their lack of food and desperate situation. Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen) encourages her. "You must be their strength", he says. "As you are mine", she replies. Aaargh stop teasing the poor man and just jump him already! Instead, she summons her three best bloodriders and sends them to find the edge of the desert; one goes northeast, one goes east and one goes southeast. As the riders gallop off, she sees the comet travelling across the sky.
We pan down from the comet to north of the wall. The Night's Watch have arrived at their first destination: Craster's Keep. It is home to Craster (Robert Pugh), a foul and greedy wildling who marries his daughters and trades information for wine and weapons from the Night's Watch. Jon Snow (Kitt Harrington) wonders aloud what happens to his sons. I think we can all work that one out... Craster, who takes an immediate dislike to Jon, telling him that anyone south of The Wall is a "southerner" tells them that he's seen nothing of Jon's uncle, Benjen Stark, for years. In return for a barrel of wine, he tells them that the wildlings are heading north and joining up with Mance Rayder, the mythical "King-beyond-The-Wall". An ex-member of the Night's Watch, Lord Commander Jeor Mormont (James Cosmo) dismisses him as king of a frozen pond. Receiving a brand new axe next, Craster tells them that Rayder is gathering an army, one that will dwarf any southern army, one that has only one direction to go. Craster mocks Jeor for living with only men whilst he lives with only women. Yeah, but they're still your daughters you pervert. Outside, Jeor chastises Jon for being rude to their host and not following his lead, something he must learn if he is to be commander one day.
It's off to somewhere new next: the island fortress of Dragonstone, home of Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane), who is participating in a ritual on the beach with his eastern priestess, Melisandre of Asshai (Carice van Houten), who is burning effigies of the seven old gods in the name of the Lord of Light. Maester Cressen (Oliver Ford Davies) is outraged and tries to stop the ritual but neither Stannis nor his right-hand-man Davos Seaworth (Liam Cunningham) listen to him. Indeed, Stannis retrieves a flaming sword and finishes the ritual, taking a new god. Cressen tries to reason with Davos, telling him that he's surrounded by fools and fanatics who are leading him into a war he can't win. Davos replies that he serves Stannis and will do nothing. Back in the castle, Stannis is fine tuning a letter that will be sent far and wide across Westeros declaring that Robert's children are the product of incest between Cersei and Jaime and thus ineligible for the Iron Throne, making his claim for the throne known and calling upon people to declare their loyalties. By which he means to him, obviously. Davos advises working together with either Renly or Robb Stark to defeat the Lannisters but Stannis will not hear of it and he refuses to cooperate with anyone who does not support his claim to the throne. Cressen chooses this moment to offer Melisandre a cup of poisoned wine, gladly drinking from it first to try and take her with him. Smiling sweetly as he bleeds from every orifice, she downs the rest of the glass with no ill effect.
At his camp, Robb Stark (Richard Madden) pays a visit to Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) in his makeshift cell. Jaime tries to trick Robb into leaving him at a castle somewhere but Robb does not trust him. Jaime mocks Robb, calling him "boy". Robb replies that if the Kingslayer was beaten by a "boy", what does that say about him? As his dire wolf (by now a massive CGI beast that's three feet tall at the shoulder if it's an inch) pads in, Robb tells him that Stannis has sent letters across the land telling people that Jaime is Joffrey's father, not Robert. Jaime dismisses his claims but Robb says that it's the truth and the reason why his father was killed and his brother was nearly murdered twice. Turning on his heel, he leaves Jaime to shit himself as his dire wolf approaches. He closes his eyes but the beast doesn't touch him and has vanished when he opens them again.
Back in King's Landing, Tyrion is settling into his new quarters with Shae (Sibel Kekilli), telling her that she must be discreet. The Queen seeks out Baelish, telling him that she needs his help to find Arya Stark. She not-so-subtly reminds him about his love for Ned's sister and his duel with Ned's brother. He's even less subtle when he alludes to the rumours about Joffrey's parentage, telling her that knowledge is power. She has her guards seize him and hold a knife to his throat, telling him that power is power and asking him to take some time away from his whores to look for Arya.
In his tent, Robb is dictating his peace terms to one of Jaime's cousins: he wants his two sisters, his father's body, the body of every northerner who was killed and for the Lannisters to renounce their claims to the north, never to set foot in the north again, under penalty of death, adding that unlike Joffrey, he carries out his own executions. When everyone else files out, Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen) asks for a word. Robb teases him about calling him "Your Grace" when they are alone but Theon doesn't mind. He tells Robb that to take King's Landing, they need ships. His father has ships. Robb says that his father was a traitor and Theon points out that he was a northerner seeking freedom from the oppressive south, as Robb is doing now. Robb takes it to his mother, but Catelyn (Michelle Fairley) will hear nothing of it. She doesn't trust Lord Greyjoy and tells Robb that she has mothered more than rebels but Robb refuses to trade Jaime for his sisters. He asks her to ride south for him, to meet with Renly Baratheon and propose they work together against the Lannisters so that they can get the girls back. She agrees and tells him that his father would have been proud of him.
In the Throne Room, Joffrey is sprucing up the place. Cersei says that he needs to ask his grandfather to release some men to help search for Arya so that they can trade the sisters for Jaime. Joffrey notes that he's heard the story about Jaime being his father. She dismisses it but when he asks how many bastards his father has, she slaps him and the whole room goes quiet. Joffrey threatens his own mother and then sends her away. Ros (Esme Bianco) is giving Baelish's new recruits tips on how to be high-class whores to the rich and powerful when Slynt and the City Watch come marching in. His men search the rooms and one of them drags out a woman carrying a baby. The man accompanying them gives the mother and child a once over and nods to Slynt, who signals to his men. One of them takes the baby and draws his knife but cannot do any more, forcing Slynt to kill the bastard himself. All across the capital, members of the City Watch are murdering Robert's bastards. Can Joffrey get any more evil? Slynt tortures the blacksmith, Tobho Mott (Andrew Wilde), seeking the whereabouts of Gendry. He tells him that Gendry joined the Night's Watch and is currently travelling north. Indeed he is. Gendry (Joe Dempsie) hops up onto a cart alongside Arya (Maisie Williams) and the episode ends.
Oh Game of Thrones, how I have missed you. A great episode that surely puts to rest any fears that the series wouldn't be as good this time round or would lose its way without the figurehead that was Sean Bean's Ned Stark. Characters old and new are stepping up and filling the void that he left. Noble Robb, cruel Joffrey, mysterious Melisandre and fan-favourite Daenerys all stand out but the episode is stolen once again by Peter Dinklage. Dragons and dire wolves, magic, new gods and comets signal that the series is beginning to move away from being standard mediaeval fare to include more traditional elements of fantasy fiction. I've never read the books so I don't know how far it goes but I trust it will be handled well. Roll on episode two!
A very good episode full of happy returns to old characters and warm welcomes to new ones.
8 out of 10.
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