Game of Thrones, Season 3, episode 9
Jun. 3rd, 2013 09:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
marinessAnd on a happier note, Episode 9 of Season 3 of Game of Thrones!
So, that happened. And other things!
1. Maybe it was just me, but Dany's bit at Yunkai seemed particularly disjointed and cut off this episode. I understand it why was there – given the other two storylines, we had to have something to cheer for and a reason for viewers to tune in next week, and Sam and Gilly, however adorable, were just not going to be enough because given the other two storylines, viewers would just assume those two are going to end up impaled. Or having their livers torn out by eagles. Whichever.
Anyway. Nothing wrong with the Yunkai storyline, and the bit where Daario, Grey Worm and Jorah were surrounded by ever incoming hordes of soldiers was pretty awesome, and anything that keeps Jorah on my screen and more importantly, talking (I just love that actor's voice) is a good thing. (I am coming to the conclusion that he's the hottest man on the show, although I will freely admit that's a debatable point.) Just it hardly seemed connected to the rest of the show, although it did lead to several viewers shrieking for dragons to show up and burn down all of the Lannisters. GO DRAGONS!
2. Speaking of Sam and Gilly, that was all very cute, but since it happened early in the episode, it was kinda buried, wasn't it? The only reaction I saw about that was from viewers upset that Gilly's baby is not wearing a hat and is going to catch cold. Given everything else that's happening to everyone else on this show I'm not sure that the common cold should be anyone's concern, but those viewers have a point. Winter is coming!
3. My brother didn't watch the episode with me this time around (although we might rewatch it tonight) but I can already give you his reaction: "JOFFREY'S NOT DEAD YET." (This has been the reaction for some time. He's read the books, but just thinks that bit needs to be sped up.)
4. Oddly, given that I knew what would be happening, and what did happen, the part that I found most gripping/suspenseful was the not-exactly-a-meetup between Bran and co and Jon and the wildings. Partly because I figured that here was one place where HBO just might alter the script. Jon's book story works better if he thinks that Bran and Rickon are dead – he has no reason to take Stannis' offer of Winterfell if he knows Rickon is alive – but while I certainly expect Stannis to make an appearance at the Wall, I don't know if the Lord of Winterfell offer will be made to Jon or not. It doesn't have to be, although since this show never loses an opportunity to allow Jon to be Very Emo it probably won't be. Anyway. I more thought that perhaps Jon would end up remaining with the wildings all the way up til Castle Black, or get taken prisoner by them again, just as he'd seen his brothers' direwolves. So I spent those scenes gripping my fists.
Adding to the tension was some excellent acting from everyone else when Bran warged into Hodor; the shock on their faces was incredibly well done. And for once, I didn't find Osha that annoying. (I like the character in the books. On the show – I get why Natalia Tena is playing her that way; Osha is supposed to be recovering from an incredibly traumatic event – but I find the way she walks and holds her head distracting, especially since we have Ygritte and Gilly as counterexamples.) And they gave Rickon some lines, yay! Though it's interesting that no one wondered if little Rickon could also go into his wolf; this is an older Rickon, who could have helped out, and a Rickon who has had wolf dreams.
The warg versus warg bit turned out to be surprisingly well done, even with me saying, No, Eagle! Leave the pretty face alone! It's Jon's best quality!
Poor Ygritte.
And now for the main show...
5. Arguably the most heartbreaking moment for me was the bit with Grey Wind. I can understand for production reasons why Grey Wind spent the episode caged instead of killing four men and then getting killed, but watching him howl in his little cage as the archers showed up....sniffle. And even knowing it was just a CGI wolf didn't help when Grey Wind closed his eyes.
6. Poor Arya.
7. So, I'm guessing that Jayne Westerling is most definitely, positively not pregnant. I had already assumed that, given the length of time between her last meeting with Robb and her later meeting with Jaime and her mother's insistence that steps had been taken. Still, internet rumor that Jaime had met a different Jeyne or that Jeyne was concealing a pregnancy kept going. This should end that – if Jeyne was pregnant, Talisa would have left the hall with the Blackfish. She didn't.
Despite her death, I still think there's a chance that Talisa was originally working for the Lannisters; a few scenes here and there from her seemed to suggest that, and it would make sense for Bolton and Tywin to want her killed before she could let people know that. I don't suppose we'll ever find out for certain, but I think I'll be continuing to read the show that way. Otherwise, it just makes both Talisa and Robb look worse. But if Talisa is a spy who seized the opportunity to seduce Robb, and then died for it...yeah, I like that story a bit better than "adult, not 16 year old, healer and pacifist marries the guy who invaded the Riverlands on a revenge kick even though he was engaged to someone else," especially since they left out the whole bit that the Robb seduction only happened because he was wracked by grief over the belief that his little brothers were dead.
8. I don't know why I found the decision to have Caitlyn kill Lady Frey instead of Jinglebell more disturbing. It doesn't really change the narrative either way – well, actually, I guess it might. Jinglebell is a true innocent, and Walder Frey really has no reason to keep him alive other than entertainment purposes, just adding to the futility/tragedy of that bit.
Lady Frey is young, but unlike Jinglebell, aware of what is happening. Yes, she was hiding beneath the table, which could be taken many ways, I suppose, but still, she probably had a good guess about what was going on, and went under the table because she was intelligent enough to realize that a stray arrow could hit her or that one of Robb's men could rush up to the table and try to attack her and Lord Frey. Or she just didn't want to watch. All understandable. And she may not have known what was about to happen. If she did know, I'm kinda surprised that she didn't leave with the bedding, although perhaps Lord Frey told her to stay, and she knew she had to obey him. If she did....well.
She certainly knew that Lord Frey was not going to make any attempt to save her, though. Gulp.
I also have to say that I have less confidence in Lord Frey's ability to find a tenth wife. Sure, up until now various small houses have been more than willing to sacrifice a daughter for an alliance with the Freys (although his first few wives didn't face the same age gap) but perhaps less so now.
8. Massive kudos to Michelle Fairley for her performance in that final scene, and the way she made her entire face change with grief and shock. She was almost unrecognizable, and the way she begged for Robb's life and then had to watch him die....it was a scene made by her performance.
9. The Twitter reaction to this has been hilarious and inspired several great quips.
So, bye Robb! On the bright side, you won't be consumed by dragons.
So, that happened. And other things!
1. Maybe it was just me, but Dany's bit at Yunkai seemed particularly disjointed and cut off this episode. I understand it why was there – given the other two storylines, we had to have something to cheer for and a reason for viewers to tune in next week, and Sam and Gilly, however adorable, were just not going to be enough because given the other two storylines, viewers would just assume those two are going to end up impaled. Or having their livers torn out by eagles. Whichever.
Anyway. Nothing wrong with the Yunkai storyline, and the bit where Daario, Grey Worm and Jorah were surrounded by ever incoming hordes of soldiers was pretty awesome, and anything that keeps Jorah on my screen and more importantly, talking (I just love that actor's voice) is a good thing. (I am coming to the conclusion that he's the hottest man on the show, although I will freely admit that's a debatable point.) Just it hardly seemed connected to the rest of the show, although it did lead to several viewers shrieking for dragons to show up and burn down all of the Lannisters. GO DRAGONS!
2. Speaking of Sam and Gilly, that was all very cute, but since it happened early in the episode, it was kinda buried, wasn't it? The only reaction I saw about that was from viewers upset that Gilly's baby is not wearing a hat and is going to catch cold. Given everything else that's happening to everyone else on this show I'm not sure that the common cold should be anyone's concern, but those viewers have a point. Winter is coming!
3. My brother didn't watch the episode with me this time around (although we might rewatch it tonight) but I can already give you his reaction: "JOFFREY'S NOT DEAD YET." (This has been the reaction for some time. He's read the books, but just thinks that bit needs to be sped up.)
4. Oddly, given that I knew what would be happening, and what did happen, the part that I found most gripping/suspenseful was the not-exactly-a-meetup between Bran and co and Jon and the wildings. Partly because I figured that here was one place where HBO just might alter the script. Jon's book story works better if he thinks that Bran and Rickon are dead – he has no reason to take Stannis' offer of Winterfell if he knows Rickon is alive – but while I certainly expect Stannis to make an appearance at the Wall, I don't know if the Lord of Winterfell offer will be made to Jon or not. It doesn't have to be, although since this show never loses an opportunity to allow Jon to be Very Emo it probably won't be. Anyway. I more thought that perhaps Jon would end up remaining with the wildings all the way up til Castle Black, or get taken prisoner by them again, just as he'd seen his brothers' direwolves. So I spent those scenes gripping my fists.
Adding to the tension was some excellent acting from everyone else when Bran warged into Hodor; the shock on their faces was incredibly well done. And for once, I didn't find Osha that annoying. (I like the character in the books. On the show – I get why Natalia Tena is playing her that way; Osha is supposed to be recovering from an incredibly traumatic event – but I find the way she walks and holds her head distracting, especially since we have Ygritte and Gilly as counterexamples.) And they gave Rickon some lines, yay! Though it's interesting that no one wondered if little Rickon could also go into his wolf; this is an older Rickon, who could have helped out, and a Rickon who has had wolf dreams.
The warg versus warg bit turned out to be surprisingly well done, even with me saying, No, Eagle! Leave the pretty face alone! It's Jon's best quality!
Poor Ygritte.
And now for the main show...
5. Arguably the most heartbreaking moment for me was the bit with Grey Wind. I can understand for production reasons why Grey Wind spent the episode caged instead of killing four men and then getting killed, but watching him howl in his little cage as the archers showed up....sniffle. And even knowing it was just a CGI wolf didn't help when Grey Wind closed his eyes.
6. Poor Arya.
7. So, I'm guessing that Jayne Westerling is most definitely, positively not pregnant. I had already assumed that, given the length of time between her last meeting with Robb and her later meeting with Jaime and her mother's insistence that steps had been taken. Still, internet rumor that Jaime had met a different Jeyne or that Jeyne was concealing a pregnancy kept going. This should end that – if Jeyne was pregnant, Talisa would have left the hall with the Blackfish. She didn't.
Despite her death, I still think there's a chance that Talisa was originally working for the Lannisters; a few scenes here and there from her seemed to suggest that, and it would make sense for Bolton and Tywin to want her killed before she could let people know that. I don't suppose we'll ever find out for certain, but I think I'll be continuing to read the show that way. Otherwise, it just makes both Talisa and Robb look worse. But if Talisa is a spy who seized the opportunity to seduce Robb, and then died for it...yeah, I like that story a bit better than "adult, not 16 year old, healer and pacifist marries the guy who invaded the Riverlands on a revenge kick even though he was engaged to someone else," especially since they left out the whole bit that the Robb seduction only happened because he was wracked by grief over the belief that his little brothers were dead.
8. I don't know why I found the decision to have Caitlyn kill Lady Frey instead of Jinglebell more disturbing. It doesn't really change the narrative either way – well, actually, I guess it might. Jinglebell is a true innocent, and Walder Frey really has no reason to keep him alive other than entertainment purposes, just adding to the futility/tragedy of that bit.
Lady Frey is young, but unlike Jinglebell, aware of what is happening. Yes, she was hiding beneath the table, which could be taken many ways, I suppose, but still, she probably had a good guess about what was going on, and went under the table because she was intelligent enough to realize that a stray arrow could hit her or that one of Robb's men could rush up to the table and try to attack her and Lord Frey. Or she just didn't want to watch. All understandable. And she may not have known what was about to happen. If she did know, I'm kinda surprised that she didn't leave with the bedding, although perhaps Lord Frey told her to stay, and she knew she had to obey him. If she did....well.
She certainly knew that Lord Frey was not going to make any attempt to save her, though. Gulp.
I also have to say that I have less confidence in Lord Frey's ability to find a tenth wife. Sure, up until now various small houses have been more than willing to sacrifice a daughter for an alliance with the Freys (although his first few wives didn't face the same age gap) but perhaps less so now.
8. Massive kudos to Michelle Fairley for her performance in that final scene, and the way she made her entire face change with grief and shock. She was almost unrecognizable, and the way she begged for Robb's life and then had to watch him die....it was a scene made by her performance.
9. The Twitter reaction to this has been hilarious and inspired several great quips.
So, bye Robb! On the bright side, you won't be consumed by dragons.