A Dance with Dragons

Yep, I finally got around to finishing A Dance with Dragons. And, to my astonishment, it was actually pretty damn good! It helped that it was preceded by the Game of Thrones equivalent of a pile of poo (I'm sorry A Feast for Crows, but you just weren't that interesting). But, more seriously, I think that its quality was about comparable to A Clash of Kings in terms of cool stuff that happened and characterization that occurred.

Now, I'm definitely going to talk about this, but I wanted to point out that I'm going to do two things with this review. First off, I am going to review it by viewpoint character. Every character that gets a chapter will get some commentary from me about if he/she was interesting and how they went. The other thing is that I'm going to avoid major spoilers. I will share what I think of as “minor” spoilers (such as where the characters are and their general goals in the book), but events of crazy awesome will be at most hinted at, no more.

Without further ado, I present A Dance with Dragons!

.

Jon Snow

You're goddamn right, Jon's back, and he's more epic than ever. When we last saw Jon, he had near single-handedly taken the shittiest rangers in all the lands to beat back a Wildling army worthy of Mordor, long enough for one Stannis Baratheon to show up with all of his knights to lay the smackdown. Now in ADWD, we find Jon as Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, balancing carefully on a path between supporting Stannis' claim to the throne and preparing the Wall for the invasion of the Others.

Jon's chapters are freaking awesome. Through his station at the Wall, we see how difficult leadership can be and, by god, Jon is going to stick to his principles no matter what. He has always been an admirable guy like that, and that aspect of his character bleeds through especially strongly in ADWD. Watching him try to recruit the Wildlings to his side while placating the Night's Watch veterans while trying to retain Stannis' help while doing his best to stay out of the gargantuan war happening to the south of him while preparing to repel this fictional universe's equivalent of a Nazgul army... This is one shitty situation. Ancient Night's Watch fortresses are prepared, factions are approached for help, a lot of people tell Jon he knows nothing, and WHOA HOLD ON. Stuff actually happens in this book?? Thank you, George R.R. Martin!

.

Tyrion Lannister

Oh wait, this is the Feast for Crows shit that I remember. Yes, unfortunately the worst part of ADWD is that it somehow manages to make Tyrion Lannister chapters uninteresting. The sad part is that he starts out so well. Tyrion has just killed his father and escaped onto a ship heading to Daenerys is on. After a great deal of drinking and whoring, Tyrion decides that h should go find Dany and serve as an impish Machiavellian advisor, kicking her in the pants to go conquer Westeros with his help. Holy. Shit. Epic, right?

Then we get a truly grueling amount of chapters where Tyrion apparently decides to take the longest route possible to Dany. Seriously. This is a spoiler, but he never even really gets there. We meet some thoroughly uninteresting characters, a few that are really important, and then suffer through him learning how to entertain people with his dwarfishness. It's not all bad; he does start manipulating people like badass old Tyrion near the end. But most of it is one interminable trek after another where nothing of real note seems to happen. That and an enormous number of people giving him dwarf noogies (though this is awesome; it is apparently a tradition on this continent to rub a dwarf's head for good luck, and it happens a LOT).

.

Davos Seaworth

I've always been a huge fan of the Onion Knight. There's something about his character that is just really cool. He's like everyone's favorite uncle, if uncles were regularly faced with starvation and death. Davos never lets up, and his personality is so solid that you're able to see a lot of what happens in the series through how relaxing his chapters can feel.

Anyways, Davos is given a mission from Stannis. He is tasked to approach White Harbor, the wealthiest city and vassal of House Stark, as a diplomat and envoy in order to convince them to swear fealty to Stannis and ally together against the factions who betrayed Robb Stark (Lannisters, Freys, Boltons) and killed most of the Stark household. He is presented with a political situation so bizarre as to seem Shakespearean in the theatricality of it. Needless to say, it is awesome, and the results have a huge impact in what happens in ADWD. Yes! Things happen AGAIN! Oh, I love you so, George R.R. Martin!

.

Hawt

Daenerys Targaryen

Goddamnit! Yes, dear readers, it was a trap and, despite the sheer marvelousness of Dany in the previous few books, George R.R. Martin manages to make her a pain in the ass in this one. Now, let me clarify, it isn't that things don't happen in Dany's chapters that makes her irritating. It is the fact that the things that happen with her don't seem to really matter in the larger conflict, and the fact that she starts acting against her character.

We find Dany managing the city of Meereen and doing her best to be a benevolent queen. She rejects the slave trade, manages alliances with nearby cities, hires mercenaries, etc etc. But because it involves nations and factions that we don't know and who don't appear to have any relevance to anything happening on Westeros, I just lost interest after a while. It doesn't help that Dany starts to compromise and give in to pressure. That's right, the character most famous for being the uncompromising determinator starts to go back to being a scared little girl. Then she chooses to sleep with a thoroughly unlikable character, marry another, and generally be kind of stupid.

But it ends with her in a much better place than she was before, so there is hope that she'll do something useful when Tyrion shows up in the next book.

.

This pretty much sums up the weirdness of the average Bran chapter

Bran Stark

Bran Stark is one of those characters who I hated for a long time. From the moment he was crippled, I replaced the name “Bran” with “That-Interminable-Whiner-Cripple-Kid”. He just wouldn't shut up. And the references to his purported powers were so cryptic that I just couldn't care less.

Needless to say, this changes in a huge way in ADWD. I wanted more Bran chapters. A lot more. We encounter Bran where we left off, with him passing the Wall and going deep into the land of the Others, searching for the Children of the Forest. All I can say without spoiling more is that he finds the Others. And he finds the Children of the Forest. And a lot of awesome and weird shit happens that indicates that Bran might have the most important viewpoint of them all.

.

Arya Stark

I have to admit that I don't have much to say about Arya. While she was on Westeros, she was one of the coolest characters of them all. But in Braavos (a city in the middle of nowhere on the-continent-we-don't-care-about), Arya continues her assassin training surrounded by characters who aren't interesting who we don't give a second fiddle about. If you like this growth in her character, then you'll love her chapters in ADWD. But because I've read far too many books about training characters to become assassins, and because I have no connection to what is happening around her, I really don't care. I skimmed all of her chapters.

.

Asha Greyjoy

Our first new viewpoint character, Asha is the first and only Greyjoy we've met who is actually likable. She's a badass girl who grew up into a sexy, independent woman, all within the most grotesquely masculine culture since the Vikings. And she owns it. In ADWD, we find her within the occupied castle of Deepwood Motte (a Stark vassal located near the western shore by the Greyjoys). She gets the second hottest sex scene of the series. She weighs her chances, what with a hostile uncle now in charge back at home, takes her men, and decides what she wants to do.

She then joins up with another group and serves as a viewpoint character for the movements of one of the more important characters in the series. But I can't tell you who without spoiling things. Regardless, Asha has a lot go on with her point of view, and I found her a thoroughly enjoyable character to read about.

.

Quentyn Martell

Another new viewpoint character, Quentyn Martell is less interesting. An uncharismatic heir of House Martell, he is sent by his father to marry Daenerys. Unlike Tyrion, Quentyn actually makes it to Dany and presents her with an offer; if she will marry Quentyn, Dorne will give Dany the military that she needs in order to take Westeros. In exchange, Quentyn becomes king and Dorne the paramount House of the realm.

Dany's answer is for you to figure out when you read the book. As for Quentyn's character, I kind of liked him. I say it like that because he doesn't really have much to him. He isn't handsome, clever, or skilled in combat. What he is is dogged. He sticks to his guns. And his men listen to his orders, even though you can tell that they might not necessarily impress them too much. Quentyn isn't the most interesting character we've ever seen in the Game of Thrones series, but I found him fairly interesting on the whole.

.

Theon Greyjoy

Yes, Theon Greyjoy isn't dead. Some may groan at this revelation, but I thought it was pretty cool. The thing is that, even though Theon has always been rather annoying in his own way, he has changed. He is held captive by House Bolton (which is apparently the House for all of the creepy assholes of the realm). He has been thoroughly tortured and abused. He doesn't even identify himself as being a Greyjoy for a long time.

But he starts to become a better person. And this makes Theon perhaps the most deeply characterized person in the series, turning from arrogant douchebag into defeated trash into something more. On top of that, Theon manages to serve as a viewpoint character into the machinations of the Boltons, the Freys, and a bunch of other Houses besides. This made him one of the most interesting characters to read about and, on top of his characterization, made me genuinely hope that he turns out okay in the end.

.

Barristan Selmy

Barristan the Bold gets his own viewpoint chapters but, unlike aforementioned others, Barristan's kinda suck. For whatever reason, Barristan shifts from the wise old Gandalf-like father figure for Dany to that-one-old-guy who stands in the corner and never says anything. Even when Dany makes poor decisions, he never says a word unless prompted and, even then, he doesn't say much beyond, “Make queenly decisions so I can keep standing prettily.”

He does end up taking some initiative in the end but... Frankly, he spends most of it whining to himself about how “true knights only do things that are pure and righteous”. Which kind of drains some of the awesomeness out of the asskicking he delivers. For someone who seemed more than willing to provide his thoughts and act independently before he was made head of the 'Queensguard', Barristan the Bold seemed to turn rather timid.

.

Everyone Else

Victarion Greyjoy pulls a less interesting Tyrion. Spends most of the book traveling to Dany. Doesn't get there by the end.

Cersei Lannister has a small handful of rather interesting chapters where her back is against the wall and we actually, finally, see her overly prideful facade crack, revealing a character who we can actually care about who isn't a power-crazed harpy bitch.

Melisandre gets a chapter which is really cool. And everything that happens with her is really interesting new information. But she only gets a chapter, so her importance is fleeting.

Jaime Lannister gets a chapter where he dashes off with the only person he'd predictably dash off with.

Areo Hotah (the blandest character in the series whose only purpose is to give us eyes into what's happening in Dorne) shows us that Dorne is secretly planning some really epic and crazy shit.

And then, finally, a new character named Griff turns out to be someone who will shake up the world of Game of Thrones in an enormous way. Then he begins an invasion. Really cool stuff.

.

Conclusion

Altogether, I really enjoyed A Dance with Dragons and recommend it to those who enjoyed the series before A Feast for Crows. Yeah, Dany and Tyrion's chapters are a bit disappointing, but so much happens elsewhere that it didn't bug me that much. When/if other people read it, I'm looking forward to hearing some other thoughts out there!

Game of Thrones Season 2

by DionysusPsyche

I debated doing an episode-by-episode recap, but the head writer of the blog would've been disappointed that I took that from him, and also it would have been too disheartening a task for me to take on. Unless I videotaped the recap of me yelling at the screen, you really wouldn't get a lot out of it--and even still, I overestimate my credibility and importance when yelling at inanimate objects.

When I watched the first season of Game of Thrones, I hadn't read the series “A Song of Ice and Fire,” but I fell in love with the season propelling me straight into the novels. There I learned the more intricate lives of the characters I'd come to cherish while I waited with baited breath for the second season which was almost a year away at the time.

As I mentioned in one of my previous reviews, “the book is better” is a despised clichéd term avid fans use that makes me wince. Which is why I have a strategy of avoiding disappointment: to read books after movies, thereby circumventing any dissapointment when faced with quickening the pace, fragmenting information, and less character developed story lines. Everybody wins, and by everyone, I mean I do.

My sources that led me to Game of Thrones held the show in high acclaim. They respectfully pointed out the limited ways in which the two differentiated, coming to the conclusion that over all, the show did the books justice. Thus began my pledge to read as many of the books as I could get through before the next season. I also needed to clear up some inconsistencies between my confusion due to certain aspects of the plot/character development and my impatience waiting for the following season I decided to dive into the series. The first book is called Game of Thrones, and the television series is of the same name. The next book is Clash of Kings, followed by Storm of Swords, and fourth in line is Feast for Crows. There are more to come, but that's where I ended.

It's hard to explain how contrary Clash of Kings (book 2) is from the second season of Game of Thrones. I'll try to be as fair as possible. An improvement over the books is that the show cut a lot of extraneous back and forth where characters are on the map and a lot of the nobodies that were frankly going to die anyway are out.

A great example is Arya, who ends up traveling back and forth with loads of unimportant characters only to gain a new group who die or get captured. This happens every chapter of Arya's, and while she's one of the characters I consistently followed, this “didn't she just go there?” feeling gets old. The show takes all the fat and annoyance out of that by turning it into a more purposeful journey where she reaches the place where she needs to be and learns what she needs to know more quickly. Although they do cut out one of my favorite scenes with her which aggravated me to no end and her capture is less than exhilarating to say the least.

Tyrion never fails in any scene he's in and still proves his worth as the greatest, strongest character of the series. Across the board, his fandom spreads far and wide, and the show does a good job of portraying the predicament that he is in. He is Hand to the king. He initially doubts his capability to lead, but then sees a fortuitous advantage to keep his sister in one eye and his nephew, Joffrey the brat king, in the other. However, it's frightening considering the two former title holders died with it under the same family. His devotion to Shae is also put into question as Tyrion is equally intelligent and crafty as he is insecure in regards to his body. This also goes for his relationship with Bronn, his sellsword who is honest with him to a fault. Tyrion's motives often ride on money.

Tyrion's rise to the call, both in the city where the royal party is flogged and the wild fire scene where he inspires the troops, is very powerful. He is more than the sum of his parts. However, his battle wounds were not as horrifying as they could've been.

The Imp

Varys was wonderful as always, and while he was not in as many scenes as he initially was in the first season, he did prove useful and ever himself in each moment—especially those with Tyrion. They play better together than he did with Ned Stark and rightfully so.

Renly's episodes are almost exactly as I imagined them except for his night with Margaery—which was a welcome added scene to those at home not privy to the novel's ongoing gossip about the state of Margaery's innocence.

My unexpected grievance with the second season is Rob's untold, unwanted story of how he breaks his promise by marrying a woman he loves instead of the one he's betrothed to. This literally could've taken two scenes: one where the girl shows up and one where she leaves. It was surprising in the story, and I hoped that the episodes would focus more on the struggle between Rob and his mother, Catelyn, as opposed to Rob's love interest with a completely underwhelming, boring character. Seriously, if this was Buffy the Vampire Slayer, she would be Tara. Catelyn, by comparison, stepped up to the plate. The show has a much better Catelyn than the books do.

Why the hell is Petyr Baelish everywhere? I understand that he is important in his own way and stealthier than one would estimate, but he has a number of pop-up scenes where I was literally searching for the Star Trek Enterprise to randomly beam him in and out.

Cersei is not scathing enough. In the books, she invokes a “mirror, mirror” evil queen type, and in the show she is a catty and beady eyed popular girl who won't give you the time of day but talks to you anyway, which doesn't make any sense. She often brings down all barriers to reveal a vulnerability that shouldn't be there, at least not yet. They bring up too much of her emotional waters to further her character among those she is supposed to view as enemies to be destroyed. She does increase her volume of alcohol as she does in the novels, which was nice, I suppose.

On the bright side, her inner dialogue in the show is preferable to those in the books. The books make her and Catelyn's character almost interchangeable at times, and the softer side of Cersei is more prevalent--less rageful. So far.

 Sansa is still Sansa, and I'm glad for that. Her humiliation by Joffrey, her panic when becoming a woman, and her scenes with the Hound were too short lived, but sweet. They also add a scene by cutting out more middle men where she speaks to Little Finger. I will say this, of the surprises that I hope to see in third season, they are setting up some good plot spins in terms of her character. I just hope they don't drop the ball.

Daenerys's scenes are less exciting than in season one, and once more I find myself wanting to skip over them. There are a few select moments in the season finale that I enjoyed which I was informed were not in the book.

Theon Greyjoy met my expectations. Alfie Allen, the actor playing him, becomes Theon moreso than any actor playing any character in season 2, and of them all, he is the best written—except for possibly Joffrey. He was precisely what he was supposed to be—nothing more, nothing less. His sister was not what I imagined, but Theon himself is self-righteous, arrogant, and finally admits he belongs to neither world—he is not a Greyjoy and he is not a Stark. He has to make a name for himself, but that name means nothing.

Jon Snow may be beyond the wall, but he is nowhere near the man he needs to be. He might as well be a walking zombie for all the on screen performance he lacked. His meeting and subsequent capture by Ygritte, is less than thrilling, although the actress is beautiful. I am pleased that so far she doesn't yammer on like a parrot with her catch phrase, but I hope if they evolve Jon Snow into the man he is in the books.

I was pleased with the lady in red and Stannis's characters even if their scenes dragged. You can feel her dark power. Her femme fatale works, and her sinister side is both prominent and hidden at the right times. She is in control and has Stannis exactly where she wants him, which is a feat knowing Stannis.

The scenery that they shoot on location is always gorgeous, and does provide a lovely backdrop for the show.

Conclusion

While the season didn't thrill me over all, I still enjoyed many moments and will continue to watch as I am awaiting some of my favorite scenes. I recommend the novel over the show at this point, while the last time I reviewed the show, I was torn.

A Storm of Swords

A Storm of Swords is probably my favorite of all the A Song of Ice and Fire books that I’ve read. All of my favorite characters get their moments of glory, and so many climactic battles and events occur that the plot moves at a breakneck pace. I could talk endlessly about how influential and powerful events such as the Red Wedding and Mance Rayder’s attack on the Wall are on the overarching story. I could go off on exhaustive explanations and assessments of each great House’s power, influence, and general progress in the “Game of Thrones”. But, being me, I find the travails and complexity of the characters to be of the most interest.

Of them, I want to focus on the character of Oberyn Martell. While the amount of ‘screentime’ he gets would qualify him as a minor/secondary character, he nonetheless is one of my favorites of the entire series.

.

House Martell

Throughout the series up to this point, the reader knows that there are seven kingdoms in Westeros. All but one quickly become embroiled in the continental war that erupts. All but one: the kingdom of Dorne to the south. Of Dorne, all we know is that it is a land comparable to our North Africa or Middle East; it is a region sun-baked, containing the only deserts in Westeros, and full of a people as hot-blooded as the heavy heat perpetually shining down upon them. For reasons largely unknown to the reader, Dorne remains neutral for the majority of the series, choosing to stay put and watch events unfold. They align themselves with the Lannisters only when a royal marriage is made between their Houses. Yet, even then, their agenda remains hidden.

For, unlike any other House at this point, they do not commit any troops to support the side they claim to ally with. Instead they send Oberyn Martell to represent their nation before the court at King’s Landing.

.

The Red Viper

What makes Oberyn Martell such a memorable character is that he is the very first character we see of this kingdom, and his very presence serves to upset the political balance that many of the other Houses have striven to maintain. It is a bit complicated to explain, but sending Oberyn is equivalent to political dynamite; not only is he a controversial figure, but he has a history with one of the other Houses (the Tyrells) that immediately causes tensions to skyrocket when he arrives. Adding fuel to the fire is Oberyn’s incredibly forceful, dangerous, and mocking personality. He is fully aware of the stress he causes and he revels in it.
 
It is hard to convey how impressive and earthshaking it was to read of Oberyn’s arrival and the ramifications of his visit to King’s Landing. Where everyone else is busily scurrying about, playing political games, and trying to come out on top in the “Game of Thrones”, Oberyn comes out of nowhere with a supremely arrogant confidence and acts like he owns the place. Nobody else knows precisely what he will do or why he’s even there, and this only serves to add to his legend and mystique.

.

Prince of Dorne

The crowning moment of his influence to the series is his decision to serve as Tyrion’s champion in a duel with Ser Gregor Clegane, in an effort to avenge his sister’s death in a previous war. It is worth noting that, at this point in the series, the multi-faction war seems to be drawing to a close with the Lannisters victorious. The Starks are leaderless and scattered. The Tullys and Baratheons are drained of power and on the ropes. Everyone else seems aligned with the Lannisters. But when Oberyn dies, it seems clear that the war is not over. Everyone fears that the Martells will commit to one of the opposing factions and renew bloody war once more.

.

Conclusion

Though his time in the series is short, the superb writing and thought that went into The Red Viper’s character made him an incredibly compelling character for me. His decision to defend Tyrion for his own devices, his efforts to mess with the political balance of King’s Landing, and his epic duel with Gregor Clegane were insanely awesome. And the ramifications of his actions will likely influence the series for many books to come (I’ll have to keep an eye on this as I keep reading).

The one downside for me, however, is that, after Oberyn Martell, the introduction of other characters from the kingdom of Dorne will undoubtedly seem subdued and uninteresting by comparison. Showing the reader such an immensely charismatic and dominating heavy hitter from the start has the effect of making those who follow seem lessened. But time will tell; I still have two more books to go before I have to wait for George RR Martin to write more!

A Clash of Kings - Part 2

The Genesis of Arya Stark

For the longest time, I never thought much of the character of Arya Stark. It wasn’t that I actively disliked her or anything, it was more the fact that her character never seemed to do much that was exciting compared to the actions of other characters. Also contributing to this perspective was the fact that, in A Clash of Kings, she spends a great deal of her time in the company of whiny boys, serial killers, and the nastiest factions that the books can muster (Cleganes, Lannisters, the “Bloody Mummers”, and the Boltons). As a consequence, her chapters tended to feature accounts of atrocities, murder, and the least likable personalities/side characters you can think of.

But on this read through, I found myself reading into her chapters with far more depth and attention than I was before, appreciating her psychology and personality to a much greater extent. I already knew what would happen for the characters that I really liked; I wanted to focus on those characters who didn’t get quite as much time in my eyes. And, by the end of this book, I found that she is now one of my all-time favorite characters.

.

Arya Stark is easily the most adventurous of all the Stark children. When presented with the option of knitting or learning how to swordfight, she picks the sword any day. Though she can come off as a tomboy, it doesn’t define her character so much as her powerful desire to do what she wants, even if what she wants doesn’t correspond with what is expected of her in such a medieval era.

Perhaps most tellingly, Arya, more than anyone else in the series, is favorably compared to Lyanna Stark. I found this comparison to be very interesting. Lyanna receives more second-hand characterization than any other person in the series aside from Rhaegar Targaryen. She was a wilful and fiery beauty that many men fought over. King Robert Baratheon was betrothed to her before her death, and up until his own end he still pines after her as his “lost love”. Rhaegar himself crowned her as the Queen of Love and Beauty before kidnapping her and sparking the titanic rebellion that resulted in the Westeros we know in the present time.

From what we know of Lyanna, she was a wilder sort of girl who would sooner go horseback riding in the forests than knit embroidery, an extreme rarity in an era where women are expected to stay home and make babies. This is a mirror of Arya and her own personality; we learn as the book goes on that Arya is made of far sterner stuff than the average girl, echoing Lyanna’s own path through life.

.

But most of all, I found Arya’s approach to adversity to be heartbreakingly genuine. Here is a girl of ten years old who goes through more suffering than possibly any other character in the series. She is forced to watch her family ripped to shreds, her father killed, her sword trainer murdered... She is forced to go undercover as a recruit for the Night’s Watch before this new protector of hers is attacked and killed... She is captured by a faction of serial killers and rapists, required to serve as their servant girl, only for them to be replaced by a whole different kind of evil group that make her handle leeches or else face near certain death.

Despite all of this pain and difficulty, Arya manages to stay on top the only way she knows how. She stands up to it like one of the direwolves that adorn her House sigil. She refuses to back down or give in to fear. When needed, she stays quiet and keeps out of the way, but every fibre of her being struggles tenaciously to find a way to remain calm and escape. In doing so, she seizes upon the teachings of her sword master, the guidance her father gave her, and the determined recital of the names of those whom she would revenge herself upon.

Those scenes that spoke most powerfully to me were those where Arya goes to the godswood to try and keep it all together. Let there be no mistake; it is clear that Arya is, at heart, traumatized by her experience. By the end of the book, she looks at cold murder as something that is often necessary. When she goes to the godswood, she is haunted by memories of how good and peaceful things were before the war broke out. She wonders what has happened to the rest of her family and whether anyone else is even alive. Like anyone does in a time of turmoil, she questions herself before rallying and forcing herself to remain strong, no matter the cost.

.

Another aspect of her story that I found interesting as well as saddening was how everyone always fails her. Time and time again, Arya tries to find someone to help her. Syrio, Yoren, the Night’s Watch boys, Jaqen H’Ghar, Gendry. Every single time, they fail to give her the support she so desperately desires, so desperately needs. This gives impetus to the tragic, albeit necessary, change to her character that she has to embrace in order to endure. There are no friends for Arya, nobody who can help her. There is only survival and the sword.

Consequently, Arya has become one of the most interesting characters in the books for me, a girl with whom I’m very curious to see how she turns out and who I’m quite emotionally invested in. Wilful, genuine, youthful, and badass; Arya is one of the greatest characters I’ve encountered in storytelling.

A Clash of Kings - Part 1

Much like what I’ve been doing with the episodes of the Game of Thrones TV series, instead of a conventional review to this book, I’m going to talk about a few things/characters that especially piqued my interest. If you are looking for a general review, you’ll have to look somewhere else. A Clash of Kings, to me, is just as stunningly amazing as the previous book in its series. Thus it would be impossible for me to do a spoiler-free general review without it being one long sequence of endless gushing. On that note, do not read this if you have not yet read the book!

.

The Wavering of Theon Greyjoy

Theon Greyjoy is one of those characters who you just love to hate. Before rereading the books this time around, I remembered him as being one of the most frustrating characters to read about because I could recall always wishing I could punch him in the face. In the first book, we learn that he has lived with the Starks for most of his life, though he spent a part of his youth with his family, the Greyjoys, on the tough and merciless island keep of Pyke. In essence, he is the Starks’ political prisoner, punishment for the Greyjoys’ rebellion in the time before the events of the series. As a consequence, he never feels fully attached to the Starks, even though he is treated with the utmost courtesy and raised by Ned Stark as if he were one of his own children.

In A Clash of Kings, he is sent back to his windswept Viking-like archipelago of a home in order to try and call his original family to arms to support the Starks in the upcoming war. Instead, he finds that the Greyjoys wish instead to rebel once again and to raid and destroy the holdings of the Starks. Being the duplicitous little ass that he is, Theon seizes the moment to try and garner glory for himself, traitorously leading his own stealthy operation to seize Winterfell itself, capital city of the Starks. In the process, he shows the cruel rapaciousness the Greyjoys are known for, raping and butchering as many people as need be to hold the peace.

.

This background story that I just recounted shows how easy it is to loathe this character. I may as well add that Theon’s ego is off the charts, that his self-worth is so gargantuan that it leads him to make absurdly retarded blunders, and that his sexist nature is grating to the extreme. However, despite all of this negativity, I found myself very interested by a facet of his character that I had not noticed before: his conflicted loyalties.

Perhaps “loyalties” isn’t the correct word, as he clearly aligns himself with the Greyjoys. But it is definitely clear that Theon Greyjoy is in constant inner conflict. For here is a man who has no true home and no true people to call his own. Theon spends much of his time in the novel seeking that acceptance and approval. His is a neverending battle; he has to repeatedly question whether he is to act like the Greyjoys or the Starks; his choice is between the way of the Ironborn: rape, raids, and strength through fear, or the way of the Northmen: to be resolute, stern, and yet maintaining a quiet honor.

.

Thus does Theon become a tragic and thus sympathetic character in my eyes. Nowhere is this more clear than in how he treats his hostages at Winterfell. Theon rages about how they don’t understand that he has treated them as best as he can; he notes that any killings that have happened have been the bare minimum necessary to placate his men. However, this effort is doomed to failure. His captives view him with the loathing reserved for a traitor while his own men view him as a softie brought up in a weak foreign land. Theon seeks to satisfy his bloodthirsty family through bold acts of butchery while simultaneously attempting to treat his former people well.

Consequently, I found myself saddened when Theon’s plans fell apart and he lost more and more control, over the situation and of himself. While his maelstrom of insecurities aren’t a huge part of the series and have little relevance in the long run, I found him to be a well written character with more depth than his surface level savagery would suggest. I, for one, can only imagine how awful it would feel to feel loathed, homeless, and unable to completely align myself with one family or another. Theon Greyjoy demonstrates the nadir of what makes us human; through him we see what it is to be presented with a situation so conflicting that it brings one to confused despair. And I thought I’d make note of that here in an effort to defend the character and to point out that there is greater complexity to him than one might think.

Game of Thrones (TV) - Lord Snow

Arrogance Personified - Jaime Lannister

Next to Arya, my favorite casting thus far has been Jaime Lannister, incestuous brother of Cersei Lannister, Queen of Westeros. In the book, Jaime is the embodiment of confidence, favored son of the richest House of the realm. He is infamous for betraying the previous King (Aerys II) and personally killing him. Thus, among most everyone, he is known as the Kingslayer, a title that also speaks to his personal view on authority and the “game of thrones” mentality. Fact of the matter is that he could care less; Jaime’s opinion is that the whole world can burn so long as he can spend time with his sister.

This point of view is an oddly appealing one, which is one of the reasons why he is one of my favorite characters in the entire series. Where everyone else holds themselves to the standards and rules set by tradition and duty, Jaime strides through it all with a devil-may-care attitude. Where others do their best to seek influence and manipulate world events, Jaime just straight up doesn’t give a damn. This carefree manner is matched by legendary skill with the blade and a self-assured arrogance that can’t be topped by any other character in the entire series.

.

In the TV series, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau has managed to capture this personality perfectly. Although Jaime’s unique golden plate armor didn’t seem to make it in, he remains the most distinctive among the Kingsguard and, so far, the closest we have to a villain among the cast. But, as is also captured in the books, Jaime’s magnetic personality prevents us from hating him completely. And this is very necessary considering the character development he gets later in the series.

My only kinda-sorta criticism is that I don’t feel like Jaime’s character was quite as antagonistic in the books as he is in the TV series. Jaime making fun of Jon Snow’s choice to join the Night’s Watch for no particular reason comes to mind. As well as Jaime’s continual confrontational attitude with Eddard Stark. From what I remember, book-Jaime only challenged Ned once Tyrion was captured. By contrast, TV-Jaime seems like he’s looking for a fight with Ned with every conversation. In the end, this sort of change to Jaime’s character is largely irrelevant and doesn’t affect much, but I thought I’d make a note of it.

.

The King’s Small Council

This is the first episode to feature the King’s Small Council, the group of advisers and policy-makers who are essentially the government of Westeros when the king is busy. We see a great deal of them this episode as Ned Stark arrives at King’s Landing and gets used to his position as King’s Hand, which makes him effective chairman of the Small Council. Given their importance, the Small Council is populated by some of the most interesting characters of the entire series, which fueled my curiosity as I watched and compared their performances to the descriptions in the books.

.

First off, Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish. So far, I think I like Littlefinger’s casting (Aidan Gillen). Visually, he looks comparable to the description of the character within the book. And he appears to embody all that is manipulative and tricky, particularly seen in his interactions with Ned Stark and Varys. I would say that the only thing so far that I wish they had spent more time on is giving some background on his long unrequited love for Catelyn Stark. I say this because, so far, his affection for her seems pretty unbelievable; the problem is that the audience is merely told that Petyr loves her; you can’t really tell that from just watching (he appears to treat her pretty much the same as everyone else, just marginally more polite). Hopefully they treat this aspect of his character with more depth later.

.

Second, Varys the Eunuch. Varys is, like Littlefinger, visually cast well (Conleth Hill) and his character seems perfectly recognized. But I noticed that Varys’ character also has a piece missing; we aren’t told why everyone often seems disgusted and barely tolerant of his presence. In the books, this is because Varys acts the sniveling eunuch, which the other characters find distasteful and dishonorable. In the TV show, instead we see this polite and slightly eccentric bald guy get continually blown off and rudely treated for no understandable reason. Again, hopefully they point out why this is happening later.

Lastly, Grand Maester Pycelle and Renly Baratheon. These two get less attention this episode, so all I can say is that I expected Pycelle to be fatter and Renly to look more kingly (as he is often described as the spitting image of King Robert at his best). But I won’t judge them on looks alone and I look forward to seeing how their characters are treated later in the series.

And, finally, my favorite scene this episode...

.