Last night's episode of Game Of Thrones has to have been the most highly anticipated so far, as fans of the books knew what to expect and even those who hadn't read them couldn't have missed the great promotional work from HBO during the build up. War is indeed here, but did this fiery battle live up to expectations?
The answer is yes, and then some. For the first - and most likely only - time the narrative stays focused on only one location and group of characters. No seeing how Jon Snow fares with the Wildlings this week, it's all Kings Landing, all fire, all blood. We begin with the various Kings Landing characters preparing for Stannis Baratheon's invasion in their own unique ways. Tyrion seems to have accepted that he's going to have to step up and use some of his trademark smarts if he is to protect the city and its inhabitants. Bronn drinks and whores, much to the chagrin of Sandor "The Hound" Cleagne, who challenges the sellsword. The two share a great little moment - which is actually absent from the source novel, as these characters never converse at all - before the bells sound and they must go to battle. Joffrey seems excited about the whole thing and has Sansa kiss his new sword. The young Stark girl takes the opportunity to chide the dim-witted King a little before he leads his men into battle. She then joins the other women in the keep with Queen Cersei, who handles the situation by getting shit-faced on wine and making fun of Sansa.
On the other side of the city gates, Stannis' fleet approached led by Davos Seaworth. Unfortunately they see the trap laid by Tyrion too late and a flaming arrow courtesy of Bronn ignites the wildfire, decimating most of Stannis' ships, Davos and his son included. But unwilling to accept defeat, the stubborn Baratheon pushes his remaining men on, landing at Blackwater Bay for some sword-on sword action - which The Hound is only too happy to provide. Joffrey's enormous bodyguard literally hacks men to pieces, halves, quarters, and it looks like his ferocity is spurring the men to victory until the sight of the flames all around the bay bring back some childhood memories that even The Hound can't face and he retreats.
"[frick] this city, [frick] The King" - it seems Joffrey has lost his most formidable ally. Before Clegane leaves he stops by Sansa's room to see if she wants to accompany him. It seems the vicious Hound has a heart after all. At the frontline Tyrion steps up, delivering a great speech to rally the troops, culminating in - "
There are brave men knocking at our door, lets go kill them". Tyrion acquits himself well and wins the respect of the Lannister soldiers, that is until he is betrayed by Ser Meryn, who slashes the Dwarf's face almost in two. Tyrion fades just as his father arrives with Loras Tyrell to win the battle for The Lannisters.
Even with that I have not begun to cover everything that happens in this episode. There are so many brilliant moments that it's hard to choose one that stands out above the others. Character beats, dialogue, performances, action - every single aspect is top notch. It is also brilliantly directed by guest helmer Neil Marshal (
The Decent, Dog Soldiers) who is a notorious gore-hound, and it shows. This is probably the most bloody episode yet, and that is saying something. I have already mentioned The Hound's eviscerations, in addition we have swords through mouths, heads smashed by rocks, men burned alive, tops of heads sliced off - you name it. It also highlights what is so great about the show in general, because we actually don't know who we want to win. This isn't the battle of Helm's Deep from
Lord Of The Rings (although in execution it almost lives up to it) where it's the evil Orcs laying siege to our heroes. We obviously don't want anything to happen to Tyrion, but what about those he fights to protect? Likewise, although Stannis is a bit of a ruthless bastard, what about Davos? I knew what was going to happen and was still on the edge of my seat for pretty much the entire hour. Not only the best episode of
Game Of Thrones so far, but probably one of the best episodes of any tv show..ever! The production values alone would put some Hollywood "blockbusters" on notice. Seriously, if you are still not watching this show, what in seven Hells are you waiting for?