*THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS*
'First of His Name' is another fantastic installment of Game of Thrones, now marking the midpoint of this excellent series. This episode finally gives us some answers, action, and scenes with sharply written dialogue from some of our favorite odd couples. The show once again manages to make a strong episode even lacking some of the best cast members (eg. Tyrion,Jaime).
We pick up on Tommen's coronation which sees Tywin consolidate his power over the realm, Cersei and Margaery realize that they have their Queenly ambitions in common. We see a more relatable side to Cersei this week, as her excellently scripted conversations with Oberyn and Margaery reveal a loving mother "just looking out for her children" side to her, a far more pleasant side to the Queen of Madness that we are used to, even though she does appear to admit her uncertainty of Tyrion's guilt, but want him gone anyway. Some hatreds die hard.
The scenes with Arya and the Hound provide sharp quotable dialogue as always, still an enjoyable pairing to watch, but at this point it would be welcome to see their story advance, without wanting to slip into Lord of the rings style scenes of endless walking.
Some less notable appearances this week go to Danaerys and Brienne. Brienne's scene gives us a little bit of character development for Pod, an always likable character, but not much more. Danaerys' scene this week just seems like stalling her storyline so that they can keep her in Essos until she is needed in Westeros, but the trailer for episode 6 appears to suggest that her storyline may be advancing quicker than we think (we shall have to wait and see).
It was very much appreciated this week to get some uninterrupted action, in a fantastic scene beyond the wall. We see the problem of Locke (sent by Roose to capture/kill Bran Stark) solved, by none other than Hodor, and a brilliant fight scene between the Night's Watch and its deserters, finally meaning that we can advance the Wall storyline to the Wildling threat once again. The fight between Jon and Karl starts off impressive and we fear for Jon's life given the rate Game of Thrones has for executing characters. But herein lies my only problem with the episode (why I gave it 9 stars), because Jon is saved by the "last second" cliché. Literally, the threat from Karl was too good, so one of Kraster's wives had to kill Karl in the very last second to save Jon Snow. Game of Thrones has always been unique in its realistic yet random killing off of main characters where nothing is expected. The last minute save kind of ruins this, and I hope they don't do it again. I'm not saying I wanted Jon to die, just to survive in a different way.
The best moments of the episode for me came in the Eyrie scenes with Littlefinger, Sansa, Lysa and Robin. We got answers finally! Who killed Jon Arryn? Lysa Arryn, she admits to Littlefinger, at the command of Littlefinger himself. This means that Littlefinger has been playing his own game and that most of the events at the beginning of the story, and perhaps many of them after it, have been his plan all along. Where does his plan end? What does he want? One answer only leads to more questions, and we will have to wait to find out.
Overall fantastic episode, with one clichéd flaw. But still entirely enjoyable with strong acting and dialogue as always.
9.5/10
'First of His Name' is another fantastic installment of Game of Thrones, now marking the midpoint of this excellent series. This episode finally gives us some answers, action, and scenes with sharply written dialogue from some of our favorite odd couples. The show once again manages to make a strong episode even lacking some of the best cast members (eg. Tyrion,Jaime).
We pick up on Tommen's coronation which sees Tywin consolidate his power over the realm, Cersei and Margaery realize that they have their Queenly ambitions in common. We see a more relatable side to Cersei this week, as her excellently scripted conversations with Oberyn and Margaery reveal a loving mother "just looking out for her children" side to her, a far more pleasant side to the Queen of Madness that we are used to, even though she does appear to admit her uncertainty of Tyrion's guilt, but want him gone anyway. Some hatreds die hard.
The scenes with Arya and the Hound provide sharp quotable dialogue as always, still an enjoyable pairing to watch, but at this point it would be welcome to see their story advance, without wanting to slip into Lord of the rings style scenes of endless walking.
Some less notable appearances this week go to Danaerys and Brienne. Brienne's scene gives us a little bit of character development for Pod, an always likable character, but not much more. Danaerys' scene this week just seems like stalling her storyline so that they can keep her in Essos until she is needed in Westeros, but the trailer for episode 6 appears to suggest that her storyline may be advancing quicker than we think (we shall have to wait and see).
It was very much appreciated this week to get some uninterrupted action, in a fantastic scene beyond the wall. We see the problem of Locke (sent by Roose to capture/kill Bran Stark) solved, by none other than Hodor, and a brilliant fight scene between the Night's Watch and its deserters, finally meaning that we can advance the Wall storyline to the Wildling threat once again. The fight between Jon and Karl starts off impressive and we fear for Jon's life given the rate Game of Thrones has for executing characters. But herein lies my only problem with the episode (why I gave it 9 stars), because Jon is saved by the "last second" cliché. Literally, the threat from Karl was too good, so one of Kraster's wives had to kill Karl in the very last second to save Jon Snow. Game of Thrones has always been unique in its realistic yet random killing off of main characters where nothing is expected. The last minute save kind of ruins this, and I hope they don't do it again. I'm not saying I wanted Jon to die, just to survive in a different way.
The best moments of the episode for me came in the Eyrie scenes with Littlefinger, Sansa, Lysa and Robin. We got answers finally! Who killed Jon Arryn? Lysa Arryn, she admits to Littlefinger, at the command of Littlefinger himself. This means that Littlefinger has been playing his own game and that most of the events at the beginning of the story, and perhaps many of them after it, have been his plan all along. Where does his plan end? What does he want? One answer only leads to more questions, and we will have to wait to find out.
Overall fantastic episode, with one clichéd flaw. But still entirely enjoyable with strong acting and dialogue as always.
9.5/10