Generally I think Benioff and Weiss handle this very well, but occasionally it seems as though we’re flitting from place to place without getting a real purchase on the characters we’ve just left behind.
The brief scene between Arya and Gendry on the other hand was beautifully done, and I would happily watch more of Joe Dempsie and Maisie Williams sparring in a “not quite brother and sister” rough-and-tumble way.įinally how does everyone feel about the cuts between scenes? There’s a lot of information to get through every week and an increasingly large number of people to meet. I’m not sure whether Gillen doesn’t have the measure of his character, or if the problem lies with the script, but at the moment Littlefinger seems to do far too much telling and not enough showing, to the detriment of his storylines. He lacks a certain charm as Littlefinger – odd in itself given that Gillen is usually a very charming actor – and the scene with Ros was a slow moment in an otherwise well-paced episode. Talking of things I’m not sure about, Aidan Gillen’s performance is increasingly one of them. I’m intrigued to see what the response is to the final scene between Stannis and Melisandre – I found it added an interesting twist that raised questions about Melisandre’s motivation but I wonder if everyone will see it the same way. Liam Cunningham continues to shine as Davos, whose rough-hewn honesty makes him among the more likeable characters on this show, and there was also a nice scene-stealing turn from stage actor Lucian Msmati as the pirate Salladhor Saan. We lost some of Theon’s sense of shock when Yara’s real identity was revealed. That said, I would have liked more of the initial meeting between Yara and Theon and less of Theon’s bullying sex with the captain’s unfortunately toothed daughter. Patrick Malahide was all malevolent power as Balon, stripping poor Theon of his swagger in minutes, while Gemma Whelan gave Yara both tomboy sex appeal and believable strength. Still if Pyke wasn’t as grey and rain-lashed as I was hoping, the casting of Theon’s father Balon and sister Yara (renamed from the books) was spot on. Dragonstone was suitably stark yet majestic last week, and with this episode we headed to the Iron Islands, which were not quite bleak enough for my tastes, although that might be because they are filmed in a part of Ireland I know extremely well. I know it’s a little bit geeky – OK, a lot geeky – but I get very excited each time we’re introduced to a new bit of Westeros. Extra points too for John Bradley who makes goofy Sam a real boy in an unreal situation and one whose views (“I know it sounds a bit mad but…”) while dangerously naïve are also morally correct. I’ve sung Kit Harrington’s praises before and he was strong again this week – Jon, who can come across as something of a cipher, is not an easy role but he makes it look effortless.
The atmospheric scenes beyond the Wall are especially adept at showing us Jon’s predicament as he finds himself caught between adolescence and leadership.
GAME OF THRONES SEASON 2 EPISODE 1 STREAM SERIES
The entire series is predicated on the nature of sacrifice: what leads people to die for others, and the consequences of those decisions – as Dany also discovered this week. If ever there was a phrase to sum up Game of Thrones this statement from Jon Snow was it. “You want us to risk our lives for you and you won’t even tell us why” The ever slippery Varys was quick to remind him that “friends are such an important part of life”, while a telling conversation with Bronn about last week’s massacre of the innocents demonstrated that just because you own a monster, it doesn’t make them any less monstrous. That’s not to say that Tyrion’s position is secure. It is sure to be the first of many bitter skirmishes.
But everyone’s favourite wise-cracker grew steadily in stature throughout the episode: ably dispatching the Gold Watch commander Janos Slynt and handing the job to his own man, Bronn, before seeing off his sister. A slightly shaky start saw Tyrion allow the schemers of small council to glimpse his true feelings after he supported Commander Mormont’s request for more men on the Wall.
“I am not Ned Stark, I understand how this game is played” For the purposes of this blog we are also going to (hopefully) avoid book spoilers as well. Spoiler alert: Don’t read on unless you have watched the second episode of Game of Thrones season two: HBO, Sunday 8 April, 9pm ET Sky Atlantic, Monday 9 April, 9pm BST.
0 kommentar(er)
