Eddard’s arrival in Kings Landing has far more revelations for him than he could have ever expected.
What They Say:
Jon impresses Tyrion at Castle Black; Ned confronts his past and future at King’s Landing; Daenerys finds herself at odds with Viserys.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
After some decidedly difficult material in the previous episode, particularly for the daughters of Stark who had lost much because of political issues, A Game Of Thrones rolls right into more difficult material here, though primarily for Eddard. His arrival in Kings Landing as the Kings Hand has put him in a difficult and unwelcome position, one that he’s essentially had no choice about even though his wife believes otherwise. There’s an interesting weariness about Eddard as he arrives here, but a determination to do what must be done. He ruffles feathers right from the start, not changing from the dusty clothes he’s worn from the journey, to meet the others who make up the small council that runs the day to day affairs of the kingdom.
The revelations made here aren’t exactly surprising, but Eddard’s reactions are welcome. With him there to right the ship as it were, discovering that the King has been borrowing money and spending it on frivolities without thinking of the consequences has him angry, though it’s something he needs to take directly to Robert. The fact that Robert wants to hold a significant tournament event for Eddard’s arrival, one that will cost a sizable sum when there really isn’t money to be had, pushes all of Eddard’s wrong buttons since he’s long spent time running Winterfell properly and without these kinds of issues, even in the hardest of times. It’s definitely appealing to see him intending to push back against Robert, something the others have wanted to do but were never in a position to do so.
There’s a lot to like with Eddard now that he’s in Kings Landing beyond that. He has a rather perfect meeting with Lannister where there’s some very engaging verbal sparring that goes on between the two that really lets you know that while Eddard may look the rough and and not as refined as others in Kings Landing, but he has a lot of cunning to him and knows exactly what it is that makes a person. There’s a keen sense of grasping who people are and seeing it quickly. In fact, there’s a great sequence where he sees his daughter Arya, who was given a small sword by Jon, using it and realizes that she has a natural talent for it. More than a talent, but potentially even a gift, though they avoid making her an expert out of the gate. There’s something beautiful in watching her first lesson as she really takes to it but still takes quite a few hits.
One of my favorite story lines running through this episode focused on Jon though, as he has made it to The Wall and has started training with everyone else. It’s amusing how part of it works since he’s rather skilled compared to most of the other new and somewhat recent arrivals, but most of those there are criminals and the like, not trained from birth to handle a sword and it makes him arrogant and frustrated. There’s a lot to like here, especially with my favorite character in Tyrion, as we see how this whole operation works, the fears that the older warriors there have and the real bonds that must be formed there. Jon really comes across well here as he gets the real meaning of it over time, especially from Tyrion of all people, and it really cements him there. This character has a whole lot of potential for a lot of reasons, and this arc is one that’s appealing simply because of where it takes place with all the meaning that it has. And that you know this is where everything could and will spill over from.
The Dothraki segment of the episode is another very intriguing part because of seeing the real evolution of Daenerys as her marriage to Drogo brings many more changes to her personality. Or, more accurately, the person she is inside is finding her footing and making her mark very clearly. The time spent with the Dothraki and the men and women there really shows her a world she hasn’t seen before, and the cues she takes has given her a spine and she’s learning so much of their language. With the others in the group seeing these changes, the Dothraki are warming up significantly to her. Because of her developing relationship with Drogo, exercising some power of him, it’s carrying over elsewhere into her life as well, which is something her brother never expected. The way their relationship changes as he realizes he doesn’t have the completely control over her like he used to is a beautiful and powerful moment for her, and a dangerous one because he’s not a man to take that well at all.
In Summary:
A Game Of Thrones doesn’t have much in the way of action this time around, but it has a lot of tense moments to it that does put you on edge. The verbal sparring is a delight to watch, particu-larly coming from Eddard since he can back it up in a few different ways. His role as the Kings Hand definitely adds a new twist to things and it’s putting him in a position to deal with a lot of big picture things, but also on a very personal level. With the breadth of his family spread out as well, it lets a lot of plots connect in ways that would not have been so easily done otherwise. While this episode is largely about moving the various storylines forward through dialogue and small chess style moves, it’s very engaging and can be thrilling watching certain ones advance in unexpected ways. This series continues to surprise and delight.
Grade: B+
