Well, wow. Just three episodes in, and this season of Game of Thrones has already taken extreme to a whole new level. (If you haven’t caught up with everything yet DO IT RIGHT NOW, and SPOILER ALERT, do NOT read the rest of the post.)
As per usual, the Lannister family is annoyingly vicious, but not all is well within the family. Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) came home to find Tywin (Charles Dance) wanting him to go back to Casterly Rock, Cersei (Lena Headey) rebuffing his attempts at incestous seduction, and Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) mocking his uncle/dad’s missing hand. But retribution for Joffrey’s disrespectful actions came early this season in what I like to say is “Joffrey getting what was coming to him.” (FINALLY!) But then Jamie raped Cersei in front of their dead son. Since airing, the scene has gotten quite a bit of backlash, and I have to say, it peeved me as well.
As someone who has read the books, this event creates a dilemma. In the episode, Cersei is begging him to stop. In the books, Cersei is urging him to keep going. By changing what happened, I’m concerned that the show is changing Jamie’s character. I’m hoping they don’t stray too far because Jamie’s transformation and growth throughout the series is a key part of the plot, and I want it to be right. Anyway, onto the next point.
We’ve been introduced to Oberyn Martell (Pedro Pascal), who was in town for Joffrey’s wedding, but it looks like Oberyn is visiting for something more. As Oberyn put it, “The Lannisters aren’t the only ones who pay their debts.” If you aren’t in love with Oberyn yet, give it time; you will be very soon. We haven’t seen enough of him yet though, so I hope they give him his chance to shine.
Sansa (Sophie Turner) is on a boat with Littlefinger, and Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) is in the dungeons. What’s to come of them? Only time will tell, and so we are left wondering.
The future is also unclear for those we left behind in last week’s episode, what with Jon Snow (Kit Harington) and the men at the Wall preparing for a Wilding attack, and Daenerys (Emilia Clarke), who is still traveling with her dragons and army to new cities and kicking butt. I have to say, I am falling for Daario Naharis (Michiel Huisman) and want to see more of him.
Last, but not least, there is Arya (Maisie Williams), who returned and proved herself to be one of the greatest characters ever written. Arya and The Hound (Rory McCann) headed off on their adventure post-Red Wedding, and little Arya showed that she could hold her own. She’s smart and tactful, but The Hound has a bad habit of ruining things, so it’s going to be interesting as they continue on their way.
For those of you who have read the books, you might be wondering how the rest of the season is going to play out in terms of following the books. I, for one, am a little nervous, but I can’t wait. The anticipation is killing me.
Featured image: HBO via The Hollywood Reporter
