Game of Thrones: The Pointy End

Game of Thrones does this really incredible thing every week in which things appear to be at their worst. It feels like at any moment the kettle is going to boil over and everything will burst into flames. The amazing thing is that it doesn’t. The scary thing is, is that it’s still going to get worst. It’s unrelenting. With this episode everyone is gearing up for war. The “green” Robb Stark is stepping up to the plate for his father’s honor, the Lannisters are eager to defend their title, the Dothraki have no choice but to follow Drogo across the sea, and it appears that an unholy army is massing north of the Wall. I’ve read the first two books in the series and all of this still excites the hell out of me.

Now that Friday Night Lights is over, Daenerys and Drogo are my new favorite power couple. Dany is a true ride-or-die chick who eats a horse’s heart (and keeps it down) to assimilate herself into her new husband’s culture. And, despite it being a brazen breaking with tradition, Drogo allows his wife to take the women of a fallen tribe and make them her slaves – instead of letting the Dothraki simply rape and kill them. To get his point across, he cuts a challenger’s throat open and pulls his tongue out. Dany may not approve this ultra-violent way of handling things, but by now she’s accepted it. The only way her child will assume power is if she asserts her own authority first.

Tyrion is back after taking a break with his BFF mercenary Bronn. Using his power of persuasion (and purse) Tyrion hires a troupe of savages to fight under the Lannister banner. Not only will they fight for House Lannister, they’ll fight under Tyrion’s command. This doesn’t sit well with Tyrion, who would rather drink and fuck while the world burns. What a motley crew that’s going to be. It’s interesting to see how Tyrion and Jaime act around their father, Tywin. Jaime seems a lot more on edge while Tyrion isn’t afraid to verbally spar with him.

Up at the Wall, Snow defends the Old Bear against a reanimated White Walker. They only way to put them down is fire, it seems. After news of Ned’s imprisonment, another bitch fight with his trainer, and a zombie attack, it’s been a rough episode for Snow. But despite it all, he can’t leave the Wall under penalty of death. Talk about feeling useless.

As Sansa continues to hold onto the naive dream of a happy marriage with Joffrey, Arya loses the most important man in her life besides her father. In one of the most heart-crushing (and badass) scenes yet, Syrio defends Arya from the Lannister swords, giving her time to escape into the castle. Then she stabbed a fat kid, ha! Having read the book I was prepared for this scene, but it still got me a little wet in the eyes. Watching Syrio take down heavily armored knights with only a wooden sword and his water dance provided a little reprieve from the heaviness of the scene. Its ambiguous end leaves some hope that Syrio was victorious and managed to flee. “Not today,” indeed.