The second season of Game Of Thrones has ended, and like many of the fans of the novels out there, I am absolutely brimming with excitement for the next season, because it will finally get to many of the character developments fans of the series have been waiting to see depicted for a long time. Not to mention the glorious shaudenfreude we feel as we watch our non-book-reading friends and family become stunned and shocked at the twists and turns the story takes. There’s also the curious case of spending each episode guessing what will end up like what, who will do this like they did, or how this one thing looked in my head when I read it and holy-crap-that’s-just-what-I-imagined, or OH WOW THAT’S DIFFERENT DO I HATE IT? Of course it goes without saying, that for any non-book reading, solely show watching Game Of Thrones fans, that this might contain SPOILERS for future seasons, as talking about the books adaptation inevitably leads to talking about further character development, and future scenes yet to be filmed.
Once again, If you’ve not read the books, STOP READING HERE!
Now forgive me, because I’m doing a lot of this based off memory, as I’m currently wading through A Feast For Crows, and haven’t read A Clash Of Kings in a few months or so, and I’ve watched most of the new season’s episodes only twice. I’ll be going on a loosely episode by episode basis, for if I were to literally list every single difference this would turn into an absurdly long wiki article, so there’s a strong chance I might miss a detail here or there, and if I have, feel free to comment and call me a horrible human being. It’s what the internet is for.
Episode 1: The North Remembers.
To me, the most immediate change was that the episode clearly is reversing the order of events, showing Maester Cressen trying his assassination attempt on Melisandre after the symbolic burning of The Seven. The prologue in the book served to show how new, unique and alien Melisandre was, especially when his attempt on her life fails, and results in his own death. It portrays her as a very dark enigma, and a mystery to the reader early on. Granted the show did this as well, but the scenes were switched, and Stannis still comes off as an interesting new character, determined to take what he truly feels is his by right, blood relations be damned. We also meet Davos Seaworth for the first time, who despite only having 3 POV chapters in CoK, has arguably the three most important chapters in the book, as he witnesses directly many of the crucial events that shape the newly divided Westeros. In this manner, I’m a bit saddened that non-book readers don’t really have much of an idea of Davos, or who he even is in some cases, as he was one of my favorite characters from the book. Other smaller changes include the exclusion of Jojen and Meera Reed, who have effectively been replaced by Osha in the series. In the book, Jojen and Meera are two young adults who pledge to House Stark, and begin coaching Bran on his dreams, and what they truly mean.
Episode 2: The Night Lands.
The conversation between Cersei and Tyrion in the novel, touches on quite a few other subjects involving the tainting of King Roberts wine, the unceremonious firing of Ser Berristan and most notably touches on the fact that Kings Landing is beginning to starve since all trade routes are closed due to the war. The series eventually shows the fallout of the people becoming restless in a later episode, but not here. Meanwhile, at the Iron Islands, Theon gets groovy with some awful woman who begs to be his salt wife, and then proceeds to put his whole foot entirely in his mouth, and really lecherously hits on and gropes his unbeknownst to him at the time, sister. The series showed this, but boy howdy was it far, far worse in the book, as book Theon is quite a bit more of a bastard than show Theon. Then of course, there’s Daenerys Targaryen, who is trapped wandering the Red Waste, desperately searching for help with her now very tiny Khalasar. The show added the scene with one of her scout’s horses returning carrying it’s riders head. In the book, her dragons are also growing larger, as she notices they’ll only grow after eating cooked meat, whereas in the show, they’re still just above lizard sized. Arya’s story is also greatly sped up in pace in the show, as large sections of character development are skipped over, to get to the interesting scenes of interaction between her and Gendry. Jon’s story is mostly the same, with some exposition, mood setting and further character development excised.
Episode 3: What Is Dead May Never Die.
This is where the show takes a great leap forward, and just cuts out a rather boring and tedious subplot from the book concerning Shae and Tyrion. Throughout the book he is determined to hide her, and goes to great lengths to secure her safety, first hiding her in a mansion, then as a maid to a Red Keep noblewoman, then in A Storm of Swords, finally appoints her as Sansa’s maid, as at that time he is wed to Sansa, and it is the most reasonable way to keep her close. The show does us all a favor and just skips to Shae being Sansa’s maid. There’s also a great, entirely new scene between Cersei and Littlefinger, that shows the dynamics of power between the two, and portrays Cersei in a new and powerful light, but conversely also plays Littlefinger as a bit stupid and caught off guard. One aspect of the books that’s been almost entirely ignored up until now, is Bran’s dreams, and their significance. The show plays it far more subtle, which I can guess is to not alienate casual viewers from being thrown by one fantasy element too many, too quickly. Then there’s Renly, who in the book, is arguably not even gay (although Rainbow Guard? Cmon.), where show Renly is closeted as hell. This culminates in Margaery Tyrell trying to seduce Renly, then suggesting an incestuous three-way between herself, Renly and her brother, Ser Loras. Not a bad addition, as the actress who plays Margaery is gorgeous, has a nice rack, and plays her part of a conniving wannabe queen very well. Back at the Iron Islands, Show Theon is a much more sympathetic character, as he is much more troubled by the decision to warn Robb of his fathers impending attack on Winterfell, and even has a cool scene where he calls out his father for giving him up as hostage to the Starks years ago. It goes a long way to make Theon’s eventual betrayal all the more heartbreaking. Arya gets a new scene with Yoren, who tells her his own personal story of revenge, detailing how every night he spent recanting the name of those who had wronged him, which sets up Arya’s own list of names, which foreshadows Arya making her own long list of enemies to obsess over nightly. This scene wasn’t in the book, but was a great addition that gave character depth to both Yoren and Arya. Another small but notable change is that the Lannister bannermen in the book were led by Ser Gregor Clegane, who kills Lommy and takes Aryas’s group hostage with them. The show had Ser Amory Lorch do this instead, and be tricked into thinking that Lommy was Gendry, and that they had already killed the man they were looking for. This change while seemingly small, leads to one of the bigger divergences from the book, as Arya’s story becomes fairly different, as we’ll see in later episodes.
With all the twists and turns that Game of Thrones delivers us on a weekly basis, you would think that ‘Man, this has video game potential written all over it’. Actually, the massive of amounts of money and publicity should be the tip off that this has video game potential all over it. But more on my thoughts later in this article. Atlus is publishing the Game of Thrones RPG that which actually follow the GoT timeline and history. Now, whether the game is good…well, let’s show the trailer first.
Yeah, I don’t know but I am always skeptical of any video game adaptation from movies or games. I cannot even remember the last video game adaptation game I played and actually enjoyed. Goldeneye maybe? Riddick? And even then, those were movies. This is not only a television adaptation, but a book series adaptation. There is a lot riding on this and the right move was to make it an RPG. The way it seems, an extremely linear RPG is the best way of the go. You should not be able to deviate from the path other than different storylines to follow because again, you don’t want to mess with the GoT universe and change history like say, a Skyrim would or a Mass Effect. So we’ll see in June how this all goes down. Although, is it just me or does this look like a iPad game or the next Infinity Blade game. I feel if you were putting some dollars behind this game, it’d look a bit better than something I can download in 3 minutes. Or worse, maybe the budget isn’t there because they want the quick money grab. Something to ponder…
Things have picked up almost right where they left off in Westeros… except now there are a few different kings running around the lands culminating into the conflict that is known as the ‘War of the Five Kings’. If you’re wondering who the fifth is, you’ll find out soon enough as the show moves on. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s in the next episode to come.
Obviously…SPOILERS
Our first king is Joffrey who is just the same old little shit head throughout this first episode. He is reveling in his newfound rule and doing whatever he wants to despite his mother’s guiding hand. To complicate things for Joffrey and Cersei, Tyrion has arrived in King’s Landing to execute his father Tywin’s command to be Hand of the King in his absence. Although it was good to see Tyrion back in the show, there wasn’t a whole lot of time spent in the royal capital, which is where the majority of the action and intrigue will take place this season. The same could be said of Jon Snow and the Night’s Watch who are making their way beyond the wall to investigate what the Wildlings are up to. Besides Jon getting reprimanded by Commander Mormont not much happens aside from the character of Craster being introduced. He is the same piss pot many of us know and love from the books, having a pretty liberal brain-mouth filter due to knowing that the Night’s Watch needs him. Even though you know it won’t happen you can’t help but wish Jon Snow would just go and punch him in the mouth.
Robb Stark is still doing a good job of being a bad ass, as he confronts Jaime Lannister in his cell along with his dire wolf Grey Wind. That scene was probably one of the best as Robb set the direwolf loose on Jaime, and I have to commend the crew of Game of Thrones for making the dog look about as big as dire wolf is supposed to be. Robb’s strategy at this point while he is still winning is of course to gain some allies. Theon urges Robb to allow him to go to his father Balon on the Iron Islands, and convince to join with Robb, who sends his mother to the Storm Lands in order to ally with King Renly Baratheon who we don’t get to see in this episode.
The newest portion of the story involves Robert Baratheon’s other brother Stannis, who is portrayed as a very stoic and cold man just as he was in the book. Things with Stannis are black and white and by the book. He doesn’t mess around with words or people as we’ll find out through the season. More interesting is his current advisor in the form of Melisandre, played perfectly by Carice van Houten. Stannis has taken a new god, the Lord of Light, and Melisandre is his priestess. As you’ll see, many of Stannis’s followers aren’t too fond of her, including Maester Cressen who makes the ultimate sacrifice to no avail. Unlike Robb, Stannis doesn’t want or need any allies. His philosophy is “they’ll bend the knee or I’ll destroy them.”, and this includes his little brother Renly. The confrontation between the remaining two Baratheon brothers is something I can’t wait to see play out on screen.
This picture doesn’t really fit in here, but we wanted to use it anyhow.
Daenerys (along with Drogon.) had about six minutes of screen time and her remaining Khalasar is not doing too well. They are short on horses and there is barren wasteland aplenty, into which she sends her blood riders into in order to find a safe haven for them. I expect that the following episodes won’t be so broken up into so many pieces. The show may have to focus on two or three storylines at a time as all of the characters are so scattered at the moment. At one point, the author George R.R. Martin had to write two different books that took place concurrently because there were so many different characters in different locations. It will be interesting to see how they handle that on the show in future seasons. Regardless, this season is off to a great start thus far and looks to only get better from the looks of the preview at the end. Hopefully the next episode deals more with Arya who is still on the road with Yoren and Gendry because she had wayyyyyyyyyyy less screen time with Daenerys. I give the episode 4 out of 5 bears. Even though the whole episode was show of putting the pieces into place for us viewers, it was still excellent and the pay off will be even better starting next week.
George R.R. Martin is seriously going to destroy someone! After his newest book ‘A Dance With Dragons‘ was prematurely leaked over in Germany via Amazon, now he alleges that scripts from season 1 that were being auctioned for charity have been stolen! According to E!, the scripts for the 9th and 10th episodes of Game of Thrones Season 1 were shipped from Belfast safe and sound, but somewhere between there and the U.S. they were stolen! Here’s a little more from E!:
“The US post office delivered the envelope in a plastic baggie with a pre-printed note apologizing for the ‘damage.’ But this was no error in handling. The envelope was torn open at one end, and both scripts were gone,” Martin wrote over the weekend.
“I am convinced the scripts were stolen.”
In keeping with the epic nature of his massive Song of Ice and Fire series, Martin called for fans to take up arms for the Iron Throne keep an eye out for the missing scripts on auction sites and memorabilia shows. The scripts are for the ninth and tenth episodes and are signed by the screenwriter/producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, as well as director Alan Taylor.
So what the hell? Who stole these scripts that were to go to charity? Lannisters? The White Walkers? George R.R. Martin demands answers. Sounds like a plot perpetrated by the USPS to me…. Either way we’ll keep everyone posted if the D-Bags who did this are ever captured and punished. Don’t lose sleep fans!
After six years of waiting, there was no doubt I was going to like this latest entry in ‘A Song of Ice and Fire. I liked it, but not nearly as much as the first three novels. There seemed to be a whole lot of set up and sitting around but that was ok because the book was a tome of over 900 pages. Talk about bang for your buck, this one was definitely worth paying less than 25 dollars for. (At Target) The book made me laugh, cringe, almost cry (don’t judge me!), yawn and at one point set it down to ask myself why the hell did George Martin do that? Damn him!
The book itself is almost a stark reminder (see what I did there?) of how unforgiving and bleak the series really is. Most of the things that occur happen the exact opposite than what you would have expected or wanted to happen. For me that is what sets Martin apart from so many other authors. He’s not afraid to stray from the norm and he does things on his own accord because it works for him. It’s his vision and his story even though us fans made him a millionaire and I’m good with that. I’m more than positive after this one that we’ll have a plethora of readers saying they’re done and that the series is getting stale, but aside from the length of the book I don’t see what separates it from the rest of them in regards to content. The only reason that it might not flow adequately for some fans is because it was written to be happening concurrently with the events of a Feast for Crows, and then towards the end it all flows together as we start seeing those characters from AFFC again, such as Jaime and Cersei.
After the last couple books it would seem that the War of the Five Kings may be starting to die down. The Starks have been all but vanquished and Winterfell sacked by the traitorous Northern Bannermen of the Starks, the Boltons. The fighting near Riverrun is coming to a close now that Jaime has Edmure Tully as a hostage and Storm’s End is effectively under siege by forces loyal to King Tommen Lannister Baratheon. Even with the death of Lord Tywin and the imprisonment of Cersei, the Lannisters are sitting pretty with their scumbag allies the Freys who are now the power in the Riverlands and the Boltons who are now rulers in the North. One of the kings, namely Stannis Baratheon has other plans though. Still believing his claim holds precedent over Tommen (which it does), Stannis intends to not only protect the Wall with Jon Snow and the Night’s Watch but to unite the North under his banner and the Red God R’hollor.
Tyrion arrives in Pentos under the protection of Illyrio, who sends the dwarf with a company of sell-swords to serve Daenerys Targaryen in Mereen. Tyrion though not mourning his father’s murder is clearly haunted by it as he has constant nightmares and echoes his father’s last words to anyone who will hear it – “Where do whores go?” Realistically, Tyrion is the heir to Casterly Rock since Jaime is in the Kingsguard and Cersei is a woman, so he plans to claim it with Daenerys help in return for all his knowledge of her Westerosi enemies.
Rest in Peace Tywin…. or on the shitter as it were.
It was quite interesting to see Tyrion in a world where being in a Lannister means absolutely nothing. And it also means that there is a price on his head thanks to Cersei, and many men are anxious to cash in on it to win a lordship in Westeros. Tyrion has to use his wits to the max, which we know are sharp as a sword, in order to survive the harsh Free Cities. In a world where he is just another dwarf, the Imp of Lannister needs to learn to keep his mouth shut with no one protecting him anymore. I can’t even remember how many times the little man got punched in the face throughout the book but it was plenty. Aside from Illyrio and the twice exiled knight Jorah Mormont, Tyrion meets two characters amongst the sell-sword group called the Golden Company that are sure to raise some eyebrows to the readers.
I was actually kind of blown away by the one. The first is Jon Connington, exiled Lord of Griffin’s Roost and former Hand of the King during the rule of Aerys Targaryen. The second is Aegon son of Rhaegar Targaryen, who turns out not to have had his head dashed upon the walls of the Red Keep due to the actions of Lord Varys. This changes the game entirely in my eyes. Now another Targaryen is on the move, invading the Stormlands to take Storm’s End and already taking all of the castles on Cape Wrath with the hope that Daenarys will join up with him when she is ready to bring her dragons to Westeros. So now the Lannisters have the Tyrells in King’s Landing to deal with, one Targaryen taking over the Stormlands and another Targaryen possibly on the way…. with dragons. This isn’t even to mention Dorne who will no doubt rally under a Targaryen who makes a claim to the throne.
Daenerys has what seems to be the most time in the book, but it seems like a reality show about which suitor is going to bag her. And if it wasn’t Daenerys, it was about another POV character also in Mereen or on the way to Mereen to seek out Daenerys. This book by far had the most POVs I’ve seen in the Ice and Fire books, each random one having a couple words to describe their character at the start of a chapter. Barristan Selmy had his own POV chapters in the book, called ‘The Discarded Knight’, ‘The Kingbreaker’ and ‘The Queen’s Hand’. Selmy is definitely one of the more liked characters. The guy has a real knack for blaming himself for what could have been in certain situations. He is extremely loyal to the monarchs that he serves and takes his duty very seriously, to the point where he beats himself up over the past with Aerys and Robert dying while he served on the Kingsguard.
Another character in Mereen is Quentyn Martell, the son of Prince Doran Martell who rules in Dorne. Quentyn reveals that the is carrying a marriage contract from the end of Robert’s rebellion agreeing to a marriage between Arianna Martell and Viserys Targaryen. Prince Doran hopes that since Viserys died with a case of severe Goldilocks that the contract can then translate to Quentyn and Daenerys instead.
Marriage Contract…. Broken
I liked Quentyn enough as a character, he was honorable and brave in regards to wishes of his family. In the end when he wasn’t going to be marrying Daenerys I really didn’t expect what happened to him. In an attempt to impress Daenerys, Quentyn and his men went to take one of her dragons so the Prince could ride it and make use of it for both their causes. I pictured Quentyn actually accomplishing this until Rhaegal charbroiled his ass. I thought the same thing that Quentyn said as he was aflame – “Oh…” Brutal but pure Martin. Where this leaves Dorne in the mix once Prince Doran finds out, we’ll have to wait and see.
Victarion Greyjoy is also in on the whole Mereen scene, or at least he will be once his ‘Iron Fleet’ reaches the Free City. The start of his voyage does not start off so good. There are storms aplenty and monkeys running loose all over his ship until they come upon a Red Priest. (Like Melisandre.) Victarion of course is going to take Daenerys for himself instead of serving Euron faithfully. You get to see during Victarion’s chapters what a resentful and harsh man he is. Better than that you get to see even more of how harsh the Greyjoys and the Iron Men are in terms of conquest and sailing.
Daenerys herself didn’t really impress me in this book. I understand why she decided to stay in Mereen to help her followers and try to rule the city right, but the whole thing seems a mess and a lost cause. Her and her forces face murder in the streets at night by the militant group ‘The Sons of the Harpy” and threats of force from the other slavers in the area including those from Qarth, Volantis and Yunaki. She should have just moved on to Westeros like Mormont and Selmy both advised. Now she sits in Mereen, mooning over the sellsword captain Daario of the Second Sons, while also deciding which merchant lord or noble to marry in order to keep the peace of the city. Perhaps my biggest disappointment was that her dragons were all but absent from most of the book. I thought by now Daenerys would have them trained and ready to use against any enemy, but instead Drogon is missing and off on his own picking off sheep and even a little girl for dinners. Rhaegal and Viserion however are chained and locked up inside the Mereenese pyramid that Daenerys stays in because they are too wild. Seriously? By the end of the book, I’m not so certain about what Daenerys has in store for her in the future. Will she ever go back to conquer Westeros now that Aegon is invading? Or will she become the Queen of the Free Cities once her dragons are under control? I was hoping to have more of an idea by the end of the book but once you read it you won’t have any idea either.
Jaime and Cersei are back in action, or lack there of. Jaime is still busy in the Riverlands after burning Cersei’s plea for him to be her champion in her trial and his only chapter shows him mediating the surrender of the Lord of Raventree. Jaime is a character I have grown to love and I wish there were plenty more chapters with him in it. He’s been humbled by what has happened to his hand and the ill fortune that has befell the Lannisters with his father dead and Cersei imprisoned. We actually finally get to see Brienne in this chapter even though it’s only two lines worth as she claims that she has found Sansa Stark and would take Jaime to her. Too bad I started to like Jaime because I don’t think any good will come of this because chances are she is serving the Brotherhood Without Banners and Lady Stoneheart has plenty of ill will towards this Lord of Lannister.
Cersei is biding her time yet still expecting Jaime to come to her rescue in King’s Landing as the High Septon still holds her captive. She decides to finally confess to the High Septon in order to get back to Tommen’s side and out of captivity, but still planning to have a trial by combat with her champion fighting in her place. She tells her uncle Kevan to let Qyburn know that it is time before she is made to walk from the Sept of Baelor through the streets of King’s Landing to the Red Keep… naked. This scene was a true tribulation for someone like Cersei, forced to let every common man see her naked and to hear them yell things such as “Brother F–ker” and “Whore” at her. I’m not saying Cersei didn’t deserve it, because she deserves far worse, but it definitely humbled her and by far made her more dangerous. Cersei will have come out of this ordeal stronger and with revenge waiting for the High Septon and anyone else who has slighted her since. I would expect the Tyrells to be in her crosshairs next, especially after the events at the end of the book. Her new champion Robert Strong will be something to behold in the books to come, being the dark creation of Qyburn in the bowels of Kings Landing.
I know a lot of people were looking forward to seeing quite a bit of Bran and Arya but I am sad to say even though they had a few chapters each, not a whole lot happened with them. Bran is still on his mission to find the three eyed Crow beyond the Wall. I won’t say much other than he reaches his destination and takes up a special destiny with the ones called the green-seers. Arya on the other hand is still training with the Faceless Men, who are less than convinced that she is ready to forget who she is and truly be one of them. Arya shows them in this book that she is ready, but you will still wonder if she is doing it for her own personal gain or if she is truly to be one of them.
There were a couple other secondary characters in the book with POV chapters, including Areo Hotah whose POV shines some light on what the other Martells in Dorne are up to during this time. Asha Greyjoy gets a couple chapters of treatment, but the most interesting chapters of all the secondary characters (in my opinion) were those belonging to Reek/Theon. After being taken captive at Winterfell by the Bastard of Bolton, Ramsay Snow, we are shone a Theon so beaten and mistreated in the dungeons of the Dreadfort that he truly believes and constantly reminds himself that his name is Reek and that he is Ramsay’s pet. Ramsay Snow Bolton is truly a character to be despised. If there were such a thing as a true villain in the Song of Ice and Fire, he would be it. This guy is one sick son of a bitch with a penchant for raping women and then letting them escape so he can hunt them down with his dogs for sport. He then will name one of his new dogs after the women who gave him some good sport in the hunts. I never thought I would want someone to die as bad as I wanted Joffrey to, but Ramsay Bolton sure fills the void.
As the book progresses we see that Theon is not completely broken after he is let out of the dungeons and that slowly but surely he begins to remember who he truly is. I never would have thought from the start of the series that Theon would have much time to deal with his character but this book gives us some great insight to what his thought process is. After the sacking of Winterfell no one in the North trusts him or looks upon him with respect. He is constantly spat upon and nicknamed “Theon Turncloak” for his treachery at Winterfell. As we saw before in Clash of Kings, even his own father and countrymen saw him as a Northerner when he returned home. In Dance With Dragons we get to find out how Theon wanted to be a Stark and a Northerner, willing to trade his heritage as an Ironborn for it. Now he only despises himself for betraying the Starks and Winterfell for a home that had all but given up on him.
For all of you Davos Seaworth fans, rest easy because he is not dead in this book. The Manderly’s of White Harbor most definitely want the Lannisters and the Crown to think this but it is all part of a clever ruse to attempt placing a Stark in Winterfell once more. This also gives the Manderly’s the opportunity to exact some secret vengeance upon the Freys, to whom they lost some of their kin to at the Red Wedding.
Now to the part that will probably have most fans looking to track George Martin down and beat him senseless. I wouldn’t take it to that extreme but I was definitely stunned once again by another drastic move by Martin. Jon Snow as the Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch seems to be doing a good job. In regards to Janos Slynt, after the former Lord of Harrenhal disobeys him one too many times Jon makes the decision to make an example of him. He has his men take Slynt to the courtyard where beheads him with Longclaw in front of everyone including Stannis, who nods in approval before going back inside. He then sends out Alliser Thorne with a group of rangers to scout and they never return aside from a couple who are dead. So it would appear most of Jon’s enemies are pretty much eliminated right? Not according to Melisandre who warns Jon that he should have Ghost at his side at all times. I like Jon Snow and was impressed with how he made peace with the wildlings and moved them all through the Wall to settle “The Gift” and help man the Wall against the others, but like his father Ned Stark he fails to see the dangers of the men closest to him while trying to accomplish the greater good. I thought for sure when Wick failed to cut Jon’s throat that danger was averted but when Bowen Marsh stabbed him in the stomach saying “For the Watch.” I pretty much gave up hope. Jon should have seen that those in his council were getting more and more disgruntled by letting the Wildlings through the Wall and onto the Northern lands, but he had so much on his plate that he failed to placate them or hear them out properly. I hope Jon isn’t dead but in the world of George R. R. Martin I wouldn’t be surprised if this is truly the end of him. Hopefully Melisandre can work some sort of magic to bring him back, if she indeed still has use for him.
The last scene of the book was very exciting and saw the return of a certain character and the death of two others. After having a late dinner with Cersei and Tommen, Kevan Lannister goes to the summons of Grand Maester Pycelle in the rookery at the behest of a young boy messenger. The whole scene was eerie as Kevan arrives in the rookery tower to get a crossbow bolt in the chest. As he reels from it he sees Pycelle sitting down with his head wounded, dead in a pool of his own blood. Then Lord Varys comes out of the shadows to explain to Kevan why he has killed them both. It’s amazing to see how Varys has set many of the noble houses against one another, weakening them and allowing them to wipe one another out while the Targaryens grow in strength, not only Daenarys but Aegon as well. Varys predicts that with all of the mistrust already floating around that Cersei will immediately blame the Tyrells for the murders and that the Tyrells will blame Cersei and even the Dornishmen will be part of the blame game. What possible peace there was between Dorne, the Lannisters and Tyrells will be effectively shattered by Lord Varys. His logic is sound as Aegon being on the throne will be better for the people because he was raised to see it as his duty and not a right for personal gain as Cersei sees it in placing Tommen on the throne. It would seem even though Varys has been removed from his place in the kingdom and is on the run in a sense, he is still very powerful. He still knows how to get in and out of the castle and his “little birds” are still everywhere, which is evident in the group of children around him who move in with daggers to finish Kevan Lannister off. Varys seems to truly want to help the people of the realm, already having a distaste for the High Lords of the realm and their game of thrones as he told Ned Stark in the Red Keep’s dungeons in book 1. I truly hope he hasn’t put his faith in the wrong person and Aegon turns out to be the leader he should be.
Varys – “The Spider”
Overall, I enjoyed the book but it’s going to be pure torture waiting for Martin to complete the next book “The Winds of Winter”. And lord knows he has a lot of time before having to actually complete it before the HBO show catches up with him since it’s only going into season 2. I am giving the book a 4 out of 5 bears.
It was great to at least see every character return, even if a few of them were only for a couple chapters. Noticeably missing from the book by it’s end were the characters of Sansa Stark and Petyr “Little Finger” Baelish. Last time we saw them they were in the Vale of Arryn with Little Finger securing his position of power by murdering Lysa Arryn and becoming Lord Protector of the Vale with plans to marry Sansa to Robert Arryn. Baelish is one of the more interesting characters in the series and I hope to see him featured in a POV chapter in Winds of Winter.
The deaths were all surprising, still showing that Martin has no qualms with offing anyone in these novels. He doesn’t just kill with reckless abandon, there’s always a reason behind the deaths in his Song of Ice and Fire novels. I couldn’t give it the full five bears simply because not enough happened with many of the core characters in particular Daenerys. She really didn’t move forward at all, if anything she took two steps back. Without a doubt the book moved things along but only a little. It felt like Martin was just trying to get readers back into the swing of things after being gone from Westeros so long. So I say to him, we’re back and ready to go so bring on Wind of Winter…. in the next couple years if you can.
This is where the show takes a great leap forward, and just cuts out a rather boring and tedious subplot from the book concerning Shae and Tyrion. Throughout the book he is determined to hide her, and goes to great lengths to secure her safety, first hiding her in a mansion, then as a maid to a Red Keep noblewoman, then in A Storm of Swords, finally appoints her as Sansa’s maid, as at that time he is wed to Sansa, and it is the most reasonable way to keep her close. The show does us all a favor and just skips to Shae being Sansa’s maid. There’s also a great, entirely new scene between Cersei and Littlefinger, that shows the dynamics of power between the two, and portrays Cersei in a new and powerful light, but conversely also plays Littlefinger as a bit stupid and caught off guard. One aspect of the books that’s been almost entirely ignored up until now, is Bran’s dreams, and their significance. The show plays it far more subtle, which I can guess is to not alienate casual viewers from being thrown by one fantasy element too many, too quickly. Then there’s Renly, who in the book, is arguably not even gay (although Rainbow Guard? Cmon.), where show Renly is closeted as hell. This culminates in Margaery Tyrell trying to seduce Renly, then suggesting an incestuous three-way between herself, Renly and her brother, Ser Loras. Not a bad addition, as the actress who plays Margaery is gorgeous, has a nice rack, and plays her part of a conniving wannabe queen very well. Back at the Iron Islands, Show Theon is a much more sympathetic character, as he is much more troubled by the decision to warn Robb of his fathers impending attack on Winterfell, and even has a cool scene where he calls out his father for giving him up as hostage to the Starks years ago. It goes a long way to make Theon’s eventual betrayal all the more heartbreaking. Arya gets a new scene with Yoren, who tells her his own personal story of revenge, detailing how every night he spent recanting the name of those who had wronged him, which sets up Arya’s own list of names, which foreshadows Arya making her own long list of enemies to obsess over nightly. This scene wasn’t in the book, but was a great addition that gave character depth to both Yoren and Arya. Another small but notable change is that the Lannister bannermen in the book were led by Ser Gregor Clegane, who kills Lommy and takes Aryas’s group hostage with them. The show had Ser Amory Lorch do this instead, and be tricked into thinking that Lommy was Gendry, and that they had already killed the man they were looking for. This change while seemingly small, leads to one of the bigger divergences from the book, as Arya’s story becomes fairly different, as we’ll see in later episodes.
Grizzly Bomb 