What is dead may never die
Ooh - finally an episode I really liked! A generally brilliant Tyrion, some interesting "new" characters introduced - and most of all they even made Pyke, Theon and his choices be bearable. That was quite impressive.
Now many of my complaints of the last two episodes have been that I felt things were done incredibly different from the book. I do however realize that an adaptation cannot be an exact copy of what I have read - and there are many practical reasons for that. This episode does not echo the books to any larger degree than the previous episodes. I just think that the changes they have made work much better here.
So lets start with the good, then:
Bran having his wolf-dream and then talking to Maester Luwin was really nice. They managed to mention the Valyrian steel link, the giants and dragons. A very nice scene.
Moving on to the Stormlands I just loved both Brienne and Margaery. They are both just the way I imagined them and brilliantly cast! Now I know Margaery and the characterization of her surprises a few readers but I think that's a question of personal interpretation. I always imagined her to be politically minded to some degree, and obviously this interpretation of her is. She is no innocent unknowing Sansa, but also no cruel, brutal Cersei. Also Loras is every bit as arrogant as I imagined, and just as politically minded as his sister. Loved that - always expected him to be an arrogant brat!
Now I still think Shae needs to be strangled prematurely; but her scene with Tyrion is this really helped build the claustrophobic feeling you get from the Red Keep-scenes. So did the dinner-scene with Cersei and the children. Cersei was being absolutely horrible to Sansa, but Tommen and Myrcella were really sweet, and Sansa had to balance her reactions.
Then there was the scene with Sansa and Shae that had me reminded of the character Sansa started out as. This scene really brings out good Sophie Turner's acting is - managing to encompass both the abused girl and the little princess.
To further mention things going on in King's Landing, I loved how they had managed to keep Tyrion's brilliant little plot for discovering which counselors he can trust. They even kept in the "Cut off his manhood and feed it to the goats"-line. Even so I still get the feeling that they're trying to make Cesei more likeable by playing the mother-card and thereby excusing her choices at times. Varys is however very well scripted and played. I'm liking the character more for every episode.
For the very first time I actually came to understand Theon's choices when watching this episode. The scenes on Pyke were beautifully fleshed out. They also looked beautiful. I might actually come to prefer the series-version of the Greyjoys to the book-version!
When it comes to the Arya-scenes I really liked them too. Yoren puts Arya on the path of venegance, and then shows some real backbone. They have cut some wandering around in the Riverlands from Arya's storyline, but I must say I think that's for the best. There was just too much trudging through mud. And they have included Yoren's and Lommy's deaths, Arya losing Needle and freeing the black-cell prisoners all in one scene.
As for the bad:
I am generally liking the characterization of the Night's Watch and their journey. I do however have a niggle with Jon causing their departure from Craster's. Also Sam's gift to Gilly was a bit unclear. Was that a thimble?
There's another niggle I have that doesn't especially go for this episode, but for series 2 so far, and that's the projection of Littlefinger. Seems to me he has gone from shrewd wild-card to sulking whore-monger. You just get the impression the man is more intelligent than he is given credit for in these first three episodes.
Finally I have a more general thought or question; is Renly a little bit too nice and too much a piece rather than a player? Now I love Renly very much as a character both in the books and as played in this series. Even so I can't help but think he is just a bit too altruistic in the series. He seems to get played by the Tyrells instead of having gained support from them, and seems very much like he would be quite a weak king while book-Renly would be quite a lot stronger. Now I don't like having one of my favourites changed of course, but then again that shouldn't change the story all that much.
What I am however a bit worried about is how this is going to make Stannis look. They have already made him look a great deal weaker that necessary by blatantly falling for Melisandre's tricks. They should not have his character falter even more by knowingly killing his very sympathetic brother.
Don't know how this will all turn out, though. Guess we will just have to see in the upcoming episodes!
Now many of my complaints of the last two episodes have been that I felt things were done incredibly different from the book. I do however realize that an adaptation cannot be an exact copy of what I have read - and there are many practical reasons for that. This episode does not echo the books to any larger degree than the previous episodes. I just think that the changes they have made work much better here.
So lets start with the good, then:
Bran having his wolf-dream and then talking to Maester Luwin was really nice. They managed to mention the Valyrian steel link, the giants and dragons. A very nice scene.
Moving on to the Stormlands I just loved both Brienne and Margaery. They are both just the way I imagined them and brilliantly cast! Now I know Margaery and the characterization of her surprises a few readers but I think that's a question of personal interpretation. I always imagined her to be politically minded to some degree, and obviously this interpretation of her is. She is no innocent unknowing Sansa, but also no cruel, brutal Cersei. Also Loras is every bit as arrogant as I imagined, and just as politically minded as his sister. Loved that - always expected him to be an arrogant brat!
Now I still think Shae needs to be strangled prematurely; but her scene with Tyrion is this really helped build the claustrophobic feeling you get from the Red Keep-scenes. So did the dinner-scene with Cersei and the children. Cersei was being absolutely horrible to Sansa, but Tommen and Myrcella were really sweet, and Sansa had to balance her reactions.
Then there was the scene with Sansa and Shae that had me reminded of the character Sansa started out as. This scene really brings out good Sophie Turner's acting is - managing to encompass both the abused girl and the little princess.
To further mention things going on in King's Landing, I loved how they had managed to keep Tyrion's brilliant little plot for discovering which counselors he can trust. They even kept in the "Cut off his manhood and feed it to the goats"-line. Even so I still get the feeling that they're trying to make Cesei more likeable by playing the mother-card and thereby excusing her choices at times. Varys is however very well scripted and played. I'm liking the character more for every episode.
For the very first time I actually came to understand Theon's choices when watching this episode. The scenes on Pyke were beautifully fleshed out. They also looked beautiful. I might actually come to prefer the series-version of the Greyjoys to the book-version!
When it comes to the Arya-scenes I really liked them too. Yoren puts Arya on the path of venegance, and then shows some real backbone. They have cut some wandering around in the Riverlands from Arya's storyline, but I must say I think that's for the best. There was just too much trudging through mud. And they have included Yoren's and Lommy's deaths, Arya losing Needle and freeing the black-cell prisoners all in one scene.
As for the bad:
I am generally liking the characterization of the Night's Watch and their journey. I do however have a niggle with Jon causing their departure from Craster's. Also Sam's gift to Gilly was a bit unclear. Was that a thimble?
There's another niggle I have that doesn't especially go for this episode, but for series 2 so far, and that's the projection of Littlefinger. Seems to me he has gone from shrewd wild-card to sulking whore-monger. You just get the impression the man is more intelligent than he is given credit for in these first three episodes.
Finally I have a more general thought or question; is Renly a little bit too nice and too much a piece rather than a player? Now I love Renly very much as a character both in the books and as played in this series. Even so I can't help but think he is just a bit too altruistic in the series. He seems to get played by the Tyrells instead of having gained support from them, and seems very much like he would be quite a weak king while book-Renly would be quite a lot stronger. Now I don't like having one of my favourites changed of course, but then again that shouldn't change the story all that much.
What I am however a bit worried about is how this is going to make Stannis look. They have already made him look a great deal weaker that necessary by blatantly falling for Melisandre's tricks. They should not have his character falter even more by knowingly killing his very sympathetic brother.
Don't know how this will all turn out, though. Guess we will just have to see in the upcoming episodes!
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