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Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Game of Thrones Season 2 Episode 8 - "The Prince of Winterfell"


If you plan to watch this episode, do not read the following article until you have watched it. Ok realistically I can’t stop you, but there are SPOILERS below. You have been warned.

Well that was kind of disappointing. For a series that has only 10 episodes per season, I don’t think it was that necessary to waste (it wasn’t a full waste, some scenes were still good) an episode on setting up the last two episodes of the season. Some scenes were necessary to carry on their respective stories, but overall the producers could have made a greater impact with the episode. For this review I will make a few comments about certain scenes that I enjoyed in this episode and then I will give a quick summary on where everyone is at this point.


Around 15 minutes into the episode, Lady Stark reveals to Robb that she let Jaime go back to King’s Landing in return for Arya’s and Sansa’s freedom. I think this was a really stupid move by her, because now Robb has nothing to bargain with. This is somewhat similar to Daenerys losing her dragons, but unlike Dany, Robb has a large army supporting him. Robb orders his guard to send out a 80 men to search for Jaime, leaving his camp weaker which may result in difficulties when Tywin comes up to battle Robb. I agree with Robb when he tells his mother that Jaime “played you for a fool” because realistically, why would Jaime actually be honest and send the girls back to their families? He’s been a prisoner for a long time and probably wants to get revenge on Robb. I know a Lannister “always pays their debts”, but it seems like Jaime doesn’t really care about that motto. Lady Stark just messed up Robb’s plan and rightfully deserves to be imprisoned for treason.

In King’s Landing the tension increases between Tyrion and Cersei after Tyrion recommends that Joffrey should fight in the battle against Stannis. Cersei believes that Tyrion only wants Joffrey dead and reveals that she has taken Tyrion’s whore captive, planning to beat her if Joffrey gets injured in the war. Luckily for Tyrion the whore is not Shay, but he makes Cersei believe that the whore is his true love. After this meeting, Tyrion runs back to his room and confesses his love for Shay, claiming that he would kill for her. I found this scene great, because it’s one of the only times we see Tyrion caring for someone instead of being his usual sarcastic self.

This episode marked the end of Harrenhal and all the great scenes that came with it. Tywin decides to go battle Robb, meaning that Arya’s and Tywin’s relationship is (sadly) finished. During the last few episodes I felt that these were my favourite scenes and now they are all over. To make matters worse, there was no ending speech between Arya and Tywin which I found anti-climatic. Arya attempts to find Jaqen so that she could use her last kill on Tywin, but Jaqen is nowhere to be seen. Later on Arya threatens Jaqen by mentioning his own name, only to have Jaqen promise to help her escape. Arya, Gendry, and the fat boy exit Harrenhal at the end of the scene, but I’m not sure what Arya has planned next. Jaqen was one of my favourite characters in this season and I hope that he makes a return in the future.

With 2 episodes left (I’m assuming next week’s episode will be the climax, like season 1 episode 9) let’s take a look at where everyone is and what is going to happen towards season’s end.

Beyond The Wall: Jon Snow and Qhorin are captured by the wildlings as they move toward the wall for their attack. Qhorin seems to have a plan to try and prevent the wilding attack.

Winterfell: As I expected, Bran and Rickon are alive and are hiding inside the Wintefell castle. Theon’s sister makes fun of him in front of her men, and she tells him to come home. I expect Robb’s guard’s son to fight with Theon and his army by the finale.

Robb’s camp: Robb has finally made his move on Talisa in what was an emotional scene. Tywin has set off to the camp and is about to start war with Robb.

King’s Landing: Joffrey is delusional about winning the war against Stannis even with Tyrion’s and Varys’ words of advice. Stannis will arrive shortly at King’s Landing, beginning the war we have all been waiting for.

Qarth: Dany’s dragons are still in the House of the Undying, so she refuses to leave without them even though Ser Jorah has found her a ship and crew. Jorah will attempt to retrieve the dragons as Dany has ordered him to do.

Tyrion Quote of the Episode:
“Lord of Light wants his enemies burned, the Drowned God wants them drowned. Why are all the Gods such vicious cunts? Where is the God of Tits and Wine?”

As I said, this was a slightly disappointing filler episode, but it set up the season to end with bang. With 2-4 huge battles waiting to happen, next week everyone should be tuned into Game of Thrones, because it will probably be the best episode of the season.

Episode Rating: 8.7
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Igor Korolija

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