Game of Thrones recap: season four, episode two – The Lion and the Rose
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Version 0 of 1. Spoiler alert: this blog is published after Game of Thrones airs on HBO in the US on Sunday. Do not read on unless you have watched season four, episode two (which airs in the UK on Sky Atlantic on Monday at 9pm). As ever, we are going to (hopefully) avoid book spoilers as well. Click here to read Sarah Hughes' season four, episode one recap 'War is war but killing a man at a wedding, horrid. What sort of monster would do such a thing?' Weddings are to Game of Thrones as the appointment of a new Defence of the Dark Arts teacher is to Harry Potter: never a good thing. So it should have come as no real surprise that Joffrey's extravagant wedding to Maergery Tyrell (known to book fans as "the Purple Wedding") ended with the boy king dead on his weeping mother's lap, glassy eyes fixed on the distance and blood streaming from his nose. Scripted by George RR Martin (a tipoff that something big was likely to happen) this was another well-paced episode topped off by 15 minutes of exceptional (and exceptionally excruciating) viewing. From the moment the action switched to the wedding, everything kicked up a gear, leaving me on the edge of my seat and struggling for breath, almost as intensely as the choking Joffrey. From Joff's ill-tempered dismissal of both the wedding band (hey, Sigur Ros, nice to see you) to his appalling decision to re-enact the war of the five kings with dwarves, the wedding feast was a catalogue of slow-mounting disaster during which no one dared stop the king from ritually humiliating his uncle. Although there were several outstanding performances, extra credit must go to Jack Gleeson – from the very beginning, he tempered the young king's hideousness and made him, as Tyrion suggested, a oddly vulnerable monster. That vulnerability coupled with Lena Headey's bravura turn as the distraught Cersei, desperately scrabbling to save her dying son, aroused pity when least expected. Goodbye then Joffrey: as boy tyrants go you were the best at being the absolute worst. And goodbye Gleeson, who has announced he is quitting acting. May he enjoy the rest of his life unbothered by people telling him how evil he is. 'If you were to marry Cersei she'd murder you in your sleep' Away from the main wedding stage there were a number of intriguing meetings. Loras and Oberyn exchanged the sort of eye meet that could spell a great deal of trouble. (How much would Tywin fear an alliance between the Tyrells and Dorne?) Jaime warned Loras off his sister, revealing his own feelings in the process. And, in a scene that resembled nothing so much as a very self-satisfied cat-toying with an overgrown and rather clumsy mouse, Cersei winkled the truth about Brienne's feelings for her brother out of an uncomfortable Lady Knight. Not content with exchanging lascivious looks with Loras, Oberyn also had a run-in with Cersei and Tywin while the Queen of Thorns, when not loudly ensuring everyone knew who'd paid for the wedding, also found time to issue an invitation to Highgarden to Sansa. Exactly what game are the Tyrells playing here? They certainly hold the financial cards and it'll be interesting to see what happens now the Lannisters' own trump card, the king, has died. I imagine that, given the proliferation of shots we had of their spare, Joff's brother Tommen, Tywin will move swiftly to crown him. But I'd also argue their grip on the throne just got a little less secure. 'No one weeps for spiders – or whores' You're wrong Varys – I wept for Shae this episode. Yes, she has frequently annoyed me and I'm not always convinced by Sibel Kekilli's performance but the brief scene between her and Tyrion broke my heart. Is Bronn telling the truth about getting her out of King's Landing? I do hope so but were I Tyrion I might begin to worry about just how many secrets Bronn knows, given Jaime's (lack of) fighting ability when it comes to Shae's whereabouts. As Varys would tell you, it doesn't pay to trust anyone too much in King's Landing. Shae's departure was only the beginning of what turned out to be a very bad day for Tyrion, who was forced to sit through humiliation piled upon humiliation at the wedding before ending the episode accused of murder by Cersei. Clearly he didn't do it – Tyrion may be many things but he's still a Lannister and not likely to move against his family even if they do spend their entire time thinking up innovative new ways to hurt and embarrass him. But it does raise the question: who did? The only person to touch the cup apart from Joffrey and Tyrion was Sansa and I find it hard to believe that this grief-stricken little bird suddenly turned her hand to regicide and revenge … Additional thoughts • In a show obsessed by fathers and sons we got a glimpse this week at the dynamic between Lord Bolton and Ramsay Snow. I sort of love Bolton – he's even less emotional than Tywin, if possible. Does he really care if Ramsay takes Moat Cailin or is he getting rid of an inconvenient problem now that he has a young wife with childbearing hips? It seems to me that the real instruction was the one he gave Locke, to find Bran and Rickon. The other was simply a feint to keep the enemy occupied. • It was disturbing to learn that Ramsay has found a girlfriend with similar tastes. Well, you know what they say: those who play together, stay together. • "I hate a good many things but I suffer through them all the same" – Oh, Stannis, I have missed you. You are, as Noel Gallagher memorably said of Liam, like a man with a fork in a world of soup, and I wouldn't have it any other way. •If Stannis has a weak spot, it's his daughter, and thank goodness for that, given her religious maniac of a mother would throw her to the flames given half a chance. I enjoyed Tara Fitzgerald's return as the fanatical Selyse – there's something truly disturbing about her fervour, which makes her far more frightening than Melisandre, shadow babies and all. • Nice to note too that Davos remains the voice of sense. The world would be a better place if only everyone had a Davos uttering gruff no nonsense advice in a northern accent. • I presume the decision to have Jaime learn from Bronn rather than the voiceless Ser Illyn Payne (as in the books) is because Wilko Johnson has terminal cancer. I'm sad not to see Johnson on screen but the potential chemistry between Bronn and Jaime almost makes up for it. • Nice little scene between Tyrion and Jaime. Tyrion's toast to "the dwarf, the cripple and the mother of madness" almost bettered Cersei for succinct plot summary. • Bran's vision was filled with goodness – so much so that I'm not sure I caught every reference. Apart from the three eyed crow and the glimpses of Ned, Bran falling and the Iron Throne, surely the most important was the dragon's shadow over King's Landing? • Talking of dragons, I really didn't miss Dany this week. I like her storyline but she does seem a little too distant from the action. • Sigur Ros's haunting version of the Rains of Castamere was definitely a suitably spooky way to play out the evening. Violence count One gruesome glimpse into hunting Ramsay Snow-style; one thoughtful present savagely sliced in two by a petulant boy king; one mass burning because Melisandre's God of Light is clearly a hungry god; and the death by poison of Joffrey Baratheon, the first (and one would presume last) of his name. Nudity count Don't be ridiculous, this was a wedding week and we all know that in Game of Thrones weddings are about misery, not pleasure. Random Brit of the week Well hello Roger Ashton-Griffiths, British character actor supreme and hopefully a source of much amusement as the bumbling Mace Tyrell in weeks to come. So what did you think? Did you cheer when Joffrey died or did the boy king's end manage to touch you despite his cruelty? Can anyone save Tyrion now? And what of Sansa – is a drunken knight turned fool really the best companion for an escape attempt? As ever let me know your feelings and theories in the comments below … |