Episode Title: “Two Swords”
Writers: David Benioff & D.B. Weiss
Director: D. B. Weiss
Previously on “Game of Thrones”:
For the most part, readers of the A Song of Ice and Fire novels by George R.R. Martin have been pretty good about keeping the rest of the “Game of Thrones” fandom in the dark about upcoming spoilers. Although there was recently a jerk who decided to spoil a major upcoming twist on Twitter in a completely unrelated thread.
Thanks to that, I know that something big is coming this season. But I don’t know the context or why it happened. Right now, that’s the only suspense that I have as I wait for it to unfold. However, even when you know what’s coming, “Game of Thrones” can still be enjoyed as a masterfully done TV adaptation.
The fourth season premiere, “Two Swords” is no exception, although it does lag at times as it resets the board for the current season and reintroduces us to the surviving players.
With most of the Starks either dead or in no position to challenge them, the Lannisters get the bulk of the spotlight here as they bask in their apparent victory. As a symbol of that transition, Tywin Lannister (Charles Dance) even has Ned Stark’s sword melted down to create new swords for himself and his son, Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau).
“Two Swords” positions both Jaime and his brother, Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) as the protagonists of the King’s Landing plotlines. And for once, both brothers are on the outs with their father and at odds with their sister, Cersei (Lena Headey).
From this point on, there are full spoilers ahead for “Two Swords,” so if you missed last night’s season premiere of “Game of Thrones” then you should probably skip this review or else you’ll be sold to your rich aunt at the Vale.
Last season, Jaime had a heroic turn of sorts as he went out of his way to protect Brienne (Gwendoline Christie) from rape and a bear. But in King’s Landing, Jaime finds that he can’t keep his word and release the Stark girls because Sansa (Sophie Turner) has been married to Tyrion against her will, Arya (Maisie Williams) is missing and their mother and brother were killed in the Red Wedding. Jaime isn’t exactly broken up or apologetic about breaking his word, which suggests that his inner a**hole is re-emerging now that he’s back home.
However, Jaime soon finds himself in the doghouse with his father for refusing to leave the Kingsguard and rule over Casterly Rock. Tywin even goes as far as calling Jaime a “one handed man without a family” to imply that he’s disowning him. Jaime is only staying because he loves Cersei, but she drunkenly rejects him as well.
Even Jaime’s bastard, inbred son, King Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) openly mocks him. One of the reasons that Joffrey is such a great villain to hate is that he completely lacks self-awareness. Here, Joffrey builds himself up as a great and heroic king by taking credit for the victory at Blackwater and the decimation of the Stark family. I can’t even tell if Joffrey believes his own lies, but no one seems brave enough to challenge his version of history.
Another thing to keep in mind is that Joffrey has to know on some level that Jaime is his father. Think back to the second season premiere when Joffrey heard the rumors about his mother and Jaime and he ordered all of King Robert’s bastards killed (even the babies) just to protect the secret of his parentage. Joffrey knows this and he still treats Jaime as if he doesn’t matter at all.
Speaking of baby killers, Ser Janos Slynt (Dominic Carter) makes his return appearance this week as one the Night’s Watch council who essentially put Jon Snow (Kit Harrington) on trial for everything that he did in the last two seasons. Impressively, Jon confesses to everything, including sleeping with Ygritte (Rose Leslie) and killing Qhorin Halfhand (at Halfhand’s insistence) to spy on Mance Rayder and his Wilding army.
Another returning character, Ser Alliser Thorne (Owen Teale) is all too eager to have Jon executed for his crimes, but Maester Aemon (Peter Vaughan) has Jon released. Aemon is kind of hilarious as he says that living in King’s Landing has given him the ability to tell if Jon was lying or not. The entire scene demonstrates that the Night’s Watch doesn’t have a strong leader to replace the late Commander Mormont. But it was a well acted sequence that served as the best recap in the episode.
Back in King’s Landing, Prince Oberyn (Pedro Pascal) aka the Red Viper and his lover, Ellaria Sand (Indira Varma) are given a memorable introduction as they avail themselves of the local brothel before Oberyn demonstrates his unyielding hatred of the Lannisters. Oberyn actually has very good reasons to hate the Lannisters and their bannerman, Ser Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane. I have to admit that it never occurred to me that the family of the Mad King’s daughter-in-law would be holding a grudge over her death and the massacre of her children. But it makes sense, and Oberyn is very openly seeking vengeance for it.
However, Tyrion has plenty of problems of his own, as Sansa would rather starve herself than live with the family that murdered her parents and brother. Tyrion’s true love, Shae (Sibel Kekilli) also complicates his life by being too reckless in an attempt to steal some time with him. Unfortunately for both of them, Cersei may now know that she can hurt her brother by harming Shae.
Far across the narrow sea, we catch up to Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), her army and her ever growing dragons. The dragons themselves are more monstrous than ever. In one of the more shocking turns in the episode, Daenerys is nearly attacked by her own dragon when she attempts to break up a tug of war over a dead animal. The expression on that CGI dragon’s face was terrifying. In that moment, Daenerys wasn’t his mother, she was simply in the way of his prey.
On a lighter note, Daario Naharis continues to romantically woo Daenerys as Michiel Huisman takes over the role from Ed Skrein. It’s the most jarring recast on “Game of Thrones” to date, as Huisman’s Daario doesn’t even seem like the same character this season. It’s more than just Huisman’s performance. Daario’s actions and dialogue feel out of step with the way he was depicted last season. It’s too soon to say whether this is an improvement, but it was funny to see Daario only slightly disguising his intentions under the mask of strategy.
My favorite pair in this episode was the odd couple of Sandor “The Hound” Clegane (Rory McCann) and Arya. I think that the Hound actually cares for Arya, as much as he can care for anyone. Remember, the Hound saved Arya from getting herself killed at the Red Wedding and he seemed genuinely concerned for her. Yet the Hound also states his intent to sell Arya to her “rich aunt,” Lysa of the Vale.
That may be why Arya doesn’t immediately take sides when the Hound starts a fight with Polliver (Andy Kellegher) and other swordsmen who use their connection to King Joffrey to terrorize a local barkeeper and his family. Arya has to decide who she hates more: her captor or the man who killed one of her companions with her own sword, Needle.
As the lesser of two evils, Arya chooses to help the Hound right before she murders Polliver while throwing his own words at him from the night he murdered her friend. It’s a chilling moment and Arya’s third onscreen murder of the series. The first time was an accident and the second was out of rage for what happened to her family. This time was different. Arya may have been motivated by revenge, but she seemed to enjoy that death far too much.
It could be argued that Arya is more like the Hound’s daughter now than Ned Stark’s child. The longer she stays with the Hound, the more Arya learns about killing people and stealing to survive. Ned’s lessons of nobility and honor feel like another lifetime ago. Whoever Arya is becoming, she’s more than just a Stark now. And she’s becoming more dangerous as well.
In terms of plot progression, “Two Swords” offered minimal movement. However, the superb execution of this episode demonstrates the confidence and skill that David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have accumulated over the past three seasons. “Two Swords” isn’t the finest hour of “Game of Thrones,” but even an average episode of this show is better than almost anything else on TV.
