Episode 3 Review

So, Trying to get these reviews and illustrations out as soon as possible. managed to get this one done today..

Sunday's Episode, "What is Dead may never Die",  focused on one main story line, Tyrion's Attempts to rid the court of all the people he sees as his potential enemies as hand of the king. We got to see plenty other bits this week, Including the reintroduction of Renly and his retinue, See Theon choose his allegiance, and even some actual fighting!

Like i said, This episode really focused a lot on Tyrion. Last week he took Care of Janos Slynt, and this week tries to figure out who on the small council can be trusted. This was played out well and pretty much as it was in the book, but it was strange to see the usual plotters of the story getting played by this newcomer to court. As well as finding his sister's spy, Tyrion also finds that more often than not Varys can be an ally and asset, managing to get Shae a position as Sansa's handmaiden, which offers some interesting interactions.

We also Follow Cat south, Sent to treat with Renly. Through Cat, we are Introduced To Brienne of Tarth, the newest member of Renly's Kings Guard (fortunately not referred to as the "rainbow guard" in the show). We also meet Renly's new Queen, who happens to be his lover's Sister, oh yeah, and she's totally cool with it. This was all just implied in the book but in the show they really wring it for all it's worth. it makes for a very weird but interesting story. I guess they felt they had to give Renly something to do on the show.

The Sequence was Short but we return to Pyke and see the problems between Theon and his Father come to a head. And Theon Makes a surprising choice in loyalty. These couple of scenes were some of the best so far this season. Like i said last week, you really feel bad for Theon and the cards he was dealt. I'm really anxious to see how they turn that around and make us hate him again.

The Finale of the episode was a very condensed version of Arya's last bit of time in the nights watch wagon train. They hit all the important beats and in the end, her, Gendry and hotpie end up in the same mess as in the book. However, I don't get the feeling that there's a war and Raiding parties scouring the countryside as was described in the book. they passed no refugees on the Kingsroad, theres no abandoned villages, no empty castles. Their attackers weren't Cleagane's Men But just some Lannister thugs chasing after Gendry. Just didn't have the same feel for me. But i digress, it was a good way to condense a lot of wandering around in the woods.

This week's Episode gets 5 stars out of 7.