(This review contains spoilers for episode 2)
In this installment, Game of Thrones switches to Braavos as Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) arrives to begin her training as a Faceless Man. It's an exciting time as we haven't seen much of Braavos at this point, aside from one scene last season.
This
is the first time since the end of season 1 where Arya has had no one
to look out for her. The show highlights this by opening with a shot
of Arya by herself, looking up at the massive Titan of Braavos, and
later by framing her against the House of Black and White, an
enormous cathedral-like structure on a small island. It's quite a
change from the last few seasons where Arya has been forced to wander
around the grey Westerosi backwoods, to now find herself in another
lavish open cityscape. Unfortunately, the episode doesn't focus on
Arya that much, so while we know she's more than capable of looking
after herself, we don't see much of that explored here. It's also a
shame as Maisie Williams is a strong enough actress that she should
be able to carry her scenes by herself and doesn't need someone
to play off of. The brief shot of her reciting her list in the rain
is a great character moment in itself (but how come Ser Ilyn's
suddenly off the hook?) and hopefully the show will utilize this
later on. I also hope we see more of Braavos itself, as it was sadly
neglected this week to make room for the myriad of other subplots.
Elsewhere,
Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie) and her squire Podrick (Daniel
Portman) continue their noble but seemingly ill-fated search for
Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner). When they stumble across her in a
tavern, they learn that she's under the care of Littlefinger (Aidan
Gillen) and refuses to go with Brienne, whom she believes is a
Lannister agent. It's a shame to watch Sansa refuse help from one of
the few utterly decent people in this show, but obviously
understandable given how untrustworthy almost everyone else she's met
has been. That said, I think it's a tad unfair (and pretty damn rich)
of her to accuse Brienne of being pro-Lannister just because she saw
her kneel to Joffrey. What was Brienne supposed to do? Refuse
to kneel to Joffrey? Joffrey wasn't exactly the type to take insubordination well.
And then Brienne proves she's one of the bravest (not to mention one
of the stupidest) characters by deciding to save Sansa regardless.
How she'll do that when she's now on Littlefinger's radar is
something I look forward to seeing in the coming weeks. If she lives
...
Speaking of ambitious rescue missions, Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj
Coster Waldau) mounts a secret expedition to Dorne to save Myrcella
from possible assassination. And who better to help him than his
brother's bromantic former henchman, Bronn of the Blackwater (Jerome
Flynn)? We're given a glimpse of what could be a softer side to the
sellsword as he romances his fiancée, Lollys Stokeworth, leading to
plenty of ambiguity.
Is Bronn a romantic underneath it all, or does he just see Lollys as
a new toy for him to play with? When Jaime gives him the scroll, is
he annoyed that the Lannisters are splitting them up, or does he just
not like people telling him what to do? Charming as Flynn is, I feel
it would be something of a betrayal to the series' ethos if they make
him too nice. Game of Thrones has done a fairly good job so
far of translating the cynicism of Martin's books to the screen. It
would be a shame for the show to let all that slip for the sake of a
Hollywood feelgood romance.
But of course, it's Bronn and Jaime that will be the focus here, and
what a pairing this should make. Bronn will sell himself to the
highest bidder, while Jaime would betray his own king for the sake of
family. Two worldweary men with two completely different ideologies,
thrown together to risk (another) civil war for the sake of one girl.
There's a road movie I wouldn't mind seeing.
Hopefully now after two weeks of coming attractions, Game of
Thrones will finally kick into gear.
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