Joffrey puts Sansa aside for Margaery Tyrell. Robb marries Talisa Maegyr. Jon prepares to meet Mance Rayder. Arya says farewell to Jaqen H'ghar. Daenerys tries to rescue her dragons.Joffrey puts Sansa aside for Margaery Tyrell. Robb marries Talisa Maegyr. Jon prepares to meet Mance Rayder. Arya says farewell to Jaqen H'ghar. Daenerys tries to rescue her dragons.Joffrey puts Sansa aside for Margaery Tyrell. Robb marries Talisa Maegyr. Jon prepares to meet Mance Rayder. Arya says farewell to Jaqen H'ghar. Daenerys tries to rescue her dragons.
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe title, "Valar Morghulis," means "all men must die" in High Valyrian. It is a customary saying in Essos, and is traditionally answered with "Valar Dohaeris" ("all men must serve"), which is also the title of the next episode (Valar Dohaeris (2013)).
- GoofsPycell gives Tyrion a piece of silver and says "For your trouble," repeating the gesture Tyrion made to the prostitute Daisy when he had Pycelle arrested (What Is Dead May Never Die (2012)). However, by the time Tyrion gave the prostitute the silver, Pycell was no longer in the room, thus he could not know Tyrion did that.
- Quotes
[Theon is brooding in his chambers at Winterfell while a Northman incessantly blows a horn outside the walls]
Theon Greyjoy: I WILL kill that man. I don't care how many arrows they feather me with, how many spears they run through me, I will kill that horn-blowing cunt before I fall.
Maester Luwin: They want you to know you're surrounded.
Theon Greyjoy: I know I'm surrounded. I know that because I stood on the battlements and saw I was surrounded.
Maester Luwin: They don't want you to sleep. They want to sap your spirit before they...
Theon Greyjoy: [sarcastically] Thank you, wise bald man! Thank you for explaining siege tactics to me.
[pause]
Theon Greyjoy: No word from my father?
Maester Luwin: No.
Theon Greyjoy: Send more ravens.
Maester Luwin: You killed all the ravens.
Theon Greyjoy: The first time I saw Winterfell...
[the horn blows again; Theon waits for it to finish with an irritated look on his face]
Theon Greyjoy: The first time I saw Winterfell, it looked like something that had been here for thousands of years, and would be here for thousands of years after I was dead. I saw it, and I thought, "Of course Ned Stark crushed our rebellion and killed my brothers. We never stood a chance against a man who lives here."
Maester Luwin: Lord Stark went out of his way to make it your home.
Theon Greyjoy: Yes, my captors were so very kind to me, you love reminding me of that. Everyone in this frozen pile of shit has always loved reminding me of that. You know what it's like to be told how lucky you are to be someone's prisoner? To be told how much YOU owe THEM? And then to go back home to your real father...
[the horn blows again; Theon jumps up in fury]
Theon Greyjoy: I will kill that man! I swear to the Drowned God, the old gods, the new gods, to every fucking god in every fucking heaven, I will kill that man!
Maester Luwin: Theon, listen to me. I serve Winterfell. Now Winterfell is yours. I'm bound by oath to serve you.
Theon Greyjoy: And what's your counsel, trusted friend?
Maester Luwin: Run. Five hundred Northmen wait outside the walls. You have twenty men. You can't win. Wait for nightfall and run.
Theon Greyjoy: There's nowhere to run. I'd never make it back to the Iron Islands. And even if I did, even if by some miracle I slipped through the lines and made it home, I'd be a coward. "The Greyjoy who ran." The shame of the family.
Maester Luwin: Don't go home. Join the Night's Watch. Once a man has taken the black, he's beyond reach of the law. All his past crimes are forgiven.
Theon Greyjoy: I won't make it to the Wall. I won't make it ten feet past the Winterfell gates.
Maester Luwin: There are ways. Hidden passageways, built so the lords of Winterfell could escape. The road will be dangerous, but with a little luck... the Night's Watch is an ancient, honorable order. You'll have opportunities there.
Theon Greyjoy: The opportunity for Jon Snow to cut my throat in my sleep!
Maester Luwin: The opportunity to make amends for what you've done.
Theon Greyjoy: I've done a lot, haven't I? Things I never imagined myself doing.
Maester Luwin: I've known you many years, Theon Greyjoy. You're not the man you're pretending to be.
[Luwin puts a comforting hand on Theon's shoulder]
Maester Luwin: Not yet.
Theon Greyjoy: [in despair] You may be right. But I've gone too far to pretend to be anything else.
- ConnectionsFeatured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Game of Thrones Quotes (2016)
As a whole, the season is quite slowly paced, dedicating much more time to character building. The introduction of new characters is always a tricky task, especially introducing several in a short space of time. Within the first 3 episodes we are shown 6 or 7 new characters, many of which go on to have very important roles in the up and coming seasons. Existing characters which got little screen time in season 1 are also given larger roles whilst also focusing heavily on the already established characters from the previous series. Tyrion is featured heavily in this season building on his likable reputation even more while other characters are given more screen time and you really start to despise them. John Snow, Arya, Theon and Joffrey all especially stand out for me with solid performances and important story lines. A TV show has never had the ability to make me dislike certain people as much as Game of Thrones and Season 2 goes a long way to making this happen. Even the small-time characters which have little screen time have a remarkable knack of being interesting and intriguing – nobody feels out of place or unnecessary.
The production from start to finish looks great, the sets, CGI, costumes and locations are all perfect again. Watching this show in HD with a decent surround sound system is quite the experience! Season 2 is gruesome and explicitly violent, contains strong nudity, strong language and delves deeper into the fantasy realms than its previous series. It isn't as strong as season 1 but it is a strong second season, offering everything that you would want. The story is told perfectly and the introduction of many more characters is implemented faultlessly.
The pacing is spot on and scenarios start to unravel very nicely, tension is built and many questions are left unanswered – making you want to keep on watching! Daenerys scenes can get a little tiring and repetitive but this part of the show is very important for future episodes and when looking back, the character development you see of her is very significant.Season 2 ends on a strong note, exploding in episode 9. Previous episodes build up to this perfectly and the climax doesn't disappoint. With an estimated budget of $8,000,000 for episode 9, it shows off its power with an incredible battle scene, you forget that you are watching a TV drama, with a budget like that, it's an easy mistake. Episode 10, gets back to normal and ends the season on a strong note, a real cliff-hanger, giving you a small taste of what is to come!
My only real negative from the whole season was the Daenerys storyline, I felt that it started to drag a little towards the end and the climax felt a little flat. However as I said before, looking back on this storyline, you really get to see significant progression in her character which is very important for future seasons.
Overall, Season 2 is weaker than Season 1 but that was hardly a surprise for me as the first Season is one of the strongest I have ever seen out of any TV show. Season 2 does however build characters very strongly with many characters stepping up with much more screen time and fascinating stories. It includes various, very strong plots and answers questions from the previous season, contains some very solid stories and leaves key questions unanswered for future episodes.
Season ratings so far: Season 1 – 10/10. Season 2 – 9/10.
Details
- Runtime1 hour 4 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.78 : 1
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