Game of Thrones season 2 episode 7 review: A Man Without Honor
Game of Thrones continues a strong run of episodes with this honor-themed installment. Read Ron's review here...
This review contains spoilers.
2.7 A Man Without Honor
One of the trends Game of Thrones has developed is the thematic episode. There will be a certain confluence of storylines in which everyone is discussing a similar issue. This week, as you might get by the title of the episode, is honor and its various permutations in Westeros and beyond: honesty, forthright behavior, keeping up oaths, and that sort of thing.
Foremost amongst the many illusionists of the Game of Thrones universe is the warlock Pyat Pree (Ian Hanmore). He's a master of deception in more ways than one. If you remember, he's the very disturbing-looking bald fellow who put on a show of tricks for Dany at the marketplace a few episodes back, but now he's returned, and it appears that he and Xaro Xhoan Daxos have been putting together a nifty little trick of their own behind the backs of the rest of the Thirteen of Qarth and behind the back of the Mother of Dragons. It's a neat little trick they pulled, summoning the rest of the ruling cabal of Qarth into a meeting concerning Dany's missing dragons (and pile of dead Dothraki) only to have them removed from power via steel.
For the last few episodes, Dany's wander through the red wastes and her eye-candy trips to Qarth have been a bit underwhelming. Yes, the city is interesting to look at, and Quaithe (the woman in the metal veil) is intriguing with her magical henna tattoos and awesome metal face wear, but when you compare Dany's haggling for ships and being flirted with to the War of the Five Kings and Theon Greyjoy's madcap murder romp through the forests of Winterfell, well... it's no wonder Dany's whole plot comes off as oh-so-pretty and pretty vacant at the same time. She got advanced in a hurry this week, with the promise of getting her leather kittens back next week! I was getting lulled to sleep a bit by her and Qarth, but things certainly flared up out beyond the Red Wastes, and I'm feeling as puzzled as Jorah Mormont right now; call me crazy, but killing someone's friends and stealing their dragons doesn't seem like the best way to climb up the social ladder.
Theon Greyjoy, he of the desperate struggle to not be a contemptible twit, continues to just be terrible at everything. First of all, Osha, Hodor, and the two little Starklings escape from Winterfell under the cover of night, then they evade capture. Oh, Theon kills a couple of kids and disfigures their bodies as a way to make Winterfell cower at his feet, but it's pretty obvious to me that those aren't the Stark kids. Those bodies are burned for a reason; these are those two orphan kids Bran mentions. I know this for sure because, despite the wonderful mournful wail Maester Luwin (Donald Sumpter) gives at the end of the episode, we're still dealing with Theon Greyjoy, who has never met a situation he couldn't mishandle.
Another obvious moment was when Jaime Lannister, the Kingslayer, was thrown into a shared cell with his distant cousin Alton Lannister (Karl Davies). Did anyone think it would end well for that boy when he started launching into how hanging out with Jaime was the highlight of his life as a young squire? That's a given on this show: if you get any kind of serious exposition in one long scene, you'll probably end up dead. While I don't like when things are telegraphed in such a manner, I did like the execution, and I was surprised to see that Jaime's escape was a failure. It was worth Alton's death just to laugh at Jaime, Cate, and Brienne's palaver in the stockade. Nicolaj Coster-Waldau hasn't been in this season too much, but his few moments this episode have managed to give us more of a glimpse into the twisted honor that the Kingslayer holds to (and was the second-best bit of exposition on this week's episode, next to Tywin Lannister and Arya Stark's mutton dinner).
Game of Thrones is a show that relies heavily on its writing and actors. This week, penned by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, was beautifully sharp on the dialogue front. From Theon Greyjoy dismissing a manhunt as a simple game to Jon Snow and Ygritte's flirty banter (or Robb Stark's flirty banter with the foreign Florence Nightingale), Thrones and its creative crew have been working very hard not to make any character one-note. Cersei is a horrible person, but she loves her children. Even Joffrey, though she knows she's screwed up when it comes to him. Jaime has honor, but so many conflicting oaths that he's thrown it all away out of love for his sister. Tywin is a brilliant tactician and warrior, a mediocre father, and a loving mentor to Arya, who would like nothing more than to cut his throat in spite of how well he's taken care of her.
From the early days of season 2's sexposition to Tywin and Arya's long discussion at the dinner table, Game of Thrones has really managed to handle exposition sections pretty well. Provided the exposition continues to be given to the viewer by Charles Dance (with Maisie Williams reaction shots) and Peter Dinklage (with the occasional interlude from Bronn or Lena Headey), this will literally not get old.
Read our review of last week's episode, The Old Gods and the New, here.
US Correspondent Ron Hogan would listen to Charles Dance give a dramatic reading of the phone book, provided Peter Dinklage was there to mock him. Find more by Ron daily at Shaktronics and PopFi.
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I totally agree with this piece, the acting continues to be superb and the dialogue sharp. I look forward to every episode with appropriate excitement as the wonderfully complex tale unfolds in front of our eyes. Game of Thrones is another HBO juggernaut. Long may it continue!
PS - Loving DOG 2.0. The comment addition is now a simple act and not a chore. Well done folks
I'm a little confused by what's going on with Dany as well. If Pyat Pree hadn't revealed his hand like he did maybe Dany wouldn't be running away from him right now (not that she seems likely to get far). Couldn't he have tried to lure her back to his place with less creepy?
In the books, Dany's post-Drogo journey was tiresome and rather dull. It's no less so in the series. They are taking necessary license with her plot, so I hope they get it rolling a little more.
I love the show etc. but in ACOK, the only reason Catelyn let Jaime go is because she thought Rickon & Bran were dead and wanted to trade Jaime for Arya & Sansa. which is a much more plausible reason they should have used than "oh no he won't survive the night, i think we should let him go".
I am shocked at the cutting of jojen and meera. Seemed to me they were important.
Someone just learned what the word "exposition" means...
Would we see a season 3?
So did Catelyn cut Jaime free ? Why ? To leave him at the mercy of the vengeful father ?
All i can think about is john snow and that wildling woman....what happened next?This is what great shows are made of!
You kind of missed out my favourite part, Tyrion and Cersei's almost tender moment, even though they despise one another! You could almost cut the air when Tyrion was going to pat her then decided against it! I love the way they are executing the books, cutting out a lot of the bulk but still managing to convey little moments which give you a proper feel for the characters.
I agree but it was too much explain about the importance of Howland Reed to House Stark. You would have to start talking about Robert's Rebellion, The Tower of Joy, etc, etc. What I don't like is how the Three Eyed Crow seems to have dropped out of the narrative.
I was thinking the exact same thing. I mean come on, the whole reason Bran goes North of the wall to pursue the three eyed crow is because of Jojen's green dreams. And the whole thing with the dragons getting kidnapped and Xaro declaring himself king of Qarth with Pyat backing him up, not even remotely close to events from the book. And then there's Tywin at Harrenhal instead of Roose Bolton and all the differences with that part of the story. It's not like they couldn't have done the Harrenhal stuff the way it went in the book. So many changes...I understand the need to adapt things for T.V., but rather than adapt things, they are just rewriting it altogether.
I hope Catelyn chops jaimies foot off. that would be great. then he can limp back to cersei! lol
excellents spoilers there guys, why don't you just tell everyone who hasn't read the books everything they can look forward to.
Rewriting is adapting, the reeds add little to the narrative apart from more characters to a bulging cast plus Osha can fill in their place. I thought the parts at quarth were cleverly done, and makes sense too, firstly it makes you dislike/mistrust Xharo as well as directing Dany to the 'house of the undying'. I think people need to stop whining about what's missing. They are handling the exposition well (like the DoG writer pointed out several times) but if they explained every last detail and had even more characters those who've never read the books would be lost and it would be bogged down. I'm for one a loving what they've done with GoT, and maybe you would too if you sat back and just took it for what it is. The best fantasy adaption on your box at home to date (yet your complaining???).
This season has been different experience compared to last season , the storyline are moving very fast and every scene is long to get in depth of every character but this make this season feel somehow short and quick.
they have to explain robert's rebellion at some point...they have to talk about the child that "had it's head smashed in", yada yada yada...kinda important for later in the series.not happy with the changes they're making...stanis and melisandrea and their sexual encounter never happens...osha and asha; which is horrible casting; the daughter from the iron islands should be recast...too many random hbo induced sex scenes that don't/never happened.
Uh... You do know how (shadow) babies are made, right?
All they did was telegraphed it earlier and showed things in a more straightforward way to suit TV. Frankly, I prefer that particular change, even though it took away slightly from Renly's death, but was traded for the shock of the shadow creature crawling out of Melisandre.
I don't know what you mean by 'explaining Robert's rebellion'. Hasn't it all been explained or at least implied over the course of last season, like it was in the first book?
The renaming of Asha is a bit unnecasary, but really not important at all, and is cast very well, imo.
As for the sex scenes, most of them illustrate how women are either oppressed by sex, or use it as a weapon. I guess it depends how much you're willing to endure in the name of world-building and/or plot.
They've transfered Jojen's major plot points into Bran, and Meera's into Osha. It's simple, effective, and doesn't require yet more character introductions and expostion.
The Three eyed crow will be picked back up again soon enough. They have to condense the dreams down and use them sparingly.
Agreed. I also noticed no one seems to be complaining about the loss of much of Catelyn's plot, which is understandable, as it wouldn't be very interesting on screen. It gives much context to her character, though.
Def better this week than the low point of last week's ep, but the continued wastage of time on Robb and his OH so honourable wife to be is irritating me beyond belief. As is her utter goodness.
Mainly this irks because it takes up screen time which could have been used to keep Arya's story more true to the book. Her current kill rate is WAY too low, surely this affects where she's headed in the story eventually. We're heading for places where characters decisions to do things won't make sense because they've not been thru the same experiences as they do in the novels.Next line contains possible spoilers:Also looks like we won't be getting the chain. Boo!
However there was T&A, so that was good.
I partially agree. I do think it was quite dull, but if so why not leave her for a bit and spend more time on the stories they are hacking to bits? We don't need her in every episode. I'm sure people can remember someone for 2 weeks.
Yeah I was saying the same last week. I'm guessing the wildling woman (name?) will fulfil their role. Tho frankly I find Bran the most boring character so am not *that* bothered.
Good call - less Dany for the moment would be welcome. But, they're doing a good job of adapting the work as a whole - the finer details are being moved about and the results have been good so far.
Much like the LotR films where whole subplots, chapters and characters were either deleted or significantly altered, the end product was undeniably great. I hope the same can be said of GoT once all is said and done.