Boy, when Game of Thrones picks up its pace, it does so swiftly, throwing each and every character in their own conundrum, putting the brutal realities of Westeros at the doorstep of every player, major or minor. ‘The Old Gods and the New’ ratchets up the steadily-growing tension into a taut 55 minutes that not only features a number of gruesome deaths and important story advancements, but alludes to some of the things to come as we move into the second half of season 2 and beyond. Hands down the best episode of the season to this point.
Like I said in previous recaps this season, Thrones is at its best when a common thread is drawn through every storyline, and ‘The Old Gods and the New’ does this as well as any episode of the series, bringing back an important lesson Ned Stark paid the price for in season 1: you can’t trust anybody, sometimes even the person sleeping next to you. With the great storm brewing both north and south of the wall, the quickest things to fall in the presence of swords and allusions of power are a man’s loyalties, something we see in nearly every thread of the episode.
Some of those pay very harsh dividends: Robb and Bran’s loyalties to Theon end up costing them greatly, with the newly-proclaimed Prince of the Iron Islands doing exactly what he wasn’t supposed to, and taking Winterfell for his own. Everything around him suggests this is a mistake, from the last words of Rodrik all the way to Osha’s carefully executed manipulation of him later that night. Theon’s short-sightedness (and tendency to let his cock lead him around) are only going to make his issues worse, and somehow, trying to fight a personal vendetta against his own house and the Starks at the same time, is bound to go sideways.
Up beyond the wall, Jon Snow’s got himself in yet another shitstorm of his own doing, when he shows weakness when faced with killing a female wildling. She of course, runs wild with this, separating him from his group and forcing him to place himself at the mercy of the cold, dark night ahead of them. A single glance of mercy and next thing you know, Jon is lost in the icy mountains with Qhorin Halfhand and the rest of his hunting crew, with only his sword and an untrustworthy woman to keep him company.
Even the King himself has a lot to learn about trust. Joffrey just assumes everyone in King’s Landing will do his bidding and respect him for his position, but it couldn’t be farther from the truth. All the power of his fancy Kingsguard is no match for a good old fashioned peasant riot, one which nearly kills Sansa – even though Joffrey could care less, although her life is inexplicably tied to Jamie’s – and reveals Joffrey once again as a sniveling, cowarding idiot who can’t even pick up a sword, or show the slightest bit of empathy for anyone.
On top of all this treachery, it seems the other theme of the week is watching children raised by Starks fucking things up for themselves. Besides Theon and Sansa’s tumultuous positions, Arya almost gets herself whacked by trying to get sneaky under Tywin’s nose. She ends up needing Jaqen H’ghar’s second promised killing to get her out of it, leaving him one life in her debt with a well-timed poison dart to Amory’s neck.
To top it all off, Daenerys is getting the best of both worlds, finding out in a span of five minutes how quickly things can go sour when you trust a stranger, and ask for help through threats. After an ill-fated meeting with The Spice King with a lot of Targaryen posturing to no effects, she returns to find most of her people murdered, and her three dragons missing, taken to a tower somewhere in Qarth. If there’s one thing Daenerys is coming to realize this season, its that the ‘claim’ her deceased brother spoke so much about, turns out to be nothing but a puff of smoke in the eyes of anyone but Jorah.
All in all, a fantastic episode of the show. Game of Thrones can be thrilling and breath-catching in ways no other television can, for the simplest of reasons: there’s no reason why any character can’t be killed in the next episode. As we’ve seen with Ned, Renly, and numerous other examples, there are no main characters on this show that are safe – something network TV wouldn’t even attempt, being so heavily constructed around two or three known entities that people tune in directly for. Sure, it might make for a story that’s confusing at times, and introduce a sprawling cast of characters, but it’s what makes the show unique in a landscape of largely predictable television. There’s no show on TV with higher stakes than Game of Thrones, and in vicious hours like ‘The Old Gods and the New’, it makes for captivating drama.
Grade: A
Other thoughts/observations:
– short stick this week goes to Varys, Margery, and Stannis, who are off in different places of the world, planning their next moves.
– Cersei’s speech to Tyrion does not sound like a good omen for Shae now, does it? There are a few characters that follow through on threats, and she is definitely high up on that list.
– Tyrion smacks Joffrey again. Can we get another 10-minute YouTube video for this now, please?
– hey Myrcelle, don’t forget to write!!!
– I didn’t talk much about Robb, but he’s clearly trying to holler at some buns in the war camp. Totally forbidden, and she’s mysterious enough that she could be using her vagina to blind Robb. I know one thing, grumpy old Walder Frey will not be happy if that promise is broken.
– Nice stealthy move by Osha, who doesn’t mind trading a little sex to save Bran and Maester Luwin, the two people who have kept her head on her shoulders (and Hodor, of course).
– the only thing I could think of after the opening scene: boy, is Theon fucking up on every front. Robb is declaring treason and a wish to personally kill him, and I don’t think Baelon will be very happy about the developments at Winterfell, either. Guess we’ll see what happens there.
– speaking of Rodrik, how many of Ned’s men are left? Any?
Leave your thoughts on ‘The Old Gods and the New’ in the comments below! See you next week to talk about ‘A Man Without Honor.’