Game of Thrones ‘A Man Without Honor’: Tightening the Noose

The Game of Thrones is quite literally in full effect here in season 2, and ‘A Man Without Honor’ is an episode with a lot of staring in the distance, planning out the next step (although those plans are inevitably going to be destroyed). Some small moves were made in different pockets of Westeros, and strategizing (and fantasizing) going on in a lot of others. One thing to love about Game of Thrones is seeing people who have a lot of power can be very weak, and sometimes those on the bottom, those without honor, without sigils or vows, can be the ones really holding the keys to victory.

It’s best materialized in an mythology-building scene between Jamie Lannister (sitting in his own shit) and Catelyn Stark, where Jamie reminds her that noble men are quick to die, and with so many conflicting vows, something’s gotta give at some point. Not only does it nail the theme of the episode, it also provides some much needed texture to Jamie, who’s basically been the snickering antagonist who’s the butt of every joke in the Seven Kingdoms. He’s not a man without motivation or desire, but like many characters in the world, those dreams are tempered by the steel-hardened truths of reality, and when it comes to honest characters, you won’t find one who holds his tongue less than Jamie.

I suppose it runs in the family, though: Tyrion’s the same way, and for once, we see some of that raw honesty from Cersei in her scenes with him. She’s quickly becoming unraveled by her missing brother/lover/father of children, and it’s starting to show its wear and tear. Cersei cry? That alone is a powerful moment, but the conversation that frames it is filled with regrets over thought-out plans that have gone to shit, and some slight allusions to the extreme lengths that the Lannister family might have to go through to protect the realm.

That of course, is taking out good old beaty Mr. Sadistic King Joffrey, who’s probably about to start his weird sexual conquests of Sansa now that the dreaded day of womanhood is upon her. Another great scene with Cersei, who again gets to speak the hard truth of her disappointment in her husband and son, and remind Cersei that the less you love, the easier it is to do what needs to be done (another lesson Sansa’s father never learned). Even the Hound, who saved her from a brutal rape/beating last week, can’t help her, spilling the beans of her first period to the queen almost instantaneously.

The Lannisters really manage to find their way into almost every scene in ‘A Man Without Honor’: thanks to Jaqer’s poison dart, the Lannisters are torturing themselves (literally), desperately trying to find the culprit, who is suspected to be in the Brotherhood without Banners (what a badass title). This leads to an awesome scene between Arya and Tywin about legacies, proper language, and what happens in war when somebody changes the rules and brings magic to the table.

And if you want to talk about magic and power, Dany’s got a story you’ll want to hear up in Qarth. Now that her dragons are missing and everyone left in her khalasar are slaughtered, she’s beginning to run out of options, and realizing how empty the promise of a thousand fables of power and flying banners when everyone around you is dead and gone. She might want to consider that proposal by Xanos, because him and the ghost man are really making some power moves for themselves in Qarth, murdering the rest of the 13 and settling the issue as to where the dragons are for the time being.

Another power move, and the second we’ve seen so far this season based around magic (remember Renly?). The other big power move in recent times is of course, good old Theon, who keeps trying to stop fucking up, and manages to just fuck up even more by being a shithead. Torturing and burning children isn’t going to earn him anybody’s respect, especially when they’re obvious facsimiles of Bran and Rickon (nice try Luwin, not buying that little freak out). Theon’s really digging himself a deep, deep grave, one he’s already way too far in to get out of, and at this point, is only making things worse for themselves. Like Joffrey, his immaturity and penchant for shortsightedness are leaving them both in tenuous control of the powerful landscapes they’re in charge of.

All in all, another solid episode, even if its frenetic, jumpy pace leads to some jarring scenery changes throughout. Things are really building towards the end of the season, with everyone either in some state of peril, or waiting for the other shoe to drop on their own strained situations.

Grade: B+

– good to see the Kingslayer back in things, the show just didn’t feel right with him chilling on the sidelines.

– Maisie Williams continues to dominate Arya’s scenes. Her range is so impressive, and her conversation with Tywin was easily the highlight of the episode.

– I didn’t talk about Jon Snow, but he’s in some shit north of the wall… and didn’t even get to have sex before he got screwed over by Ygritte. At least now we’ll be able to start putting faces to this army of wildlings hiding everywhere.

– Short ends of the stick this week: Stannis (again),

– doesn’t the House of the Undying just sound so inviting? Looks like Cersei’s going to have her sanity tested once again.

What did you think of ‘A Man Without Honor’? Leave your thoughts/comments below!