GUEST POST: Game of Thrones “The Wars to Come” Review

As usual, the season premiere of Game of Thrones served primarily to set the table for the next 9 episodes and catch us up with much of the show’s gigantic cast of characters. That doesn’t mean the episode was without incident, though. A slit throat, political scheming, full frontal nudity, a man burned alive and some intriguing new character interactions were more than enough to whet viewers’ appetites alongside all the necessary exposition. Of course, this will contain spoilers so if you haven’t seen it yet it’s best to watch it asap (through platforms like Vudu or DirecTV) and then come back here for the recap.

Like much of the series so far, “The Wars to Come” focused on fan favorite Tyrion Lannister (brilliantly played by Peter Dinklage hot off his Emmy robbery last year), in exile from Westeros after murdering his father Tywin, and in the company of one of the series’ most mysterious and notorious schemers, Varys the Spider (Conleth Hill). As the pair of them recuperate in Pentos, Tyrion seems determined to drink himself into the grave, but Varys aims to convince Tyrion to use his talents in the service of one of the most prominent contenders for the throne: Daenerys Targaryen, Mother of Dragons.

Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) could use the help, too. Unloved by the nobles of Meereen after sacking their city, freeing all its slaves and taking up residence in its Great Pyramid, the young queen has had to contend with civil unrest, political pressure to reopen the fighting pits, and a surprising inability to control her dragons, who she’s chained up in a large underground dungeon. Her largest dragon, Drogon, has not been seen for weeks since he roasted a farmer’s daughter in the countryside. If there’s two guys who possess the political and tactical savvy to help her out of this mess, it’s Tyrion and Varys.

Meanwhile, Daenerys’ rival for the throne Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane) is stationed at Castle Black following a spectacular battle in which his army showed up to support the Night’s Watch against 100,000 wildlings led by Mance Rayder (Ciaran Hinds). Stannis, who wishes to add the wildling forces to his own, offers Mance a choice: bend the knee and swear fealty or be burned alive. Mance, ever a man of principle, chooses the latter, despite the urging of Jon Snow (Kit Harrington). Jon’s respect for Mance runs deep enough that he kills him with an arrow in an act of mercy before the flames can consume him.

The premiere was also notable for who it didn’t show. Brandon Stark, who after a long and arduous journey arrived at a cavern under a weirwood tree and met a powerful wizard, will be nowhere to be seen this season, presumably because the show runners have reached the end of his book storyline, but also because the show needs to make room for the ever growing number of players on its already crowded stage. We haven’t even got to the kingdom of Dorne, where the royalty will be seething over last season’s brutal death of the much-loved prince Oberyn Martell. Arya Stark (Maisie Williams), another fan favorite, is en route to the port city of Braavos. And of course there’s Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen), the turncloak who betrayed his childhood friend Robb Stark to try to please his father, only to end up in the clutches of the depraved lunatic Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon).

As usual, we can expect the unexpected. Game of Thrones excels at visceral and unpredictable storytelling, where we find ourselves rooting for scoundrels and detesting characters we previously loved. No matter what happens, we have an exciting 9 episodes ahead of us. Next Sunday can’t come quick enough.

Guest post by Maria Ramos.

Follow her on Twitter

Maria Ramos will occasionally be joining us (once every month or so) to do a guest post. Many of her posts will be regarding various topics surrounding Game of Thrones.

If you enjoyed her post, please like/comment and make her feel welcome!

-Rebecca L