What I’m Watching: Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones: Season 3, Episode 4 “And Now His Watch is Ended” (B+)

The balance of power continues to shift in each episode, and it makes it very exciting to watch, if continually confusing in terms of just how all of the various kings, princes, and princesses are related to one another. The biggest gain this week goes to Oleanna, who managed to give Tywin, who destroyed his daughter much like he did his son several episodes ago, a run for his money when it comes to make people feel really bad about themselves, and who made a powerful ally in Varys and may just hold the keys to taking down the Lannisters. Margaery is quite capable of that herself, of course, and I do hope that she’s merely playing Joffrey rather than expressing actual delight at his despicable tales of horror. Oleanna and Varys’ evaluation of Sansa, and Baelish, for that matter, is spot-on, and it’s amusing to see just how useless Sansa is practically despite her irreversible relevance to the plot. Hopefully it won’t be long before Arya makes her big break and returns to rescue her shocked sister. The newly handless Jaime and Brienne are bonding incredibly in their captivity, and of course Jaime still managed to hold his own, for a moment, with a sword in his other hand. As I assume most did, I saw the death by dragon fire coming, but that didn’t make the ensuing moment, in which Daenerys earned the truthful undying loyalty of her soldiers, any less awesome. She’s definitely a force to be reckoned with, and now she’s ready to attack.