Valar Dohaeris

This past Sunday night was home to two big television events. One, the season finale of The Walking Dead, left me rather cold. But the other, the third season premiere of Game of Thrones, was wonderful.

I'm always struck by how fast an episode of Game of Thrones flies by. The end credits pop up, and I always find myself thinking, "was that really an hour?!" The premiere was that same kind of brisk and packed affair, even though several running plot lines did not appear: there was nothing of Arya Stark, of Jamie and Brienne, or of Bran on the run from the ashes of Winterfell (which made quite a splash in the updated opening credits).

But what we did get was quite entertaining. There were several contenders for strongest scene of the hour, by my nod would go to the fantastic scene between Tywin and Tyrion. Both actors were superb, Charles Dance powerful in his contempt, and Peter Dinklage impressive in showing the audience his crushed feelings while hiding them from his father. The relationship of these two characters is one of the more important ones in book three, and I already sense that the show is going to do even better with it than the book.

My favorite addition of the week (all new material not included in the book) was the scene of Margaery Tyrell out politicking among the people. I was pleased at how her character was fleshed out in season two beyond my perception of her in the book; the show makes sure you know just how opportunistic she really is. This new wrinkle reveals that she aims to be the most loved figure in the royal family (not that she has to work too hard for that), and it adds another layer to her ambition. Cersei senses this as a threat; Joffrey appears to be enamored by it. It will be interesting to see how it all shades events to come.

There was one other interesting diversion from the book that was discussed among some of my friends. It was pointed out to me that in the book, the Unsullied are given a puppy at the start of their training, which they are then ordered to kill at the conclusion of that training. In the show, this was changed to the slaughter of an infant. It sparked an interesting discussion among us Game of Thrones fans. Though clearly the slaughter of the baby was the more objectively horrific thing, you could argue that killing the puppy would be harder task for the Unsullied. They're raised to kill people, and the baby is just another stranger to them. The puppy, on the other hand, has been their only companion, their only possession, during a lifetime of hardship. To kill that is asking them to kill something with which they have a personal connection. I don't mind the change; it certainly made the point in the TV show. Still, it's interesting (and terrible) to ponder.

Season three started off well. And the word has already come down of the official season four renewal. So now we can all sit back and enjoy the ride.