Second Sons

A number of plot lines took the bench for this week's Game of Thrones, so that we could spend more time mainly on a pair of significant developments: the marriage of Sansa and Tyrion, and Daenerys finding new allies in the Second Sons and Daario Naharis.

I myself enjoyed the former storyline more, a cascade of delightfully dark scenes. Elements from the book were well realized, such as Tyrion's embarrassment at having to ask Sansa to kneel for the ceremony. Peter Dinklage played Tyrion's drunkenness at the reception masterfully. And the moment where he threatens Joffrey was absolutely chilling.

The new additions satisfied too. We got another feast of Lady Olenna's droll wit, as she taunted Margaery and Lorys with the horrors of their family tree. But better still was the pair of scenes with Cersei this week. First, we got her lengthy and flowery threat to Margaery; then, having apparently just worn out her patience for anything more, her curt dismissal of her groom-to-be, Lorys. It was a fun way to thwart expectations to start into a carefully considered, metaphorical story only to have Cersei pull the plug on the whole thing.

Over in Yunkai, things played out pretty much exactly as written in the book, but it still made for an interesting display. They have revised the appearance of Daario, and much for the better. (He's described in the book with a blue-dyed, three pronged beard.) In any case, his adoration for Daenerys was conveyed quickly and well.

The story of Melisandre and Gendry seems to have found its way back to a place book readers will find familiar. Excising the extremely minor character of Edric (I had to look up his name), the show has decided to graft Gendry into that role in the story. Seems like an excellent elision to me.

For those hoping for a more action packed hour, the episode ended with Sam slaying one of the white walkers in a tense sequence. The gathering crows set things up in an effectively creepy way, and the visual effects team delivered on the powers of both the walker itself and Sam's dragonglass dagger.

Because of Memorial Day next weekend, it's going to be two weeks before the story continues. I enjoyed this episode enough to hold me over until then.