WARNING: SPOILERS ARE COMING…
Season Four, Episode Two: “The Lion and the Rose”
Written and Directed by David Benioff & D.B. Weiss
FINALLY — a wedding worth celebrating. Season four of Game of Thrones wastes no time in trimming down its large list of major characters. In episode two, we witness the death of yet another of Westeros’ power players, only this one is sure to have people throughout the seven kingdoms — save for a few — raising their cups in jubilation.
Quick Breakdown
Let’s all breathe a collective sigh of satisfaction: King Joffrey’s reign has ended. Thanks to some gnarly poison that turned him purple and left him bleeding from his eyeballs, that whiny bastard boy finally got what he deserved — a gruesome death in front of a crowd of people, none of whom could do anything to save him. It hasn’t been revealed yet who is responsible — though we’ll undoubtedly spend the week leading up to episode three in speculation (those of us who haven’t read the books, anyway) — but, for tonight, I don’t think it matters. Let’s enjoy this victory.
It wasn’t easy. Just before it, during Joffrey’s final hours, we got to witness one of the most uncomfortable moments in the show’s history. It was the king’s lone contribution to the royal wedding — a dramatized reenactment of the War of the Five Kings that managed to somehow offend every person in attendance except for Joffrey and his brother-loving mother. Each of the five kings — Robb Stark, Stannis Baratheon, Renly Baratheon, Balon Greyjoy, and, of course, King Joffrey — makes an appearance, and each is played by a dwarf in some ridiculous costume. One by one, each king falls, until only the dwarf portraying Joffrey is left standing. He takes the helmet of Robb Stark and air-humps it, which I guess is supposed to be symbolic of the Lannister domination over House Stark. Here’s hoping this is what Joffrey will be remembered by.
More entertaining than Joffrey’s theater production, though, were a number of verbal battles that took place during the royal wedding. Here are my favorites:
Tywin Lannister and Olenna Tyrell are debating the extravagance — and the price — of the wedding. “You ought to try enjoying something before you die; you might find it suits you,” she tells him.
Jaime Lannister and Ser Loras discuss Loras’ upcoming marriage to Cersei. “…You’ll never marry her,” Jaime threatens. “Neither will you,” Loras quips back. ZINNNNNGGG.
Prince Oberyn disses Tywin, Cersei, and the whole Lannister crew with this one: “People everywhere have their differences. In some places, the high-born frown upon those of low birth. In other places, the rape and murder of women and children is considered distasteful. What a fortunate thing for you, former Queen Regent, that your daughter Myrcella has been sent to live in the latter sort of place.” That’s like a quadruple-burn.
If you’re keeping count at home, that’s Lannisters – 0, Everyone Else – 3.
Our time outside King’s Landing in episode two is short. We have a brief visit with Roose Bolton and his bastard Ramsay Snow, who has by now conditioned Reek (formerly Theon Greyjoy) to do anything he asks. His allegiance is proven when Ramsay asks Reek to shave his face with a straight razor, giving him ample opportunity to go for a revenge kill. This scene is all kinds of tense, as the blade stalls on Ramsay’s neck just long enough for us all to consider what might happen if Theon decided to redeem himself and kill this guy mid-groom. Instead, Reek serves dutifully, further proving that any semblance of Theon left has been beaten, flayed, or otherwise tortured out of him.
Further north, we catch up with Bran and his crew for the first time this season, though not for long. Bran has been honing his skills as a Warg, but with some consequences. He learns that spending too much time controlling animals could actually cause him to forget how to be himself. This, as you might imagine, is bad. Bran seems pretty pissed off about being told what to do.
After a short walk, the group happens upon a heart tree (magical tree with a face carved in it). Bran touches the tree and sees some kind of vision that the group their next clue in their hunt for the three-eyed raven.
Missing from episode two are appearances from Daenerys, Jon Snow, and Arya and the Hound. It’s sad not seeing these characters, but what we’ve got here is more than enough satisfy our discussions. Joffrey’s death was unexpected (at least to us non-readers), but totally memorable and wholly satisfying. I hated that kid and I’m glad he’s gone, but I am left wondering how the show’s dynamic will change without him. As it stands, Joffrey was our measuring stick for villainy — in a world filled with complex characters painted every shade of gray, he was the purest form of evil. With him out of the picture, how will that change?
Rating
A+
Last episode was mostly exposition and character development, and I expected this one to be much of the same. Instead, we got the death of the show’s most reviled character. Gutsy move. If the rest of the season promises to deliver in the same way that this episode did, expect big things.
Closing Thoughts
I haven’t mentioned it yet, but Tyrion is currently on the chopping block for Joffrey’s death, as he was the last one to touch the King’s goblet. That seems suspicious, sure, but I don’t think it was him. That would be too easy to solve. It’s because of this that I don’t think he’ll see any real punishment.
Ser Dontos made a short but all-too-convenient appearance at the end of the episode. He came in at the last moment to pull Sansa away from the scene of Joffrey’s death and into some undisclosed location, presumably to rescue her from whatever may happen next. This seems sketchy too, and I’m interested to see if there are motives to it beyond returning the favor she paid to him back in season two.
The Tyrells seem to play the part of the victim remarkably well. I have a feeling they’ve got something to do with this poisoning business, especially considering that, just before, Olenna speaks to Sansa about her brother Robb and “killing a man at a wedding.”
Shae, Tyrion’s whore-turned-lover, has skipped town. It took some coaxing (and some harsh words) from Tyrion, but she left King’s Landing and set sail for distant lands. It’s unclear when, or if, she will show up again.
Bronn is, next to Tyrion, the most quotable character on the show. Tonight’s gem, to Tyrion: “Go drink until it feels like you did the right thing.”
Joffrey’s laugh is absolutely insufferable. I’m totally glad he’s dead.
