Despite this episode sticking to that early-series bad habit of trying
to catch up with too many plots at once, focusing only a few minutes on
each, the glorious Daenerys (Emilia Clarke)
was at the centre of it all. It's hard to remember now the meek young
virgin she was in season one, given how completely she has transformed
into a scary, merciless queen - albeit one whose future as a ruler was
now hanging in the balance.
As Daenerys directed an
unpopular execution, Clarke continued her masterclass in pained but
imperious expressions. Barely twitching a eyebrow, she conveyed a full
emotional palette of personal conviction, sense of duty and quiet
hesitation. But this execution might have been the first really unwise
decision the character has made as queen.
For three seasons we've seen Daenerys wander the desert from conquest
to conquest, but here she was forced to
question whether she was really
capable of ruling with an iron fist, managing the necessary balance of
brutality and diplomacy it would take to bend Westeros to her will. I'm
still rooting for her to take the iron throne, and these leadership
crises could be the making of her - if she survives them.
Most
excitingly, we saw a fleeting reprisal of Daenerys’s biggest (some would
say best) dragon, Drogon, who has been AWOL for some time. Those
dragons of hers, terrifying, ruthless and dazzlingly realised in
no-expense-spared CGI, are probably the main reason that
Game of Thrones feels more like a Hollywood blockbuster than it does a TV programme, and the more we see of them the better.
Back in the gloomy North,
Kit Harington
was still playing Jon Snow as a cocktail of brooding frowns and curly
forelocks, greeting potential leadership opportunities with the polite
reluctance of someone who has been offered an out-of-date biscuit with
their tea. If only he could get his hands on a dragon.
Meanwhile,
Arya (Maisie Williams) arrived in Braavos, which was looking a bit like a cross between Renaissance Venice and
Star Wars’ Mos Eisley,
and which turned out to house a strong contender for the most fun
character in all of Game of Thrones. I was thrilled to see the return of
"Jaqen H’ghar” (Tom Wlaschiha), Arya’s murderous fairy godfather from
season two - especially because he was now residing in a spooky palace
and frightening adolescent boys in the street, so despite his long
absence he has only improved with age. Jaqen hurrah!
We also had
a first glimpse of Dorne, a balmy Spanish-Moroccan world of landscaped
pleasure gardens, pretty tiled walls and new characters plotting in
shady alcoves was blissful relief from the shivering ice and rock of the
North. Winter may be coming, but at least Dorne still looked like a
safe place to get a tan.
