Game of Thrones Season Three Review

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows set a precedent for modern book adaptations that I’m surprised wasn’t made earlier: instead of releasing one highly grossing entry in a franchise, why not split it up into two?  It’s proven financially successful with Harry Potter & Twilight and may likely do the same for the last film in The Hunger Games.  However, one of the complaints is that by splitting up the films the narrative flow isn’t as satisfying.  It’s no surprise that eventually it would happen to Game of Thrones, whose latest season only covered part of the third book in the series, A Storm of Swords.  Besides buying some time for George R.R. Martin to write the final two books so the show runners don’t have to worry about catching up yet, Swords is considered by readers the best in the series and taking some extra time would benefit the story.  Judging from what I’ve seen (I’ve only read the first book, preferring to watch the show as someone new to what will happen next), it seems like the right choice.

Considering the world of Game of Thrones only gets bigger each season, with new locales and characters added in practically every episode, two seasons for this book makes sense.  However, it is the event that happens in this season’s penultimate episode, one readers have been anticipating since the beginning, that really justifies that length.  I couldn’t imagine them streamlining the season to the point of having the Red Wedding, where several major characters are brutally executed, take place in episode four or five.  It’s a major event that needed the importance of being a penultimate episode of a season, one fans know is the episode where major things happen.

It’s also another game changing event like Ned Stark’s murder in season one’s penultimate episode.  Martin’s series has been praised for subverting expectations people have going in to fantasy stories.  Ned was the main character of the first book, but they took advantage of that assumption for a shocking twist.  Regardless, we still expected Robb to emerge victorious and get justice from all the military victories he had in the war and the story’s emphasis on the Stark clan, but Game of Thrones threw out books worth of audience expectations when he was brutally killed with his pregnant wife and mother.  Of course in some ways it feels like a definitive ending, but there are clearly more balls in the air to indicate this war is far from over.  That you can’t tell what’ll happen next is a valuable asset to this story.

Besides the Red Wedding, the other major subversion of season three is the redemption of Jaime Lannister.  It’s hard to believe that the guy who capped off the first episode of the series by having sex with his sister and paralyzing Ned’s son would become one of the most honorable characters in the series.  It took a long time, including a season of imprisonment and losing his sword fighting hand before we began to see there was a lot more to him.  His growing allegiance to Brienne, another highly honorable character and his caretaker to King’s Landing, showed a lot more layers to a character we thought he had figured out.  Their dynamic was one of the most enjoyable things from this season, from their butting heads to Jaime’s recount of how he earned the nickname Kingslayer.  This transformation is what it took to make him pulling a Ron Burgundy to save Brienne from the bear believable.  To paraphrase a character from that film: today, we spell redemption J-A-I-M-E.

The most improved subplot of the season was no doubt Daenerys.  The distance between her and the rest of the cast in Westeros can be a little frustrating as nothing either side has done has affected the other significantly, at least not until this point.  This season she got some really awesome moments as she grows into a position of someone vying for the throne and a legitimate threat to the others.  The razing of slave city Astapor was a highlight, and it seems like nothing’s going to stop her with her army of killing machines and growing dragons.  There is a hint of power corrupting, which considering this world, is something that will likely be dealt with.  I would’ve liked to have seen more with Ser Barristan, a knight who rebelled from his forced retirement under Joffrey by aligning with her, as it seemed to be building some tension between him and Daenerys’ longtime companion Ser Jorah, but maybe that’s another victim of it being only half the book.

Things are also getting more interesting by the wall, with the White Walker threat growing as the Night’s Watch falls apart at Craster’s Keep and the Wildlings begin to survey for a large scale invasion.  This was another storyline that suffered a little last season because of its distance to the rest of the action, but in this season it’s encroachment toward the lives of the rest of Westeros raises the stakes even further.  In the middle of it is Jon Snow, whose story this season takes him from defecting to the wildlings, falling in love and consummating those feelings with Ygritte to failing to deliver on his promises to the wildlings, betraying her and winding up back in Castle Black.  It’s an interesting position for him to be in because while he’s back in setting we haven’t seen since the first season, it’d be foolish to think it’s a reset (same goes for Jaime’s return to King’s Landing).

The saga in the north is also setting up the stage for Stannis to have something to do: his storyline has always been hit or miss for me.  This season he hasn’t done much besides lick his wounds following the Battle at Blackwater from last season.  Now he has some purpose, rally his troops to assist the war on the White Walkers.  It should be a nice change of pace from the usual Melisandre coming between Stannis and Davos we’ve seen the last two seasons—though to be fair bringing Gendry into the fold about his parentage adds another interesting layer.

There were weak points this season, the most noteworthy was Theon’s never ending torture session at the hands of the demented Ramsay.  I understand—no specific book spoilers—this subplot deviates from the books, but when all the subplots are chugging along, especially this season, Theon’s one man Salo stands out as particularly inert.  Every week felt like the same thing with few moments of character development, save for Theon’s comments when he thought he was rescued.  In the finale, they quickly explain away what happened.  Had they sprinkled bits of this throughout the season it would’ve been more satisfying.

Because the season is only half of the book, it lacks the closure previous seasons had, at least as much closure as you can expect from a story like this.  Several elements are left up in the air, or haven’t been seen in a few episodes.  Unlike my problems with the lack of closure for Arrested Development, I’m OK with some stuff not getting wrapped up because of the way this season was structured and the fact that the fourth season is guaranteed barring some disaster.  I wonder if those who watched this unaware of the behind the scenes stuff could tell.  Regardless, even if they didn’t and left this season unsatisfied, there’s no doubt fans will return because with a story told this well, you can’t stop halfway.

Grade: A-

Observations:

*Obviously there’s a lot I didn’t talk about in this review. Bran and Rickon’s trip up north with their companions, Tyrion marrying Sansa and the pressures of him to father a child with her, etc.  Of course something dense as this it’s hard to get it in less than 2,000 words, not to mention all the stuff that is left in the air.

*Speaking of not mentioned things: breakout character hands down Olenna Tyrell.  Diana Rigg put in some great work there.

*Would’ve liked to have seen more of the Tyrells in the last couple episodes, especially Margery.  It’s interesting to see how she appears genuinely concerned and sympathetic to others, but she’s playing the game just as much as everyone else.

*Wonder how many nerd weddings will feature “The Rains of Castamere”?

*Would’ve liked to have seen more fallout from the death of Ros.  She may have not been a huge player on the show, but she’s been around since the pilot.  At least we didn’t have to see her horrifying death.

*Mance Rayder also dropped off the radar pretty quick.  I’m expecting him to show up next year, but I expected to see more of him this year.

*Loved seeing the Hound and Arya together.  Similar to her fun back and forth with Tywin last year.  It’ll be interesting to see where this is going now that the Hound has no one to collect a large reward from.

*The followers of the Lord of Light may be legit, or at least they have magic that can bring back the dead.

*This may be the most difficult season for me as far as not caving and reading ahead.