Game of Thrones (Season 3)

Zach Goodier

In anticipation of the end of Season 4 tomorrow, I figured I better make sure I’m up-to-date on our GoT reviews before reviewing the entirety of Season 4.  So here’s our season 3 review, obvious ***SPOILERS*** included.

If you give an aspiring Queen an army... She's going to want a throne to go with it.

As we left off in Season 2, Dany is learning to become more assertive, and with the help of Jorah is becoming more of a queen every day.  Back in Westeros, The war is dragging on, as Robb continues to win on the field, but starts to have trouble amongst his own ranks.  Further south, the Lannisters still hold King’s Landing, but are struggling to contend with continuing opposition, and even their allies are out to undermine them.  Stannis, still reeling from the Battle of Blackwater, licks his wounds, and struggles to keep himself in the game, despite being the rightful heir to the throne.  And north of the Wall, the Night’s Watch struggles to contend with the White Walkers, as well as the savage Wildlings.  All in all, the struggle for the Iron Throne, and the dangers to the far north, are only escalating.

 

We really get to know more about the Wildling clans this season.

For Dany, the season is all uphill, with her dragons, as well as her growing reputation, she starts to become more of an actual leader this season.  Her cause of liberating the slaves gives her a sense of nobility, and her charisma is almost as potent as dragonfire.  However, I found the season for Dany to be somewhat less interesting than the other storylines, particularly after she obtains the Unsullied army.  Ser Barristan Selmy appears again, adding some new life to Dany’s story, as well as returning a favorite side-character of mine to the show again.  Towards the end of the season her story picks up again, with the siege of Yunkai and the introduction of the character of Daario.

Mance Raider, the King Beyond the Wall.

For Robb, the season is full of frustration, as he keeps trying to engage the Lannisters, only finding they have fallen back, murdering and pillaging everything they can along the way, leaving dead northerners behind at Harrenhall in order to further frustrate Robb.  Following his mother’s betrayal by setting Jaime Lannister free, Robb starts to struggle with the difficult position of not killing Jaime, and the resentment fostered amongst many of his supporters for it.  The growing tension amongst his own ranks gives Robb no end of difficulty, and things come to a head later in the season when one of his lords outright violates Robb’s orders and takes matters into his own hands.  While I sympathize with Robb’s problems, I believe his approach was far too soft, and that his lords are right to question his ability when Robb could lose his father, and see the bodies of murdered Northmen and still not exact vengeance for those loses.  It makes Robb start to lose face, and altogether lose the support of his own men.

Robb has an increasingly difficult season, trying to find justice in a world without mercy can be very difficult, and the enemies never play fair.

Since I mentioned Jaime, I should say that this is really Jaime’s breakout season, as he struggles to get back to King’s Landing to return to his beloved Cersei.  Despite the disturbing nature of his incest relationship, Jaime really starts to develop as a character this season, really challenging some of the conceptions we’ve had about him from the beginning of the series.  He doesn’t necessarily redeem himself, but he certainly does a good job of walking a fine line between hero and villain in the story, especially in a bath scene with Brienne where to tells the story of how he killed the Mad King.  I won’t spoil details, but it’s a standout scene where he really starts to open up, and we finally see the man underneath the armor.

Jaime doesn't have a very good season... But it's at his lowest that he really starts to shine.

Jon Snow is struggling to survive north of the Wall, and Ygritte proves to be one of his greatest challenges yet, in more ways than one.  She challenges Jon, and helps validate the warning Aemon gave to Jon way back in season one.  This really starts to give some complexity to Jon, who now faces the cruelty of his own vows.  While I left off after season 2 believing that the White Walkers were finally on the warpath (I hadn’t started reading at that point), there really isn’t that much about them this season, aside from a significant role later on when we finally find out that they do have some sort of weakness.

Robb's allies and relatives, the Tully's.

The most discussed moment from season 3 is without doubt the Red Wedding.  I won’t go into it in this review, besides mentioning that it is one of the greatest twists/shocking moments of television history.  It’s not just the event itself, but the brutality of it all, as you are reminded that this world and story takes no prisoners.  If you’ve seen it, then you know just how brutal it all is, even making changes to the story to keep things fresh and exciting for even those that have read the books.

Ygritte is Jon Snow's biggest test yet.

Overall, season 3 keeps the trend going of turning up the dial, throwing twists and turns your way, all the while fooling you into believing you have this show all figured out.  It’s this tightrope walk between defying expectations and still giving the audience something to go on.  It’s a dangerous line that few shows have ever thought to walk, and none have successfully done.  George R. R. Martin has earned a reputation as a literary sadist in the way he writes, but if this story was only about “bad” guys winning, it would still fall into the same predictable patterns as any other show.  It’s not knowing where or when the twists will come that keeps this show so interesting, and the depth of character makes it all stay fresh and exciting, never formulaic or dull.  Like the rest of the show, the complexity and depth make it all so incredible to watch, and a masterpiece in modern television.

Good:

-More incredible story and characters, some new, mostly old.

-More twists and turns than you know how to cope with.

-A continually rich, visceral world that captivates with its scale, intrigue, and utter brutality.

Bad: 

-Not really a bash on the show… but ‘dem feels, bro.

Scully Rating:  10 out of 10