Warning: The following review contains spoilers.
It's been a long year, but HBO's Game of Thrones is finally back restoring my faith in television one episode at a time. With such anticipation surrounding this season following the success of last year, this premiere provides a solid foundation for the next episodes to build on.
"Valar Dohaeris" has to deal with the fallout from the conclusion of last year's season finale, but it eases this difficult transition by picking up where the last episode left off. Opening up with the stories of Sam and Jon Snow, we get a taste of what is happening beyond the wall. Sam has to deal with the fact that many of the rangers that left Castle Black appeared to have fought (and lost) against White Walkers and that he cannot send out ravens well enough to satisfy Commander Mormont. While we didn't get to see any fighting, we got an equally intense opening scene that reminds us that only fire can kill White Walkers. Mormont shifts his focus to heading back south, preparing to defend against the impending threat of the Wildlings.
Which brings us back to Jon Snow. We are first introduced to Jon when he walks into the Wilding Camp, bumbling his way through angry kids, shy giants and awkward introductions as he meets Mance Rayder, the King Beyond the Wall. In an intriguing scene, Jon appears to trade his black cloak for some furs as he successfully joins the Wildlings. While he fails to devise a quick lie to cover up less than honest motivations for joining (reminding us that he isn't quite Arya), Jon does well enough to convince Rayder by claiming he "wants to fight for the side that fights for the living." For those who remember the finer details of Season 2, this is a lie with some degree of substance as Jon was not the biggest fan of the Night's Watch. He was frustrated with Mormont over the Craster issue and Ygritte (the redhead for those poor with names) highlighted many of the problems with the Night's Watch and their aggressive nature towards the Wildlings. It will be interesting to see if Jon's conversion will evolve into something more genuine, rather than covering up Jon's true allegiance to the Night's Watch as he attempts to serve as a double agent.
There is no way she had something to do with Jon joining the Wildlings. No way.
We spend much of the premiere in King's Landing. We witness Tyrion at a low point, losing the power and prestige that came with being the Hand of the King. Despite this, he keeps his charisma and wit, carrying his scenes with the same presence he had in season 2. He successfully chides Cersei (with a nice nod to the book with "They said you'd lost your nose") and continues the lovable relationship developed by the series with Bronn. But he seems to meet his match with Tywin. Tywin outrightly rejects Tyrion's "right" to inherit Casterly Rock, despite Jaime's renouncing all claims to the title by joining the Kingsguard. This scene was one of the many highlights of the episode as despite Tyrion's eloquence and logic, Tywin coldly overlooks one of the few qualities respect in wit and intelligence by reminding us why Tyrion is the least loved of the Lannisters: Tyrion, unintentionally, caused the death of his own mother. Despite Tyrion's achievements, he is still the disappointing child. While Tyrion's arc lacks the importance of defending King's Landing, it is a personal arc and I suspect we will experience a lot character development and drama.
Tyrion's story will likely take a backseat this season as the most pressing of the King's Landing stories lies with Joffrey and Margaery. For the first time possibly ever, we see Joffrey not be a total asshole, showing a new side to his character. Whether this is legitimate character growth, or Joffrey trying to impress Margaery is another debate entirely. Only time will tell. Margaery is making her impact known in King's Landing, earning the admiration of the people with her charity, that angers Cersei but only earns a sneer from Joffrey. Regardless, Margaery shows an innate ability to play the "game of thrones" acquiring popular support, and working her way to possibly manipulating the king. I suspect that this season will become the Tyrells' season, making the focus for much of the early part of the story, much like season 1 developed the Starks and season 2 developed the Lannisters.
When mentioning the families, we cannot neglect the Baratheons, whose sole representative is Stannis. In an ironic twist, we also see Stannis at a low point, thoroughly defeated by his failures in the Battle of Blackwater. Seemingly broken, Stannis is now being manipulated by Melisandre. We are initially told this by Salladhor Saan, the pirate friend of Davos who comes to Davos' rescue who was shipwrecked in the early goings of the Battle of Blackwater. Davos, guided by his undying loyalty, insists on returning to Dragonstone to pull Stannis out of his little slump. While I am sure Stannis fans were hoping for a quick bro talk to get the Stannis the Mannis to return to his old ass kicking ways from last season, we sadly don't get that. Instead we see Melisandre the witch manipulate the "rightful" King into putting his good friend in a jail cell. I honestly have no idea where this story will go, but this story will likely remain a footnote for the most part, at least for the early goings.
It is Daenerys' story that was the most intriguing this week. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a Daenerys critic, not really enjoying her story so far, but I believe season 3 may change my opinion this character (or at least her arc). We are introduced her now adolescent dragons as she arrives in the city of Astapor. We see her trying to build (or buy) her army in order to make an impact in Westeros for her homecoming. Lo and behold, Westeros comes and finds her with the epic return of Barristan Selmy. Many of forgotten this character, as his last appearance was in the latter half of season 1. He served the previous two kings of Westeros, including Dany's father. He makes an instant impact in my favorite part of the episode, saving Dany from an assassination attempt, swearing his loyalty to her giving Daenerys two of my favorite characters serving her. Not only that, we will see a great deal of maturation in Dany as both men will contribute in her development as a queen. Undoubtedly, they will help advise her in whether or not exploiting the slave armies of Astapor is worth the moral implications. I mean seriously the training these men go through is enough to break the toughest of people. Just hearing about it made me shiver.
They grow up so fast.
We also saw glimpses of the stories of Sansa and her brother, Robb. Sansa is dreaming of escaping of King's Landing, going as far to trust Littlefinger. Whether or not her faith in the man who arguably killed her father will pay off is another story, but it does give the former fiancé of King Joffrey something to occupy her this season. Well until her conflicts with the Tyrells, which was foreshadowing in the teaser for next season so don't yell at me for providing book spoilers. Robb, on the other hand, is still dealing with his war with the Lannisters, taking the abandoned Harrenhal. Robb continues to display his lack of trust of Catelyn Stark, his mother, while keeping his ear open for his new wife.
Sadly, what we didn't see were appearances of Jaime, Arya, Bran and Theon, only getting brief mentions if any. This is to be expected due to the ever expanding cast, and will likely remain a criticism of this season as it is impossible to give every character screen time every week without the overall storytelling suffering from stretching out too thin. Hopefully this will not lead to the season itself feeling under-developed as certain arcs will never reach the intended climax. Only time will tell.
Regardless, "Valar Dohaeris" succeeds in captivating audiences with a solid episode that starts this season on the right foot. Most of the characters seem to be firmly established in their own personal stories and endeavors, with no overarching situation binding the stories together as of yet, which is to be expected in the fallout of the Battle of Blackwater. Despite this, it lays the groundwork that could be an epic season. There is a lot of Game of Thrones to get through.
The Rundown
+ Barristan's back!
+ Joffrey shows a new side to him. How long will it last?
+ Tyrion is still Tyrion.
+ Jon meets Mance Raydar in an expected, but still fun turn of events.
+ Winterfell was burning in the title sequence. Nice touch.
- No Ayra, Bran, Jaime, Theon or Varys.
- What the hell Stannis?
- Didn't get to see the Whitewalkers fight.
Overall: 8.4
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