We’ve hit midseason: where to from here?
May 4, 2014
We’ve finally reached the midpoint of “Game of Thrones” fourth season, and with just five episodes left, we should be getting to the part of the story arc where the action begins to ramp up. But this season has been pretty action packed already, so where does it go from here?
As we found out in the beginning of this episode, Deanerys now has a navy to support her army of unsullied and slaves. Instead of sailing to Westeros however to take over the throne, she decides to do what “queens do,” and brush up on her ruling. Deciding to postpone her attack has good and bad to it. By waiting she is giving her dragons a chance to grow , as well as her army (by the way, where have the dragons been?) This pause to strengthen her resources can only help her in the long run, but I must say I am disappointed that we will have to wait to see Dany on the throne.
Sansa is finally to safety. Kind of. With the help of Lord Peter Baylish, she arrived to the care of her aunt, who, while it appears has good intentions for Sansa, is just crazy and jealous enough to do something stupid. I’m really disappointed they brought back Catelyn Starks sister, especially in what seems like its going to be a big capacity. I never like her, and I really don’t like her son.
Things it seems are on the up and up for Margaery Tyrell. With Joffrey’s little brother officially crowned king (does this mean I have to learn his name now?), and Cersei offering her another chance at being queen, things have never really looked better for Margaery. You can tell by her smile and the way she poked fun at Cersie that she knows just as well as we do that she is in a good situation. I’d like to personally wish her all the best and happiness, at least until Deanerys lands in Westeros.
Brann and Jon Snows story continues to be as boring as ever, and it seems like they will be for a while. This episode showed some promise when there was that fleeting chance that the two would meet up, but alas no such luck. To be honest I can’t even say I care that much about them anymore. I know that I’m probably alone when I say this, but I can’t wait until those two die. The only good thing that came out of either of their story lines was Sam and Hodor.
And now that the major characters storylines have been dealt with, I’d like to take a second and talk about what has thus-far been my favorite part of this season so far, the ever-expanding odd-couple relationships. For what feels like a lot of the series, we’ve had Arya and the Hound by each other’s side. We’ll call them the original odd couple. Their story, which I would have originally classified in the boring category with Jon and Brann, has taken on what seems to be a new life this season. While I would still hesitate to say they are friends, their constant fighting has downgraded to fun bickering, and while they still want each other dead, they’re at the point were I bet neither will actually ever act upon it.
The newest addition to the GoT odd couples has been Brie and Podrick. While new to the club, you can already see how great of a pairing these two are going to be. Podrick, who is completely lost when it comes to serving as a squire outside of the Lannister family, is the perfect type of clueless for Brie to take under her wing. The fact that he has proved to be deadly in the past and his willingness to learn could make his one hell of a knight given the chance.
So far this season I have been really impressed with GoT. I know we’re only half way through, and that it’s best to save judgments until the end, but up until this point, this has been my favorite season since the first. As always, I can’t wait to see what Westeros has in store for us next week.