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Game of Thrones – Review of Season 3 Episode 3: Walk of Punishment

“All men must die…but we are not men” ~ Daenerys Targaryen

This week’s third episode of Game of Thrones was, another quiet episode filled with dialogue and story telling. This week, however, was rather lack lustre in terms of furthering the plots of several story lines. Jon, Arya, Stannis and Theon got what were basically cameo performances. I don’t understand why they even bothered showing their stories when they only lasted mere minutes. This episode covered too many characters and felt disjointed.

game of thrones season 3 episode 3

Once again, Theon’s scenes got very little air time and explanation and could’ve been expanded. Arya says bye to Hotpie and rides off into the sunset with Gendry – that’s really it for Arya. Jon and Sam get scene snippets as well but they’re too brief to be of any use. Lastly, Melisande leaves Stannis. I wish these story lines had been moved to next week and given more than two minutes each. They’re more commercial length than a proper segment and did very little to further the plot.

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Rob

Rob and Catelyn get a decent amount of airtime but not very much goes on in these scenes and I found them rather boring. Rob is surrounded by blundering fools who do exactly the opposite of what has been asked of them. Now Rob is stuck with worthless hostages, like Martyn Lannister and no leverage. Meanwhile, Catelyn mourns the loss of her father, and that she may never see Rickon and Bran again.

Walk of Punishment

Tyrion

Tywin holds a council meeting to find out more information as to Jamie’s whereabouts but is quite ticked off to find out that his two extraordinary spies, Littlefinger and Varys are useless to him. They have no news to provide and Tywin’s not having it. Littlefinger marrying John Arryn’s widow, Lysa Tully. Since his marriage will take him to the Eyrie, Tyrion has been relegated to managing the realm’s finances. He’s not exactly thrilled by the prospect because it takes him out of the action but what it does give him is insight into what Littlefinger has really been doing with the Crown’s finances. Tyrion discovers the extent of Littlefinger’s mismanagement – the Lannister coffers are tens of millions in debt to foreign banks and when they realize they can’t pay them back, these banks will throw their support behind other contenders for the throne. Tyrion is now left to clean up the mess.

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   Game of Thrones – Review of Season 3 Episode 3: Walk of Punishment

Jamie and Brienne

It seems that Jamie is developing a soft spot for Brienne. While riding strapped together on a horse to the Bolton encampment, Jamie imparts some advice to Brienne for what’s to come once they arrive. In spite of Jamie’s advice, Brienne has too much pride to take being rape quietly. When he hears her screams, he quickly concocts a story to spare Brienne and it works. Then Jamie presses his smooth-talking luck but it doesn’t end quite as well for him. If Jamie hated Brienne, he wouldn’t have warned her of the pending danger or tried to save her. He seems to have a grudging respect for her as a warrior and a person. It’s a little Stockholm syndrome on the friendship side but I like the chemistry and banter of these two on screen. The development of their friendship feels real and genuine.

Dany

Dany has a hard time deciding whether to purchase the Unsullied or go elsewhere. Ser Jorah suggests she buy them, Ser Barristan dislikes the idea of buying a man’s loyalty. In the end, Dany makes a rather drastic offer and purchases all 8,000 Unsullied and the translator. The scenes where the translator omits the horrid things about Dany are still a good laugh. Dany’s final decision is shocking but demonstrates that she’s not afraid to make a difficult decision and act like a ruler. She even upbraids Ser Jorah and Ser Barristan for daring to question her in public. She’s come a long way from the scared, timid creature of season one. She’s fantastic to watch on screen and this story line is getting more and more interesting by the minute.

Join us next week when we tune in on Sunday, at 9pm ET on HBO for another exciting episode of Game of Thrones.

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