games of thrones: now we're all in the same boat

Spoilers... 

The gap between the folks who have read George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire books and others who have just watched the series based on his wild world of Westeros, Game of Thrones, has suddenly narrowed. There was so much new material in last Sunday's episode, "Oathkeeper," that book readers are now as much in the dark as anyone. There were seriously so many "But wait a minute, what's going on?", "I don't remember that", or "What just happened?" moments that I wanted to dig out my copies of A Storm of Swords and A Feast for Crows to check if what I was seeing had ever really happened.

Lady Olenna (Diana Rigg) tells her granddaughter Maergery (Natalie Dormer) who killed Joffrey (She did, with the help of Littlefinger) and also manages to get in a joke about always having to play her scenes in the gardens.

On the advice of her grandma, Maergery gets to know her next husband-to-be a bit better.

Martin is notoriously slow to get out sequels in this series. There are supposed to be two more books in the works, The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring, and the clock is ticking, ticking, ticking ... Could show runners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss be in so tight with author Martin that they are solving onscreen some long-unanswered mysteries that have as yet to be addressed in the books, such as what exactly do the White Walkers do with the babies they are offered (or steal)? Zombie baby army!?

While some viewers may still be concerned with last week's Jaime/Cersei close encounter, it was clear in "Oathkeeper" that the show, and Jaime, were moving on. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau had some of the best moments in the episode, as he sparred both physically and verbally with his brother Tyrion's (Peter Dinklage) sellsword Bronn (Jerome Flynn); finally visited the wrongly-incarcerated Tyrion; watched his tipsy sister Cersei (Lena Heady) give her impression of the Red Queen; and finally, touchingly, gifted his once-captor, now friend Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie) with a fabulous suit of armor, an honorable quest, and his sword, which she meaningfully dubbed Oathkeeper.

Jaime give Brienne a sword and she names it - Oathkkeper

All of Martin's characters are complex, but Jaime Lannister has had one of the more interesting backstories within the epic. When we first meet him he is arrogant and despicable (he tosses young Bran Stark out a window when the kid accidentally sees Jaime and Cersei having a quick incestuous tryst), and even though he is a fierce warrior and a member of the elite Kingsguard, his reputation is forever shadowed by his nickname, the Kingslayer, after he killed the Mad King, Aerys Targaryen. Later it is learned, in both the books and the HBO series, as Jaime confides to Brienne, that by killing the king, Jaime saved the city and its inhabitants from Aerys's deadly wildfire plot. Jaime is on the road to maybe not redemption, but at least honoring his promises. First up, he promised to return Sansa and Arya Stark to their mother. Catelyn Stark is dead, and Jaime assumes, so is the missing Arya, but he can at least enlist Brienne to find young Sansa and deliver her safely to her aunt Lysa.

The other wild "did you just see what I saw" moment came at the end of the episode, when the last male baby of clan Craster was offered up as a sacrifice, left out in the snow to be .... well. we're not exactly sure. I'm sure most viewers have assumed that the babies were food for the zombie-like White Walkers, but the last scene of "Oathkeeper" suggested something else entirely — how does one make a White Walker? Let the Night King touch a newborn human baby ...

All baby White Walkers are born with blue eyes ...

We're only three episodes into season four of Game of Thrones and anyone who may have thought they knew where things were headed will have to reevaluate. That makes for good television. I still may have to go back and check out the books ...

i'm really enjoying this season of game of thrones

So many of the characters in George R. R. Martin's fantasy epic are hitting high marks:

Armed only with a wooden sword ...

Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and Brienne (Gwendoline Christie) — the ultimate odd couple. First they were enemies, then reluctant teammates, and now they may actually be becoming, if not friends, allies. The scene in last night's episode, “The Bear and the Maiden Fair,” where Jaime returned to Harrenhall and helped Brienne fight her way out of a pit and away from a vicious bear (where she had been left, with a wooden sword, to be attacked for a sick form of entertainment) was both frightening and exhilarating. And speaking of odd couples, the wonderful Arya (Maisie Williams) has split from the Brotherhood, but run away right into the arms of The Hound (Rory McCann).

Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) has seemed far away and not quite so interesting for most of the season, but the last two episodes have shown just how much of a badass the tiny silver-haired girl can be. Look out Yunkai (and Westeros), here she comes.

Daenerys and one of her babies, via Pandawhale

Charles Dance continues to be fabulous as Tywin Lannister, reminding young King Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) who exactly is running things in the Seven Kingdoms. Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister is always wonderful, and it was almost painful to watch him try to (unsuccessfully) appease his mistress Shae (Sibel Kekilli ) as he tried to reconcile himself to his upcoming nuptials to Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner).

Although not exactly in the books, there have been some additions to the story that have added quite a lot to the drama and pathos this season:

Hello, young lovers. As Ygritte (Rose Leslie) keeps reminding him, "You know nothing, Jon Snow," Jon (Kit Harington) is still thinking like a member of the Night's Watch, and not a Wildling. Their romance is more intense onscreen than in the books, and all the more poignant. Jon's older half-brother Robb (Richard Madden) and his bride Talisa (Oona Chaplin) are also deeply in love and enjoying a brief respite from the war and the disapproval of Robb's mother Cat and the Frey clan.

Perhaps the most pleasant surprise of the season continues to be Margaery Tyrell, played by Natalie Dormer. Her part in the current storyline has been expanded way beyond her role in the books, and it has benefited many story-lines; from her quick recovery from the death of her husband Renly, to her betrothal to the odious Joffrey, to her friendship and advice to young and naive Sansa. As she told the girl this week, she shouldn't despair about her marriage to Tyrion, who is not only quite handsome, but clearly the kindest of the Lannisters. A union with Tyrion could have Sansa's child running most of Westeros.

Listen up, Sansa! You might learn something.

The only bum note this season continues to be Theon's (Alfie Allen) storyline. Stretching out his torture from episode to episode is getting to be a bit much. Hardly a favorite character, certainly we could skip him in an episode or two and still see him end up as broken from the experience, as he will undoubtedly be. In the latest drawn-out torture scene's defense I will say that for once, the HBO pre-requite nudity per episode was actually used for a purpose — and a menacing one at that, rather than the usual T&A.

“The Bear and the Maiden Fair” was also the only episode this season written by George R. R. Martin, which may explain the (deeper) depth of feelings that some of the characters were able to plumb this time out. With only three episodes left to go, and some serious drama yet to unfold (don't worry, I'm not telling), season three is bound to end with a bang.

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