Game of Thrones Season 4, Episode 3 Review: “Breaker of Chains”
Warning: Spoilers ahead!
After last week’s shocking, yet satisfying, death, this week’s episode of “Game of Thrones” managed to address nearly every storyline and moved the action forward. There was hardly any mourning over Joffrey’s death as we learn that even Tywin Lannister thought Joffrey was not fit to be king, and the show did not hesitate to establish the new king. This episode really highlighted where this season is going; Tyrion will have to go to trial for Joffrey’s death, the Tyrells will have to secure their position in the kingdom once again, the Wall is on the verge of being overrun, and Daenerys has every intention of taking over Meereen. A lot happened this week so let’s dive right into the recap.
Game of Thrones Season 4, Episode 2 Review: “The Lion and the Rose”
The episode begins at the same place last week’s episode ended. Cersei is sitting over Joffrey’s dead body, screaming for Tyrion to be taken prisoner. Sansa flees with Ser Dontos and Cersei quickly notices Sansa is missing. She and Tywin order the guards to lock the city gates and find Sansa. Ser Dontos takes Sansa to a small boat and paddles her out to sea. They arrive at a large ship and Ser Dontos has Sansa climb aboard, promising her that she is safe. When she reaches the top of the ship, Littlefinger grabs her and helps her onto the ship. Sansa is surprised to see him and he assures her she has nothing to worry about. Ser Dontos waits in the small boat and tells Litlefinger he better get back to the mainland before they notice he is missing. Littlefinger tells Ser Dontos he will give him his reward, and Littlefinger kills him. Sansa cries out for her friend, and Littlefinger explains Ser Dontos was a drunk and could not be trusted. Littlefinger explains he gave Ser Dontos orders to save Sansa and that Ser Dontos was only motivated by his reward, not for his feelings towards Sansa. Sansa considers this as they sail away from King’s Landing.
The following day, Margaery sits with Lady Olenna and they discuss whether or not Margaery is still queen. Margaery thinks she is cursed since two of her husbands died soon after marrying her, but Lady Olenna says the agreement between their family and the Lannisters still holds, and that there is another Lannister Margaery can marry. She also points out it would have been horrible marrying Joffrey and perhaps Margaery got lucky in these new circumstances.
While the two women discuss the Tyrell’s future, Cersei and her youngest son, Tommen, look over Joffrey’s corpse at the Great Sept of Baelor. Tywin Lannister arrives and begins discussing with Tommen the qualities of a good king. Both Tommen and Tywin think Tommen will be a good king and has the virtues required of a good king, while Tywin admits Joffrey was not a good king. Tywin explains a young wise king, like Tommen, will listen to his advisers until he is old enough to make decisions on his own, and even then he will still listen to advisers. He also discusses marriage with Tommen and the importance of having a Queen to continue the family line.
Jaime arrives at the sept and gives Tommen a hug while Tommen and Tywin leave. Jaime asks the guards to leave him alone with Cersei. Once alone, Cersei tells Jaime she thinks Tyrion killed Joffrey and wants Jaime to defend their son by killing Tyrion. Jaime says cannot kill his brother, but she begs him and explains Tyrion will figure a way out of a trial and she wants him dead. When she breaks down and cries, they hug then kiss, but Cersei suddenly pushes Jaime away. He calls her a hateful woman and kisses her again, and then begins to have sex with her as she tells him it is not appropriate.
Somewhere in the riverlands, The Hound and Arya are slowly making their way towards the Eyrie where the Hound plans to offer Arya to her Aunt Lysa for a reward. They stop to water their horses in a creek and Arya asks the Hound what he plans to do after he receives his reward. He tells Arya he thinks he will take a ship across the Narrow Sea and go to Bravvos and become a sellsword. Arya says she has friends in Bravvos and she would like to go there sometime, and the Hound does not believe her.
As they talk, a man and his daughter come upon The Hound and Arya and ask what they are doing on his land. Arya convinces the man that the Hound is her father and fought for the Tullys in the war. She explains her mother was murdered and their village was burned down. The man believes Arya and says any man that fought for the Tullys has his trust, and invites them to his home for food and shelter. They eat dinner at his home and the Hound is gruff and tactless while they eat. The man doesn’t take too much offence and comments on the Hound’s size and determines bandits would not consider attacking his home if the Hound stayed there. He offers the Hound a job and tells him he kept some silver hidden from the bandits and can pay him. The Hound agrees to work for the man as Arya looks at him suspiciously. The next morning, Arya wakes up to a scream and finds the man outside laying hurt on the ground with the Hound walking away holding a bag of silver. Arya screams at him and the Hound explains that the man was weak and would die soon, and this is how one has to survive in this world.
Miles away from the riverlands, Sam finds Gilly in the kitchen of Castle Black defeathering a goose. Sam tells Gilly everyone thinks Sam is lying about how he killed the white walker. He then goes on to tell her he worries about her because she is the only girl amongst 100 men and does not want any men taking advantage of her. He explains she would be safer in Mole’s Town, and she wonders if he is bored of her. Sam tells Gilly he only wants to protect her and he cannot do that at Castle Black.
When Sam brings Gilly to Mole’s Town, he has her live in a brothel and tells the madam Gilly should only cook, clean, and take care of the other women’s babies; she is not to work in any other way. When Sam takes Gilly to her new quarters, he tries again to explain why she is safer in Mole’s Town and she does not believe him. She points out he was able to protect her across the Wall and cannot understand why he cannot protect her at Castle Black.
Meanwhile, at Dragonstone Davos visits Stannis in his throne room. Stannis has Davos read a letter that says Joffrey is dead. Stannis knows Melisandre’s spell using Gendry’s blood worked and he is upset Davos set Gendry free. He explains the time is right to strike the kingdom and take his rightful claim to the throne, but he does not have an army or any money and is worried his time will pass. Davos wants to hire sellswords to fight for Stannis, but Stannis is against this. Davos points out that Stannis is being hypocritical as he is willing to use magic to fight his enemies but against using sellswords; Davos points out Melisandre’s prophesies and spells may work to an extent, but Stannis will need men to win his war. Stannis considers Davos’ words but warns him Stannis’ time will soon be up as well as Davos’ time.
After talking with Stannis, Davos meets Shireen who is waiting for him because she has another reading lesson for Davos. She has Davos read a book about Bravvos, and Davos tells Shireen about the time he spent in Bravvos. While telling Shireen about his time in Bravvos he has an idea, and makes Shireen write a letter to the Iron Bank in Bravvos on behalf of the rightful king of Westeros, Stannis Baratheon.
Back in King’s Landing, Ellaria and Oberyn are having sex with multiple people in a brothel and Oberyn explains to his new lover that he likes both boys and girls. Tywin abruptly arrives and has everyone leaves. Once Oberyn is dressed, he apologizes for Joffrey’s death. Tywin hints that he suspects Oberyn might have been involved in Joffrey’s death and explains that he knows Oberyn and Tyrion met the day Oberyn arrived in King’s Landing. Oberyn tells Tywin they discussed his sister’s death that day and tells Tywin he blames Tywin for her death, even though the Mountain actually killed his sister. Tywin explains he will allow Oberyn to meet with the Mountain in exchange for sitting as a judge in Tyrion’s trial. He also offers Oberyn a seat in the Small Council of Tommen’s court. Oberyn is intrigued by Tywin’s offer and surprised he has so much faith in Dorne. Tywin admits Daenerys will eventually come to Westeros with her three dragons and he needs to support of Dorne when that time comes because Dorne was the only kingdom that was able to resist the Targaryens in the past.
Awhile later, Podrick visits Tyrion in the prison under the Red Keep and they have a conversation about the repercussions of Joffrey’s death. Tyrion wants to know if Podrick has heard anything about Shae, and Podrick says no. Tyrion then asks if Podrick thinks Tyrion killed Joffrey, and Podrick explains he does not, but he asks Tyrion if he did kill Joffrey, and Tyrion says he did not. Tyrion jokes that if he were to conspire to kill someone, he would hope he would not be present when the person died rather than standing like an idiot like he was when Joffrey died.
When Tyrion asks Podrick what is happening with regard to his judgement, Podrick explains there will be a trial with three judges, Tywin Lanniser, Mace Tyrell, and Prince Oberyn. Tyrion is very intrigued that Oberyn will be one of the judges. When Podrick tells him Sansa is missing, Tyrion seems sad and realizes his family will likely think she had a part in the murder as Sansa was the one person that probably wanted Joffrey dead more than anyone else. However, Tyrion knows Sansa was not behind the murder. He thinks someone masterminded Joffrey’s death and planned to have Tyrion take the blame. When Tyrion asks for various people to come visit him, such as Varys and Bronn, Podrick explains the guards will not allow them to visit. Tyrion then asks for Jaime to come visit, and Podrick thinks the guards will allow that. Before he leaves to go find Jaime, Podrick lets Tyrion know a strange man visited Podrick and told him he would receive a title if he spoke against Tyrion at the trial. Podrick lets Tyrion know he denied the request, and Tyrion gets upset. Tyrion thanks Podrick for his loyalty but lets him know if he stands with Tyrion he will be murdered, so he orders Podrick to flee from King’s Landing, and Podrick says he will.
In the north, far away from the politics in King’s Landing, a young boy is walking with his father in a small village when suddenly an arrow is shot through the father’s neck. The boy looks and sees Ygritte and the Wildlings coming upon the village. The Wildlings kill everyone they can find, but the boy tries to hide under a barrel. The Thenn find the boy and ask if he knows where Castle Black is. The boy nods as the Thenn tells the boy he plans to eat his parents, and sets the boy free to go to Castle Black and let the Night’s Watch know about the attack.
The boy makes it to Castle Black and warns the Night’s Watch. Maester Aamon tells the men they need to remember their vows and protect the wall. Jon warns the men of Mance’s numbers and power. As they debate what they need to do to protect themselves, Grenn and Dolorous Edd arrive back from a ranger mission where they sought out the Night’s Watchmen who betrayed them at Caester’s Keep. The men explain the traitors took over the keep and the women. Jon argues that they need to go get the men from the Keep because they could let Mance know the Nights Watch true numbers. When Jon was with the Wildlings, he told Mance the Night’s Watch had 1,000 men, but they really only have 100 men and the traitors are well aware of this. After hearing this, the Night’s Watch agree they have to go get the traitors and bring them back to Castle Black before Mance finds them.
The epsiode ends across the Narrow Sea as Daenerys and her army arrive at the gates of Meereen. A single man is sent outside the gates and insults Daenerys and her army, and Missandei explains this man is the city’s champion and they want Daenerys to send her champion to defend herself. All of Daenerys’ most trusted men offer to fight in her honor, but she only accepts Daario’s offer as she has known him for the shortest amount of time and is still learning to trust him. Daario stands by himself against the mounted Meereen champion, and as the man approaches Daario, Daario takes out a knife and throws it at the champion’s horse, causing the horse and rider to fall to the ground. As the rider recuperates, Daario quickly attacks the man and stabs him with his blade. The people of Meereen are shocked and speechless. Daenerys takes advantage of the opportunity and addresses the slaves inside the walls. She explains freed slaves from other cities stand behind her willingly and now she is at Meereen to free more slaves. The slaves look at one another as they consider what she is saying to them. Daenerys uses her catapults to send barrels against the wall, and when they break open inside the city, broken chains scatter around the slaves.
And with that image, the episode ends. A lot happened this week, and it is now clear the story is set for the remainder of the season. Daenerys’ assault on Meereen will certainly occur sooner rather than later, and I hope in the coming weeks we see more of her storyline. Tyrion’s trial will also be a highlight of this season, as will the reestablishment of order following Joffrey’s death. Lastly, the assault on the Wall will occur in the next few weeks, and hopefully Stannis and Roose Bolton’s stories will be incorporated into this plot as they have been hinting at this for some time. We will have to wait and see what happens, but it is safe to say this is by far already the most action packed and exciting season of “Game of Thrones” yet.
