Game of Thrones - “You Win or You Die”
It’s funny that this week’s episode was viewable directly after last week’s “A Golden Crown” on HBO’s new Go service, because the two correlate so closely thematically. There was a direct mention to the Game, and almost everything in the episode dealt with who leads and what makes a good leader. Again, it was difficult to watch Ned take the right path, knowing he would end up walking into such a terrible trap.
Since I don’t want to repeat myself, let’s talk about how great an episode this was and how the next three episodes promise to be the best yet.
Basically, all hell broke loose. King Robert died suddenly of a boar attack - we saw him once when he first got back, and like a Shakespearean drama, his death was off-screen, announced in Act V. When I first heard of the attack and saw the grave shape he was in, I felt this was a type of deus ex machina, a sort of Franz Ferdinand-esque spark to set off the armies currently gathering. But even before Ned said matter-of-factly that the boar had very little to do with Robert’s impending death, due to the constant character development I got it pretty quickly. Robert, drunk and uncaring, would go off for a hunt at this moment and then die to a boar. The boar is symbolic, and I think Ned shows the right amount of grief. “You damned fool,” he says. Still, he shows the restraint not to tell him about what’s about to happen next, including the truth about Joffrey. (I think Ned fit the pieces together too perfectly, especially regarding Bran, but due to the short season it’s okay.)
Much like Jaime Lannister’s attack on Ned set off the armies and heightened tensions, Robert’s death sets up the literal battle for the throne currently going on in the throne room and the bigger battle gearing up outside of it. The smaller battle, which leaves us dangling in an excellent cliffhanger, comes between Ned and Cersei, a battle growing since the second episode. Cersei puts Joffrey on the throne, knowing that Ned didn’t use the information of his father against her yet.
Ned has a letter from Robert declaring him to be the king until Joffrey comes of age, but I don’t even know if Ned expected Cersei to use the letter properly. She tears it up, and Ned still thinks bloodshed can be averted. But like his commander tells him before they even enter the room, things have gone too far before this - there’s no way bloodshed can be averted now.
The larger battle will be taking place between the Starks, Lannisters (presumably, Cersei and Ned leave that room without being too injured), and the Dothraki. They’re pushed into the conflict because of Robert’s assassination attempt, and they will now cross the sea. That change was a little too sudden - only earlier this episode was Dany trying to convince him - but a spark was needed, and Jorah’s heroics saving the queen essentially made his choice to stay in Vaes Dothrak as well.
And for the first time since the first scene of the series, we get some development from north of the Wall - a mention (with a more well-utilized Theon) that the White Walkers have returned, and Ghost finds a hand after Benjen’s horse returns unmanned. Presumably, while the battle for the throne is taking place, the White Walkers will trounce in and things will get really bad. Also, in smaller news, relatively, Jon’s being groomed for a leadership role as well. Let’s just hope he learns a little better than his father.
There were a number of great scenes, including the little hint about the Lannister servant boy, Littlefinger and Renly trying to urge Ned to do something, Littlefinger’s softcore porn, and the dual conversations that start the episode. This episode starts with talk and ends with action, and unfortunately for Ned, there’s only more action to come.
