Game of Thrones
Season Two, Episode 6 – The Old Gods And The New
Directed by: David Nutter
Written by: Vanessa Taylor
Starring: Mark Addy, Alfie Allen, Emilia Clarke, Liam Cunningham, Charles Dance, Stephen Dillane, Peter Dinklage, Michelle Fairley, Aidan Gillen, Jack Gleeson, Iain Glen, Kit Harington, Lena Headey, Conleth Hill, Carice van Houten, Harry Lloyd, Richard Madden, Patrick Malahide, Rory McCann, Sophie Turner, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Maisie Williams, and Issac Hempstead-Wright

We’ve been reminded throughout most of Season 2 of Game of Thrones that “the night is dark and full of terrors,” and most events throughout the course of these episodes have been reminders of this fact, but “The Old Gods And The New” (Episode 6) takes Melisandre’s oft repeated words and brings them to light in truly terrifying ways.

Theon (Alfie Allen) has been viewed as a joke for the large part of this season, but his return to Winterfell is met with bloody results. The self-proclaimed prince takes over the Stark stronghold with relative ease and confusion, as even young Bran (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) is bewildered to see the former Stark ward in the city once again. However, Rodrik’s (Ron Donachie) disrespect causes Theon to make sure the Stark adviser pays the iron price, sending the whole city into chaos and madness.

Speaking of madness, King’s Landing has been a powder keg ready to explode for sometime now (both literally and figuratively as tons of wildfire lies beneath the city), just missing a simple spark to set the city ablaze. That moment finally comes this week, as the citizens grow restless with Joffrey’s (Jack Gleeson) rule. A thrown cowpie is all it takes to have the young king turn against and murder his subjects, plunging King’s Landing into absolute anarchy, nearly costing Sansa (Sophie Turner her life. However, the Hound’s (Rory McCann) strange attraction to Sansa saves the Stark girl from a grisly rape and again shows her that she may have more allies in King’s Landing than she thought.

Meanwhile, north of the wall, Jon Snow’s (Kit Harrington) plot finally begins to pick up as the special Night’s Watch task forces dispatches a group of wildlings. The wildling Ygritte (Rose Leslie) is accidentally spared as Snow decides against cutting off her head after the rest of the group goes on ahead. It’s clear the purpose of Ygritte, she’s meant to be a romantic interest for Snow, but much like the other wildlings we’ve seen, I believe there’s more to this woman than we’ve seen or will continue to see.

On the other hand, Arya (Maisie Williams) and Tywin (Charles Dance) continue to provide some of my favorite moments from this season. The interactions between these two are a brilliant cat and mouse game, as Arya tries to stay ahead of the head of House Lannister. Both Dance and Williams have amazing takes on their respective characters and the events in Harrenhal continue to be some of my favorite parts of the show.

“The Old Gods And The New” continues to make the show interesting, by providing some chilling and compelling events, making the first half of this season look weak compared to what’s going on now.

Quick Thoughts:

– Lady Stark (Michelle Fairley) returns to Robb (Richard Madden) this week with a reminder that he’s promised to someone else, because prearranged marriages ALWAYS work out for the best.
– After barely surviving in the desert, Dany (Emilia Clarke) is faced with more tragedy. Things are still moving slow in Qarth and much like Jon Snow, I’m starting to lose interest in one of my favorite characters due to more exciting events across the sea.
– Always, always nice to see Joffrey get slapped around by Tyrion (Peter Dinkage).