Game of Thrones Series Blog – Mhysa

So here we are. After ten hours of phenomenal television, we are now in the drought before the fourth season of Game of Thrones (based on the second half of ‘A Storm of Swords’) will hit televisions, gluing us to our sofas once more. And boy, what a season it’s been! We’ve seen Dany liberate thousands of slaves in Essos, the two eldest Starks met their maker in a particularly gruesome wedding, and we’ve seen Joffrey go from a hateful little weasel to…well, just plain crazy. Episode ten, Mhysa, was a fabulous send-off for the series, showing us the fallout of the Red Wedding and giving us a few tantalizing hints about what’s to come in Season four.

I said back in episode seven that they needed to make Theon relevant, and I had no idea how they were going to do it. I will throw my hands up and say that I was wrong to doubt the writers. After castrating Theon, the newly revealed Ramsey Snow, Roose Bolton’s bastard, sends the remains to Balon Greyjoy on the Iron Islands, demanding the north back. Roose has just been granted the title of Warden of the North until Sansa has her child. I still think that’s a long way off, if it ever happens, and I highly doubt Roose would give up his new title that easily anyway.

The Greyjoys are technically in the war of the five kings but they’ve not had a whole lot going on this season. Theon’s sister making the decision to head to the Dreadfort for Theon is a fabulous way to set the Iron borns up for a more prominent role in season four. Though what she finds when she gets there may not be pretty. Theon Greyjoy is no more – Ramsey Snow has turned him into Reek, taking both his dignity and his identity. After everything Theon’s done, I hate that I’m feeling a little bit sorry for him but I just can’t help myself.

My heart absolutely breaks for Arya. Not only has she lost her father, brother and mother, not only is she a hostage in the hands of a killer, not only has she been witness to torture and death, but after all of that, she sees the abominable sight of Robb’s corpse adorned with Grey Wind’s head. I think you see a profound change in Arya at that point. As she mercilessly murders one of the Frey men in the woods, Arya definitely goes from a girl putting on a brave face to a fighter with no mercy. I am so excited to see her character develop more, as I think she could become a real player in the Game of Thrones. I now think that her chance encounter with Sandor could be a very good thing for her. Friends or not, he’s definitely a good ally for Arya at the moment.

I was so delighted when Bran and Sam met. It’s a rare thing in Westeros to meet someone who genuinely wants to help you, and when Sam called Bran ‘brother’, I did feel a little bit emotional. Although it wouldn’t make for a particularly good story, I wish for once that a Stark would do the safest thing rather than the right thing. Sansa probably comes closest, and she’s in Kings Landing, married to the best of the Lannisters. Maybe ‘safe’ isn’t the right word, but she’s certainly in a more secure place than her remaining family. In any case, Sam hands over his dragonglass weapons to Bran and the gang, and they head north of the Wall to find the three-eyed raven. I heard mention of them stopping the White Walkers as well. If Bran can warg into them, I’ll be very impressed.

The white walkers are back! Well, we already knew that…but now everyone else knows too! As soon as Sam returned to Castle Black and secured Gilly’s safety, he wrote to all of the Lords of Westeros to tell them the terrible news. I’d like to think that the kings would put some of their warring aside to deal with the marginally bigger issue of the walking undead, but as we’ve only seen Stannis’ reaction, it’s hard to tell. However, Shireen’s tutoring appears to have saved Davos’ life. He is sentenced to death for helping the doomed Gendry escape, but Sam’s letter causes Stannis to reconsider. At least one of the kings is taking the threat seriously. I have a feeling that Joffrey’s reaction might not be so sensible.

Plenty is going down in Kings Landing, with the fallout of the Red Wedding affecting all the main players. Just as Tyrion and Sansa are starting to get along, a small council meeting is called to discuss the news from the Twins. Joffrey is, of course, beaming with glee, and comes up with the downright evil suggestion of serving up Robb’s head to Sansa at his wedding. This prompts an outburst from Tyrion, who is clearly upset that even now, Joffrey will stop at nothing to torment her. Joffrey is knocked down a peg or two by Tywin, which is always great. I just wish it wasn’t Tywin that was doing it. Especially as the meeting culminates with him revealing that the one thing he’s done for someone other than himself was not drowning Tyrion as a baby. Gee, thanks dad. What a kind-hearted soul.

Dany’s scene at the end was phenomenal. Cue tears. And cue me wondering yet again why on earth she would want to go back to Westeros when she’s doing such a great job in Essos. The faces of the liberated slaves as she walks through the crowd, the chants of ‘Mhysa, Mhysa’, her dragons screeching as they fly over her new people, all add up to a cacophonous conclusion that promises a more hopeful future than any other arc. Dany is without a doubt the best ruler of the bunch. All she needed was a kingdom, and now she has one. I do wonder if she’ll pursue her dream of the seven kingdoms right away, or if she’ll spend some time in Yunkai first. From the way the people reacted to her, I’d say she has a fairly loyal fanbase where she is. If she could see the state of Westeros, she’d know that no one monarch could ever win the hearts of all the seven kingdoms. That being said, if anyone could do it, she could. I guess we’ll have to wait until next year to find out what our Khaleesi makes of it.

Having seen the trailer for Mhysa last week, I was a little worried that they would feel rushed to fit it all in. However, the extra ten minutes meant that the show was able to prepare everyone’s storylines for season four without running at breakneck speed. Jon and Ygritte parted on a sour note, with Jon arriving back to Castle Black (hopefully) in the nick of time. Shae proves that her reluctance to leave Kings Landing has more to do with love than money. And the reunion of Jaime and Cersei is a great cliffhanger that I can’t wait to see resolved. Season four is going to be a hell of a ride, with the advance of the White Walkers, Dany’s life as the breaker of chains, and Bran’s perilous journey to find the three-eyed raven. Sadly, we have to wait until next year before any more TV installments. However, filming starts next month and I’m on the edge of my seat already.