We’ve seen the first four episodes of the hotly anticipated third season of Game of Thrones. Here’s what we’re thinking so far.
HBO
Along with every other site in existence, we breathlessly looked forward to the new season of Game of Thrones. So you can imagine the joy when we received our screeners for the first four episodes last week.
We love the good people at HBO and, as part of our sworn blood contract with them, we can’t reveal any spoilers. But based upon the first four episodes, here are our initial thoughts:
-Is it possible to hate King Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) a little less? Because that’s an impression I had throughout the first third of this season. Even his senseless bits of evil pale in comparison to the previous two years. His super hot new soon-to-be-bride Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer) doesn’t hurt.
-The additions of Mance Rayder (Ciarán Hinds) and Lady Olenna (Diana Rigg) are inspired. Both characters are introduced well and exceedingly memorable — no easy feat as the cast and fictional world continues to expand in the new season.
-Prepare for a learning curve: The world of Game of Thrones is so massive that it can be difficult to do each character justice. The first two episodes show how hard it is to reintroduce a dozen different characters in stories in just one hour after nine months between seasons.
-The difference between Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) in season one and season three is really one of the most noteworthy parts of the show. Comparing the meek girl of the early part of the show to the fully realized and empowered woman in season three could be an interesting essay in your women’s studies college class of choice.
-Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) has one of the biggest adjustments in the show with the events at the tail-end of season two. Rooting for him, and his few loyal friends, to get his feet back will be a key storyline moving forward.
-Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead Wright) looks different. Mildly jarring at first, not quite Walt from LOST, but still. Relevant interview with George R. Martin can be seen here.
-The life of Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen) does not seem like a particularly enjoyable one after he betrayed the Stark family in season two.
There’s a ton of other items of interest about all of your favorite characters, such as Jaime Lannister, Jon Snow, and Arya Stark, in the earlygoing. The show barely takes a minute to rest in giving each character new reasons for being in Westeros.
Most importantly for this article’s purposes, our brief review: The beginning of the season finds its footing fast. The table is never fully set on Game of Thrones given that the endgame is fairly far out of sight (the book series being unfinished will do that to a show). But each of the first four episodes contains a satisfying hook to keep the story moving forward. Fans of the books and the show alike will leave Sunday’s season premiere jonesing to find out who’ll be closer to the Iron Throne by season’s end.
Game of Thrones debuts Sunday March 31 at 9 p.m. on HBO. Come back to Guyism at 10 p.m. Eastern on Sunday for our full spoiler-filled thoughts on the premiere.