Indeed, "The North Remembers" is about power. Cersei and Littlefinger share a scene that's all about power. Littlefinger asserts the notion that knowledge is power whereas Cersei shows her power by nearly slicing his throat, and then instructing her guards to step three paces back. The question is, "Who holds the power?" Throughout the episode we see glimpses of the many characters that will involves themselves in the War of the Five Kings. Through Robb we learn about the 100,000 strong army of Renly's in the south; Theon volunteers to visit his father in hopes of getting 200 ships for Robb's cause; Stannis enlisted a Red Priestess from Asshai whom the Maester of Dragonstone does not trust, but from the fires of her god comes Light Bringer, a sword literally born in fire. Joffrey's able to end a life with just his words. Across The Narrow Sea in The Red Waste, a young queen treks through a wasteland with her dragons and with little less than fifteen souls at her command.
What does it mean to have power though? Is the king with the biggest army the one most likely to possess power? Or, is the one with the biggest mind in the best position to possess power? Westeros is a complex land. The season premiere spent so much time establishing the five kings and barely any time on the tiny council, where the likes of Varys and Littlefinger and Pycelle sit, content to serve only the realm. Cersei's the most powerful woman in Westeros, but her bratty son Joffrey treats her like a common woman, threatening her with death should she dare slap him in public. Varys will soon tell Tyrion that sometimes a small man can cast a great shadow. Tyrion might be the most powerful person in Westeros now that he is the Hand of the King.
Tyrion Lannister, the Imp, arrives in King's Landing with Bronn and his band men from the mountains. Joffrey is horrified by the arrival of his uncle (and on his Name Day no less). Immediately, Tyrion begins to change things. His first order of business is to exchange pleasantries with his niece and nephew, Myrcella and Tommen. His second order of business is to offer sincere condolences to Sansa on the loss of her father. Sansa reacts as she's been trained, calling her father, mother and brother traitors, and repressing any emotion. Tyrion saunters off with barely a word to Joffrey about the reason he returned to King's Landing with such gusto. Tyrion simply reminds Joffrey that he, too, lost a father and he'd be wise to appear as if he cared.
Tyrion's business is with the Queen. The letter from Tywin enrages Cersei who orders the council to disperse. Brother and sister sit on their chairs, sipping wine, and talk about freeing Jamie. Tyrion means to change things, though he keeps such aspirations from Cersei's ear. His intention to rescue Jamie from the clutches of the North is as sweet as honey to Cersei's ear. Cersei barely mutters a retort to Tyrion's criticism how little she did on her own. Ned Stark is dead. The kingdom is divided. The Queen let Arya slip from her grasp, destroying the only tangible possibility of a seamless exchange for Jamie. Tyrion means to clean up the mess she made as their dear father instructed. Cersei is unable to do anything more than grit her teeth and take it from her brother. Tyrion's only other scene is with Shae in which he basks in his current position. I can't wait to watch Tyrion get to work.
North of The Wall, Jon Snow and The Night's Watch are in search of Wildlings. However, Wildling villages are abandoned. The Night's Watch stops at Craster's Keep on their way to the Frost Fangs. Jon still struggles in his role as the Lord Commander's Steward. He cannot sit still in Craster's as the old, incestuous man goes on about the Wildings and the King-Beyond-The-Wall who's, apparently, amassing an army to march on The Wall. Mormont grunts. Snow glares. Jon looks around Craster's at the girls and women, Craster's wives-daughters, and glares because their cooped up and forced to support Craster's claim that everyone is comfortable and safe in the woods--they'd rather be free and cold than a slave to Westeros. Jon's interest in the girls earns him a scolding from Mormont, who tells him that 'to lead you must learn to FOLLOW.' The scene is an interesting study in power structure. The Lord Commander oversees every man in the Nights Watch; but Craster possesses the power north of The Wall, and Mormont can't do much except give into his demands. You know nothing, Jon Snow.
The Khaleesi and her small Khalasar are lost and starving in The Red Waste in the East. Daenerys Targaryen and her followers have walked the deserts of the east for an extended period of time. Dany's lips are chipped, her Silver collapses during the ride, and her followers are haggard and slow, showing as little life as the dirt surrounding them. Jorah rushes to Dany's side when the horse collapses. Dany despairs, wondering how she can conquer a kingdom when she can't even feed the people with her. Dany cannot even feed her dragons. They cannot travel west for fear of the Lhazareen, nor can they travel east for fear of the Khalasar. Dany sends Rhakaro, Aggo, and another blood-rider, in three different directions, in hopes one will find any city, abandoned or inhabited, or any harbors, or bodies of water. Rhakaro speeds away as Dany gazes despairingly at the barren wasteland that is The Red Waste.
Robb Stark is quickly becoming a genuine King of the North. Robb doesn't fear an interaction with the Kingslayer. Why should he? He has three wins; Jamie and the Lannisters have three defeats. Robb agrees to let Theon travel home to the Iron Islands in hopes of winning Balon Greyjoy's ships to his side. Catelyn admonishes her son for trusting Balon. Ned needed to win a war to stop Balon's last rebellion. Catelyn's a mother who wants her daughters back. Robb promises to get Sansa and Arya back but AFTER he wins the war. Catelyn wishes to return home, but Robb sends her to the Stormlands to meet with Renly in hopes of joining forces. There's a scene in which Robb's diplomatic abilities are on display: he gives his terms to a Lannister cousin, which involves no less than secession from the kingdom, the safe return of his sisters, and the bones of his father and all of the Winterfell men who lost their lives.
Power is not the lone thing that unites and divides the characters. A red comet in the sky literally looms above the heads of every character. The first glimpse of the comet comes in a strange dream Bran has in which he is a wolf. The red comet means different things to different people. Osha tells Bran the comet might be a good omen for Robb or a good omen for the Lannisters or something for his father; to Osha, though, a red comet means one thing: dragons. Dany has been following the comet. Stannis and Melisandre, meanwhile, have their own ideas about the comet.
Stannis is a name uttered by a few characters in season two. I pictured a man the size of Robert, but Stannis is thin, balding, with a tight jaw and terse tongue. Stannis believes he has the true claim to the throne as Robert's brother. Joffrey's a bastard, an abomination born of incest. In a sharply worded letter, blunt as a sword, Stannis informs all of Westeros about Joffrey, Cersei and Jamie. The letter makes it rounds. Littlefinger alludes to it during his scene with Cersei. Joffrey directly addresses the rumor and then decides to call his mother a whore upon learning of the many bastards in King's Landing. The letter has horrifying consequences. Each one of Robert's bastards are murdered, whether babe or child or pre-teen or teen. One bastard made it out of King's Landing. Gendry is wanted by the men of the City Watch, but he's with the Nights Watch. A smith informs a soldier of Gendry's whereabouts (on the Kingsroad heading to The Wall), and then we see Gendry climbing into a cart. Little Arya, or Arry, joins him, and they ride on, unaware of the people after him.
And that's a small example of what the second season is going to be about: it's going to bloody and horrifying. Season 1 featured plots and schemes, backstabbers against backstabbers, but issues were handled with a sword. Of course, "Winter is Coming" ended on Jamie tossing little Bran from a window, so the massacre of children isn't out of the blue. Anyway, no one knows of magic from the east, of a strange priestess who chants, 'For the night is dark and full of terrors.' Tyrion means to change things, but change is happening everywhere. "The North Remembers" established many arcs in its 50+ minute run-time. The amount of set-up and exposition is overwhelming. At the center is a story about the war for power and the people caught up in the war, whether it's the important principal players or peasants off-screen who will be thrown from the city, or small village. Of course, W.B. Yeats once composed, "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold." And guess what, my friends and well-wishers?
The centre will not hold.
Other Thoughts:
-Where do I begin? Hm. I read A Clash of Kings in the summer. I promise not to spoil anything about what's to come. If I allude to anything, non-readers won't even pick up on it. I promise. I thought alot about how I'd write reviews for the second season. I watched season 1 with no knowledge of the series. I read the entire series since then and developed a strong love for the books. I'm determined to view the series as it is--an adaptation. No one cares if I'm pissed about something changing from the books. People care about the episode and what happens.
-I'm in love with Carice Van Houten's Melisandre. It didn't take much: as soon as she said, 'for the night is dark and full of terrors' in that eastern accent, I wanted to take her out for ice cream at a Dairy Queen. Holy shit I love her Melisandre. I can't wait for more Dragonstone scenes. Speaking of Dragonstone, I didn't even mention the dramatic conclusion to the letter-writing scene in which the maester fails to posion her. The scene is very significant; in fact, I thought season two would open with the prologue as written in the book. I love the prologues, and it took twenty minutes or so for me to recover from the change in the structure of "The North Remembers." The scene on the beach also introduced Davos Seaworth. Davos tried to stop Cressen from delivering the poisoned drink to Melisandre. I'd love to write more about Melisandre, but I'll stop myself. There are nine more weeks to gush about her. Also, I counted on hearing a correct pronunciation of R'hllor tonight. Alas, I'll have to wait for that.
-Dragonstone was just about perfect. The Dragonstone table map of Westeros is beautiful.
-Bran had two small scenes. I should've written about him above as his initial scene deals with his new role as the Lord of Winterfell. Bran, too, possesses certain power; but he can't sit still as he listens to townsfolk problems. Bran feels anger towards anyone who criticizes his brother Robb. Luwen imparts wise advice to Bran: "Listen." Later, Bran dreams he's a wolf. The wolf-dream takes him to the godswood. Osha and Hodor take him there. Bran crawls on the ground and stares at his reflection in the water. Osha, in particular, delivers an extended comment on the dream. I would like to know more about these dreams of Bran.
-Sansa saved the life of a drunken knight named Dontos the Red. The Hound kept killing men to entertain Joffrey on his Name Day. Dontos showed up drunk. Joffrey planned on pouring an entire barrel of wine into Dontos' mouth until Sansa and The Hound convinced him to stop. Sandor Clegane (aka The Hound) told Joffrey, "Whatever you sow on your name day you reap the rest of the year.' Joffrey wants kill Dontos on the morrow; but Sansa thinks Dontos should be Joffrey's own fool. Sansa had no choice but to adapt. Sansa's a despised character. I like her though and felt disappointed by the lack of Sansa scenes. The way she treated Dontos shows Sansa Stark remains; her behavior in front of Joffrey is just adaptation, survival, necessary.
-Michelle Fairley's Catelyn Stark is sensational. I love her directness and honesty. I'm excited to see her in the Stormlands with Renly.
-Grey Wind was a beast; THAT is how a direwolf should look.
-I almost forgot: I loved Tyrion’s interactions with Myrcella and Tommen. I was overjoyed when Myrcella said, “I’m happy to see you.” I wish the actress emphasized the “I’m” as the book italicizes it. The italics says so much about her in contrast to her brother, who is absolutely a son of a bitch. Myrcella is a minor character, but one of my favorite minor characters.
-I didn't cover everything. I'd like to, but I'm only a blogger. There are nine more weeks of Game of Thrones to talk about so much more. I'm really excited for the future of the season.
-David Benioff & D.B. Weiss wrote the episode. Alan Taylor directed it.
THE YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE WEEK
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