TV Review: GAME OF THRONES: Season 2, Episode 3: What is Dead May Never Die

Game of Thrones Season 2 Episode 3 What Is Dead May Never Die Review. Game of Thrones: Season 2, Episode 3: What Is Dead May Never Die introduced new characters, broaden previous introduced one, and brought back old ones from the first season of the HBO, fantasy TV series.

The most notable intro of the episode was Brienne (Gwendoline Christie) of Tarth. She probably had the best introduction of the series since her identity was kept under wraps until the very end of a one-on-one duel. Brienne is not “The Beauty” from the book but her size made up for it. The Mountain and Hoder are supposed to be taller than Brienne but here it is the opposite. The director even used a camera adjustment to show how Brienne towered over people. The viewer instantly wants to see more Brienne and is not granted their wish.

This episode introduced many twists from the book, far more than in any other episode up till now.

The first husband and wife encounter between Renly Baratheon (Gethin Anthony) and Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer) was full of verbal surprises. Margery could be just a pretty face but she is completely aware of the situation (the marriage) she entered. She is not cunning but a realist, a pragmatist, and very accommodating to the tastes of her homosexual husband (“I can turn around and you can pretend I am a boy”). You will never hear of that being spoken in a modern day, political marriage.

Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen) and his “first family” problems were even better than the scrabbling between Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) and Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) that took place later in the episode. All three of the Greyjoys had great dialogue but Yara (Gemma Whelan) stole almost every scene she was in. “The Seabitch. We thought she’d be perfect for you” staring at him with no smile, then: “Be careful of their nets”, referring to Theon fighting fishermen. Ironborn are exemplified in Yara.

Theon’s choosing one family over the other was a tough call, the indecision in his eyes as he looked at the written warning to his friend. It’s surprising that Theon would choose the family that brow-beat and looked down on him over the family that likes him and looked favorable on his presence. The salt water ceremony afterward was well-conceived and the viewer got to see Balon Greyjoy (Patrick Malahide)’s brother Aeron Greyjoy.

Arya Stark (Maisie Williams)’s storyline has been severely cut down from the book. The purpose of her long odyssey to The Wall was to show the ravages of the war on Westeros and its people along with her getting into numerous perilous situations. Seeing four situations condensed into one was sad (which can also be said of Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner)) but Yoren (Francis Magee)’s story was entertaining. Yoren was an enigma in the book but the story he tells changed that and introduced another Arya element as well: a way to cope with the day her father was killed (alluded to here: Game of Thrones: Season 2: Kill Ilyn Poster). Yoren and Arya could both finally relate to each other in that scene.

I was happy they included the Raff the Sweetling/Lommy Greenhands (Eros Vlahos) scene along with dialogue from the book. The problem with it was that Lom was nobody in the viewers’ eyes when he dies, certainly not one of Arya’s companions thus the weight that it had was not present plus there is the obvious. The soldiers had overlooked him and were going to leave him there. If he had kept his mouth shut, he would not have been sent off to The Seven.

For more Game of Thrones reviews, photos, videos, and information, visit our Game of Thrones Page.