Game of Thrones (HBO): Season 2/Episode 4

2.4 Garden of Bones

Robb attacks another Lannister stronghold where he meets a nurse named Talisa (Oona Chaplin), who blames him for the atrocities of the ongoing war. Joffrey continues to torture Sansa both physically and psychologically as a way to get back to her brother, but Tyrion interferes and chastises his nephew. He also blackmails his cousin Lancel (Eugene Simon) and turns him into his spy. Arya and Gendry are brought to Harrenhal where one prisoner is killed every day. As Gendry is about to take his turn on the torture chair, Tywin Lannister arrives and berates his men for wasting young blood that could add to their numbers. He recognizes Arya as a girl and demands her to be brought to his chambers as his new cupbearer. Petyr Baelish visits Renly, but his real intention is to convince Catelyn to barter Jaime Lannister for her two daughters, under Tyrion’s orders. He brings her Ned’s bones as a sign of good faith. Daenerys and her Dothraki horde are welcomed at Qarth, but are turned back after she refuses to show them her dragons. They are eventually let in after one of the Thirteen vouches for her. Melisandre is brought to a cave in the middle of the night, where she gives birth to a shadow monster.

Yes, you’ve read that right. Shadow Monster. Wow. Your first reaction would be something like, WTF, are you kidding me right now? Are you really kidding me right now? And then you suddenly remember that Dragon Mama has dragon triplets for kids. Jean Grey, you baffle us. Just when Renly is having issues siring a child because he’d rather get it on with his wife’s brother, here you are giving birth just after two episodes. Your gestation period is just as strange as you are, woman. But let’s talk about sunshine and Morocco, shall we? Qarth is plain wow. It seems like Dubrovnik as King’s Landing now has serious competition. Perhaps what makes the vision of Qarth so beautiful is that you see a lot of yellow because of the sun and the sand, as opposed to the white wasteland that is Winterfell, which for some weird reason is the first landscape that comes to mind when this series is mentioned. Kudos to Gimli too, by the way! Don’t you just love how everyone dismisses him as a useless “imp” and yet he wields so much power over those around him, even Joffrey Bieber? Brains over brawns, y’all!

“If war were arithmetic, the mathematicians would rule the world.” – Petyr Baelish

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