An explosive episode that was more focused than any other episode in the series to date — everything took place in and around King’s Landing — is followed by an episode that had quite a lot of storylines left to wrap up. The result? The burden that “Blackwater” left “Valar Morghulis” helped to detract from [...]

After “Blackwater”, the way that the ships of Stannis’s fleet were depicted — and the fact that there was little discussion of their origins — suggested to me that there might be room to discuss naval technology and fleets as described in the novels. Ships are actually quite an important aspect of the setting — [...]

With a script from George R.R. Martin (with, doubtless, input from the executive producers, the director, and limitations based on shooting schedules, budget, and total run time) and direction from film director Neil Marshall, the episode starts with a slow, quiet sense of dread as we meet different characters who will be affected by what’s [...]

“Blackwater” approaches, and with it the suspicion of many fans that it may be the episode most faithful to the tone and character developments of the novel, as it features King’s Landing — an area that has, besides some reduction in scale, largely remained fairly closely following the novel — and is written by George [...]

“The Prince of Winterfell” seemed to be — from previews and title — an episode that was going to focus rather more on Theon Greyjoy in Winterfell. This had been, up to now, one of the brightest spots in the season, and certainly led to some expectations… and those expectations were largely wrong. It’s that [...]