Reviews & Ratings for
"Game of Thrones" The Pointy End (2011)

Still not the show's full potential

Author: axel-koch from Austria
17 June 2013

Ned is imprisoned and only has about three minutes of screen time in this episode, so you would guess that the show suddenly gets boring, right? Hell no, Robb is Lord Stark now and boy, is he badass in this episode. This is the first time that he really gets to be a major character and he owns absolutely every single scene he's in. We can expect one of them to die in the season finale (maybe both, but I sincerely hope not) and Richard Madden's intriguing performance as Robb managed to make me root more for him than for Ned. Catelyn finally getting together with at least parts of her family was also great to see and the scene with Robb and her was utterly fascinating. And while the Winterfell story part was clearly paramount in 'The Pointy End', most of the other locations were entertaining as well.

Despite the huge events at the end of the last episode, King's Landing isn't that much in the fore as I'd expected it to be which is not generally a bad thing because even those scenes dragged a bit from time to time, so I think I would've only been bored with more scenes there. Lena Headey's turn was once again absorbing to watch and Jack Gleeson also gets more and more interesting, but I just feel that his character has way too little screen time to really let the audience get to know him.

One crucial moment in this episode was Tyrion encountering his father Tywin for the first time to be seen on the show while having a lot of grubby companions coming with him. Their conversation wasn't as interesting as I'd hoped it to be, mostly because there wasn't anything new being discussed in the scene. In the end, Peter Dinklage proved once again to be a hugely talented actor and Charles Dance also did a very fine job as his evil daddy, the plot just wasn't that juicy.

The weakest scenes of this episode were happening at either the Night's Watch or at whatever place the Dothraki scenes are taking place. Unnecessary supporting characters are being introduced again and there are some serious acting problems to be found. Even though George R. R. Martin, the author of the novels that are the basis for the series, wrote this episode, I feel like it isn't exactly how it was meant to be. Some important scenes last for too short, some less important scenes get too much time. I always feel like they don't use all the potential they've got.

12 out of 26 people found the following review useful:

Fantasy has found its TV master

Author: igoatabase from France
10 June 2011

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Khal Drogo will kill all knights to rule the Seven Kingdoms ! That's a lot of Ks for a single series of words but it appears I have broken the third alphabet letter of my keyboard. No "see" ? We'll see ! The truth is that this 8th installment was so thrilling that it convinced me that Game of Thrones would make a great video game. Its gallery of personas is so exciting and diverse. Khal Drogo is probably to the show who Goro is to Mortal Kombat ! A baby crazy crab with a pigtail ? Show some respect ! Seriously his fight against one of his men was bloody brutal and I already anticipate how charismatic he'll look in Conan the Barbarian even if I'll never forget Arnold Schwarzenegger fantastic portrayal. Moreover the scene was mesmerized by what was happening on the winter front. The climatic contrast between both regions, like fire and ice, made me feel like if Daenerys was connected to Jon somehow. Is Drogoro the vessel that will allow her to unleash her inner dragon ? And what about the wolf, is it the dark side of the Snow ? It's obvious the writers blur the lines on purpose and I wouldn't be surprised if their bond became so strong that the death of the animal would be fatal to its Shadow Dancer.

With a lethal Littlefinger on his throat I really worried for Ned's fate. In fact considering what happened to some other characters I wouldn't have been surprised to see him meet a quick death. They don't show mercy on Game of Thrones and that's definitely refreshing and plain bold ! That's why the scene with Cersei and Barristan was so intense because I was almost sure that they wouldn't hesitate to kill him or even call him a traitor. Ian McElhinney performance was knightly to say the least and I really hope his character will turn his back on them, save Ned and join the Stark to make her reign as short as possible. Yes because no one considers Joffrey rules. He's only a puppet in the hands of her evil mother ! But when their vicious smiles toward Sansa made me angry I have to admit that his attitude after her speech convinced me that there's still hope. Was his love declaration in the previous episode authentic ? I thought it was only an other of their mind games. It leads us to Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister. The size of a dwarf but the talent of a giant ! His every lines are delightful of wit and the contexts they're told are just hilarious. In fact Jon Snow's chubby buddy reminds me a little of him because at first they look useless but once they begin to talk you quickly realize they compensate their physical weakness with bright intelligence. It's also the case for Arya and I hope her swordfight lessons will help her survive ! As for her brother Bran praying session it was both poetic and funny. A naked giant in the woods ? Gods in the leaves ? Just mystical !

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