Valar Morghulis (3 Jun. 2012)

Joffery names Tywin the new Hand of the King. Robb marries Talisa Maegyr. Jon prepares to meet Mance Rayder. Arya says farewell to Jaqen H'ghar. Daenerys tries to rescue her dragons.

Director:

Alan Taylor

Writers:

George R.R. Martin ("A Song of Ice and Fire" by), David Benioff (creator),

Stars:

Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Peter Dinklage	...	Tyrion Lannister
Lena Headey	...	Cersei Lannister
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau	...	Jaime Lannister
Michelle Fairley	...	Catelyn Stark
Emilia Clarke	...	Daenerys Targaryen
Aidan Gillen	...	Petyr 'Littlefinger' Baelish
Iain Glen	...	Jorah Mormont
Kit Harington	...	Jon Snow
Charles Dance	...	Tywin Lannister
Richard Madden	...	Robb Stark
Isaac Hempstead Wright	...	Bran Stark
Sophie Turner	...	Sansa Stark
Maisie Williams	...	Arya Stark
Alfie Allen	...	Theon Greyjoy
John Bradley	...	Samwell Tarly

Storyline

With the battle won, King Joffrey names his grandfather, Tywin Lannister, as the Hand of the King. It has an immediate impact on Tyrion, who awakens in new and much smaller quarters wounded from the battle . Peter Baelish is rewarded for his loyalty. The King takes an interest in Lady Margaery Tyrell and decides to marry her. Lord Varys recruits a new spy. Arya has managed to escape from Harrenhal with Jaen H'ghar's help. He shows her something of himself. Theon and his men are surrounded at Winterfell and are forced to abandon their position. They don't leave much behind. North of the wall, Jon impresses his captor in a fight with one of his own. King Robb and Alina are married despite the promise he had previously made. Brienne and Jaime Lannister continue their journey but not without difficulty. In Qarth, Daenerys enters the House of the Undead to retrieve her dragons.

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Fantasy

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Details

Release Date:

3 June 2012 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Vatnajokull Glacier, Vatnajökull, Austurland, Iceland

Company Credits

Production Co:

Home Box Office (HBO), Television 360, Grok! Studio

Technical Specs

Runtime:

64 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to the novel, while Daenerys was at the House of the Undying, she saw no vision of Khal Drogo with their stillborn son Rhaego. She saw various visions about the past and foreshadowing of future events, and heard obscure prophecies.

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Quotes

Qhorin Halfhand: [to Jon Snow] We are the watchers on the Wall.

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Soundtracks

"Valar Morghulis"
(uncredited)
Written by Ramin Djawadi

User Reviews

Inconsistent, but overall very strong

It's a funny thing with adaptations, you can never properly judge the people handling the adaptation unless they stray from the source material. Once that happens, depending both on the writing talent, and the quality of the original work, the adaptation could go in several directions.

It seems that this season has gone the way of almost total inconsistency. By that I'll use an example from this season. WHAT IS DEAD MAY NEVER DIE (03) was a terrific episode, perhaps one of the best in the series, and it was followed by GARDEN OF BONES (04) which is pretty mediocre.

It's clear, then, that as the writers stray from the source material (and they do, rather substantially, in the second half of the season) their mediocre talents stand out among the source material's already high quality.

The season started off quite well, however, with the first three episodes being quite strong, but then some perplexing adaptation choices and poor writing made the middle of the season quite mediocre. It did pick up again, but then the finale was an hour of anti-climaxes and half-climaxes, failing to do what the season one finale succeeded in: tying up loose ends with emotional momentum, rounding off character arcs, and setting up for the next season.

Best Episode: What Is Dead May Never Die (03) Best Actor: Alfie Allen