‘Game of Thrones’ 2.07 Recap: “Killing’s the Sweetest Thing There Is”

Yes, I’m still behind in my TV watching as a result of traveling last week. As I catch up, ‘Game of Thrones’ is of course a show that I’ve prioritized. It’s also a series with so much going on that I feel every episode deserves the benefit of its own recap. So, as I get to work on this week’s latest episode, here’s a look at what happened while I was away.

The following are the events of episode ‘A Man Without Honor’. I’ve organized them by character, so this is not necessarily the order in which they occurred:

Bran Stark and youngest brother Rickon have escaped from Winterfell and are on the run. This leaves Theon Greyjoy both upset at his own incompetence and worried about what will happen to him when his father and sister find out. He immediately sets about hunting for the fugitives. He tracks them to a farm house, and the episode ends (sorry for jumping straight to the finish) with him unveiling to the citizens of Winterfell two charred young corpses, as a warning to never cross him. Are Bran and Rickon really dead? I’m left doubtful. For one thing, Theon makes a point of sending Maester Luwin away as soon as they get to the farm house. We also see that the farmer has two young sons of his own, and the corpses that Theon unveils are burned beyond recognition. I have a feeling that Theon has killed the two farm boys as a desperate attempt to cover his own ass.

Jon Snow, still separated from the rest of the Night’s Watch, wakes up snuggling with his Wildling prisoner, Ygritte. She notices his morning boner and spends most of the episode teasing him about his virginity and playfully flirting with him. (Her best line, upon Snow’s insistence that men of the Night’s Watch never touch women or each other: “You have sheep at the Wall?”) Snow is not amused. The girl eventually escapes his grasp yet again and leads him on a chase directly into a trap where he is surrounded by Wildling warriors.

Upon the death of his useless knight Ser Lorch, Tywin Lannister assumes that the assassination was an attempt on his own life. He tries to root out the assassin and ruthlessly suppress dissent in his camp. Tywin has another interesting conversation with Arya, in which we learn that he knows she’s not low-born. Does he already know her identity after all? If so, he hasn’t let on yet, but that seems to be a distinct possibility.

In Qarth, Daeneyrs doesn’t know whom she can trust. She even tries to put some distance between herself and Jorah. Xaro Xhoan Daxos vows to help her get her dragons back, but she remains suspicious of his motives. As well she should, because it’s eventually revealed that Xaro and the warlock Pyat Pree have conspired together to steal the dragons, execute the rest of “The Thirteen,” and establish Xaro as the King of Qarth.

This episode finally features the return of Jaime Lannister, who shows off what a charming yet dangerous rogue he still is, even while chained in a cage and sitting in his own shit. When Robb captures a distant cousin of Jaime’s, young Alton Lannister, he confines them in the same cage due to lack of space elsewhere. Jaime and Alton get along famously, and share stories of being squires in their youths. Alton seems to be something of a fanboy of Jaime’s, and offers to help him escape, upon which Jaime coldly strangles him to death as a distraction to lure in his guard. Well, it turns out that Jaime is much better at escaping than he is at running, because he’s captured again not long after. With Robb away to negotiate with a neighboring lord, the unruly mob in the Stark camp demands Jaime’s blood. Catelyn, recognizing his value if she ever wants to get her daughters back, is forced to stand between them and Jaime. Lacking much gratitude, Jaime immediately hones in and pushes Catelyn’s buttons regarding her husband Ned’s infidelity and bastard child Jon Snow.

Finally (again, this isn’t actually the order in which the events occurred in the episode), poor Sansa Stark has her first menstruation. This is not good news for her, because it means that she’s now capable of bearing children for the cruel Joffrey. Her handmaiden Shae tries but fails to hide the evidence of this, but word quickly gets back to Cersei, who sits Sansa down for a surprisingly candid heart-to-heart in which she advised the girl to, “Love no one but your children.” Apparently in a forthcoming mood, Cersei later opens up to Tyrion. She not only admits that Joffrey is Jaime’s son, but says that she regrets her role in what the boy has become. Could Cersei have a sliver of humanity after all?

I’m not sure what it is exactly, but something about the acting in this episode (from pretty much the whole cast) felt a little artificial and stagy to me. Did anyone else have this experience?

1 comment

  1. Wayne

    It wasn’t the acting that was artificial and stagy, twas the writing. Everyone had 42 monologues in this ep… very chatty this one…

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