Game of Thrones
Episode Title: “The Wars to
Come”
Channel: HBO
Director: Michael Slovis
Writers: David Benioff and D.B.
Weiss
Genre: Action,
Drama, Fantasy
Runtime: 55
min
Rated: TV-MA
Original Air Date: April 12,
2015
Game of Thrones
has consistently been one of my favorite shows on television in
recent years. With so few episodes per season the wait for new
episodes is always excruciating, but on premiere night the waiting
feels worth it. Usually. Sadly, “The Wars to Come” didn't usher
in the new season with the same level of excitement I've grown
accustomed to. Was it bad TV? Well, no, but it wasn't a good
episode of Game of Thrones
either. For me this is a show that gets judged against its previous
successes more so than the other things on television.
So,
where did it go wrong? Game of Thrones
has done something very interesting with its season structure.
Instead of it all going down in the finale, and the audience waiting
for the next season to see the consequences the creators have altered
the formula. The ninth episode of the season contains the big blow
up, the tenth shows the audience was the ramifications will be, and
then the new season's premiere sets us on the next part of the
journey. “The Wars to Come” feels more like episode eleven of
season four.
That's
not to say that nothing interesting happened. The episode opened
with a flashback, Ceresi and a friend visiting a witch. Ceresi
insisted on hearing what her future would hold, and the news wasn't
good. In the present day Ceresi and Jaime are feeling the heat,
Tywin is dead and their house is in serious danger. If that wasn't
enough, Margaery is already making attempts to get close to Tommen,
the new king. Ceresi can see her possible irrelevance on the
horizon, but will surely do whatever she can to keep that possibility
from coming to pass.
Daenerys
is struggling to maintain control over the relatively small kingdom
she has accumulated. Despite doing all the things she finds morally
right there are elements working against her, the Sons of the Harpy,
that are trying to sow discord and bring her down. Additionally, she
has one dragon that's loose upon the countryside and two more that
she has no control over chained up in a dungeon somewhere. The
Mother of Dragons is without the symbol of her power, something that
will surely bring her down in the esteem of those whose respect she
needs. An eventual meeting between Dany and Tyrion was hinted at,
which should help to keep things in her part of the world from
getting too boring.
At the
Wall, Stannis wants to use Mance's men to retake the North from the
Boltons. He offers to spare Mance's life if he'll bow to his
authority and encourage the wildlings to fight for Stannis. Jon Snow
delivered that message to Mance, and it was met just as expected.
Jon tried to point out the good that could come of it, but Mance
couldn't do it and maintain the principles he'd preached in bring so
many wildling clans together. Mance was led to a stake at which he
was to be burned and given one last chance, which he refused. When
the burning really got started, Snow couldn't take Mance's attempts
at muffling his screams, fetched a bow and arrow, and put the man out
of his misery. I know this was supposed to be an emotionally heavy
scene, but it just seemed to be missing something. Maybe because
we've only seen Mance a few times, I just didn't feel the impact that
I think was intended from this scene.
Conclusion:
As far as Game of
Thrones
episodes go, especially premieres, “The Wars to Come” fell short
of the mark. There were hints of big things to come this season, but
not enough happened to make the ten month wait for more GoT seem
worth it. You never want a season premiere to be disappointing,
unfortunately that's the best description for it.
Rating:
7.5/10
No comments:
Post a Comment