Thoughts on Thrones the Third

WARNING! Game of Thrones Season 1 and 2 spoilers ahead!

Just to make this absolutely clear: I'm a huge fan of Game of Thrones and I plan on writing quite a bit about it in the future. I became interested in the series when I saw HBO was planning on a fantasy/medieval ensemble drama featuring Sean Bean and Mark Addy. Despite the two of them not making it out of the first season, I was hooked. I went and read all of George R. R. Martin's novels and am now in a terrible lull, waiting for season 3 to begin and for The Winds of Winter to be finished.

I had a post written that previewed season 3, but it was filled with spoilers from the books. I've ditched that to bring you a spoiler-free (provided you've seen the first two) preview of this coming year in Game of Thrones. Since there are a ton of different stories going on, I'm going to talk about the top 5 I'm looking forward to.

Caesar Beyond the Wall

                               

At the end of season 2, everyone's favorite Night's Watchmen, Jon Snow, had been taken captive by the wildlings and was on his way to meet the King Beyond the Wall. He even killed his fellow brother in black Qhorin Halfhand in order to prove to the free folk that he was ready to forsake his vows and could be trusted.

Jon's up for an intense story this season. He'll have to pose as an oath breaker to learn of the wildlings' secrets and deal with the feisty Ygritte for better or worse. Jon is one of my favorite characters and I'm very much looking forward to his story, but I'm extra excited because we will finally get to meet Mance Rayder, the self-styled "King Beyond the Wall". Mance will be played by Rome alumnus, the former Gaius Julius Caesar, Ciaran Hinds, which was hands down my favorite casting decision during the off-season. Hinds is tremendously talented and I can't wait to see what he does with the material.

A Kraken Betrayed

If not for that son-of-a-bitch King Joffery, last season probably would have catapulted Theon Greyjoy to the top of the most hated characters list. He betrayed Robb Stark, felt up his sister, captured Winterfell, killed Ser Rodrick, was essentially responsible for Maester Luwin's death, and for a week, had you convinced that he killed Bran and Rickon. The guy seems like a real piece of shit, but the complexity of his character makes him and favorite of mine to both read and see on screen.

Theon really has no idea where he belongs. He was taken from his family at a young age as a spoil of war. It would have been simpler had he been treated like dirt by his captors, but instead, the always honorable Ned Stark treated him like a son. Then he returns home to another hostile environment provided by his own father and sister, who think his time with the wolves has made him soft, a pansy as it were. Now we find out that after trying to earn the respect of his men by being brutal and unyielding to the folks of Winterfell, he's been betrayed by his fellow Ironborn, who would rather just go home than try to hold Winterfell with too few men. Next season we'll get to see what happens as he becomes a true hostage, this time of Roose Bolton's bastard son Ramsey, who had been marching to recapture the city.

Kingslayer's Ransom

                                

Thanks to Catelyn Stark (more on her later), Jaime Lannister is on his way back to King's Landing with Brienne the Beauty to escort him. They've already seen some trouble from some Stark men as they started their journey and the rest of the way is sure to be a bumpy ride. Jaime obviously hates his spot here, possibly more than being locked up in a cage while traveling around with Robb. Not only is he still a prisoner, he's now being pulled around on a chain by a woman and a big, strong, ugly one at that. The only solace he has is that he may see his sister Cersei again one day if they can make it back to King's Landing alive.

Mommy Knows Best

So Robb Stark is pretty pissed off at his mom Catelyn for letting his prisoner Jaime Lannister free, but she did it for a good reason: she thinks she's out two sons and wants her daughters returned to her. The problem is Robb wasn't exactly down with losing his one piece of leverage even if it was in exchange for his sisters ,and the Lannisters actually only have one daughter to trade back. The King in the North is not without his own fault, however. He's just gotten married to someone who is not a daughter of Walder Frey, breaking the promise he made in season 1 in exchange for crossing the Twins. Look for these mistakes to haunt the Starks as the war goes on.

The other part of this story, presumably anyway, to look forward to is meeting Cat's family. The Tullys have been pushed back quite a bit, but we'll finally get to see the lords of Riverrun this year. Notable among them are Cat's brother Edmure, played by another Rome alumnus, Tobias Menzies, and her uncle Bryndyn the Blackfish, played by Clive Russel.

A Wolf, a Bastard, and a Dessert

Arya seemed to have a pretty cushy ride back home to Winterfell in the back of Yoren's wagon at the outset of season 2. Obviously with Lannister men in search of a royal bastard in the ranks of Night's Watch recruits, things were not going to be that simple. She managed to survive the horrors of Harrenhal thanks to the many faced Jaqen H'ghar and is now wondering the Riverlands with the late King Robert's bastard Gendry and Hot Pie looking for any way back to her family. With direwolves stalking through the woods and the so called Brotherhood without Banners causing havoc we can be sure that Arya's story will be anything boring.