Game of Thrones: "A Man Without Honor" Review

Warning: Full spoilers for the episode follow...

While "A Man Without Honor" didn't have as many big, striking scenes as some of the past few episodes (riots, raids, whore abuse, shadow births), it made up for its lack of face-melting moments with some absolutely fantastic one-on-one scenes. Cersei and Tyrion. Cat and Jaime. Jon and Ygritte. And am I the only one here who could watch an entire season of just Arya and Tywin? A lot of this episode reminded me a lot of the scene, back in Season 1, between Robert and Cersei; a scene not found in the book, but expertly written to fit inside the world and make it richer.

And while we knew that the twincest between Cersei and Jaime had grown into, shall we say, a rumor with hair on its chest, it was amazing to hear both Cersei and Jaime, in their separate conversations, speak rather openly about it. With Cersei having a very unexpectedly real and touching moment with Tyrion, and Jaime, well, doing what he does best - simply owning anyone he talks to with humor, clarity and logic. If only Tywin truly knew how much if Jaime was like him in that respect.

And staying with Cersei's great scenes, she also spoke to Sansa, after discovering that the poor girl had gotten her "moon's blood." Telling her that the more people she loves, the weaker she is. And, yes letting on that she of course knows what a monster Joffrey has become. "You can try, little dove," Cersei says after Sansa asks "Shouldn't I love Joffrey?" But while Cersei was more guarded with Sansa, she really crept out of her armor with Tyrion, actually wondering aloud if Joffrey was born mad because of her incest - in the same way that the Targaryens produced crazed offspring. That scene was so damn good that, other than Tyrion not quite knowing how to console Cersei, you wouldn't readily know that the two of them had been at each other's throats all season.

- HBO

"I can't believe I ate the whole thing."

And while it might have seemed odd to give such a large speaking role to Ser Alton Lannister, a man we hardly knew, his scene with Jaime, where they both reminisced about squiring (Alton for Jaime, Jaime for Barristan Selmy), was incredible. And even though Jaime is taken to task later on for killing Lord Karstark's son, the true evidence of his "lack of honor" was the cold murder of Alton, the cousin he'd just bonded with. But then all of our hate for Jaime sort of unravels by the end when he talks to Cat and points out the futility of vows while offering up a bit of perspective on the entire situation. As if he were somehow an outsider. Because I don't think there's any one of us who thinks Jaime killing the Mad King wasn't just. And yet, he's completely maligned because of it. Because of "honor." And, again, Jaime talks about sleeping with his sister. Yes, Cat already knew, but it seems as though Jaime feels a bit of relief when he talks about it. Especially when he can use it, in a roundabout way, to prove that he has more honor than the bastard-producing Ned Stark. "So many vows. They make you swear and swear."

And speaking of Ned's bastard (and this episode's theme of vows and betrayal), Jon had both hands full with Ygritte this week; with her taunting him about his morning wood, his blushing and his vow of celibacy. All while preaching to him about the advantages of being free. And yes, we got to hear something book fans have been simply dying for her to say: "You know nothing, Jon Snow." Man, it was as if millions of shippers suddenly "squeeed" out in delight and were suddenly silenced. Ygritte is great because you know that she's both attracted to Jon totally f***ing with him too ("I could teach you how to do it"). Listening to her, you can hear that she wants Jon to trade sides. As if, for her, that's also the best way that the two of them could finally be together.

And while those scenes functioned as the cheeky in this chapter, Theon kept true to the "Man Without Honor" theme in his hunt for Bran and Rikkon. "It's better to be cruel than weak" seems to be his new philosophy. It's clear now that Theon, in just a short while, has grown more delusional; seeing the hunt as a game. Willing to do absolutely anything to avoid humiliation at the hands of his sister or his father. And so we come to the point here where, having read the books, I won't speculate any further. The torched corpses of the boys at the end made quite a graphic statement and hearing Luwin cry out in anguish was painful to hear. Theon, as Rodrik said, is truly lost.

Daenerys and Jorah had some fine scenes in this episode too; before witnessing a freakin' freaky Warlock coup and Xaro actually making a big, murderous play to become the King of Qarth. More than any episode before, even when she was lost in the desert, reality really set in on Dany. She basically had to come to terms with the fact that the dragons were . With Irri dead, and Doreah missing, Dany was forced to admit that, well, she was s***. She even had a hard time, still, trusting in Jorah; whose motivations are still tainted in her eyes. Maybe now that she's witnessed how rotten Xaro is, she'll finally learn to trust Jorah fully. Even though that "Quaith of the Shadow" woman called Jorah out for betraying Dany. From behind that mask of...nativity chocolates? I dunno, whatever it is, it doesn't look comfortable.

- HBO

And finally...Arya and Tywin. What a remarkable pairing. And even though it like the honeymoon might be over for them (considering that Arya now feels a bit bolder around him) I still relish every moment. Whether Arya's menacingly holding a knife behind his back while he speechifies about "legacy" or they're talking about Harrenhal history and Visenya Targaryen riding her dragon. "Most girls are idiots," Arya tells Tywin, explaining her passion for strong, fiery heroines. And you can just see how much Tywin wishes that she were perhaps even a part of his family. The scenes between these two will definitely be one of the things I remember most about this season.


Source : http://tv.ign.com/articles/122/1224470p1.html