Game of Thrones: "The Ghost of Harrenhal" Review

Warning: Full spoilers for the episode follow...

I was very happy to see that "The Ghost of Harrenhal" kicked things off by staying with the Renly storyline, since after last week's big "WTF!" vaginal smoke monster cliffhanger, everyone was going to want immediate answers. And while we didn't fully get answers, we did get a resolution. And another "Holy S***!" supernatural scene involving a Stannis-shaped smoke assassin. Man, and just when it looked like things were going to turn in the Starks favor; with Renly agreeing to join Robb and allow him to be the KINGINNANORTH! when the war was all over and done with. I guess we should have known it was too good to be true.

And now the "War of the Five Kings" is less one king. And Stannis has managed to turn himself into the most formidable force in all of Westeros in one night - with one dastardly, lethal trick. While "The Ghost of Harrenhal" wasn't as totally demented as last week's "Garden of Bones," I felt as though it moved the story forward a great deal, with characters who'd felt a bit stagnant up until this point getting set off in a new direction and adventure. Jon Snow got to escape his steward position and head off with a tough-as-nails master Ranger named Qhorin Halfhand, with the intent of assassinating King-Beyond-the-Wall Mance Rayder, Tyrion turned his thoughts to the protection of King's Landing and visited a pyromancer, and Arya found herself in a position to choose three Harrenhal a-holes to smite.

Watch IGN's On the Throne, recapping "The Ghost of Harrenhal," for a chance to win Night's Watch gear from HBO


While we all expected Ser Loras to grieve for Renly, it may have come as a surprise to some that Brienne had such strong feelings about his death. The show hadn't really set up just how much she loved Renly. All we knew is that her one wish, when she was granted anything she wanted, was to guard him. And while we can't blame her for defending herself when the guards rushed in to attack, it definitely made things worse for her. It also seemed as if she's prone to entering into rage-mode as a defense mechanism (an automatic response to being bullied her whole life?).

And so Brienne flees, much like Loras flees. For different reasons, sure, but both with the same goal of eventually seeking revenge against Stannis. It's interesting to note here that while Stannis realizes that what he did was "unclean," Jon Snow is pretty much now set off to do something very similar; sneak behind enemy lines and assassinate a king in order to scatter his superior army. So, again, this series is able to show us that when you are able to understand a character's motivations, it makes it harder to label them as being a villain. Still, when Davos tells Stannis that there are whispers among his men that he takes silent orders from Melisandre, Stannis realizes that his followers might start looking to her as the true ruler and decides to leave her out of his upcoming siege of King's Landing. So while he was somewhat comfortable using her to his advantage when the deck was stacked against him he sees no reason now that he has superior numbers.

While Jon Snow was back this week, his storyline, involving the Night's Watch arriving at The Fist of the First Men, felt a bit transitional and mostly set up. Daenerys however, if we're hopping from ice to fire, had some big moments in Qarth; meeting a creepy Warlock named Pyat Pree and getting a rather earnest marriage proposal from her host, Xaro. And while some of her time at the lavish, colorful Qarth played out lightly (baby Drogon toasting his own meat with adorable flames) and with touches of comedy (her Dothraki horde wanting to steal), it all led up to a great, awkward scene between her and Jorah.

After Xaro tells her that it's quite obvious that Jorah's in love with her, she starts looking at Jorah differently; hearing different meaning behind his warnings and words. And while I don't doubt Jorah when he tells Dany that she's pretty much a rare ideal ruler, it would be hard not to believe that he also doesn't love her madly. "Make your own way," he tells her. I mean, those seem like wise words, right? She shouldn't hastily enter into pacts with rich folk she's just met. Another big thing to come out of Dany's scenes is that she finally learns that Robert's dead and Westeros is in chaos, which makes her even more anxious to head over there and crack some skulls.

And I'm happy to report that Arya's storyline has now taken a turn for the more satisfying. Don't get me wrong; her journey's been superb this year, but any time we can see awful things actually happen to awful people on this show, it's going to be tremendous. So far this season, the person who's been dishing out all the "eff yeah!" retribution is Tyrion. And he hasn't even killed anyone! Now Arya can take advantage of her nighttime prayer list of "douchebags to kill some day." And while Jaqen H'ghar's offer isn't quite like death's revenge/clean-sweep in the Final Destination movies, the principle is the same. Three souls were spared, so the "Red God" (since they were spared from a fire) is owed three souls. But they don't have to be the same three. Now it's not clear if Jaqen truly believes in this trade (or if this trade is a "real thing") or if he's just making this offer to Arya as a way of thanking her for saving his life. Either way, it was grand to see The Tickler fall to his death.

Also, I love love loved Arya's scene with Tywin. Loved it. What a great pairing. And what a clever way to make Tywin into a more sympathetic character. Because he never even wanted to war with Robb. And you kind of wish he was over in King's Landing scolding or slapping Joffrey himself. Because while Tyrion is clearly the sharpest tool in the King's Landing shed, he's looked down upon because of his stature. And Cersei schemes against him out of resentment. If Tywin were in town, there'd be no arguing his word. And cooler heads would usually prevail. So while it's fun to see Tyrion out on the streets of King's Landing, meeting with Lancel inside his adorable mini-tent, it kind of sucks to learn that the starving people of the city blame him, and not Joffrey, for their misery. Believing that he's the "demon monkey" telling Joffrey what to do. And I think, as a viewer, I'm more angry about their misconception than Tyrion seemed to be. Perhaps it's because he's used to people unjustly blaming him for things whereas dramatic irony allows me to to see how clever and kind he can be. When Bronn tells Tyrion that the entire population thinks he's an uncaring monster, he mostly acts disappointed; taking the news as being somewhat typical of the way people treat him.

"The Ghost of Harrenhal" also offered up a single Theon scene; with the pompous Prince trying to get his Sea Bitch crew to respect him. But within the dialogue lay the seeds of a plan. A plan to bypass Theon's appointed target and head to Torrhen's Square. Later on, Bran allows Ser Rodrik to take 200 men to Torrhen's Square, which was apparently under attack. That, plus Bran's three-eyed crow dream (which causes Osha to "know more than she tells") pretty much sets up Winterfell as Theon's ultimate goal. Again, much like some of the episodes last year, time is getting severely crunched here. Like Tyrion's Season 1 overly-quick trip back from The Eyrie, the time it takes to travel somewhere is getting squeezed. One look at a map of Westeros will tell you that it would take Theon about a month to get to Torrhen's Square. Yet, that would mean that everyone else in the episode also spent a month in their storylines as well. So this kind of condensing is done purely for TV purposes. And it's forgivable since I suppose it's only noticeable to book fans. Matt Fowler is an Editor of IGN TV. You can follow him on Twitter at @MattIGN.

Warning: No BOOK SPOILERS on the comment sections for our Game of Thrones reviews. Please do not post anything that will ruin the series for others. You will be banned. And for everyone else, beware of trolling jerks.

For those who want to talk about the books, with regards to the TV series, why don't you head over to section of IGN's Game of Thrones Wiki Guide focused on the book and TV show differences. Feel free to add to the Wiki while you at it!

• More Television Reviews
• Latest Television News, Reviews, and Videos