Daenerys, Dragons, Secret Plots and more are found in this second half of the season…
SPOILER ALERT FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT PLAYED PREVIOUS EPISODES OR ARE CAUGHT UP ON THE HBO SHOW.
We last left things as you met Daenerys Targaryen who wished to know what Asher knew of her missing dragon, Drogo. It was our first glimpse of the “Mother of Dragons” and I was impressed with the level of detail gone into her character, as well as Emilia Clarke reprising her role. Dany is naturally wary of Asher as many before have told the tale that they’ve seen the dragon, but to no avail. Asher proves it in one manner or another depending on how you choose, and Dany tasks you to join the troops to take Meereen and if successful, will reward them with soldiers for Westeros.
Back at Ironrath, the Whitehills have made themselves more than welcome in the Forresters’ halls. Luckily an opportunity presents itself when Rodrik allies with the Glenmores to capture Griff, Lord Ludd Whitehill’s fourthborn son who I chose to defy in the past episode. Lord Whitehill had forced the Glenmore’s father to marry off Elaena to Griff instead of Rodrik, so the two obviously come to the conclusion that getting rid of Griff is the best solution and possibly, a bargaining chip for Rodrik’s captured brother Ryon.
Gared Tuttle is still at Castle Black, but I took my vengeance on the man who murdered his family by kicking him off the Wall. Obviously this is a crime payable by beheading, so Gared makes a run for it with the help of his Wildling friend and meet up with his sister, not before being confronted by the Freefolk and killing them, that is.
Meanwhile, at King’s Landing…Mira attempts to find out who Ludd Whitehill is paying for a large order of Ironwood at the coronation party of Tommen, upon doing so discovers a plot that Ludd is stockpiling it to eradicate the Forresters. Ludd then surprisingly sends out an invitation of “peace” to Rodrik to his Castle, which turns out to be nothing more than an insulting offer of being the Whitehills’ slaves in order to survive.
Obviously, the offer is refused by Rodrik and he plays the trump card of having Griff locked up in his cells, which causes Ludd to arrange a neutral ground to exchange their family members. However, when the Forresters arrive back at Ironrath, it’s eerily quiet…the Glenmore soldiers have vanished and a surprise guest has returned to the Forrester halls, leaving things on yet another cliffhanger…
The length of the episode is around 1-2 hours, but it really is something worth playing through. It has you guessing all the way and never lets up, it hasn’t really shown us the impact of our decisions yet, which I hope will come into play in Episode 5. As the first episode of the second half of the season, Sons of Winter seems to hit all the right notes.
The Verdict
Overall, the episode is the best to date. It doesn’t let up for a second, jumping from each character back and forth does make it seem just like the show, but it’s not as stop-start as past episodes. It has much better pacing, it doesn’t drag and it makes the wait for Episode 5 all the harder.