(This is probably the place to note that if you have not watched the first two seasons of the show, it would be unwise to leap directly into the third—akin, perhaps, to showing up for a graduate seminar in quantum physics on one's first day of college. Be sensible: Start with Season 1 and take pleasure in watching the epic unfold.)

When we left Westeros at the end of Season Two, the land was in upheaval. Winterfell had been burned and the Stark children (Robb, Arya, Bran, Sansa, Rickon, Jon Snow) were scattered across the Seven Kingdoms and beyond. Their enemies, the Lannisters (Tyrion, Cersei, Tywin, the murderous boy-king Joffrey) retained an uneasy hold on King's Landing after rebuffing an attack by Stannis Baratheon, but the Northern rebellion led by Robb remained a looming threat. Farther north still, the White Walkers and their wights were shambling ominously en masse. To the East, Daenerys and her dragons had escaped Qarth intact. And who knows what became of Theon Greyjoy, the Stark betrayer torn between nature and nurture?

That last question will be answered, if somewhat elliptically, early in Season Three, with the belated appearance of a dastardly bastard (bastardly dastard?) who will be all too familiar to readers of the books. Also introduced will be king of the wildlings Mance Rayder (played by the great Ciaran Hinds) and his right hand, Tormund; Catelyn Stark's ineffectual brother and commanding uncle; a pair of new travelling companions for Bran; a handful of noble brigands; and the elder lady of the House Tyrell, played by Dame Diana Rigg, who proves she hasn't lost a step since The Avengers (not that one, this one) and her turn as Greatest Bond Girl of All Time. Did I leave anyone out? Doubtless so, but they'll arrive nonetheless.

Thus far, I would say that the third season appears to be better than the second, though it falls short of the near-perfection of the first (which had the not-to-be-repeated advantages of a principal protagonist and relatively linear plot). That this season looks to be an improvement on the last should come as no surprise, given that the third book of Martin's series is considerably better than its predecessor—indeed, the best of the five written thus far. (In recognition of its quality, Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss will be divvying its contents across two seasons.)

Season 2 also made its share of unforced errors, both in terms of plot (the Qarth storyline, for instance, which was dull in the book, would have been better shrunk than padded) and in terms of casting (Stephen Dillane's Stannis seemed less a warrior than an angry clerk; Carice van Houten's Melisandre lacked mystery and charisma; and, compounding the mediocre subplot, pretty much every character in Qarth was badly off-key). That the season overcame such missteps is a testament to Benioff and Weiss—and, of course, to Martin.