Definitive season 2 recap part 1

Now that the sun has set on season 2 of Game of Thrones, I wanted to go thru and thoroughly recap each character and storyline.

Stannis:

What we expected

Stannis spends a fair amount of ACOK building an army and telling the realm about his rightful claim. All of which builds up to the Battle of Blackwater. He enlists Melisandre in some nefarious deeds and Ser Davos in some more honorable deeds, and in the end is defeated and retreats back to where he begins, Dragonstone. The only POV in the presence of Stannis is Ser Davos, which leads to a limited view of all that Stannis does.

What we got

We met Stannis at the very beginning of the season and he immediately rose to the top of interesting characters. We also get to see a lot more behind the scenes with Stannis since we are not limited by POV characters. We see him having sex with Melidandre, and later admitting to murdering his brother to Melisandre. This may have caught readers by surprise since Stannis repeatedly denies any involvement in Renly’s death in ACOK. Overall, Stannis is very true to his form in the books. To quote Donal Noye, “Stannis is pure iron, black and hard and strong, yes, but brittle, the way iron gets. He’ll break before he bends.”

Melisandre:

What we expected

Melisandre is portrayed as a strong and independent foreigner to Westeros. She brings her religion from the East, but her followers are incredibly loyal. She is also described as extremely beautiful and radiates warmth. She births two shadows that go on to commit very high-profile murders, one such birth we are on hand to see via Ser Davos’ POV.

What we got

For the most part Melisandre’s role was as expected. I think universally people didn’t find the actress as visually appealing as raiders might have expected, and some might have been surprised by her seduction of Stannis (“I WILL GIVE YOU A SON”), but on balance, she is what we would have expected.

Davos:

What we expected

Davos is a really interesting character in the books. He’s a new POV to readers in ACOK, and I think for the most part he is immediately likable. He comes from nothing, has high amounts of honor and loyalty, and in a sense can fill the void left by Ned. He comes across a lot of inner conflict and difficult decisions that challenge his loyalty to king and family. Stannis mentions often that his onion knight always speaks honestly, sometimes to a fault.

What we got

I think both the story line and actor portraying Ser Davos nailed the role. Davos devotion to both his king and his sons comes across very clear. Everything that he does is for both his King and Family. Perhaps those should be the words of house Seaworth. I haven’t come across any real criticism of how the show or actor depicted Ser Davos, and I don’t expect to.

Beyond the Wall

Jon:

What we expected

Jon has one of the more interesting story lines in ACOK. While many people consider the book to be mostly setup for things to happen in ASOS, the Jon story line advances quite a bit. Jon continues to learn from the Lord Commander as his steward, then is given a chance at his first real ranging beyond the wall with the Halfhand, then develops his relationship with Ygritte, and furthermore, the rest of the wildlings.

What we got

By and large, most of the expectations were met, but there was a lot of “creative license” used in Jon’s story line. It began early in the season with the time spent at Craster’s keep. The show spent multiple episodes there, and added in a conflict between Jon and Craster that left many book readers scratching their heads. We are constantly hearing that not everything can be included in the books, so when new scenes and story lines are ADDED, we really hope they bring value to the table. I’m not sold that the Craster vs. Jon developments really added much. Then there are theevents from the ranging with the Halfhand. Pretty much everything was going according to plan until Ygritte escapes instead of Jon letting her go. Then he is captured, and discovers the Halfhand is as well. I don’t know if it is clear to viewers exactly what the Halfhand was asking of Jon, but maybe they didn’t want to be too blunt. Things end on a note similar to ACOK, with Jon and Ygritte developing a flirty relationship, with an unknown destination.

Sam

What we expected

Sam isn’t yet a POV character in ACOK, so we only spend time with him in the presence of Jon. That said, we expect much of what we got in season 1, where Sam waddles around and adds bits of comic relief. The one important event is his introduction to Gilly.

What we got

The show spends more time with Sam than one might have expected, but it seems to make sense as much of it is developing his relationship and/or fascination with Gilly. Their first scene together where Sam introduces her to Jon is close enough to the book version, and the fact that he constantly mentions her to Dolorous Edd and Grenn helps the viewers to understand just how much he has a crush on her. I should make a special note here that the final scene of the season leaves viewers wondering about the fate of Sam. An army of White Walkers and wights are marching directly in Sam’s path, and there is no clear indication as to whether or not Sam will survive.

Winterfell

Theon:

What we expected

Oh Theon. The character people love to hate. Robb’s best friend who returns to Winterfell to capture it in the name of his father. When the shit hits the fan, Theon turns to the unlikely prisoner Reek for some help and things go terribly wrong. That is of course, all after hunting down the escaped Bran and Rickon, and tarring the miller’s boys in their place.

What we got

The show really expanded on the inner conflict within Theon Greyjoy. While he is known throughout the realm as a turn cloak and any northman would be honored to be the one to slit his throat, the show attempts to make the viewer feel bad for Theon. Theon arrives in the Iron Islands fully expecting his father to accept Robb’s terms and fight beside the Starks. The rejection that Theon receives wounds him deeply and the scene where Theon writes a letter to Robb warning him, but then burns it before sending truly shows the emotional turmoil that Theon faces. While there is no Reek in season 2, most of the events involving him still take place via substitute characters, mostly Dagmar Cleftjaw.

Bran/Rickon:

What we expected

Bran and Rickon go thru quite an adventure in ACOK. Theon captures Winterfell, they escape, hide in the crypts, and then escape again just in time to hear Maester Luwin’s last words. And at the end of the book, Bran and Rickon split up along with Hodor, Osha, the Reeds and head off on their respective paths.

What we got

For the most part the show stayed true to the story lines of Bran and Rickon. Rickon smashed walnuts, and Bran got to be in charge for a couple of episodes. In the end, their journey was similar to the book even if the circumstances around them were different.

That’s is for part 1 of this series. You can continue reading part 2 where we cover Robb, Cat, Jaime, Brienne, Littlefinger, Daenarys, and Tyrion

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