While Season 1 of HBO’s Game of Thrones had an underlying mystery - and a seemingly central character in Ned - to carry us through, Season 2 wasn’t going to have that luxury. Starting off with all your characters scattered out across different places was going to pose a challenge, and then adding new locations and characters on top of that was downright risky. Because it was going take a handful episodes, or maybe even more than half the season, before we were able to figure out what the driving story was. Yes, in the books (after the first novel, "A Game of Thrones"), there really is no core story other than the saga itself, but for the sake of TV and the way we consume stories visually, in one hour blocks, we do seek out an anchoring arc. And while Season 2...[ more