A few words on "The Lion and the Rose"

****SPOILERS FOR GAME OF THRONES ARE FOUND BELOW****



So, last night was episode two of Game of Thrones titled "The Lion and the Rose". The episode was George R.R. Martin's one episode a season that he writes, and it was quite an episode. Like last seasons episode with the Red Wedding, this one also had a wedding that is popularly known described by a color. In this case it's the "Purple Wedding", due to the color King Joffrey's face turned as he choked to death due to poisoning*.

Yes, the highlight of the episode was yet another event that reader's of the books have been waiting for. As just like Ned Stark's unfortunate end, the Battle of Blackwater, and the Red Wedding, they don't disappoint. The feast was opulent, Mace Tyrell was appropriately useless, and Joffrey's dickishness reached another level.

From his destruction of the priceless relic using the sword forged from Ice**, to that terrible sketch meant to humiliate Tyrion and Sansa, to his embarrassing abuse of his uncle, he was on his game. Jack Gleeson deserves a lot of credit for taking a character so vile and making him come alive. In fact, it's too bad that we won't have Joffrey to kick around anymore.

And his death scene? Yeah, it was painful to watch. Sure, it started out as a moment of almost anticipatory glee, seeing the end of this truly awful person. But then it continues on, keeping the focus on the face of Joffrey as he writhes around trying to catch his breath. At this point, any catharsis I got from his death was placed aside by a feeling that maybe taking joy in the death of another person, even a fictional one whose death is almost certainly a good thing despite the chaos it will cause, is probably not the most rewarding feeling.

And of course any good feelings about the end of Joffrey's short reign as king were also tempered by the fact that Tyrion is about to get screwed. It is unlikely that Tyrion poisoned Joffrey, but there is plenty of circumstantial evidence out there to make it an open and shut case to Tywin, Cersei, and many others who would like to see The Imp excised from the Lannister family***. The descent from his triumphant moment along the Blackwater has been sharp, and it's not bottoming out for him yet.

As for the rest of the happenings in the episode, they took a back seat to the big event. Theon is now Reek, so broken he seems to be trusted to shave his master Ramsey even as he finds out his former friend Robb is dead, killed in part by the treachery of Ramsey's father. The Boltons are as awful as ever. Bran and his gang are back, and they're apparently making a heavy metal video if Bran's vision is to be believed. Bronn is helping Jaime learn to fight one handed****, and Sansa appears to be on her way to escaping. Stannis is getting restless on his island, and he's starting to have disagreements with both his wife and Melisandre. Oh, and Shae is apparently going across the narrow sea, her heart broken but still alive.

There's a lot left to happen this year, so I'm glad they kept the Purple Wedding in its place in the chronology, rather than stretching it out. Judging from the previews we'll be getting more of Dany's adventures across the sea, as well as more intrigue and happenings up at the wall. The wildlings are still on the move, perhaps preparing to make a desperate attack against The Wall. And Tyrion is still up shit creek at Kings Landing.

*OK, it's never established he was killed by poisoning in the episode. But it's unlikely they'll change that detail from the book.

**Ned Stark's sword

***I won't spoil the thoughts of who the real conspirators are, because this has yet to be confirmed in the show. I will say that you should pay close attention to the scene with Sansa and Olenna Tyrell.

****This is a show vs. book change that is less because of fitting to the medium than because the actor who plays Ilyn Payne has terminal pancreatic cancer. As such, he couldn't continue the role as written in the book. Fortunately Bronn was there and effectively unused for anything important, so it makes sense for him to step in.