Westeros Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 Last week, we received the first four episodes of season 3 of Game of Thrones to review, courtesy of HBO. While our individual episode reviews and coverage will be held until the corresponding episodes air, it has become something of a tradition to share our general impressions of those early episodes. We did it for the first season, and we did it for the second season, so it seemed only right to do it again. The process of discussing even vague impressions will probably reveal some semi-spoilers, so reading on isn’t going to be a good idea if you prefer to stay unspoiled! But lets just give a general summing up first, and get into the nitty gritty after: these four episodes are on the whole quite good; not perfect, but they may well be the strongest first four episodes as a whole for the series to date (certainly, they’re stronger as a unit than last season’s first four, though none of them are as good as “What is Dead May Never Die”). Some of our biggest fears going into this season seem, so far, to be unfounded. But there are some issues, such as the fact that a number of the anticipated new characters are rather underwhelming when they finally hit the screen and that there are one or two (largely invented) storylines that don’t really feel like they’re gelling for us. Still, each subsequent episode goes from strength to strength, each one better than the last. So why do we feel cautiously optimistic? We recall that last season, too, the third and fourth episodes impressed us the most and left us pretty excited about what was to come… and then the cracks started to show and real problems developed that led to some major disappointments. Four episodes in a show like this is not enough to really gauge how the rest of the season will be, especially in terms of how well they’ll translate what’s in the novels to the screen. Want to read the rest? Read it here! Visit the Site! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickTargaryen Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 Reading now, thanks for the write-up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Brandon Ice Eyes Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 Thank you for the writing! No thoughts about Iwan Rheon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaime Stark Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 Thank you for the writing! No thoughts about Iwan Rheon?They probably not allowed to talk about Iwan Rheon. They have been pretty secrective about that plot line.I think episode 4 sounds amazing and the "goosbumps" maybe something to do with the ending of a daenerys chapter maybe..?Can't wait for the new series, sounds better than the last already! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Brandon Ice Eyes Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 They probably not allowed to talk about Iwan Rheon. They have been pretty secrective about that plot line.Yeah, I guess you're right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickTargaryen Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 For anyone curious, the endings for the episodes are as follows:(I assume I'm allowed to post this as long as it's under the Spoiler tag, if not Mods please delete!)ep01 - The reveal of Barristan. Saves Dany from assassination.ep02 - don't know yetep03 - Jaime losing his handep04 - Dracarys! (every review so far has said this ending is beyond incredible. I get chills just thinking about it. I can't wait!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveSumm Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 No mention of the Reeds, I'm scared they are amongst the underwhelming newcomers. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickTargaryen Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 No mention of the Reeds, I'm scared they are amongst the underwhelming newcomers. :(Actually, the reviews I've read that mention them have nothing but good to say about them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waaimasjien Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 I am considering waiting another week before I start watching so I can watch two episodes back-to-back. Might be less of a slow start then. I loved my rewatch of season 2, everything felt so much more coherent being able to watch the next episode as soon as the previous one is over... and it's much easier to forgive the series the odd 'not that good'-episode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebevan91 Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 I am considering waiting another week before I start watching so I can watch two episodes back-to-back. Might be less of a slow start then. I loved my rewatch of season 2, everything felt so much more coherent being able to watch the next episode as soon as the previous one is over... and it's much easier to forgive the series the odd 'not that good'-episode.I'll just watch the previous week's episode before watching the new episode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ran Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 The Reeds are fine. I mean, there's nothing wrong with them. But they haven't really done anything...I don't think it's easy to really convey how hard it is to really say anything really useful about characters who have, maybe, 4-5 minutes of screen time in four episodes. They will probably have more to do in later episodes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WinterKing Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 Who was the character that most changed from the books? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zman1863 Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 I wasn't thrilled with the adaptation of the Daenerys story last season either, but I thought it was understandable since scenes heavy with prophecy often don't translate well and might cause problems later down the road. I would expect her SOS storyline to be better put together since she has a more conventional narrative story in that book than she did in ACOK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Brandon Ice Eyes Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 Actually, the reviews I've read that mention them have nothing but good to say about them.That's great! I like them and I expect the series to cover Bran storyline more closely this season. There's a lot of exposition in his chapters and I think it's useful for non-readers viewers to get to know some of Lyanna's story. Also the legends of the Night King and the Nightfort which are all fascinating. And of course the main narrative: the three-eyed-crow, his warg abilities, the wolves dreams, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinkie Baelish Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 The Reeds are fine. I mean, there's nothing wrong with them. But they haven't really done anything...I don't think it's easy to really convey how hard it is to really say anything really useful about characters who have, maybe, 4-5 minutes of screen time in four episodes. They will probably have more to do in later episodes.Is Dracarys as awesome as it is in the books? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWhiteRabbit Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 For all the criticisms they had I'm surprised they stated these were the strongest set of first four episodes to date. I'm already bummed about the QOT, Thormund and Mance. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Iron_Captain Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 For all the criticisms they had I'm surprised they stated these were the strongest set of first four episodes to date. I'm already bummed about the QOT, Thormund and Mance. :(Basically every review I have read so far have raved over Hinds and Rigg. I wouldn't worry about. Hinds is a brilliant actor and from the footage I have seen he is going to be fantastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuttz Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 I'm not too worried about Tormund, it seems (from the Wildlings preview) that he's still wary of Jon Snow. Most likely he'll warm to him and we'll get to see some classic Tormund. If not, then I'll be disappointed.QoT still has room to grow as well, so I'm not too worried there. My main worry is Mance. If they leave Mance in episode 6 then that doesn't leave much more time for him to show his other side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bayard Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 Ouch, Ran, now you've made me so concerned about Cat :bawl: these character alterations are the thing that annoys me the most in the show, a lot more then changing events.I am also a little disappointed that my expectations about the wildlings are probably correct. They chose the easy way out, to make them seem only tough. At least that's what I get from your review. To me it was clear that from the trailers that the singing, mellow, easygoing book Mance was gone. Sure, he always had a lot more under that exterior, but that's what made him fun, right?? The same with Tormund.I understand that these episodes are better than season 2, but does that say that much??? I'm really not that encouraged that the endings in 3 and 4 are great... D&D and HBO have put a lot in the dragons, that's what non-readers want. Oh well, I have to wait and see for myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franko99 Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 Basically every review I have read so far have raved over Hinds and Rigg. I wouldn't worry about. Hinds is a brilliant actor and from the footage I have seen he is going to be fantastic.^^This is the first review I've read that has complain about Hinds ind Rigg, pretty much every other critics says they are among the best so far.Not sure what to think about Tormund, apparently he's quite different from the book, all seriousness and no member jokes :crying: . But maybe he'll warm up with jon later, in the trailer it says "I like you boy" before threaten his life lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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