Thoughts on...Season Three

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I was super excited for all of the changes and surprises for this season, since Book 3; A Storm of Swords is my favorite in the series. There was a lot of character development that made me love some of the characters even more and some crazy moments that I could barely look at. I'm sure I even lied to my co-workers to make sure they were surprised for the Red Wedding (but more on that later) because I feel that it is one of the pinnacle moments that defines the series and also ends the first act (which is A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, and A Storm of Swords).

I would say that the theme for this season would be betrayal/deception since it happened to most of the characters. First there was Tyrion, deceived into thinking he would be a hero of the Battle, instead he got pushed aside. Ros betrayed Littlefinger which lead to Sansa having to marry Tyrion instead of Loras. Tyrion discovering his own sister ordering his death on the battlefield was another betrayal despite bad feelings between the two siblings. Arya thought she was being accepted into the Brotherhood without Banners only to learn she was going to be used as a negotiation tool. Jon had to break his vows as a Night's watchmen and then later he broke his allegiance to the Wildings when he found a chance to escape. A small group of Night's Watch members had a coup, which lead to the deaths of Craster and Jeor "The Old Bear" Mormont (The Lord Commander). Ramsay's deception to Theon was a long running arc in this season that ended in further torture and maiming of Theon. One of the best done deceptions was done by Dany, who feigned ignorance of the Valyrian language to the slaveowner until the deal was made and then she had Drogon kill him and burned/sacked Astapor before freeing all slaves. The biggest betrayal would be that after Robb broke his promise to marry a Frey girl to seal up an alliance, Walder works with Tywin and Roose to kill the majority of the Stark men and take control over the Riverlands. Although not explicitly stated in the show, guest right is a sacred tradition that is punished by the Gods (the old and the new), and once you give a guest bread and salt, they are under your protection until you give them a parting gift at the end of the stay. The fallout from all of these things will make Season Four a very interesting one to watch.

Some of my favorite episodes were Valar Dohaeris, Now His Watch Has Ended,  Kissed by Fire, Second Sons and the Rains of Castamere of course.  I felt all of these were done really well and really moved the story forward in different ways. Mance Rayder, Brynden Tully and The Queen of Thorns were some of my favorite new additions to the cast as they brought even more cunning, humor and adventure to this already stacked show. So many crucial things happened that I could not wait to talk to people about it the next day. This is my favorite season of the show so far due to the story and the performances throughout. That being said. the fourth season finishes A Storm of Swords so even more crazy things are sure to happen to close out this game-changing point in the series.

*This is a continuation of my Month of Throne essay series so click here to catch up so you can be prepared for the upcoming season*