Photo from HBO.
**SPOILER ALERT** This article contains MASSIVE character death spoilers. Don’t read if you aren’t caught up to season four, episode two, “The Lion and the Rose.”
It happened. Probably the most anticipated character death in modern fiction. While Joffrey’s death should have come as a relief – and for many I’m sure it did – it was too horrific for me. No matter how much I hated him, Joffrey’s swollen, bloody and terrified face was too pathetic to enjoy.
And that’s perfect. Joffrey was sadistic, cruel and insane but he was still just a kid, dying in the arms of his helpless parents. It would’ve been tasteless to present that triumphantly. How they handled it perfectly illustrated of some of George R. R. Martin’s biggest messages: the line between good and bad is impossible to define, death in all circumstances is an ugly business, and tragedy, terror and sorrow can strike any one at any time.
Kudos to Martin for those lessons and kudos to Jack Gleeson for his brilliant portrayal of such a hateful character. We may not miss Joffrey, but I for one will miss Gleeson. Since he intends to retire from acting this may be the last we see of him, at least for a while. I hope he and everyone else leaves this role far behind.
All that aside, this episode had issues. It was very poorly paced. More than half was pointless filler only meant to take up space before the wedding. Some of it revealed character but it was pointless nonetheless. Did we really need to see Ramsay hunting a human girl like she’s a deer? What was the point of the awkward family dinner at Dragonstone?
Bran’s vision at the weirwood was significant, but it was mostly just flashbacks for us. The only new thing was the shadow of a dragon flying over King’s Landing. Interesting, yes, but for the most part Bran’s storyline continues to drag in comparison to everyone else’s.
The poor pacing in this episode marks a disappointing trend in Martin’s one-per-season writing credits. His episodes in seasons one and two – “The Pointy End” and “Blackwater” – were outstanding. But his episode in season three, “The Bear and the Maiden Fair,” had the same problem as this one. It was a lot of nothing leading up to five minutes of bear fighting. Not enough reward to justify the tedium.
What gives, Martin? In a show this jam-packed we can’t waste time with filler. Perhaps he’s too used to having thousands of pages to play with. An hour of screen time is tiny in comparison but must still be a satisfying, self-contained arc. In weekly episode format the filler-filler-filler-WHAM rhythm is tiresome and unfulfilling.
It’s not that the character-driven scenes weren’t entertaining. I’ve been dying for that scene of Tyrion and Jaime hanging out. Oberyn and Ellaria versus Tywin and Cersei was a sass-fest to behold. Loras’ retort to Jaime’s intimidation spiel elicited a verbal “ohhh” from my viewing party. And Cersei’s conversation with Brienne was absolutely juicy. She accused Brienne of being in love with Jaime. Brienne didn’t deny it. Oh.
The only truly relevant scene was the heartbreaking tough love between Tyrion and Shae. The show changed Shae and her relationship with Tyrion wildly. It’s better, sure, but problematic because of a soon-to-come turn of events that wouldn’t make sense with a more heroic Shae. But this scene set that up nicely and successfully reconciled the conflicting characterizations of Shae.
Finally, Roger Ashton-Griffiths made his first appearance as Mace Tyrell. We also saw Dean-Charles Chapman replace Callum Wharry as Prince Tommen. Chapman actually isn’t new to the series – he played Martyn Lannister in season two – but he is older than Wharry. Tommen will have a larger role in this season than before, so aging him up makes sense.
Go ahead and celebrate Joffrey’s death, but don’t get too excited. Cersei is convinced that Tyrion murdered him. Things aren’t looking good for Tyrion. Tune into HBO next week at 9 p.m. for episode three, “Breaker of Chains.” Daenerys and Jon will be back. Here’s hoping their luck is better than Tyrion’s.