Theon seizes control of Winterfell. Jon captures a wildling, named Ygritte. The people of King's Landing begin to turn against King Joffrey. Daenerys looks to buy ships to sail for the Seven... Read allTheon seizes control of Winterfell. Jon captures a wildling, named Ygritte. The people of King's Landing begin to turn against King Joffrey. Daenerys looks to buy ships to sail for the Seven Kingdoms.Theon seizes control of Winterfell. Jon captures a wildling, named Ygritte. The people of King's Landing begin to turn against King Joffrey. Daenerys looks to buy ships to sail for the Seven Kingdoms.
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIt was rumored that Irri's character was murdered because the actress Amrita Acharia could not extend her EU work visa, and thus had to leave the TV series. However, Acharia herself denied the rumor later, stating that her work visa was in order, and that it was a conscious choice by the writers to kill her character off. A deleted scene shows that Doreah (Roxanne McKee) was the one who strangled Irri to death, as part of her betrayal of Danaerys (which, due to the omission, isn't revealed until Valar Morghulis (2012)).
- GoofsIn the opening credits, Jack Gleeson (Joffrey Baratheon) has the sigil of House Stark instead of House Baratheon.
- Quotes
[during the riot]
Joffrey Baratheon: Traitors! I'll have their heads!
Tyrion Lannister: Oh you blind, bloody fool!
Joffrey Baratheon: You can't insult me!
Tyrion Lannister: We've had vicious kings, and we've had idiot kings, but I don't think we've ever been cursed with a vicious idiot for a king!
Joffrey Baratheon: You can't!
Tyrion Lannister: I can, I am!
Joffrey Baratheon: They attacked me!
Tyrion Lannister: The threw a cow pie at you so you decide to kill them all? They're starving, you fool! All because of a war you started!
Joffrey Baratheon: YOU'RE TALKING TO A KING!
[Tyrion slaps Joffrey in the face]
Tyrion Lannister: And now I've struck a king! Did my hand fall from my wrist? Where is the Stark girl?
Joffrey Baratheon: Let them have her!
Tyrion Lannister: If she dies, you'll never get your Uncle Jaime back! You owe him quite a bit, you know!
- ConnectionsFeatured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Game of Thrones Deaths (2015)
In the Winterfell story part, things start to go down right from the beginning. And that is actually my problem with it: that it happens right at the beginning. I'm convinced that I'm not alone with the opinion that the breathtaking intensity overshadowed the whole subsequent scene – which is a well-written argument between Jon Snow and Qhorin Halfhand that should definitely not be overlooked. I'm being extra harsh on this subject and say that this is really bad editing because the Winterfell scene would've worked palpably better if used as the finale of an episode (either this one or the one before it). And while not as huge, the same applies for the King's Landing riots, however in this case, the next scene features Emilia Clarke even more feisty than usual and will gain your attention right away – even if you can still hear your heart beating as a response to what just happened. But I guess I really can't judge too hard considering the vast amount of things happening, with a lot of them differentiating from the source novel quite a lot. And in this case, I have to say that I enjoyed the version of Benioff and Weiss more than George R. R. Martin's.
Besides those two scenes, which genuinely affected me, I had two other favorite moments in "The Old Gods and the New": the great suspense that comes up when Lord Baelish visits Tywin Lannister at Harrenhal who, as we know, is not aware of having the youngest Stark daughter as his cupbearer, and what happens beyond the Wall after the aforementioned Jon Snow scene. Introducing Rose Leslie as a new guest cast member, we meet the wildling Ygritte who is able to lift up the show's sex appeal (yeah, that fairly diminished with Brienne of Tarth) even though she has like half a dozen layers of clothes on. The first scene with here features one of this episode's logical goofs, but I connived at that as well since what follows is an icy pursuit that is one of the simplest but also most entertaining action sequences in season two thus far. But topping anything else is the bedtime scene with Jon and Ygritte and what I reckon to be the show's loveliest love story initiates. Not on the same level, but still surprisingly adorable to watch was Robb Stark continuing his flirtation with field nurse Talisa (sex appeal still rising). In the meantime, Jaqen H'ghar climbs higher and higher on the ladder of Game of Thrones' most awesome characters and the climactic situation at Qarth reaches a new apex with a shocking crime.
You see? The plot is really fascinating in this one and the small flaws can't ultimately mar the entertainment I had while watching "The Old Gods and the New". Outstanding performances by Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark), Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister), Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen), and newbie Rose Leslie additionally help it to become this season's best episode yet.
- stillworkingfortheknife
- Aug 21, 2013
Details
- Runtime54 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.78 : 1