A dark twist of fate sends the whole of Westeros into disarray- our verdict on Season Two's fifth episode of its Sky Atlantic re-run...There's no doubting that Game Of Thrones has been in a desperate need of a narrative shake-up for a couple of weeks now, and thankfully The Ghosts Of Harrnehal was just that. With Renley Baratheon executed within the first half hour, viewers had definitive proof that this halfway-point episode of Season Two meant business, finally putting an end to the slow trawl of non-entity standalone events that seemed irrelevant in the wider storyline.
First and foremost, the developing strand of Arya's character arc looks to be something of paramount importance to how Game Of Thrones as a show will develop. Now that the youngest female member of the Stark clan has the power within her hands to kill two more influential figures in the war for the Iron Throne, it appears that Westeros will never quite be the same again, something that the show's needed to prove in the same manner as Ned Stark's death ever since that penultimate episode of Season One. Maisie Williams did a wonderful job as Arya, bound by the cruel irony of the fate she has been dealt, yet still able to provide a defining influence on the days ahead and undoubtedly now one of the series' most interesting characters.
It was great to see a little more screen time afforded to Danaerys across the ocean, too. The last true Targyerean was a notable omission entirely from last week's instalment, so fans should have welcomed the surprise of her character coming back to the forefront by making the challenging decision to refuse a wedding proposal after consulting with her ambitious aid Ser Jorah. One has to wonder if the naturally developing bond between these two staplemates will progress into something of a more meaningful arc in Season Three, or if as is so often the way with Thrones, the writers will continue to play on expectations in a heartbreaking manner.
As ever, Peter Dinkley's Tyrion Lannister was a fascinating character to see continuing to develop over in King's Landing. Tyrion and his guard Bron came across a plentiful helping of wildfire for the battle of King's Landing ahead that seems set to pit Lannister against Baratheon, yet there was an indication that something even greater would come of use for this deadly weapon, and those of us such as myself who've read the novel A Clash Of Kings will recall that wildfire will indeed serve a greater purpose. The more we see of Dinkley, the more it becomes clear that he seems to have inhabited the role of Thrones' protagonist with ease in spite of the pressure of following Sean Bean!
The Ghosts Of Harrenhal isn't quite a full-on televisual masterpiece, due to characters such as Theon Greyshield stealing screen time in a manner that seems to purposefully rob us of a few more groundbreaking events in the series' lore. Nevertheless, Game Of Thrones: The Ghosts Of Harrenhal is without doubt a fantastic return-to-form for the show, giving me a lot more confidence for the remainder of Sky Atlantic's Season Two re-run and indeed for Season Three and beyond.
4.5/5
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