Kevin Also Blogs: Game of Thrones Memory Lane 401: Two Swords

Arya and Hound

We’re down to 20 days on our season 6 countdown clock! There’s now less than three weeks to go until the premiere of the new season. Fittingly, today we turn our attention to a beloved season premiere, “Two Swords,” written and directed by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. Here to walk us down Memory Lane is a guest contributor, WotW regular Morgan! – Sue the Fury

Season premieres are always tricky episodes to get right. You have to have a good balance of reminders of how the last season of Game of Thrones ended, while tying in plot points for the new one. “Two Swords,” the fourth season premiere, with iconic scenes such as Oberyn’s introduction and the final fight at the Inn, garnered a huge response from viewers. Fans loved moments such as Jaime waving with his golden hand, Olenna tossing jewelry like it was trash, and the newfound camaraderie between the unlikely pair of Arya and the Hound.

The Hound and his chickens were by far the most memorable part of the entire episode; you couldn’t go anywhere on the internet the week after it aired without seeing it mentioned. It became the inspiration for many great gifs, memes and fan art. The ability of this show to foster creativity among its fans is one of the best aspects of it, and this episode was a perfect example of what it can do.

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“Two Swords” begins with a very symbolic cold open, from which the episode gets its name. Tywin has tasked a blacksmith with melting down the ancestral sword of House Stark, Ice, and forging two new blades. Considering what happened last season, this scene represents how the Lannisters have defeated the Starks and move forward with their reign over Westeros. Tywin, being the cold, distant father we all know and love, presents Jaime with one of the new Valyrian swords as a veil for his true desire- Jaime resigning from the Kingsguard and becoming the lord of Casterly Rock. Unsurprisingly, this offer is refused and Tywin continues to be disappointed by his children.

The premiere is a rather eventful one for King’s Landing as most of the episode is spent here, and it provides us with the long-anticipated introduction of a fan-favorite character from the novels.

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The main attraction of King’s Landing for this episode is the introduction of Oberyn Martell. This is a character fans had been looking forward to since the series began and he did not disappoint. We first meet Oberyn with his paramour, Ellaria Sand, a bastard from Dorne. It had long been speculated that he was bisexual; however this was never explicitly been confirmed until now. It’s just one of the many more progressive aspects of Dornish culture in comparison to the rest of Westeros.

Interrupted by the sound of “The Rains of Castemere,” Oberyn encounters two Lannister soldiers. There has long been discourse between the two houses and this scene gives us a taste of it, resulting in Oberyn stabbing a soldier in the wrist. Finally, we have the first of many conversations between Oberyn and Tyrion, and we learn more about what caused the hatred between these two families: the murder of Oberyn’s sister Elia during the sack of King’s Landing. It was a fabulous introduction that gave us a great taste of this new character.

MissDany Next, we move onto Daenerys, who is on the road to her final destination in Slaver’s Bay, the city of Meereen. We’re given a little tease of what’s to come for her this season. Her dragons continue to grow every day and are becoming increasingly unruly. In addition, her conquest of Meereen is not going to be an easy one as she discovers the Great Masters have crucified children along the road as a warning that she is not welcome.

Back in King’s Landing, we’re given a recounting of some events from previous seasons. Sansa is still grieving over the loss of her family at the Red Wedding and gives account of the gruesome fates of her mother and brother.

Meanwhile, Cersei reminds Jaime of all of the things he missed since leaving the city back in season one, while noting that everything has changed. This scene also introduces us to an iconic piece of Jaime’s new look: the golden hand Cersei had made for him. Later, Brienne reminds Jaime of promise to keep the Stark girls safe and questions whether or not Sansa is truly safe in King’s Landing. As the girl prays in the godswood, Sansa encounters a familiar face- the former knight, Dontos Hollard.

jon Back at the Wall, the show makes it a point to remind us that tensions are coming to a head, and there will soon be a clashing between the wildings and the Night’s Watch. Ygritte and Tormund are headed south to position themselves for the coming attack and are joined by another wilding clan, the Thenns, a vicious and unforgiving people. Meanwhile, Jon tries to warn the Night’s Watch of the threat that’s on its way, and that they are nowhere near ready to defend it.

Finally, we catch up with Arya and the Hound who we spend the last portion of the episode with. This whole sequence of events is one of the most memorable things the show has ever done. We get the beginnings of the new strange friendship between this unlikely pair, and a handful of iconic lines. The two come across an inn while traveling through the Riverlands only to discover a character from Arya’s past- Polliver, the man who killed Lommy Greenhands and took her sword Needle.

Arya is overcome with anger, determined to get back her prized sword. Much to the Hound’s disdain, they end up going inside. Tensions rise as the Hound is recognized by Polliver and his gang of Lannister soldiers. All the Hound wanted was to eat some fucking chicken in peace but just Polliver couldn’t leave them alone.

Arya The fight that breaks is marvelously shot and choreographed. The decision to not use a score until the stakes rise and it becomes clear that the Hound may be outnumbered is a great one, as it increases the feeling of unease for the viewers.

However, he is still a better fighter than all of the others in the inn, and is able to overcome his attackers. As the fight is coming to a close, we see the violent side of Arya come to life, something that has been slowly creeping to the surface since last season. She sees her opportunity to get Needle back and avenge her friend, and takes it.

After the fight’s won, Arya and the Hound ride away, chicken in hand.

Overall, this was a fantastic season opener and in my opinion, the best one the show has done to date.

Memorable Lines:

“If he’s so damned important, why did they send you?” – Bronn

“They’re dragons, Khaleesi. They can never be tamed, not even by their mother.” – Jorah

“I don’t pray anymore. It’s the only place I can go where people won’t talk to me” – Sansa

“I grew up in King’s Landing.” – Maester Aemon

“What the fuck’s a Lommy?” – The Hound

“I understand that if any more words come pouring out your cunt mouth, I’m gonna have to eat every fucking chicken in this room.” – The Hound

Introductions:

Oberyn Martell – Going into the season this casting was hotly debated and talked about. Many people were not sure if Pedro Pascal would be right for the role but even after just one episode, he was the man for the job.

Ellaria Sand – Played by Indira Varma, this was very much an introductory season for this character as she would play a bigger role in future seasons.

Daario Naharis – This was actually a reintroduction as Michiel Huisman has taken over the role from Ed Skrein, who appeared as the character in season 3.

Styr and the Thenn clan – A terrifying subgroup of wildings, the writers also decided to make them cannibals, a trait that belonged to the Skagosi in the books.

Deaths: Polliver (played by Andy Kellegher) and random Lannister soldiers, a rather low death count for an episode of Game of Thrones

Arya’s killing of Polliver, from the Beautiful Death series

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Leading up to the season 4 premiere, the Game of Thrones main theme was performed by the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center, with conducting by composer Ramin Djawadi: