‘Game of Thrones’ season 3, episode 2 review: The Theon Greyjoy mystery

Last week, “Game of Thrones” season 3 delivered what was a strong start to the new season, but odds are there were a few characters that you clearly missed. While we did see two of the Stark children this week, we’ll have more on that in a minute. Instead, what we want to cast a little bit more focus on in starting out this review is the weird and wonderful relationship that is building between Jaime and Brienne.

Do these two really like each other? No, but their rapport is still pretty incredible nonetheless. The two parties continued their journey to King’s Landing this week, and in the process Jaime had the opportunity to know more of the knight’s story. However, their little jaunt was interrupted first by what was a pretty epic battle between the two, and then a surprising appearance from House Bolton, quite possibly the last group of people that Jaime wanted to see.

Surprisingly, though, this was not the most shocking storyline of the hour. Let’s take a quick look at the rest of Westeros, in what was ultimately fascinating, but slow-moving hour that did not even contain a second of Dany footage.

Beyond the Wall – There was not too much light shed on Jon this week, with the exception of learning some more of the tools that were at Mance Rayder’s disposal. Perhaps what was more interesting was Samwell’s decision to nearly give up on life, until he was persuaded to do otherwise.

King’s Landing – This week, Margaery Tyrell proved herself to be rather intuitive yet again. She utilized the knowledge of Sansa to determine what sort of man Joffrey really is, which enabled her yet again to figure out how to seduce him even further. For once, we have a woman now who is actually able to influence the King without him even knowing it.

Meanwhile, Sansa will also have an opportunity for freedom coming up via some unusual means: a plot being set up to ensure that she is not forced into the company of Littlefinger for good.

The Stark children – The Reeds have arrived! Not only that, but Bran Stark has some valuable new allies as he starts to hone his new abilities. Plus, we had Hodor say his name … and isn’t that always great.

Arya, meanwhile, was on a collision course of her own. Not only did she meet up with the Brotherhood Without Banners, a group designed to help the little guy, but we also had a return visit from none other than The Hound.

Theon Greyjoy – Let’s finish here with what has to be the episode’s biggest surprise. Theon’s not really featured much at all during the George R.R. Martin book by which this season is based, so the producers / writers are actually going to have to improvise in order to make sure that he has a story to tell. It’s also important to keep him fresher in viewers’ eyes than it was for Martin in his books.

We are intrigued by his torture storyline right now, and we have to give some serious credit to the show’s producers for pulling this off: Theon’s storyline has been completely shrouded in mystery, and he has not even been featured on any promotional material.

What did you think about Sunday night’s “Game of Thrones” episode? Be sure to share some of your thoughts below, and you can also check out some “Game of Thrones” news pertaining to Sansa Stark over at the link here.

Photo: HBO