‘Game of Thrones’ season 3, episode 3 review: Jaime lends a helping hand

Last week on “Game of Thrones,” we were teed up to see a number of things: major movement forward for Dany, some surprises for Jaime and Brienne, and potentially even the continuation of that mysterious plot featuring Theon from last week. While the two episodes preceding this one were a little bit slow, they were still strong and also necessary in order to get to what was the most important hour of the season Sunday night.

Suffice it to say, “Walk of Punishment” did not disappoint. There were some stunning moments, and we don’t want to bury the lead here. Who sees Jaime losing his hand coming? This one move, done after he tried to weasel his way into a deal with his captors from House Bolton, pretty much changes the physical capabilities of the Kingslayer forever. The only thing that he really did accomplish during this episode was managing to keep Brienne safe from some pretty unspeakable things.

Now, let’s take a quick look at the rest of the world.

Dany – In what was a rather stunning move, the Mother was willing to give up a dragon in return for her army. This is a bold move, no? We may question it, but at the end of the day this came down to logic. She does not have the time nor the resources to wait until her dragons are fully grown to battle; she needs an army, and while she may morally disagree with slaves, this one will have to suffice. Let’s just hope she does not need to battle a dragon someday that is not one of hers.

Robb – Finally, we see Riverrun! The only sad news here is that, save for a lecture about just how much faith men should have with him, not much happened. Catelyn was reunited with the Blackfish, and he merely instructed her to keep the faith.

Stannis – Melisandre has left the deflated Baratheon for a time, and thankfully, we did not waste much time at all on this boring plot.

Arya – The youngest Stark girl also had a departure this week, as Hotpie chose to live up to his name and become a baker rather than continue to put his life at risk.

Beyond the Wall – While Samwell was busy having a gander at a woman giving birth, Jon Snow was separated for a time from Mance Rayder. War is brewing up north, and one mistake is going to equal his head one way or another.

King’s Landing – There was no Joffrey, Margaery, or Sansa this week. Instead, what we really had was Tyrion being appointed to manage finances, and then hiring a bunch of women of the night for Pod to have his way with. Somehow, he didn’t end up having to give the ladies any money, and we spent a good five or so minutes with this. Certainly a strange story, and as much as we love Peter Dinklage, the story was not one we’re sure that we needed right now.

Theon – Thus far, the member of House Greyjoy has been tortured, freed, and nearly killed in just two episodes. Now, we seem to be in the right direction again. We’ll see how long that lasts.

This episode was a little bit of a mixed bag. While the positive here was that there was a huge move forward with the Jaime storyline, we’re not sure just how much really happened in some of the other stories for now. This is one of those situations where we really could have used even more content, since we’re now just anxiously sitting around and waiting for more.

Overall, what was your take on this “Game of Thrones” episode? Be sure to share some of your thoughts below, and you can look at some video highlights from season 3 over at the link here.

Photo: HBO