Episode 25 – Kissed By Fire – Recap

Episode five is in the books and we are halfway through the third season of Game of Thrones. Head after the break to read my thoughts on tonight’s episode!

Spoiler Note: This post is for those who have read A Storm of Swords. As such the post itself and the comments will contain spoilers. If you haven’t read ASoS yet, you can discuss this episode in our non-book reader recap. Thanks!

Episode summary coming later…

What I Liked

The Duel in the Cave – What a way to open an episode! That was easily the best fight scene the show has done since Drogo ripped out Mago’s throat. Just totally badass. And that ending? Awesome. Even though I knew it was coming, I let out an ‘Oh snap!” when Beric came back to life.
The “Duel” in the Cave – Ygritte doesn’t waste time, does she? I know this was a scene many were looking forward to, for various reasons, and I felt that they did a good job with it. Plus we got another ‘You know nothing, Jon Snow!’ Although clearly he knew at least one thing…
Jaime’s Confession – Jaime’s monologue was quite possibly my favorite monologue in a show that has more than its fair share. You could see Brienne’s impression of Jaime change as he told his “side of things” and I imagine this may be a turning point for many new viewers as well. Fantastic bit of writing there by Cogman and stellar acting by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. Jaime’s journey this season is such a powerful arc in the book and, so far, they are nailing it.
Jorah and Barristan – Interesting bit of contrast between Jaime’s confession and Barristan’s remark that you need to always serve your King, whether he is drunk or a lunatic. I wonder what Barristan would have done if he was in Jaime’s shoes? But this whole conversation was fun, with Jorah and Barristan sharing old war stories and talking about days past, as it is something we never got to see in the book. I also liked the way Jorah was fishing for any info Barristan may have had about him.
Shireen – Poor Shireen. What a great job by Kerry Ingram, making Shireen into the sweet little girl from the books. I wonder when they will explain the greyscale for the benefits of the newbies?
Karstark’s Betrayal – This sequence never really resonated with me in the book, despite Robb being one of my favorite characters, but I thought it was really well done here. I especially liked the, what I hope was intentional, contrast of having the execution happen in the rain, to mirror Theon’s botched execution of Ser Rodrik. Of course Robb does the deed with one quick cut.
Lannister Family Meeting – I always love these Lannister family meetings as we know we are going to get some Tyrion quips, some Cersei gloating and some Tywin being Tywin. And I was as shocked as Cersei that she would be marrying Loras! This should be interesting.

What I Didn’t Like

Creepy Selyse – I know Selyse was pretty creepy in the book, but they really turned the dial up to 11 for the show, didn’t they? Fetus jars, really?
Tyrell Marriage Plot Uncovered – I didn’t love the way this all played out. The pacing was off. It happened way too fast. Loras sleeps with one of Littlefinger’s spies, who tells Littlefinger the info in a 2-second scene, and then he immediately appears before Sansa. I think this would have played out better if we were introduced to the spy ahead of time, it would have cut out the need for that one super-short scene. I also think it could have benefited from being spaced out throughout the episode, as opposed to all happening one after the other. The one sequence in the show that fell flat for me. Although the whole thing did end up giving us that pretty amazing scene between the Lannisters.

Overall, another great episode. Some lovely character moments, some action, and some more pieces falling into place. This season is really shaping up to be the best one yet! What did everyone else think? Share your thoughts in the comments and rate the episode in our poll!

• Published on 04/28/2013 at 10:29 PM CDT
• Last updated on 10/21/2016 at 12:02 PM CDT