Episode 28 – Second Sons – Newbie Recap

Oz of Thrones recaps “Second Sons” from the road. That’s dedication right there. Read on to get his thoughts on last night’s episode. And remember book readers, no spoilers!

Spoiler note: The discussion in this post is primarily for non-book readers (book fans can discuss the show here). We ask all the series veterans to refrain from posting spoilers in the comments here, veiled or otherwise. This show is best viewed without knowing all the surprises beforehand, so please be respectful of your fellow fans. Thank you!

Oz of Thrones:  Greetings from the Unsullied Oz of House Oz, where a man and his lady are traveling home after consuming entirely too much ale and will likely be suffering from a week-long hangover.  No whining is allowed however, as my suffering was self imposed (water would have been a viable and more healthy alternative, but how much fun would that be?)  Either way, we are headed back to the real world after hearing some incredible bands and seeing a few epic hall-of-famers.

Getting to view GoT was quite a feat in itself.  You would think that with the modern technology of today, catching the episode would not be a problem.  But internet connection in our locale was shoddy at best, and the 3G network was completely overloaded by 30,000 people trying to text pictures of Stevie Wonder to their friends.  Dammit man!   I did a test run to watch on HBO Go by sitting at the corner of the porch while hanging upside down with one arm in the air like a human antenna.  But to no avail.  So Ozzette and I abandoned Stevie in the middle of his set to catch the late viewing on HBO itself (the owner had taken the cable company up on a free three month offer).  Luck!  The things I will do for this show……

So let’s get down to business.  Keep in mind that when a man is in the comforts of his own home, he has the pleasure of DVR and the ability to pause to take in a particular scenes and to contemplate what may be the names of new characters.  I have no such pleasure as I write this.  Please allow a man to make revisions to mistakes when I return (or feel free to do so in the comments, without spoilers as always).

I am not sure if it is the copious amounts of beer I have consumed, or the different location in which I am viewing, but this episode was nothing like any other episode of GoT I have taken in before.  Lets dig in, and I will elaborate a little at the conclusion.

Arya:  I really like the way this episode started.  Arya is about to smash the head of a Hound (no worries PETA… it is not the type of Hound you vow to protect).  Instead, she changes her mind after some inspiring words from the Hound.  It ends up he has no intention of hurting her or taking her to King’s Landing.  Instead, he plans on taking her to Rob in exchange for some coin.  The Hound has a heart?  Or he just needs the money?  Either way, let’s get Arya to some people who love her.  She deserves a break.

Dany:  The mother of dragons and her boys Selmy and Jorah are seen in cool jedi outfits as they study the protection around Yunkai.  This leads to a meeting with three guys who lead a group referred to as “The Second Sons.”  They were Prehndal (sp?), Daario (sp?), and a pervert whose name I didn’t catch.  I particularly liked when Grey Worm was about to jack up the perv until Dany tells him not to overreact.

Later on, the three have a private meeting to discuss what to do with dragon mother and decide that she will be killed.  Daario draws the wrong straw ( or gets the wrong coin) and is chosen to do the deed.  Dany is seen taking a bath when Missandei gets held up at knife point with a masked assailant who ends up being Daario.  He has chopped the heads off of Prendahl and the Perv to show he and the Second Sons’ loyalty to her and in return gets some full frontal nudity.  Not a bad deal.  Dany seems to have made a hell of an impression on Daario.  You think Jorah is going to be ok with that?

Gendry:  The Baratheon bastard arrives at Dragonstone for a hot date with the Red Woman.  The situation looks as if it just might be some good ol’ fashioned hot sex (graphic nonetheless) when the Red gets into some whips and chains and ties the boy up.  Then, Gendry is left lying there with no apparent gratification, only to be covered with some Westeros leaches that suck his blood and are then burned by Stannis.  Davos is freed by Stannis as long as he agrees to be nice to Red, and oversees the burning of the leaches (and a naked Melisandre, again).  Ozzette and I were quite surprised that nothing worse happened to Gendry.  I am not discounting the pain of having a leach on a penis, but Stannis gave the impression that Gendry would be sacrificed. A man is thankful he was spared, at least for now.

Tyrion and Sansa:  How about a shotgun wedding?  I was not expecting one of the five scheduled weddings to come so quickly, but I guess it makes sense since there are so few episodes left this season.  Joffrey reaffirms himself as a childish prick, while Margaery tries to “sister-up” with Cersei.  And the Queen Regent is having none of it, with Margaery or Loras.  The Loras and Cersei relationship is off to a great start. Lena Headey is an awesome actress by the way.  I can’t stand Cersei, which means she plays her perfectly.

The wedding proceeds and Tyrion proceeds to get aboslutely trashed at the most awkward wedding reception ever.  The scene where he pisses off Joffrey was a classic until Paw Paw steps in to settle both of them down.

I found the interaction between all of the players enjoyable to watch considering how awkward it was.  But watching Tyrion be hammered made me uncomfortable at times.  I kept thinking he was going to piss off Paw Paw or Joffrey and have his head cut off.  And I guess he almost did.  Nevertheless, he is classy as ever as he chooses not to bed Sansa much to her delight and that of Shae.  The scene where Shae checks the sheets and them takes them to be washed was great as well.

Sam and Gilly:  The lonely couple with the baby in tow find a place to settle in for the night, and Gilly has to show Sam the ins and outs of firestarting, again.  The crows begin congregating on the trees outside making one hell of a racket.  Sam goes out to investigate and sees….. Oh hell…… time to be a man, Sam.  And he does, but swords are not much use against the White Walker.  But dragon glass is and Sam stabs him in the back with it, making him disintegrate.  Awesome!!

I guess that now we know why the dragonglass was hidden, and now Sam is an integral part of the story of the war with the White Walkers as he knows what will kill them.  But in his haste to get out of there, did he leave the dragonglass on the ground?  Dammit Sam, go get it!  You will probably need it again!

Episode 308 Personal Awards

Favorite Humorous Scene:  The Queen of Thornes attempting to delineate the family trees at the reception was hilarious.

Favorite Serious Scene:  Tyrion and Joffrey…… this is not over yet.

Best Example of Joffrey Being a sadistic little shit:  His threat to Sansa that he would come bed her and have the King’s guard hold her down for him.

Ow, That Shit Hurts Award:  A leach on a penis?  Ouch.

People That Would Not Be Invited to my Wedding:  All Lannisters.  Tyrion might be an exception, but he would run up the open bar tab quick.

Overall Thoughts:  I enjoyed the episode for the most part, but the pacing has got me confused to the point of discomfort.  We have gone from jumping from story to story every 3-5 minutes at the beginning of the season, to a slightly slower pacing in episodes 6 and 7, to just a few scene changes in episode 8.   This will likely lead to many viewers to say that this episode was slow.  And I would somewhat agree.  On the upside, we were treated to a lot of new awesome sets which I always enjoy.  The show never disappoints in that respect.

Does anyone else find it unlikely that Dany would be lucky enough to have a guy think she is hot enough to chop off the heads of his masters and inherit 2,000 more men?  Just a thought.

So, it’s GoT late spring break/ memorial day off week.  That means that Looking Forward Ep. 29 will be posted a week from Friday instead of this Friday.  I would like to submit something toward the end of this week if the great readers at WiC are in the mood.  Any suggestions?  Is there something that the Unsullied would like to discuss during our off time?  Would you guys and gals be interested in an Off Topic Hangout Music Fest Review if WinterPhil approves?  Let me know…. shoot me some comments.  But NO SPOILERS!!  If it is from the books, DON’T MENTION IT HERE!

Until we meet again, enjoy the torture of knowing it will be two weeks until we get a new epsiode (ugh), and may there be peace in your realm.  -Oz

• Published on 05/20/2013 at 11:49 AM CDT
• Last updated on 10/21/2016 at 12:02 PM CDT