Why “The Lion and the Rose” is the best episode of Season 4
For the Best Episode of Season 4 poll, our staff argued for our favorite episodes of the season…
By now, we’ve become accustomed to a certain predictability when it comes to each season of Game of Thrones. The first episode of a new season is usually less intense, a catch-up of where we left off and setting-up of storylines and characters we’ll come to know. The second episode is generally more intense, and from there, the series varies between intensely high stress hours to slower, more story driven ones — all culminating in the final stretch of episodes, the ninth and tenth of which usually give us big showy plot developments, such as Blackwater, the White Walkers, and The Red Wedding.
“The Lion and the Rose,” the second episode of Season 2, balanced the fine line of executing stories that needed to wind together without making them feel like they didn’t fit. As much as we’d like to spend an entire episode in King’s Landing, or with Arya on the road, the show simply doesn’t allow us the time to dive into each character’s story in that way. Thus, Game of Thrones has to diffuse the storytelling in imaginative ways. I really love what it did with this hour, where we continued to get some crucial Season 4 moments (most notably the debut of prominent every character who didn’t get afforded screen time in the premiere — more on that in a moment.) But the episode also found time to focus on one of the most important plotlines of the season: Joffrey’s murder.
As much as we’ve spent three seasons building up how bad Joffrey is, it’s crucial to give a certain amount of screen time to Joffrey and Margaery’s wedding, enough to feel like by the time Joffrey finally bites it, there’s investment, and more investment than just “thank god that horrible character who tortured Sansa two seasons ago is gone.” In A Storm of Swords, the Purple Wedding spans pages and pages, but condensing those pages into less than half an hour is a challenge. D&D do it. And do it well.
In terms of brutality, the Purple Wedding didn’t exactly rival Season 3’s Red Wedding, but it certainly came close–and as Joffrey, Jack Gleeson gave an amazing performance that will no doubt stay with us long after the series has ended. But it’s the way that the moment was executed that causes me to realize why this episode is my favorite. The poisoning comes after at least 20 minutes of tension mounting in every way possible–from the sadistic dwarf treatment in their rendition of the Battle of the Five Kings, to Sansa and Tyrion’s uncomfortableness, to knowing Joffrey’s only going to get so far before he snaps. And that’s just it.
Mixed in with all of this are delightfully wonderful moments with everyone’s favorite golden children, Jaime and Cersei, and throwing Brienne into the fire was a welcome addition to the tension. There was Tywin’s overpowering disapproval that you could feel from a mile away, and Margaery’s cool, ever-confident aura as she masterfully continues her exceptional Westeros public relations run, not even deterred by her husband-to-be’s brutality. (“Look, the pie!”)
And then there’s Jaime and Bronn, with Bronn schooling Jaime while trying to teach him to spar with his one good hand. There’s Ramsay and Theon in an intense scene all of their own, that perhaps was brief, but served to remind us of the monster we’re dealing with. There’s Stannis, and our first significant introduction to his wife. There’s Bran and Hodor, well…”Hodor-ing.” There’s a masterful scene between Lady Olenna and Tywin following the wedding ceremony. There’s so much that this episode offers, and yet it doesn’t feel overly filled, or rushed, or emotionless.
If Game of Thrones is about anything, it’s about knowing how to tell stories. Sometimes D&D succeed, and sometimes, quite frankly, they don’t–it’s the nature of any popular television show dealing with a large bulk of material; sometimes the execution just doesn’t work. But when it does, like “The Lion and the Rose” succeeds? We’re reminded why Martin’s books are such a powerhouse, and their adaptation is as well.
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