Telltale’s “The Lost Lords” brings hope to Westeros

Telltale’s first Game of Thrones episode nailed one of the show’s biggest strengths: that no one is safe. Death can strike at any point, based on any mistake or even no mistake at all, and not even being the protagonist is protection against a swift knife. How appropriate, then, that it started at the Red Wedding, the single greatest example of the story’s constant danger.

But that can’t be the entirety of the story. Otherwise it’s just a constant threat of depressing endings, murder after nihilistic murder until everyone you’ve ever cared about is in the grave or not worth caring about anymore. Even in the midst of constant death and destruction, there has to be some room for hope, if for no other reason than that the shocking moments contain more weight if they’re not the lone, predictable trick in the author’s deck.

The Game of Thrones TV show has, to be honest, struggled with this. Its first three seasons climaxed with Lannister victories—the defeat of Ned’s coup and his execution; the crushing defeat of Stannis’ forces, and the wiping out of the Stark hopes at the Red Wedding. The show has relied on Dany as its symbol of hope—ending the tragic third season with the “Mhysa” scene, for example—but even if that works for you, it’s still not everyone. It took another ten months and the Season 4 premiere to give audiences reason to cheer as Arya Stark and The Hound rebelled against Lannister dominance and got some chicken to eat.

Telltale’s Game of Thrones doesn’t need ten months to wait for that, though. It’s just been two since the first episode came out, and the second, “The Lost Lords”, immediately gives cause to smile and feel hope for the embattled Forresters….

“The Lost Lords” opens with the exiled Forrester, Asher, in an abandoned Yunkai inn. He’s immediately dragged into a bar brawl that’s, well, fun. The music and the infectious cockiness from Asher and his sellsword friend more than make up for the conventional issues with Telltale’s quick-time event-based action sequences.

This is quickly followed by the first piece of good news for the Forresters since this story began: The oldest child, Ser Rodrik, thought dead at the Red Wedding, has survived. This leads to some touching moments between family members, the idea that there’s hope yet, and that these people are worth caring about and saving.

And “saving” is what’s going on. This second episode is about the plans to secure Ironrath. Asher Forrester attempts to gain an army of sellswords in Slaver’s Bay. Mira Forrester tries to gain the protection of the crown via Tyrion Lannister. The family members remaining at Ironrath attempt to re-enkindle old alliances with neighbors. Telltale’s games have always felt a little like strategy games with an adventure game framing, and that’s especially true here—and it works quite well.

The only storyline that drags a bit is Gared Tuttle’s on The Wall, where he learns about his new brothers in The Night’s Watch in a remake of Jon Snow’s experience there in the first half of Season 1. It’s not badly done—Kit Harington is well-animated and well-voiced, and getting Jon’s direct reaction to the Red Wedding is a nice little addition to Game of Thrones overall. But the presence of this storyline does make “The Lost Lords” feel over-busy.

Still, given that it’s a second episode, a point in the structure which has given Telltale issues in the past, the story stays quite strong and focused. We know what’s going on with the Forresters and why they’re doing what they’re doing. There isn’t a shocking moment like there was in the first game, but there is solid forward momentum.

Telltale also does a few more little things that make “The Lost Lords” work well. First, it increases the roles of the women in the story. Although the fifth playable character, Rodrik Forrester, is male and that leads to a 4-1 gender ratio there, the side characters who are just as or more important get major roles. Both Lady Forrester and Talia Forrester are given more depth and some great moments. Two new characters are introduced, each representing different poles of women’s power in Westeros. There’s Elaena Glenmore, beautiful, self-assured, kind, and willing to use her power as a marriage pawn to secure her family’s future while working for the best moral outcome. Then there’s the scarred sellsword Brashka, who feels a little more like a Dragon Age character than a Thrones character, but is still pretty fun to have around.

The game also gains strength from illustrating the mundanity of events that occur off-screen on the TV series. There isn’t a lot of Yunkai, but the idea that there are abandoned inns after Dany’s revolution that sellswords can just walk into and hang out at says some interesting things about the economic collapse in Slaver’s Bay. There’s also a conversation and a choice centered around Mira and Margaery’s handling of the wedding invitations. The graphics of Telltale’s game remain sparse and washed-out, but moments like these still make the world feel lived-in, adding to our understanding of Westeros and Game of Thrones.

“The Lost Lords” also includes the best line in Telltale’s Game of Thrones yet: Tyrion tells Mira as she seeks an alliance that “This will either be very good for both of us, or very bad for you.” On the show, the game of thrones is more about the thrones, but in Telltale’s Game of Thrones, for the major players, it’s about the game. All of these characters and all of the outcomes are eminently expendable and even amusing to the major players that we know so well. Telltale has embraced that in “The Lost Lords”, and it’s all the better for it.

• Published on 02/03/2015 at 4:20 AM CDT
• Last updated on 10/21/2016 at 1:06 PM CDT