HBO finally shells out for a big-budget battle with this week's Game of Thrones, and the result is well worth it.
Photo: Jerome Flynn/HBO
This week’s installment of Game of Thrones marked a big change from previous episodes. The books that the show is based on, the epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin, are full of large-scale battles, but until now the show — which plainly struggles to present the rich tapestry of Martin’s world on a TV budget — has avoided showing any such engagements. (In one notably contrived case, Tyrion Lannister was knocked unconscious just as his troops were mustering, and thus missed seeing any of the fighting.)
Season 2 is based on the second book of Martin’s series, A Clash of Kings, which climaxes with an epic battle in which the fleet of Stannis Baratheon, rightful king of Westeros and pitiless war commander, attempts to seize King’s Landing from young psychopath Joffrey, product of an incestuous union between the queen regent Cersei Lannister and her brother Jaime. Joffrey’s troops are badly outnumbered, but the Lannisters have an ace up their sleeve — Joffrey’s clever uncle, the dwarf Tyrion, has been working with the Alchemists’ Guild to equip the city guard with “wildfire,” a combustible, unquenchable oil that burns with a hellish green light. And because the dragons of Daenerys Targaryen are strengthening the power of magic in the world, the pyromancers have been able to produce greater quantities of the substance than anyone imagines.
Each week on Wired.com, we break down the new episode in comparison to the books and try to gauge whether the changes constitute wise adaptation or pointless tampering. The first thing to say about this week’s episode, “Blackwater,” is that it was written by Martin himself. There’s no guarantee that the original creator of a story won’t fiddle with it to its detriment (just look at George Lucas), but in this case Martin does an exemplary job of adapting his tale to the screen, in a way that we hope will serve as a model for future episodes.
Like Tyrion’s wildfire, “Blackwater” blows the competition out of the water.
(Spoiler alert: Plot details follow.)
The second thing to say about “Blackwater” is that, unlike every other episode in the show so far, it focuses entirely on one event — the Battle of the Blackwater — rather than jumping around all over the world. Much of the episode consists of (well-staged) battle footage. The changes from the books this week are fairly minor and consistently prudent, so there’s nowhere near as much for a book geek to complain about as there usually is. Rather than identify some of the biggest changes, as we usually do, we’ll cover the episode in a more chronological way this week.
The Battle Draws Near
“Blackwater” opens with the fleet of Stannis Baratheon sailing into Blackwater Bay, and we get a bit of dialog between Davos and his son to remind us what’s going on here, in case the byzantine back-story has become overwhelming. To wit, Davos has risen from his humble origins as a lowly smuggler and now serves as the most trusted adviser to Stannis, and will serve as his Hand should Stannis seize the throne.
Davos’ son is certain of victory, being a fanatical follower of Stannis’ foreign god — R’hllor, the Lord of Light — but Davos is less confident, having encouraged Stannis to leave the sorceress Melisandre ofAsshai back on Dragonstone, both because Davos doesn’t like or trust her, and out of fear that if she comes along, people will say it was she rather than Stannis who carried the day. (One minor change is that in the books, Davos has several sons serving in Stannis’ fleet, whereas in the show we’ve only seen one.)
There’s a palpable sense of dread in King’s Landing as its inhabitants brace for the siege. One problem with the show up until now is that, in its attempt to squeeze as many characters as possible into every episode (generating what feels like a lot of filler material in the process), it often pares down key moments to the bone, making them feel like CliffsNotes versions rather than fully fleshed-out scenes. (One example I’ve cited is the scene from “The Old Gods and the New” in which Joffrey’s party is attacked by a starving mob.)
“Blackwater” really indulges in a slow build, though, and is much better for it. Tyrion tells his lover Shae that she need not share his fate if the city should fall, but she pledges to stay by his side. Tensions also run high among the Lannister men, as the captain of the city watch, Bronn, tries to keep morale high, only to provoke the ire of Sandor Clegane, aka the Hound, a confrontation that almost leads to a duel, and is broken up only by the arrival of Stannis’ fleet. This scene isn’t in the book, but it effectively captures the fraying nerves of the Lannister men-at-arms. It’s actually a bit of a shame we don’t get to see how a fight between these two top warriors would go down. The Hound would seem to be the obvious favorite, but Bronn often proves surprisingly resourceful.
Later, Varys frets that Stannis is said to have allied himself with dark magic. Tyrion doesn’t believe in such things, but Varys is unsure. He starts to tell the story of how he became a eunuch, but then, oddly, doesn’t. It would take up too much screen time, I guess? Too bad. It’s a weird, spooky story. (In the books we learn that as a boy, Varys was sold to a sorcerer, who mutilated him and burned his genitals on a brazier as an offering to some dark power, an entity which Varys then imagined that he heard and saw. He was drugged at the time, but still he wonders.)
Cersei Lannister (played by Lena Headey) is a mean drunk. A really, really, really mean drunk.
Photo: Jerome Flynn/HBO
The Battle Is Joined
The slow buildup of tension continues as Stannis’ ships approach the city, only to discover that Tyrion has deployed but a single vessel against them. Davos quickly realizes it’s a trap and orders his men to steer clear, but it’s too late. The Lannister vessel is a ghost ship leaking wildfire, which Bronn sets alight with a skillfully aimed, and powerfully cinematic, fire arrow. Minor tweaks here: In the books there are more ships, more arrows, etc.
This shot of wildfire in the bay was perhaps the best the show has ever done at capturing the sort of epic visuals I imagined while reading the novels.
Another small change is that in the books, the battle takes place during the day. It’s understandable why you might want to change that to nighttime for television, though, as the spectral green flames that quickly consume Stannis’ fleet look spectacular against the night sky. This shot of wildfire in the bay was perhaps the best the show has ever done at capturing the sort of epic visuals I imagined while reading and rereading the novels. (In the books, Tyrion also orders that a massive chain be built across the harbor mouth, which is then raised behind Stannis’ fleet, trapping them. It’s a cool idea and would have been nice to see, but the scene plays out just fine without it.)
The scenes in Maegor’s holdfast, where Cersei is sequestered along with Sansa and other noblewomen, follow the books more closely than any other part of this episode: The dialog here is largely word-for-word from A Clash of Kings. Cersei’s characterization has seemed a bit wobbly this season, with her often coming across as uncharacteristically nice or vulnerable. No fear of that here, as she proceeds to get drunk and verbally torment Sansa in hilarious fashion. (One change is that Cersei grows suspicious of Shae — just how did a girl from Lorath end up working in the Red Keep? In the books, Shae isn’t a foreigner, so this wouldn’t come up.)
The Defenders Prevail
The rest of the battle plays out much as it does in the books. Cersei recalls Joffrey from the walls, leading to a loss of morale among the city’s defenders. The Hound, who’s harbored a fear of fire ever since his face was burned, loses his nerve and deserts, forcing Tyrion to rally the troops himself.
The Halfman acquits himself admirably, but is betrayed by Ser Mandon Moore, who deals him a blow to the face. In the books, the blow takes off Tyrion’s nose and nearly kills him, but there was never much doubt that they’d tone this down for the show, given what a major character Tyrion is and what a pain it would be to try to make him appear noseless in every subsequent scene. In the show he just receives a gash across the cheek. (The kingsguard has fallen to a sorry state indeed when one of its knights can’t do more damage than that to a winded dwarf that he takes by surprise.)
One group that'll be pleased by this week's episode: fans of Peter Dinklage's nose.
Photo: Jerome Flynn/HBO
But even Tyrion’s heroic efforts wouldn’t be enough to save the city if it weren’t for the arrival of reinforcements. In the book, Loras Tyrell’s brother Garlan dons Renly’s green armor and leads the remnants of Renly’s host against Stannis. When Stannis’ troops, many of whom had favored Renly, get the idea that Renly is still alive, they switch sides, dooming Stannis. (On screen, it’s Loras who’s wearing Renly’s armor rather than Garlan, who doesn’t appear in the show.)
In A Clash of Kings, the fact that Garlan shows up wearing Renly’s armor possesses an added level of cleverness. Melisandre had seen a vision in the flames of Renly in his green armor leading his troops to victory against Stannis beneath the walls of King’s Landing, so Stannis and the priestess had conspired to murder Renly to prevent this vision from coming true. In the tradition of Greek tragedy, it came true anyway.
This episode also features a scene from the books in which the Hound offers to take Sansa away with him as he flees the city. Perhaps more than any other character, the Hound has been shortchanged in HBO’s adaptation. In the books, the imposing character is a fascinating mix of anger and sadness, whereas the television version is a less-compelling mix of sadness and boredom. In the books, when Sansa refuses to come away with him, he holds a knife at her throat and forces her to sing him a song. (The idea that she’s a mindless “songbird” has been a constant taunt of his.) He doesn’t do that in the show — which is just as well, because at this point it would make no sense — but that just underscores how much of the character has been lost in translation. Nevertheless, this scene does capture the odd dynamic between Sansa and Sandor better than any other TV scene so far, so it was nice to see for that reason.
Aftermath
The episode’s climactic scene, in which Cersei sits on the Iron Throne with plans to poison her son Tommen if the city falls, isn’t in the books, but it’s consistent with her plans — expressed in an earlier scene with Ilyn Payne — to off herself rather than fall into the hands of Stannis.
“Blackwater” is exactly what I want from Game of Thrones — high drama, epic scale and smart, ruthless characters.
There’s a scene in the books, but not in the show, in which Ser Dontos Hollard joyfully announces to Sansa that the siege is lifted. In “Blackwater,” we catch a glimpse of Dontos juggling, but that’s about it. It seems a bit strange that Dontos was introduced at the beginning of Season 2 and has barely been seen since. With any luck, he’ll start playing a larger role soon.
“Blackwater” is exactly what I want from Game of Thrones — high drama, epic scale and smart, ruthless characters. HBO reportedly broke the bank on the battle scenes, and it shows, but not every episode needs to cost a fortune. What makes “Blackwater” stand out is the quality of the writing, which isn’t surprising considering that the script is by George R. R. Martin. What is a bit surprising is how much the script actually diverges from the book — Bronn versus the Hound, Cersei poisoning Tommen, etc. So it’s not like you can’t make changes to the story; the changes just need to be consistent with the characters and serve a clear dramatic purpose. You also must treat the integrity of the fictional world with total seriousness, which this episode definitely does.
It’s maybe not completely fair to compare “Blackwater” to other Game of Thrones episodes, since it only deals with one location, making it much easier to present a clear story arc. But that just strengthens the argument that future episodes should focus more screen time on allowing key events to play out in sustained dramatic fashion, and less time creating busywork filler scenes just to give all the actors something to do.
