Review of “Dark Wings, Dark Words” by Julian Damiani

Fans have greatly anticipated the third season of the critically acclaimed series Game of Thrones, but has this fantasy world been worth the wait? Based on R.R. Martin’s series A Song of Ice and Fire, the story follows competing families across vast landscapes. To simply label the show a fantasy epic, would do a great discredit, as this is simply a dash of artificial flare adding to a grand scheme of dangerous political intrigue, witty humor, and greatly developed characters.

In Daniel Minahan’s “Dark Wings, Dark Words,” the second episode of this new third season, we find the game of thrones we have come to expect. The story begins with a typical dream for Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead Wright), the crippled and on-the-run son of the deceased Lord of the North, Eddard Stark. The dream complete with a three eyed raven, and an odd boy (Jojen Reed). However, the plot digs further, adding mythology behind the dream, and creating a larger context for Bran’s clairvoyant dreaming and connection to animals. Bran’s powers make him a Wog, an individual who can see through the eyes of animals, as well as see the past, present, and future through dreams. Meanwhile, Bran’s brother, and now King of the North Robert Stark (Richard Madden) is facing difficulties with his recent marriage, against an oath taken for marriage with a political and wartime ally. Meanwhile, at the seat of power in King’s Landing, captive Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) warns Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer) of King Joffrey’s monstrosity. This is a strong point of the series, showing the dislikable and evil of figure of the king, which now has the inclusion of a betrothed with the intelligence and conniving power to manipulate him. Margaery heats things up with Joffrey, speaking about hunting, and what it is like to kill something living. The King of course falls into her hands, creating a wonderful moment of feminine power, which we can expect from the series. Natalie Dormer has previously played famous coquette Anne Boleyn in The Tudors, with the witty and intelligent force of a dangerous political figure. My only criticism of the episode is that some shots are not effortless or well constructed, but simply blunt shots, as if followed by a teenager with an iphone. There also seems to be a poor ending for the episode. Even if the ending leaves the audience hanging on a cliff, it does little for continuity of the episode as a whole. Instead of showing a single work of art, it simply cuts the story, seemingly at random, relying on the many open ends to keep the audience coming back. This episode, with the new inclusion of the Wog mythology still maintains a higher sense of realism than previous episodes showing dragons, although the show is very realistic for a fantasy. Regardless of any criticism the show remains a major pinnacle in the golden age of television, and even lacking continuity, the open-ended stories and well drawn characters, danger, and fantasy keep us coming back. If this episode is any indication, the third season was definitely worth the wait.