New Directions (Game of Thrones 2x10 Valar Morghulis Episode Review)

The Game of Thrones season 2 finale proved why this is the biggest (and strongest) HBO series right now. For 65 minutes, the episode took us to different points of Westeros (and outside) where all of our characters face some new roads they have to take. Aside from all of these, the season finale surprised us with what's to expect for the show's third run next year.

The episode also showed the management of HBO why they deserve a 13 to 15 episode pick up for the next seasons to come. 10 episodes are not enough to tell the vast and complex stories of the people of Westeros. On the season finale, we saw almost all of the characters of the show as they get a few minutes of screen time to show the viewers where they are as of now, and what to expect of them for season 3. 

Let me tell you in a few bullet points what went down in the finale:

• Joffrey's council decided to marry the king to Margaery Tyrell, thus, breaking the wedding engagement of Joffrey with Sansa. 
• Tyrion got a slap in the face even though he's the reason why King's Landing won in the war. He's no longer the Hand of the King (his father replaced him).
• Robb Stark marries his new girl, and therefore breaking the Frey-Stark bond.
• Arya and her friends were able to escape Harrenhal with some saucy goodbye from Jaquen H'gar.
• Daenerys went to the House of Undying and found her dragons. But as Pyat Pree tried to imprison her, the dragons burned the weird bald man. Also, the whole khalasar took down Quarth.
• Jaime and Brienne had some small screen time.
• Jon Snow got the trust of the wildlings when he killed a fellow Crow. Now, he's off to meet the King-Beyond-The-Wall Mance Ryder. 
• Theon Greyjoy failed in overtaking Winterfell as his people decided to leave the castle. But they were able to burn all of Winterfell, and kill all of its people. 
• Bran and his friends decided to go to the North (to meet and get help from Jon) as soon as they saw the burnt-down Winterfell.
• Stannis did not accept his defeat. Melisandre, his red priestess, told our king that he will sit in the Iron Throne and will win all wars as she sees the Lord of Light in him.

The problem I had with the episode is that they underwhelmed some major turning points in the lives of some characters. Also, the melodramatic and useless scenes dragged down the entire episode. Some of which are not important and are useless. They should have reserved that for next season. 

Sansa's 3-second smile was one of the hilights for me. She's one of my favorite characters, and seeing her smile like that is so satisfying. It's like seeing a bright light after being trapped from a very dark room for a long time. However, it was immediately interrupted when Littlefinger informed her on her fate in King's Landing. 

The whole Brienne-Jaime scene was pointless. They wasted a few good minutes with something we won't miss anyway until next season. Yes, Brienne. We know you're a badass mofo.

I am Team Stannis here. He IS the rightful king. I don't believe in Melisandre and I know she has some serious hidden agenda. But I guess the power of suggestion took place when Stannis looked at the fire and saw himself winning all over Westeros. Nevertheless, that scene was well done. I was not expecting to see Stannis again after last week's phenomenal episode.

I honestly don't like how Theon's storyline went this season. Although it had some good lights, you can't help but to get annoyed on how predictable and pointless his arc was.  And the scene wherein his right hand man hit him after his speech was just stupid and funny. It's like watching a failed sitcom wherein the characters are uninteresting.

Now, the whole Daenerys thing. Her storyline is probably the most disappointing for me. It was boring, tiresome, and just plain pathetic. Well, in the books, her story's really not that good either. Everything that happened to her last season was the best of the series, yet in this one, it was all a huge step down. BUT, the climax of her story (burning Pyat Pree, imprisoning Xaro) was quite an improvement. And seeing Drogo once again was another hilight for me. That's probably one of the best moments of the season. Instead of looking at her future, we saw Daenerys looking something from the past - especially of what she lost.  

Let's just be thankful that the whole Quarth arc is over.

The writers of the episode decided to give Peter Dinklage a few extended moments of glory. He showed some of his Emmy-winning talent by touching us with a sweet and melancholic scene between Tyrion and Shae. 

The last scene of the season was a huge shocker. It's not season-1-dragons-coming-out, but it surely gave me chills. The writers put us in a whole new perspective, urging the viewers to believe that there's a much bigger fight happening beyond the Wall. Winter is totally fuckin' coming.

Over all, the season finale episode is not as excellent as last season's. 'Valar Morghulis' was mishandled and not as engaging as the previous episodes of Game of Throne's second run. The writers tried to juggle all of these subplots, thus, it took away the momentum the episode had from   last week's phenomenal and thrilling penultimate episode. However, if you analyze it more clearly, the entire 65 minutes is all about the pivot shift of the lives of the characters, just like what they had from the first season ending. The storylines may have felt short, but the complicated yet interesting lives of these people keeps us from diverging to their deepening character plots.

Nevertheless, Game of Thrones continues to dazzle us with their compelling characters and unexpected arcs which makes us spend and devout our lives to them. The finale did not reach my expectations probably because I was expecting too much from it but nonetheless,  it was a good way to end the season. The characters found a new road to take, and new challenges as well to face.

Season 3 would surely be a huge hit. The 3rd book, A Storm of Swords, is the best of the whole A Song of Ice and Fire series. More action, more drama, more deaths - seriously, more deaths. AH, once again... more deaths. You better start putting down some favorite-character on your list.

Now, the long countdown for season 3 begins.