With the fourth season over half way done I thought I should finally get the review of season three out of the way. As always there are spoilers but its been ages since this has aired so I assume everyone has watched it by now.
This season takes place almost immediately after the events of season two; Stannis has been defeated, the Stark house is in ruins and the Lannisters are more powerful than ever before thanks to the union between their house and the Tyrells, the only other house that could have matched them.
In King's Landing Tyrion Lannister has lost his position as Hand of the King to his father and most of the other power had despite leading the garrison against the enemy, Joffrey Baratheon is to wed Margaery Tyrell and there are many on both sides who agree and disagree with this.
In the Riverlands Robb Stark has broken his marriage contract with the Freys and his army falls apart around him, Jamie Lannister is being escorted home by Brienne of Tarth through the war torn land and Arya Stark has escaped her captors only to fall in to the hands of the Brotherhood without Banners.
In the North Theon Greyjoy is being tortured by an unknown sadist (though it was obvious for those who read the books), Bran and his group run in to the Reed siblings who wish to help them and Jon Snow has infiltrated Mance Rayder's army in an effort to learn their plans.
Meanwhile in Dragonstone Stannis Baratheon is a broken man from his defeat on the Blackwater but becomes more obsessed with the Lord of Light while his loyal companion Davos Seaworth sees only evil in the religion.
Finally Daenerys Targaryen has decided that she must have an army in order to win the Iron Throne and sets sail for slavers bay to by the Unsullied, the most disciplined soldiers in all the world.
This season is based on the first half of the Storm of Swords books which are all two of my favourites in the Song of Ice and Fire series and just like the last two seasons it adapts from its source material almost perfectly. This season also includes some of my most favourite events from the books such as the infamous Red Wedding and the burning of Astapor but also includes some original stuff which is really great. I will now go in to detail about all the highlights of this season and say what was good and what was bad in my opinion.
Firstly there is the Brotherhood without Banners, a group of Robin Hoods basically and who capture Arya near the start of the series. Now in the books if I am honest I really, really hated this group mostly because it just seemed to drag on with them going to different places and not advancing the plot, it just felt like filler and I didn't care for much for their members like Lem and Tom O Sevens (They just annoyed me). However I did like them here in the series because they narrowed down the main members to only three, Beric Dondarrion, Thoros of Myr and Anguy and they cut out a lot of their pointless travelling. Thoros of Myr was the standout of the lot as a drunken red priest who has found his faith again, Paul Kaye did a really convincing job of it; he was funny when he was drunk, serious when he had to be and his conversation of Melisandre was one of the best from the season. It was original for the series but I was really glad they added it in because we have not had two red priests confronting each other in the books yet. Also the fight between Beric and the Hound was done just as I imagined from the books as well so I enjoyed all the scenes with Arya and the Brotherhood.
Next what an interesting change from the book was the scenes with Theon Greyjoy and his torturer Ramsey Snow in the North. Those who read the books would know that after Theon's defeat at Winterfell we don't see him for ages and when we do he is already in his new persona of Reek we don't see any of the torture. So this was also a great addition to the series and again some great casting with Iwan Rheon as the psychopathic Ramsey.
Also in the North we finally get the introduction of the Reed siblings Jojen and Meera who should have been at Winterfell during the last season. However they were added in to the plot now quite nicely and we also get more of an understanding of Bran's powers (Which again should have happened during the last season if the Reed siblings were there).
Finally in the North is the events that happen beyond the wall and I have to say there are a few disappointments here. My disappointment with beyond the wall actually started during the very first scene of episode one when they skipped over the undead army vs the Night Watch entirely and after the huge set up they had at the end of season two. Then there was the character of Mance Rayder, while Ciarán Hinds did a good job as him he is quite different than he was in the book. A lot more serious and quiet and he does not even sing! However there were still a lot of great parts; the climb up the wall, the fight between Jon and the wildings, rebellion at Crasters and all the scenes with Sam were great.
Something else I was let down on was during the story with Daenerys across the Narrow Sea. Don't get me wrong when she gets her Unsullied and defeats Astapor and Yunaki those parts were all badass, just like in the book, but it was the re - introduction of Barristan Selmy. While I am glad to see him again because he is one of my favourite characters I did not like that they removed to part from the book were he hid his identity as a man called Astran Whitebeard for a time and was accompanied by a former pit fighter named Strong Belwas. Strong Belwas is gone entirely and while Barristan saves Daenerys like in the book he reveals himself straight away. The subplot of Astran Whitebeard and Strong Belwas, while not crucial was something I was looking forward to.
However something that was absolutely perfect was the journey of Jamie and Brienne through the Riverlands. Some of the best scenes throughout the entire season is with these two, they have such great chemistry together and the way they keep talking back to each other is so amusing. Also when Jamie loses his hand you can really see the character change in him and you even feel like even someone like him can redeem himself and change for the better despite what he has done before.
Before moving to the Red Wedding on I just want to say that something that really annoyed me the most in this season was the death of original character Ros played by Esmé Bianco. I really liked this original character she was so sexy during her nude and sex scenes from season one and during season two when she became more of a business woman of one of Little Finger's brothels she can still be a great character. Esmé Bianco is such a good actress and even though her death portrays more of Joffrey's cruelty it is such a same she had to go because she really fit in to the world of a Game of Thrones.
Now finally on to the Red Wedding, one of the most iconic moments in written history and now one of the most iconic television history! It was so brutal, they held nothing back in terms of the violence during this scene and I'm glad they didn't or it wouldn't have that much of an impact. Compared to the book it may have felt a bit short but that is mostly because most of the background characters who are killed have names and bigger roles in the book and spent more time with their deaths. However something I did not expect was the such brutal murder of Robb's wife; she was stabbed right in her pregnant stomach whole Robb looked on, talk about no mercy. And of course we get the death of Robb at the hands of Rose Bolton and Catelyn by the Freys and I really liked the chilling music of Rain's of Castamere playing in the background while everything was going on. So ends Robbs rebellion against the Lannisters, someone should have told the wolves that "a lion still has claws and mine are long and sharp my lord, as long and sharp as yours".
Very quickly just want to mention some great new additions to the cast; I have already mentioned Ramsey, Mance, the Reeds and the Brotherhood but we also have Anton Lesser as Qyburn (Can't wait for this character to have a bigger role later, those who read the book know what I mean), Clive Russell as Bryden Tully, Tobias Menzies as Edmure Tully, Diana Rigg as Olenna Tyrell (a match even for Tywin) and Kristofer Hivju as Tormund Giantsbane (perfect casting there).
Overall this season was probably the best one in the Game of Thrones series so far (though the currently airing fourth season is doing really good so far), while it did not have a big battle like in season two I think the introduction of Unsullied and the Red Wedding are just as great. The only let downs were the death of the character Ros and the removal of the Astran Whitebeard subplot but I admit they are only small inconveniences in an otherwise perfect season.
SCORE: 9.5/10
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