HBO’s headline fantasy series is gathering pace and our reviewer, Kieran Mathers, is enjoying the ride… As always, some mild spoilers lie ahead. If you’re new to the world of Westeros, be sure to check out our primer.
Gosh. When you don’t think it can get any better, this show manages to up the bar once more. There is so much good to talk about in this episode that I’m going to get the bad out of the way first so we can enjoy what was yet another spectacular episode.
I probably should have mentioned this last week, but I hate what they’ve done with the Eyrie. It is the first major visual misstep (barring plaster) that the show has made. In the books, the Eyrie sits atop a mountain spur, higher almost than the clouds, an impregnable fortress with an incredibly treacherous path leading up to it. It could have looked absolutely amazing, with stunning views from the top – a smaller Minas Tirith of the mountains.
What we get instead is something that looks more like the Dome of the Rock – a temple rather than a castle. For some reason it also appeared to have taken over a small hilltop instead of a high mountain crag.
I think I can understand why the show’s designers decided to do it that way, thinking perhaps that each area has to be visually distinct. But to fall into the trap of thinking that the Eyrie should not have stone walls and battlements because the other castles we have seen also possess those is akin to saying a dog is a cat as both have fur.
