The weather may be getting warmer in New York City, but make no mistake — winter is coming. “Game of Thrones,” HBO’s acclaimed fantasy drama based on George R.R. Martin’s “Song of Ice and Fire” book series, will begin its third season this Sunday.
The season premiere centers on the aftermath of the epic Battle of Blackwater Bay. The city of King’s Landing begins to rebuild after the costly victory over Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane). Despite his heroic efforts at Blackwater, Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) has been relieved of his duty as Hand of the King in favor of his father Tywin (Charles Dance). No longer in a position of power, Tyrion once again finds himself nothing more than a stain on his family’s name.
Dinklage is as fantastic as ever. He perfectly balances his sense of humor with a painful drive to please a father who has done everything short of disowning him.
While most of season two focused on kings clashing, Daenerys Stormborn (Emilia Clarke) spent a lot of time on the sidelines. Though she largely schemed to take the Iron Throne with blood and fire, she found herself in essentially the same place she was at the end of the first season — without an army, and without the Throne.
Season three aims to rectify the lack of Daenerys plot movement by putting her literally in the market for a new army. More importantly, her dragons are growing up. They’ve moved on from just perching on Daenerys’ naked body to hunting and breathing fire, which is all kinds of awesome.
The standard “Game of Thrones” creatures — dragons, white walkers and direwolves — are fully represented. In addition, season three introduces giants and a ridiculous scorpion-child warlock.
Season premieres of dense ensemble dramas are always burdened by exposition and the need to introduce new characters and plotlines. But “Game of Thrones” has always been completely committed to its world, and the third season shows no sign of winter ever leaving.
A version of this article was published in the Thursday, March 28 print edition. Josh Johnson is arts editor. Email him at [email protected].
