Game of Thrones

Season 2 Episode 5

The Ghost of Harrenhal

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  • Game of Thrones: The Winter of Everyone's Discontent 170

    Game of Thrones: The Winter of Everyone's Discontent

    Tension is building as King's Landing prepares for war, and everyone wants a piece of the action.

    By Tim Surette, Apr 30, 2012

    • Fan Episode Reviews (7)

    SUBMIT REVIEW

    • Well, Hello Gendry!

      9.5
      By ionee24, Jun 10, 2012
      Remember those awkward last days of childhood when you first started to check out the shirtless blacksmith boy? Of course not, but now thanks to HBO magic Arya can!



      Seems weird but these first few signs of normalcy turn out to be the lighter side of the episode, for the shadow man sired by Stannis kills Renly before the poor thing knows what hit him, Brianne is so devastated that she takes upon herself the task to avenge her King as a renegade knight at the service of Lady Catlyn.



      Back at Winterfell, only the calm before the storm sets among the little lords. Rickon oblivious to Bran's grimm visions of the future in a way his servants aren't. For only those who have lived beyond the wall can understrand the boy's hiden wisdom as he's starting to understand it himself.moreless

    • The Ghost of Harrenhal

      10
      By AJLane-TCP, May 08, 2012
      The Good:

      -"Do you want to be a queen?" "No. I want to be THE queen."

      -"They say all sorts of crazy things north of the wall."

      -Jaqen H'Ghar makes his intentions known. Perfectly cast, he is one of the most engaging new characters.

      -"...There are times when I look at you and I still can't believe you're real."

      -Yet another flawless episode. Season two has raised the bar of excitement extremely high!moreless

    • Best episode so far (this season)

      9.5
      By Shane747, May 02, 2012
      The first season of game of thrones took a lot of time to get the plot moving but got simply awesome around the 5th episode. The second season is similar. With all the pieces finally in check, the plot is finally moving.

      The strange thing is, this is the first episode this season where the show didn't seem rushed. I haven't read the books, but I got the impression that we were jumping around all the characters way to fast in the first four episodes. Here, the scenes are long and fantastic, and the show doesn't waste our time with pointless sex scenes either. Tyrion is awesome in KL and Arya's scenes are also great. Jaqen seems totally badass. As for the first scene, I was sort of dissapointed because I really liked the character, but I guess it moves Stannis's storyline forward.

      Anyways, great episode.moreless

    • First Down (Show and Book Spoilers Ahead)

      9.0
      By Neksmater, May 02, 2012
      In the aftermath of what everyone dubbed the "shadow baby" last week it was good to see it pick up right where it left off with Renly agreeing to make an alliance with Robb Stark and to pool their armies together to defeat the Lannisters and then let Robb be the King in the North. But no sooner has this too-good-to-be-true-pact been made than the shadow stabs Renly, killing him. Brienne holds Renly and has to dispatch two guards who attempt to kill her. Catelyn convinces her to flee with her to avenge Renly and so they depart, the best hope of defeating the Lannisters having died in that tent. Kingless, Renly's bannerman turn cloaks to Stannis' side, with the exception of Loras and Margaery and the rest of the Tyrell forces, while Davos tries to tell him what he saw in the cave with Melisandre to which Stannis wants to hear none of. Davos however does convince him to leave Melisandre to stay behind when they storm King's Landing with their army because if she went it would look like she was giving orders rather than him like his soldiers often think is the case. Dany is an honored guest of Xaro Xhoan Daxos the rich merchant who bled for her entry into the city. We got to see a dragon burn some meat and some Dothraki trying to steal a pure gold peacock. Dany is attended by the 13, the rulers of Qarth, among other nobles. She is invited by one of the them, a mage by the name of Pyat Pree, to join him at the house of Undying which is a temple of sorcery worship in Qarth but his double act of being in two places at once was rather sorcerer like. Jorah is told by Qaithe of the Undying of Qarth, the woman in the wodden paneled mask, that he needs to protect Dany now more than ever as the Mother of Dragons will be tempted by many enemies. Xaro offers her money to buy a fleet and sellswords if he marries her to which she is sorely tempted but which Jorah is heavily opposed to. In King's Landing Tyrion is being deceived by Cersei and discovers that she has been hiding the fact that the Guild of Pyromancers has been making Wildfire for her to burn Stannis' army and navy. Wildfire is a bit like Napalm in that it burns anything on water whether it be steel, flesh, wood, etc. Tyrion orders the Pyromancer leader that he is making Wildfire for him from now on, and the fact that they only lightly touched on King Aerys' need to stock up on an obsessive amount of Wildfire is sad for readers of the book, but the added debate over what wins wars between Bronn and the Pyromancer was a welcome addition. Also after convincing the Tyrells the leave Littlefinger asking Margaery what she really wants is nice foreshadowing to what happens next. Lancel as Tyrion's informant is funny because of how clearly uncomfortable he is with doing it and for someone like Tyrion. It was sad to see that the people blame Tyrion for the wrongdoings of Joffrey who would've had the outspoken peoples' tongues ripped out or something for even voicing discontent. But Tyrion really is doing the best he can with what he's got. Theon takes command of the Sea Bitch and hatches a plan so instead of raiding farming villages along the Stony Shore he is going to attack Torrhen's Square in the North since almost all of the soldiers and men able age are in the Riverlands fighting for Robb and will force Winterfell and the Starks to send the remaining strength which will thus leave Winterfell unprotected since that is the presumed target Theon has in mind. Seeing him have almost zero influence amongst his crew was entertaining and also sad since Theon works so very hard to prove his own worth, and Yara being there to add insult to injury doesn't help either with her command of 30 ships. Finally, at Harrenhal Arya is the new attendant to Tywin Lannister who proves ever more practical by the episode and even figures out she's from the North after seeing through a lie that she told that she was from the Riverlands. She says she is from somewhere far off from Winterfell though and when Tywin asks him what they say about Robb she says they call him "The Young Wolf" and that he can't turn into a direwolf like his enemies say he can and that he can be killed. The impending battles that will result before season's end will no doubt be fruitful as we are now at the landmark halfway point for Season 2 and all the chess pieces are being carefully positioned for many characters to die or fail (although in this show they tend to be the same thing) and others to surely succeed.moreless

    • The Ghost of Harrenhal

      10
      By TrueTvWatcher, May 01, 2012
      The Ghost of Harrenhal was a perfect episode of Game of Thrones and I really enjoyed watching as Bran ran Winterfell, Tyrion maneuvered things in his favor after discovering an enticing secret, and Cat Stark made a new ally. There was a lot of action, drama and intrigue along with character and plot development. A lot happened in this episode and many characters had their own scenes, though thankfully no Joffrey or Sansa, and I mean that in the best way as in to focus on the other characters a bit. It was great to seehow everything played out and I certainly look forward to watching the next episode!!!!!!!!!moreless
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    Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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    • TRIVIA (1)

      • The title of this episode is a direct quote from the books. Arya Stark refers to herself as "The Ghost of Harrenhal" in "A Clash of Kings", Chapter 30.

    • QUOTES (5)

      • Jorah Mormont: (to Daenerys) There are times when I look at you and I still can't believe you're real.

      • Jaqen H'ghar: A man pays his debts. A man owes three.
        Arya Stark: Three what?
        Jaqen H'ghar: The Red God takes what is his, my lovely girl. And only death may pay for life. You saved me and the two I was with. You stole three deaths from the Red God. We have to give them back. Speak three names and a man will do the rest. Three lives I will give you, no more, no less. And we're done.
        Arya Stark: I can name anyone? And you'll kill him?
        Jaqen H'ghar: A man has said.

      • Tywin Lannister: And what do they say of Robb Stark in the North?
        Arya Stark: They call him the Young Wolf.
        Tywin Lannister: And?
        Arya Stark: They say he rides into battle on the back of a giant direwolf. They say he can turn into a wolf himself when he wants. They say he can't be killed.
        Tywin Lannister: And do you believe them?
        Arya Stark: No, my lord. Anyone can be killed.

      • Tyrion Lannister: (about Joffrey Baratheon) The king is a lost cause. It's the rest of us I'm worried about now.

      • Margaery Tyrell: (about Renly) He was very handsome.
        Petyr Baelish: He was, Your Grace.
        Margaery Tyrell: Your Grace? Calling yourself king doesn't make you one, and if Renly wasn't a king, I wasn't a queen.
        Petyr Baelish: Do you want to be a queen?
        Margaery Tyrell: No, I want to be the queen.

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