Game of Thrones Season 2 Review

I know, I know...I'm a little behind the times if I am just now commenting on Season 2 of HBO, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss'  Game of Thrones. The issue is a) I don't have HBO, b) I'm a slow watcher and c) HBO hasn't figured out that I would subscribe to them if they let me just subscribe through the HBOGO app. At any rate I have now seen Season 2 and have a few thoughts to share about the show my wife affectionately calls "Boobs and Dragons", which is probably due to her mainly only watching a few snippets of Season 1 that centered on those two things. At this point I am going to assume you know a bit about the books and not try to recap much of the earlier plot or remind everyone about the characters.

Season 2 follows the events of A Clash of Kings, book 2 of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. Here we see the fallout effects of Season 1 come to a head as 5 or 6 monarchs (actual, proclaimed or wishfully thinking they are) go about their regal business of trying to kill each other. Also included are a few good scenes beyond the wall. Though my favorite scenes involved Arya Stark (Maisie Williams), she does a good job with the role and has some choice scenes in Season 2.

To sum up the story, we see battles, more dragons, deaths, intrigue and betrayal. Everything that you should expect from this series. Watching Season 2 made me realize again how bad things are for most every character we meet. It also made me think on how few epic fantasy (medieval-themed) good TV and movies there are these days and how unique it makes this show. Yes, it isn't the same as the books. Yes, there are some slow places and missed beats but they are few. Probably the best thing I can say is as I finished the 10th episode I really wanted to go back and read the books to get more into the story.

I highly recommend seeing Game of Thrones Season 2 (or even 1 if you haven't already). I watched the show on DVD from Netflix. If you choose to buy the show, Amazon and iTunes both have the Season in standard definition for around $29, which will save you about $5 over the 5-disc DVD pack. Either way, go watch it and if you have HBO you can see Season 3 starting March 31 in the US. Four Mick Happies for Game of Thrones Season 2. Valar Morghulis.

George R.R. Martin signing books at Mysterious Galaxy in San Diego, CA (July 2011)

In case you haven't checked it out. My first post on the blog was about Season 1 of Game of Thrones, here is a link.