“The Old Gods and the New” was arguably the best episode of the season of Game of Thrones. It was one of those BIG episodes where the story was (geographically) all over the place. As the story traveled across both Westeros and Essos, each plot had one thing in common: Change.
The usual spoiler warnings for this post are in effect. What we discussed this week was fairly mild, and doesn’t really extend past A Clash of Kings. But if you want to stay spoiler free, I would recommend skipping this post.
Ivey:
The second season has been increasingly defined by the changes in the narrative from the book series, and “The Old Gods and the New” might just be the high-water mark. The biggest departure seems to be the abduction of Dany’s dragons. There was a collective “what the hell” heard across the country as the final scene rolled. You and I have always embraced the changes that the show has made to the story. But does this change make any sense to you?
Bob:
Does it make any sense to me? I think I need to see it play out before I can make a real judgment. I keep coming back to one general idea: Dany’s story is not all that exciting in A Clash of Kings. Aside from the visit to the House of the Undying, there isn’t a tremendous amount that happens to Dany. Her arc is one of the slower burns in the novels. It doesn’t surprise me at all that it needed a little spicing up for the show.
Ivey:
True, Dany’s story isn’t important to this section of the overall series, but she did become an incredibly popular character in the first season. If I can be honest for a second, I don’t really care for anything that happens to Dany in Clash or in the next book, save for the House of the Undying. As much as I embrace the changes that David Benioff and D. B. Weiss have made to the series, loving to game out what the deviations might mean in future seasons. The abduction of the dragons, however, is something I just can’t figure out what it might mean. Do you have any theories?
Bob:
One thing you have to appreciate as a reader is that we genuinely have no idea who stole the dragons. While some may complain about the changes, I love them for this reason.
As I see it there are a few options. We know that Dany is going to head to the House of the Undying for a little Lynchian vision quest type trip. In the novel, she goes with one of her dragons who ends up setting fire to the whole place. I’m wondering if in the show, she will go to rescue her dragons and in the process one of them lights the House of the Undying ablaze. I think it would probably be impractical for Dany to have a dragon with her through the entire venture for special effects reasons.
Of course, we’ve also seen that the head of the Thirteen (I can only find him credited as “Spice King”) had quite a jonesing to see the dragons before even letting Dany into Qarth. His meeting with the “little princess” didn’t go so well. With no deal eminent would he be bold enough to steal the dragons right out from under her?
Ivey:
I was excited that Doreah survived the trip through the Red Waste, but she seems to be the most likely candidate for the dragon-napper, if for no other reason than she wasn’t found dead back at Daxos’ palace. Also, Dany sent her to spy on someone last week, which would allow for the opportunity to be be turned — another question that remains open is how many of Dany’s khalasar is still breathing at this point. But who is behind things is the greater question.
I think your theory that the dragons’ abduction will be what prompts Dany to go to the House of the Undying is very likely. I would hope that whatever happens between now and her eventual visit, that the audience gets some type of feel for what the House is all about. The point is that by the time Dany eventually enters the doors, the audience needs to have a sense of foreboding. Having it be some type of rescue attempt for the dragons will help with that idea.
What about you, gentlereaders? Who do you think took the dragons, and what do you think their endgame is?
Clacked by Ivey West 
on May 09, 2012 @ 10:00 EST5EDT
I definitely think the dragonnapping will lead Dany to the House of the Undying. It may even be a ploy to get her there. I am very curious to see how they translate the visions to the screen, and I appreciate that the show can still give me a bit of suspense even though I’ve read all the books. Suspense over sexposition, HBO!
No clue on the dragonnapping. Or dragons napping. I find myself getting annoyed with the changes they’re making on the show. For instance, “Asha” was changed to “Yara” because they thought the viewers might confuse the character with “Osha”. Really? Come on. And Osha seducing Theon served literally no purpose other than getting the actress naked. What did she accomplish with that move? The character would have killed him before leaving, given the opportunity, and you can’t convince me otherwise.
I guess I’m not too mad about them spicing up Dany’s storyline. She really is a very boring character after the first book (but I’m sure things will get considerably more exciting in future books – hopefully she joins forces with Tyrion). I’m not liking the actress’s portrayal of her this season. She strikes me more as considerably more whiny than having any kind of strength, and nowhere was it more evident than in her dealings with the spice merchant (I liked that actor, though). The changes made in the first season, where Khal Drogo was considerably more rapey with her on their wedding night than in the book, planted these seeds (among others). I actually am starting to like the changes they’ve made with Arya to move things along, but the downside is that we’re not going to see the real horrors she goes through to get her where she ends up.
Anyway, those are my thoughts. Definitely not the best episode of the season for me.
Sure the Osha-Theon scene can be confusing for some at first blush, but I think the Osha scene with Theon accomplished several things. It shows even more that Theon is weak-willed and over-confident. It is also makes the viewer and the guards believe that Osha has betrayed Bran. As well, it would give Osha more access to the castle being known as Theon’s whore. I’m sure the news of her going to bed with Theon had been spread to all his men. This would in turn make the guards less suspicious of her advances. It would not surprise me if Osha had cut more than one guards throat that night. Plus, it makes sure Theon does not check up on Bran or Rickon during the night as they were preparing to leave while Theon and Osha were busy together.
As to her killing Theon, she didn’t have a weapon. Sure if she had a knife hidden she could have quietly killed him. But she clearly didn’t and a blunt weapon would have produced too much noise and been too risky. Maybe she could have gotten to Theon’s sword without him waking up, but again too risky. She doesn’t know how lightly he sleeps. While leaving Theon alone would not have alarmed him at all even if he woke up as she was leaving. He would have just went back to sleep. He clearly wasn’t using her to spoon with.