TV Review: GAME OF THRONES S2E10, VALAR MORGHULIS (Or, Winter Arrives North Of The Wall)

[Twitch is reviewing Game Of Thrones on an episode by episode basis throughout the current season. Please note that these are being written from someone who has very deliberately NOT read the books so as to come to the story fresh and will not be reading the books until after the series concludes. Should you wish to compare and contrast the books to the show please be courteous to those who have not read them yet by limiting discussions to the timeline currently played out on screen as well.]

All good things must come to an end and season two of Game Of Thrones has done just that with an extended finale episode that plays in many ways like an epilogue to the massive battle of episode nine while also introducing a few new elements to drive the story forward in season three.

We begin in King's Landing, with an injured Tyrion waking to the sight of a gloating Maester Pycelle hovering over his bed. Why gloat? Well, there has been a rather large shift in power within the Lannister family with Tyrion now on the outs. Tywin's arrival in the city means Tyrion is no longer Hand Of The King and Cersei - whom Varys informs Tyrion was behind the attempt on his life - has moved quickly to humble him as much as possible. Let's just say Tyrion's new quarters resemble a storage closet more than his previous rooms.

The split within the Lannister family will clearly be a major story going forward. Varys has informed Tyrion that his heroism in the battle has earned him allies within the city, though those allies need to remain hidden for now. And I remain very curious to see how the first exchange between Tyrion and Tywin in King's Landing will play out. Tywin, after all, installed Tyrion into the Hand post personally because he didn't trust Joffrey or Cersei to get the job done and Tyrion accomplished all that was laid before him with great success while the others did absolutely nothing.

As for other post-battle consequences, Joffrey heaps praise - and land - on Lord Baelish for his role in bringing the Tyrell's onside. He then offers Loras anything he desires as thanks for saving the city, an offer Loras meets by asking Joffrey to marry his sister. Joffrey pretend hums and haws over the matter but all involved were clearly prepared for this and the deal is made. Which means Sansa is now put aside.

And stupid, stupid Sansa ... there you are still in King's Landing when you had a perfectly good opportunity to escape. And there you are, foolish enough to think that having your engagement broken is a good thing, not realizing that your engagement was the only thing protecting you from some measure of Joffrey's cruelty. Baelish offers to help, but we've all seen what Baelish's help means to the Starks.

More Starks? Sure. Robb blows off his own engagement to marry Talisa instead while Arya blows off an offer from Jaqen to be trained as a Faceless Man to find her family instead. She's given a coin she can use to summon him if needed - and given the phrase she recites to do so is also the title of the episode I'll wager that becomes rather important down the road - before literally changing his face and walking off.

The final Starks? Well, this is where the one really big false note is struck in the episode. The forces that Robb dispatched to Winterfell have arrived, meaning five hundred men are now laying siege to the city - clearly insurmountable odds for Theon and his twenty. Theon refuses to leave, instead opting for a glorious death. Too bad his men disagree. They knock Theon out, bag him up and head for home, but not before stabbing Maester Luwin (!?!) and torching the keep. And this is where things go weird ... Luwin, in his final act, tells Bran that he must run, that there is nobody who can protect him and the Iron Islanders may come back in greater force. Luwin sends the Stark boys running for the Wall. Which would be sensible advice except for the fact that they have five hundred loyal soldiers camped outside the walls of Winterfell. Which is plenty of protection. And manpower to repair the damage to the keep, as well. So, while it makes no sense at all to do so, Bran, Rickon, Osha and Hodor head north.

What else, what else ... Brienne and Jaime Lannister have a little break on their way to King's Landing, during which Brienne shows off her fighting skills. Stannis has a bit of loss-fueled angst about murdering his brother before falling back under the spell of Melisandre. Varys recruits Ros to join his ranks of spies. Jon Snow kills Qhorin to win the trust of his Wildling captors and is taken to meet the King Beyond The Wall. Basically it's a 'The Gang's All Here' sort of episode ... and then we get to the big events at the end.

First, after kind of putzing about all season Daenerys finally does something interesting. And not just interesting, something that is going to have massive ramifications going forward. She enters the Halls Of The Undying - which is an interesting, hallucinogenic experience regardless of larger context - where she demonstrates to Pyat Pree why it may be a bad idea to kidnap dragons. They breath fire. On him. He dragons reclaimed Daenerys locks her betrayer, Xaro, in his own vault before sacking his house and stealing all of his gold and jewels to pay for a ship to return her to Westeros. Yes, Daenerys is coming back to reclaim the throne and she's got dragons with her. Small dragons yet, to be sure, but they're still dragons.

And second, there are events afoot north of the wall. No, not with Jon Snow - though he does get a look at the Wildling forces, which are massive - but with Sam. Remember when Sam explained what the different horn blasts meant? Remember what three blasts meant? Yeah, that happens. There's a full army of the undead on the march south with icy bladed white walkers leading the way. Winter is coming.