As with every Game of Thrones season to date, season three will be remembered for its ninth episode. Season one was the season Ned Stark’s head ceremoniously cleaved from its body, season two the season that green flames lit up the night sky as a battle waged outside King’s Landing, and now season three is the season that Robb Stark was brutally slain at a wedding for his uncle. Whether Robb was your favorite character or not doesn’t really matter because he represented the immediate hope against the Lannisters and the maniacal King Joffrey. Fortunately, season three reinforced many of the themes the show has explored before while even offering up some new ones.
There is no greater folly in Westeros than to play the game but not try to win everything. The Starks, gods bless them, have always been too reasonable and logical in their desires. All Ned wanted was to ensure Cersei’s children had no claim to the throne since they were not true Baratheons. Robb’s sights were set a little higher, to be the king of the north and to avenge his father’s death, but even those goals were not lofty enough. Both are now dead because they weren’t willing to do all that was necessary to wrest power from the Lannisters and assume power for themselves. You can’t have just a piece of Westeros, you either take it all or you can’t have any. Lacking the desire to purposefully rule the entire continent/country seals your inevitable death no matter how dutiful and honorable you may be.
However, season three also reinforced the main universal rule in Game of Thrones – if you act in selfish interests you will ultimately be punished. Ned selfishly wanted to avenge his friend Jon Arryn and ended taking up his cause, which lead to his demise. Likewise, Robb’s main goal all along was to seek revenge on the Lannisters for murdering his father while also reneging on an agreed upon betrothal to a Frey girl – clearly that didn’t end well for him either. In season one Dany lost Drogo because all she wanted was to save him from death, sacrificing her child along the way. Theon’s season long punishment for trying to earn glory by taking Winterfell; Renly believing he had a claim to the throne at all; Sansa betraying her family for her fairy tale ideals; the list goes on and on. No matter how noble the deed it seems that in the world of Game of Thrones you will be punished if you are acting out of self-interest.
Although Tywin Lannister, the most self-interested character on the show, has yet to receive any comeuppance. Nearly every scene this season, including the last one in which he summed up his major driving force, focused on him doing what is best only for his family. In his last scene he tells Tyrion that family name and legacy trumps everything, especially personal desires. After removing Tyrion from his post as Hand of the King Tywin has the entire realm, his family especially, in the tightest grip imaginable as he forced Tyrion and Cersei to marry Sansa and Lloris Tyrell, respectively, despite Cersei’s continual refusal, strictly for political reasons. He arranged Joffrey’s marriage simply so that King’s Landing wouldn’t rebel against he Lannister due to lack of food. He even struck a deal with Walder Frey and Roose Bolton to remove the every deepening thorn in his side that was Robb Stark, whom he could not beat in battle. If there is one takeaway from season three it is that you do not butt heads with Tywin.
In direct contrast to Tywin is Dany. While her ultimate goal is to gather an army strong enough to reclaim King’s Landing and Westeros, her methods of doing so are wildly different. Her continual insistence throughout the season, which quickly became annoying repetition, on making sure those joining her armies were free and not slaves or even sellswords showed her unselfish ways. While there is no denying that her dragons can easily sway any argument or negotiation to her side she is definitively trying to make sure that her kingdom is ruled benevolently. There was very little emotional payoff to Dany’s goal of freeing the slaves of Astapor and Yunkai – and maybe even the entirety of Essos – until the season’s final scene. While it was easy to see how Dany gained her army of unsullied due to freeing them from servitude they were drilled and trained so hard to obey that it never felt as though they were truly freed. However, once the slaves of Yunkai spilled from the city gates and chanted “mhysa” (mother) while lifting Dany up was there any real feeling that Dany’s desires to free slaves had any meaningful impact on her and the world at large. Dany’s selflessness also seems to have been rewarded in the possible lover Daario.
If Dany and Daario were ever to become romantically entangled they need to follow another universal rule of Game of Thrones – that any sexual deeds not be forced upon either person, especially from a bedding ceremony (unless of course your Pod Payne at a brothel). Sexual relations were largely punished in season three, whether they were forced upon one or both parties or entered willingly by both. The most tragic of all were the endings to the relations that were entered willingly. Jon was shot thrice by Ygritte’s arrows in the final episode, even though she was pained to do so. And of course there was Robb and Talisa who were brutally murdered in Walder Frey and Tywin Lannister’s plot.
The relationships that were forced weren’t exactly a walk in the park either. The two ceremonial bedding ceremonies for the two arranged marriages went unfulfilled. Tyrion refused to bed Sansa until she was willing, which sounds like it will be never, and Edmure was whisked straight to Walder Frey’s dungeon after his arranged marriage ceremony. Not to mention Gendry was seduced by Melisandre for the sole purpose of being able to extract some of his regal blood to perform a magical ritual to ensure Stannis’s rise to the throne and his rivals’ deaths. Luckily for Gendry, Davos made sure to release him before he could be sacrificed to the Lord of Light.
Melisandre’s devious plot for Gendry also showed the ever-growing importance of magic from season three. Dany’s dragons have always been a rather important part of the puzzle since the end of season one but they have now grown enough whereas they can be effective weapons against an army, as Astapor quickly found out midseason. The white walkers also have been around since season one but their looming threat was greatly amplified this season after the slaughter of Night’s Watchmen at the Fist of the First Men and the reason for the wildlings migration to get south of The Wall. But these two species entities are a completely different type of magic when the Lord of Light’s magic is taken into consideration.
At least with the dragons and white walkers they are sentient beings and they don’t seem nearly as magical as what Melisandre and Thoros are capable of doing. True magic lies in the ability of humans to conjure it from their very being. Despite the taste of magic that happened in season two with Melisandre’s shadow baby that killed Renly, magic never seemed as easily utilized to aid in the normal affairs of humans. In season three, however, magic’s presence was grew exponentially. First and foremost may be Thoros’s ability to revive Beric Dondarrion multiple times. How he does it is still unclear but all that matters is that he can do it. Perhaps more importantly is the revelation of the existence of wargs and that Bran happens to be one. Bran’s entire storyline in season three was focused around his discovery that he is a powerful warg, which has made him journey north of the wall to find the three eye raven that he is constantly in his dreams. And who knows what could have happened if Melisandre was allowed to sacrifice Gendry to the Lord of Light.
Season three also had the underlying current of mothering throughout the season. Catlyn began as a prisoner of Robb because she freed Jamie Lannister in hopes of exchanging him for Sansa and Arya, which clearly did not happen. She met her demise at the Red Wedding as well after she witnessed her last son’s death. Catlyn got off easy compared to Cersei. Even though Catlyn died thinking all but one, possibly two, of her children were dead she at least doesn’t have to live to watch her son become an evil tyrant. It is clear that Cersei has lost any power she once held over Joffrey and now all she can do is be the spectator as her son become more and more evil while ruling the kingdom. Sansa’s main goal for the last half of the season was to allow Tyrion to impregnate her so that the union between her and Tyrion could be legally bound and the Lannisters could rule Winterfell and the north. Thankfully Tyrion has yet to do anything about that but it seems only a matter of time. The most successful of all the mothers seems to be Dany, who has become the adopted mother of every slave in Yunkai and, of course, remains the Mother of Dragons. Knowing how mothers have been treated in Game of Thrones thus far though, Dany’s future may not be all that bright.
And Dany’s adoptive selflessness marks a return to the overarching theme of season three. Many of the characters still alive are either acting selflessly or just about to embark upon a selfless quest. Jon Snow was punished for using the wildlings as a vessel to return south of The Wall but his whole purpose was to warn the rest of the Night’s Watch of the oncoming threat of both wildlings and, more importantly, the white walkers. Sam safely reached Castle Black with Gilly and her child as he saved her from the death filled mutiny at Craster’s Keep. Forever acting for the good of Stannis, Davos was jailed and almost sentenced to death for acting in the best interests of Stannis and Gendry. This resulted in Davos’s reward of life by being able to convince both Melisandre and Stannis that they must help the Night’s Watch fend off the white walkers. (And he can even read now!) Even Jamie, after being punished for past selfishness by losing his hand, found himself acting in Brienne’s interest as he saved her from the bear pit at Harrenhal.
And while all of these characters either continued are recently converted to their selfless acts there are still many more that are singularly worried about their advancement through the world. Following in Tywin’s footsteps were Roose Bolton and Petyr Baelish. All three seem motivated solely by wealth and status. Roose betrayed Robb by releasing Jamie to return to King’s Landing and, or course, striking the killing blow on Robb at the Redd Wedding. He has quickly gone from the lord of a lesser castle to the Warden of the North and a seat in Winterfell. Likewise, Petyr has played his cards just right to gain nobility in Westeros as Tywin awarded him Harrenhal, which allows him to wed Lysa Arryn of the Eyrie. Petyr’s monologue at the end of “The Climb” encapsulated his character perfectly as he wants the realm to burn so that he can ascend the social ladder. Walder Frey’s actions need not be mentioned. Eventually, if the rule of punishment for purely selfish actions holds true, these men should meet their demise at some point in the story. But for those seeking retribution for Robb’s wrongful death, or at least some balance between good and evil in Westeros, may have to wait sometime as season three of Game of Thrones proved once again that any character can meet their demise at any point in time.
Season three of Game of Thrones was often uneven in pace but ended with a bang. It saw the addition of new characters and the removal of a couple old ones. Unfortunately the character list will only continue to get more unwieldy as the show goes on. Still, season three represented a generally strong season that, perhaps at times, hit the highest highs the show has ever seen. To endure nine months until Game of Thrones returns for another all too short ten episode season seems cruel but with such a strong ending to the season it may well be worth it.