What’s the Deal with… ‘Game of Thrones: Dark Wings, Dark Worlds’

There's been a strange lack of nudity on Game of Thrones this season. We're two episodes in and nary a bare breast nor arse has been on display for our viewing pleasure. And this despite the fact that both Emilia Clarkeand Natalie Dormer have a strong, rich past in baring themselves on camera. In fact, the only undressing we got was from Peter Dinklage right before he was about to receive...well, I don't even want the mental image in my head.

The one thing there's been plenty of this season has been the fantasy element of the show. In season one there was very little otherwordly things taking place. Asides from Bran's portentous dream omens of the raven, the show was grounded in nearly our own reality (even now I almost forgot that White Walkers were teased in the first episode) and it was only in the season finale that we got a taste of magical dragons. In season two we were teased with a morphing Jaqen H'ghar and the cloning Pyat Pree at the House of the Undying. There were big explosions thanks to Wildfire, but asides from its green vapor, it doesn't seem all that different from actual Greek fire. 

But two episodes into season three and we're already been given Giants, Wargs, vanishing children, killer scorpion hybrids and men getting their nipples cut off without any pain (not exactly magical, but...come on).

The individual storylines are also moving at a snail's pace. We know that the third season will only follow the first half of the third book, A Storm of Swords, but considering that we've only had two scenes in two episodes of Jon Snow's storyline with Mance Rayder North of the Wall and the same with Khaleesi, who didn't even appear in last night's episode, it doesn't seem like this method of dividing the book was entirely necessary (unless things pick up in the next few weeks).

The episode was full of Wargs for the most part. Both North of the Wall and on the road to the Wall with Bran and his new friends, the Reeds. Other than that we learned that Margaery and her grandmother (awesomely played by Bond girl Diana Rigg) have more up their sleeve than their letting Joffrey in on and are at least nice enough to treat Sansa to some lemon cakes after everything she's been through.

The high point of the episode was probably Brienne's charity coming back to haunt her and the Kingslayer when the man she let live earlier in the episode gave her away to Lord Bolton, nicely paralleling Carl's character at the end of The Walking Dead last week (basically that being merciful and not killing someone when you have the chance ends up being your undoing).