Game of Thrones 6.2: The Waking

I titled this review of Game of Thrones 6.2 "The Waking," because I didn't want to give too much away, in the unlikely event that anyone reading this hasn't seen the episode.   I might have entitled this review "The Melting," since ... well, read no more, if you don't want the last moment of the episode deprived of its shocking power on its first viewing.  [spoilers ahead]

Now, I'm such a romantic I was hoping that Ned would somehow be brought back from the dead after his stunning death at the end of the first season.  When he wasn't, I figured there was not much point in hoping for the same for his out-of-wedlock son, Jon Snow.

But hey, that's just what happened in the last minute, and I'm glad about it.   Jon is too important a character to lose in the confrontations that reside ahead, which I assume will be between the fiery dragons of the south and the frigid demons of the north.  Of course, we have no idea what condition Jon will be in his resurrected form.   If he's lost his mind, then what's the point of bringing him back? But it also seems unlikely that he'll be exactly or even more or less the same as he was before his death.   As a possible point of comparison, the loyalty of the resurrected was a key element in the early books of the Frank Herbert's Dune series, one of the best series in science fiction (in fact, second only, I would say to Isaac Asimov's Foundation series).

Meanwhile, we have at least two other re-awakenings or reacquaintances in this fine episode of GOT. Bran was MIA all last season, and it's good to see him back on the screen, with a character played by Max von Sydow just to add some interest.   Bran's powers have now expanded to vividly clear trips in his memory, approximating travels back in tine, and these should gives us some important missing elements in the back stories.

And the two dragons have been unchained by Tyrion, which is about time, and very much welcome. The revelation from Tyrion that they are as intelligent as they are fierce promises some crucial turning points in the story ahead.

I'm so far liking this new season better than the beginnings of any of the previous seasons, except the first.

See also Game of Thrones 6.1: Where Are the Dragons

And see also Game of Thrones 5.1: Unsetting the Table ... Game of Thrones 5.8: The Power of Frigid Death ... Game of Thrones 5.9: Dragon in Action; Sickening Scene with Stannis ... Game of Thrones Season 5 Finale: Punishment

And see also Games of Thrones Season 4 Premiere: Salient Points ... Game of Thrones 4.2: Whodunnit? ... Game of Thrones 4.3: Who Will Save Tyrion ...Game of Thrones 4.4: Glimpse of the Ultimate Battle ... Game of Thrones 4.6: Tyrion on Trial ... Game of Thrones 4.8: Beetles and Battle ...Game of Thrones 4.9: The Fight for Castle Black ... Games of Thrones Season 4 Finale: Woven Threads

And see also  Game of Thrones Season 3 Premiere ... Game of Thrones 3.3: The Heart of Jaime Lannister ... Game of Thrones 3.6: Extraordinary Cinematography ...Game of Thrones 3.7: Heroic Jaime ...  Game of Thrones 3.9: A Critique 

And see also Game of Thrones Back in Play for Season 2 ... Game of Thrones 2.2: Cersei vs. Tyrion

And see also A Game of Thrones: My 1996 Review of the First Novel ... Game of Thrones Begins Greatly on HBO ... Game of Thrones 1.2: Prince, Wolf, Bastard, Dwarf ... Games of Thrones 1.3: Genuine Demons ... Game of Thrones 1.4: Broken Things  ... Game of Thrones 1.5: Ned Under Seige ... Game of Thrones 1.6: Molten Ever After ... Games of Thrones 1.7: Swiveling Pieces ... Game of Thrones 1.8: Star Wars of the Realms ... Game of Thrones 1.9: Is Ned Really Dead? ... Game of Thrones 1.10 Meets True Blood

And here's a Spanish article in Semana, the leading news magazine in Colombia, in which I'm quoted about explicit sex on television, including on Game of Thrones.

And see "'Game of Thrones': Why the Buzz is So Big" article in The Christian Science Monitor, 8 April 2014, with my quotes.

Also: CNN article, "How 'Game of Thrones' Is Like America," with quote from me

 

"I was here, in Carthage, three months from now." 

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