Game Of Thrones: 12 Things You Learn Rewatching Season 2

9. Tywin & Arya Is One Of The Best Book Changes In The Whole Series

Tywin Arya Game Of Thrones
HBO

One of the real highlights of the season comes at Harrenhal, when Arya is serving as the cupbearer to Tywin Lannister. Charles Dance and Maisie Williams made for a wonderful pairing as they engaged in a high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse: her spying on him; he almost but never quite learning who she is.

There was distrust on both sides, but that made every moment they shared incredibly tense, and yet they were perfectly balanced by the surprisingly mutual admiration on display: Arya learned a lot from Tywin, and he showed more humanity too.

They remain one of the show's strongest character pairings, and are still one of the best deviations from the source material (where Arya serves as cupbearer to Roose Bolton instead). It's interesting to note, now that the show has moved well beyond the books, just how great a change was made back in Season 2.

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NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far. A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.