Last weeks meeting of Tyrion Lannister and Daenerys Targaryen gave fans of both the books and the show something theyd waited a long time for, and neither had seen. It also provided many questions, such as what role would Tyrion have, how would Daenerys react to him, and would the scenes between the two pay off in the way expected? Answers to all three were received this week. Daenerys is understandably wary of him, but also realises what he can offer. Likewise, Tyrion knows that she needs someone like him to give her counsel, but he has to play his cards just right because she could also have him killed or sent back into the fighting pits. The scenes between the two, meanwhile, are absolutely perfect. Peter Dinklage is at the level weve come to expect from him in these moments, but the bigger plus is that Emilia Clarke totally raises her game to match, and gives possibly her best performance in the series to date, completing nailing the break the wheel speech heard in the Season 5 trailer. Tyrion outlines what he knows, not just about Westeros but also about Dany, she tells him what she wants, and suddenly the decision to kill off Ser Barristan looks the right choice if it means we have the Imp now acting as a key advisor to the Mother of Dragons. In any other week of the show this wouldve been the big talking point, the highlight and possibly the moment that it ended with. Here, its over and done with in the first half, thankfully well-positioned to be picked up again next week - and hopefully well continue to see a lot more of this pair - but for now, it was understandably overshadowed by something on a much larger scale.
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.
