HBO

Spoilers for the season three premiere of Game of Thrones below:

The first time I watched my review copy of Valar Dohaeris through, I was struck by the lengths it went to update us on what seemed like every storyline and setting in Game of Thrones. There was, if Im not missing anything: the Nights Watch beyond the Wall, Jon Snow at Mance Rayders camp, Tyrion (and Bronn) in Kings Landing, Davos coming to after the Blackwater, Stannis licking his wounds in Dragonstone with Melisandre, Robb planning to beseige Harrenhal, Tywin taking office as Hand of the King, Joffrey with his new fiancee Margaery, Cersei adjusting to her future daughter-in-law, Sansa plotting an escape with Littlefinger and Dany at sea and seeking an army in Astapor.

It was only after I finished watching that I realized how many plot threads and characters the episode had not gotten to: No Arya; no Bran, Rickon, Osha and Hodor; no Theon; no Winterfell; no Jaime and Brienne.

After two seasons, in other words, theres Seven Hells of a lot of story to deal with in Game of Thrones. Which means, first, thatthe very focused Blackwater episode notwithstandingwere not likely to get very many traditional TV episodes from Game of Thrones, but rather hourlong chunks that incrementally advance up to a dozen plotlines a week.

And, second, we can therefore expect slow going the first couple of episodes. The Lannisters are victorious in Kings Landing, the Starks are unhoused in Winterfell, but the war is not over. So the series is resetting in many ways, introducing new conflicts and next moves. Valar Dohaeris is like the first jet-lagged hours of a return trip, butwith its flying dragons, family turmoil and, holy crap, giants!it promises an impressive journey to come.

Finally, it means I need to set a ground rule in these weekly reviews: Im not going to write about every character, storyline and cool scene in every episode, because lifes too short. This is a review, not a list. Instead, Im going to focus what was most interesting to me in a particular episode.

This week, that thing is what I hope will be a big theme of season three: freedom, as an absolute, as a relative term, as an ideal and as a liability.

Dany, when we meet her, is a queen in search of an army, and the way to get one in the part of the world where she comes from is to buy oneliterally, in the form of slaves. Shes not keen on the idea, in part, maybe, from the memory of herself being offered up like chattel by her brother Viserys in service of his own royal ambitions. When they get to Astapor, the reailty is even more chilling: the Unsullied are trained efficiently and brutally, proving their detachment and loyalty by killing slave infants.

Dany is repulsed, but I dont think this is only about morality. Its also about duty, and her own quest. Dany wants to rule Westeros, which means more than getting an army; it means learning to lead. As her aide Jorah puts it, Youll have a true khalesar when you prove yourself strong. Can you take a shortcut to leadership by buying strength? (A.k.a. the Lannister Way to Make Friends and Influence People.) Does she have any choice? Jorah thinks not; she needs numbers, and soldiers are soldiers, free or slave. (The episodes title, for what its worth, means All men must serve in High Valyrian.) The distinction means something to some people, she tells him.

Excerpt from:

Game of Thrones: Freedom and Giants!