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Illustration by Alice Wilson
After what seems like a lifetime off air, Game of Thrones triumphantly returns for its fourth season bringing with it more blood, sex and intrigue than ever before. The show opens with the traditional tour of Westeros as new steel is forged from the last of the Stark clan’s power and the winners and losers of the last season weigh up their positions. From the striking, foreboding opening images of fire and metal it’s clear that this is a show in its prime.
The events of the Red Wedding have left the Lannisters in their strongest ever position; their main enemy has been wiped out and loose ends have been tied up. With all of the family back together in King’s Landing, soap opera drama and humour quickly ensues. Cersei and Tyrion can’t hide their contempt for each other, Jaime has returned to find his sister no longer romantically interested in him and Joffrey is due to get married, while all try to keep on the good side of patriarch Tywin. Away from the capital, returning characters are embroiled in their own storylines, with a particular favourite being the adventures of the Hound and Arya. Their odd-couple double act of towering fearsome killer-for-hire and inquisitive moral orphan is constantly tense and full of humour.
This far into the series, it would be easy to become bored of the characters that we’ve been with from the start. However, constant twists and turns make sure that audiences are kept on their toes, as individuals who have up until now not interacted with one another are placed in new situations and new allegiances. A cast of new key players have also been introduced, such as the revenge seeking Prince Oberyn of Dorne. With a wealth of backstory and centuries worth of family histories to get through, the writers do a good job of making these new characters seem like they’ve always been part of this expansive world.
The fourth season introduces yet more fearsome threats from beyond the Wall, slowly making their way down the continent and spreading terror wherever they go. While the series has become known for explicitly violent battles and duels, psychological terror is something which is now more pervasive as the Seven Kingdoms slip deeper into unrest and instability; Westeros has become a darker realm. Tightly choreographed fights and epic armies are still a mainstay of the series, and the viewers are reminded that Game of Thrones is one of the best looking shows on television.
Whether you’ve read the books or not, the show is taking measures to keep the plot fresh; a shocking death in an early episode sets the gears in motion for the rest of the season but cast members have stated numerous times that we will see a lot of divergences from the source material. The current season spans the second half of the third book, a pivotal moment in the series where certainties of the past are forever changed. If the rest of the fourth season can match the momentum and standard of the first three episodes then both fans and newcomers will stay enthralled until the bloody end.
Game of Thrones season four starts April 7 on Sky Atlantic HD. Weekly reviews and spoiler filled discussions will start on this site from that time.
