Watching the Throne: Never Forget That Dragons Aren't Slaves (A "Game of Thrones" Recap)

Bodies drop and fire burns as season 3 begins to heat up.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Calling the latest episode of HBO's Game of Thrones "one of the best yet" is a cliche. This isn't a bad thing—it's a glowing testament to the creative chops of all involved with television's glorious adaptation of novelist George R.R. Martin's elaborate, multi-book fantasy world. On a weekly basis, the GoT team find showy ways to one-up themselves, and last night's hour, "And Now His Watch Is Ended," was the strongest and most eventful in an already dynamite third season that, only four eps into its 10-hour run, isn't fucking around.

Here at Watching the Throne, the mission is to evaluate the key characters gunning for a seat on the Iron Throne, and award them with crowns if they help their power-seeking causes, or leave their scalps naked if they mess up in any notable ways. Before we get to the assessments, though, let's first acknowledge those who made major advancements in "And Now His Watch Is Ended" that, while not technically applicable to any of Watching the Throne's participants just yet, set important narrative pieces in motions and helped bolster the episode's excellence.

First, you've got to feel bad for Theon Greyjoy—fine, you don't. It's his own fault that he became a royal, self-centered pain in the ass last season. But, still, that tragic look of betrayal and horror on his face as he realizes that the guy who saved him (during last week's "Walk of Punishment") wasn't bringing back home, but, rather, directly back into the dungeon from which he'd just escaped is tough to ignore. The same goes for the episode's midway massacre, which, if not a certain dragon-woman's own moment of wonderful carnage, would stand as last night's biggest highpoint. The victims: hard-headed old man Craster and the Night's Watch's Lord Commander Mormont, both of whom get stabbed to death in a violent uprising.

What about fan favorites Tyrion, Daenerys, and Joffrey (just kidding—we can't stand that smug little prick either)? Let's discuss.

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RELATED: Watching the Throne: You Can't Hold a Crown Without a Hand (A Game of Thrones Recap)

Written by Matt Barone (@MBarone)

Jaime Lannister: Feeling Sorry for Yourself = Instant Crown Removal

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Joffrey Baratheon: Behind Every Powerful Man Is a Strong Woman (and a Crown)

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Cersei Lannister: And You Thought Norma and Norman Bates' Mother/Son Relationship Was Strained

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Tyrion Lannister: Crown-Worthy By Association

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Daenerys Targaryen: A Dragon Lady Ferociously Comes Into Her Own

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Game of Thrones loyalists love them some Daenerys Targaryen—how can they not? She's intelligent, fearless, beautiful, and the mother of dragons. Yet, for all of her charms, Daenerys has only shown hints of being the ultimate badass during the show's two-plus seasons. It's undeniably in her, but we're still waiting to see Dany own it.

Well, ladies and gentleman, she finally owned it.

The negotiations she made with Valyrian ruler Kraznys last week—one of her dragons, Drogon, and tons of money for his army of subservient slave soldiers—are a go, and it's time to hand over one of her precious fire-breathers. Which she does, and Kraznys, in turn, presents the Unsullied (aka, those slave soldiers). Dany turns her back on Drogon and walks away as Kraznys tries to control the beast, who's tied to a string and flying tethered to its new owner's hand like a kite. Drogon makes all kinds of unhappy noises, but Dany shows no remorse. She walks toward her new army and addresses them in…Valyrian? That's right, after weeks of thinking that all of Kraznys' derogatory comments and profanity-laden insults toward her went unnoticed by Dany since she doesn't speak Valyrian, she informs the stunned Kraznys that his language is her "mother's tongue" and orders her Unsullied men to kill Kraznys' other guards.

Then, it's Drogon's turn to have some fun. "A dragon is no slave," says Dany, and she's right—a dragon is a monster that likes to burn people alive by spitting flame-balls onto them. Kraznys experiences this for himself, taking a blast of fire on his face and dying in one of the best Game of Thronessend-offs to date.

As if Dany hasn't won everyone over at this point, she tells the Unsullied that they're now all free men, and anyone who wants to leave can do so without any harm. They all stay, though, stomping their spears into the dirt as a sign of militant approval toward their new master. Together, Dany and her troops march out of Astapor and into the hearts of all Game of Thrones fans.

Screw a crown, Dany deserves a coronation this week.

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