"Second Sons" isn't exactly "Blackwater 2," but it's the most focused episode of the series since that one.

[It] brings a closer, oft-uncomfortable scrutiny to bear on not just these frequently unusual relationships.

Blimey, who'd have seen that one coming?

Tonight's episode was great---another character-driven episode but, unlike last week's episode, not a dull moment to be found.

Um, did he leave that dagger there? Homie best be returning to pick that damn thing up.

Where the last couple of episodes have been heavy on people having a moan in damp castles, this episode had stronger focus on those truly advancing the "game of thrones".

The two extended riffs on Tyrion's marriage to Sansa, and Daenarys' efforts to recruit the sell swords known as the Second Sons to her cause, allowed for an unusually rich assortment of character pieces, plot pay-offs, and even an inside joke.

Second Sons is easily one of the best this year, although several fan-favorite characters were absent, including Robb Stark and Jon Snow.

The result was a fantastic look at characters we've known as they dealt with new circumstances we didn't expect.

It's rare to see a TV this thematically coherent, let alone one based on a series of novels whose themes may not be exactly the same. What a pity this season is almost over - it's really hitting its stride.

The main thrust of the episode though came with the wedding of Tyrion and Sansa, every moment of which was brilliant and excruciating.

They face the man set to marry them and I swear to god I though the Princess Bride priest voice was going to come out of the actor.

The episode ends in a rush, but the audience is left with a vital piece of new information and a fresh injection of fantasy into an episode that's mostly realpolitik.

And that two minutes was better than the totality of The Walking Dead.

No one character has demonstrated a conclusive arc across the season, nor do we necessarily expect season 3 to unfold as concisely as its literary counterpart, but we wish for more focused storytelling among the final two episodes of the year.

Home stretch. Tonight's Game of Thrones is the most focused episode we've seen since Blackwater.

The best part of the episode involves Tyrion and Sansa's wedding, which is a long series of scenes where people get drunker and drunker and their tongues get looser and looser.

Lady Olenna trying to make sense of all the changes to their collective family trees at the wedding reception was possibly the funniest moment of the episode.

Though the episode was mostly conversational in nature, I enjoyed most of the moments involved.

White Walker aside, that was a pretty tranquil episode, right? Not boring, though. Just one of the few Game of Thrones installments that stuck to a mere number of storylines you can count on one hand.