Game of Thrones

For those of you who know me, of course I am writing about game of thrones. For any of you who watch and are not caught up, do not read this. The season has been fulfilling, as always but episode 2 of the season was the most fulfilling episode of the series so far. There was a specific scene that I thought was particularly well played out.

It was at the purple wedding, king Joffrey was celebrating his marriage with food, wine, and of course, tormenting is poor uncle, Tyrion. They are surrounded by their friends and family as King Joffrey manages to make an utter fool out of the most cunning and clever character on the show. Of course, be cunning and clever, Tyrion does not make a scene in front of the guest but plays along with Joff's little charades. Being beloved by the viewers, everyone is feeling bad for Tyrion. Being hated by the viewers, everyone is loathing Joff.

As the scene progresses, Tyrion is made to look weak and vulnerable as Joff is portrayed as cruel and uncaring. This is when the great visuals take place. Joff starts apparently choking and his face turning purple. He claws at his throat and the cameras zoom about to see the reactions of the onlookers. Some are horrified, plainly while others do not seem to know how to react -- stunned would be the word.

Joff continues on choking and falls into his mothers arms. As he lays there, vomiting all over himself and manages to lift a feeble finger to point at his uncle Tyrion, who is picking up the goblet he was drinking from, looking guilty. Then the camera brings us back to the boy-kings face as he is purple as a plum. He has vomit around his mouth and cannot catch a breath. As he takes is last agonizing attempt to breath, blood trickles from his nose and his eyes are beat red. The shot lingers, to give the views the full affect of the gory death that just occurred.

The lingering shot does not always work when such a strong scene is happening, but for this, the lingering shot only aided in the distraction of one of the most hated characters on television. It was not quite a close-up, but close enough to feel the presence of the dead king through the screen.

Having read the books, the show did more than justice for the gory death of the evil boy-king. It was just was stark-lovers needed to soothe their troubled hearts after the beheading of one and the infamous red wedding.