'Game of Thrones' season finale hits new ratings high

A new record has come to Westeros with Sunday's ratings for "Game of Thrones."

The Season 2 finale of HBO's fantasy series revealed the show's growing popularity, with 4.2 million viewers tuning in to the 9 p.m. broadcast, according to Nielsen. That set a new high mark for the series and was up a strong 38% compared with last year's Season 1 finale.

HBO said an additional 910,000 viewers turned up for a repeat at 11:10 p.m.

Overall, "Game of Thrones" has averaged 10.4 million viewers this season including regular broadcasts, video-on-demand, the network's HBO Go online service and DVRs. 

Meanwhile, HBO's political comedy "Veep," with Julia Louis-Dreyfus as a harried, frequently disrespected vice president, delivered 1.2 million viewers at 10:10 p.m., for that show's second most-watched original episode so far.

Right after that, the critically acclaimed urban comedy "Girls" hit a series high with 1.1 million viewers.

What did you think of "Game of Thrones" and the rest of HBO's Sunday lineup?

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'Game of Thrones' star Carice van Houten on magic and Melisandre

-- Scott Collins (twitter.com/scottcollinsLAT)

Photo: Emilia Clarke plays Daenerys on HBO's "Game of Thrones." Credit: Helen Sloan/HBO

'Game of Thrones': Alfie Allen talks poor, misguided Theon Greyjoy

Theon Greyjoy spent most of the second season of "Game of Thrones" making one bad decision after another in his quest to rule Winterfell in Robb Stark's absence. But after a series of increasingly despicable acts, he finally got a chance to shine in the season finale, rallying the troops before reaching quite an unexpected conclusion.

For actor Alfie Allen, that scene was one of his favorites of the entire season. The 25-year-old British actor (who's the brother of singer Lily Allen and son of actor and musician Keith Allen) has had a career on stage, television and film, but his role as Theon is his highest-profile to date. He spoke about his character and the season finale in advance of the episode's Sunday airing.

Would you describe Theon as misguided? Selfish?

I'd say both of those words. Definitely. On the selfish side of it, he's looking for a bit of status. He wants to be Prince Theon and he wants to have the ability to make his own decisions and decide his own fate, which has never happened in his life.  But he's also misguided -- he's trying to do things because he wants approval from his father. He thinks to achieve respect from the people in Winterfell, he needs to rule through fear. And that's never a good way to start off things.

But he just wants love. He wants to have this idyllic family with his sister. But it doesn't turn out that way. And when it doesn't, it leads him to make more of these decisions that he didn't usually make. I think Theon's trying to assert his power to the fullest of his abilities and to do that means doing despicable things. Even if that's not who he is deep down. I think in Episode 10 you see everything come back around and he realizes that maybe that wasn't the way to go about things. But he still knows he must continue in that same vein, because if he doesn't he may not respect himself. It's funny. In that scene in Episode 10, he finally gains the respect of his soldiers through being ready to die.

Your final scene in Episode 10 was one of your favorites from the season, correct?

It's cool. I shouldn't say he goes out in a heroic blaze, because he's not a hero. But he goes out in a blaze. People betray him that he put his trust in. I hope it was one of those points where you find yourself rooting for someone you didn't like for the whole series. When you see how badly he wants it, you'll find yourself rooting for him slightly. It'll twist your moral compass a bit.

What has been the public reaction to your character's despicable behavior?

Different. Some people hate me. Some people throw their arm around me and say, "Mate, I know where you're coming from." I think Theon is one of the most human characters on the show, to be honest. There's a lot people can relate to in real life. It definitely made it easier for me to play the character because I think it’s a universal theme that people are looking for the approval of their parents the whole time.

You were left to interperet Theon on your own, independent from how he's portrayed in the books?

Yeah, in the books Theon sets out to betray the Starks. That doesn't put him in a good light straightaway. So when we were talking about it in the first series, David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss] were saying they were going to go there in a different way. So that he doesn't really know what he's doing. The way I wanted to play it was that he's going over to Pyke to enjoy a bit of status and also form an alliance between Robb and the Greyjoys and possibly command his own army into battle and to get the approval and respect of his father. But it all gets thrown back in his face and he's forced to make these brash decisions and he's pushed past the point of no return. He just has to carry on being that person. It's very sad.

Did that make it more palatable to you as an actor, to make him more sympathetic?

Definitely. It was something I set out to do.... There's a lot of people who sympathize with him and in a weird way, respect him. I just think there's a lot people can relate to.

In the first season you were part of the ensemble. In the second season your character was isolated from the rest of the main cast and brought to the front. Was losing the ensemble unnerving?

Not unnerving. It was funny that most of the people in my storyline were new characters, so often I found myself putting my arm around people saying, "Don't worry. Don't be nervous. I've been here before. I've done that." Being a "Game of Thrones" vet was a funny feeling. There were points during the first season where I was nervous, but I couldn't wait to get around to it. When I started to see some of the scenes they were adding for me...

There's Theon's final scene in Episode 10 that wasn't planned. And they wrote it halfway through the shooting of Season 2. I couldn't wait to get around to doing it. I didn't put much pressure on myself, to be honest. I'm not trying to prove anything to anyone. I'm just trying to prove it to myself.  That's the whole thing about doing TV and film, there's the delayed reaction. In theater you get the feedback and approval straightaway and you feel good about what you've done. On TV, there’s the torturous waiting for five months.

Is this the longest you've been with a character?

It's definitely the longest I've been with a character. It's part of my life. I see Theon as me. But I see that in any job I do. You have to find similiarites in any character you play. As an actor, that's one of the challenges. When you get a part you make it real to yourself. And to make it real, you bring parts of yourself into the character.

After two years, do you still find new things about the character?

Massively, man! All the time. It'll come to you in a weird way. You think you have to sit in a room and think about it for ages, but it's not like that. You're constantly thinking about it. You'll be walking up the stairs and it comes to you. Really, that's being an actor. You torture yourself about it and then you move on. One thing that took me awhile to realize was that Theon has a determination to succeed. And that’s definitely something I've got. I definitely want to succeed as an actor.

How much time do you spend filming in Ireland?

All in all, about 30 days, but the shoot takes about four months. 30 days spaced over those four months.

The weather doesn’t get you down?

No, it's all in keeping with the show isn't it? It's good. I remember last time it was one of the coldest winters they'd had on record in 25 years. For us, it was quite difficult in the first season but HBO treated us well. They give us nice trailers we can go retire to. The armor helps us get into character too. It can get a little tiresome at times when you want to sit down and have lunch. You have to position your sword in the gaps in the chairs and stuff but it all helps. I love it.

RELATED:

'Game of Thrones' recap: All men must die

'Game of Thrones': Richard Madden talks Robb Stark's romance

'Game of Thrones' star Carice van Houten on magic and Melisandre

-- Patrick Kevin Day

Photo: Alfie Allen. Credit: HBO.

'Game of Thrones' recap: All men must die

After last week's climactic episode, which remained laser-focused on Kings Landing and the bloody Battle of the Blackwater, "Game of Thrones" resumed its Carmen-Sandiego-style world tour of Westeros for a season finale that left surprisingly few of its characters hanging off cliffs and focused far more on resolution and begrudging acceptance: of failure, of death, of change. There's a lot of ground to cover in this extra-long 65-minute episode, so let's get started.

Those concerned about Tyrion can breathe a sigh of relief as he wakes up relatively unharmed, although he's now Battle Damage Tyrion thanks to a rather nasty scar across his face. Turns out the man who attacked him was Mandon Moore, a member of the Kingsguard sent to kill him at Cersei's behest.

But the greatest blow to Tyrion is not physical, but political: As Master Pycelle informs him quite gleefully, Lord Tywin has taken over his position as the King's Hand, relieved Bronn as commander of the City Watch and sent Tyrion's hill-tribe warriors home -- transforming Tyrion instantly from one of the most important players in the game to a powerless bystander.

CHEAT SHEET: Who's who in 'Game of Thrones' Season 2?

One of his few remaining allies appears to be Varys, who goes out of his way to acknowledge that Tyrion saved Kings Landing from certain destruction, because neither the history books nor Lord Tywin will ever do so.

Cut to Lord Tywin's horse crapping all over the stone floor outside the throne room, a rather unsubtle but apt metaphor for how the Lannister patriarch has always treated his youngest son. Joffrey offers Littlefinger all the lands of Harrenhal as a reward for coordinating the partnership with the Tyrells, and grants an even bigger boon to Ser Loras by breaking off the engagement with Sansa in favor of marrying his sister, Margaery.

Sansa is over the moon about the idea that she might finally get away from that tow-headed psycho, but Littlefinger quickly quashes her tiny moment of sunshine and disabuses her of that notion. Although the betrothal may be over, it's not going to end the beatings, plus he adds that there's all kinds of exciting rape to look forward to now that she's finally "a woman"! Littlefinger promises to help Sansa escape because of his affection for her mother, so here's hoping that bargain works out better here than it did for Ned!

CHEAT SHEET: Who's who in 'Game of Thrones' Season 2?

Brienne and Jaime encounter three dead women hung along the road with a sign that reads: "They lay with lions." The three men who killed them for consorting with Lannisters amble back down the road and go into laughing fits when they see Brienne in armor, a situation she seems sadly accustomed to. Clearly bound as a prisoner, Jaime tries to slide under the radar by pretending to be a pig thief, but one of the men sees through the ruse and recognizes him. Brienne steps in with astonishing speed and eviscerates all three of them with such ferocity that even Jaime seems shocked.

I'll admit to freeze-framing on his hilariously shocked expression several times, as it is priceless. Maybe it's time to cut back on those jokes about her sexuality, eh Kingslayer?

Jaqen appears once more to say farewell to Arya after her escape from Harrenhal, and she takes this opportunity to tell him how impressed she's been with his awesome murdering, and how wants to learn how to do it herself! Jaqen says she'd need to come with him to the faraway city of Braavos, but because she's not ready to give up on finding her family, she declines.

Instead, Jaqen gives Arya a strange silver coin and the words "valar morghulis" as consolation prizes, and tells her that if she ever wants to find him again, she need only give them to any man from Braavos. And then he leaves, but not before he kills one final person: himself. "Jaqen is dead," he tells Arya, before turning his head away and turning it back -- to reveal an entirely different (and slightly less hot) face.

Things looks grim for Theon, whose twenty men holding Winterfell are now surrounded by 500 enemy soldiers with no help from the Iron Islands forthcoming. He seems very much like the old Theon here, and Master Luwin gently counsels him to flee and join the Night's Watch. Theon says it's too late; he's "gone too far go pretend to be anything else," and there's nowhere to go now but through. He gives a very stirring Braveheart sort of speech about dying gloriously and it seems like his men are rallying... until someone bonks him on the back of the head and prepares to deliver him to the enemy outside the walls, presumably per Robb Stark's offer of leniency.

Daenerys arrives at the House of the Undying to reclaim her dragons, and finds herself drawn into strange, tempting visions as she moves from room to room. In one, she walks across the throne room of Kings Landing, empty and dark with snow falling from a ruined ceiling open to the sky. Then she finds herself in a tent where she has an emotional reunion with Khal Drogo and the child they lost. When she finally finds her dragons chained to a table, the warlock appears and explains that the dragons have fueled the revival of magic, and because she makes them stronger, they're going to imprison her with them... forever.

Much like Brienne, her response is swift and lethal, ordering her dragons to shoot fireballs at the warlock, consuming him in flames and dissolving their chains. She returns to the villa of Xaro Xhoan Ducksauce, finds him in bed with her handmaiden, and locks both of them in Xaro's empty vault to die a slow death while her khalasar loots everything he owns. It will be enough, says Mormont, to buy a ship.

Robb Stark, much like his father, is an honorable idiot who can't help but make the wrong decisions for the right reasons, which is why Robb's decided not only to have hot, spontaneous tent sex with Talisa, but to put aside the Frey betrothal and marry her.

Oath-breaking is kind of a big deal here, not just in terms of personal honor but the rather intense political fallout this is going to create, particularly from Lord Walder Frey. But Robb doesn't care because he's in looooove and somehow thinks he's on a show in which love is treated as a formidable power that conquers all, rather than a profound weakness more likely to destroy you.

Speaking of powerful men under the sway of alluring foreign women, Stannis is understandably pretty upset about his massive military failure at Blackwater and the Lord of Light's inability to seal the deal, which he expresses by choking Melisandre rather vigorously and screaming, "Where is your god now?" She maintains that he will still ultimately become king (after betraying everything he once held dear, a qualification that doesn't faze him but probably should?). There stare into a fire together for a while; sadly there are no S'Mores.

Finally, Jon continues his march toward Mance Rayder with the wildlings and ranger Qhorin Halfhand, who had previously urged Jon to become a spy within the wildlings for the Night's Watch. Qhorin contrives a fight with Jon that forces him to kill the ranger, which earns him trust from the wildlings. Moments later, Ygritte brings him to see the armies of wildlings gathered together in a frozen valley below. Their numbers are not small.

Meanwhile, the men of the Night's Watch must face another, even bigger threat as the third horn finally sounds and the White Walkers finally rise up en masse, shambling forwards in the undead hundreds for the final dramatic shot of the season.

That's it for Game of Thrones until 2013! Now that it's all over, what were your favorite moments of Season 2?

Sex and violence tally:

Violence: Brienne kills three Stark soldiers, Jon kills Qhorin Halfhand, Stannis chokes Melisandre, Master Luwin gets stabbed, the warlock burns to death and, though this isn't violence in the traditional sense, Daxos gets buried alive in a vault, which is a pretty messed up way to die. 

Nudity: A prostitute strips pointlessly for Varys.

Extra-credit book report:

Tyrion's wound was actually far more disfiguring in the book, with three-quarters of his nose and a chunk of his lip lost. Robb didn't set aside his marriage to the Frey girl for Talisa -- who is not a character in the book -- but rather a high-born girl from a minor family named Jeyne Westerling. Luwin was killed by Bolton's men, not Iron Islanders (or Osha). And Daenerys went to the House of the Undying accompanied by her dragons, and she had very different visions and ultimately burned not the warlock, but the entire building.

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Full Show Tracker coverage of "Game of Thrones"

Alfie Allen talks about life as Theon Greyjoy

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-- Laura Hudson

Photo: Ser Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen) and Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) in "Game of Thrones." Credit: HBO

'Game of Thrones' recap: The Battle of the Blackwater

If you're tuning in to "Game of Thrones" this week for the further adventures of Arya, Catelyn, Jaime, Brienne, Jon, Theon, Bran or Daenerys, then prepare for disappointment, because this episode ignores all of those characters and focuses its attention on one story and one story only: the Battle of the Blackwater.

On the plus side, you get a massive all-or-nothing throwdown between the two most powerful military forces in the War of Five Kings: Stannis Baratheon and the Lannisters. It's hard to know who to root for here, as there are few characters more beloved than Tyrion or hated than Joffrey, but as members of Team Lannister, they will likely live or die together. Who would be the better victor: the sociopathic young sadist who killed Ned Stark on a whim, or the man who murdered his brother with black magic vagina shadows? There's really no choice you can feel good about, which I guess makes it similar to most political elections, so think about it that way as you cast your mental ballot.

The sheer ruthlessness of the show gives the episode an added feeling of tenuousness -- the feeling that anything can happen to anyone, that no one is safe and no outcome is certain. People don't live or die in "Game of Thrones" because they "deserve" to, or because we like them, or because their armor has the shiniest gold. They live or die because they are smarter or stronger -- or not. And as both sides sweat and pace and vomit in preparation for what could be the last day of their lives, you pace with them a little bit, because you don't know either.

Finally, Stannis' fleet appears in Blackwater Bay, a huge naval force we're told outnumbers the Lannister boats 10 to 1. Curiously, only one ship emerges from Kings Landing to answer them, but as it grows closer, Davos realizes that it is empty. Well, empty of people, but full of the incredibly combustible substance called wildfire. A flaming arrow whistles through the sky toward the boat, detonating across the water in spectacular walls of green flame that obliterate everything around them. Even Tyrion looks out at the tableau with a certain trepidation, like someone who has unleashed something simultaneously far more beautiful and terrible than imagined -- a dragon in a bottle.

'Game of Thrones' recap: Marking time until 'Blackwater'

Next week on "Game of Thrones" is the big blowout episode everyone's been drooling for since before the season began. It's the one written by the books' author, George R.R. Martin, directed by "Descent" auteur Neil Marshall and featuring Stannis Baratheon's all-out assault on King's Landing. Based on the 30-second preview, it looks to be an epic hour of TV.

This week ... Did we mention next week is "Blackwater"?

Not every episode of "Game of Thrones" can be filled with thrilling plot turns, and this week's episode, "Prince of Winterfell," was one of those place-holders. As the season speeds toward its conclusion, we did another spin through the multiple story lines, giving everyone a scene or two to establish their places before the final dash across the finish line. And although it's good to give certain plot points time to breathe, there also seemed to be a lot of marking time.

CHEAT SHEET: All you need to know about "Game of Thrones"

That's not to say the episode was totally without merit. There were several nice moments and key bits of setup, such as Brienne's and Jaime's canoe trip toward King's Landing and the discovery of the cache of dragonglass at the First of the First Men. But there were also several moments that were easy to see coming -- Robb Stark and Talisa finally hooking up, Stannis and Davos sailing along toward King's Landing and the revelation that Bran and Rickon weren't actually killed and strung up on the walls of Winterfell. (Did anyone really believe they'd been killed?)

Peter Dinklage continues to own every scene he appears in -- one moment putting on a brave poker face for his sister Cersei to conceal the identity of his lover, Shae, (Cersei mistakes the wrong prostitute for Tyrion's lover) and the next minute collapsing into a puddle of emotional goo for Shae herself. A few scenes later, he's strategizing with Varys on the walls of King's Landing without missing a beat.

Daenerys gets only a brief scene in the episode, in which he resolves to visit the House of the Undying to get her dragons back (as if there was any doubt after last week that she would). And Jon Snow is delivered into the hands of the wildlings (which we knew last week). Still, unsurprising as these scenes may be, they seem necessary to establish attitudes and points of view before the action in the two weeks to come.

Theon, meanwhile, earns the title of the episode, but comes across as increasingly clueless and in over his head in regard to his control of Winterfell. Even his own sister arrives to attempt to get him out of his sticky situation, but poor, clueless Theon insists on holding on to his prize. No matter what the cost. This whole campaign won't end well for him, surely.

Arya and her pals finally escape from Harrenhal, with the assistance of the extremely lethal Jaqen H'ghar. Arya's cunning and ruthlessness continue to grow week after week, and it's no surprise that Tywin Lannister took a shine to her during their time together. Unfortunately, Tywin rides off before Arya gets to fully express her feelings about him (probably in the form of a knife), but you can be sure she won't forget her debts. Though many have railed against the second season's increasing deviations from the source material, they did provide many moments of unexpected pleasure, such as the scenes between Tywin and Arya shooting the bull about ancient Westerosi history. It wasn't in Martin's novels, but it should have been.

Though "Prince of Winterfell" wasn't an exceptional episode, it was a necessary one. There's something like seven different story lines happening at the same time as we near the end of the season. Without all the talky-talky this week, the hacky-slashy-stabby of next week wouldn't carry nearly as much impact.

Now we just have to mark time ourselves, waiting for Stannis and Davos to pull up at the Mud Gate.

The sex-and-violence tally

Talisa and Robb finally admit their feelings for one another and are extremely naked not two minutes later. Meanwhile, the only blood spilled comes from some unfortunate crows and two guards at Harrenhal, dispatched off-screen by Jaqen H'ghar.

Extra-credit book report

Tyrion spent a great deal of time in "A Clash of Kings" preparing for Stannis' assault. Though you only got glimpses of the planning, all those pieces came together beautifully during the actual assault. In the TV show, Stannis is practically at the gates and Tyrion still doesn't seem to have any clue about how to repel him. Which means whatever Tyrion does to stop the fleet in "Blackwater" probably won't be nearly as complicated in the set-up as what occurred in the book.

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'Game of Thrones' recap: Charting its own course

'Game of Thrones': Richard Madden talks Robb Stark's romance

"Game of Thrones" star Carice van Houten on magic and Melisandre

-- Patrick Kevin Day

Photo: Varys (Conleth Hill) and Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) prepare for the assault on King's Landing in "Game of Thrones." Credit: HBO

'Game of Thrones' recap: Charting its own course

The "Game of Thrones" that plays out weekly on HBO will never be the "Song of Ice and Fire" books exactly, it never has. But with each passing week, tiny changes from the plot of the books are rippling out and causing the series to deviate more and more from what was widely praised as a near-identical transcription of the books during Season 1.

"A Man Without Honor," is the latest and most striking example yet of the cumulative effect these changes are having on the series, with very few scenes from the episode playing out exactly as they did in the book. And events changed in previous episodes forcing developments in this episode to chart their own unique path. For those who fell in love with George R.R. Martin's richly imagined world and have come to expect the HBO series to stand proudly side-by-side with the books, this episode seems like a test. Just how far can the TV show deviate before fans cry foul? And do the changes really matter?

The nice thing for those unburdened by knowledge of the books is that the seventh episode of the season slows things down from the usual blistering pace of plot developments and character revelations whizzing by at 1,000 miles an hour, blurred by heavy accents. Several intimate scenes in this episode are two-person interactions designed to flesh out the characters rather then speed the plot along. And though many of them are total inventions of the TV series, they're so good they deserve to be seen on their own terms.

CHEAT SHEET: All you need to know about 'Game of Thrones'

Best among these scenes are the conversations between Tywin Lannister and Arya Stark in the dragon-scorched castle of Harrenhal. Despite her best efforts (including siccing assassin Jaqen Hagar on Amory Lorch last week to protect her identity), Lannister seems to be seeing through Arya's front as a common serving girl. However, in a development that not even Lannister himself could foresee, the old nobleman doesn't seem to care all that much that this girl who is so close to him is apparently lying about who she is. Blame it on getting soft in his old age, but Lannister seems to have a soft spot for Arya — or at least girls who know their ancient Westerosi history.

North of the Wall, Jon Snow continues to endure the never-ending torments of the aggressively flirtatious wildling Ygritte. If this were a romantic comedy, Jon and Ygritte would be in the first act where they really don't like each other. Is it any secret what's ahead for these two? Yes, Jon Snow has vowed never to lay a finger on a woman as part of the Night's Watch, but come on! He can't go through the entire series without having any romantic interests. Despite all the flirtation, Ygritte does have other things on her mind, such as getting loose from Snow's ropes. And with the appearance of other wildlings near the episode's end, it looks like Snow may be the one in ropes soon.

'Game of Thrones' star Carice van Houten on magic and Melisandre

When a TV series crams horse beheadings, frozen zombies, dragons, sword fighting and naked prostitutes into nearly every episode, it’s hard for a single actor to make a grand impact. But actress Carice van Houten has done precisely that in the second season of HBO’s “Game of Thrones.” As the mysterious red priestess Melisandre, Van Houten disrobed, exposing her very pregnant tummy, and lay down on the floor of a cave to give birth to a shadowy assassinating creature that appeared to be made of smoke.

It’s the kind of jaw-dropping moment that can create an instant fan favorite and make the performer a water-cooler topic. But according to Van Houten, who lives in the Netherlands and wasn’t familiar with the series or the novels it’s based on, she had no idea what she was walking into when she auditioned for the part. In fact, it took a little convincing from a surprising figure to get her to commit to the role.

“I called my friend Seth Meyers,” Van Houten recalled recently on the phone from her home in Amsterdam. “I asked him, ‘What is this? Is this good?’ He said, ‘Are you crazy? Say yes!’” (The two met years ago when “Saturday Night Live” cast member Meyers was living in Amsterdam.)

For someone who isn’t already a fantasy fan (Van Houten considers fantasy to be “goblins and Mr. Spock ears and green characters”), the appeal of a series based on George R.R. Martin’s sprawling, bestselling “A Song of Ice and Fire” novels may not be immediately apparent. But the saga’s complexity and willingness to break with convention has made fans out of many skeptics and turned the series into a hit, with the most recent episode drawing nearly 4 million viewers, the show’s biggest audience.

“I love the fact that this is so subtle,” Van Houten said of the drama. “There are no weird creatures … at first.”

Which brings her back to that startling scene in the cave. Van Houten was essentially nude for the scene, wearing only a prosthetic belly and a merkin.

'Game of Thrones' recap: Heads will roll

For a character who has been dead nearly an entire season, Ned Stark casts an awfully long shadow. This week we get a closer look at the effect his life and death have had on Theon and Jon, two young men who were raised as Starks but never quite got admitted to the official clubhouse.

Theon doesn't seem to fit in anywhere now, especially now that he's been reunited with his true family in the Iron Islands only to be mocked and distrusted as an outsider because of his upbringing at Winterfell. At this point, he's so desperate for acceptance (especially from his father) that he's willing to do just about anything to prove that he's a true Iron Islander. And boy does he do something: He invades Winterfell and takes the castle for himself.

Ser Rodrik, the Winterfell master-at-arms, spits on Theon in a righteous fury when he learns of the deception, which according to Iron Islands custom means that Theon needs to kill Rodrik if he ever hopes to have the respect of his men. Theon hearing the word "respect" is a lot like a dog hearing a can opener, so although he is obviously reluctant to do the deed, he ultimately gives in and carries out the beheading personally -- mimicking Ned Stark even as he betrays him.

CHEAT SHEET: All you need to know about 'Game of Thrones'

And that's the saddest part, because you can tell that Theon doesn't actually want to be vicious or cruel; he wants the respect and love of his family, and he thinks this is the only way to win it. But as hard as he tries to act the part, all his men see is the same thing we do: an insecure little boy trying desperately to impress the bad kids in school by smoking cigarettes and cutting class. Or, you know, profoundly betraying the only family he's ever really known to curry favor with a band of murderous sociopaths who will never truly accept him. It's pretty sad, really. 

Even Ser Rodrik agrees, using his last moment to give Theon a look of pity: "God help you, Theon Greyjoy. Now you are truly lost." Lost, and about to lose even more as Osha manages to sneak Bran, Rickon, Hodor and their direwolves out of Winterfell in the middle of the night, robbing Theon of his most valuable hostages (and Hodor. Sorry, Hodor).

'Game of Thrones' recap: The tent is dark and full of terrors

The night before the Baratheon battle royale, which Stannis seems certain to lose, Renly and Catelyn discuss the future of the Seven Kingdoms, a conversation that goes quite well once Catelyn says the magic words: "My son has no interest in the Iron Throne." Renly cheerfully declares that they should all be great friends, and Robb can even keep calling himself "King in the North" so long as he bends the knee, much as Ned Stark did for Renly's brother Robert years ago. After Stannis is defeated, they can join forces and crush the Lannisters, and lo, there will be much high-fiving.

For a brief moment as Renly speaks, you can almost start to believe the lie that so many of the characters surely tell themselves in order to keep going: that somehow, everything going to turn out all right. But as the show is intent on teaching us over and over, it probably won't.

"Together, we could end this war in a fortnight," Renly says. Seconds later, he is dead.

CHEAT SHEET: Who's who in 'Game of Thrones' Season 2

The Red Lady's shadow sweeps into the tent, materializes in an oily human shape that looks like Stannis, and stabs Renly brother through the heart. It happens almost too fast to understand, the way life-changing accidents often do, and just as quickly the shadow disappears. Brienne catches Renly's falling corpse, and the knights who flood the tent immediately assume that she's the assassin and attack her. After cutting them to ribbons, she reluctantly agrees to flee with Catelyn, realizing that "the shadow did it" is going to sound like a pretty terrible murder defense, and also that it will be rather difficult to avenge Renly's death if she hangs for it.

The political landscape looks very different by the time the sun rises, and rather than crushing Stannis' approaching fleet, Renly's men prepare to join it and serve the last Baratheon brother. Ser Loras is inconsolable over the death of his lover, rightly blaming Stannis and swearing revenge. Margaery and Littlefinger have the same conversation with him that Catelyn has with Brienne, ultimately convincing him to leave so that he can live to stab Stannis in the face another day. We also get our first glimpse of Margaery as something more than Renly's dutiful beard, when Littlefinger asks her if she still wants to be a queen: "No. I want to be the queen." They exchange the look of two people who understand each other perfectly.

Back in the sunlight-dappled rooms of Kings Landing, Tyrion tries to put the fear of god into Cersei about Stannis, whose combined forces are now superior on both land and sea, and she blithely replies that they can simply outspend him. Money is a simple metric, in many ways; you always know exactly how much you have, and whether you have more than someone else. This is the only kind of power that Cersei understands, and the only way how she understands power, as something as simple and absolute as the bottom line on a ledger.

Here's another sad truth about Cersei: Despite probably being the most powerful woman in the world right now, she still feels desperately powerless, paranoid, and insecure. Yes, being born a woman means that she spent her life being treated kind of like chattel, but as much as she might want to blame institutional sexism (or Tyrion), there's an even better reason why she can't make it as a player in the game: She's really bad at it. She isn't crafty, like Margaery or Arya, or strong like Brienne or Yara. She's more like a cruel, petty version of Sansa -- well-bred, banal, and simmering with impotent rage. It's hard to decide which one of them that comparison insults the most.

Anyway, Cersei gives Tyrion a sick, secret smile when he presses about military planning, and says not to worry about Stannis because "the king is taking personal charge of siege preparations." Those are scary words indeed, and Tyrion soon learns that their secret weapon is wildfire, a very powerful and combustible substance that can melt steel and stone, which will be flung at the enemy via catapults. With over 7,000 pots of incredibly dangerous and volatile chemicals already stockpiled at King's Landing, what could possibly go wrong?

'Game of Thrones': Richard Madden talks Robb Stark's romance

"Game of Thrones" isn't a show heavy with romance. On this epic fantasy series, beating hearts are usually cut out and thrown into the fire. But if there's one character close to a romantic lead, it's Robb Stark, the eldest son of Eddard Stark (who got beheaded last season).

Scottish actor Richard Madden is the man in the leather and furs, leading the men of the north of Westeros into battle against the Lannister clan. And to hear him tell it, pretending to be a medieval leader on the HBO series isn't far from actually being one. At least when it comes to the smell.

Have you started to experience the intense fandom of "Game of Thrones"?

A: Not so much. I look quite different than I do when I'm on the show, I think. So people will go, "Is that? No, not really. That guy's much bigger on the show."  I'm cleaned up. My hair is a bit shorter, and I'm not in fur and leather and armor. So I'm a little smaller. This press tour is nice. I went down to Brazil and Mexico, and the people there know the show so well, it's kind of overwhelming.  I take that as a compliment to all the hard work everyone on the show does.

CHEAT SHEET: Who's who in 'Game of Thrones' Season 2

So classic European medieval fantasy translates well all over the world?

The books have their following in so many countries, and I've been asked all over: Why has it worked? I think it's because it's about human beings in their most raw form. We're in this fantasy world, but it's almost like trickery what George does with these fantasy elements. You see with Cersei in one episode, she blows off what's happening up at The Wall. The people in this world are like, "Fantasy, whatever." The people that are on the same page as those characters get pulled into it, because the fantasy is becoming real for these people. Magic is becoming real for these characters as well. That's why a nonfantasy audience becomes engaged, because it's just a political drama, really, and these magical elements are coming in and nudging from the sides.

Were you a fantasy fan before this show?

I'm a sci-fi guy. But I like fantasy too.  If I wasn't in this show, I'd still watch it. You get to see what drives people, whether it's power or lust or just plain greed or justice or raw honesty in doing the right thing. I think it's the kind of things people from any country can relate to -- these aspects of human nature. I think that's what the show manages to capture. It's why there's no stereotypical heroes or villains in this; everyone has all those aspects, just like me or you.

'Game of Thrones' recap: 'Leave her face; I like her pretty'

This post has been corrected. Please see note at bottom for details.

At this point, I think it's fair to say that Joffrey is, hands down, the most hateable character on television. You're welcome to add your counterpoint in the comments, but after seeing him gleefully order his knights to strip Sansa Stark and and beat her like a piñata in front of the entire royal court, I can't remember the last time I yearned for the death of a fictional character so fervently.

Sansa's "punishment" for her brother's recent military victory is cut short by the arrival of your hero and mine, Tyrion Lannister, whose booming voice shames pretty much everyone in the room for their tacit participation in the torture of a 12-year-old girl. Joffrey reacts like a spoiled child who's just been scolded for smashing his toys together, and after Tyrion speculates that Joffrey's cruelty might be fueled by sexual frustration, he dispatches two prostitutes to the young king's bedroom. Unfortunately, the moment Joffrey learns who sent them he sees an opportunity to both resume the sadistic fantasy Tyrion so rudely interrupted and flip his uncle the finger, so he forces one of the women to torture the other with an escalating series of objects while he sits in a chair and smiles.

That video of Joffrey getting slapped on loop for 10 minutes straight is right here, by the way, just in case you need it.

CHEAT SHEET: Who's who in Season 2

'Game of Thrones' recap: Power plays in the Seven Kingdoms

"Game of Thrones" was recently picked up for a third season, which means that the events of "Storm of Swords" will indeed make their way to the small screen, possibly over multiple seasons. If you've enjoyed the shocking twists and turns of the show but haven't read the books, allow me this spoiler-free teaser of George R. R. Martin's third novel: You ain't seen nothing yet.

Back in the episode I'm actually recapping, Jon Snow returns from the woods with the horrifying truth about why Craster doesn't seem to have any male children: He sacrifices the infants to a mysterious creature in the woods, possibly a White Walker. Even worse, Lord Commander Mormont totally knows all about it and turns a blind eye, because Craster's strategic advantage to the Night's Watch is too important to let a little thing like infanticide get in the way. Not an easy thing for a son of Ned Stark to swallow, but one that will probably serve him well.

The goldcloaks that came hunting for Gendry last episode return as promised, except this time they've got significantly more men (and swords). Yoren tells them yet again where they can stick their orders from the queen, but the sudden onslaught of professional soldiers goes poorly for the ragtag group of failed criminals and children, claiming the lives of Yoren and several randos. The queen's men demand to know which one of them is Gendry, so Arya points at a corpse, and they believe her. Problem solved, I guess? The remaining stragglers, including Arya, are taken as prisoners to Harrenhal castle, which we are told is haaaaunted.

CHEAT SHEET: Who's who in 'Game of Thrones' Season 2

Catelyn goes to treat with Renly, who now has around 100,000 soldiers at his command, and arrives just in time to see the vaunted Ser Loras suffer a rare defeat at a tournament. The helm of the mysterious victor is removed to reveal … a very large woman named Brienne. The crowd reacts to the sight of an able female warrior in roughly the same way they would a circus freak, but Renly seems pleased and grants her request to become his personal bodyguard. 

Later, in the royal bedroom, Renly's secret lover Loras reminds the king that the king's actual bride -- Loras' sister, Margaery -- remains untouched two weeks after their wedding, and people are starting to talk. Renly finally attempts to perform his marital duties, but when she arrives in his room and disrobes, he looks at her like an ill-prepared student thinking really, really hard about a math problem and pulls away, blaming the wine. Margaery is no fool, and offers to call her brother in to "get him started" without missing a beat. Gay or no, Renly needs to knock her up as soon as possible for political reasons, and if that means a three-way with her brother, then so be it. 

Theon's homecoming remains icy, as his father still regards him with disgust and openly favors his sister Yara, giving her command of 30 longships for their upcoming invasion plans while Theon gets one piddling boat to attack a bunch of fishing villages. The nasty twist is that they're not sailing after the Lannisters, but rather heading back to the North to lay siege to the holds protected by Winterfell while Robb's soldiers are at war in the south. Theon has a conflicted moment where he writes Robb a letter of warning, but ultimately burns it, choosing the rejection, disdain and incessant ocean metaphors of his blood relatives over the closest thing he has to a brother.

The MVP of this episode, like most episodes, remains Tyrion Lannister, who continues to remove his adversaries from the chess board of the royal court with ninja-like political acumen. This time around, he plants three very different plots in the ears of Littlefinger, Varys and Grand Maester Pycelle, and waits to sees which one makes its way back to Cersei. The ruse reveals Pycelle as the weakest link, which lands him in a Black Cell, and also irks Littlefinger, who only enjoys elaborate manipulations when he's pulling the strings.

Varys, however, seems oddly proud of Tyrion's deft maneuvering, and poses a riddle toward the end of their conversation that encapsulates the overarching theme of "Game of Thrones" quite neatly: A king, a priest and a rich man encounter a sellsword (read: mercenary), and each of them commands him to kill the other two. Who lives and who dies? "Power resides where men believe it resides," says Varys. "It's a trick, a shadow on the wall." 

Is Stannis more powerful because he possesses the best legal claim to the throne, or does Renly's popularity and superior forces render that moot? Does real power derive from birthright, the favor of the gods, the love of the common people, or simply the edges of swords? The answer to that question -- or rather, the one that most people choose to believe -- will likely mean the difference between life and death as factions splinter and more conflicted "sellswords" like Theon Greyjoy are asked to pick sides.

Who do you think possesses the real power in the Seven Kingdoms? Let us know in the comments.

The sex and violence tally:

Bare breasts: Renly and Loras provided a rare double dose of bare male chests (and some suggestive pawing at the drawstrings of pants), followed by four from the ladies: a full-frontal look at Margaery Tyrell during her doomed seduction, and a brief glimpse at Grand Maester Pycelle's bed-warmer.

Fatalities: Yoren and Lommy die at the hands of Ser Amory Lorch and his men during their attack on the Night's Watch recruits, along with several other unnamed men on both sides.

Extra credit book report:

Theon's sister was originally called "Asha" in the novels, but she's known as Yara on the show, likely because of how similar it sounds to Osha, Bran's wildling friend. The love affair between Renly and Sir Loras was never explicitly acknowledged in the books, but it's never been more explicit (or kinky) than in this episode, when Margaery suggests that Renly imagine her as her brother when they have sex, or even invite him to join in. 

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-- Laura Hudson

Photo: Peter Dinklage is Tyrion Lannister in "Game of Thrones." Credit: HBO