[View the story “Boo Hoo King Joffrey” on Storify]
“The Lion and the Rose” makes it through the treacherous woods of first act exposition - in the first half, no less - and then celebrates by throwing viewers a party that no one is going to forget anytime soon.
Between its fantastic bookends, “Two Swords” is everything you would expect from a healthy HBO drama entering its fourth season: statements of intention, an occasional piece of exposition, and a lot of resetting the board for a new game of intrigue, brutality, and maybe even a little glimmer of hope.