'Game of Thrones'

If you haven’t seen Sunday night’s episode of “Game of Thrones” yet, beware — you might turn purple with shock.

The show, in one of its most unexpected moments yet, elected to ramp up the action in “The Lion and the Rose,” the second episode of its fourth season.

If you just marathoned season 3 to get caught up, you might want to take some extra time to catch your breath. Maybe you’re still recovering from the infamous Red Wedding. If this is the case, this episode’s Purple Wedding may give you a serious case of whiplash.

Those who watched the show as it aired had the luxury of almost a year in between seasons to recover from last season’s now-infamous Red Wedding.

With “Breaking Bad” now out of the picture, “Game of Thrones” seems poised to take its place upon the Iron Throne of the TV kingdom.

Its 60 minutes per week are almost always riveting from start to finish, but devoted fans will notice the show is particularly spectacular when George R. R. Martin writes the episode.

The novelist has been responsible for penning some of the show’s most pivotal moments, including the second season’s gargantuan “Blackwater” episode.

Martin knows his characters well. The episodes he writes feature extended, dialogue-driven scenes.

And even though “Game of Thrones” has many storylines covering thousands of miles, Sunday’s episode abandoned most of them, devoting half its runtime to the royal
wedding in the capital of King’s Landing.

The long scene allowed several of the show’s major players time to interact and develop. Included were fan-favorite Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage), head-butting dominatrices Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) and Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer) and promising newcomer Oberyn Martell (Pedro Pascal), aptly nicknamed the “Red Viper.”

Absent from the episode were Jon Snow (Kit Harington) and Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke).

But the King’s Landing scene, like Joffrey’s goblet, was filled to the brim with sultry political tension in the form of expertly crafted dialogue from Martin.
Sunday’s episode seemed to be kick-starting the season’s action even before the huge catalyst near the end.

Roose Bolton (Michael McElhatton), who took control of the North after a slew of Starks lost their heads, makes moves to secure his power.

But Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead-Wright), Winterfell’s young heir, moves further and further out of Bolton’s reach as his storyline delves deeper into intriguing mysticism.

The dense plot of “A Storm of Swords,” the third novel in Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” series, was split up over seasons three and four of the show. And though the recent weddings might seem climactic to viewers, don’t expect to come back off the edge of your seat any time soon.

The characters might say the war is over, but the storm is still brewing.