Game of Thrones (season 2)


The second season of the fantasy drama television series Game of Thrones premiered in the United States on HBO on April 1, 2012, and concluded on June 3, 2012. It was broadcast on Sunday at 9:00 pm in the United States, consisting of 10 episodes, each running approximately 50–60 minutes. The season mostly covers the events of A Clash of Kings, the second novel of the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin, adapted for television by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. HBO ordered the second season on April 19, 2011, which began filming in July 2011, primarily in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Croatia and Iceland.
The story takes place in a fictional world, primarily on a continent called Westeros, with one storyline occurring on another continent to the east, Essos. Like the novel, the season follows up the dramatic death of Lord Eddard "Ned" Stark, with all of the Starks being separated across Westeros. Season two mainly centers around the War of the Five Kings, fought among the leaders of Westerosi factions who are either staking a claim to the Iron Throne, or seeking independence from it. King Robert's widow, Cersei, stays in the capital as queen regent; her twin brother Jaime is Robb Stark's prisoner, and her other brother, the dwarf Tyrion, acts as King Joffrey's Hand, until the siblings' father, Tywin Lannister, returns to help defend the capital. Meanwhile, in Essos, with three newborn dragons by her side, Daenerys Targaryen works with religious certitude to find allies and resources to help her to fulfill her perceived destiny to win the Iron Throne. The season ends beyond the northern Wall, with the first glimpse of the army of the dead.
Game of Thrones features a large ensemble cast, including Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Michelle Fairley and Emilia Clarke. The season introduced a number of new cast members, including Stephen Dillane, Natalie Dormer, Carice van Houten and Liam Cunningham.
Critics praised the show's production values and cast. Viewership rose compared with the previous season. The second season won six of the twelve Emmy Awards for which it was nominated. It received a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series and Outstanding Drama Series. U.S. viewership rose by approximately 8% over the course of the season, from 3.9 million to 4.2 million by the season finale.

Episodes

Cast

Main cast

Starring

The recurring actors listed here are those who appeared in season 2. They are listed by the region in which they first appear:

At and beyond the Wall

HBO ordered a second season of Game of Thrones on April 19, 2011, two days after the series premiere. The second season obtained a 15% increase in budget in order to be able to stage the war's most important battle, the Battle of the Blackwater, in episode nine.
Filming took place during 106 shooting days. During three-quarters of those, two crews were working simultaneously in different locations.

Crew

and D. B. Weiss serve as main writers and showrunners for the second season. They co-wrote six out of ten episodes. The remaining four episodes were written by story editor Bryan Cogman, A Song of Ice and Fire author George R. R. Martin, and new series writer and co-executive producer Vanessa Taylor, who wrote two episodes.
Alan Taylor was promoted to co-executive producer and directed four episodes, including the season premiere and finale. David Petrarca and David Nutter each directed two episodes, while series cinematographer Alik Sakharov and filmmaker Neil Marshall directed the remaining two.

Casting

The casting for the second season began in May 2011. Although a large portion of the first-season cast were returning, the producers were still faced with a huge number of new characters to be cast. The producers decided that several characters from A Clash of Kings, including the Freys and Crannogmen Reeds at Winterfell, Frey bannermen of the Starks, the Tullys, Stannis' wife and daughter, Theon's uncle Aeron Greyjoy and the bastard Ramsay Snow would not be cast despite appearing in the novel. Showrunners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss commented on this saying that certain character introductions taking place in A Clash of Kings would be delayed until the third season. This was done due to the large number of characters already introduced in season two, and because they couldn't afford to have people "waiting around" for their characters to become central to the plot. Having to fill so many speaking roles, the showrunners not only "postponed" the introduction of several key characters, but they also merged some into one, or certain plot-functions were given to different characters. Many physical traits were also altered, such as the ethnicity or age of characters. The cast was estimated to be the largest on television. Scattered around two fictional continents characters include, by order of importance:


Emerging as the fourth claimant to the throne is the estranged brother of the late king Robert, Stannis Baratheon. The foreign priestess Melisandre, portrayed by Carice van Houten poses as an influential, yet manipulative advisor to Stannis. Van Houten was previously asked to audition for the role of Cersei in season one. While her character retains her signature red robes and hair, unlike in the novels Melisandre is not portrayed as having red eyes, making her appear somewhat more human. Liam Cunningham stars as Ser Davos Seaworth, the "Onion Knight", a bannerman of Stannis and a former smuggler. Cunningham had already been in talks for a role in the first season. As he is left-handed, his Davos has the fingers of the right hand shortened, unlike in the novels where his left hand is crippled. In an interview, Cunningham said that a lot of new dialogue had to be written for his character, because in the novels Davos, a point-of-view character, is portrayed more through his thoughts than through his actions. These three characters headed a new storyline set on a different location, that by the end of the season merged with the main plot.
Theon Greyjoy, a main cast member from the first season, but with lesser importance than the others, came to prominence during the second season, as his story unfolded and his character became more central. Gemma Whelan appeared as his sister, Yara Greyjoy. Named "Asha" in the novels, the character's name was changed to avoid confusion with the Wildling Osha, Bran Stark's companion. "Asha" is portrayed as a fairly provocative and independent woman, a captain of thirty ships, as opposed to her television counterpart Yara, who did not retain "Asha's" traits, although her rivalry with Theon remained intact. Their father Balon Greyjoy was played by Patrick Malahide. Many of the characters involved in the Greyjoys' storyline weren't introduced, most notably Balon's brother Aeron Greyjoy. Nonetheless, the storyline received enormous praise, with the alteration of Yara's name and persona being the only criticism.
Tom Wlaschiha is cast as Jaqen H'ghar, a mysterious prisoner who develops a murderous relationship with young Arya Stark. Wlaschiha's pronunciation of his character's name, Jack-in, was adopted for use in the show. Natalie Dormer, best known for her portrayal as seductive Anne Boleyn in Showtime's The Tudors, was cast in a similar role as Margaery Tyrell, a noblewoman and the wife of the third claimant to the throne, Renly Baratheon. Gwendoline Christie played, to much praise, Brienne of Tarth, a female warrior who joins Renly Baratheon's guard, but later becomes a follower of Catelyn Stark. To prepare for the role, Christie took up an intense training regimen, adding over a stone of muscle mass. So that she could be mistaken for a man, her armor was decorated with lines that slant away from her hips. On the other side of the fictional world, two female roles with rising prominence were added to the cast: Skins star Hannah Murray filled the role of Craster's daughter Gilly, a love interest to Samwell Tarly; while the second role, the one of Ygritte, Jon Snow's love interest among the Wildlings, was played by Rose Leslie.
Daenerys Targaryen's stay at Qarth, opened the way for several recurring characters. Nonso Anozie played Daenerys's host at Qarth, Xaro Xhoan Daxos. The character differed a lot from his novel counterpart. Xaro's homosexuality, femininity and caucasian origin were overshadowed by dark skinned Anozie's masculinity and heterosexuality. Acting as one of her suitors is the treacherous warlock Pyat Pree portrayed by Ian Hanmore. Her third and final suitor was the masked priestess Quaithe. Specially created for the television series was the so-called "Spice King", a rich merchant from Qarth, played by Nicholas Blane. Also an original creation of the show is the character of Talisa, a healer from Volantis and a romantic interest for Robb. She fills the role of another female interest of Robb's, called Jeyne Westerling, who has no similarities with Talisa whatsoever. In addition to Talisa, Michael McElhatton joins the cast in the role of Roose Bolton, an important character in Robb Stark's storyline. Lastly, Simon Armstrong plays the legendary Night's Watch ranger Qhorin Halfhand.
Others were also added to the cast, either in a small recurring role or with reduced prominence. The most notable example is Tony Way's Ser Dontos Hollard, a drunkard knight, who had a pivotal role in Sansa Stark's storyline that ran in the course of two novels, while in the series the role was reduced to a small scene in the opening episode. Others include: Ben Crompton as "Dolorous Edd" Tollet, a man of the Night's Watch. Robert Pugh as the Wildling Craster, father and husband to Gilly. Kerr Logan as Davos Seaworth's pious son Matthos.
Karl Davies as Ser Alton Lannister, a character created for the series who replaces Cleos Frey as envoy from the Starks to the Lannisters. Daniel Portman took the role of Podrick Payne, the squire to Tyrion Lannister. The 19-year-old Portman plays Podrick as about 16 years old, instead of about 12 as in the novels. To be able to portray Podrick as awkward, shy and weak, Portman, previously a sportsman, stopped his fitness regimen and gained some weight to appear more endearing. Lucian Msamati played Salladhor Saan, a Lysene pirate and friend of Davos Seaworth. Finally, Edward Dogliani appeared briefly as the "Lord of Bones", a Wildling leader and Oliver Ford Davies as Stannis's maester Cressen.
All of the recurring characters from the first season returned, with one notable exception: Conan Stevens, whose role of Gregor Clegane was recast with Ian Whyte, did not return. Roy Dotrice, a friend of George R. R. Martin, known for reading the audio versions of the novels and having previously rejected a role due to health reasons, appears this season as Pyromancer Hallyne, an elderly alchemist at King's Landing.

Locations

For the second season, the city of Dubrovnik, Croatia, was used instead of Malta for scenes in King's Landing and Daenerys' scenes in Qarth. For example, the Minčeta Tower in Dubrovnik was used as the House of the Undying. Scenes set north of the Wall were filmed in Iceland in November 2011. The main locations are the Vatnajökull glacier, the Svínafellsjökull glacier near Skaftafell, and the Mýrdalsjökull glacier near Vik used as the location for the Fist of the First Men with Höfðabrekka as the Frostfang Mountains. New shooting locations in Northern Ireland include The Linen Mill Film & Television Studios in Banbridge, Ballintoy Harbour and Downhill Strand. As the story in the second season required that the Winterfell set be expanded, a new set for Winterfell was built at the Moneyglass Estate near Toome village.

Music

The music for the second season was again composed by Ramin Djawadi. It contains a rendition of a song often mentioned or sung in the novels, The Rains of Castamere, by the indie rock band The National.
The soundtrack for the season was released on June 19, 2012.

Promotion

HBO released numerous teaser trailers for the second season, beginning on December 11, 2011. The second trailer, published on January 29, 2012, was viewed 3.5 million times in the first three days after publication, a record for HBO promotional content. Other trailers were released on February 24, March 3 as well as subsequently.
HBO also published other promotional material, such as cast photographs and teaser posters, prior to the airing of the first episode. The second issue of Entertainment Weekly in March 2012 had four alternative covers dedicated to in-costume photographs of Peter Dinklage, Emilia Clarke, Kit Harington or Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Lena Headey.

Reception

Thanks to the critical and commercial success of the first season, as well as HBO's marketing efforts, the second season received intensive media coverage well before it started airing. Sunday is Coming, a two-minute short film for Funny or Die, satirized viewers' excitement about the return of Game of Thrones.

Critical response

Several media outlets reviewed the season's first four episodes before they were broadcast, and rendered almost uniformly positive verdicts. The season holds a Metacritic score of 90 out of 100 based on 26 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season has a 96% approval rating from 37 critics with an average rating of 8.89 out of 10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Game of Thrones follows up a strong debut with an even better second season, combining elegant storytelling and vivid characters to create a rich fantasy world."
Entertainment Weekly rated the new season "A-" and praised the "vivid, vital, and just plain fun" storytelling. In the reviewer's opinion, the greatly enlarged cast did not feel like bloat and the show remained accessible to those who had not read the novel. The Huffington Post called the start of the second season "far more elegant and engaging" than that of the first, and appreciated the show's maturation, increased assurance and momentum as well as the visually improved settings and the new actors' performance. Newsdays review gave it an "A+", calling it the "best show on television" and warranting the preparation required by viewers.
The Hollywood Reporter also wrote that Game of Thrones made a "strong case for being one of TV's best series". Impressed that the series continued to improve in quality as it breathed life into its vast web of interconnected storylines, the reviewer considered that, unlike other genre shows, Game of Thrones had gravitas such that it should not be considered dramatically inferior to shows like Mad Men or Breaking Bad. HitFixs Alan Sepinwall gave the new, "bigger and better" season an "A", praising its increased confidence and smoothness despite its even greater use of "sexposition". New to the series, the Chicago Sun-Timess reviewer found the season premiere "engrossing" and praised the "top-notch" acting, writing, sets and storytelling. The New York Times was the only major publication to publish a mixed review. It criticized the lack of complexity in the characters apart from Dinklage's, the confusing multitude of characters and the meandering plot.

Ratings

Accolades

The second season was nominated for 11 Primetime Emmy Awards, which included Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for Peter Dinklage. It won six awards, for, Outstanding Costumes for a Series, Outstanding Art Direction for a Single-Camera Series, Outstanding Makeup for a Single-Camera Series, Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series, Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series, and Outstanding Special Visual Effects.
YearAwardCategoryNomineeResult
2012AFI AwardsAFI TV AwardGame of Thrones
2012Artios AwardsOutstanding Achievement in Casting – Television Series DramaNina Gold
2012ASCAP AwardsTop Television SeriesRamin Djawadi
2012Portal AwardBest ActorPeter Dinklage
2012Portal AwardBest ActressLena Headey
2012Portal AwardBest Supporting ActorAidan Gillen
2012Portal AwardBest Supporting ActressMichelle Fairley
2012Portal AwardBest Supporting ActressMaisie Williams
2012Portal AwardBest EpisodeGhost of Harrenhal
2012Portal AwardBest SeriesGame of Thrones
2012Portal AwardBest Young ActorJack Gleeson
2012Portal AwardBest Young ActorMaisie Williams
2012EWwy AwardBest Supporting Actress, DramaLena Headey
201264th Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Drama SeriesDavid Benioff, D. B. Weiss, Frank Doelger, Carolyn Strauss, George R. R. Martin, Vanessa Taylor, Alan Taylor, Guymon Casady, Vince Gerardis and Bernadette Caulfield
201264th Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama SeriesPeter Dinklage
201264th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy AwardsOutstanding Art Direction for a Single-Camera SeriesGemma Jackson, Frank Walsh, and Tina Jones for "Garden of Bones", "The Ghost of Harrenhal" and "A Man Without Honor"
201264th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy AwardsOutstanding Casting for a Drama SeriesNina Gold and Robert Sterne
201264th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy AwardsOutstanding Costumes for a SeriesMichele Clapton, Alexander Fordham, and Chloe Aubry for "The Prince of Winterfell"
201264th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy AwardsOutstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive MediaHBO
201264th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy AwardsOutstanding Hairstyling for a Single-Camera SeriesKevin Alexander, Candice Banks, Rosalia Culora, and Gary Machin for "The Old Gods and the New"
201264th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy AwardsOutstanding Makeup for a Single-Camera Series Paul Engelen and Melissa Lackersteen for "The Old Gods and the New"
201264th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy AwardsOutstanding Prosthetic Makeup for a Series, Miniseries, Movie or a SpecialPaul Engelen, Conor O'Sullivan, and Rob Trenton for "Valar Morghulis"
201264th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy AwardsOutstanding Sound Editing for a SeriesPeter Brown, Kira Roessler, Tim Hands, Paul Aulicino, Stephen P. Robinson, Vanessa Lapato, Brett Voss, James Moriana, Jeffrey Wilhoit, and David Klotz for "Blackwater"
201264th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy AwardsOutstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Series Matthew Waters, Onnalee Blank, Ronan Hill, and Mervyn Moore for "Blackwater"
201264th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy AwardsOutstanding Special Visual EffectsRainer Gombos, Juri Stanossek, Sven Martin, Steve Kullback, Jan Fiedler, Chris Stenner, Tobias Mannewitz, Thilo Ewers, and Adam Chazen for "Valar Morghulis"
20122nd Critics' Choice Television AwardsBest Drama SeriesGame of Thrones
20122nd Critics' Choice Television AwardsBest Supporting Actor in a Drama SeriesPeter Dinklage
2012Hollywood Post Alliance AwardsOutstanding Visual Effects – Television"The Prince of Winterfell"
2012Golden Nymph awardsOutstanding International ProducerDavid Benioff, Frank Doelger, Carolyn Strauss and D. B. Weiss
2012Golden Nymph awardsOutstanding Actress in a Drama SeriesEmilia Clarke
2012Golden Nymph awardsOutstanding Actress in a Drama SeriesLena Headey
2012Golden Nymph awardsOutstanding Actor in a Drama SeriesPeter Dinklage
2012Golden Nymph awardsOutstanding Actor in a Drama SeriesKit Harington
2012British Society of CinematographersBest Cinematography in a Television DramaSam McCurdy for "Blackwater"
201217th Satellite AwardsBest Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television FilmPeter Dinklage
201217th Satellite AwardsBest Television Series – DramaGame of Thrones
2012IGN AwardsBest TV EpisodeBlackwater
2012IGN AwardsBest TV DVD or Blu-rayFor the complete first season on Blu-ray
2012IGN AwardsBest TV SeriesGame of Thrones
2012IGN AwardsBest TV Drama SeriesGame of Thrones
2012IGN AwardsBest TV VillainJack Gleeson as Joffrey Baratheon
2012IGN People's Choice AwardBest TV EpisodeBlackwater
2012IGN People's Choice AwardBest TV Drama SeriesGame of Thrones
2012IGN People's Choice AwardBest TV VillainJack Gleeson as Joffrey Baratheon
2012IGN People's Choice AwardBest TV DVD or Blu-rayFor the complete first season on Blu-ray
2012IGN People's Choice AwardBest TV SeriesGame of Thrones
201228th TCA AwardsProgram of the YearGame of Thrones
201228th TCA AwardsIndividual Achievement in DramaPeter Dinklage
201228th TCA AwardsOutstanding Achievement in DramaGame of Thrones
2012Gold Derby TV Awards 2012Best Drama SeriesGame of Thrones
2012Gold Derby TV Awards 2012Best Drama Supporting ActorPeter Dinklage
2012Gold Derby TV Awards 2012Best Drama Supporting ActressLena Headey
2012Gold Derby TV Awards 2012Breakthrough Performer of the YearMaisie Williams
2012Gold Derby TV Awards 2012Ensemble of the YearThe cast of Game of Thrones
2013People's Choice AwardsFavorite Thriller ShowGame of Thrones
2013ADG Excellence in Production Design AwardOne-Hour Single Camera Television SeriesGemma Jackson for "The Ghost of Harrenhal"
2013American Society of CinematographersOutstanding Achievement in Cinematography in One-Hour Episodic Television SeriesKramer Morgenthau for "The North Remembers"
2013SFX AwardsBest ActressEmilia Clarke
2013SFX AwardsBest ActressLena Headey
2013SFX AwardsBest ActorPeter Dinklage
2013NewNowNext AwardsCause You're HotRichard Madden
2013British Academy Television AwardsInternationalGame of Thrones
2013British Academy Television AwardsRadio Times Audience AwardGame of Thrones
2013Costume Designers Guild AwardsOutstanding Period/Fantasy Television SeriesGame of Thrones
2013Cinema Audio Society AwardsOutstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing – Television Series – One HourRonan Hill, Onnalee Blank, Mathew Waters, and Brett Voss for "Blackwater"
2013Dorian AwardsTV Drama of the YearGame of Thrones
201310th Irish Film & Television AwardsBest Television DramaGame of Thrones
201310th Irish Film & Television AwardsBest Director of PhotographyP.J. Dillon
201310th Irish Film & Television AwardsBest SoundRonan Hill, Mervyn Moore
2013Astra AwardsFavourite Program – International DramaGame of Thrones
2013Golden Reel AwardsBest Sound Editing – Long Form Dialogue and ADR in TelevisionGame of Thrones for "Valar Morghulis"
2013Golden Reel AwardsBest Sound Editing – Long Form Sound Effects and Foley in TelevisionGame of Thrones for "Valar Morghulis"
2013Golden Reel AwardsBest Sound Editing — Short Form Dialogue and ADR in TelevisionGame of Thrones for "Blackwater"
2013Golden Reel AwardsBest Sound Editing – Short Form Music in TelevisionGame of Thrones for "Blackwater"
2013Golden Reel AwardsBest Sound Editing – Short Form Sound Effects and Foley in TelevisionGame of Thrones for "Blackwater"
2013Hugo AwardsBest Dramatic Presentation, Short FormNeil Marshall and George R. R. Martin for "Blackwater"
2013Producers Guild Awards"The Norman Felton Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Drama"David Benioff, Bernadette Caulfield, Frank Doelger, Carolyn Strauss, D. B. Weiss
2013Saturn AwardBest Television PresentationGame of Thrones
201319th Screen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television SeriesRob Cooper, Jamie Edgell, Dave Fisher, Dave Forman, Paul Herbert, Michelle McKeown, Sian Miline, Jimmy O’Dee, Domonkos Pardanyi, Marcus Shakesheff, CC Smiff, and Mark Southworth
2013Visual Effects SocietyOutstanding Animated Character in a Commercial or Broadcast ProgramIrfan Celik, Florian Friedmann, Ingo Schachner, Chris Stenner for "Training the Dragons"
2013Visual Effects SocietyOutstanding Compositing in a Broadcast ProgramFalk Boje, Esther Engel, Alexey Kuchinsky, Klaus Wuchta for "White Walker Army"
2013Visual Effects SocietyOutstanding Created Environment in a Commercial or Broadcast ProgramRene Borst, Thilo Ewers, Adam Figielski, Jonas Stuckenbrock for "Pyke"
2013Visual Effects SocietyOutstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast ProgramRainer Gombos, Steve Kullback, Sven Martin, Juri Stanossek for "Valar Morghulis"
2013Writers Guild of America AwardsTelevision Drama SeriesDavid Benioff, Bryan Cogman, George R. R. Martin, Vanessa Taylor, D. B. Weiss
2013Young Artist AwardBest Performance in a TV Series – Supporting Young ActorIsaac Hempstead-Wright
2013Young Artist AwardBest Performance in a TV Series – Supporting Young ActressSophie Turner
2013Young Artist AwardBest Performance in a TV Series – Supporting Young ActressMaisie Williams
2013IGN AwardsBest TV DVD or Blu-rayFor the complete second season on Blu-ray

Release

Broadcast

The second season of Game of Thrones was broadcast on HBO in the United States from April 1, 2012 to June 3, 2012.

Home media

DVD/Blu-ray box sets and digital downloads of the second season were released in North America on February 19, 2013. The DVD set contains a 30-minute feature covering the production of the episode "Blackwater", actor interviews, character profiles, twelve audio commentaries by cast and crew, and a discussion about Westerosi religions by the showrunners and George R. R. Martin. The Blu-ray set additionally contains a feature about the "War of the Five Kings" that breaks out in season two, as well as 19 animated histories of the mythology of Westeros and Essos.

Copyright infringement

The second season of Game of Thrones was the most-pirated TV series in 2012.