‘Thrones’ second season delights

The second season of HBO’s original series, “Game of Thrones” has started off as gory and mature at the last season.
The new season is based on the second book of George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Fire and Ice” series, “A Clash of Kings.” As the name suggests, the new season focuses on a war between several armies led by people claiming to be king after the events of the first season.
The series has a complicated plot, dealing with many different strands at once. Many different factions are vying for powers while mysterious forces come from the north to threaten all of humanity, as well as several other forces trying to survive and take over the known world.
Martin’s characters are never what you expect, and virtually every character will surprise or disappoint you at some point in the series. No matter what you think the characters’ motives or personalities are, you will always be surprised by what they do.
The new season changes the order of events in the books, jumping around to make the order better for a television audience.  This is a welcome change because in the book many of the characters did not show up for a long time, meaning you had to read a large portion of the book before they showed up.
For fans of the series, the second season is a continuation of a great show. Newcomers to the show would be better served by watching the first season, because most people who have not seen the first season will be lost, even with the summaries of previous episodes.
The series kept its very HBO style with copious amounts of nudity, sex and violence throughout the first two episodes. Viewers who found the first season too mature will not find any respite in the second season. The new season introduces even more to the adult themes found in the previous books, with even more characters involved in incest and debauchery than ever before.
The series has always done a good job of making its evil characters seem particularly bad, and this season is no different. A new female character is a particularly interesting and terribly evil new presence in the world. The story about the character Jon Snow becomes more interesting as well, dealing with a trip by his order into the north to discover why dead people are coming back to life.
As with the first season, Peter Dinklage stands out as Tyrion Lannister. Dinklage is a great actor, giving the role the flair and personality the character deserves. Even though the character is part of the seemingly evil Lannister family, he is a favorite character of many fans and continues to be charming and likeable despite his relatives.
Dinklage received an Emmy and Golden Globe for the role of Lannister in the first season of the show.
Fans of the first season of “Game of Thrones” will love the second season. Its incredible storytelling and well-developed characters make it a particularly good fantasy show. While it is advisable to watch the first season before starting the second one, even newcomers to the show will find a lot to enjoy in the new season.
The show airs Sunday nights at 9 on HBO.