Review

Game of Thrones: Episode 5: A Nest of Vipers

After some weeks of waiting Telltale’s fifth episode in the Game of Thrones series, A Nest of Vipers, arrived on the scene. After “Sons of Winter” we were left believing that things were finally starting to look up for the Foresters. Of course, this wouldn’t be GoT if everything stayed pleasant; their frail sense of security is quickly swept from under them. As I played through this episode, there were plenty of points where I had no idea what to do. Not because of a lack of information but, because of me battling against my own morals.

The Foresters story lines seem to be wrapping up. Picking up where the last episode left off, we see Ramsey Snow in the Forrester house with only Talia at the table. Rodrik must find a way to get Ramsey to leave without causing any more harm to his family. Unfortunately, Ramsey is looking to teach Rodrik a lesson for his retaliation against Gryff Whitehill. After the meeting with Ramsey, Talia finds out who the traitor is amongst those in the Forrester House. Asher has to find new soldiers after Daenerys doesn’t exactly follow their agreement; instead of lending her soldiers she gives him a large sum of gold to buy his own. The soldiers he finds aren’t really impressed with the amount of gold he has so he has to find another way to earn their respect. Mira is confronted by Cersei yet again, but this time she has a job for Mira. Mira is to talk to Tyrion in his cell and try to collect as much information as possible to help find him guilty in his trial. And lastly Gared, Cotter and Finn have found Cotter’s sister. It turns out Cotter had different motives, leaving Gared to convince his sister to help him find the North Grove.

“A Nest of Vipers” does a good job of forcing players to decide between what they’d want to do and what they should do. Do you take a stand and fight back or do you cower before the game’s antagonists? The former seems like the best idea, until you realize that your choice will affect those you care about. Most of the tension stems from the intimidation powerful characters have over the main cast – such as Cersei for Mira and Ramsey for Rodrik. Because of their positions these opposing forces can do some serious harm. Moving past some of the drama, I really enjoyed the faster pasted segments. Specifically the scenario’s dealing with Asher. There are definitely less action sequences throughout this episode compared to the previous ones but, that doesn’t mean there isn’t any. And we’ve learned so far that if Asher is involved there’s going to be a fight at some point. In an effort not to spoil anything, I’ll just say that this episode did a great job building suspense for the final.

Things where just starting to look up. Well, that’s not the case anymore. Emotional roller coaster doesn’t come close to describing my experience with this series. The writing is just as good as it is on the show, the voice acting is terrific, and the action/fighting is meaningful. There’s even a good amount of fan service; this episode includes two memorable locations from the show: The cells in King’s Landing and the Fighting Pits of Meereen. Basically, if you’re a love Game of Thrones and haven’t played Telltale’s series, what are you waiting for?