“Words are wind, Asher. It’s choices that define who you are”. If a single line of dialogue could summarise The Sword in the Darkness, the third episode in Telltale’s Game of Throne series, it’d be that one.

SPOILER WARNING: The following review contains spoilers for Episode 2: The Lost Lords. If you haven’t yet had the pleasure of playing the second episode, do not read on.

Before I get into the meat of this review, I feel as if I should come clean. I started reviewing Telltale’s Game of Thrones with no prior knowledge of the TV show or the books. Since then, I’ve watched the three seasons of the show and I’m far more invested.

After the fairly slow second episode, things progress rapidly in The Sword in the Darkness. After meeting with his Uncle Malcolm regarding the perilous position of House Forrester, Asher makes his way back to Westeros, hoping to gather an army of mercenaries along the way. Unfortunately, he has to tussle with dragons, face old enemies and a familiar face from the TV show to get there.

Asher’s story has the potential to provide some grandeur to the series, with giant mercenary armies on the cards, but Asher as a character needs more work. He’s a little dull, and if he is destined to be the hero of House Forrester, he needs more screen-time if the audience is going to take him to heart.

On the other hand, Gared shone brightest in the third episode. His story seemed to limp a little in The Lost Lords, but out of all the branching narratives of each of the different protagonists, its Garred Tuttle’s story I am most excited for.

In The Sword in the Darkness, Gared finishes his training and takes the Black, i.e. the oath of servitude all men of the Knight’s Watch have to take. There’s an obvious element of fan service going on when the player has to prompt Gared to say each line of the Black with his brothers, but it’s inoffensive.

Just as his career as a man of the Knight’s Watch is about to begin, he receives a visit from his Uncle Duncan, who gives him a map to the enigmatic North Grove. Ultimately, to seek it out he will have to choose between his family or his brothers.

Mira’s story in King’s Landing is the branch of the series which is most faithful to the TV show. To survive, Mira has to play a double-game, pitting the survival of her family against the favour of her mistress, Lady Margaery Tyrell. Mira’s sections feel incredibly tense and engaging, but contain huge spoilers for the uninitiated.

Whilst several of the Forrester clan are off around the world trying desperately to aid their family, the severely injured Rodrik Forrester has to deal with yet another detestable villain, come to humiliate his house. This series really excells at creating characters you want to stab repeatedly, and Gryff Whitehill is a fine exemplar of that.

After watching the TV show, I feel like I understand the tone of Telltale’s Game of Thrones far more than I did in my previous, and admittedly harsh, review of The Lost Lords. Rather than providing much catharsis with each passing episode, Telltale have chosen instead to constantly build up intrigue, favouring patient story-telling over the kind on display in Tales from the Borderlands.

The result is that there are always going to be a few slower episodes that put in the groundwork for epsodes to come, but with The Sword in the Darkness, this series has really hit its stride.

It’s incredibly tense, and as it flicks from protagonist to protagonist, edging each story forward a notch, you’ll find yourself constantly wishing to have just a few more minutes with each character, desperate to see where their story is going to go next.

In a previous review, I bemoaned the sword-fighting in this series, as it’s clunky and amounts to clicking X at the correct time. With this in mind, The Sword in the Darkness has some excellent moments.

A particular favourite of mine was the battle between Rod and the antagonistic Gryff. It’s an intense, psychological ordeal and no weapons are involved. I won’t spoil how it plays out, but its a testament to what Telltale can do with so little gameplay.

What few sword-fighting scenes there were through-out the episode felt essential, which is what was lacking from the beginning of The Lost Lords. The gameplay may consist entirely of QTEs, but if you give the player a fight they’re invested in, they’ll enjoy it regardless.

After The Lost Lords, I lost all of my excitement for this series, and I assumed it was going to plod along in a similar vein and never quite capture my interest again. However, this episode is truly gripping and shows that in the end, one must always have faith in Telltale.

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