It appears Robert didn't take Ned's decision to walk away from the role as Hand to heart.

On this week's episode of Game of Thrones, his chat with Ned didn't leave any doubt that he's in a really precarious position. In debt up to his eyeballs to the Lannisters and surrounded by them on all sides, he doesn't have a choice but to walk in the path they set out for him, King or not.

I really enjoyed the scenes with Daenerys. That was one giant chunk of heart that Dany had to eat for the ritual. I would not have, in any way possible, been able to keep that down. Even watching was making me sick. But damned if our girl didn't pull it off in the end. She is such an awesome warrior.

The look of jealousy on Viserys's face was priceless as he realized how completely Dany had gained the love of her new people. After we saw the attachment Dany had to the dragons eggs, there was no way he was going to escape with them. Even if he had, I believe something other-worldy would have protected them from Viscerys.

Dany made one last stand on her brother's behalf, but he did finally wear "A Golden Crown" befitting the king he would have been. While he was entertaining, I will not miss his presence. From his desire to be ruler of the Seven Kingdoms, a true Dothraki Khaleesi was born instead.

Tyrion was on fire fighting against Lysa Arryn. She had no idea what she was up against. His brains against hers were little match. Her freaky little son screaming for the little man to fly and giggling at the thought of battle left me cold. I like nothing about Catelyn's sister.

I missed something with Joffrey and it involved his complete turn regarding Sansa. The look on her face was sheer pre-teen bliss, as if she had just met and been wooed by Justin Bieber.

Unfortunately for her, Ned had just figured out that the entire Baratheon family was black of hair until Joffrey. He immediately realized the degree of danger surrounding his family and ordered his daughters home.

Overall, the episode was a little too fragmented for my taste. There were so many important things happening, from Ned ordering the death of Gregor Clegane in the King's stead, to the battle between Tyrion's and Lysa's champions to the King's hunt.

The show tried to push too much into the hour and I felt it lost some of its intensity. And there were incredibly intense moments. They just deserved more time to grow. The pacing of of this episode left me wanting.

Other thoughts I had during the episode:

• Just when you think Cersei wasn't as bad as you thought, she opened her mouth and spewed so many lies you want to do exactly what Robert did: smack her.
• Bran looked thrilled riding with the saddle made from Tyrion's plans. His every happiness seems short lived.
• The King goes hunting with only four people? I always imagined a royal hunt to be a far greater activity.
• Only Arya acknowledged the death of her family's friend, Jory. I expected more attention to be paid to the aftermath of the fight between Jaime and Ned.
• If what she said was true, Dany has dragon's blood running through her. She was not burned by the fire. Her growth and power is intriguing.
• Roz, the whore, is expecting a war to break out any day, enough that she left Winterfell. Surely she cannot be the only one who sees this.
• I hope Catelyn flees the side of her sister quickly. Nothing about that woman seems remotely sane to me.

What did you think of the episode? In spite of the actual amount of forward movement made with the story, I felt it was one of the weaker hours to date, but still better than most of what is currently shown on television.

Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.