In the War of Five Kings, Renly Baratheon appears to be the most powerful, at least on the popular front.
On HBO's Game of Thrones (Sundays, 9/8c), Gethin Anthony plays young Renly, who's become quite the charismatic young leader in the drama's second season. "He started off as a young man at court, very much a courtier, and had to go through a huge evolution into becoming a king, and not a king with an easy route to power," Anthony tells TVGuide.com. "He's had to take on a lot of responsibility. He's had to become more politically strategic with warfare and understanding armies."
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Natalie Dormer may have been topless during one of her first scenes in Game of Thrones, but it was her character's attitude about sex with her husband that made the biggest impression.
In Sunday's episode, Dormer had to play the not-so-shy virgin Margaery Tyrell, who tries to consummate her marriage with Renly Baratheon (Gethin Anthony). When he can't quite rise to the occasion, she offers to enlist the help of her brother Loras (Finn Jones), who just so happens to be Renly's lover.
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"A small man can cast a big shadow," Varys told Tyrion, and in Sunday's episode of Game of Thrones, we certainly saw that The Imp has strengthened his power as the Hand of the King.
With his latest political triumph, Tyrion once again undermined his sister, Queen Regent Cersei and by extension, her teenage son, King Joffrey. Who else triumphed? Who suffered an embarrassing setback (besides Theon, of course)? Check out TVGuide.com's breakdown of the power shifts in...
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"Power is power," the Queen Regent Cersei told a chastened Littlefinger in the long-awaited Game of Thrones Season 2 premiere.
It's a lesson that the Lannister lady has passed down to her son. In Sunday's episode, both Cersei and Joffrey flex their monarchy muscles among their courtiers, but now that Westeros is embroiled in a civil war among more than one self-styled king, it remains to be seen who actually wields the most influence. Who made a play for power? Who succeeded? Who failed? Who just embarrassed him/herself? TVGuide.com breaks down the power shifts in "The North Remembers":
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Power Tripping
Joffrey Baratheon (Jack Gleeson): He may only be a teenager, but that kid is sitting on the Iron Throne. So far, he's used his power to hold tournaments, give the order to...
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The Iron Throne may be made of swords, but that isn't a deterrent for the many people who want to sit upon it.
Following the death of King Robert Baratheon, Westeros has been thrown into turmoil. As the second season of Game of Thrones kicks off Sunday (9/8c, HBO), Robert's son Joffrey holds dominion in King's Landing, but not without rumblings from the surrounding Seven Kingdoms. Civil war has broken out, and while some men feel they have a better claim to the throne, others want supremacy over their own carved-out piece of turf.
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