In the middle of "Valar Dohaeris," tonight's season three
premiere of HBO's Game of Thrones, Tywin Lannister tells his son
Tyrion that only "jugglers and singers require applause." The
characters on Game of Thrones may not require praise, but based
on tonight's stellar premiere, the applause for Game of Thrones
will only get louder.  In budget, content, and scope, Game of
Thrones is a series that couldn't have existed a decade ago, and
its success was far from guaranteed when it premiered on HBO in
April 2011. But Game of Thrones enters its third season with all
the confidence and swagger — not to mention the gold — of a
Lannister.  The show isn't afraid to limit the time we spend
with some characters (like fan-favorite Arya Stark, who doesn't
appear in the premiere at all). It's not afraid to tease the
die-hard fans of the series. ("They said you lost your
nose," Cersei says to Tyrion, describing the injury he received
in last season's Battle of Blackwater — an injury that results
in the loss of his nose in