Game of Thrones season 4, episode 2, TV review: 'Purple Wedding' shock for viewers as King Joffrey marries Margaery Tyrell

The bratty boy-king is dead - and what a way to kick the bucket! After last week's average start, viewers got a startling follow up.

Joffrey's demise was possibly the most grotesque death on Game of Thrones to date.

With thin streams of blood pouring out of nostrils and vomit out of the corner of his mouth, the lingering shot of Joffrey's death face was seared into the audience's collective memory.

It was so sickening to behold that some viewers may have wanted to hurl the contents of their own stomachs into the nearest bin.

The last image of Joffrey was even more satisfying than Justin Bieber’s own end in an episode of CSI – Bieber has, after all, been described as the ‘ modern-day Joffrey’.

The Purple Wedding, Joffrey and Margaery's union, was an apt conclusion for someone so despicable in life. From using prostitutes as crossbow target practice to getting off on ordering a pair of prostitutes to beat each other, Joffrey earned the role of the show’s most-hated character, not to mention the one most fans wanted to see die slowly and painfully.

Jack Gleeson gave a sterling final turn as the young, mad kind. He has played Joffrey superbly over the past four seasons, graduating from spoilt brat to sadistic royal. Every smirk and gloat has been done to perfection and enraged fans accordingly.

The only moment of respite was when Tyrion slapped Joffrey back in season one. How we punched the air with joy.

But, wait, what happens to Tyrion now? He has been thrown in the dungeons for murdering his nephew while Sansa disappeared amidst the fall out.

With Joffrey now gone, Ramsay Bolton could be a contender for the new object of ire. He is more than a little bit bonkers and equally as callous - if Theon’s torture is anything to go by.

The tumultuous events of the Purple Wedding were far less drawn out than last year’s Red Wedding but it was just as shocking, if not more.

By all accounts, The Lion and The Rose was a bloody and brutal instalment, even for a seasoned Game of Thrones fan. The violence is starting to veer into torture porn territory.

Yes, yes, people will cry that it reflects the Ramsay’s cruel nature or the medieval an-eye-for-an-eye world, etc, but it was a tough watch.

Things have now shifted a gear and are starting to get really interesting. It is these game-changing episodes that make Game of Thrones so compelling, and it is only a wonder why The Lion and The Rose was not the season premiere.

Producers Dan Weiss and David Benioff promised season four would have a fair few climaxes rather than the one, traditionally episode nine, and they definitely met fans’ expectations this week.