Game of Thrones - Season Four: The Mountain and The Viper

I’m not going to wait until the end of the review to address the biggest talking point from this episode – the way it ended. I have to say that I’ve never actually felt unwell following an episode, but this one finally provided an image that made my stomach turn over. And I knew exactly what was going to happen, because I’ve read the books – yet it didn’t make any difference. The show has killed off beloved characters before, and in horrific ways (we all remember the “Red Wedding”) and yet the manner in which Oberyn Martell met his demise was so brutal, it will probably be one of the hardest scenes in the show’s history to re-watch.

Probably the most shocking thing about this particular death is the fact that it was a well-established character, and the close-up shots really lingered on his ruined face – whereas in the past the show has shown some discretion (we never actually saw Ned’s beheading due to a strategically timed cut-away, nor did we witness the mutilation of Robb Stark’s corpse). I’ve seen horrendous deaths in shows like The Walking Dead, and last week I performed in an excessively bloody production of Titus Andronicus (which compensated for the lack of Game of Thrones) and yet Oberyn’s death felt like a step too far.

Viewers of the show who have made it this far, must surely be aware by now that when a character has a just motive, they will rarely be allowed to see it through. Oberyn was very much like Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride to the extent that he was driven by vengeance against Ser Gregor Clegane (and by extension Tywin Lannister) and even had his mantra that he repeated throughout their fight to the death: “You raped her. You murdered her. You killed her children.” (It’s not quite “Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die!” but it’s pretty close). The difference here though is that the wrong man won the duel. Oberyn had the fight won, but he was serving his own purpose more than Tyrion’s, and would not let the Mountain die until he had forced a confession from him. Then he got the confession, but not exactly as he would have wanted it: “Elia of Dorne. I raped her. I murdered her. Then I smashed her head in. LIKE THIS!” (For all the discretion that they didn’t show, I’m surprised they omitted the word ‘fucking’ from The Mountain’s line – crazy priorities!) I also have to give Indira Varma credit for her reaction, which completely sold the moment perfectly.

With all this hysteria aside, the trial-by-combat was a brilliant scene – wonderfully executed, and so very like the books – the fight choreography was exciting and intense, and there was a real sense of danger as Tyrion’s life was also on the line, and high stakes because of the way Oberyn built it up since his arrival at the start of this season. I’m just sad that it means the end of Oberyn, as Pedro Pascale did a fantastic job with the character. As for Tyrion, we’ll have to wait until the season finale to see what becomes of him.

Speaking of Tyrion, it seems that Peter Dinklage can do no wrong in this role – his lengthy monologue about his beetle-crushing cousin, could have seemed pointless or excessive in the hands of a lesser actor. The significance of this monologue became clear after the trial-by-combat, as The Mountain (a violent and aggressive brute) crushed Oberyn like a beetle, not for any real purpose, just because that’s the sort of person he it. Tyrion’s monologue will likely be analysed further, and I’m actually interested to revisit it myself.

Tyrion’s monologue is a shining example of how deviations from the book can work well, but elsewhere there are deviations that create problems. Having kept Arya and The Hound together for so long did lead to Arya’s Titus Andronicus moment, as she laughed hysterically at her latest misfortune, rather than become overwhelmed with emotion (“I have not another tear to shed”) but in the long term it creates problems. Are they just going to leave now? What do they do next? They also seem to be getting on pretty well now, which makes several of their scenes together throughout this season lose their impact (such as Arya adding “The Hound” to her list of names, also The Hound said that “no ransom is worth getting killed over” in the last episode). I enjoy their scenes together, but it does seem that the writers have taken too much of a good thing, and are having to go around in circles by drawing things out too long.

Another problem that has stemmed from deviating from the books is Jorah’s dismissal. It needed to happen, but its placement doesn’t make a lot of sense. In the books Ser Barristan was a member of King Robert’s Small Council, and so knew that Jorah was a spy right away. Having it occur at this stage in the story, after Jorah has proved his loyalty to Daenerys multiple times, gives the indication that the writers lost track of things and then suddenly realised that they’d missed it out and quickly had to write it in again. Jorah was completely in the right when he said that it was all Tywin’s plan to weaken their cause, but Dany ignored the advice of her most devoted and longstanding companion, and had him sent away.

Theon/Reek proved to Ramsay that he is completely broken and bent to his will, unwittingly causing the deaths of all the Ironborn men who had claimed Moat Cailin. It was surprising that the show treated Ramsay’s ascension from base-born to true-born (‘Snow’ to ‘Bolton’) with a strange feeling of reverence. Are we supposed to be pleased? The Bolton’s now rule the North, as the Starks are believed to be wiped out.

Sansa took a big step in this episode, proving to Littlefinger that she has learned from him, and knows how to lie convincingly. After a lengthy mistreatment at the hands of Joffrey and Cersei – and a brief mistreatment at the hands of her Aunt Lysa – she’s finally decided that she’s done being a pawn, and is set to become a player in the Game of Thrones. This is a big game-changer for her character, although it’s also rather unsettling. The private exchange between her and Littlefinger seemed to imply that the two of them slept together, which isn’t beyond comprehension in this world, but is rather tragic (and gross) if that is indeed the route they’ve decided to go.

Elsewhere, there was a scene in Mole’s Town where I was actually longing for the Wildling raiders to show up, a sub-plot between Grey Worm and Missandei, all about “the Unsullied who learned how to love”, that doesn’t interest me all that much (but it seems likely that it will become an ongoing plotline), and there was a pretty good scene between Jon, Sam and some of the other Brothers of the Night’s Watch – but since next week’s episode is set to focus entirely on the battle at the Wall, I’ll have plenty of opportunity to discuss these characters next time around.

This was a very strong episode for the most part, although some storylines and their mishandlings came to fruition here. This didn’t hinder my enjoyment too much, but I think that this season has struggled with storyline distribution in places. Characters disappear for too long, then return to rush into something more significant, whilst at other times characters have too much screen-time, but little to do. The content is good, but the distribution has created problems at times. Anyway, in spite of this, it was a great episode – and one that will certainly leave a lasting impression.