This episode was great for several reasons; first of all it
contained what was unquestionably Emilia Clarke’s best scene as Danaerys; also
there was the first significant character death of the season as Lord Commander
Jeor Mormont makes his final stand; and of course Beric Dondarrion!
The episode began with Jaime Lannister being humiliated by
his Bolton captors, and a demonstration of how ineffective he is as a fighter
without his sword hand. This provoked a continuation of the unlikely friendship
between Jaime and Brienne. I have to say that Gwendoline Christie’s line
readings are on occasion a little bit odd (“He’s going to fall off his horse,
someone help him!”) but she did a very good job during the scene between the
two of them where she gave him the push he needed – which also contained the
very valid point that a lot of people have lost things that are important to
them. Her expression of gratitude towards Jaime was also very nicely done.
It is clear that the people making the show are very excited
that they got Dianna Rigg to play Lady Olenna, as she has been far more
prominent in the show than she is in the books. This is not a bad thing though,
as her scenes are always enjoyable. Pairing her with Varys was a nice touch, as
enigmatic wordplay is a staple of any scene involving the eunuch. It made for
an interesting scene when she refused to buy into any of his flattery.
It seems like a convention of the show that whenever a
character has a moment when they redeem themselves; something terrible is about
to happen to them. This was certainly the case for Theon, who confessed that he
had not really killed Bran and Rickon, and also that he considered Ned Stark to
be his true father. Of course this may not be a satisfying redemption for some
viewers, especially because of his betrayal of Robb. For those of you who don’t
think Theon deserves forgiveness, well things are about to get particularly
unpleasant for him, especially in the hands of his captor – still unnamed, but
his true nature has been revealed.
Things finally reached a boiling point for the Night’s Watch
survivors at Craster’s Keep. During last week’s episode there was a lingering
camera shot on one of the Night’s Watchmen who I’m pretty certain has never
made an appearance before. It came as no surprise therefore that this same
Night’s Watchman suddenly had dialogue of his own. This ended up being that man
who led the mutiny by murdering Craster. There are positives and negatives to
this action, for although I’m sure nobody feels sorry for Craster, it doesn’t
exactly bode well for the Night’s Watch – and by extension everyone else!
Commander Mormont then became the first major casualty of
the series – someone who has been there since season one – after being stabbed
in the back. The script writers were gracious enough to show the toughness of ‘The
Old Bear’ as he still had the strength to nearly choke a man despite bleeding
out, but unfortunately they omitted his dying words. In the books when Mormont
dies he tells Sam to find his son (Jorah) to tell him that he forgives him and
wants him to take the black. I’ve really enjoyed James Cosmo’s portrayal of the
Lord Commander, he always looked right for the part and has had some really
significant scenes (my favourite was back in season one when he made the
declaration “when dead men and worse come hunting for us in the night, do you
think it matters who sits on the iron throne?”). And now his watch is ended!
As I stated above the scene involving Danaerys was – in my
opinion – the best she has had to date. Maybe something about speaking a
made-up language adds a certain amount of oomph! Anyway, the dragon effect was
very impressive; I’m pleased that the show doesn’t overdo it when it comes to
CGI. I really liked the reaction from Kraznys when he realised that Dany knew
how to speak Valyrian. The expression on his face just said “so you could
understand everything I’ve been saying this whole time? Oh shit!” It was a nice
touch. Then Dany proved that she can be cruel when she needs to be, and had her
shiny new army massacre all the slavers, while Drogon (the black and red one is
named after her deceased husband, which is something that has never been
mentioned) roasted Kraznys alive. I really buzzed off the delivery of “Dracarys”
because I knew it was coming, but it was built up really well. Also the final
image of the Unsullied army marching out of Slaver’s Bay, while the three
dragons circle overhead was worthy of being a season-ender. I have no idea what
the actual ending image for this season will be, but I’m excited.
But of course, my major talking point on this blog for the
last couple of weeks has been anticipating the arrival of Beric Dondarrion. Now,
even though he is not a main character he is one of my favourites in the book
series. It seems that Arya’s storyline is always connected to the most
interesting secondary characters – Syrio Forel, Yoren, Jaqen H’Ghar – and now
Beric Dondarrion joins that group. I can’t go fully into detail as to why I
like this character so much, but it will become clearer in the next episode.
Richard Dormer managed to make the most of his first scene as the leader of the
Brotherhood Without Banners, managing to create an aura of command just though
his dialogue. Also, there are not many characters who would openly challenge
The Hound to single combat.
Elsewhere, there was another one of Bran’s dreams (I’m going
to hold onto the hope of a Sean Bean cameo at some point) as well as a really
great moment between Tywin Lannister and Cersei, in which Tywin proved once
again why he is such a respected and feared man. Joffrey’s fear at the prospect
of going out and seeing the people proves how much of a terrible king he is,
and I’m fairly certain someone in the crowd shouted ‘trick or treat!’ although
I probably just misheard.
We’re approaching the midseason mark now, and things are
really picking up. I’m already looking forward to the next one because we’ll
see the trial by combat.
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