Throughout this season there has been talk of what will happen when Mance Rayder's force of one hundred thousand Wildlings attack the hundred members of the Night's Watch at Castle Black; now it is time to find out. As the episode opens the group of Wildlings south of the wall are talking about the battle to come and Ygritte insists that she will be the one to kill Jon Snow
and will kill anybody else who tries to kill him first. At the wall Gilly arrives from Mole's Town and is let in by Sam who takes her to a secure room when the attack begins. Once the battle has started Giants sitting astride mammoths attack the gate while other Wildlings stat to scale the wall. Ygritte and her smaller group quickly scale the castle's southern wall and a battle rages within the courtyard. If the Night's Watch are to survive the must defeat this group and ensure that the gate that shuts out the northern forces remains closed.
From the first season the ninth episode has been something special and this season is no exception; like the second season all the action takes place in one location; Castle Black and the area around it. The early pre-battle scenes set things up nicely and once the battle starts it is non-stop action. The action is exciting and varied; the giants on mammoths look real, there are numerous volleys of flaming arrows, exploding barrels of burning oil and thrilling scenes of close quarters combat fought with a variety of weapons. The cast did a fine job; Kit Harington was great as his character, Jon Snow, took command of the forces on top of the wall. John Bradley impressed as Sam; his character has clearly developed from the first time we saw him and it was believable to see him fighting bravely. I was saddened when Ygritte died although it was fairly inevitable and she did get a good final scene. The secondary characters impressed too; they weren't a gung-ho bunch; even the bravest were apprehensive and many of the most nervous performed when called upon but not all. Overall this was a really exciting episode that lived up to the 'Episode Nine' reputation.
From the first season the ninth episode has been something special and this season is no exception; like the second season all the action takes place in one location; Castle Black and the area around it. The early pre-battle scenes set things up nicely and once the battle starts it is non-stop action. The action is exciting and varied; the giants on mammoths look real, there are numerous volleys of flaming arrows, exploding barrels of burning oil and thrilling scenes of close quarters combat fought with a variety of weapons. The cast did a fine job; Kit Harington was great as his character, Jon Snow, took command of the forces on top of the wall. John Bradley impressed as Sam; his character has clearly developed from the first time we saw him and it was believable to see him fighting bravely. I was saddened when Ygritte died although it was fairly inevitable and she did get a good final scene. The secondary characters impressed too; they weren't a gung-ho bunch; even the bravest were apprehensive and many of the most nervous performed when called upon but not all. Overall this was a really exciting episode that lived up to the 'Episode Nine' reputation.