Whenever I watch this show, I turn in to a whimpering baby. Game of Thrones is, in terms of literature, the next Lord of The Rings. It's the epic complex fantasy series that gets scrutinized in all its wonderful detail by a massive community. And yet what makes Game of Thrones somewhat unique is that the adaptation is coming out while the story is still unfinished. Enough of the book version came out before the show that people were able to develop this deep fascination and speculation about the lore, but now the show is ahead of the books. As a result, being a book reader triples my investment in the show; these are the characters I have been analyzing and following for years; this is the result of their story, suddenly playing itself out in a weekly format where anything can happen. It's wonderful, terrifying, and exhilarating. True, it can also result in disappointment (such as last week's Dorne plot). But when an episode like this one, or last season's Hardhome comes along, viewing it is an experience like no other. Every scene leaves you hanging on a knife's edge. And with that in mind, let's begin.
At the start of the episode, we (FINALLY) catch up with Bran. We see that he and the Three Eyed Raven are deep in vision. We then cut to that vision, where we see a young Ned and Benjen stark practising in the courtyard of Winterfell. The way it is shot is a replica of the scene in the pilot where young Bran practised in the same spot. This highlights the fact that Bran was simply following the path of every young Stark that came before him, adding an extra dimension to the pilot. And now, in the vision, Bran and the Three Eyed Raven stand where Ned and Catelyn stood in the pilot, underlining how far Bran has come. The scene sets up some things for the reveal of Jon Snow's parents, and introduces a young Hodor. We begin to see the tragic story of Hodor, making me feel bad for taking part in the internet's loving mocking of him. When we return to the cave, we see that the makeup artists have worked more on the Children's look, and Meera feels lonely.
At Castle Black, the battle that was setup in the last episode plays itself out. The result was satisfying but slightly confusing; how did Davos and the others contact the Wildlings?
Roose Bolton's child is born, and Ramsay does something unexpected. I mean truly unexpected. I expected it to happen eventually, but not now. It is actually pretty satisfying, until he gets to the second part of his plan. That's when it becomes so brutal that I had trouble watching. I really hope he dies this season.
Theon departs. It's kind of sad, kind of cathartic. Where is he going?
We get a scene with the common folk in King's Landing. It is legitimately good to catch up with them; I always like seeing the underbelly of the big events in the plot. It also leads to a Franken-Mountain moment that makes one unsure whether to laugh, wince, or cry. I settled for a wince. Myrcella's funeral happens (is it technically even a funeral if there is no ceremony and only two people show up?). Jaime and the High Sparrow have a stare down. Tommen has a touching scene.
Ary- I mean... no-one deals with more abuse. Tyrion drinks and knows things. Then he uses those things he knows to perform one of the best and most nerve-wracking Tyrion scenes ever.
For the first time in forever, we visit the Iron Islands, and a book moment we've been waiting for for a long time finally comes. I have a feeling that after the way they've screwed up Dorne, they are making sure to take their time and get the Greyjoy plot just right. Well, so far they've succeeded. What a fantastic way to introduce a new character. And the famous Kingsmoot scene can be seen on the horizon.
I imagine that the final scene will melt the internet. It's a moment that many people have been waiting for for 5 years (since the last book came out). There's been so much speculation about this for so long that it doesn't even feel real to me now that it has finally happened. Dan and David really had a fun time stretching it out, as well. They really milked that scene for all it had. As I watched it, thought to myself "at this point, if nothing happens, the director is basically Hitler". After the sheer disappointment around that Walking Dead finale, the scene almost managed to convince me that nothing was really going to happen. But then, at long last, we viewers were put out of our misery. What an episode.
The semi-ex-positional nature of last episode had some thinking that this season would once again fall victim to the flaws of last season, but this is the episode that proves them wrong. This is, in a nutshell, one of the greatest episodes of Game of Thrones, and a fantastic way to get the season rolling.
At the start of the episode, we (FINALLY) catch up with Bran. We see that he and the Three Eyed Raven are deep in vision. We then cut to that vision, where we see a young Ned and Benjen stark practising in the courtyard of Winterfell. The way it is shot is a replica of the scene in the pilot where young Bran practised in the same spot. This highlights the fact that Bran was simply following the path of every young Stark that came before him, adding an extra dimension to the pilot. And now, in the vision, Bran and the Three Eyed Raven stand where Ned and Catelyn stood in the pilot, underlining how far Bran has come. The scene sets up some things for the reveal of Jon Snow's parents, and introduces a young Hodor. We begin to see the tragic story of Hodor, making me feel bad for taking part in the internet's loving mocking of him. When we return to the cave, we see that the makeup artists have worked more on the Children's look, and Meera feels lonely.
At Castle Black, the battle that was setup in the last episode plays itself out. The result was satisfying but slightly confusing; how did Davos and the others contact the Wildlings?
Roose Bolton's child is born, and Ramsay does something unexpected. I mean truly unexpected. I expected it to happen eventually, but not now. It is actually pretty satisfying, until he gets to the second part of his plan. That's when it becomes so brutal that I had trouble watching. I really hope he dies this season.
Theon departs. It's kind of sad, kind of cathartic. Where is he going?
We get a scene with the common folk in King's Landing. It is legitimately good to catch up with them; I always like seeing the underbelly of the big events in the plot. It also leads to a Franken-Mountain moment that makes one unsure whether to laugh, wince, or cry. I settled for a wince. Myrcella's funeral happens (is it technically even a funeral if there is no ceremony and only two people show up?). Jaime and the High Sparrow have a stare down. Tommen has a touching scene.
Ary- I mean... no-one deals with more abuse. Tyrion drinks and knows things. Then he uses those things he knows to perform one of the best and most nerve-wracking Tyrion scenes ever.
For the first time in forever, we visit the Iron Islands, and a book moment we've been waiting for for a long time finally comes. I have a feeling that after the way they've screwed up Dorne, they are making sure to take their time and get the Greyjoy plot just right. Well, so far they've succeeded. What a fantastic way to introduce a new character. And the famous Kingsmoot scene can be seen on the horizon.
I imagine that the final scene will melt the internet. It's a moment that many people have been waiting for for 5 years (since the last book came out). There's been so much speculation about this for so long that it doesn't even feel real to me now that it has finally happened. Dan and David really had a fun time stretching it out, as well. They really milked that scene for all it had. As I watched it, thought to myself "at this point, if nothing happens, the director is basically Hitler". After the sheer disappointment around that Walking Dead finale, the scene almost managed to convince me that nothing was really going to happen. But then, at long last, we viewers were put out of our misery. What an episode.
The semi-ex-positional nature of last episode had some thinking that this season would once again fall victim to the flaws of last season, but this is the episode that proves them wrong. This is, in a nutshell, one of the greatest episodes of Game of Thrones, and a fantastic way to get the season rolling.