Game of Thrones Review: Season 4 Episode 10
Warning: SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!
Wow, I can't believe it's over! I feel like we just started Season 4 and we're already done! Not cool! I can't wait another year for Season 5! Oh well, at least True Blood starts next week. That being said, let's talk about the finale of Season 4. In general, I thought that this was a really great finale, but after they said "this is going to be the best finale EVER", I was sort of expecting more. I just felt that it lacked a good cliffhanger. Let's break it down.
Favorite Moments:
Longest Episode Ever - First off, I was really excited that this episode was longer than usual. I think they should make that the standard for finales. Game of Thrones just has so much material to cover, so I think it's great that they gave us an extra twenty minutes to get some extra material in.
Happy Father's Day, Tywin - The fact that this episode aired on father's day was brilliant. It was not a good episode for fathers. Like, I dislike Tywin as much as the next person, but being shot to death on the toilet is a horrible way to die (although, he was going to kill Tyrion, so I don't think Tyrion is too out of line). But seriously, that whole scene was almost completely perfect. It was so great to see Tyrion taking his revenge. I say "almost perfect" because they cut Tysha out of the scene. If you haven't read the books, you have no idea what I'm talking about. But book readers will understand my anguish when I say that "where ever whores go" was missing. So that was a bit disappointing, but other than that, everything was perfect. Also, of course, we had the scene with Cersei where she tells Tywin that she's been having an affair with Jaime. This doesn't happen in the books, but I thought it was really great because this way we know that he knows the truth about everything when he dies. Happy father's day, Tywin.
Tyrion's Grand Escape - Continuing on that thread, I have to say that the Tyrion escape scene was just so great! I especially loved that moment when the door opened and Tyrion thought they were coming to kill him and he was like "you son of a whore" and then Jaime came in and was like "is that any way to talk about our mother?". That was just beautiful. I've been waiting all season for that and they just did it perfectly. The goodbye between Tyrion and Jaime was especially good.
Brienne vs. The Hound - I know I say this a lot, but this was just such a great scene; it was gritty and bloody and really, the way a fight should be. Actually, I think Brienne bit off the Hound's ear at one point. You know when people are losing ears, things are getting serious. Also, it was great to see Arya get to meet Brienne because, in so many ways, Brienne is the person Arya wanted to be (at least in Season 1), and you can tell that Arya really admires her. This scene was just so well orchestrated; I love it.
Arya's off to Bravos - So, this scene wouldn't have been my choice for the ending shot of the episode, but, even so, this was a cool scene. I loved the way the music and the visuals all came together. Not to mention that the ship was beautiful; it reminded me of the Dawn Treader from The Chronicles of Narnia.
The Dragons in Chains - Oh, this was so great! So, so great; I just love the dragons. Whoever designed the dragons did an excellent, excellent job. It was so sad when she had to chain the dragons; I felt so sad for them in that moment. I almost couldn't watch it. So. Many. Emotions.
Ygritte's Funeral - I may not have agreed with spending more valuable episode time at The Wall, but if they had to do it, I'm glad we could see Ygritte's funeral. I loved seeing the Heart Tree and one last glimpse of her face. So beautiful. So well done. It was also nice to see that little moment between Tormund and Jon, talking about Ygritte.
Stannis to the Rescue - I think this scene would have been perfect as an end to Episode 9, but I'll take it in Episode 10. It was just so epic to see Stannis and his army come riding across the snow. It sort of reminded me of the scene in The Twin Towers when Gandalf brings the extra warriors to Helm's Deep and saves the day. Super cool. Also, I was just so great to see Jon Snow and Stannis talk. They have more in common than they know (honor and all that stuff). You have to remember that Ned Stark died on Stannis's behalf, so it was a really loaded transaction. Stannis always gives credit where credit is due, so, no doubt, he's gonna try to do right by Jon.
Least Favorite Moments:
We Don't Need More Time at the Wall - Although we had some good scenes at the Wall this episode, I was sort of disappointed that we had to spend more time there when there were so many other plots to wrap up. I mean, we spent the entire episode at The Wall last time, was that enough? Couldn't we have put that stuff in Episode 9.
Um, What's Up with the Skeletons - Everyone else is thinking it, so I'm just going to say it, what was with those skeleton things that popped out of the ground? What was that? What were they trying to do there? They weren't Others, the weren't Wights, what were they? Why were they in the ground? Were they guarding the cave? If they were guarding the cave, why didn't they know Bran was coming? Why can the Children of the Forest throw fire bombs? What's going on with that? THIS SCENE WAS SO WEIRD. I feel like they just put that in there to add some action to Bran's storyline and it just didn't work. To misquote Whitney Milam, it was like watching someone else playing a video game. Yuck.
Where was Lady Stoneheart? - So, I'm going to change things up and complain about something that wasn't in the show instead of something that was. Let me just come out and say it; where was Lady Stoneheart? For those of you who don't know, Lady Stoneheart is the reanimated corpse of Lady Stark who is traveling the River Lands, kicking butt, and taking names. I think she would have been the perfect cliff hanger for the end of Season 4. I was so disappointed! Hopefully she'll appear in the next season.
Where was Tysha - This is similar to the whole Lady Stoneheart thing. In case you didn't know, Tysha was a low-born girl that Tyrion fell in love with and married. In the books, Tyrion learns that Tywin told him that Tysha was a whore when she wasn't. This was real reason that Tyrion went to the Tower of the Hand. I think the lack of Tysha really made Tyrion's motivations sort of feeble and flimsy. Oh well.
So, that's it for Season 4. I'll be doing a full season review with some general comments about the season and some things I hope to see next season soon, so look out for that. Otherwise...
Valar dohaeris
Wow, I can't believe it's over! I feel like we just started Season 4 and we're already done! Not cool! I can't wait another year for Season 5! Oh well, at least True Blood starts next week. That being said, let's talk about the finale of Season 4. In general, I thought that this was a really great finale, but after they said "this is going to be the best finale EVER", I was sort of expecting more. I just felt that it lacked a good cliffhanger. Let's break it down.
Favorite Moments:
Longest Episode Ever - First off, I was really excited that this episode was longer than usual. I think they should make that the standard for finales. Game of Thrones just has so much material to cover, so I think it's great that they gave us an extra twenty minutes to get some extra material in.
Happy Father's Day, Tywin - The fact that this episode aired on father's day was brilliant. It was not a good episode for fathers. Like, I dislike Tywin as much as the next person, but being shot to death on the toilet is a horrible way to die (although, he was going to kill Tyrion, so I don't think Tyrion is too out of line). But seriously, that whole scene was almost completely perfect. It was so great to see Tyrion taking his revenge. I say "almost perfect" because they cut Tysha out of the scene. If you haven't read the books, you have no idea what I'm talking about. But book readers will understand my anguish when I say that "where ever whores go" was missing. So that was a bit disappointing, but other than that, everything was perfect. Also, of course, we had the scene with Cersei where she tells Tywin that she's been having an affair with Jaime. This doesn't happen in the books, but I thought it was really great because this way we know that he knows the truth about everything when he dies. Happy father's day, Tywin.
Tyrion's Grand Escape - Continuing on that thread, I have to say that the Tyrion escape scene was just so great! I especially loved that moment when the door opened and Tyrion thought they were coming to kill him and he was like "you son of a whore" and then Jaime came in and was like "is that any way to talk about our mother?". That was just beautiful. I've been waiting all season for that and they just did it perfectly. The goodbye between Tyrion and Jaime was especially good.
Brienne vs. The Hound - I know I say this a lot, but this was just such a great scene; it was gritty and bloody and really, the way a fight should be. Actually, I think Brienne bit off the Hound's ear at one point. You know when people are losing ears, things are getting serious. Also, it was great to see Arya get to meet Brienne because, in so many ways, Brienne is the person Arya wanted to be (at least in Season 1), and you can tell that Arya really admires her. This scene was just so well orchestrated; I love it.
Arya's off to Bravos - So, this scene wouldn't have been my choice for the ending shot of the episode, but, even so, this was a cool scene. I loved the way the music and the visuals all came together. Not to mention that the ship was beautiful; it reminded me of the Dawn Treader from The Chronicles of Narnia.
The Dragons in Chains - Oh, this was so great! So, so great; I just love the dragons. Whoever designed the dragons did an excellent, excellent job. It was so sad when she had to chain the dragons; I felt so sad for them in that moment. I almost couldn't watch it. So. Many. Emotions.
Ygritte's Funeral - I may not have agreed with spending more valuable episode time at The Wall, but if they had to do it, I'm glad we could see Ygritte's funeral. I loved seeing the Heart Tree and one last glimpse of her face. So beautiful. So well done. It was also nice to see that little moment between Tormund and Jon, talking about Ygritte.
Stannis to the Rescue - I think this scene would have been perfect as an end to Episode 9, but I'll take it in Episode 10. It was just so epic to see Stannis and his army come riding across the snow. It sort of reminded me of the scene in The Twin Towers when Gandalf brings the extra warriors to Helm's Deep and saves the day. Super cool. Also, I was just so great to see Jon Snow and Stannis talk. They have more in common than they know (honor and all that stuff). You have to remember that Ned Stark died on Stannis's behalf, so it was a really loaded transaction. Stannis always gives credit where credit is due, so, no doubt, he's gonna try to do right by Jon.
Least Favorite Moments:
We Don't Need More Time at the Wall - Although we had some good scenes at the Wall this episode, I was sort of disappointed that we had to spend more time there when there were so many other plots to wrap up. I mean, we spent the entire episode at The Wall last time, was that enough? Couldn't we have put that stuff in Episode 9.
Um, What's Up with the Skeletons - Everyone else is thinking it, so I'm just going to say it, what was with those skeleton things that popped out of the ground? What was that? What were they trying to do there? They weren't Others, the weren't Wights, what were they? Why were they in the ground? Were they guarding the cave? If they were guarding the cave, why didn't they know Bran was coming? Why can the Children of the Forest throw fire bombs? What's going on with that? THIS SCENE WAS SO WEIRD. I feel like they just put that in there to add some action to Bran's storyline and it just didn't work. To misquote Whitney Milam, it was like watching someone else playing a video game. Yuck.
Where was Lady Stoneheart? - So, I'm going to change things up and complain about something that wasn't in the show instead of something that was. Let me just come out and say it; where was Lady Stoneheart? For those of you who don't know, Lady Stoneheart is the reanimated corpse of Lady Stark who is traveling the River Lands, kicking butt, and taking names. I think she would have been the perfect cliff hanger for the end of Season 4. I was so disappointed! Hopefully she'll appear in the next season.
Where was Tysha - This is similar to the whole Lady Stoneheart thing. In case you didn't know, Tysha was a low-born girl that Tyrion fell in love with and married. In the books, Tyrion learns that Tywin told him that Tysha was a whore when she wasn't. This was real reason that Tyrion went to the Tower of the Hand. I think the lack of Tysha really made Tyrion's motivations sort of feeble and flimsy. Oh well.
So, that's it for Season 4. I'll be doing a full season review with some general comments about the season and some things I hope to see next season soon, so look out for that. Otherwise...
Valar dohaeris
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