Game of Thrones Season Four in Review
So, Game of Thrones has been off the air for a couple of weeks, so I figure that now is a good time to take a look back at season four. From the Purple Wedding (AKA the death of everyone's favorite psychopath) to some pretty serious philosophical discussions on the nature of gravy, season four was certainly eventful, if nothing else. I feel like Game of Thrones is starting to hit its stride, they've finally found the balance between CGI dragons, gratuitous brothel scenes, and good old fashioned chopping people's heads off. I think we all missed the beheadings from Season one.
Anyway, like I said, there were some really good aspects to this season, but there were also some not good aspects. Let's review the good, the bad, and the dragons.
The Good:
Sansa's Story Arc - As I've said before, I'm partial to Sansa Stark. But let's be honest, she's everyone's favorite ginger. Her arc this season was right on the money as far as I'm concerned, the producers went a little off script in terms of deviating from the books, but, in this case, it worked out for the best. It was great to see Sansa learning how to play the game this season. My favorite Sansa moment was when she was putting on her little show for all the lords of the Vale. She was like "boo hoo I'm an orphan and my direwolf is dead and lemons don't grow in the Eerie and everything is horrible", and then she just looks at Littlefinger, all sneaky, and gives him this you-owe-me glare. That was a great moment for the North everywhere, the day a Stark did something sneaky and slightly underhanded. Though, in all fairness, telling the truth hasn't gotten her very far. #TheNorthRemembers
The Purple Wedding - Who's the king we love to hate? Who's everyone's sadist of choice? I'll give you a hint, it's not Ramsay Snow, it's Joffrey of the House Baratheon, first of his name. Well, he's not really a Baratheon, but he was the first of his name, so we'll let that slide. Was is the key word there. Joffrey's death was really the highlight of this season for me. This was only half an episode, but what a half an episode it was. I think I watched it at least three times, once in slow motion. I was like "yeah, Joffrey, that's what you get! That's what you get for killing Sean Bean and his wife and his really, really good looking son, and everyone anyone who ever watched Game of Thrones ever cared about!" It was quite a moment. I especially liked the way his face turned purple at the end. I thought that was something really special.
The Red Viper - I think that if Westeros brewed Dos Equis, Pedro Pascal (AKA the Red Viper of Dorne, AKA Oberyn Martell) would be the Most Interesting Man in the World in their advertising campaigns. Seriously though, I'm pretty sure he's the coolest person in Westeros, he has the coolest accent, he's really good at revenge and foiling Lannister plots, and he can pull off the color yellow. Do you know how many people there are in the world who can't wear yellow? Stannis Baratheon is one of them (BTW, not only was Stannis not on the ballot for the coolest person in Westeros award, he wasn't even nominated). Anyway, I really enjoyed getting to know Oberyn this season. I particularly enjoyed his long and very illuminating monologues. It was a shame he had to have his eyeballs smashed out of his skull by the Mountain in what was, for sure, the most gruesome and graphic death scene. Ever. But these things happen, especially when you're on Game of Thrones. RIP the Red Viper, I'm looking forward to meeting the Sand Snakes next season.
Everyone Hates Tyrion - This season, Game of Thrones rolled out a new theme for the show: everyone hates Tyrion Lannister (It's okay, you can say it, he knows they want to kill him). From wrongly accusing him of murdering themost hated man in Westeros second most hated man in Westeros to Shae's shocking betrayal (although it wasn't so shocking if you read the books), Tyrion had a really rough time of it this season. Not that that was a bad thing. Peter Dinklage performed the role of Tyrion on death row beautifully. His scenes were some of the best in every episode. I especially liked his classic beetle crushing soliloquy. I think everyone is glad that his head stayed firmly attached to his shoulders.
The Bad:
The Wall - What's interesting about a big chunk of ice and a bunch of mopey guys that are sworn to defend it? Not much. At least, that's how this season portrayed life at The Wall. Which is a shame because Jon Snow is definitely a fan favorite. Unfortunately, the only interesting things that happened on The Wall were relegated to the two last episodes of the season, which begs the question: why did we have to suffer through all those non-event scenes for eight episodes? Only HBO knows. However, I would like to give the showrunners props on those awesome giants. That was pretty sick. Tip for next season, don't forget that you have a HUGE amount of plot material to get through until the ninth episode. Kay? Thanks.
What is Going on with Grey Worm and Missandei - Everyone was like "aw, they're so cute together, it's sooooo romantic", and I'm like, "no it's not! He totally creeps on her, and anyway, it's not in the book". I know that some people liked this little plot ad-lib, but I was not a fan. It's not that I don't want Grey Worm to be happy, I would just like him to be happy in a way that is relevant to the plot and not completely random, not to mention nonsensical. There are no "good" love stories on Game of Thrones! It's against the rules! If you want to be on this show, you have to be in a deeply disturbing relationship or someone's going to mash your eyeballs into jelly (#TheRedViperWasInACommitedRelationship). It was nice knowing you, Grey Worm.
Twincest - Jaime and Cersei Lannister have always had a weird relationship (take note, Grey Worm), but this season introduced a new, and frankly unnecessary, level of disturbing to their relationship. For some unknown reason, the directors and writers of this show insist on taking sex scenes that were consensual in the books and turning them into rape, and then pretending that nothing happened! Not only was the twincest rape scene not in the books, but it was totally out of character for both TV Jaime and book Jaime. You can't just do that to a character and then not address it at all! Not only was this act of sexual violence completely unnecessary to the plot, it also ruined the development of a character that was becoming a fan favorite and totally screwed up any further plot developments in that vein. The worst part is that the director didn't even realize he had filmed a rape scene. #ThePatriarchy. Badly done!
The Dragons (AKA, things I'm looking forward to next season):
The Sand Snakes - Because you can always use more Dornishmen
King Tommen - Because it's nice to finally have a king that it isn't out to murder and torture and be politically incorrect. Also because Ser Pounce.
More Tyrells - Because #GrowingStrong.
The Return of Ser Jorah - Because it sucks to be banished.
Actual Dragons - Because everyone should start their day with a mythical creature.
Valar dohaeris
Anyway, like I said, there were some really good aspects to this season, but there were also some not good aspects. Let's review the good, the bad, and the dragons.
The Good:
Sansa's Story Arc - As I've said before, I'm partial to Sansa Stark. But let's be honest, she's everyone's favorite ginger. Her arc this season was right on the money as far as I'm concerned, the producers went a little off script in terms of deviating from the books, but, in this case, it worked out for the best. It was great to see Sansa learning how to play the game this season. My favorite Sansa moment was when she was putting on her little show for all the lords of the Vale. She was like "boo hoo I'm an orphan and my direwolf is dead and lemons don't grow in the Eerie and everything is horrible", and then she just looks at Littlefinger, all sneaky, and gives him this you-owe-me glare. That was a great moment for the North everywhere, the day a Stark did something sneaky and slightly underhanded. Though, in all fairness, telling the truth hasn't gotten her very far. #TheNorthRemembers
The Purple Wedding - Who's the king we love to hate? Who's everyone's sadist of choice? I'll give you a hint, it's not Ramsay Snow, it's Joffrey of the House Baratheon, first of his name. Well, he's not really a Baratheon, but he was the first of his name, so we'll let that slide. Was is the key word there. Joffrey's death was really the highlight of this season for me. This was only half an episode, but what a half an episode it was. I think I watched it at least three times, once in slow motion. I was like "yeah, Joffrey, that's what you get! That's what you get for killing Sean Bean and his wife and his really, really good looking son, and everyone anyone who ever watched Game of Thrones ever cared about!" It was quite a moment. I especially liked the way his face turned purple at the end. I thought that was something really special.
The Red Viper - I think that if Westeros brewed Dos Equis, Pedro Pascal (AKA the Red Viper of Dorne, AKA Oberyn Martell) would be the Most Interesting Man in the World in their advertising campaigns. Seriously though, I'm pretty sure he's the coolest person in Westeros, he has the coolest accent, he's really good at revenge and foiling Lannister plots, and he can pull off the color yellow. Do you know how many people there are in the world who can't wear yellow? Stannis Baratheon is one of them (BTW, not only was Stannis not on the ballot for the coolest person in Westeros award, he wasn't even nominated). Anyway, I really enjoyed getting to know Oberyn this season. I particularly enjoyed his long and very illuminating monologues. It was a shame he had to have his eyeballs smashed out of his skull by the Mountain in what was, for sure, the most gruesome and graphic death scene. Ever. But these things happen, especially when you're on Game of Thrones. RIP the Red Viper, I'm looking forward to meeting the Sand Snakes next season.
Everyone Hates Tyrion - This season, Game of Thrones rolled out a new theme for the show: everyone hates Tyrion Lannister (It's okay, you can say it, he knows they want to kill him). From wrongly accusing him of murdering the
The Bad:
The Wall - What's interesting about a big chunk of ice and a bunch of mopey guys that are sworn to defend it? Not much. At least, that's how this season portrayed life at The Wall. Which is a shame because Jon Snow is definitely a fan favorite. Unfortunately, the only interesting things that happened on The Wall were relegated to the two last episodes of the season, which begs the question: why did we have to suffer through all those non-event scenes for eight episodes? Only HBO knows. However, I would like to give the showrunners props on those awesome giants. That was pretty sick. Tip for next season, don't forget that you have a HUGE amount of plot material to get through until the ninth episode. Kay? Thanks.
What is Going on with Grey Worm and Missandei - Everyone was like "aw, they're so cute together, it's sooooo romantic", and I'm like, "no it's not! He totally creeps on her, and anyway, it's not in the book". I know that some people liked this little plot ad-lib, but I was not a fan. It's not that I don't want Grey Worm to be happy, I would just like him to be happy in a way that is relevant to the plot and not completely random, not to mention nonsensical. There are no "good" love stories on Game of Thrones! It's against the rules! If you want to be on this show, you have to be in a deeply disturbing relationship or someone's going to mash your eyeballs into jelly (#TheRedViperWasInACommitedRelationship). It was nice knowing you, Grey Worm.
Twincest - Jaime and Cersei Lannister have always had a weird relationship (take note, Grey Worm), but this season introduced a new, and frankly unnecessary, level of disturbing to their relationship. For some unknown reason, the directors and writers of this show insist on taking sex scenes that were consensual in the books and turning them into rape, and then pretending that nothing happened! Not only was the twincest rape scene not in the books, but it was totally out of character for both TV Jaime and book Jaime. You can't just do that to a character and then not address it at all! Not only was this act of sexual violence completely unnecessary to the plot, it also ruined the development of a character that was becoming a fan favorite and totally screwed up any further plot developments in that vein. The worst part is that the director didn't even realize he had filmed a rape scene. #ThePatriarchy. Badly done!
The Dragons (AKA, things I'm looking forward to next season):
The Sand Snakes - Because you can always use more Dornishmen
King Tommen - Because it's nice to finally have a king that it isn't out to murder and torture and be politically incorrect. Also because Ser Pounce.
More Tyrells - Because #GrowingStrong.
The Return of Ser Jorah - Because it sucks to be banished.
Actual Dragons - Because everyone should start their day with a mythical creature.
Valar dohaeris
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