Summary: Tyrion tries to find somebody to fight for him in his trial by combat but both Jaime and Bronn refuse because Cersei has chosen The Mountain as her representative. Eventually he is approached by Oberyn who wants his shot at The Mountain. Arya and The Hound continue on their journey. The Hound is attacked by men who want to kill him for the bounty on his head but he survives. Dany enjoys Daario's company before making a crucial decision about what to do with Yunkai and Astapor. The Night's Watch debate on whether it is necessary to seal off the tunnel for the wildling attack. Littlefinger kisses Sansa and Lysa sees. Lysa confronts Sansa and threatens to kill her but Littlefinger arrives and shoves Lysa out the moon door.
The Good: I liked most of this. The set-up was pretty strong and I'm definitely excited to see what comes next. The main focus was of course the follow-up on Tyrion's huge declaration in the last episode. Logically, Cersei has assigned The Mountain as Tyrion's opponent which is a big threat and I love that this decision has cost Tyrion the chance of his two main options fighting for him. Jaime is still weak with his left hand and stands no chance. Bronn doesn't see enough value in risking his life in such a bug way for Tyrion. These developments did lead to two terrific conversations as well, providing quality dialogue and a great description of the bonds that Tyrion has formed with these men. The scenes were good and they also did a good job of showing that Tyrion is grappling with the fact that he may not have much time left. Then we got the big reveal that Oberyn will step in for Tyrion and fight The Mountain. While this was pretty predictable (see: The Bad), it does set up a really exciting duel, likely for next episode. While it seems likely that Oberyn kills The Mountain and frees Tyrion, this is one show I'm not confident on predicting, and I feel like there has to be at least one twist that happens, but I'm not sure what. Either way, I'm excited to watch this as I think there is a ton of potential for great drama. I also want to mention the conversation between Oberyn and Tyrion because I thought it was stellar. I loved the backstory we got from Oberyn about the Lannisters as children and how the rumours were about Tyrion's birth. The story was sad as Oberyn mentions that Tyrion clearly wasn't anything bad but he has paid the price throughout his entire life for something which really isn't a big deal. This show excels because of conversation scenes like this and I continue to enjoy them. Arya and The Hound were given a great story in this episode as well. I liked seeing them come across the dying man, giving him some peace and mercy. The scene was sad and it was a good moment which allowed the characters to breathe and show who they really are. This pairing with Arya and The Hound has worked surprisingly well and I really enjoy their dynamic. I thought the later scene with The Hound nursing his wounds and Arya trying to help him to be pretty poignant. I enjoyed hearing The Hound open up a little bit as he is forced to face the fact that he is alone and may not have much longer to live with a bounty on his head. Hearing him open up to Arya, the only other person who can understand the loneliness he feels was powerful and sad, another terrific moment of interaction. I liked the other scenes with the outlier plotlines. Dany enjoying Daario's company made sense, after all why wouldn't she indulge herself a little? I also enjoyed Dany having to take a look at how she rules when Jorah tries to convince her to not kill every master in Yunkai and Astapor. The scene had good drama and it was nice to see Dany learning a little about showing pure hate for her enemies. At Castle Black, I liked that the Night's Watch grappled with the idea of sealing the tunnel, further highlighting their preparation for an impending attack. I am enjoying the story a fair amount and I look forward to the actual battle which is coming. The Bad: This show's gratuitous nudity has always annoyed me. Did we really need Melisandre to be naked throughout majority of her scene? What does that accomplish? We are invested in the show so we don't need to see nudity to maintain our interests. While I like the development of Oberyn vs The Mountain, there are issues with it. For one, I immediately connected the dots to Oberyn fighting for Tyrion, and that did detract from the thought of Tyrion being helpless because I had a sense that Oberyn would come in to save him. But the biggest issue for me is the fact that Oberyn stepped in at all. Just a few episodes ago Tywin promised Oberyn that he would get justice, and Tywin even offered The Mountain specifically. Yet Oberyn somehow feels that fighting for Tyrion and risking his life is the best way to get this justice, which felt odd. The fight scene with Arya and The Hound was lacking. It felt awkward that the man just bit The Hound instead of just killing him with one blow. Did the man have a death wish? Furthermore, it seemed mighty convenient that Arya encountered the criminal from before, and while I did enjoy her quick and ruthless kill, it felt like too convenient of a moment to be believable. The Eyrie scenes were unfortunately quite bad and made Littlefinger look like a fool. I imagine him kissing Sansa was intentional to piss off Lysa, but it still felt quite dumb. I thought Littlefinger's end-game was to get Sansa's affections and just kissing her is way too creepy and awkward to help him accomplish his goal. Furthermore, he left Sansa's life in the hands of the unhinged Lysa. What if she just tossed Sansa out the moon door immediately? What would Littlefinger do then? I like the idea that Littlefinger would kill Lysa to gain power, but the way it was executed was really stupid. There were no witnesses, so Littlefigner should obviously be the prime suspect. How is he supposed to ascend when the Lords of the Vale would immediately suspect him and not trust him? It felt like far too foolish of a move from a man who has been so careful in his plotting thus far. Additionally, I hated Sansa snapping at Robin. She can put up with Joffrey but some little child is enough to piss her off instantly and even make her hit him? That was bad. The Unknown: Does Melisandre plan to burn Shireen too? That would be unpleasant. What will happen in Tyrion's trial by combat? Who will die and what will happen as a result? This event is set up as such a pivotal moment int his season, so I'm really excited to see what will happen as a result. If Oeryn wins, Tywin will likely be angry and it could lead to some hot blood. But if Oberyn were to die, I don't imagine Dorne would be pleased, and I imagine that they could become major players. And what happens to Tyrion? I don't know. So many questions, and so much intrigue. Best Moment: The scene between Arya and The Hound where The Hound opened up was the most touching moment and it resonated the most with me. Character of the Episode: Oberyn. Conclusion: This was a solid episode overall. The set-up was extremely strong and the episode was looking like it could hit a high level, but the ending Eyrie scenes were downright poor and were some of my least favourite scenes in the show so far. They drag down the overall score a fair amount, but I'm still left with an overall positive outlook. Score: 66
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
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