Summary: The wildlings attack Molestown. Grey Worm and Missandei grow closer. Dany discovers Jorah was spying on her when he first entered her service and she exiles him. Ramsay sends Theon to Moat Cailin and convinces the Ironborn to leave. Roose legitimizes Ramsay. Arya and The Hound reach the Eyrie, only to discover Lysa is dead. The Lords of the Vale investigate into Lysa's death. Sansa sides with Littlefinger to prove him to be innocent. Oberyn and The Mountain fight. Oberyn almost wins but gets overconfident and is brutally killed.
The Good: Man, this is a weird episode. Somehow this has me even more conflicted than "The Rains of Castamere" and I remain unsure about how I feel about the ending of the episode and by extension about the episode as a whole. After collecting my thoughts for a while, I think the good outweighs the bad here and I feel like I did enjoy what I watched. There were a lot of terrific scenes too. I enjoyed everything in Meereen and I thought that there were a number of powerful moments. First and foremost, I like this new Missandei and Grey Worm romance story. The show has so much misery going on, and a simple yet sweet romantic story feels like a much needed emotional break for us, giving us something to be happy about. It was especially needed in this episode. Then of course there was what may have been a big turning point for Dany's story as she exiles Jorah, her most trusted advisor, from her presence. This felt like a huge moment, and was emotionally powerful as we have seen these two together from the beginning of the series and care about their relationship. Jorah has nowhere to go now, and nowhere to turn which is a sad, but unpredictable direction for his character to go (see: The Unknown). I really liked all of the scenes with Ramsay, Roose and Theon. Alfie Allen has been terrific at portraying Theon/Reek and the horrific, tormented state that the character is in. Seeing Theon struggle to keep his composure at Moat Cailin was shockingly affecting, and was a great scene. Then of course there was the glorious and gruesome cut from the man being promised freedom to his flayed corpse. This is the way to establish Ramsay's character, not by subjecting us to needless torture for so long. I also liked the brief scene with Roose legitimizing Ramsay to reward him for his work. The two of them have an interesting dynamic and are probably the two most despicable villains in the series right now. Arya and The Hound arriving at the Eyrie was a great moment as Arya just laughed as she once more discovered that she didn't have anywhere to go and The Hound just isn't able to get rid of her. It's a sad moment, but an earned one, highlighting the change in Arya's character. I also enjoyed that Sansa is now starting to take control of her life with the help of Littlefinger, but the path to get there wasn't as good as Arya's (see: The Bad). Tyrion's beetle speech was outstanding. I've always praised this show for its scenes of dialogue, and this must be one of the best ones so far. Tyrion is staring at his own death in the near future, so it makes sense that he would just talk about whatever he wants to Jaime, who likely just wants to be with his brother while he is still alive. The scene is brilliant as we see Tyrion just talking to Jaime about something he never had a chance to before, getting to enjoy his voice a little longer. But the speech also does a great job of highlighting Tyrion's innocence and thoughtfulness. A man who cares so much about a moron killing beetles proves to be a good man who won't go for meaningless bloodshed like so many other characters in this show would go for. It's a great metaphor for the show as a whole. This finally takes us to the ending fight. I will give credit where it is due, as the fight was fantastic. The choreography was great and the fight itself was tense as any possibility felt likely from the fight. This show's unpredictability paid off very well here to make the fight tense and exciting. I do think the result is interesting and I'm curious to see where the story will go from here, and if Tyrion can somehow find a way out of certain death. The Bad: The ending scene was horrific. Seeing Oberyn's head popped like a pimple was a terrible sight and it wasn't one that I appreciated. The red wedding was bad enough, but this was worse, so much worse that I don't think I like it. I understand that the point is for me to be grossed out and hopeless, but I don't understand why the show feels it is necessary for me to feel this way all the time. This time it feels like the show is embracing a repetitive cycle of just making the worst possible thing happen to its characters, instead of it aiding the story. Oberyn was interesting and had a lot of story potential, so his death came right out of left field which is a big difference from Ned, Robb, and Catelyn's deaths which felt like a punishment for their many mistakes. With Oberyn's death being so sudden, it was just deflating and it was too much for me. I need some hope to keep enjoying the show, and scenes like this take me one step closer to just dropping the show because of its relentlessness. I wasn't happy with Littlefinger's plan once more. I understand the idea behind him killing Lysa and it does make sense to me, but his story still feels too convenient even with Sansa on his side. If I were a Lord of the Vale, I still wouldn't trust Littlefinger, so the story doesn't work overall. Furthermore, I was annoyed by the fact that Littlefinger's plan hinged on Sansa lying for him. What if she had just told the truth? Littlefinger would be screwed! Not a great plan for such a mastermind. Furthermore, couldn't he have just explained to Sansa to lie for him? Seems like a better plan than to tell her nothing and leave the decision up to her. One small thing that annoyed me was Tywin waving off Pycelle's speech. Surely a trial by combat would appreciate the gods more than any other event. The Unknown: Where does Jorah go now? Who does he follow? What is his next role in the story? Is Tyrion going to die? Will somebody save him somehow? How can they? What will The Hound do with Arya now? Where will they go? Best Moment: Tyrion's beetle speech is great. Character of the Episode: Tyrion. Conclusion: This episode has left me conflicted because of its ending scene. However, just about everything else before the final two minutes was terrific so I think this episode deserves a very good score. But it doesn't remove the fact that I feel uneasy after this episode and I'm now feeling a little unsure about this show's future. Score: 69
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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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