Week 6 (S4E01-S4E06)

Episode 31: Two Swords

“Tell your father I’m here. And tell him the Lannisters aren’t the only ones who pay their debts.”

Major Plot Points: A prince arrives in King’s Landing.  Sansa misses her family.  Tyrion has lady problems.  Daenerys moves to conquer a new city.  Jon recalls his older cousin. Arya and the Hound go to a bar.

Observations from a Book Reader:

1. Jaime refuses to give up the Kingsguard because he believes it is the only oath he ever kept, something that all of a sudden means far more to him than before
2. Tyrion met Oberyn at the city gates, not the brothel.  Oberyn wastes no time and recounts Tyrion of the first time he traveled to Casterly Rock to meet the monster born of Tywin Lannister.  In the show, he waits until Tyrion is in jail to tell this story.   He then asks Tyrion “When will justice be served” for his sister. He informs Tyrion he is there to kill the Mountain and get revenge against Tywin.
3. Oberyn was said to have studied at the Citadel, the college of the Maesters.  It was there he learned the intricate secrets of poisons.  He of course is famous for his love of poison which earned him his nickname.
4. The Thenns, while isolated and hated by other wildlings, considered themselves the last of the First Men.  They lived isolated in the North, and actually had lords and laws.  Led by their Magnar (king) they were considered by far the most civilized of the wildlings.  For some reason the show made them demon cannibals.
5. Joffrey mentions Ser Duncan the Tall while reading the Kingsguard book.  Duncan was the protagonist of the Dunk & Egg novellas that take place 100 years before the series.  Highly recommend.

Other Points to Notice

1. Powerful cold opening.  Tywin watches at the ancient greatsword of the Starks, Ice, is melted down into 2 new swords.  If that wasn’t enough symbolism for you, the  wolf pelt sheath is then cast into the flame.  Interesting that Tywin only did this after Robb died.  Almost as if he was waiting until he was sure the war was over.
2. Cersei meets her eventual Hand of the Queen, Qyburn the evil maester.  
3. We see Janos Slynt for the first time since Season 2.  He was the old commander of the Gold Cloaks that Tyrion sent to the Wall for killing the infant bastards of King Robert.  He mocks Jon for believing in giants, then receives dirty looks from everyone there, showing just how ignorant he was to what actually existed beyond the Wall.
4. The necklace Dontos gives Sansa is the same necklace she wears to Joffrey’s wedding.  Olenna Tyrell grabs one of the crystals to put in Joffrey’s drink.

Stray Observations:

1. The show made a huge point to use the name Daario Naharis before showing him to us.  As if this would help us forget that he was recast.
2. Wasn’t Jaime supposed to have golden blonde hair? That was like the entire identifying characteristic of the Lannisters.  And how Ned figured out Joffrey was his son.
3. Hilarious cut of Joffrey’s statue, to Joffrey standing identically regal.
4. Arya and the Hound murdering a tavern of Lannisters is possibly the best final scene in an episode.

RIP:  Polliver.  What kind of man kills Lommy?

Episode 32: The Lion and the Rose

“No one weeps for spiders, or whores.”

Major Plot Points: Reek meets Roose Bolton.  Tyrion and Sansa attend a wedding.  Stannis offers heathens to the Red God.  Joffrey gets choked up at his wedding.

Observations from a Book Reader:

1. Jaime trained with Ilyn Payne, not Bronn, which made a bit more sense since Ilyn Payne had no tongue and couldn’t speak.  Of course this was a necessary change since the actor who portrayed Ilyn Payne was off the show dealing with cancer. 
2. Roose was even harsher to Ramsey.  He once said “Don’t make me rue the day that I raped your mother.”  It’s not surprising Ramsey ended up the way he did.
3. Locke is a show only character.  But Roose Bolton almost certainly did send hunters after the Stark boys.
4. Weirwood trees are said to be ancient, as they existed before the First Men.  They are all connected which leads the Three Eyed Raven to use them as a network of communication. 
5. One of the dwarf entertainers at the wedding was a female, Penny.  Her and her brother rode pigs around the stage.  Tyrion later meets her in Essos, and they travel together for a while.

Other Points to Notice

1. Alfie Allen auditioned for the role of Theon, as Reek.  Fitting, since the broken persona of Theon is who Theon is for the majority of the series.
2. When Tyrion goes to confront his father later in the season, Shae is in his bed.  In this episode we hear Tywin give instructions to have Shae brought to his tower.  It’s possible this is where he started sleeping with her, especially since in this episode Tyrion tried to send her to Essos.
3. The book Tyrion gave Joffrey was said to be priceless.
4. The band singing “The Rains of Castamere” was Sigur Rós, who are apparently a big deal in Iceland I guess.
5. Olenna and Littlefinger’s plan to kill Joffrey worked out perfectly.  With Tyrion as cup bearer it would be impossible for the masses to blame anyone else but him.
6. This wedding was called “The Purple Wedding” due to the shade of violet Joffrey’s face turned as he choked.

Stray Observations:

1. There was a scene transition from Theon’s face, to a large sausage.  Cruel.
2. Stannis and Melisandre burn an insane amount of people.
3. Cersei really comes off as evil while talking to Brienne.

RIP: False King Joffrey Baratheon first of his name. A bastard born of incest, his rule oversaw the crown victory against the northern uprising.

Episode 33: Breaker of Chains

“Money buys a man’s silence for a time, a bolt to the heart buys it forever.”

Major Plot Points: Jaime and Cersei deal with their son’s passing.  Sansa finally leaves King’s Landing.  Arya learns from the Hound. Jon proposes an idea. Daenerys shoots barrels at a wall.

Observations from a Book Reader:

1. Sansa left the capitol the same way her mother once entered, through a secret staircase set into the walls of the harbor.  This was never shown on the actual show
2. Here it is. The infamous rape scene.  A couple things here. First of all in in the books the first time Jaime sees Cersei after being imprisoned for a year is in the sept by Joffrey’s body.  They do have sex, but it is consensual and it also makes more sense why Jaime was so horned up.  Still a gross image next to a corpse, but not nearly as wrong as the show portrays it.  The worst part is, I think the writers saw nothing wrong here since it never comes up again for the rest of the series.
3. Stannis made a point of how he was the last king from the War of the Five Kings, and yet he still was not king.  This of course does not hold true in the tv adaptation, since for some unknown reason Balon is alive.
4. Dorne was not conquered until nearly 160 years after Aegon the Conqueror landed in Westeros.  Daeron I Targaryen was able to conquer Dorne, but was killed shortly after in a rebellion.  30 years later, a different King Daeron married his sister to the Prince of Dorne, peacefully joining Dorne to the Seven Kingdoms. 
5. Jon never went to fight the mutineers at Craster’s Keep.  They were killed by Coldhands one night, while Bran and his friends were sleeping.  It is a really fun side plot though.
6. Daario was not Dany’s champion.  It was Strong Belwas, her loyal giant eunuch warrior I mentioned a few weeks ago.  When he was done, he took a steaming dump on top of the champions body.

Other Points to Notice

1. Dontos clearly never cared about Sansa saving his life.  He only helped her for money.
2. Tywin’s speech to Tommen about being a good king really makes it seem like Tommen would end up being a great ruler.  He wasn’t terrible, but he was too easily manipulated.  Also very telling that the first ideal he guesses a king must have is “holiness”.
3. While the Hound is right about the father and daughter being dead come winter, (as we find out in Season 7), it definitely does not alleviate Arya’s conscience. When the Hound finds their bodies years later, he is a different man.
4. The first person killed by the wildlings is the father of Olly, the future mutineer.  It does explain his intense hatred for wildling sympathizers, but he’s still a prick. 

Stray Observations:

1. Rare to see someone not intimidated of Tywin.  But Oberyn hates him too much to be intimidated. 
2. Fuck Olly.  I wish they killed him.
3. It would have been so much cooler if Barristan fought the champion.

RIP: The Champion of Meereen. 

Episode 34: Oathkeeper

“I will answer injustice with justice”

Major Plot Points: Daenerys gets a new city to play with.  Sansa guesses who killed Joffrey.  Jon is back to being a steward.  Margaery sinks her claws into Tommen.  Bran gets captured by the legend of Gin Alley.

Observations from a Book Reader:

1. Jaime and Tyrion were always very close growing up.  This is one of the more surprising relationships in the series, since Jaime’s sister and father both despise Tyrion.  But they usually always would have each other’s backs growing up.
2. The further we move from the book plots, the more certain characters suffer.  None more so than Littlefinger, who we see here being completely brilliant.  By season 7 the writers run out of plans for him.
3. It was not outright stated that Olenna Tyrell killed Joffrey.  It was possible to put it together, but here Olenna flat out tells Margaery that it was her. 
4. Ser Pounce was a huge part of Tommen’s royal retinue.  Tommen was also nine years old, which explains why he knighted a cat.
5. Ghost was never captured by the mutineers.  He found his way back to the Wall and met up with Jon.  Also how the hell would the mutineers even be able to capture a full grown direwolf,let alone two?  Furthermore, the show doesn’t let us see Ghost nearly enough. 
6. We never see how White Walkers are born.  They are still a complete mystery at this point.  Although converting human babies does make sense in a way.  We also do not know if they have a unified leader like we see in this episode.

Other Points to Notice

1. The connection between Grey Worm and Missandei starts in this episode, as we see her helping him learn a new language, while also discussing with him their traumatic pasts.
2. Barristan is rightfully concerned by Dany’s approach to dealing with the old slave masters.  He watched her father descend into madness firsthand, and is certainly concerned by the idea of Dany going down that same path.
3. Jon Snow almost immediately befriends Locke, and Olly. Swell judge of character. I’m not sure what Locke’s endgame here is, even if he finds the Stark boys he would be breaking his new vow to go tell Roose Bolton.  I guess he expects a pardon.
4. Tywin Lannister spent his entire life trying to acquire a Valyrian steel sword for his house.  He finally gets one and Jaime gives it away to Brienne of Tarth because he knows she can use it for good, while he could barely hold it.  He also probaby did it to piss off his father.
5. Having Bran and company get caught up in the mutineer plotline is a weird move to me.  It adds a lot of pointless drama to Jon and Bran’s storylines that ultimately doesn’t accomplish anything narrative wise.  If Ghost was never captured, and Bran didn’t see Jon at Craster’s, nothing would have changed plotwise.  Seems like the writers just needed filler for Jon and Bran.
6. Karl is apparently able to tell Bran is highborn, but not Meera or Jojen, who are also highborn.

Stray Observations:

1. Joffrey dying is another turning point for Cersei.  She becomes even more angry and drunk from here on out. 
2. Karl Tanner is a true legend.  He also seems like he should be in Peaky Blinders. 

RIP: Craster’s last child. Although he did not really die, he did un-die. Idk.

Episode 35: First of His Name

“Lord Snow. Come to take me back for trial?”

Major Plot Points: Daenerys commits to staying in Meereen.  Sansa meets her beloved aunt.  Brienne and Podrick hit it off immediately.  Bran watches Jon fight mutineers.

Observations from a Book Reader:

1. The revolts in Astapor and Yunkai were explored a bit more.  Both cities were ran by warlords and in complete chaos soon after Dany left.  Eventually massive armies from both cities marched on and besieged Meereen.
2. One of Robert’s bastards, Mya Stone, serves at the Eyrie.  Sansa and Catelyn both had a chance to meet her when they traveled to see Lysa.  A very headstrong young woman, she was in charge of escorting guests to the top tower via a large basket. 
3. Robert (Robin) Arryn was younger and far sicklier. He often would have seizures that left him incapacitated for days.
4. The Lannisters never revealed that they were completely out of gold.  It has been theorized, but nothing even close to concrete.  As far as readers know, the Lannisters are still the wealthiest house in the Seven Kingdoms.
5. Karl Tanner was not a book character. However his name likely comes from one of the mutineers, Clubfoot Karl.

Other Points to Notice

1. Margaery saying “I haven’t even thought about it” in regards to marrying Tommen, is among the biggest lies anyone in the series has ever told.
2. Lysa reveals to the audience, through some ham-fisted expositionary dialogue, that Littlefinger was behind not only Jon Arryn’s death, but also the letter that drove Ned to move south with Robert.  One of the show’s biggest mysteries was solved in a weird scene between 2 secondary characters. 
3. Brandon Stark was described by Lysa as “cruel”.  He is rarely spoken about on the show, and not much is actually known about the kind of man he was.  A handful of times in the book, stories of him are told that paint him in a negative light.
4. Oberyn mentions he has 8 daughters, one named Elia.  Unfortunately next season we meet three of these daughters, and they are three of the worst characters ever written.  The aforementioned Elia Sand is never brought up again.
5. Jojen seeing his own hand on fire could mean a few different things.  My opinion is he knows that death is rapidly coming for him.  The fire starts at his hand and will spread to engulf him entirely.
6. Jon learns a lot from his confrontation with Karl.  After this fight he no longer fights with reservation against his enemies. 

Stray Observations:

1. The image of Bobby Baratheon drunkenly patting Tywin Lannister on the back is something I would pay good money to see.
2. The Hound was not nearly as mad about Arya trying to stab him as I thought he would be. 
3. A sword from the back of the skull through the mouth is a gnarly way to go.

RIP: Karl “Fookin” Tanner. The legend of Gin Alley.

Episode 36: The Laws of Gods and Men

“I did not kill Joffrey but I wish that I had. Watching your vicious bastard die gave me more relief than a thousand lying whores. I wish I was the monster you think I am. I wish I had enough poison for the whole pack of you. I would gladly give my life to watch you all swallow it. I will not give my life for Joffrey’s murder. And I know I’ll get no justice here, so I’ll let the gods decide my fate. I demand a trial by combat!”

Major Plot Points: Daenerys practices ruling.  Reek receives a mission.  Tyrion stands trial.

Observations from a Book Reader:

1. Stannis and Davos never went to Braavos.  It wasn’t until Stannis was already marching his army towards Winterfell that he came into contact with the Iron Bank.  Tycho Nestoris (the man Davos and Stannis speak to in the show) meets his army and makes a deal to fund him fully in his conquest.
2. Asha Greyjoy, Yara in the tv series, stayed at Deepwood Motte.  It is unlikely she would ever attempt to sail to the Dreadfort, since it would involve sailing around the entire southern coast of Westeros.  This would take months. 
3. The counsel between Tywin and Jaime did not happen, but it does feel in line with Tywin’s goals.  He would do nearly anything to get Jaime to finally step up and be the Lord of Casterly Rock.

Other Points to Notice

1. Ramsey is not traditionally trained in using a sword.  He wins his fights by attacking his opponents fearlessly and ferociously.  I still think the scene of him fighting ironborn while shirtless is a bit shark jumpy though. Not wearing armor would be a death sentence for any person in a close combat situation. None of it makes much sense other than to show how broken Theon is.
2.  Oberyn is officially sitting in on small council meetings.  He doesn’t do much besides sit there.
3. Tyrion never took the trial seriously.  He knew that no matter what he said, there was no way he would get out of it as a free man.
4. It was never a good idea by Tyrion to threaten Cersei with his “joy turning into ash” speech.
5. Tyrion delivers the best monologue of the series at the end of his trial.  Even knowing that he could live by pleading for mercy, he could not bring himself to do it.  He was able to deal with the undeserved shame, until he saw Shae appear.
6. Everyone at the trial was shown to be shocked or furious by Tyrion’s speech.  Oberyn seemed excited and impressed by it. 

Stray Observations:

1. Cersei refuses to acknowledge Daenerys at this point.  She still barely does even after she lands in Westeros.
2. How did Pycelle get the necklace?  We saw Littlefinger throw it off his boat.  Either it landed in the dinghy with Ser Dontos, or Pycelle found it at the bottom of the blackwater.
3. Mace Tyrell is such a joke.

RIP:The poor innocent goat that Drogon devoured.

Season 4 is now in full swing, and it has way more filler than I remembered. At the time I remember it being a bit more fast paced, similar to how season 3 was. The last few episodes have been mostly self contained story arcs that have few ramifications for the story. The next few episodes are a whirlwind though, and I am looking forward to seeing the trial by combat, and Battle at Castle Black.

Things I Liked: Tyrion’s trial was a definite high point. Peter Dinklage earned all of his Emmy awards for this series with his speech about being a dwarf. Of course I also was a fan of Joffrey’s wedding. Not Joffrey dying though, love him or hate him he was an electric character to watch.

Things I Did Not Like: The entire mutineers plotline. Why did Jon have to go kill them all again? It would have been way more fun to see them all killed by White Walkers in an episode ending scene. Plus Bran and co. being captured didnt do much for me either. We already knew Bran could warg into Hodor, so seeing him do it again to free himself wasn’t the huge moment the writers wanted it to be. I also could have done without the ironborn attack on the Dreadfort.