Week 7 (S4E07-S5E02)

Episode 37: Mockingbird

“I’ve come to the perfect place. I want to bring those who have wronged me to justice. And all those who have wronged me are right here. I will begin with Ser Gregor Clegane, who killed my sister’s children and then raped her with their blood still on his hands before killing her, too. I will be your champion”

Major Plot Points: Tyrion looks for a champion.  The Hound gets bit.  Daenerys compromises with the old masters.  Jon tries to prepare the Night’s Watch for Mance Rayder.  Brienne chases a new lead. Sansa hangs with her cousin.

Observations from a Book Reader:

1. Tyrion and Jaime never openly discussed the fact that Jaime and Cersei were a couple.  Only when Tyrion escaped King’s Landing did he finally make a comment about it to Jaime.
2. Arya’s journey through the riverlands was GRRM’s way of showing the human cost of war.  The entire countryside was destroyed and most of the innocent civilians were suffering. 
3. Aliser Thorne and Janos Slynt did not arrive at the Wall until after Mance Rayder attacked.  Jon had more freedom to organize the defense of Castle Black.
4. The Hound was burned on the other side of his face.  Took me a while to remember this fact.
5. Littlefinger told Lysa “Only Cat” not “Your sister” as he threw her to her death. No idea why they changed it, but it was another change that seems to serve no purpose other than annoying book readers.  Also the Moon Door was a vertical door, not a trap door.

Other Points to Notice

1. The Mountain is shown for the first time since season 2.  The final actor to play him is definitely the most physically imposing.  Believe it or not, the first actor to play the Mountain in season 1 was actually four inches taller.  I like the new actor, but he does seem too young to be the Hound’s older brother.
2. We meet our old friends Rorge and Biter.  Biter, fittingly, bit the Hound and died doing so.  These were the 2 other prisoners with Jaqen that Arya freed.
3. Lollys Stokeworth, Bronn’s new bride, was present in Season 2 when the royal party was attacked by an angry mob. 
4. Later in the series, we see Melisandre remove her necklace, and her true, old lady form shows.  Here, we see her naked in a bathtub without the necklace and she still appears young.  This means either Selyse Baratheon sees her as an old woman and isn’t moved by it, or the writers didn’t think of the necklace’s ultimate purpose yet. This scene also foreshadows the plans Mel has for Shireen. 
5. Petyr tells Sansa how she could be his daughter, then immediately kisses her.  The shot of Lysa watching was incredible at least.

Stray Observations:

1. Still hard to tell if Shae ever loved Tyrion.  He doesn’t think so.
2. I am going to miss the Tyrion and Bronn bromance.  Bronn immediately rebounds with Jaime but it isn’t quite the same.
3. Arya won’t admit it but she has grown to care about the Hound.
4. Gotta love Hot Pie teaching random strangers about baking.
5. Oberyn steals the episode during his scene with Tyrion.
6. Sansa grossly over reacted to a little boy accidentally breaking her snow sculpture

RIP: Lady Lysa Arryn, formerly Lysa Tully, Lady Regent of the Vale of Arryn. Also completely insane.

Episode 38: The Mountain and the Viper

“I am the brother of Elia Martell. And do you know why I’ve come all the way to this stinking shitpile of a city? For you. I am going to hear you confess before you die: You raped my sister. You murdered her. You killed her children. Say it now, and we can make this quick.”

Major Plot Points: Jon readies for war.  Reek helps the Boltons take a stronghold from the ironborn.  Sansa tells a lie for Littlefinger.  Ramsey becomes a Bolton.  Oberyn dies.

Observations from a Book Reader:

1. Mole’s Town got its name due to the fact that most of the town was located underground in large cellars.  Jon Snow even referred to the people there as moles.
2. Tormund remained north of the Wall with Mance, he was not part of the southern raiding party.
3. When Reek arrived at Moat Cailin, he found the captain so sick from infection that he couldn’t stand.  He killed him as a mercy.  He also was not sent southward until far later in the series, but this really doesn’t matter storywise. 
4. Littlefinger’s story to the Lords of the Vale was much different.  He blamed Lysa’s death on a singer who happened to be in the room.  The lords still did not believe Petyr and planned to take away his regency, until one of the men there, Lyn Corbray, raised a sword to Petyr and violated guest right.  This got the lords to give Littlefinger a trial period as Robin Arryn’s ward.  It was later revealed Corbray was under Littlefinger’s payroll and the act was entirely orchestrated.
5. Oberyn’s blade was mentioned as being heavily poisoned.  It slowed down the Mountain more and more with each blow.  He had the perfect chance to kill him. Fuck.  Tyrion then threw up immediately after Oberyn died. 

Other Points to Notice

1. Again, we see Grey Worm and Missandei having a tender conversation after he sees her bathing.  Apparently their relationship had far more roots than I remembered when I watched originally.
2. Ramsey puts a glove on Reek’s hand before sending him off.  This was a subtle way to hide his dismembered and missing fingers.
3. Sansa has to act timid and scared to sell Littlefingers lie.  It’s interesting because in a few seasons, Lord Royce is at Winterfell taking orders from her.
4. Unclear who sent the royal pardon that incriminated Jorah.  Most likely it was Tywin in an attempt to sow discord in Dany’s court.  Barristan revealed the truth about Jorah to Dany in the books as well. 
5. Littlefinger gave some blatant foreshadowing of Tywin’s death. “Some people die squatting on their chamber pots.”
6. Sansa comes down the stairs wearing all black and looking confident for the first time.  It seemed this was a turning point for her but the next season she is sold into slavery yet again.
7. Some believe the story Tyrion and Jaime tell about their cousin smashing beetles for fun was actually a reference GRRM’s tendency to heartlessly kill his own characters.

Stray Observations:

1. Alfie Allen is an insanely good actor.  He somehow is able to portray Theon as broken entirely with facial expressions.
2. This is the second time now we see an ironborn hit their captain on the head in order to surrender to Ramsey.  Both times ended with them being flayed.
3. Am I crazy or did Roose and Ramsey have an actual nice father son bonding moment?
4. Arya has the best reaction of all time to Lysa dying.  She completely loses it.
5. Ellaria’s scream was a perfect expression of how the audience felt

RIP: Prince Oberyn Martell.  The Red Viper, and man of the people. 

Episode 39: The Watchers on the Wall

“Jon Snow, do you remember that cave? We should have stayed in that cave.”

Major Plot Points: Mance Rayder lights the greatest fire the North has ever seen. 

Observations from a Book Reader:

1. The defense of the Wall was led by Donal Noye.  He was the one armed blacksmith of Castle Black, and loved by all members of the Night’s Watch. 
2. Most of Mole’s Town escaped to Castle Black prior to the southern raiding party’s arrival.  The raid then happened before Mance’s force attacked, and the wildlings were doing well until they began climbing the stairs on the Wall.  It was then that the Night’s Watch lit it on fire, killing most of the attackers.  The staircase isn’t really shown in the tv series, just the elevator.
3. Alliser giving the Wall to Slynt robbed us of an incredible moment.  Donal Noye has to go to the bottom gate to help fight Mag the Mighty, the king of the giants.  Before he goes down he looks at Jon and says “Jon, you have the Wall until I return.” 
4. Jon did not kill Styr, the Magnar of Thenn.  He was killed when the Night’s Watch lit their staircase on fire.
5. Pyp and Grenn both lived through the battle.  Their deaths did serve a purpose though, to show the cost of the fight.  Grenn’s death replaced that of Donal Noye. 
6. Jon did not volunteer to parlay with Mance.  Aliser and Janos arrive at the Wall after the battle and force Jon to go on a suicide mission to assassinate Mance, as punishment for sleeping with a wildling.

Other Points to Notice

1. Maester Aemon is a father figure to Sam, someone who never had a father that cared for him.  I also get extra sad when I see Maester Aemon on the show, since the actor who portayed him died shortly after filming Aemon’s death. 
2. Sam’s speech to Pyp clearly had an impact.  He fought his heart out before he was killed.
3. Janos is proven to be a coward multiple times during the Battle.  It distracted from the fighting in a way I did not really appreciate.
4. Sam gives another speech, this time to Olly.  In a way it is Sam’s fault that Ygritte dies.
5. Grenn died a hero, it’s a shame that we did not see the battle between him and Mag the Mighty.
6. Incredible camera work during the battle as we see a nonstop action scene that makes the melee look like a complex diorama.
7. Jon spits in Styr’s face to gain the upper hand.  This is a trick he learned from fighting Karl Tanner, the legend of Gin Alley. 

Stray Observations:

1. Styr saying “a nice slice of ginger minge” is extremely weird.
2. I wish Alliser was not present at the Wall for the battle.  But I understand they needed him there, since the show never showed us any senior members of the Wall besides Mormont, Thorne, and Aemon.  We needed someone that we recognized to lead the fight initially.
3. This is only the second episode of the show that takes place entirely at one setting.  It also continues the tradition of battles and major plot moments being shown in the 9^th episode of the season.

RIP:  Ygritte,  a free woman.  Also Grenn and Pyp, true brothers of the Night’s Watch.

Episode 40: The Children

“I am your son. I have always been your son.”

Major Plot Points: Jon gets stuck in-between 2 kings.  Daenerys learns more about slave culture.  Cersei yells at her dad.  Bran meets the Three Eyed Raven.  Tyrion shoots a crossbow bolt through his father’s chest, after choking out his old concubine. 

Observations from a Book Reader:

1. We never meet Mance’s wife Dalla, or her sister, Val.  Dalla was pregnant with Mance’s child at this point.  Val was said to possess incredible beauty, and Jon knew that she could be part of a key marriage with a northern lord to help Stannis’ claim.
2. When Qyburn “healed” the Mountain, people in the Red Keep claimed to have heard him screaming all day and night from Qyburn’s experiments.
3. The Three Eyed Raven was supposed to have only one eye, and be mostly connected to the weirwood tree.  This explains his quote “I have watched you with a thousand eyes, and one”. Instead it makes no sense.  Also Jojen didn’t die, but I’m sure he will soon.
4. Brienne and the Hound never fought.  Not sure if he would have won if he was healthy though.  He was supposedly a great fighter
5. Jaime and Tyrion left on different terms.  Jaime tells Tyrion as he escapes the truth about his first wife, Tysha.  Tysha was not a whore, as his father told him, but truly someone in love with him.  Tyrion is furious by this, and tells Jaime that Cersei was having sex with Lancel, and one other knight.  He even insinuates that Cersei had sex with the court jester, Moonboy.  Finally, Tyrion falsely tells Jaime that he did kill Joffrey, and that Joffrey was more of a monster than the Mad King.  Very different ending for those two in the show.  This conversation is a huge turning point for Tyrion, and part of the reason he is angry enough to go confront his father.  He then spends the next book in a very dark place mentally after all of this. 
6. At the end of book 3, we see Catelyn Stark fished out of the river by the Brotherhood Without Banners.  Beric Dondarrion then leans towards her body, and dies giving his life to her.  She comes back as a living corpse, and as the new leader of the Brotherhood, Lady Stoneheart. 

Other Points to Notice

1. The wildlings completely out numbered Stannis’ force.  However, they were no match for a serious army that rode in formations with real battlefield tactics.  Most of the wildlings were farmers or men with no battle training. 
2. Davos is upset with Jon’s nonchalant way of addressing Stannis.  One day he will be Jon’s most loyal servant. 
3. Cersei telling her father the truth about her and Jaime was a show-only invention, but god damn was it powerful.  Tywin flat out refuses to believe her, even though he must know it’s true.  I wish Tywin lived so we could see this play out.   
4. Tywin having sex with Shae may be the most hypocritical thing anyone in Westeros has ever done.  Also Tyrion killing her is an insanely dark moment for his character.
5. The Hound was a truly tormented soul.  When he talks to Arya the last time, he begins telling her to go find Brienne, and almost seems like he wants her to be safe.  He then tries to incite her into killing him because he truly wants to die.  Next time we see him, he is much more at peace.  I think deep down he does care about Arya, and hopefully they will get to speak in the new season. 

Stray Observations:

1. Jon tells Davos that Ned died for Stannis.  This is 100% correct, but it’s rare that you hear it described this way. 
2. Cersei is beginning to show the cracks in her sanity this episode.  It gets exponentially worse each season from here on out.
3. The full skeleton wights are not nearly as creepy.
4. The children of the forest look much more magical in Season 6.
5. It annoys me that the show never brings up Tysha, Tyrion’s first wife, ever again after season 1. 

RIP:  Lord Tywin Lannister.  Hand of the King, Warden of the West.  A pragmatic bastard to the end.  Also Shae and Jojen.  Mostly Jojen, fuck Shae.

Episode 41: The Wars to Come

“Gold will be their crowns, and gold will be their shrouds.”

Major Plot Points: Jaime and Cersei mourn their father.  Tyrion emerges from a box.  Daenerys learns conquering and leading are very different.  Sansa heads north.  Jon tries to convince one king to serve another king

Observations from a Book Reader:

1. The title is a reference to what Mance tells Stannis before dying. “I wish you good fortune in the wars to come.”  It is also what Ser Arthur Dayne tells Ned years before the show.  We get to see this exchange later in the series through Bran’s vision.
2. A key part of Maggy’s prophecy to Cersei was omitted.  She told Cersei “And when your tears have drowned you, the valonqar shall wrap his hands about your pale white throat and choke the life from you.”  Valonqar means little brother in High Valyrian, implying either Jaime or Tyrion would kill her. 
3. Varys sent Tyrion to his friend Illyrio, the bearded man from season 1 who hosted Dany and Viserys, but never left the capital.  He instead remained hidden in the secret rooms and passageways of the Red Keep.
4. Janos Slynt ran for Lord Commander, not Ser Alliser.  Janos wasn’t a huge joke, and had leadership experience.  He was still a horrible person though. 
5. Davos never went north with Stannis.  Stannis sent him to White Harbor to recruit the Manderly’s and other northern lords to his side against Roose Bolton.  This concluded with Wyman Manderly giving Davos a speech about how “The North remembers” and loosely pledges to aid Stannis.
6. Varys and Illyrio did not send Tyrion to Dany, but to a man named Young Griff.  Young Griff was supposedly Aegon Targaryen, the son of Rhaegar who was killed by the Mountain.  Aegon was either a fake, or actually was swapped by Varys before the Mountain arrived.  He was protected by Jon Connington, an old friend of Rhaegar.  This entire plotline was removed from the show, which makes me believe Aegon is a fake.
7. Mance was not burned.  The Lord of Bones was transformed to look like him by Melisandre’s magic unbeknownst to Stannis.  Mance in turn was made to look like the Lord of Bones.  Mance was then sent to Winterfell with Val to spy on the Boltons, disguised as a troupe of bards.

Other Points to Notice

1. One of the reasons Cersei’s mental state deteriorates rapidly after Joffrey’s death, is because she now believes the prophecy about her children dying is coming true.
2. The advice Jon gives to Olly about using a shield, and even the way he grabs his head, is identical to how Ned trains Benjen in the season 6 flashback.  This implies Ned trained Jon the same way. 
3. We see the man-whore identify Loras’ birthmark.  This ends up somehow being the incriminating evidence against Loras when he is tried by the High Sparrow.
4. Daenerys is shown to still be a leader that doesn’t fully understand leading.  Hizdahr brings up great points about reopening the fighting pits, but she refuses to bend or attempt to understand. 
5. Mance was an underutilized, and perhaps miscast character.  But he did go out on a high note when he refused to kneel to Stannis.  I still wish we got the more charismatic Mance from the books.

Stray Observations:

1. The last 3 king’s hands have been murdered at this point.  Not a good job.
2. After we see Sansa regain her confidence last season, it is extremely disheartening to know she ends up as Ramsey’s wife.
3. Strange we hear Varys tell Tyrion they are at Illyrio’s house, but we never see Illyrio.
4. Jon killing Mance as a mercy is one of my favorite Jon moments.

RIP: Mance Rayder, King Beyond the Wall, and a man who does not kneel

Episode 42: The House of Black and White

“A man is no one, and that is what a girl must become”

Major Plot Points: Arya arrives in Braavos.  Brienne finds Sansa.  Jaime and Bronn embark on a mission.  Tyrion heads for Volantis. Jon refuses a King’s offer. Daenerys deals with an ex-slave.

Observations from a Book Reader:

1. Brienne never meets Sansa at the inn.  Most of her plotline at this point is just her meandering around the countryside on a wild goose chase.  She eventually is captured by the Brotherhood and brought to Lady Stoneheart, who then sends her to capture Jaime Lannister.
2. Sansa never left the Eyrie, at least not yet.  Ramsey married Sansa’s old friend, Jeyne Poole, and the Bolton’s claimed she was Arya Stark to legitimize her claim.
3. Jaime was never sent to Dorne.  Myrcella was part of a scheme concocted by Arianne Martell, the daughter of Doran Martell, a character omitted from the show.  In Dorne, women had the rights to assume leadership positions, and Arianne believed this made Myrcella the rightful queen.  She seduced Arys Oakheart, a knight sent to guard Myrcella, and convinced him to help put Myrcella on the throne.  There was an assassination attempt on Myrcella’s life, but she survived and Arys did not.  Doran then reveals to Arianne and the Sand Snakes, that he is not sitting idly, and has a plan.  The Sand Snakes were captured by him to falsely placate the Lannisters. The whole time however, he was planning to overthrow the Lannister’s with Daenerys.  He sent his oldest son Quentyn to find and propose to Dany.
4. Kevan Lannister became Hand of the King when Tywin died.  He actually did a decent job too.
5. Jon became Lord Commander after Sam manipulated the main leaders at the Wall into voting for him.  It was one of Sam’s greatest moments and the show had to cut it for time. But at least we get to hear Sam give a great speech. 

Other Points to Notice

1. Sansa was very quick to dismiss Brienne.  At this point she still fully trusts Littlefinger, and this comes back to bite her very hard.
2. We finally are able to meet Lollys Stokeworth, the beloved fiance of Ser Bronn of the Blackwater.  She is every bit as vapid as we were promised.  Bronn then basically tells Lollys he is going to kill her sister and she seems fine with it.
3. Ellaria becomes an incredibly irritating character.  She stands in for Arianne Martell here.
4. Barristan telling Dany about her father is a great moment for her to learn where exactly she came from.  It also voices many people’s concerns about her eventually growing mad like her father.
5. Shireen is a great teacher, and an even better person.  She immediately begins helping Gilly learn how to read.  She deserved better.
6. This is the first time we hear Lyanna Mormont mentioned.  “Bear Island knows no King but the King in the North, whose name is Stark.”  Lyanna was of course named after Lyanna Stark, Ned’s late sister. 
7. Jon is more his father’s son than any of Ned’s trueborn children.  He swore an oath to the Night’s Watch and only death would allow him to break this vow.
8. Daenerys somehow angers both the commonfolk and the masters by killing Mossador the ex slave.  Yes I had to google his name.  Literally did not remember this character at all.

Stray Observations:

1. Podrick Payne is still not a great horse rider.
2. I loved the way Brienne’s Valyrian steel cut right through the Arryn soldier’s sword.
3. What could Qyburn possibly want with the head of a random dwarf?
4. This will not be the last time we see Jon reluctantly become a leader.
5. The old man did not use the face of Jaqen when Arya arrived, but I like it as a show only invention to make the character more familiar.

RIP: Mossador, the slave Daenerys killed.  Whatever

We have arrived at the part of the show where things start to go off the rails a bit.  This season is where the real book diversions begin happening, and most changes for the worse.  But there are some great moments ahead still, especially for Jon.  Unfortunately, next week will see the introduction of the Sand Snakes, quite possibly the worst characters in television history. 

Things I Liked: I actually liked quite a bit from this last block of episodes.  Firstly, the fight between Brienne and the Hound.  This was a show only invention, but it logically made sense due to the characters proximity to one another.  It also humbled Sandor Clegane, and made his goodbye to Arya even more impactful.  Next up, the Mountain vs the Viper was even better on the show than in the books.  Ellaria’s scream, his acrobatics, and of course the grisly ending made for one of the show’s most memorable sequences.  Third, the battle at the Wall was incredible from start to finish.  It was excellently choreographed and the decision to have the southern wilding party attack at the same time as the frontal assault made the battle even more cinematic.  Seriously how sick was that panning shot of the fighting on the ground level? Fucking amazing.  Better battle than most blockbuster movies.  Finally, Dinklage was at his peak this season.  From the speech at Tyrion’s trial, to his tearful murder of Tywin, we never see Tyrion hit these heights again.

Things I Did Not Like: I was not a fan of Mance actually dying.  He never got all the scenes he deserved, and him dying off before going on his Winterfell mission put a stamp on how forgettable his character ultimately was on the show.  I also had major issues with Jaime and Tyrion’s tender goodbye.  When Tyrion left in the books, he was completely isolated due to their falling out, and this led him to become a much darker, somewhat villainous character in Essos.  We also were robbed of the payoff from finding out his first wife was not a lie, and that his father was responsible for making him feel like he was incapable of being loved.  Oh well.  Dany’s storyline dragged slightly, but it was worse in the books so I can’t complain. On to week 8.