Game of Thrones Season 4 Ep 9 (the clueless about the books POV)

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Just watched this and...

Spoilers behind cut



...there is actually not an awful lot to say about it. Fighting. Lots and lots of fighting. Oh, and some cool CGI mammoths (who didn't even die, and were a lot more use in a battle than Ghost, who seemed to think that killing one Wildling and eating their innards was enough of a contribution).

There was also a lot of it being grim - very, very grim- up north, and courageous last stands (farewell, Pyp and Grenn, I'll miss you) and men finding that someone else only has to tell them they're in charge and they suddenly find they can do this commanding bellow and get other men to do what they're told.

Except for the soft southern type from Kingslanding, of course, who went away and hid in a cellar.

There were some nice moments in the episode, though - notably all the scenes involving Sam (though the one with Maester Aemon went on too long, like Tyrion's weird monologue about Cousin Orson in last week's episode). I loved his scenes with Jon, with Pyp and with Gilly, and I'm so very glad he didn't die.

No idea what will happen to Jon in the last episode. As he said himself, his plan is a bit rubbish to put it mildly. I just hope there is another Jon scene before the end of the season, though I suspect most of the final episode will be about Tyrion.

Still feeling sad about Dany and Jorah. :(

Mind you, their best seasons were the first two. The minute Barristan Selmy came on the scene at the beginning of season three, their relationship was - well, diluted, I suppose. Jorah was no longer Dany's sole adviser. He did seem to accept that, though. In fact, I thought he handled his demotion very well. The more I think about it, the more unfair I feel Dany was to him. I just hope she expresses some regret about it at some point.

ETA: I realised I should have said something about Ygritte dying. I guess it was sad, but inevitable, and I'm glad she didn't kill Jon, or vice versa.

Comments

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

..there is actually not an awful lot to say about it. Fighting. Lots and lots of fighting. Oh, and some cool CGI mammoths

Yeah. Do they really think their target audience haven't already seen The Two Towers?

No idea what will happen to Jon in the last episode.

Me neither, but knowing the title, I can make a few guesses about which characters will be the focus of it - and it'll be interesting to see what they tie together.

Sam really grows by leaps and bounds every time he's on screen, doesn't he?

Also, loved that scene where the giant sees his fellow giant get killed and just goes all out for revenge. Bad guys are far more interesting when they care about each other.

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Yeah. Do they really think their target audience haven't already seen The Two Towers?

Maybe they're relying on the fact that they have? Or maybe they listened to all the people (well, me anyway) who thought the poor oliphaunts in LotR were treated abominably.

but knowing the title, I can make a few guesses about which characters will be the focus of it - and it'll be interesting to see what they tie together.

I hadn't realised what it was called until you said that. I suppose it will focus on the remaining Starks, and on Dany's dragons? Erm..

Nice to see Ciaran Hinds as Mance in the preview. I was beginning to think I dreamt him.

Sam really grows by leaps and bounds every time he's on screen, doesn't he?

Yes, I adore him, have to say. If everyone else dies before the story ends, I hope he'll get to live.

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

I suppose it will focus on the remaining Starks, and on Dany's dragons?

Well, there's a lot of children in this story who look set for great things next season - the dragons who have been a crucial part of every season finale so far, the Starks each making their own way, the Lannister siblings all trying to get out from under their father's influence (and for that matter, Cersei's children)... I suppose they'll have to do something about Tyrion, if nothing else.

ETA: Oh, and what was up with all those flaming arrows? Sure, it looks better on screen, but...

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

ETA: Oh, and what was up with all those flaming arrows? Sure, it looks better on screen, but...

Heh! I said the same thing during the episode. "Hey, what's with the lit arrows. It's not like lighting them does any good in the snow..." Then "... oh. I guess its better for TV if we SEE the arrows."

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I suppose they'll have to do something about Tyrion, if nothing else.

I suppose so. He is the hero of the story.

Well, sorta, kinda, inasmuch as there is one at all.

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

Then again, so was Ned Stark... And Robb Stark... And Oberyn... ;)

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True.

I begin to think that GRRM doesn't really get how stories work.

Or is deliberately subverting the trope.

Or something.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Mammoth CGI must've been expensive as they only had one. But I got one mammoth. I am happy. :D

I'm glad she didn't kill Jon, or vice versa.
I worried that they might change it to Jon killing her, and I preferred that in the book she died in battle, not in some Jon vs. Ygritte thing.

And I think the closest I came to heartache was Sam trying to talking to Pyp as he was dying, and seeing that Grenn didn't make it. (Though I knew that Grenn wasn't as soon as he got that assignment. It was a different friend of Jon who died there in the book, but I knew when it got assigned to Grenn...well... damn.

[shapinglight]

Mammoth CGI must've been expensive as they only had one. But I got one mammoth. I am happy. :D

:)

I agree about Ygritte, and I suppose where the little boy was concerned she had it coming. He probably remembered her from when his village was slaughtered.

Yes, poor Pyp and Grenn. Grenn's last stand in particular was very 300, or maybe Rorke's Drift.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I agree about Ygritte, and I suppose where the little boy was concerned she had it coming. He probably remembered her from when his village was slaughtered.

Apparently she was the one who shot his father, so from the kid's POV was justice.

I keep remembering that the lines of good vs. evil here are rather blurred. Yes, we hate the cannibals and the slaughter... but it's not like the Wildlings don't have real motivation to get south of the wall. They're fighting for their lives too.

And then we have Watcher's like Slynt who is the guy who turned the gold cloaks on Ned. Slynt is forever and always an self-serving asshole.

Can't really begrudge the boy for avenging his dad, though. They did a good job of establishing him as a tertiary character.

I worried they were going to kill Tormund (Big red head Wildling) for a bit there, which was good tension making because he didn't die in the battle in the book, but they had him in such a situation that I actually thought his time might be done.

And I thought, if I hadn't been a book reader, I rwould've worried about Sam the entire time, especially with how brave and sympathetic they were making him (Joss Whedon, I'm blaming you for this paranoia! I would've been STUNNED if Sam had been killed. He's a POV character in Feast... still I didn't 100% rule out that he might die in a book deviation. But it would've been a HUGE deviation.) Good episode for Sam. Liked that they moved up his kiss with Gilly. It was a sweet moment in an episode/world short of sweetness.

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Yes, we hate the cannibals and the slaughter... but it's not like the Wildlings don't have real motivation to get south of the wall. They're fighting for their lives too.

Yes. Speaking of whom, there's been a distinct lack of Osha this season. I wonder if we'll ever catch up with her and Rickon.

I know what you mean about Sam. If this had been a Joss show, he would be dead for sure.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Re: Rickon/Osha it's hard to say. From here on out, show-wise they're going to be merging A Feast for Crows with A Dance with Dragons as the timeline for those novels really do overlap (It's been a while but off the top of my head Feast's POV's involved Arya, Sansa, Sam, Jaime, Cersei, Brienne, Dornish Characters, etc. While A Dance with Dragons involved Dany, Dornish Character, Jon, Bran, Reek/Theon Greyjoy, Yarra(Asha)Greyjoy, Tyrion, Melisedre (The Red Woman), etc.

Rickon's fate is beginning to be addressed in ADwD so we could see something on that front.

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I wish it wasn't so long till season 5. I feel like the current series has been so episodic with everyone's stories (with some interesting storylines, like Bran's, not getting much of a glimpse) that it'll be hard waiting a whole year to find out what happens next.

[chasingdemons.livejournal.com]

I was surprised that the entire episode was devoted to battle. They sure have a lot of storylines out there. I can't imagine they will have time to deal with all of them, but they better not leave me hanging when it comes to Tyrion or I will be extremely annoyed! It was actually quite enjoyable when I was trying to catch up and I could watch one episode right after the other.

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It was actually quite enjoyable when I was trying to catch up and I could watch one episode right after the other.

Yes, it's no fun at all when you have wait a whole year to find out what happens next.

GoT have on the whole been okay at not leaving characters' storylines hanging. Things like the mysterious army of White Walkers last seen by Sam on the way to the Wall at the end of season 2 are another matter. They haven't been seen since. I assume they walk very slowly. ;)

[bogwitch.livejournal.com]

Even though I knew she was going to peg it, I did get a bit teary for Ygritte. I'll miss her way of saying 'Jon Snnnow'.

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You mean 'Jon Sneh'?

It was pretty unique, I agree.

[sibilant.livejournal.com]

Bit boring, I thought. Agree that the Sam bits were the most interesting/enjoyable in an episode mostly about people we don't care about smashing each other to bits rather unconvincingly.

I've never been that invested in the Wall/Wildlings shenanigans, though. Much rather have seen some Bran or Stannis storylines. Or more Hound/Arya - my favourites!

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Must admit I quite enjoyed the big battle, even though it was a bit like Helm's Deep from LotR. And I do like Sam such a lot, and he was in the episode a lot.