SPOILER ALERT: THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR GAME OF THRONES SEASON 4. If you don’t want to see spoilers, I’m sorry but this is a really bad week for you. Here are doggies fighting with toy axes and swords.
So now that that’s out of the way….Game of Thrones!
Sunday brought the end of the 4th season of Game of Thrones. And what a season it was! Now I was one of the people who had read the books before, so I knew a lot of this was coming. And it was based out of the most exciting half of my favorite book of the series! But nothing could prepare me for this season, book and all. Lets take a look at the twists of season 4.
Not all of the episodes will be listed, but that's just because there wasn't really a big twist in them in my opinion. So lets just skip right to the one that I've been waiting for since I first started reading the books.
Episode 2: The Lion and the Rose
This was the big one. The game-changer. The event that kicked off every last twist on this list, and will have repercussions well into the next winter in Westeros. The Purple Wedding.
As if you needed more reasons to not get married in Westeros. And it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy, could it? No redemption to Jeoffery, Cersei is devastated, and Tyrion is accused of killing his nephew. It also sets back the Tyrells, the house I would belong to if I got to choose. Margery’s luck in men is very bad for the longevity of said men. I think the only one who got out of this the best was actually Sansa, that poor girl.
I first watched this episode next to a friend who hadn’t read the books. Most of his comments were to Jeoffery being a little prick and asking if Sansa “was ready to play the game” yet at the screen. He at least got catharsis this time, but Sansa hasn’t started yet.
And poor Tyrion! I’m so glad that they had cast Peter Dinklage, because a lesser actor would have broken that scene. That subtle tension between he and Jack Gleeson was absolutely perfect, and the micro expressions for each little emotion were amazing! I’m actually kind of sad Jeoffrey’s dead now, because Gleeson was that fun to watch. Whatever he goes on to do, I wish him all the success in the world. No one is going to forget King Jeoffrey anytime soon.
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| ......in about 15 minutes. |
Episode 3: Breaker of Chains
Okay, things need to be addressed. This had one of the most controversial moments in the entire show, for very legitimate reasons. All I have to say is that it was originally a Jamie POV chapter, so the potential for that interpretation was there. It’s uncomfortable, but a legitimate choice they could have made. Wasn’t a fan, but I understand why the directors chose that.
Moving swiftly on, the twist! Littlefinger was behind Sansa’s escape and Jeoffery’s death, Ser Dontos is now Ser Dead, and they’re off to the Eyrie.
Episode 4: Oathkeeper
The big twist this time came at the very end, with the reveal of the White Walkers and what happens to Craster’s sons. This is something I had no clue about, because so far it hasn’t been in the books whatsoever. It’s really throwing me off, and I want to see where they go with this.
Also Lady Olenna killed Jeoffrey. That’s a thing.
Episode 6: The Laws of Gods and Men
Trial by combat! Give Peter Dinklage another Emmy, this season is his for how little he’s in it. Shae is back, lying against Tyrion. Jamie made a deal for Tyrion’s life, but of course Tyrion decides to mess that up. Nothing else really needs to be said but “Go Tyrion!” and see who his champion will be.
Episode 7: Mockingbird
And finally the Moon Door pays off! I never liked Lysa Arryn, and the news that she was the one who killed her husband on a suggestion from Littlefinger made me dislike her even more than the crazy. Seeing her get pushed out the Moon Door was just a little slice of happiness, and more than a little stupid on the part of Lysa for having the thing freaking open all the time. One slip and you die is apt and symbolic in the story but not in interior design choices.
Oh, and Oberyn, the new character this season has stepped forward as Tyrion’s champion to get a crack at the mountain. This can only end well, right?
Episode 8: The Mountain and the Viper
Sansa finally joined the game!
But in other news, yeah, Oberyn didn’t exactly do so well in the fight. Like, at all. The second highest count of reaction videos, and more in the first day than the Red Wedding. I couldn’t look at it at all, and I didn’t look away when the womb-stab happened. Prince Oberyn was fun this season, and I really liked him. But he did what you should never do until your enemy is dead and you're absolutely sure of it, monologue. I was expecting brutal, just not nearly as much as what I actually saw. I wouldn't say skip this episode if you're squeamish, because way too much happens that's important to the series. Just look away when you think things are going downhill, and you'll be about right.
Episode 9: The Watchers on The Wall
Probably not really a twist, but you have to talk about the penultimate episode with the show if you’re going to talk about anything Game of Thrones. It’s just tradition at this point. Everything I expected to happen happened, except for two of Jon’s friends dying who didn’t in the book. They weren’t too big in the show though, so it’s not a choice I hated.
Can I just say how awesome the cooks are at Castle Black? Wildlings break in then “EAT HOT BROTH TO THE FACE!” The cleaver was pretty excellent too. Yigrette was killed, but the moment was very well done.
Episode 10: The Children
Brienne vs The Hound...that wasn’t a fight I remember from the books. But go Brienne! I’ll call that twist number three, the first being Stannis and his sudden appearance at the wall. The fight with the Reeds and Bran was impressive too. Dany didn’t really do much past react, and Cersei was outshined by her father. Arya’s expression when she realizes Brienne was sent by her mother followed by the betrayal by realizing Jamie Lannister also sent her just accentuates her reaction to the Hound’s seemingly mortal wounds. Arya wasn’t a sweet little girl anymore, but that last straw is gone.
But the shining moment again belongs to Peter Dinklage as Tyrion. I swear I’m not fangirling. As much as I’d like to be at least. This was just another amazing performance. The anger and betrayal at seeing Shae in his father’s bed, killing her, then methodically killing his father? Priceless. You could read every single emotion on his face. Arya was a good tie-in to leave this season on a slightly calmer note, but Tyrion will be the talk of the globe, and Westeros, for a long time.
Season 5 has some seriously big shoes to fill, and I really can’t wait until it comes out. Will it live up to season 4? Time can only tell.
Game Of Thrones is owned by George R.R. Martin and HBO. Opinions are my own. Pay tribute to our Dread Lord Martin and perhaps your favorite character will live. Probably not though.
And remember, it doesn’t matter what you’re nerdy about, as long as you’re active.
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