Spoilers ahead!
Eleven weeks, ten episodes, one severed hand, a euniched Greyjoy, a bear fight, an army of liberated slaves,
a bag full of dragonglass daggers, three dead Starks and the end of
this war. It's been a big season.
Easiest the most satisfying of the past season closers (excepting the moment at the close of season one when Khaleesi emerged from the fire with her dragons), this episode managed to follow the spectacular climax of episode nine by having each storyline reach a true juncture point.
Opening in the moments immediately following the Red Wedding, Roose Bolton surveys the decimation of Robb's army. It's a gruesome affair, and Arya's unfortunate habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time concerning her family's headless corpses continues unabated.
Roose and Walder talk about how well their plan went as the cleaners soak up the remaining blood and gore from the floor. No sensitive soul, Walder, he's just chowing down his breakfast. Was anyone else waiting to discover Roose had poisoned the food? The whole scene played out with an odd sense of unfulfilled dread.
One bright note in the aftermath of the wedding- it turns out Uncle Blackfish's
weak bladder did in fact save his life. So we'll be seeing more of him in a year's time.
Tyrion and Sansa's relationship has relaxed just enough for her to feel comfortable saying 'shift' in front of him. I look forward to that moment in my relationship, too. This is before Tyrion is called to a meeting of the small council, wherein Joffrey excitedly reveals the news of Walder Frey's betrayal of the Starks. His plans to serve Sansa her brother's head at the wedding feast causes Tyrion to continue his OCD impulse of insulting the King to his face. This all great for dramatic tension, but I wonder how long this will go on before Joffrey finally cracks it and either a) orders another assassination attempt or b) tries to do something about it himself and we can finally get a complimentary gif to go along with this:
Probably not going to happen, but it feels good to imagine it.
Tywin has a brief moment of vulnerability when he explains that one of his most selfless acts was not drowning the newborn Tyrion when he was first born. It's unclear whether this vulnerability betrays a previously unseen affection for his son, or a regret that he didn't follow through. My sensitivities want it to lie with the former, but give actor Charles Dance his due that the moment is so marked by ambivalence that it may be some time yet before we know for sure.
Bran, Hodor, Jojen and Meera take shelter in the Nightfort upon reaching the wall, in, wouldn't you know it, the very room that the secret tunnel from the North opens into. Bran tells the story of the Rat Cook, who the Gods never forgave for the murder of a guest under his own roof. Thankfully they stayed away from augmenting the story with a jump scare or
thunder rumble and let the subtext sink in.
Finally, after a season of torture we learn that it is Roose Bolton's bastard son Ramsay who has been playing tormentor to the once proud Theon Greyjoy. I suppose the dramatic pay-off is somewhat worth the excruciating length of this arc (though I still don't understand why he helped Theon escape that one time). It kept Bolton's betrayal a secret from the audience for the duration of the season and it has kickstarted the season four subplot of Theon's sister Yara launching an expedition to rescue her brother after receiving his dick in a box. I think this marks the most severe reaction to a piece of
junk mail, ever. Amiright?!
The second mystery that was solved this week was the reason Sam didn't pick up the dragon glass dagger he vaporised the white walker with. He didn't pick it up because he had a whole bag full of them! He's had it since the battle at Fist of the First Men. Was
this
ever clear to anyone? At least now I can stop complaining that he ran off without it a few episodes ago. Also, it's the end of the season, so it might be weird to
keep harping on about it, anyway.
Heir to the throne, Gendry and the newly literate Ser Davos have a little heart to heart in the cells, turns out they're both from Fleabottom in Kings Landing. Davos likes the boy and seems to figuring him out. He asks Gendry why, if he's so suspicious of highborns, did he trust the Red Woman? His reasoning boils down to: "Boobs". This is a reasonable explanation and is still in common use today.
Ser Davos decides to 'do the right thing' and help Gendry to escape. This, as 'doing the right thing' usually does in Westeros, leads immediately to a death sentence. Luckily, the edition of the raven news that day brought word of an impending attack of an undead army from beyond the wall, and in the godly equivalent of saying 'I knew that', the vision in the flames says 'Umm, this war never meant anything, the true war lies to the North. I swear, I just going to tell you all about it. Best kept Davos around.' And so by the good graces of the Lord of Light, Davos is recruited to rebuild Stannis' army.
Jon and Ygritte have the showdown between lovers that we didn't get to enjoy last week when he escaped a melee on horseback. Through tears, Jon declares his love and his need to return home. Ygritte shoots him with some arrows as he rides away. It may have seemed an odd farewell, but just as Jon may have given the gift of cunnilingus to the wildlings, perhaps Ygritte gave the Northerners the gift of sado-masochism. Tell someone you love them, then stick them with arrow heads.
Jaime and Brienne finally arrive at Kings Landing, and Cersei gets the first piece of good news she's had in a while. Her character, while plainly despicable, has become far more shaded over this last season as she's been pushed out by her son King's maniacal posturing. Her loneliness seems to have become the motivating factor in her behaviour. It will be interesting to see if the changed Jaime's return and a renewal of their incestuous love will affect her mood. One way or another, Brienne and Loras will have to start watching their backs.
The suprisingly resourceful Sam makes it to Castle Black and is ordered to send out all their ravens as his news of the white walker army prompts the Maester to warn all lords and nobleman of the impending invasion. I am really keen to see Tywin's reaction to this news.
Arya and the Hound make their way...somewhere, and pass a few relaxing Frey men chatting about the Red Wedding. When one of the man who boasts about sewing the wolf head onto Robb Stark's beheaded body, Arya stabs him in the neck with a knife and has the most kickass delivery of her short life.
"That the first man you've killed?" The Hound asks.
"The
first man." She concedes.
And so, with nothing left (as far as she knows) tying to her old life, she takes the offer of master assassin Jaqen Hghar from last season and whispers the secret words to the coin that should whisk her off to join the assassin's guild in Braavos.
And in humid Yunkai,
Daenerys discovers that she's a bit of a pretty white pop star who has a load of third world devotees ready to let her crowdsurf. Her role as a prophetic saviour is really taking root, and in accepting the crowd's cultish devotion, it perhaps reflects that
Daenerys might be starting to fall for her own song and dance.
And there the season ends. Another great one, and one that sought to bring real closure to some of its arcs before they split off on new trajectories in season four. It might be a year away (they start shooting next month), but it'll be back before you know it. Winter is still coming.
