Game of Thrones Season 3: Episode 9 recap

Spoilers ahead!

"Show them how it feels to lose what they love": If Game of Thrones had a motto, this would be it.

This show has set a fairly phenomenal standard for unsettling its viewers with a considered disregard for the well-being of its characters. So it is with a fair degree of awe that I admit I've rarely been as shocked by an episode of television as I was by this one.

Hats off to the show runners for a styling a climatic sequence that be managed to be completely thrilling, horrifying and devastating with equal measure. But before we got there, things played out like a fairly typical, though very concise, episode, only checking in on a handful of storylines.

Bran, Osha and the gang take brief refuge in an abandoned watch tower to wait out a storm that Jojen deftly predicts, weird kid that he is. Amazingly, for the first time since the show began, two separated members of the Stark family actually share a piece of geography. Of course, they don't actually speak or even see each other (warg vision doesn't count), but they're both at the same intersection. It feels like a step towards some closure, but then, like so many things in Westeros, it gets snatched away. This is because Jon, in a real rookie move, hesitates to behead a horse breeder, and thus reveals his true colours to the wildlings. This results in him having to kill bunch of them, get totally freaked out by a warg/bird attack and then ride away on a horse, leaving Ygritte behind. I'm no Jon fanboy, but I'd say his sex appeal just took a hit. Ygritte is expectedly shocked. I thought I was shocked too, but perspective is a funny thing.

Bran also discovers his innate ability to warg it up, and may be one of the only wargs ever to be able to control the minds of men. Or at least control the sleeping mechanism of giant, simple Hodors.

Sam and Gilly make it to the wall, chatting about how they're going to sneak through a long forgotten secret tunnel hidden in part of the Nightfort. Sam read about it in a very old book. This ability to stare at marks on paper, combined with his newfound skill to shatter white walkers, gives him the appearance if being a wizard to a simple minded girl like Gilly. But without his dagger, he's really just a nerd who likes reading.

Daenerys plans her attack on Yunkai with her trusted advisors Ser Jorah, Ser Barristan, Grey Worm and her recently appointed lothario, Daario (a rhyming coincidence? I think not!). Minus a temporary set-back caused by 'a few guards' at the back gate to the city, everything goes so smoothly that it happens off-screen. Still, better than any CG battle was the crestfallen look on Jorah's bloodied face when Khaleesi asks after Daario rather than congratulate him on the triumph. He speaks of duty before pride, but I suspect there's only so much a Ser can take.

The Hound and Arya make their way to the Twins and in an attempt at passing unnoticed into the castle, the Hound poses as pork delivery man. Lucky for them they stopped off for a snack along the way and ended up arriving at the wedding a little late. And that's how pork saves lives.

But cured meats can only do so much. I should have known better than to think the big event was all going to end well (it's known as The Red Wedding, after all), but then they did such a good job of concealing the fact that this was a climax episode- no on-screen battles, no huge confrontations- I started to think that this season they were going to use episode ten as the big finish. But no, the whole thing was a masterful piece of misdirection. Running like a standard episode, things developed with the suggestion that the true climax was yet to come. Walder Frey proved to be an intimidating figure, but other than some unorthodox flirting customs ('I'd break fifty oaths to get in there', he says, pointing), he appeared to forgive and forget. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, with what turned out to be a beautiful bride for Edmure, plenty of wine and food, and everyone in good spirits.

In retrospect of course, it was obvious this was all going to turn bad. Standard foreshadowing dialogue like Robb and Talisa discussing how they would name their unborn 'Eddard' in honour of Rob's father, and Catelyn reminiscing about her good times with Ned would all play ominously in most TV dramas. That it all played out so casually is a credit to the show.

And then, suddenly, everybody was dead (except maybe Uncle Blackfish, whose weak bladder may have saved his life?). It was utterly brutal, a terrifying piece of television, but at its punctured heart was Lady Catelyn. She'd lost her husband, her home and her family, and in a clutching-at-straws moment tried to save her first son's life by threatening to kill  Frey's wife. It was all for naught. And for all the blood-letting, in the end it was her pleading scream transforming into a resigned, empty stare that truly devastated.

No closing theme music for this. Just we, the audience, sitting there, stunned.

This episode was brilliant. I don't know if I could ever watch it again.