Game of Thrones delivered a great episode in back to back weeks. Both weeks ended with heart pounding action and spectacular finishes. This week fell a little short of last week’s Hardhome episode overall. It had aspects I really enjoyed (The Freaking Ending!!), and others I downright hated (Stannis burning his daughter). Overall it was still a great episode, one of the better this season. Next week’s season finale has a ton to live up too. I know where I want them to end it on a couple of fronts. I hope they do, but not sure they will with the changes they have made this season.
Let’s start with the boring part. Dorne. What a waste. I was
looking forward to seeing Dorne, and Doran Martell. Our whole time there does
not seem to be going anywhere. This storyline is one which has deviated from
the books. I’m not sure for the better. Jaimie is not supposed to be in Dorne,
and honestly there is no reason for him to be. Though I do not know if the main
story in the books would work well for the show. It would have been better for
him to go out and seek Brienne. He falls out of love with Cersei in the books,
the show should follow suit. In this episode everyone makes nice, and Myrcella
is going to go back to King’s Landing with Jamie. Why not have this be one
episode with him traveling there, asking for her back, then he is back in King’s
landing by the second episode. Instead this has dragged out the entire season. This is one storyline I will glad to be at an
end. The writers of the show have done a great job of adapting the series to
TV, and I have enjoyed most of their deviations. This is not one of them.
We touch briefly with Jon at the wall. I liked this follow
up. They let the wildings pass, and the interaction between Jon and Alliser
Thorne is perfect. It was some of the best acting in the episode, even if it
was extremely brief. Everyone in the scene did a beautiful job. Tension is
building at Castle black. This will make for a great season finale at the wall.
Arya also made an appearance. She
stalked Meryn Trant, of the Kings guard, instead of killing her assigned
target. I’m not sure I would have gone with this path for her. I think the Arya
we have come to love, would kill the gambler, and then stalk Meryn. She has
become this ruthless, let us see it. I get where they are going with the story,
and it is still very good. I would have just made the small adjustment.
Now for the two biggest parts of the show. The first being
Stannis killing his daughter. This is a MAJOR deviation from the books. Stannis
is not very likable in the books, but there is a certain quality to him that
you can get behind. This changes everything for me. I cannot root for him. When
he faces the Bolton’s, it will be two evils fighting each other. It was a very
dramatic scene, and was hard to watch. One thing about the scene, the acting
was not well done, or did not ring true to me. I have been very impressed by Kerry Ingram as
Shireen Baratheon. She missed the mark with her cries of terror. They did not
seem believable. I might have felt
better about this scene if it was performance did not miss the mark. This is
not to say this was an easy assignment for a young actress. I could not pull it
off.
Then we come to the ending, and what an ending it was! The
ending balances the episode. We have such an evil scene with Stannis and his
daughter, to a great scene between Danny and her dragon. This was one part of
the books they captured perfectly. The exact parts of the story may not be the
same, but it still captures one of the best parts of the fifth book. I was hoping and waiting for Drogon to show
up. When he did, I cheered. Second time in two weeks the show has made me
cheer. From start to finish this sequence was extremely well done. The fighting
between the contestants was spectacular. The banter between Daenerys, Tyrion,
Darrio, and Hizdahr is well done. The scene has great symmetry. They spare
words, as the fighters use swords. Then
the action starts, and it is brutal. Without Drogon coming to the aide of his
mother, she would not have escaped. We
then see something everyone has been waiting for. Danny riding her dragon. It was
the perfect place to end this episode, and make us crave next week’s finale.
My Rating: Great
Addition to the Series
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