Game of Thrones: 5 Thoughts After 5 Episodes

The scene at the end of episode four that showed Rast taking the baby out to sacrifice him to the White Walkers has stuck in everyone’s minds. The baby is taken by a White Walker on horseback out into the frozen tundra where it comes face to face with what has been debated as being Night’s King, something the producers have neither confirmed nor denied. In the books, Night’s King is only referred to in stories by Old Nan in Winterfell to Stark children, and as a slight Westeros history aside Night’s King. Prior to being the head of the White Walkers, his name was Brandon Stark and the Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch. At the current stage of the books, Night’s King is nothing more than an old story, so at first when I saw this I really thought that the show was going off on its own away from the storyline of the books. However, it does actually seem a bit better this way bringing the fans of the show that also read the books some surprises along the way.

Jaime and Bronn

With Tyrion taking his on screen time down to prison visits in the last couple episodes, his brother Jaime has enjoyed some truly memorable scenes with our favourite sellsword. Leaning on Bronn and his sword fighting acumen to learn to fight with his left hand, the two are enjoying the same on screen chemistry that Tyrion and Bronn also exuded. Some of the past scenes with Bronn and Tyrion have been quite hilarious as they are usually littered with humour and wine. None of their scenes together in the show happened in the book series as Jaime opted to train with Ser Ilyn Payne, the speechless headsman. It’s great to see Bronn trading wit with Jaime and at the same time teaching Jaime things that he might not necessarily use previously as Bronn shows him that his false hand can be used against him as he removes it and hits Jaime with it. These two together gives Jaime some moments where he can talk about Tyrion and his case rather than Ilyn who would not be capable of talking back. Bronn was also able to give us a great call back to season one where he told Jaime of the moment when Lysa Arryn asked Tyrion to name his champion and he named his brother Jaime. Hopefully we will get to see more of the two together before the season is over.

Arya and The Hound

This is one of the most entertaining pairings in the shows run. They play off each other so well its absolutely incredible. There is an underlying uneasiness between them because Arya is stuck with him to reach the Eyrie and safety, and The Hound is similarly stuck with her until he can reach his bounty and the gold he is expecting at the end of the journey. At the same time, the two are learning quite a bit from each other; Arya is layering her knowledge of killing and revenge with how The Hound fights and his tactics to what she was already beginning to learn from Syrio Forel in the first season.

The tavern scene where Arya killed Polliver with her sword was one of the shows most brutal scene as we see a little girl brutally kill a trained soldier, but at the same time it was great to see Arya get some modicum of revenge on those who have wronged her, and see her grow as a person. She knows that she is capable of killing and embraces her skills, continuing to hone them. This pairing has been one of the best in the shows run, and will certainly be a major reason this is the best season of Game of Thrones yet.

The Rise of Daenerys Stormborn

This has been quite the banner season for Dany as she continues to rise to new challenges and new threats. Last season saw her moving in the right direction, acquiring her Unsullied and taking control of Astapor and creating an incredible amount of unrest in Yunkai. She also gained the services of the Second Sons and Daario Naharis, who is now part of her inner circle and has eyes for Dany as well. This season she has moved on Meereen and has used her own style once again to take the city, calling on the slaves themselves to rise up as free men just as the other slaves of Yunkai and Astapor before them have. Dany has shown that he really does have a knack for ruling and knowing how to appeal to the people, and gain their admiration. Dany has shown restraint as well; Daario announces that he has taken the Meereenese navy, and instead of jumping at the chance to march her Unsullied onto those ships and race back to Westeros to take back the Iron Throne in earnest, she opts instead to really take Meereen for her own and continue to craft herself as a great leader and Mhysa (mother) as she is called by the slaves. Dany and her current storyline is another bright star in this series and her character is loved by many fans.

The Purple Wedding

How can anyone talk about season four of Game of Thrones without talking about The Purple Wedding? This is another one of those game changing moments in the show that so much drama and intrigue will spin out of. From The Red Viper (Oberyn Martell) coming to King’s Landing for the wedding and having some of the most intense scenes with Tywin Lannister and Cersei, to Tyrion being named as a suspect and being taken into custody, and of course Sansa being a suspect in the murder of Joffrey being whisked out of the city by Littlefinger by way of Dontos.

Prince Oberyn’s arrival to the city was a fantastic scene as it showed that while he may be a great lover he is also a skilled fighter and politician, all because Joffrey’s wedding initiated his arrival. Tyrion was already in a precarious position with his sister and now that she named him Joffrey’s murderer, she is just looking for an excuse to kill him, guilty or not. Without Joffrey in the picture, the other rebelling forces in the realm like Stannis and Balon are left to pursue their goals even further continuing to complicate things for the Lannisters control of the Iron Throne especially with a young boy in Tommen in control.

Let us not forget that in the midst of all the chaos is the Brotherhood Without Banners are in the Riverlands, either on the run or behind the safety of castle walls. The war is far from over and trouble in the capital can only lead to more trouble outside the walls outside King’s Landing. On a smaller scale, we can’t forget Sansa finally escaping the clutches of the Lannisters and is now in the safe but potentially insane hands of her Aunt Lysa.

While other great points about the first half of the season can be made, this one situation will shape events going forward and affect a far more characters in Westeros and even Essos (Daenerys) than any moment so far.

With the first half of season four in the bag, there is still a lot to be excited about as these incredible characters continue to amaze us with the drama, blood, and backstabbing (sometimes literally).

Game of Thrones airs Sundays at 9 pm on HBO.