Game of Thrones - The Children [Episode 10 Season 4] (TV Review)

Game of Thrones season four came to a close yesterday.
I'm so glad that it has already been renewed for seasons five and six. 

Poor Dragons... I feel so sorry for them.

Episode 10, "The Children," was almost 65 minutes of amazing plot, brutal combat, and cold revenge. Excellent!

5 out of 5 stars

So many plot elements are wrapped up, but so much more is set in motion.

The Battle at the Wall is finally concluded. The best part is Jon Snow proffering advice: burn the dead, all of them.

We also conclude the battle between the Mountain and the Viper. The Viper of course is dead, what with his head being pulped in the Mountain's massive paws. However the Mountain is not dead, he is merely poisoned, wounded so badly that he will die. That is unless Qyburn, the disgraced ex-maester, can perform his dark ministrations. 

Arya and the Hound, together for the last time.

Cirsei and Tywin have words, and finally Tywin is forced to acknowledge the truth. What a Father's Day episode... did they do this on purpose?

Heart Tree.

Of course we have to visit Meereen during the last episode of the season. Why? To be mean to dragons. Trust me, if you are not feeling it already, you will come to hate this city and the plot sucking black hole it is and will become. It is just so... ceaselessly and senselessly banal. If there is any place, any location in Game of Thrones that you will come to like less... you've got to let me know. There is nothing redeeming about Meereen.

We also have to check in on Bran Stark. His plot is moving along a very nice clip. This northern trek towards a great Heart Tree displays some of the few and truly rare scenes of high-magic. Events occur here that I either forgot, or were not included in the books.

In the blinding, brutal north.

Of course for weird 'That did NOT happen in the books!' moments go no further than the encounter in the Vale between Arya & The Hound and Brienne of Tarth & Podrick. This did not occur in the books, however it was a change that resulted in the injuries, the wounds, and the crippling blows that were vital to the story. It was also another step along Arya's path...

But poor Pod! He is just getting such a raw deal, being the klutz he is.

And also... helmets you fools! Did no one learn anything from Oberyn's grisly death? Helmets!

You know who's bed she's in? Yeah... no, that is so not good.

And last of all we return to King's Landing and Tyrion. Jamie frees Tyrion, as we knew he would. There was an interesting omission here as well. There is an entire, very important, conversation between the two that really sets up Tyrion's mindset, and Jamie's.

Anyways, what Jamie (in the TV show) did not know he was doing was unleashing a broken man. Tyrion has lost nearly everything. What he discovers upon his freedom, and his little excursion from the planned escape path, drags him to even lower depths. He lashes out, not as the rational witty man he is, but as a broken man seeking the reason why. Instead, further betrayal and thinly veiled lies are all he finds. That... and vengeance.  

Again. This was the Father's Day episode? Did they do this on purpose? 

And now we have about 10 months until season 5. About 40 to 41 weeks...
Why must we suffer? Why must we wait so long?
Why won't GRRM get the next novel out?

It is going to be a long 10 months until season 5...

Valar Morghulis.

Valar Dohaeris.

Read my previous Game of Thrones reviews. Links below.
Season 4:
- Two Swords (Ep1)
- The Lion and the Rose (Ep2)
- Breaker of Chains (Ep3)
- Oathkeeper (Ep4)
- The First of His Name (Ep5)
- The Laws of Gods and Men (Ep6) 
- Mockingbird (Ep7)
- The Mountain and the Viper (Ep8)
- The Watchers on the Wall (Ep9)