Finally was able to sit down and watch this episode last night. Wow. In every previous season it has been Episode 9 that was the penultimate “holy shit” episode of the season, and with Hardhome being only Episode 8 it’s very difficult to see how they could pull off anything more impressive this coming weekend. I suspect the “holy shit” moment of this season will come not during an extended CGI sequence, but rather in a normal routine scene that ends in the shocking death of a main character akin to the Red Wedding or Ned’s execution.
There was much to like about this episode. Dany and Tyrion were so fun to watch together. Poor Jorah, spurned again. Some have asked why he would return to the fighting pits, and the answer is clear. The fight from the previous episode was in the lowest pit, a qualifier of sorts. The fight he and the slaver were discussing is in the main amphitheater in Meereen. The fighter who wins that fight wins the love of the people, glory and status. That is exactly the position Jorah wants to be in, as then Dany could not turn him away without angering the people. He could then make the argument that who better to be her protector than the knight who won the biggest “tournament” in all of the East? Jorah sees winning this contest as his only way back to Dany’s side.
The stuff in King’s Landing is following the books closely enough that it hasn’t been surprising at all, yet the writers and actors are doing it so well that I still find it fascinating to watch even though I know what is going to happen. Not so much the stories in Dorne and at Winterfell. While I enjoy the Jaime and Bronn show, and I am curious to see how Sansa copes with and grows given her current situation, both plotlines seem to be written by a second team of writers who are not as talented as those writing the main plotlines. I’m hopeful that this will change in the final two episodes, as both plotlines would seem to have things that need to be resolved prior to season’s end.
The Hardhome stuff was absolutely the highlight of the season thus far. It was easily the highlight of the Series thus far in terms of overall special effects, action and just pure excitement, though I think there have been other, less exciting scenes that have had a greater effect on viewers throughout the series (Ned’s execution, Red Wedding, etc.). Still, nothing can top that battle for pure awesome. Undead everywhere, creepy White Walkers watching form the cliffs, the rush to get on the boats and the giant covering Jon and company’s retreat while crushing undead in multiple creative ways. At the end I half-expected the giant to rise out of the water, recently expired from his wounds and answering the call of the White Walker. I’m surprised there weren’t any undead giants or mammoths in the White Walker army.
To those folks who wondered about the “zombies” and how/if they could be killed, I thought the show did a good job of showing us that in the battle scenes. It was really pretty much just a matter of common sense. We saw several undead go down for good when their heads were removed or skulls bashed in. Others were taken out by cutting them in half or otherwise damaging their bodies to the point where they were no longer mobile. Shooting/stabbing them in the chest, arms, legs and stomach were shown to be useless. Crushing them completely, as the giant was doing, was also an effective counter. The ones that dove off the cliff did so in such a way that the undead at the bottom of the pile were crushed, but those coming after were able to get up and keep fighting. The White Walkers knew they would lose some of their army that way, but what did they care when there were thousands more bodies waiting to be raised from the battlefield? I thought the entire sequence did a great job of conveying that, while it is possible to defeat the individual undead and even the White Walkers, they are coming on in such great numbers and with such ferocity that the struggle is hopeless, especially when at the end, the White Walkers will simply turn your fallen friends into more soldiers for their army.
Can’t wait to see what the final two episodes bring this season. I’m especially curious about Arya now that she’s reached pretty much the end of her book plotline. I think they’ve done a fine job of working her storyline so that it has remained interesting and exciting even when so is so far removed from everyone else and going through a training process that is fairly boring by comparison to all the other events taking place.
