What this episode lacked in game-changing moments it made up for in twice as many outstanding smaller scenes.
The final shot of this episode was truly a sight to behold. The middle of a television season is exceptionally tough for any television show, except Game of Thrones, it would seem. Maybe it's the sheer amount of characters the writers have to work with, or the outstanding arcs just about all of them go through, but there has no been an inconsequential episode of the show so far. This is about as close as it gets, and what this episode lacked in game-changing moments it made up for in twice as many outstanding smaller scenes. Let's take a look at this week's episode, "The Climb."
We got some quick check-ins to kick off the episode, starting with Sam and Gilly (John Bradley and Hannah Murray). Their scene together showed that the two are complimenting each other well, but neither of them seem fully prepared for the trials that are inevitably ahead of them. It was a cute scene, which almost makes up for the fact that it didn't advance the plot at all, aside from reminding us that Sam still has his obsidian dagger. Shortly after, we also briefly stopped by to say "hi" to Bran (Isaac Hempstead Wright) and his merry crew. Meera and Osha (Ellie Kendrick and Natalia Tena) aren't getting along and Jojen (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) has seizures that are brought on by his visions. It's a grim foreshadowing of what Bran has to look forward to, but that's about all we can take away from this short scene.
The Brotherhood without Banners is getting a ton of screen time, which I'm a huge fan of, and this week continued the trend of excellent appearances. We got to watch along as Arya (Maisie Williams) was learning how to shoot a bow, much like how she learned how to sword fight in season one. Not one to let a good moment go unsullied, Melisandre (Carice van Houten) rides in to trade Gendry (Joe Dempsie) for gold that will support the Brotherhood. We got some insight as to how the Lord of Light works as Melisandre and Thoros (Paul Kaye). We learned that Thoros is being granted more power than he should probably be afforded, and it makes us question if Melisandre has any power even close to the abilities Thoros has. The scene ended with Arya unhappy with just about anyone, and Melisandre promising the young Stark girl that they will meet again at some point.
We didn't spend much time with Theon (Alfie Allen) this week, and his scenes were perhaps the least useful in the episode. Don't get me wrong; the torture was downright brutal (again), and the line by his captor “If you think this has a happy ending… you haven’t been paying attention,” is one of the truest lines uttered in the entire series. Things aren't looking good for Theon, and I don't see a light at the end of the tunnel for the poor man.
Two storylines this week managed to parallel each other, though you would never expect the similarities between these characters. Robb (Richard Madden) and Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) both reaped consequences for their actions, though those consequences fell on others who were not responsible for their decisions. We learned that Jaime was going to be allowed to return back to King's Landing on some conditions that he be clear who was responsible for him losing his hand, but Brienne (Gwendoline Christie) was going to have to remain at the mercy of Roose Bolton (Michael McElhatton), which does not sound good for her. On the other side of the war, Edmure Tully (Tobias Menzies) is being forced to marry a Frey girl seeing as Robb broke his vow to do the same thing. Edmure continues to be pushed around by those around him, and I wonder what effect this will have on the war. For now, he is going to be a team player and marry a woman he has never met, all because Robb made an impulsive decision. Hopefully, this helps him win the war.
King's Landing provided a plethora of entertainment this week, from an entertaining meeting between Olenna (Diana Rigg) and Tywin (Charles Dance). This was the first time in the show that we've seen Olenna bested, and it was due to a very aggressive move by Tywin. Tywin got exactly what he wanted, though, which led to a depressing scene between Sansa and Loras (Sophie Turner and Finn Jones). At this point, the two of them still believed they were going to me married. Sansa was clearly thrilled at the prospect, while I'm sure Loras was fine with it because Sansa isn't remotely threatening. Soon after that, though, we watched as Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) and Cersei (Lena Headey) sympathized with each other. At the same time, we learned that it was Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) who ordered Tyrion killed in the battle last season, and we see that his is still very dangerous, as he used Ros (Esmé Bianco) for target practice. Ultimately, these scenes ended with Tyrion telling both Sansa, and Shay, that plans had changed for just about everyone. We got to see Sansa happy for a whopping two or three episode, and now she is back to being one of the most depressed people on the show (rightly so).
Finally, we get to this episode's big moment: the titular climbing of The Wall. Jon (Kit Harington), Ygritte (Rose Leslie), Tormund (Kristofer Hivju), and Orell (Mackenzie Crook) took to climbing the massive structure with a few other wildlings who don't make it. Visually, this was one of the biggest challenges for the creators in the entire series, but they succeeded in making this climb feel real, and dangerous, through some close shots, and our knowledge that anyone can die at any time. Ultimately, the four named characters made it, though Orell tried as hard as possible to drop Jon and Ygritte on the way up. I'm happy to see these two become one of the best couples on the show, but we know Jon has to have more to him than his surface betrayal of his vows, which is something Ygritte acknowledges, but doesn't accept. The final shot of the two of them on top of The Wall was beautiful, and a great, quiet note to end the episode on.
This was yet another outstanding episode of Game of Thrones. It's starting to seem like there are no other types of episodes in this show, and with four episodes left, it's entirely possible that this will be the slowest episode of the season. If everything goes up from here, then we are truly in for an amazing finish to the season.