One of the most infamous moments in the entire series was pulled off expertly tonight. Oh, and the rest of the episode was great, too.
Roose (Michael McElhatton) shares some not so kind final words with Robb (Madden) This is it; the episode that every fan of the Game of Thrones books has been waiting for. I've had a lot of moments throughout this series where I found myself wishing I didn't already know what was going to happen, but the Red Wedding was one of those things that I'd rather never have to experience for the first time ever again. I'd love to know if those that only watch the show were as blindsided by this brutal betrayal as book readers were. Regardless, one of the most infamous moments in the entire series was pulled off expertly tonight. Oh, and the rest of the episode was great, too.
Let's get the other stuff out of the way, first. Surprisingly, we checked in with Dany (Emilia Clarke) and her merry band of rag-tag heroes on the other side of the world. It turned out to be the weakest part of the episode, but it provided us with a fair amount of action. There was a moment where Jorah and Selmy (Iain Glen and Ian McElhinney) debated on whether or not Daario (Ed Skrein) could be trusted, but for once a character was telling the entire truth in this show. In what has to be the easiest overthrowing of a city ever, Daario, Jorah, and Grey Worm (Jacob Anderson) infiltrated Yunkai, killed a few people, and converted the slaves, winning the city for Dany. She's having a remarkably easy time of running things on her side of the world, so it'll be interesting to see where she goes next.
Much more interesting in this episode were the almost intersecting stories of Bran and Jon (Isaac Hempstead Wright and Kit Harington). Both had some amazing moments, from Jon revealing his true allegiance to the Night's Watch, and Bran realizing his power is greater than anyone ever thought possible. I think the best part of Jon's story this week, though, was Ygritte (Rose Leslie). It was hard to discern if she wanted to kill Jon, or help him, which I'm sure expresses her feelings of confusion perfectly now. It seemed like she came very close to dying for a moment, but she's still alive and well enough to chase after her once lover. All that's left for Jon is to see if he can make it back to Castle Black in time, or if Ygritte will run him down first.
Mere feet away from all the hullabaloo with Jon was Bran and his crew. An impending thunder storm drove them inside a tower for shelter, where they would have been safe if it weren't for Hodor (Kristian Nairn), and his apparent fear of thunderstorms. Out of necessity, Bran learned that he could use his Warg powers to control a human, as well, as he took control of Hodor and silence him. Then, he took control of Summer and saw Jon fighting the Wildlings, which we would later learn is the closest any of the Stark children would get to each other since the first season. This was one of the best sequences of the episode. It was intense, and the danger felt real, even if it didn't pan out very far for the group inside the tower. To close things out with them, Bran decided to send Rickon (Art Parkinson) and Osha (Natalia Tena) away, while Bran and the Reeds continued their journey beyond the wall. It was a touching and sad moment between the two brothers, and it's easy to suspect that things won't get much better for either of them going forward.
Then, there's the Red Wedding. Show-only fans may have heard it mentioned before, but hopefully no context was given to the name before this week. We all now know that it is The Worst Thing to Happen in Game of Thrones Ever, and for good reason. Robb (Richard Madden), and his followers (at least half of his army) showed up at Riverrun to honor the secondary deal he made with Walder Frey (David Bradley) to marry Edmure Tully (Tobias Menzies) to one of his daughters to make up for Robb deciding to not do the same thing last season. Things started off fine, with Walder offering his guests salted bread as a sign of good faith, and tradition of the time, where breaking bread with a guest signifies their safety within your walls. Then, we got a few humorous scenes from Edmure as he tentatively sized up all of his potential brides to be, as well as some uncomfortable moments as we watched Walder Frey degrade Talisa (Oona Chaplin) in front of everyone. All in all, though, it felt like your run-of-the-mill wedding for Westeros. Until the celebration began.
Roose Bolton (Michael McElhatton) has sat contentedly on the sidelines since his introduction last season, so it would be understandable for viewers to assume he was completely harmless. Things seemed off right away, though, as he refused to drink any wine while everyone else sat around getting completely wasted. As Edmure and his new wife were carried away for the bedding ceremony, and the hall doors were closed behind them, the look on Cat's (Michelle Fairley) face no doubt reflected that on many viewers. Something wasn't right, and it seemed like everyone but Robb and Talisa knew that. Then, "The Rains of Castamere," the Lannister anthem and title of the episode, started playing throughout the hall, signifying the beginning of the end for the Northmen. Talisa was the first to go, in brutal fashion, as she was stabbed multiple times in the, killing her and Robb's unborn child as well as her. Robb and Cat were dropped soon after with crossbows, though they would live long enough to try and beg for their lives, with Cat ultimately watching who she believed her last remaining son slaughtered in front of her, before having her own throat slit to end the massacre.
And who had to watch all of this unfold, aside from millions of unprepared viewers at home? Poor little Arya (Maisie Williams), who was fortunately smart enough to never full believe she'd make it back to her family, as pointed out by The Hound (Rory McCann) in one of their many amazing scenes together. Arya had to watch as her brother's men, and his direwolf, were slaughtered outside of the castle before being smacked in the back of the head by The Hound and taken away, which was probably a good thing.
There isn't much else to say about the Red Wedding. This is what everyone who knew what was coming was dreading from day one of the show, and even on the second pass it was a completely deflating and sad moment to watch. It helped that the rest of the episode worked so well, too, which cements this as one of the best episodes of the show so far. Going forward, it's hard to imagine things are going to start looking up for any of the characters, but something happy has to happen at some point, right? Right?