Unsullied Recap, Game of Thrones Season 4, Episode 10 – The Children

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Oz of Thrones: For almost every death depicted throughout the series of Game of Thrones, I have felt that the loss of the respective character would somehow have a bearing on future events in some form or another.

But the deaths coupled with the events of last night’s episode seemed distinctively different; a combination of life-changing circumstance coupled with the death of many important characters has left me with the notion that the story, and the show, will never quite be the same again.

And I’m not real sure how I feel about it.  Let’s talk about it and recap the last Ep of S4, for I truly believe that after last night, the Game has forever been changed…

In my recap last week, I mentioned that I felt like Jon was going on a diplomatic mission to see Mance rather than a suicide mission in an attempt to assassinate him.  The likelihood of Jon being able to actually carry out such a plot surrounded by Wildlings and Thenns and giants seemed invariably low to me from the onset.

Yes, I know Jon was looking at the knife.  And yes, he was likely studying the odds of being able to carry out the plot without being stabbed in the back in the process of reaching for it.  But the conversation was mostly based on negotiation and I am inclined to believe that in the interest of bloodshed, Jon might have let the Wildlings pass.

Alas, it wouldn’t matter, for the one true King with an army on loan rode in formation to easily render the whole Wildling takeover useless leaving Stannis to be in complete control of Castle Black.  The Wall will never quite be the same again.

For me, Stannis has morphed into a guy I despised at the beginning of S2 to a man I respect at the end of S4. In a show of admiration for being the son of Ned Stark, he takes the advice of Jon, heeds his words and acts on them taking Mance prisoner instead of killing him and burning the bodies of the dead.  On a side note, the mystical glare of Red Velvet toward Jon left us an indication that something else was going on there.  She may just want to give him the Gendry “welcome to the Stannis party” intro.  But it definitely seemed like something more.

Over in Essos, there is a dragon missing, and we discover that it actually has a name.  When conquering and freeing slave cities (and owning three dragons), there can be numerous unknown and unfortunate repercussions.  Unfortunately, Dany is learning this lesson the hard way (the way that some are eerily discovering currently in the real world).

Changes that would seemingly improve situations for all don’t necessarily work out best for everyone, even in the name of freedom.  The old man found freedom to be more of a nuisance than a reward while Dany found herself having to enslave her dragons to keep them from doing any more damage.

Dany and her story as we know it will never quite be the same again.  And be advised, there is a wild dragon roaming the countryside.  Hide ya kids. Hide ya wife.

After an entertaining yet daunting excursion through the woods of Westeros, the story of The Stark and The Hound has surprisingly come to an abrupt end.  The shock was not that Brienne and Pod would run into them, for it seemed destined to happen when Bripod took the right turn at Albuquerque.  The shock was that somehow, Brienne was not able to explain herself any better and avoid confrontation and battle.  She had to have known that their would be doubt in Arya and/or Sansa’s mind when showing up wearing full armor like a knight with a squire in tow carrying a Valyrian steel sword.  Maybe the Stark girls wouldn’t have noticed, but the Hound definitely did.

The whole time, Ozzette and I are literally telling the Sony how to better explain itself to the Hound before he splattered it’s ass.

But Brienne didn’t.  And the Hound called bullshit.  And Arya started doubting her.  And then what may have been the most unforeseeable fight of the whole series took place and many of us underestimated again just how damn-good a warrior Brienne is.  Granted, the Hound had been injured by Biter and potentially suffering the same type of weakness Jaime had when he faced off with the she-beast.

Don’t misinterpret my emotion on this… I love Brienne’s character, even when she pulled a Mike Tyson on the Dog’s ear.  But dammit, I hated to lose Sandor, and I can’t rave enough on how good Rory McCann portrayed his character.  Out of all the losses this season, I will probably miss him the most (besides my dear Lysa of course).

And the Stark and the Hound will never be the same again.

Bran and the merry band didn’t look very merry as they finally approached their destination.  Jojen hasn’t looked healthy all season and even Hodor seemed winded.  Yet, the tree was found, and we get a glimpse of who “the children” are (if you’ve watched the “Histories and Lore” portion of the Blu-Rays, you at least had a little background on them.)

Now, a personal note to further explain my feelings on where this story arc has taken us at the end of S4:  I have never been a huge fantasy fanatic which is likely the primary reason I had not heard of the books before the onset of GoT on HBO.  I never disliked it, but it was never a staple in my literary interest.

Part of the success of the show in my opinion is how the fantasy aspects have been introduced at a gradual pace to the point that is accepted by many of the viewing community.  The other piece of putting that puzzle together successfully has been that many of the characters also didn’t believe in giants, and walkers, and dragons, and shadow babies (ok, maybe the shadow baby deal was a jolt to the system regardless, but an acceptable one nonetheless).

The fight scene leading up to the meeting with the man who was the three-eyed raven felt like Pirates of the Caribbean met Lord of the Rings (and this has nothing to do with mammoths).  And while the scene was well put together and tense, and the effects were good, it was the first time that I didn’t feel like I was watching Game of Thrones.  Maybe it was the fireballs blasting the skeleton crew or the old wizard-type looking man sitting in the branches; but it was not what I was expecting and we were left with a hell of a lot more questions than answers.

Even worse was that in the process, we lost Jojen who was one of the more intriguing characters of the series.        

After looking forward to this story line the most, it was the story that at the end of this season I was the least impressed with.

But there has never been an expectation of perfection for me in television, and I am interested to see where it all leads.  Besides, as long as there are a few Lannisters alive, there will be never be a lack of human, family-themed drama to go around.

I dig Qyburn.  He’s the mad scientist of Westeros.  I like frustrated and pissed-off Pycelle even more.  And while I have no idea why Cersei cares about the Mountain living, I do wonder what “changed” means in regards to what the Mountain will become should he survive.  It is a weird turn of events that it looks like Gregor may survive and Sandor was left for dead.  If the Mountain does arise from the Frankenstienian procedure, let’s just hope that it is not a recast.  I’m not sure I could stomach a “Mountain v4.0”.

I’m not shocked that Tywin was killed (for a while, I thought Joffrey was going to pull the crossbow on Paw).  I am shocked that it appeared to be on a throne that was not Iron and that Tyrion seized the opportunity to do it (with a crossbow).  But the Shae injection into the whole Lannister family saga was by far the biggest surprise in this story to me, most likely due to Tywin’s spoken disdain of whores and their presence in Lannister beds.

Ozzette asked me if I thought Tyrion was going to kill Tywin even without the Shae discovery.  My answer was “absolutely”.  He definitely wasn’t going to wish him a Happy Father’s Day.

The question of Cersei and Loras and their future together is now resolved (at least in my mind) as brother and sister look to have reconciled on all counts and will go on at least through whatever rule Tommen is capable of.

But the most telling sequence for me came as Tyrion’s sorcerer crate was loaded onto the ship as Varys looks up at the dark clouds hanging over King’s Landing as a sign that there were dark days in store for the Realm.  He acts as if he is headed back to his life of a whisperer at the Keep, but realizes that the Game has indeed changed forever.  Although Tywin’s death was deserved in the eyes of many, the leadership that is needed to run the Seven Kingdoms is now in shambles and Varys is wise enough to acknowledge it.  And leave.

At least, that’s how I interpreted it.  But there was much left open to interpretation, and my crossbow arrows don’t always hit their mark.

Episode 410 Personal Awards

Favorite Battle Scene:  The Hound vs. Brienne was epic, rivaling the Hound’s fight with Beric Dondarrion

Favorite Dialogue Scene: Jon and Mance, as Ciaran Hands just brings it every time.

Best Hug:  Jaime and Tyrion… it’s good to know someone really does love the Imp.

Ow, That Shit Hurts Award: The biting of the ear.  DAMN.

Jackass Award:  Tywin, perhaps you should have been nominated weekly.  But your escapades with Shae sealed it this week.  And now your debt is paid.

Final Thoughts: It was an overwhelming amount of information to digest in one episode.  Fortunately (or unfortunately), we now have plenty of time to digest and reassess where it all stands.  I am happy that many questions were answered either directly or indirectly while leaving room for a plethora of off-season predictions.

Those should keep us busy.

That’s it for me today my good WiC acquaintances! Tell me what you thought of the episode, your favorite scenes and quotes, and let’s discuss.

Look me up in the twittersphere @ozofthrones where we can discuss all things Thrones related.  Is there ever really an off-season in when it comes to GoT?

Personal Note:  Once again, a man would like to thank you all for putting up with another season of my antics, bad predictions, and my endless quest for logic and reason in a world where things don’t necessarily have to make sense.

I have the pleasure of being able to provide you and this site with contributions regarding the best show on television and my reward is getting to interact with you, the best readers on the net.

And for that, I sincerely thank you all.

A man will be back soon with some kind of irresponsible tomfoolery on a quest to get us through the next nine and a half months.  By all means, if you have ideas, please share.

BUT NO SPOILERS HERE!  NO HINTS! NO BOOK RELATED DISCUSSION! 

Until next time, it has been my honor and is my vow to serve.  I wish all of you the best, and may there always and forever be peace in your realm. –Oz

“Unbowed.  Unbent.  Unsullied.”

PLEASE BE MINDFUL OF THE UNSULLIED… Do not post spoilers in this comment thread!

Winter Is Coming Live: Game of Thrones Season 4 Finale by Winter Is Coming

• Published on 06/15/2014 at 10:04 PM CDT
• Last updated on 10/21/2016 at 12:41 PM CDT