Why “The Watchers on the Wall” is the best episode of Season 4

For the Best Episode of Season 4 poll, our staff argued for our favorite episodes of the season…

I’m impressed with Benioff and Weiss’ sure-handed ability to juggle—let me get technical with the terminology here for a moment—a crapton of storylines. I may whine about the relative lack of Stannis from time to time, but in my heart of hearts I realize that it’s my fault for falling for a minor character instead of Dany or Tyrion or Jon.

Speaking of Jon—while the POV-switch most of any season of Game of Thrones has going on is impressive, for me, it makes the rare episodes that focus on a single plotline all the more compelling. “No taking detours to plotlines you may or may not care about *coughDanycough*—shit’s about to get real, and we need the entire hour. Settle in.” Such was the case with the Jon-centric “The Watchers on the Wall,” which finally brought to a head the long-brewing battle between the undermanned Night’s Watch and the Wildling army from the north…

While not as epic as previous penultimate episodes—“Baelor” (aka Ned Stark bites it), “Blackwater,” and “The Rains of Castamere”—“Watchers” more than made up for it in character development and more-than solid storytelling. Jon Snow is one of those characters whom I’ve never particularly cared about—I don’t dislike him, but he was just “meh” for me—until “Watchers,” when he had to sidestep the dreary political drama that had been bogging down the Night’s Watch storyline for much of the season and finally take command.

That 360-degree battle shot made me sit up and gasp the first time I saw it. It is, I think, the most technically impressive shot of the season.

But “Watchers,” for me, takes the top spot this season not because of the battle itself—though I do love the Scythe and the scenes from atop the wall—but because of the way it seamlessly integrated action with quieter moments that furthered character development even while heads were being chopped off in the background. Like Jon giving Sam The Talk before the battle starts, and later Sam’s frantic attempts to protect Gilly. And then, later, Gilly putting the fear of God into that scumbag Janos Slynt.

And then, of course, there’s Ygritte—her conflict over shooting Jon and her death at the hands of Olly, the only survivor of a village raided by Wildlings a few episodes back. The little nod Olly gives Jon—thinking he saved his life instead of just shooting his ex, whoops—was so quick. And yet it was moments like those that made this episode a storytelling tour de force instead of just a 51-minute fight scene.

I particularly like D&D’s decision to kill Pyp and Grenn, whom George R.R. Martin has yet to off. Bad for my heart, but good for the story. About halfway through the episode, I started wondering—“Did all of Jon Snow’s buddies survive this in the book? Because the way things are shaping up, that seems really implausible. It’ll undercut the drama of this battle—an overwhelming invading force vs a tiny group of soldiers set to keep them out—if none of the Night’s Watchmen we’ve come to know bite it.” And lo, after both Pyp and Grenn get some time in the spotlight, they go to that great Castle Black in the sky.

It’s an example of this show’s willingness to change things from the book if doing so will serve the story—like Brienne’s fight with Sandor, say, or the ICE BABIES—which I’m a big fan of. There’s a huge difference between telling a story via thousands of written words and telling it in a couple dozen hours, and I for one like being surprised by some things. Pyp and Grenn’s deaths were all the more emotionally impactful for being unexpected.

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• Published on 12/31/2014 at 11:00 AM CDT
• Last updated on 12/31/2014 at 11:00 AM CDT