Why “The Children” is the best episode of Season 4

by Yi Li

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

As Game of Thrones nears the end of published book material, it’s fitting that “The Children” is all about the future.

It’s the end of the line for Tywin Lannister, a patriarch of the old order if ever there was one, who dies at the hand of the heir he never acknowledged. Jojen Reed, who is literally haunted by visions of the future, dies so that Bran might reach his. Even Westeros itself seems on the chopping block, as characters by the dozen (or at least, half dozen) flee to beyond the Wall or to more distant shores. Things don’t bode well for Cersei, who is literally trying to breathe life into old champions.

Much has been said about the extent to which various characters could stand to be killed off. Yet in hindsight, the common denominator between the survivors is obvious: it’s the children who survive— the metaphorical or literal next generation who are willing not just to give up everything they have but to compromise who they thought they were…

Tyrion escapes his father’s grasp, but in the process, he becomes, in part, the vengeful creature prejudiced people have always suspected him of being and Tywin Lannister’s true heir. A former slave tells Dany that he rebuild his life from scratch, but as she locks away the dragons that have been the source of her power and her very identity, she demonstrates that she willing to rebuild her own. Stannis arrives the beyond the Wall, reminding of us of his claim once more in a war that seems increasingly passé, but Jon, under the guise of brokering a peace with Mance Rayder, is about to try a new and extremely un-Stark-like method of conflict negotiation (read: assassination). As Arya turns her slights towards the horizon in the episode’s closing scene, she gives up the increasingly scant hope of finding what remains of her family, and the only thing that’s sustained her this far.

It’s just as well then that Arya is unwilling to grant the Hound his brand of mercy; as she’s learned well, there’s no time for people who no longer have the willingness to fight for their own future—even if it means giving up who they thought they were.

And true, the history has given us little reason to think that new shores or new ways or new rulers will yield a world that’s any better than the last—just as four seasons have given us little reason to believe that brighter horizons are ahead. But Arya runs to the bow of the ship, having left behind the scant hope of finding her family that tied her to Westeros, to the strains of Ramin Djawadi’s gorgeous choral arrangement, I couldn’t help but feel…

Hopeful.

Game of Thrones is best-known for its process at tearing us down—reducing our hopes to rubble and our faves literally to blood and gore—but I’m more impressed by episodes like this, that build us up. And when we have been burned so often, it’s incredible that as I found myself breaking into a smile at the closing moments of the episode, I found myself feeling just as susceptible as I was watching the pilot. No less incredible, I suppose, than the continued capacity of the show’s next generation to adapt no matter how hard the loss and to survive even when their very identity is on the chopping block. “The Children” is so hopeful not because it’s cheery, but because it’s a celebration of our protagonists’ resilience.

And good thing, too. It’s the strength of the faith we have in these characters and the hope we have in the future they’ve built that make it all the more painful if and when they come to disappoint us. It’s the execution of episodes like “The Children” that give the Red Weddings their emotional thrust and that make the show as good as it is.

[polldaddy poll=8543038]

• Published on 01/02/2015 at 3:06 PM CDT
• Last updated on 10/21/2016 at 1:07 PM CDT