As we enter into the second half of the fourth season, Tyrion’s trial begins, Braavos is shown for the first time (SQUEEE!) and Dany realizes that heavy is the head that wears the crown. All that, and I never want this show to end ever. Sadly, it does. Harumph.
As per usual, my thoughts are from a non-book reader. Do not reveal things from the book in the comments, and if you have not watched the episode yet, beware! There be spoilers here!
1. And the Emmy Goes To….
It’s not that Peter Dinklage ever really struggles to stand out. He’s, in my opinion, clearly the most prolific performer in a show filled to the brim with them, and we’re always lucky to spend time with him on screen. So when I say that his trial was his finest moment, know that that means something.
It wasn’t even the moment where he finally couldn’t handle it any more, with Shae destroying what little hope he had left in his body and he tore into the peanut gallery that surrounded him, releasing the considerable pain he had outwards in a stunningly acidic way. Honestly, the moments where he realized it wasn’t going to be just people who clearly hated him digging his grave, but the people he trusted the most, and you could see the sadness that Dinklage brought to Tyrion’s poor face…those were the moments that devastated us as viewers.
What comes next, I’m not certain. I like to think the trial by combat is going to end up with Oberyn being Tyrion’s champion to face off against The Mountain, but I really don’t know. I guess we’ll find out next week, or at least I hope we do. One way or another, I am sure we’ll get more and more to add to Dinklage’s considerable Emmy highlight reel.
2. Brother of the Year Trophy
If Peter Dinklage is the show’s MVP, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is its most improved player, taking Jaime Lannister on an endlessly fascinating character arc where he went from “dude who pushed a child out of a window of a castle after sleeping with his sister” to “the voice of reason in a perpetually mad, mad world.” In this episode, he’s the one man left in Tyrion’s corner, and when he begs his father – the great Tywin Lannister – for mercy for his brother, the only thing more heartbreaking than that is the realization that his efforts might be going for naught when Tyrion has his outburst.
What Jaime’s role is going forward, I’m not sure. But with Coster-Waldau’s powerful performance, I can promise you I’ll be all about it no matter what.
3. Mycroft and the Iron Bank
Mark Gatiss! Braavos! Mark Gatiss as the head banker in Braavos! Be still my beating heart! I loved everything about the scenes in Braavos, as it emphasized the good parts of the Dragonstone storyline – Davos being super great, Stannis being a ragey dickface who gets shown up by those around him – and deemphasized the bad parts. With the Iron Bank being apparently on Team Stannis and the upheaval currently running hot at King’s Landing, I imagine there will be a seismic shift soon, but in what form I’m uncertain. All I know is Braavos is amazing and Mark Gatiss is my boy. More of that please, even though we likely won’t get it.
4. The Trials and Tribulations of Goat Herding in Slaver’s Bay
Even while Daenerys is taking a siesta in Meereen, things are getting harder and harder for her as she starts to realize that being the leader of a people rather than just the breaker of chains is a much more difficult track than she realized. In her mind, life is black and white, but in Westeros and Slaver’s Bay? Gray is the favorite color of all, and while her dragons gotta eat and she needs justice for the slaves who were killed by the masters of Meereen, she is starting to realize that trouble comes no matter which direction you choose. Whether this cuts into her steely reserve of always knowing what’s right is uncertain, but I can say the scenes in Meereen were undeniably powerful.
Continued below5. …Reek?!
AHHHHHH!!!!!
I had really, really hoped that the arrival of Theon’s sister and the rest of the people from the Iron Islands would lead to Reek regaining his Theon-ness, but good lord, it went a much different and somehow darker direction. Reek choosing to stay in his cage? Biting Yara’s hand as she tried to free him? Telling Ramsay he loved him? Somehow after a year of torture being shown to us, this moment? This was the absolute worst, and it’s growing darker and darker for him by the episode. It’s a common theme this week, but I genuinely don’t know what the future holds for Reek, but it is increasingly obvious that whatever it is, it won’t be very good at all.
