Have you stopped crying yet? Have you? Well I don't care, Casual Viewer, because I READ THE BOOKS. Do you know what that means? Do you? It means I WENT THROUGH ALL OF THAT TWICE.
The climactic events of this week's episode are probably the most major of the spoilers I have been determinedly holding back while writing this blog, although Jaime losing his hand was a close runner up (don't worry, there are more - so many more - to come, presumably next season). There have been many occasions on which a friend who either watches the show only or hasn't caught up with the books instigates a "So who do you think is going to win?" type conversation with me, wittering on happily about how Robb is totally going to serve the Lannisters their gilded asses on a plate and I am sat silently, bottom lip a-quivering, holding in the words, "NO HE WON'T BECAUSE HE'S DEAD FOR GOD'S SAKE THEY'RE ALL DEAD." But th- th- that's Westeros, folks.
Oh, it's all very clever really. It works because we think we understand the rules of fiction; today's audience are more trope-literate than ever. After the shock death of Ned at the end of Series/Book 1, we think we know the rules of this game: sure, the 'anyone can die' atmosphere has been established but we also see now how it's a much bigger and longer story than one that can be held by a single protagonist. And then we make that mistake again. We think we know who we're following - it is the War of Five Kings, after all (although the show took the excellent option of sidelining the Greyjoys as early as possible*). It's Joffrey and the Lannister fen v. frowny Stannis v. hot shit Robb Stark (dead gay Renly having been comprehensively deaded and, as I said, the Greyjoys having been apparently sent to a farm), right? And on a fictional level, we understand the rules of this universe, i.e. some kind of vague pseudo-medieval bullshit, plus tits. We know that there are codes of honour that some choose to uphold and some don't and it is that choice that the whole show revolves around. Ned dies because he's honourable and Joffrey isn't. The Red Wedding is so very clever because of who it is making the choice to defy those rules, i.e. the Freys. The pretext is a wedding, the righting of a wrong because Robb broke his vow. The whole occasion is designed, apparently, to restore some of those codes. And the Freys - unpleasant, certainly, and sadly not nearly as pretty as the rest of Westeros** but not evil, right? Just self-important. Just a bit "ooh we've got these big over-compensating towers that you need to get past for your war". I mean, they're not Lannisters. Wrongity wrong wrong wrong.
And that's what makes the Red Wedding one of the most shocking events in a book and television series that revels in shocking events: it's done out of sheer pettiness - because Walder Frey was going to have to settle for the uncle of a king instead of a king. And, for my money, the show got it mostly right. The payoff, interestingly, didn't come until Catelyn's death in the very last scene; for a horrible, underwhelming moment, I thought they were going to leave it with Robb dropping to the floor covered in arrows and not show us the rest. In a series known for its violence, this was certainly extravagant with the old Kensington Gore, but it was right to be so: a lesser show might have 'artistically' panned away, tried to give its characters some dignity in their dying moments. Fortunately, the Game of Thrones team understand that the horror in this case comes precisely from that lack of dignity, the naked brutality of Catelyn slashing the throat of an innocent woman before exploding into a gushy red fountain herself. I mean, Jesus Christ on a dragon, the massacre was commenced by stabbing a pregnant woman in her stomach. And given the reworking and focus that's been given to Robb's Non-Canonical Wife, it felt completely...well, not appropriate, but you know. Appropriately awful. And unexpected - in the book, Robb's Canonical Wife is not present at the wedding and has currently vanished off to some unknown fate (i.e. I can't remember what happened to her).
The obvious parallel is with Ned's death way back in Series 1 (and how did we not see that coming when, y'know, Sean Bean). Back then, I was like you, Casual Viewer. After Series 1 I decided to read the books so television could never hurt me like that again. Anyway, as well as milking the obvious Stark-dies-because-honour-goddammit connection, there was also all of that "Don't you want to teach little Ned Stark to ride?" stuff and, for fuck's sake HBO, do you ever maybe think about pulling your punches? Cruel. The final emotional KO was Roose Bolton delivering the killing stab to a somehow-still-standing-despite-resemblance-to-a-secretary-bird (look it up) Robb Stark, echoing the moment when Littlefinger turned on Ned way back when hope was still alive, delivering him to his Lannister-y fate. Very well done to all involved.
The obvious parallel is with Ned's death way back in Series 1 (and how did we not see that coming when, y'know, Sean Bean). Back then, I was like you, Casual Viewer. After Series 1 I decided to read the books so television could never hurt me like that again. Anyway, as well as milking the obvious Stark-dies-because-honour-goddammit connection, there was also all of that "Don't you want to teach little Ned Stark to ride?" stuff and, for fuck's sake HBO, do you ever maybe think about pulling your punches? Cruel. The final emotional KO was Roose Bolton delivering the killing stab to a somehow-still-standing-despite-resemblance-to-a-secretary-bird (look it up) Robb Stark, echoing the moment when Littlefinger turned on Ned way back when hope was still alive, delivering him to his Lannister-y fate. Very well done to all involved.
Having said that, it's a difficult episode to evaluate on its own merits. I spent the whole thing knowing what was about to happen and I suspect that if I hadn't, I would have thought it was dragging a bit. Danaerys seemed out of a place in an episode that should have been Stark-centric and was presumably only in there as misdirection so that the events of the Red Wedding came completely out of left field. I was right about Ser Jorah's reactions to Daario though; for every "Khaleesi before personal pride" lecture he gives Ser Barriston, he definitely picks the petals off a daisy going, "Khaleesi loves me, Khaleesi loves me not". Part of the problem is that Iain Glen is much more sympathetic than the character is probably supposed to be and I don't think I'm alone in kind of rooting for him. Still, Dany's on a high as she adds a new city to her ever-growing collective (please don't ask me which one though, I'm so confused about everything east of Westeros, I've given up trying), in welcome contrast to, well, everyone else this week.
Elsewhere, Jon Snow's Great Wildling Adventure came to an end as he chose to reveal himself rather than kill an innocent man, proving yet again that Starks are absolute darlings and also total fucking idiots. As with Robb and his Late Non-Canonical Wife, the Jon/Ygritte storyline has been mixed, I think, without the extensive passing of time that you get in the book (it's one of my favourite storylines in the series and thus there is a bit of readership bias here), allowing you to see the slow confusion of Jon's once black-and-white morals. It's all been a bit quick, really, and not helped by the fact that Kit Harrington and Rose Leslie are right poshos in real life and the catchphrase heavy scenes aren't helping the feeling that they vaguely heard someone from Yorkshire talking once and just working-classed it up a bit (I won't miss having to hear "Jon Sneeeeeuw" dragged over far too many syllables ever again). Perhaps that's why Ygritte's silent half-furious half-soulful gaze as Jon Snow hauled ass back to the Night's Watch was by far the most touching their relationship has ever been. And a sad farewell to Mackenzie Crooke, who also kicked it in this episode, and was sadly underused while he was alive. Although before he died, he did deposit his soul in that of his pet bird, so hopefully next season will yield us Mackenzie Crooke in a giant bird outfit when they run out of money after all the CGI dragons.
Some surprisingly touching stuff coming from Bran's storyline as well. Bran has an easy to ignore storyline, I find, given that it's the most overtly Lord of the Rings-y (good guys on magical quest, much walking and hiding from bad people). Not only does Natalia Tena continue to be consistently excellent as Osha, we can add Art Parkinson as Rickon to the show's ever-explanding list of brilliant child actors. His tearful insistence that he needed to take care of Bran was the moment of the episode that brought me closest to welling up, rather than the bloody events further south. Saddest of all, Rickon and Osha are now departing from the merry jaunt across the Wall, leaving us only with Brandon "Did I mention I can't walk today?" Stark, Jojen "Jailbait" Reed, Meera "This Show Has One Too Many Badasses" Reed and Hodor "Hodor"Hodor. We may not see Osha and Rickon again for a while, so valar dohaeris and all that and I really bloody hope you're the Stark that survives, Rickon.
Speaking of child actors, though, Maisie Williams is taking everyone to school. It's largely down to her performance that she's become the kind of unofficial mascot/protagonist of the show; the best comment that cropped up on my Facebook feed regarding the episode was, "I hope that little transvestite girl kills the Jesus out of everyone." As do we all, Arya, as do we all. But for all that she's popular because we like the idea of a little kid being unflinching and killing people and whatnot (god, we are terrible people), this episode very much showed us how (mercifully) far Arya has to go before she becomes hardened to it, still prizing life more dearly than the majority of Westeros' population. But also not afraid to hit an old man round the head with a branch because he wakes up at the wrong time. That's why we love Arya. And after her witnessing of and disappearance from the Red Wedding, her storyline's only just getting good.
After their absence from, yet crucial part in, this week's episode, I'm guessing things'll be a little more Lannister-heavy next week for the series finale. Aside from Sansa getting the news, I don't want to make any guesses about what they'll wheel out and what they'll keep in the bag for next season because a) I genuinely don't know at this point, I thought they were going to end Series 3 with the Red Wedding in the finale and b) it would be hilariously spoileriffic and I'd rather not be chased down by angry Casual Viewers who have acquired too many ideas from watching Game of Thrones. Just give me some Brienne and Jaime to see me through to next year. Curse you, show, and curse all the emotions you have forced into my bitter, dead heart.
*Obligatory, "NO-ONE CARES ABOUT THE GREYJOYS."
*Mad props to my boy Tom Brooke stabbing a pregnant woman in the stomach though. As Lothar Frey. Not just as Tom Brooke. That would be bad.
