Things have come to a head in this climatic episode. Loyalties are tested and people betrayed. It almost seemed too much for one episode to contain, hence no Tyrion or the Eyrie this week.
When I said last week that more characters would likely be dying, I certainly did not expect the King to meet his demise. Robert's death sets many things in motion. Ned tries to hold to the proper line of succession with the crown passing to Robert's younger brother, the yet unseen Stannis. Renly, Robert's even younger brother feels he should be named king or Cersei will consolidate her power. Littlefinger feels it would be best to let Joffrey take the crown, slowly build power, and then unleash the knowledge of his actual father if he ever becomes too troublesome. All these machinations lead to an intriguing episode that was, I admit, hard to follow at times.
The first episodes were great at setting up the world of Westeros, but now I feel the 10 episode order may be hindering the storytelling. It feels like they have to shove in a lot of plot in these last 4 episodes. It was only on the second viewing that I truly understood what was happening. Not that I didn't enjoy the episode on the first viewing, but the greater complexities were lost on me. Especially regarding Stannis, we haven't heard mention of him at all for episodes, and the fact that he's never been seen doesn't help on that account.
We're finally returned to Jon at the Wall. The recruits are ready to take their oath to the Night's Watch and Jon is saddled with the role of steward when everyone assumed he would be a ranger. Sam is right in his assessment of the reasons. Jon has already shown he can be leader of the recruits in protecting Sam, and Ser Mormont wants to groom him for command. Rangers also have a lesser lifespan, shown by Uncle Benjen's horse returning without its rider. Benjen's fate is still in question, but with Ghost finding a hand after Jon and Sam take their oaths, it looks like at least one of the rangers from his party has been killed.
I'm really enjoying Osha (Tonks from Harry Potter! I'd have no idea if I didn't look it up), the wildling woman captured at Winterfell in last week's episode. In her only real scene so far she goes toe to toe with Theon and chillingly reminds us of the dangers lurking beyond the Wall.
Across the Narrow Sea, Ser Jorah has a change of heart and decides to stick with Daenerys instead of helping her assassination by King Robert. With all the things Ned gets wrong in this episode, he was right about the consequences of trying to kill Daenerys. Khal Drogo finally becomes an actual character this episode with his fiery speech about sailing the sea to retake the Iron Throne for his son. You can't help but be riled up until he hits the part about raping women and enslaving children.
Oh, Ned, you stupid man. Your honor seems to have blinded you to everything. He lets Cersei know that he knows about Joffrey's birth, and then what do you know Robert ends up dead, possibly by her plan. He then thinks he is so clever in replacing Roberts last words from "Joffrey" to "rightful heir," but then Cersei just tears up the paper like it was nothing. Even Ned looks like he's starting to believe that Stannis would make a bad king, like Robert, but his "honor" is so deeply ingrained that he can hear no other choice. He can't even bring himself to utter the words to Littlefinger to get the City Guard on his side because it is only a little underhanded. It almost seems that he clings to his honor so he doesn't have to think about the choices or consequences, because honor says it must be this and only this. And in the final scene all his honor comes crashing down with his men being killed and himself at knife-point.
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