Movie Review Game of Thrones : The Winds of Winter Season 6 Episode 10
Cersei stands trial for her crimes, while Jaime celebrates victory with Walder Frey at The Twins. Davos confronts Jon about Melisandre's actions, and Littlefinger reveals his intentions to Sansa. Meanwhile, Bran continues his quest for knowledge in the far North as "winter" finally arrives.
The beginning of the end.
What a fantastic season finale. It had everything I could have hoped for and more (except maybe Cleganebowl, Lady Stoneheart, and the fall of the wall). I was admittedly quite nervous going into this episode; there was so much they had to stuff in. There was the distinct possibility of this episode becoming way too crammed with things and coming across rushed, like last season's finale did. Well, I can now safely say that I need not have worried. This episode balanced everything marvellously. There were massive violent twists and big moments, but they were laced in equally with touching little character interactions. In fact, the sequence that I had assumed would be the climax of this episode ended up being at the very beginning. And what a wonderful sequence it was. Ramin Djawadi did excellent work with the score accompanying the scene; it really helped to draw out the tension.
During the first three seasons, there were certainly a lot of story lines, but they all tied back into one central story-line for the most part; the war of the five kings. The Red Wedding changed all if that; sent everyone their separate ways. As a result, the story lines drifted farther and farther apart from each other as time went on. That was fine in season 4, when they were all very eventful. But in season 5, when we were in a slower stage of the story, some people felt understandably frustrated. There was no sense of general momentum running through the whole of the show. They said that the show had lost its edge. But I don't think that's what it was. I think it was just in the middle chapter. The "Two Towers" of the Song of Ice and Fire saga. What this season has done is brought things back together. These characters, with their new experiences, are put back into the game. The middle chapter is over, and that has never been clearer than it was at the end of this episode. Three sides have emerged. All the houses have rallied to one side or another. Every story-line comes into play at the end of this episode and it is thrilling (except for Gendry... I guess he's still rowing). Things are in place for the final two seasons. Here we go.
One last note; I'm pretty sure that thing suspended from the ceiling in the Citadel library is the sun thing from the opening credits. That's a pretty cool detail.
Winter is Here
Coming off one of the best episodes of any show of all time with last week's 'Battle of the Bastards', it was going to be hard for Game of Thrones to create something even remotely as great. To me, 'The Winds of Winter' may be even better. Not only did it give us the final shot we wanted (Daenerys riding to Westeros), but it also concluded just about every major season 6 arc in the most satisfying way possible. I don't often praise the writing and directing in TV Shows, but if there was ever a time, it is now.
As episode 9's central conflict was the battle for the North, the trial in King's Landing was the big event in episode 10. And boy did it not disappoint. I think just about everyone was getting fed up with the High Sparrow, so to see him go up in the flames of wildfire was extremely overdue. With that said, Cersei's descend into madness didn't go without its unfortunate consequences as both the king and the queen met their end. Tommen's suicide seemed like a fitting way for a coward like him to go out. On the other hand, I was definitely sad to see Margaery go. I always figured if she were to meet her end it would be at the hands of Cersei, but I thought there was going to be more to her story. Luckily, we still have a few Tyrell's laying around.
At first, I was confused as to why we were getting any sort of Sand Snake/Dorne scene in the finale, but when I saw Lady Olenna Tyrell, it all started to make sense. It makes perfect sense that the Tyrell's and Sand's would combine their armies, with the help of Varys, alongside Dany's to take on the Lannister's. Is there really any question Dany will have no issue taking on the Lannister's army now? Some of the Ironborn, Dothraki, Unsullied, Tyrell's, Dorne, and let's not forget 3 dragons. Come on now.
Mixed in with plenty of big momentum shifters were some small but important scenes with Sam at the Citadel and Arya checking someone off her list. The somewhat comedic scene where Sam discovers the library after struggling to get past the so called gatekeeper wasn't entirely necessary, but it was nonetheless cool to see the vastness of knowledge that place holds. However, the Arya scene was easily one of my favorite moments of the night. I was glad to see the Starks finally got some sort of redemption for the Red Wedding even if it was Arya taking her murderousness one step further.
The next big Stark reveal came from another one of Bran's vision, as he finally got to see the conclusion of the Tower of Joy sequence. Not that Jon Snow's mother being Lyanna Stark came as a surprise to anyone, but it finally set those theories straight. Sure, we didn't get to hear all of what Lyanna said to Ned that day in the tower, but if the not-so-subtle transition from the baby to Snow's face meant anything, I think we have another Targaryen on the loose.
Speaking of which, that brings me to the ever-so-satisfying second "King of the North" moment with the North finally embracing (and remembering) who the true leader of Winterfell is, and their name is Stark. It would have been nice for that moment to feature Sansa as well, especially after all she's been through, but both are deserving. I also shouldn't forget just how good that scene between Daavos, Melisandre, and Jon was. Well written, acted (particularly from Liam Cunningham), and directed. Seems like the theme of tonight.
Of course, it's not a great Thrones episode without Tyrion, who now serves as the hand of the *Queen*. Or how about watching Maester Pycelle meet his deserved end. Or Cersei torturing Septa Unella AKA the same lady? Or even the look of disgust on the face of Jaime as he watched his beloved Cersei take the throne. This episode featured just about every major character from this show and gave them each a fitting end to their arcs this season. I honestly can't speak high enough about the direction from Miguel Sapochnik and writing from David and Dan. Even just looking at the flawless transitions from scene to scene deserve tons of credit. It will go down as one of my favorite episodes of the series thus far, and certainly most important.
Thanks imdb.com
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