Original Air Date (HBO): Sunday June 2, 2013
And who are you, the proud lord said,
that I must bow so low?
Only a cat of a different coat,
that’s all the truth I know.
In a coat of gold or a coat of red,
a lion still has claws,
And mine are long and sharp, my lord,
as long and sharp as yours.
And so he spoke, and so he spoke,
that lord of Castamere,
But now the rains weep o’er his hall,
with no one there to hear.
Yes now the rains weep o’er his hall,
and not a soul to hear.
-The Rains of Castamere
George R.R. Martin has done an incredible job with incorporating songs into his books, and the writers of the show have done a great job incorporating those songs into the show. This week’s penultimate episode takes its title from the song The Rains of Castamere, which was originally written about Lord Tywin Lannister. Upon reading the lyrics however, there is a bit of foreshadowing going oh here in terms of where the episode is headed.
Per the usual formula, this being the ninth episode of the season, meant that something was going to happen and that something was going to be big. And as per usual, this was yet another stand out episode whose emotion toll cannot be measured. If you are a follower of my recaps you’ll know that I talk about anything and everything about what happens in the episode I’m writing about. Considering that this latest episode was indeed a doozy of ridiculous proportions, I will take this time to tell you that there will be massive spoilers here.
A few things happen in this latest episode and to be honest I’m not sure I’ve processed everything yet. I tried to write this right after I watched the episode, but that didn’t work out so well. Even hours later, all I managed to do, was stare at a blinking cursor. In order to get through it, I’ll take it character by character and even though it’s not where the episode started, we’re going to start with Daenerys.
Dany & Co. are still camped outside of Yunkai and with Harlequin-romance-novel-cover-model Darrio Naharis telling her how she can get her army inside the city walls with his help. Jorah is apprehensive and doesn’t trust Darrio, but since Grey Worm does, Dany goes with his plan. Jorah and Grey Worm join the cause, leaving Ser Barristan behind to stand guard. The old knight doesn’t like it, but he goes with it regardless.
Darrio leads Jorah and Grey Worm in, like he said, but the three find themselves in quite a battle against Yukai’s guards. This was actually a really great scene that showed some rather impressive fighting skills. What with Grey Worm with his spear, Darrio with his scythe thingy, and, well, Jorah and his sword, the trio quickly dispatch the threat posed to them. Iain Glenn is amazing and it’s nice to see him put Jorah’s skills to use.
Back at her camp, Dany gets restless, asking Selmy, half jokingly, how long it takes to sack a city. Her question is answered when Jorah and Grey Worm return bloody, but no worse for wear. Jorah tells her that the city is hers and instead of loving up on her right hand man, she asks about the welfare of Darrio, which makes Jorah’s face drop. Poor guy…friend-zoned for life. Much to Dany’s relief, Darrio survived and she is visibly relieved when she sees him, which sort of breaks Jorah’s heart I think.
Seeking shelter from an approaching storm, Bran and his small entourage take cover in an abandoned tower. However, they realize that they aren’t alone and are potentially in danger when they spy some wildlings outside. The thunder gets to be a little much for Hodor, causing him to make a ruckus, which threatens their cover. In an effort to calm him down, Bran does his Warg thing and gets into Hodor’s head and basically puts him to sleep. Everyone is shocked by this turn of events concerning Bran’s gift since no one has ever done such a thing. They want to know what’s happening outside, so Jojen convinces Bran to put himself in Summer, who happens to be out wandering with Shaggy Dog.
Outside, the wildling’s party is that of Jon Snow’s. What Bran’s party is hearing, are the wildling’s about to murder an old man who raises horses for the Night’s Watch. Tormund orders Jon to do the deed, but he can’t bring himself to do it. Ygritte takes control and kills the man herself, which only serves to stir up chaos. The wildling’s move to execute Jon for betraying them, but is ultimately saved by the Stark direwolves, thanks to Bran. Jon is able to take out Orell by running him through, and before Orell expires, Jon tells him that he was right about Jon the whole time. What a burn. Knowing he has to flee, Jon hops on a horse and rides like the devil is chasing him as a dejected Ygritte watches, but not before he gets attached by Orell’s eagle.
Back in the tower, Bran tells the group that he saw his brother outside, which means Jon isn’t at Castle Black. Bran is still adamant about finding the three-eyed crow north of the Wall, but Osha once again refuses to go. Bran tells her that she doesn’t have to accompany him and that he needs her to protect Rickon. Osha doesn’t want to split them up, but has no other choice. She tells Jojen and Meera to take care of Bran, and leaves with Rickon once he says goodbye to his brother.
As for the Stark girls, we only visit one of them this week, and that would be Arya, who is still on the journey to the Twins with the Hound. Along the way they come across a man who’s fixing a wheel on his wagon and surprisingly, the Hound lends a hand, only to try to kill him before Arya stops him. After knocking the man unconscious, they steal the man’s wagon that was bound for the castle. While on a rest break, the Hound points out Arya’s fear that the closer they get, the worse her fear of not getting there grows. In response, Arya pushes her luck, as well as his buttons by mentioning his fear of fire and points out how he cowered when Dondarrion’s sword was aflame. The two bicker like siblings and I love it.
While Arya and the Hound make their way to the Twins, Robb and his army are already there. Entering Lord Frey’s hall is rather unnerving and filled with tension. Robb did, after all, slight the elder Frey by not keeping to his word of marrying one of Frey’s daughters and now it’s time to eat some crow for it. Robb makes his apology to Frey, as well as the women he disrespected. After looking on Talisa and making a couple of digs at her, and pissing Robb off in the process, the elder Frey seems to accept the apology and moves to get on with the wedding that will bind House Tully to House Frey.
The ceremony begins and Edmure is visibly relieved to see that his bride is quite pleasing to the eye. The two are joined and the feast begins. All seems to be going quite well. Catelyn, still uneasy about the whole affair watches as the doors to the hall are closed and locked once the Blackfish walks out to relieve himself. She hears the band start to play The Rains of Castamere and knows that something isn’t right. Roose Bolton sits to her right and the look in his eye says everything she needs to know. She moves his sleeve to see he’s wearing chain mail underneath. She watches Robb talk to Talisa like there isn’t a care in the world. She listens as Lord Frey calls upon Robb and as she listens to Frey basically tell Robb that there will be no forgiveness, she knows her instincts were right all along.
Frey gives the order and a man approaches Talisa from behind and stabs her several times in the belly, effectively killing her and Robb’s child. Arrows come from above, nailing both Robb and Catelyn, while their army is being slaughtered around them. In a desperate move to save her last remaining son (that she knows about), Catelyn grabs Frey’s wife and holds a knife to her throat, begging Frey to let her son go, or she’ll slit his wife’s throat. His response: “I’ll just get another”. Knowing there is nothing she can do but watch, she still pleads with Frey, until she hears her son utter “Mother”. She turns to see Bolton approach Robb and once he hears Bolton deliver the message “The Lannister’s send their regards”, it finally sinks in who is actually behind the slaughter. Bolton finishes Robb off with his knife, and in response, Catelyn slices the Lady Frey’s throat.
Outside, the Hound and Arya try to get through the gate, but the chaos has already begun. The guard won’t let them through and while the Hound tries to argue their way in, Arya sees her chance. She runs into the yard, only to see the Stark army being murdered one by one, and then witnesses the death of Grey Wind. The Hound catches up to her and tells her it’s too late, but she doesn’t want to listen. He knocks her out, throws her over his shoulder, and leaves with her.
Back inside the hall, the despair that Catelyn feels is too much to describe. Her husband is dead, along with her sons, and she knows she’ll never see her daughters again. From behind, a knife appears to slit Cat’s throat proving that her death is imminent. The show couldn’t spare the viewer at all. We see Cat’s throat open up and her blood pour out before she falls to the floor. Fade to black. Roll credits.
I knew this was coming and I still wasn’t prepared for it. Well played Game of Thrones. It’s not often I actually yell out loud while watching something on television, but I did in this instance. My heart is shattered and I’m still not over it. Knowing I’ll have to watch it again when the roomie is ready to watch it kills me.
Regarding Bran….we’ve know that he’s special and the fact that he’s a Warg has been known for sometime. This is the first time however, that he’s been able to pull his skills in an awakened state. The fact that he was able to Warg on Hodor, as well as the wolves is going to play a part down the road I bet.
The Lannister’s reach is far and wide and extends much further now that there is no King of the North. However, Dany is making her play city by city and I really can’t wait to see what happens next. The finale is next week and it’s going to be a killer long wait until next season. I was sad that this was the second week in a row without Jamie and Brienne, but considering what took place, it makes sense. When Brienne gets word of Cat’s death, I can’t imagine what she’s going to do. Time will tell. I will say that I’ve rarely seen anything as chilling as that final scene with Cat, then just sitting through a silent credit sequence was the capper.
I know I’m shattered by this episode and from the response I’ve seen on Twitter a lot of others are as well. We can always use the comment section as therapy if you’re so inclined.
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