Here are the highlights for the last episode of Game of Thrones, The Mountain and the Viper. I discussed Sansa in my last post which I published on Monday, June 12, 2014. I also did my fashion update on that post, and here is the link:
Pineapples and Game of Thrones S04E08 – Sansa Stark
Grey Worm and Missandei: This season so far has put a lot of emphasis on Grey Worm which makes me believe that he will have an interesting role later on or he might die soon. He was of crucial importance when Daenerys Targaryen took over Mereen by rallying the slaves. He is also learning to speak the common tongue with Missandei, an interaction that has made Grey Worm fond of Missandei. Because of his condition of being an Unsullied, it is likely he never had any interaction with the opposite sex in the past; he is basically dealing with new emotions. I think he realized that he likes her when he saw her bathing in the pool (which makes me believe that he has the “stones”). Many book readers did not like this scene. Based on the books, the Unsullied do not feel any emotion and are not attracted to girls.
Arya’s reveal: This does not happen in the books. She is believed to be dead in the books. Now it is likely that the presence of Arya Stark at the Bloody Gate will be something of interest for the Lannisters and Littlefinger. I am not sure what to make from Arya’s hysterical laugh. She could be laughing at the Hound because he will not be able to receive any payment for her. I think the most likely reason is that she is not pleased with how things have turned out for her and her family. In her mind, she is an orphan and has nowhere to go. One interesting comment made by the Hound is that poison is a woman’s weapon. I might want to add that in Westeros, it is common knowledge that the only ones that use poison to kill are women and the Dornishmen. I would also add the crannogmen as users of poison.
Tyrion-Jaime: In their interaction, they talked about a cousin, Olson Lannister. I believe this character to be an addition since he has never been mentioned in the books. Olson seems to have been “simpleminded” and spent all the time smashing bettles. Tyrion tried to understand why he was doing that. I think this is something that might come up later on. Olson probably was mentally unstable or autistic. I think the information given in this scene might be of some significance later on (probably associated with Cersei’s madness). It has been speculated that it is metaphor for war in which the beetles are the “small folk”. Here is a link for another possible explanation:
Moat Cailin Scene: Moat Cailin is a ruined fortress of the First Men. It is an important stronghold for the North, and the main reason why the Faith of the Seven never reached the North. It is possible to annihilate an entire southern army by putting few archers on Moat Cailin. This ruined stronghold is accessible from the North but not from the South. Whoever holds Moat Cailin controls the causeway / kingsroad which gives access to the North. Basically the causeway is the safest passage / route. The area surrounding Moat Cailin is swampy and it is known as the Neck, a region held by the crannogmen and ruled by House Reed. The crannogmen know other safe passages through the swamps. Because House Reed are strong supporters of House Stark, it is unlikely for any southern invasion to succeed. I guess readers and viewers will witness this at some point in the series. I will write more about Moat Cailin in a subsequent post about the Hammer of the Waters, one powerful thing that Greenseers can do.
Basically the Ironborn were able to take Moat Cailin from the North which is easy to do since Robb Stark and his army were south of the Neck. As a result, most of the Bolton army could not go North, so it was a must for the Ironborn to leave Moat Cailin. It is likely that Roose probably made it home by taking a ship. Reek goes as Theon Greyjoy in order to arrange safe passage for the Ironborn. The viewer notices that many of the Iron Born are sick and very likely dying. This is due to the crannogmen using poison arrows, not a nice thing, which leads to suppurative wounds and even some sort of dementia. However, there are other things that are not nice in the Neck and that were not mentioned in the TV show. One of them is the presence of bog snakes. Alfie Allen who plays Reek / Theon did a marvelous job again. I loved his facial expression when his Theon identity started to collapse after the Ironborn in command called him “woman”. The subsequent scene in which the flayed Ironborn is displayed is evidence that the Boltons cannot be trusted. They did not keep their word and instead they flayed the Ironborn.
Jorah: I feel bad about him because he is in love with Daenerys. She reminds him of his Hightower wife. However, he was not sincere with her, and he should have confessed to her at certain point the original reasons why he was with her in order to gain her trust even more. Daenerys trusted him, and considered him a very close advisor. I think Emilia Clarke did a good job in this scene even though some viewers / readers would not agree with me. Of course, Tywin was behind this.
The fight: There was no preparation for this scene, which is something I did not like. However, I do believe the fight scene was very good, and it was faithful to the books. However, there are few book readers at the Westeros.org forums who think that the fight choreography could have been a lot better. Oberyn was the best fighter and the most skilled one. However, his desire for vengeance let him down. He wanted to get a confession from the Mountain, which he got as he was being killed. He also wanted to get a confession of who ordered the murders. If I were Oberyn, I would just kill the Mountain and forget about the confession. At least Oberyn should have at least chop off the Mountain’s hands and feet. Many viewers covered their eyes at the end of the fight. An acquaintance of mine did it, viewers / readers at Westeros.org forums also did it, and Youtube reaction videos also show people covering their eyes. The end result of the fight is that both died. The Mountain might be alive still but he will die a slow painful death since Oberyn used poison in his spear. Note my reference above about poison being a weapon of women, crannogmen and Dornishmen.
Littlefinger’s lines:
“Sick little boys become powerful men” – this line foreshadows that Robert Arryn will survive the series even though Littlefinger will try to get rid off him.
“People die sitting on their chamber pots” – this line foreshadows an event that most likely will happen in the season finale. This event is the one that will start the downfall of House Lannister.
Here are the artwork and pictures for everybody to enjoy.