GOT Review: Episode 19 – Blackwater

Summary –  This episode is unusual as while in jumps back and forward in typical Game of Thrones fashion, it really deviates by focusing on one main event, the battle of Blackwater. This was a unique approach and while I know this was the most talked about episode during the first two seasons, I was worried it wouldn’t hold up, especially with other battle episodes that take place. I would say overall it certainly does, though there are a few weaknesses. Unlike most Game of Thrones battles, which take place off screen, we get pretty much everything. There’s no mystery and cost cutting today. There is a lot of cutting, but it’s the kind bloodthirsty sadists, aka most TV show watchers, can get behind.

So if you really want a summary, it’s the battle of the Blackwater happens. The Lannisters win a tough fight and none of the major characters die, except possibly Davos but come on, we know Davos doesn’t die. There you go.

 

Quotes:

Tyrion Lannister: Don’t fight for a king. Don’t fight for his kingdoms. Don’t fight for honor, don’t fight for glory, don’t fight for riches, because you won’t get any. This is your city Stannis means to sack. That’s your gate he’s ramming. If he gets in it will be your house that burns. Your gold he steals, your women he rapes. Those are brave men knocking at our door. Let’s go kill them!

 

And here it is, one of the best speeches in the entire series.  It’s probably Tyrion’s second or third best, and the Lannister gets a lot of them. Abandoned by both the Hound and by Joffrey, Tyrion has no choice but to rally the remaining troops if he hopes to survive. He doesn’t candy coat anything, but he says exactly what he should say to motivate the troops – don’t fight for the royalty who deserted you, fight because you lose everything if we lose. Now, I don’t know if Stannis would allow for homes to be burnt and woman to be plundered, so to speak, but there would be a lot of sacrifices to the fire god. That’s not ideal for the citizens.

 

What I also like is how Tyrion has to build himself up to give the speech, first whispering “I’ll lead the attack” almost in disbelief this is the idea he has, then shouting it again before beginning with the quote. He’s terrified of doing this, and truthfully, he has plenty of reasons to be scared, but he also knows without someone of note taking charge, the army will flee and give Stannis the victory. Somebody had to save the city. Too bad Tywin is going to steal the honor.

 

Sandor Clegane: Fuck the Kingsguard. Fuck the city. Fuck the king.

 

I don’t usually drop such words on this blog. I don’t know why I have a language rule for my posts, but I do. This and a certain c word are the only things off limits. However, it’s too important here to censor it. To be honest, I don’t think I have a lot of under 12 year old readers, and even then, most of them have heard it. If you’re watching Game of Thrones, you’re very aware of the most vile of phrases, so it’s not like I’m breaking new ground.

 

The Hound was clearly not afraid of the battle, slicing up every opponent who came he was. His only fear is fire, understandable since his brother burnt half his face off as a child. No, that sentence was correct. Sandor shows uneasiness around even small fire, but a burning man running toward him was just too much. When Joffrey and Tyrion plead for him to return to the battle, he says this quote because the war isn’t worth him facing his worst fear. It’s not quite an epiphany yet as I don’t think the Hound had any qualms with killing or the fighting. But him leaving his servitude to Joffrey is the first step in becoming more than an unstoppable soldier.

 

 

What Worked:

Tyrion has a friend  – Tyrion gives some last minute commands with Bronn who says he knows how to lead a battle. Bronn and Tryion shake hands before parting, wishing the other doesn’t die. For this show, that’s sentimental. Tyrion calls Bronn a friend, and the latter seems surprised. It’s been obvious the two have been friends for a while and this is beyond Bronn being on the Lannister payroll. I just like the acknowledgment right before battle, where realistically, one could die.

Varys’ scary prophecy – Varys warns Tyrion about the Red Priestess traveling with Stannis. Tyrion dismisses the reports of her powers, but Varys says that he’s seen things he wishes he hasn’t. He then references the story of how he was “cut” as he elegantly puts it, but then stops. Does this mean a red priest or priestess was involved? I don’t believe they ever quite state who did the maiming, but I’ll be on alert for any info now. It seems Varys does not want to see Stannis in power in part because of her religion. Or maybe he hates Red heads that like getting naked a lot. Look at Varys, champion of modesty.

Sansa Putting Joffrey down – Joffrey forces Sansa to kiss his blade for good luck before battle. Somehow, this is not a phallic symbol. When it comes to naughty bits, Game of Thrones has a show, show again, and don’t tell philosophy. Joffrey says she will kiss it again after his killed his uncle. Sansa asks if he’ll fight Stannis himself or be on the front lines. Joffrey is offended and flustered and says he doesn’t share battle plans with girls. Sansa mentions that of course he’ll be in the front, and that’s where Robb always is.

I love how Sansa takes obvious shots at Joffrey to his face at this point, adding extra doubt and fear in his mind right before the battle. She also tells Tyrion that she’ll pray for his safety as much as the king. Somehow, that might be the worst insult Tyrion’s received in the series.

The Hound’s Strength – The Hound begins his battle by grabbing Lancel and saying they are going to the front lines. Not the best news for Lancel. The Hound leads the Lannister men out of the front gate, giving the rallying war cry that he will rape any corpse that dies with a clean sword. Some leaders motivate with love and rewards, others with fear. I’m not sure where the Hound fits on that scale. Lancel takes an arrow almost immediately and runs inside instead of continuing to fight. In the midst of a very bloody battle, the hound legit cuts a man in two at the stomach and then another at the chest. He just rips through the soldiers. I don’t see who could ever stop him on the battlefield.

The Hound’s fear – It turns out it’s not a who that stops the Hound, but a what. When the battle starts, and Bronn shoots his arrow setting off the wildfire, The Hound watches on in terror. He also berates the archer that he’ll kill him if a fire arrow comes near him. They establish very early on that fire is a mortal fear. So while the wildfire plan was top notch, they didn’t consider the well-being of their best knight.

In the middle of the Hound’s kill streak, a man burning alive comes running at him. He is legit terrified, and if not for Bronn saving his life, the Hound would have legit died to a man who had, what, 9 seconds left? Bronn goes on to kill 3 people like he’s in 300, which added to the lost realism, but was still cool. The fire is a realization to the Hound, who walks back into the castle gates without seeming to know what’s going on. The Lannister men fall back, partly because he does. How no one on Stannis’ side tried to attack the Hound, and kill the Lannister ace is beyond me. Either way, the Hound has checked out.

Inside, the Hound demands a drink, specifying after getting water that he meant booze. Tyrion catches him on the inside and chastises him for being inside drinking during the war. The Hound counters that he lost half his men but we know this is an excuse to avoid the fire. Joffrey demands him to go back and fight while Tyrion says that Stannis will take the king’s city and he’s a member of the King’s guard. Afterwards, he utters his famous quote noted above and leaves, never fighting for the Lannisters again.

The only negative with this showing is nobody acknowledges why the Hound runs. In the book, Tyrion pretty quickly figures out that the Hound fears fire and while he still hates to see him run, he understands it. I would have liked to see that added. Otherwise, we’re finally going to get some character growth.

 

Stannis leads the charge- After the surprise wore fire attack that decimated the fleet and the path to King’sLlanding, Stannis prepares to take his men via rowboats. Despite warnings that hundreds will die from the fire and archers, Stannis merely remarks it’ll probably be thousands. He then rallies his men to a battle cry and they are off. No man seems to hesitate at all.

The fire arrows do rain down but the army still marches forward. There’s too many men to be picked off. The first person at the front line is Stannis. He advises everyone to get to the mud gate, which was the weakest gate that Tyrion called out in the previous episode. Not only do we see Stannis heavily involved instead of laying back, he also had a plan.

Stannis’s men put ladders up and begin to breach the walls. Stannis is the first man who’s up the walls and kills several Lannister men unassisted. I know this makes no sense and was nowhere in the books. If a king was on the battlefield, you can damn be sure he’s be encircled by the best fighters in his army unless all was lost. Still, it fits Stannis. He sees this as his right and he wants to earn it.  Unlike Joffrey, he considers this what is required from a true king. I love this addition personally.

At the end of the battle, Stannis is screaming for everyone else to stand and fight. He isn’t injured but carried as to prevent him from dying fighting by himself. Again, great addition. My respect for Stannis waivers a lot in the series, but it’s at its peak after this episode.

Tyrion the Hero – After Lancel’s early exit and return from speaking with Cersei, he comes to take Joffrey back to the Red Keep. Tyrion says the king needs to stay and lead. Joffrey decides to leave the King’s Guard that remains in his place and head back with Lancel. Things looks awful here. The men murmur that the king has fled. Tyrion declares that he will lead the attack. Then, he gives the probably his second best speech in the series, thus far. It’s raw, it’s honest and it’s great. It’s not a speech fit for a king, and that’s what the people needed. Tyrion takes the Lannister men to the secret exit that Varys showed him and will launch a surprise attack. I won’t go into the speech again as I already did, but man was it good.

Tyrion leads the sneak attack as they sweep behind the army and help to stop the siege. The Lannister man begin to chant half man for Tyrion, which I assume is a positive chant. Then, just when things look good, another wave on Stannis’ men arrive. Nothing good seems to happen for Tyrion.

Oh yeah, and a kingsguard almost kills him which is like dying from teammate fire in a shooting game. If not for Podrick, Tyrion would have died. So that put a damper on this day. But for a moment, Tyrion got praise and admiration – the one thing he had always sought. Too bad that’s the last of it.

 

What Didn’t Work:

Davos’ Role – Davos shares a conversation with his son where they don’t see eye to eye. He’s son believes this is a homecoming and the Lord of Light will lead them to victory. Davos disagrees, saying he’s spent most of his life trying to flee the royal fleet as a captain. He also doesn’t see victory as being assured and looks uneasy the whole time. This scene becomes heartbreaking in a moment.

Davos doesn’t understand while there are no Lannister ships until a single boay emerges. He has archers ready to fire but sees that it’s empty. It begins to dump a green liquid that Davos recognizes as wild fire. Before anyone can react to Davos’ warning, the sea is ablaze, and Davos’ ship destroyed. The last thing he sees is his son being blown away.

And that’s all we get out of Davos. No real battle scene, no cool one liner, just a presumed death. In fact, this is his last scene in season 2. The audience got ripped off here. Give the people what the want HBO.

 

Random Hound vs Bronn Rivalry – So, before the battle, Bronn sings the Rains of Castamere, a song that talks about the extinction of another house due to the cruelty of the Lannister men. He’s also drinking a pint and trying to engage with a woman in front of everyone. Makes sense. Bronn has no shame.

The Hound enters and the crowd is silent. Bronn welcomes him and buys his round of beer, but the Hound and I assume his squire, don’t acknowledge him. Bronn and the Hound stare each other down. The Hound calls out Bronn, asking if he thinks he’s a hard man. Bronn tries to joke it off, but the Hound says the two are very much alike. It looks as though the two are about to fight, but bell’s go off, signaling the sound of battle. Bronn has his hand on his knife when he asks if the Hound wants one more drink before the war, which he agrees too.

I get that the Hound and Bronn are super different personalities and wouldn’t get along, but why have them randomly hate each other now? We don’t really get much Hound in the show for the first two seasons and this isn’t the character growth needed. These two aren’t stupid, they wouldn’t be ready to kill one another before war. I guess the drink establishes they’re ok with each other and builds when Bronn saves the Hound later, but this just seemed like a waste. I mean, they will not interact after this episode. It’s a waste of a scene.

Cersei in captivity –  Sansa is summoned to sit with Cersei. Oh joy. She doesn’t understand why Cersei called her in but gets regularly pressured to drink wine. Cersei is chugging at a feverish pace. Sansa quickly notices that Ser Ilyn there. She says that he is there to protect them if the enemy crashes through the door. Payne is there for if they lose the war to kill them quick. It was obvious and Cersei will admit this later on.

Sansa is later summoned by Cersei to continue a conversation. She mocks Sansa for praying, saying the gods have no mercy. She encourages Sansa to drink more wine, always a good decision. Cersei says she wishes she could fight in the war like a man instead of being stuck in the room with the women. She only invited them because it’s what it expected. She more of less admits that she hates them all.

She also teaches Sansa that the best weapon a woman can use in war is between her legs. She also lets everyone in the room know that if they lose, it’s likely everyone will be raped and pregnant with bastards. Cersei makes sure to let Sansa know how delicious she’ll look to a blood lusted, victorious solider. Sansa begins drinking rapidly. Nice job by Cersei here, creating a terrified room and a future alcoholic.

Cersei then sees Shea, though she says she doesn’t recognize her. She insults her mannerisms and begins to question when she left the Free Cities. Cersei begins to put two and two together, but she’s drunk so maybe it’ll be ok. Before Shea gets in too deep and discovered, Lancel bursts in and gives a report – the troops have landed on the battlefield. Cersei demands him bring Joffrey in the chamber walls and hide him so he is safe. So I mean, there goes the whole let the king lead the attack plan.

Lancel reappears later to report that the battle is lost. He wants to escort Joffrey back to the battlefield to motivate the troops. Cersei legit shanks him for suggesting it. This isn’t focused on again and Lancel ends up being fine. I mean, come on, he took an arrow and a stab and just makes it ok.  That’s bad writing.

However, it’s not nearly as uncomfortable as anything Cersei does. We’re really starting to see she’s not all well in the head. I don’t think it’s going to get better.

Joffrey’s Cowardly decision – Once giving the option to flee from Lancel back to the castle, Joffrey jumps at the chance. He tries to play it off like his mother requested it so he must go. It’s like how as kids, we’d use our parents as an excuse for getting out of activities we don’t want to partake in. War would certainly be high up on the list, but Joffrey spend the first 20 minutes boasting about his battle plans. We don’t need him to be shown as a coward all the time – it’s been established since Arya beat him down.

Hound Still has no game – Mercifully, Shea tells Sansa to run to her room and bolt the door for safety, probably because of the impending rush of Stannis’ soldiers, but at least a little from Cersei. She sneaks out and arrives at the room safely, but finds the Hound hanging out. “Nice digs” he says to greet her.

He doesn’t really say that but it would be awesome.

Sansa is surprised, but not scared. The Hound says he plans to flee to the North, away from where it’s burning. I mean, there’s a lot of flaying going on there, but whatever you’re into Sandor. He offers to take Sansa with him to Winterfell. He’s drunk but this is the truth. Sansa says she’ll be safe here but the Hound gets more aggressive, saying that Stannis, the Lannisters, and the Starks are all killers. She tells her to look at a killer, but Sansa correctly calls that the Hound won’t hurt her. He leaves without her, and again, I don’t know if he should have tried harder, without the murder angle. In a way, this is good cause Winterfell is a shit show, and I have to assume Sansa knows this. But imagine Arya, Sansa and the Hound traveling together. It’s like a remake of Three’s Company.

Dues Ex Tywin – Cersei sits on the iron throne with Tommen, telling him that nobody will hurt him. Cersei tells a very thinly veiled story about cubs and a lion have to protect themselves against stags and wolves, evil things. I can’t imagine what that all means. The mother lion says that one day all that Stags and Wolves will bow to the Lion. Then she adds other animals to make it sound better but it’s clearly more shots at the Starks, because why not?

It’s interesting she mentions a crowd on the cub’s head talking to Tommen. In theory, Tommen should never rule. In reality… well…

Also as the gates open she’s more that ready to poison her son as protection. That’s a weird, dark sentence.

However, Tywin is the one marching in, announcing they have won the battle and immediately causes Cersei to drop the poison. It’s a pretty good twist, though we had no inkling that Tywin would stop for Tyrell troops and then backtrack to Kong’s Landing at the knick of time. Some of the seeds of the Tyrell and Lannister alliance were planted, but all this happening with perfect timing is a bit too neat. We shouldn’t have been told Tywin was heading north.

My other issue? How about giving Tyrion some shine. I know he’s unconscious but the way this battle ended, with Tyrion and Loras arriving in beautiful, clean armor means nobody will talk of all Tyrion did. That makes me sad. Not as sad as a scarred Tyrion will be, but still.