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Game of Thrones Season 4 Episode 4 Review: “Oathkeeper”

 
Game of Thrones Season 4 Episode 4 "Oathkeeper"
Game of Thrones Season 4 Episode 4 "Oathkeeper"
Game of Thrones Season 4 Episode 4 "Oathkeeper"


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Posted April 28, 2014 by

This week’s episode of “Game of Thrones” heavily addressed the Starks’ storylines, except for Arya and Rickon, and brought the focus back onto the family that started it all. It is clear from this episode that the Starks are still an important component of the general plot of “Game of Thrones” and the other families in our story, especially, the Lannisters and Boltons, should not underestimate them. And while I think this is a very good thing, I am hesitantly optimistic about the why the story went this week as I cannot recall another time in the show’s run that the story deviated so far from the book material. I’ll get more into that later, but let’s cover what happened this week first.

Game of Thrones Season 4, Episode 3 Review: “Breaker of Chains”

The episode begins with Missandei teaching Grey Worm to speak Daenerys’ language. She tells him about when she was taken to be a slave, and when she asks him if he recalls life before he was a slave. He tells her he remembers nothing prior to becoming one of the Unsullied. As they contiue their lesson, Daenerys checks in on them to see how it’s going, and tells them they will have to practice another time because Daenerys needs Grey Worm.

After Grey Worm’s lesson, he and some other soldiers sneak into Meereen, dressed like Meereen slaves to disguise themselves. A large group of Meereen slaves are meeting together and one of the slaves is trying to convince the others to join Daenerys. The slaves are hesitant because they feel their masters are too strong and past slave revolts have not been successful. Grey Worm interrupts their meeting and lets the slaves know he is Unsullied and was freed by Daenerys. One of the slaves explains they are not strong like the Unsullied and could not fight against their masters. Grey Worm and the other soldiers give the slaves bags of weapons and tell the slaves they must take their freedom for themselves.

Later that evening, the slaves join forces and surround their masters, killing them all. A Targaryen flag is raised above the city as Daenerys takes control. Daenerys has the masters crucified around the city for justice against the the children the masters murdered on the road toward Meereen.

As Daenerys is building an army across the Narrow Sea, Jaime Lannister meets with Bronn to continue his training. While the two men take a break, Jaime asks Bronn if he thinks Tyrion killed Joffrey. Bronn answers no; he knows Tyrion hated Joffrey, but he would not kill Joffrey. As they talk, Bronn realizes Jaime has not yet visited Tyrion and makes him feel guilty for not visiting his brother.

Jaime takes Bronn’s words seriously and visits Tyrion in his prison. He tries to make Tyrion feel better by describing the cage he was kept in while being held captive by Robb Stark. Tyrion is not amused, and wants Jaime to help him escape. He tells Jaime he did not kill Joffrey but knows their sister wants Tyrion dead by any means necessary. Jaime explains Tyrion gets to go to trial and will be judged; Tyrion knows it will not be a fair trial. The two men consider who might be guilty of killing Joffrey, and Jaime asks if Sansa is to blame. Tyrion defends his wife and says she is not a killer.

As Tyrion is defending Sansa’s honor, we find Sansa escaping from King’s Landing with Littlefinger on a ship. Littlefinger tells Sansa he is taking her to the Eyrie; he is marrying her Aunt Lysa and she will be safe with them. Sansa asks Littlefinger if he killed Joffrey. He tells Sansa the necklace she received contained poison in the gemstones, and one of the stones was missing during the wedding. She does not understand why Littlefinger would risk everything to kill Joffrey when the Lannisters have given him so much. He explains it is best to confuse your enemies and no one will look at the person who has the most to lose as the guilty party. He says he did not want Joffrey as an ally, and that his new friends had many other reasons to want Joffrey dead; as Littlefinger says this, the scene turns to Lady Olenna and Margaery Tyrell walking in a garden inside King’s Landing.

The two women sit down and Margaery explains she does not know where she stands with Tommen and the Lannisters know that Joffrey is dead. Lady Olenna tells Margaery a story about how when she was younger she used her womanly prowess to get what she wanted; Lady Olenna emphasizes to Margaery that she needs to act quickly to get Tommen’s affection before Cersei turns him against her.

As the Tyrell women plot, Cersei is drinking wine while waiting for Jaime. When he arrives, she coldly asks how many guards are outside Tommen’s door and why Catelyn Stark sent Jaime free. He tells her he swore he would bring the Stark girls back to Catelyn in exchange for his freedom. Cersei wants to know if she sent Jaime to go find Sansa Stark, would he keep his oath to Catelyn and protect Sansa or would he kill Sansa for Cersei; Jaime does not give her an answer. Cersei continues to nag Jaime when she tells him she knows Jaime visited Tyrion. She is annoyed Jaime would visit Tyrion and is absolutely convinced Tyrion killed Joffrey. Jaime defends Tyrion but Cersei won’t have it; she tells Jaime to have more guards watch over Tommen’s room and then has him leave.

That evening, Tommen is lying awake in bed when he hears someone enter his room. Margaery enters and approaches Tommen on his bed. Tommen explains to her his mother does not allow him to have visitors after dark, and Margaery explains her visit will be their secret. She explains to Tommen that if they are to be married they should get to know one another, and explains she will be entirely his once they are man and wife. She says it is important for a man and his wife to have their own secrets, and she hopes they meet in secret as they get to know one another. She asks if she can visit him again and he seems mesmerized by her as he answers yes. Margaery looks Tommen in the eyes and emphasizes her visit must be their secret, and kisses him on the forehead before leaving.

The following day, Jaime is with Brienne in the Red Keep and he gives Brienne his valerian steel sword. She refuses the gift but Jaime explains he wants her to keep their vow to Catelyn Stark and use the sword to go find Sansa and Arya Stark and bring them to safety. She agrees to go and find the girls for both Lady Catelyn and for Jaime. Jaime has two other gifts for Brienne; new armor and a squire, Podrick Paine. Jaime wants Podrick go with Brienne to help her but also to keep him safe and outside of King’s Landing. She agrees to take him, and before they depart Jaime tells Brienne she needs to name her sword. She names the sword Oathkeeper.

As Brienne begins a new journey in the South of Westeros, the rest of this week’s episode focuses on the North. We begin with Jon teaching Grenn and his fellow Night’s Watch men how to fight against wildlings. One of the men turns out to be Roose Bolton’s man, Locke, who was sent to Castle Black to find the missing Stark boys, Bran and Rickon; Jon is not aware of who this man is or what his mission is. Locke pretends to want to learn how to fight the Wildlings, and Jon can instantly tell Locke is an experienced fighter. Alliser Thorne breaks up the training and tells Jon he seems to forget he is a steward and not a leader. Jon protests and explains someone has to teach the men how to fight the Wildlings, but Alliser does not want to hear it. As Jon walks away, Janos Slynt warns Alliser that the men like Jon and he might be competition when deciding who the next Lord Commander will be. Janos suggests sending Jon to Craster’s Keep to meet the mutineers in the hopes that he will be killed on the mission.

Later that day, Sam is with Jon and expresses his regret in sending Gilly to Mole Town. He is afraid the Wildlings will attack Mole Town, but Jon assures Sam he is needed at Castle Black. Sam discusses with Jon that Bran went north of the wall and Jon wishes Bran would have come to Castle Black; Locke walks in on their conversation and overhears what the two men are saying.

The three men go to the dining hall and Alliser has Jon come and speak with him. He gives Jon leave to go get the mutineers from Craster’s Keep, but will only allow Jon to take volunteers. Jon thanks Alliser for the opportunity and turns to address the men. He explains the Lord Commander deserves justice for the mutineers betrayal and emphasizes the importance of them getting to the mutineers before Mance Rayder does. He asks for volunteers to join him to go to Crater’s, and about a dozen men volunteer, including Locke, who will take the Night’s Watch vows in order to join Jon’s mission.

As the men of the Night’s Watch prepare to go meet the mutineers and either take them captive or kill them, the mutineers are enjoying their freedom a little too much while at Craster’s Keep. Karl and the other mutineers are drinking all of Craster’s wine and raping Craster’s women. Karl tells Rast he has to go feed Ghost, who is supposedly caged outside. A woman brings a newborn baby inside, and all of the women snap out of their misery and begin to chant “A gift to the gods.” The woman tells Karl that Craster offered the baby boys to the gods as a gift. Karl gives Rast the baby and has him go give the baby to the white walkers and then feed Ghost. Rast leaves the house and walks the baby out into the woods, leaving him there in the middle of the forest. Rast then finds Ghost in his cage and taunts the direwolf with water. Ghost snarls and growls at Rast, and as Rast prepares to throw a rabbit into Ghost’s cage, the wind starts to blow and crows caw.

Somewhere nearby, Hodor, Meera, JoJen, and Bran hear the baby crying. Bran goes into Summer to go see where the baby is. Summer comes upon Ghost’s cage but suddenly the connection between Summer and Bran fades. When Bran wakes up, he tells the group Summer is trapped and he saw Ghost. Meera thinks they should leave but Bran insists they go find Summer and Ghost.

Bran, Meera, JoJen, and Hodor sneak up on Craster’s Keep and hide in the brush surrounding the home. At first they think the men are from the Night’s Watch, but they quickly realize there is something wrong with the men as they beat the women and are clearly drunk. Meera insists they leave immediately, but Bran will not leave without Summer, and when they get up to go find Summer, they are caught.

The mutineers capture Hodor and start throwing things at him, teasing and taunting. him. Inside Craster’s Keep, Karl interrogates Bran, demanding to know who he is. When Bran refuses to answer, Karl approaches Meera and JoJen and threatens to kill Meera. JoJen has a seizure and Meera screams for her brother. Bran finally admits who he is, and Karl and Rast are instantly intrigued by their new captives.

The episode ends with a white walker picking up the baby and takes it to a fortress within a very imposing mountain. He places the baby on a ice filled podium with structures surrounding it, very much like England’s Stone Hedge. A group of white walkers approach the baby and one of them places his finger on the baby’s forehead, turning the baby’s eyes completely blue.

And with that surprise ending, we get the answer to what we suspected for a long time; the babies that Craster gave to the white walkers are turned into white walkers! This is something that is not in the books, but we all assumed as much. What a creepy and disturbing scene.

Speaking of creepy and disturbing, Karl and the mutineers have really gone off the deep end at Craster’s Keep. This is what happens when you recruit thieves and rapists into the Night’s Watch. Thankfully, it looks like next week Jon and the other men of the Night’s Watch will stop the mutineers and hopefully help the poor women living there.

But should Jon arrive at Craster’s Keep, will he find Bran and Hodor? This is what I was referring to when I said the episode really strayed away from the books. MAJOR BOOK SPOILERS AHEAD. In the books, Bran, Hodor, Meera, and JoJen are never captured by anyone! Nor does Jon ever come close to finding them! The only time Bran and Jon are even close to reuniting is when Sam and Gilly come across Bran south of the Wall, which already happened. And why is Ghost being held captive? The lack of direwolves has been one of my biggest complaints about the entire series, and this new development really upsets me. Ghost is so vital to Jon’s story and is with Jon throughout most of the story. Now we learn Ghost has been held captive by the mutineers the entire time Jon was with the Wildlings and back at Castle Black? And now Summer is trapped as well? Blasphemy.

While these changes do upset me, I understand why the writers are doing this. Bran’s story in the third and fifth book (he is not in the forth book) are completely separate from any other storylines. The writers are trying to incorporate Bran’s story more into the overall plot of the show, and from a television point of view this makes sense. However, if Jon finds Bran, and if Locke is with him, this has the potential to really deviate from the books. As far as I can remember, no one knows Bran is alive after the fall of Winterfell except Sam, Gilly and Osha. However, Rickon Stark is known to be alive and in the fifth book Davos is on a mission to find and protect Rickon. If Locke finds Bran, or simply learns he is truly alive and where he is heading, and relays this information to Roose Bolton, this could cause some major issues.

Even with all of my hesitation, I am still excited to see what the writers do with this change. Bran and Jon’s stories are two of my favorites in the books (along with Davos’ story), and as long as they do not deter the plot too much, I will be OK with this change. As long as no one is killed that is not suppose to be killed (and that includes the direwolves), I will support these changes. But I will end with one, very important, question all ASOIAF readers are probably wondering: WHERE IS COLD HANDS?!?

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Laurie

 
Laurie