![]() ![]() The Night's Watch utilize all manner of inventive tricks to defend themselves, with the highlight being the gloriously ludicrous notion of a giant scythe to swing across the face of The Wall and deal with any climbers (the power of a giant's bow and arrow follows a close second on the scale of awesome). Meanwhile, the technical team do a marvellous job in depicting the size and power of the giants and mammoths in Mance Rayder's army - although Mance himself is conspicuously absent throughout - and in again conveying the sheer scale of The Wall itself. That he manages to hold the gate and kill the giant before succumbing is even better. ![]() Reciting the Night's Watch oath as he and five brothers are all that stand between a charging giant and the realms of men is spine-tinglingly, fist-pumpingly awesome. Going out in a far more satisfying manner was Jon's loyal friend Grenn, who gets arguably one of the most rousing moments of the entire series to go out on. The moment she utters her catchphrase for the last time is effective, but it might have been more-so had we either seen more of her this season, or had less time between the well-written build-up and breakdown of their relationship and this tragic but all-too-distant coda. That's not to take away from the moment Ygritte takes an arrow, which features the wonderful moment when Jon Snow disarms her blood-lust with a simple smile (and the darkly funny "you're welcome" nod from the little boy). Jon and Ygritte were a well-written pair, but we haven't seen them together in such a long time that it feels like a struggle to recall why we should care about them as a couple. His duel with Tormund Giantsbane is one of the episode's visceral highlights.Īs for Ygritte, who's arguably the biggest casualty of the episode, her exit suffers from the prolonged delay between her and Jon's separation and tonight's events. At least when it comes down to it, unlike Slynt, Alliser Thorne can swing a sword and lead men with the best of them. The problem is that his resentment of Jon hasn't really been justified, and as such he seems like he's there to shoot Jon down just because the writers needed somebody to shoot him down. But he's supposed to be a pain in the arse, and that's fine. Ser Alliser, despite Owen Teale's gravitas in the role, has suffered from some spotty writing this year. Less heroic is Janos Slynt, who shows himself to be the useless slug of a man we know he is when Ser Alliser puts him in charge atop The Wall. His evolution is totally believable, and Bradley nails it throughout. He's the hero of the hour, without ever really being heroic. He's not a nobody any more: Gilly has given him self-belief and something to fight for. He may not have swung a sword, but he gives courage to those around him. It's a revelation that sees Sam finally come into his own: he's started swearing he kisses Gilly properly, on the mouth and even goes all Team America and promises that he won't die - an act which should have set alarm bells ringing for anyone who's ever seen this show before.īut, thankfully, Sam keeps his word, and emerges unscathed from the battle. Sam lives vicariously through Jon, asking what it's like to be in love, before a chat with Aemon leads him to finally accept that he's already right there with Gilly. It's curious that he seems to take the main focus, given what an obvious hero Jon Snow is, but it works, largely due to John Bradley's vulnerable, relatable performance. And 'The Watchers on The Wall' is very much Samwell Tarly's episode. ![]()
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