The Rains of Castamere
This show is the only one that I actually enjoy listening to the intro theme, to get me right in the mood and it works. Pumped up with my obsidian blade in one hand and coffee in the other (ok, I have a pen for making notes but a blade sounds better), I’m rarin’ to go. That was a long fortnight, was it not? I had to make do with a few reruns from season two, and while it’s not just as good as a fresh episode, It’s still better in a rerun than any other show on a first airing. Breaking Bad is a damned close second though, right?!
This episode was well worth the wait, and then some. I can’t remember ever seeing an episode of Game of Thrones as powerful as this. It had everything you could ever want (or perhaps not), and finished on such a high that it will be remembered as the episode that changed the shape of everything else to come, and in such a dramatic way that I for one will be watching it a few more times to let it all sink in. And the drop of the Lannister name at the end certainly made a lot of sense. Tywin may not have been in this episode in person, but I think he let it be known he was there in spirit.
Some of the things that were said at the wedding by Walder Frey (David Bradley) were extremely funny, and because he had been previously insulted by Robb Stark, everyone was forced to listen. We saw Khaleesi Daenerys Targaryen’s new infatuation get to show off with some bad choreographed fighting (it wasn’t very good at all) but it done the job, I suppose. Jon Snow (he of questionable parentage) shows his true colours to the wildlings but will Ygritte stand by her man? Bran finally gets to try out his power over animals but it isn’t an animal that he does it to. Arya is starting to come into her own now but as per usual with the Starks, she arrives too late to enjoy the wedding. I loved the speech she made to Sandor The Hound, “Someday, I’ll put a sword through your eye, out the back of your skull!” and the look on Sandor’s face was priceless.
The bloodshed in this episode was actually heavy duty, comparatively speaking, but also for the dwindling Stark family, and I’m certain it will put a lot of people off (not for too long though), but c’mon, this has never been a show for anyone with a delicate stomach. It’s a semi realistic portrayal of medieval times, where brutality were commonplace, but even so, it was still an eye popper. This was good enough to be a feature film but most episodes are like that, but none are like this. Absolutely outstanding, crazy, but outstanding.
Grade: A++
Review by Ed Blackadder, Lead Entertainment Writer
