Game of Thrones Season 4 Ep 7 (TV Show Review)

With last week’s episode of Game of Thrones season 4 we now begin to move towards the big ending of the season, when all the different plotlines “come together” for some really spectacular stuff and the producers and directors and writers go all-out with what remains of their budget and make the finale something to remember. Till now, the fourth season has been a very mixed bag, but things turned out rather positively last week when we got to see Tyrion being put on trial for a crime that he did not commit, as well as the awesome conclusion. Now, it is time for yet another installment.

Episode 7 is titled “Mockingbird“, which is interesting since, when I asked around a few days ago, I was told that this is the symbol of none other than Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish, one of the most devious and duplicitous characters on the show, and also someone I enjoy watching. He hasn’t done much this season, but this is the one where he too goes all-out in a really, really stunning final five seconds of the show. You really don’t see it coming, because of all the webs he has woven about him. And there are lots of other great moments in the show as well this week, to do with Arya, Tyrion, and Oberyn. Good stuff.

To take everything in order, let’s start in King’s Landing, which is a hotbed of intrigue this season and where things heated up last week when Tyrion denounced each and every citizen of the Westerosi capital for their complicity in his Trial. After all, he is the one who saved them all from Stannis’ army at the Blackwater, and who stood by the soldiers on the walls when all that Joffrey Baratheon wanted to do was run away and hide. Now, we see what the outcome of the trial is going to be because Tyrion demanded a trial by combat, to be judged by the gods themselves and not by mere manipulative men like him and all of his enemies. Tyrion has been one of my favourite characters since the show started and it is great to see him get so much screen-time in this episode as he converses with various different people on who his champion should be.

And it is in this subplot that we see Tyrion undergo a betrayal by yet another person he thought he was close to. Shae has already betrayed him, as did Varys, and each betrayal has visibly cut him to the heart. The troubles for him however are not yet over and it shows when we get to that particular scene in this episode. But, there is a bit of a shining light for him after all, as we see towards the end. And everything is made better by Peter Dinklage’s powerful and emotional acting, as it always does.

Across the Narrow Sea in Meereen, we see that Daario Naharis is growing restless sitting around and doing nothing, so he steals an audience with Daenerys to let her allow him to do what he does best: kill people (in this case her enemies) and fuck. This was all rather disappointing, truth be told, and I really didn’t care much for this particular subplot until Jorah Mormont entered the picture in the follow-up scene. Iain Glen is fantastic as ever, in contrast to Emilia Clarke’s overdone performance, and the difference is there for all to see. I loved the back-and-forth between these two and would certainly like to see more.

In Dragonstone however, we see some really subtle politicking between Melisandre and Stannis’ wife Lady Selyse. The former talks about how she manipulates the people around her with various “tricks” and “lies” to push them towards the “truth” as defined and created by the Lord of Light. The positioning of the scene is interesting since it comes after Daenerys’ tryst with Daario and before Jorah’s wisdom to the Mother of Dragons. Quite interesting I have to say, especially in light of the scene later on between Petyr and Sansa. The conversation between Selyse and Melisandre seems to set up some of the events that are to come, and the subject of their conversation… well, that should be really interesting, I have to say. Hopefully we get to see that in the next three episodes, or waiting until next year is going to be a bit tough.

There are some interesting scenes in the North at Castle Black as Jon Snow and his squad return from killing the rogue Brothers of the Night’s Watch, and as Brienne and Podrick continue their trek through the Riverlands, hoping to pick up Sansa’s trail somewhere. The scenes are all too brief and that sucked a bit since I’m enjoying the storylines, both of them. With Jon Snow, I’m really frustrated with how pig-headed Ser Alliser Thorne is in paying heed to Jon’s warnings about Mance Ryder and his Wildling army. It is a pretty classic case (trope actually), and it just doesn’t make any sense for someone to act so idiotically, all because of an inbred prejudice, which seems to come before any of his oaths or duties to the Wall. With the traveling pair however, the humour is awesome and I love seeing these two interact as well since they seem to have some great chemistry. Their story is spiced up by the appearance of an old character from Arya’s days as Arry when she was being transported to the Wall in… season 2 if I remember correctly. Some great stuff there.

And finally we come to the Vale, where Petyr now resides as the husband of Lysa Arryn, having already secured for himself the title of Lord of Harrenhal. And he brought Sansa with him when Joffrey was murdered. Lysa Arryn has shown herself to be a complete loon in every scene she has had to date and this episode is no different. But at the same time, we see how Lysa’s son Robin, through her late husband John Arryn whom she murdered at Petyr’s behest, is in the same boat as his mother. That is, he is completely crazy too, spoiled beyond belief, and prone to fits of temper as well. But, the real kicker in this subplot comes when Petyr explains to Sansa just why he participated in Joffrey’s death and we see once again that he makes his feelings for her mother plain. The subplot comes to a very, very surprising conclusion in the final moments of the episode and that, I think, makes clear that Petyr is playing for far greater stakes than anyone else could have imagined and it ties into what he does with Sansa just before this entire scene.

Overall, the situation is clear that things are moving towards some big resolution in the final episode of the season. There are a lot of interesting things that happen in this episode and they certainly kept me interested all the way through, although the scenes with Daenerys were really boring and I wanted to skip through them, if I’m honest.

The episode is largely setup, but thing is that things were setup rather well in the main, better than any of the other episodes so far. And since we know that we are going to have the season’s conclusion very soon, it is easy to get over the setup nature, and just plow on through the whole thing. My interest in the show has seen an uptick with this episode, and I think I should be grateful since many of the previous episodes have been rather disappointing. Glad to see that the episode is back on track now for two episodes running.

More Game of Thrones Season 4: Ep 1, Ep 2, Ep 3, Ep 4, Ep 5, Ep 6.