The title refers to the battle between Gregor Clegane a.k.a The Mountain and Prince Oberyn a.k.a The Red Viper of Dorne which took place at the end of this episode. One word, mind-blowing. Or should I say, head-blowing?
--- SPOILER ALERT ---
The episode opened with the Wildlings (Ygritte and her gang) attacking and killing everyone at the brothel in Mole's Town, the place where Sam left Gilly and her baby in. But for some reason, Ygritte spared Gilly's life. Why? Then we saw Jon Snow and his crow brothers talking about the attack, and the possibility of them fighting the Wildlings army soon.
I guess that scene was some kind of a "prologue" to the big Night's Watch vs Mance's Wildlings battle next week, since based on the preview it seems that next week's episode will be focusing on The Walls. Also next week's episode's director is Neil Marshall, the one who directed Blackwater in season 2. So a great battle scene is to be expected, I guess.
Also from the north, we saw Reek a.k.a Theon Greyjoy claiming back Moat Cailin (which is a castle ruins) under the command of Ramsay Snow.
I really really don't understand what happened to Theon tbh. Someone explain it to me please. During his time with the Starks, and when he betrayed Robb, Theon was one proud (a little dumb but still) man. I mean, how could he be completely brainwashed like that? Theon was practically walking back to his army, his fellow Ironborn in Moat Cailin, he could easily join them and fight back Ramsay, right? Instead, he's now Reek, forever Reek.
Back to Ramsay, he killed all the ironborns at the ruins and presented Moat Cailin to his father Lord Bolton. As the result, his father awarded him with the name Ramsay Bolton, son of Roose Bolton, Warden of the north, from now on. See, Ramsay was a Bolton bastard, and it seemed that he really wanted to be considered as Bolton's real son. So, to me, this change of name felt like a conclusion for Ramsay's plot for a this time. Maybe we won't be seeing his character anymore for the last 2 episodes, but who knows.
Let's move on to The Eyrie. We know that last week Petyr Baelish killed Aunt Lysa, and this week, he was being investigated for it. Sansa, as some sort of the witness, gave viewers a great surprise, though.
Maaaan, I can't even begin to describe how brilliant this is. Sansa had always been a smart girl, she survived King's Landing and Joffrey's cruelty, for God's sake. But now, she was smart and manipulative as well.
She started her confession with her real Stark identity, her sad story, how Baelish helped her reach The Eyrie, how her Aunt Lysa was a jealous lady, every single part was real except for the part how her Aunt was killed. And her tears definitely helped the whole situation. Sansa protected Baelish, and the elders (the investigators? idk) totally believed her. Well done Sansa, very well done. All the awards. But why did Sansa protect Baelish?
See, she knew how to play safe now, she knew how to play smart and take charge of her life. Also, Sansa definitely changed in this episode. It's like, she's turned to the dark side. Has she actually decided to go along with Baelish's want for her to be her mother? Or is she playing Baelish now?
One biggest part of this episode was, of course, the battle of the Mountain vs Oberyn. We know that Oberyn's main goal was to revenge his sister Elia Martell, who was raped and killed by the Mountain. Oberyn started really well and confidently, he was much quicker than the Mountain, he managed to knock off the Mountain's helmet, he even managed to wound the Mountain.
During the battle, Oberyn kept on pushing the Mountain to confess his crime towards Elia. Oberyn repeatedly said "You raped her. You murdered her. You killed her children." You know what, this scene reminded me of The Princess Bride movie, especially Inigo Montoya's battle, haha.
However, G.R.R. Martin is not GRRM if he doesn't kill a character loved by readers and viewers. Oberyn was already winning, he had the upper hand, the Mountain was already lying on the floor dying, but Oberyn took his time before finishing him off because the Mountain hadn't confessed yet. All of sudden, the Mountain grabbed Oberyn's leg, causing Oberyn to fall down beside the Mountain. This time the Mountain beat the crap out of Oberyn. He knocked off Oberyn's teeth with one punch, and then he smashed Oberyn's head with his bare hands. Dammit.
To me this was one of the most disturbing scenes in Game Of Thrones, ever. Seriously. I knew already that Oberyn was going to lose the battle but I never expected this as the way he'd die. Also what will happen to Tyrion now?
Sigh. Oberyn was one of my favorite characters in the series. He stood up to Lannisters' bullshit, he fought for his sister's honor, he was a great character. Also kudos to Pedro Pascal for such an awesome performance that made us fall for Oberyn even though he's only been on screen for 1 season.
Some other stories from this episode:
I give The Mountain And The Viper 4.5/5 noise. It's been a while since Game Of Thrones left me with jaw-dropping ending. Just plain awesome.
I guess that scene was some kind of a "prologue" to the big Night's Watch vs Mance's Wildlings battle next week, since based on the preview it seems that next week's episode will be focusing on The Walls. Also next week's episode's director is Neil Marshall, the one who directed Blackwater in season 2. So a great battle scene is to be expected, I guess.
Also from the north, we saw Reek a.k.a Theon Greyjoy claiming back Moat Cailin (which is a castle ruins) under the command of Ramsay Snow.
I really really don't understand what happened to Theon tbh. Someone explain it to me please. During his time with the Starks, and when he betrayed Robb, Theon was one proud (a little dumb but still) man. I mean, how could he be completely brainwashed like that? Theon was practically walking back to his army, his fellow Ironborn in Moat Cailin, he could easily join them and fight back Ramsay, right? Instead, he's now Reek, forever Reek.
Back to Ramsay, he killed all the ironborns at the ruins and presented Moat Cailin to his father Lord Bolton. As the result, his father awarded him with the name Ramsay Bolton, son of Roose Bolton, Warden of the north, from now on. See, Ramsay was a Bolton bastard, and it seemed that he really wanted to be considered as Bolton's real son. So, to me, this change of name felt like a conclusion for Ramsay's plot for a this time. Maybe we won't be seeing his character anymore for the last 2 episodes, but who knows.
Let's move on to The Eyrie. We know that last week Petyr Baelish killed Aunt Lysa, and this week, he was being investigated for it. Sansa, as some sort of the witness, gave viewers a great surprise, though.
Maaaan, I can't even begin to describe how brilliant this is. Sansa had always been a smart girl, she survived King's Landing and Joffrey's cruelty, for God's sake. But now, she was smart and manipulative as well.
She started her confession with her real Stark identity, her sad story, how Baelish helped her reach The Eyrie, how her Aunt Lysa was a jealous lady, every single part was real except for the part how her Aunt was killed. And her tears definitely helped the whole situation. Sansa protected Baelish, and the elders (the investigators? idk) totally believed her. Well done Sansa, very well done. All the awards. But why did Sansa protect Baelish?
See, she knew how to play safe now, she knew how to play smart and take charge of her life. Also, Sansa definitely changed in this episode. It's like, she's turned to the dark side. Has she actually decided to go along with Baelish's want for her to be her mother? Or is she playing Baelish now?
One biggest part of this episode was, of course, the battle of the Mountain vs Oberyn. We know that Oberyn's main goal was to revenge his sister Elia Martell, who was raped and killed by the Mountain. Oberyn started really well and confidently, he was much quicker than the Mountain, he managed to knock off the Mountain's helmet, he even managed to wound the Mountain.
During the battle, Oberyn kept on pushing the Mountain to confess his crime towards Elia. Oberyn repeatedly said "You raped her. You murdered her. You killed her children." You know what, this scene reminded me of The Princess Bride movie, especially Inigo Montoya's battle, haha.
However, G.R.R. Martin is not GRRM if he doesn't kill a character loved by readers and viewers. Oberyn was already winning, he had the upper hand, the Mountain was already lying on the floor dying, but Oberyn took his time before finishing him off because the Mountain hadn't confessed yet. All of sudden, the Mountain grabbed Oberyn's leg, causing Oberyn to fall down beside the Mountain. This time the Mountain beat the crap out of Oberyn. He knocked off Oberyn's teeth with one punch, and then he smashed Oberyn's head with his bare hands. Dammit.
WARNING THE FOLLOWING IMAGES ARE NOT GUT FRIENDLY
To me this was one of the most disturbing scenes in Game Of Thrones, ever. Seriously. I knew already that Oberyn was going to lose the battle but I never expected this as the way he'd die. Also what will happen to Tyrion now?
Sigh. Oberyn was one of my favorite characters in the series. He stood up to Lannisters' bullshit, he fought for his sister's honor, he was a great character. Also kudos to Pedro Pascal for such an awesome performance that made us fall for Oberyn even though he's only been on screen for 1 season.
Some other stories from this episode:
- Another big thing came from Daenery's story line. A letter of royal pardon came for Ser Jorah, causing Dany and her team to know that Jorah had been a spy for King's Landing all this time. This caused Dany to banish him from the city. HA! I knew there's a reason why I never liked Jorah.
- There's a bit of romantic scene between Missandei and Grey Worm. I don't really care about this plot but they're cute together
- Arya and the Hound reached the Eyrie only to know that Lysa had died. And then Arya laughed hysterically.
- In my opinion, this was also a changing point for Arya, like it was for Sansa. For all Arya knew for sure, she had no family left, except for Aunt Lysa. Now that Lysa died, maybe Arya thought she's alone now. Cruel joke of life. But Arya had always been a tough kid. Like Sansa learned how to be manipulative from Baelish, Arya learned how to be tough from the Hound. I'd like to see how this plays out.
- Before the battle between Oberyn and the Mountain, Jamie and Tyrion had a talk in his cell about their cousin Orson Lannister, a simple (dim-witted) who liked to smash beetles, crushing them with rocks. I didn't understand this scene when I watched it, but after the event of Oberyn's death, it seemed funny. The beetles were smashed with rocks, like Oberyn was smashed by the Mountain. Oh.
--- SPOILER ENDS ---
I give The Mountain And The Viper 4.5/5 noise. It's been a while since Game Of Thrones left me with jaw-dropping ending. Just plain awesome.
