As the next A Game of Thrones is
on the horizon I can’t help but dread it. No, the episode isn’t a
bad one—on the contrary, it’s a great episode. It’s the kind of
episode that messes with your emotions and makes you unsure who you
want to root for. I dread the next episode because what this episode
leaves me with is a blend of excitement, sorrow, confusion and fear.
Like the previous two episodes, ‘Walk
of Punishment’ focuses more on the politics and where every major
player’s head is. There are no duels or battles like there were
last episode, but it’s still worth a watch.
As revealed last episode, Catelyn
Stark’s father had died and this episode features his funeral.
During the Stark’s air time we focus on Catelyn and her loss rather
than the war. Michelle Fairley once again pulls off a wonderful
performance as she tells her uncle Blackfish how she would wait at
the window for her father as a child and how he would always come
back to her.
Though I didn’t tear up, it was the
closest I came to it throughout the entire series’ run. Another
awful scene is where Sansa finally gets the chance to tell someone
what she really thinks of Joffery. It is horrible to see the fear on
her face and in her voice, but that was nothing compared to her teary
pleas that the Tyrells don’t call off the wedding makes me worry
something is going to happen to her.
Beyond the Wall we learn that the
Wildlings are about to attack the Wall…and Jon Snow is going to
take part of that attack. While this revelation isn’t as emotion
fuelled as Sansa’s or Catelyn’s, it fills the viewer with dread.
There is no way this is going to end well.
However, this is A Game of Thrones,
so there has to be some witty banter peeking through the gloom,
right?
Nope. Almost all the lighter moments
are dulled by something darker. Brienne and Jaime have a brief
exchange as they are lead to Harrenhall, but it is loaded with grim
undertones. There’s more emotion lurking beneath Jaime’s wit than
usual I suspect, which culminates in the one good act he’s done on
screen later in the episode.
We get a tiny bit of awkward humour
from Arya, Gendry and Hot Pie’s time with the Brotherhood of
Banners, but there’s something darker lurking just around the
corner and polluting the smile Arya gives Hot Pie as she admires his
baked wolf.
As usual we get some amusing moments
from Tyrion and Bronn once Tyrion is named the new Master of Coin
(you read that right), but they’re pretty sparse in this episode.
Oddly enough, I think this a good thing; in such a painful episode
Tyrion and Bronn having a merry old chat through King’s Landing
would be out of place. While I love their exchanges, I do feel that
sometimes people forget there are main characters other than Tyrion.
Speakin of main characters, Danaerys
has simultaneously continued redeeming herself in my eyes and made me
want to scream at my TV. I’ll try to avoid revealing what she did
(partially since people who missed it won’t believe me) but it is
both the most stupid and selfless thing that she has done the entire
series. Both men in her queensguard advise her against it but she
still does it. It is a nice gesture and shows she is willing to
sacrifice for the benefit of her people, but it is going to hurt her
in later episodes.
Though this review is quite verbose,
I’m only scratching at the surface. There are more uncomfortable
sequences in this episode than I am letting on. It is a good episode,
but it’s still painful to watch at times.
Then again, if it wasn’t
painful to watch scenes like this it would mean we weren’t invested
in the characters so it’s both a good and a bad thing.
Review by Greta Rehak
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