The Game of Thrones Season 4 finale has once again proved that this season has all along been about quiet contemplation on the quickly deteriorating relationships and decisions made deliriously over the last three seasons. Where once people rushed to battle, now some of the same people are looking for peace. Not that the show is turning pacifist - a flippant rape scene and a bloody combat that ended in a worldwide headache epidemic took care of the violence and misogyny bits quite well.
The Wall falls
The first few minutes of the episode that followed Jon Snow’s re-union with Mance Rayder’s camp tied together the frustratingly long penultimate episode that enacted the great battle between the Watchers on the Wall and the Wildlings. Stannis Baratheon saves the day and we’re left wondering whether it’s time for Jon Snow to take up Stannis’ cause (well, at least the ones who haven’t read the book yet).
Freer of slaves, imprisoner of dragons
We also have Danaerys (Mother of Dragons) who now sits in Mereen, in her post slave-liberation bliss, which is quickly shattered by the several administrative troubles that crop up in its wake. While she proves herself to be a capable leader by deciding to stay back and rule rather than abandon her newly-freed populace, she finds that more than once she’s faced with difficult decisions. This culminates in her having to imprison two of her dragons, while one has gone missing. It’s an emotional moment as the dragons call out to their mother, but she takes one last teary-eyed look and leaves.
Lannisters pay their debts
King’s Landing has seen its most exciting season yet. Geoffrey was poisoned at his own wedding, thank heavens. No death has been more celebrated or more awaited. While most characters bar Tywin Lannister, have been generously awarded some redeeming quality or the other, it would be difficult for anyone to think of even one reason why Geoffrey should live. And while the light in his eyes died, a million viewers smiled.
Cersei Lannister comes into her full element only in this last episode. Tired of being told what to do, we see her for once stand up against the one man she’s always bowed down to - her father, Tywin Lannister. Turns out every one wants a piece of Tywin, but more of that later. He’s forced to accept what everyone’s always known - Jamie and Cersie Lannister, his own blood and flesh, have been lovers for all their grown-up lives. The legacy he’s been so proud of turns to dust in a second. It’s an apt scene to remind everyone that very often we are blind to what happens among people closest to us, because we’re too busy fighting for the very same people.
We also see her go back to Jamie, the very man who raped her while their dead son lay in his casket next to them, and proclaim that she will never leave King’s Landing and that she wants to stay with him. They sleep together again, and perhaps, this is the directors’ way of making amends for the unfortunate and careless handling of the rape scene. While no one objects to the rape itself (this is after all Game of Thrones), it would have been easier to digest if the makers of the show accepted it for what it was.
Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister has proved once and for all that when it comes to acting prowess, no one can match up to him. As we’ve hung on to every word that escaped his lips, every twitch on his ever shifting face, his big eyes that ask a million questions and his bottomless wit; we’ve grown to understand the fantastical phenomenon that is Tyrion Lannister. As his only friend left in the world, Jamie Lannister, helps him jump prison, Tyrion finds himself right outside his father’s bedchamber. And what should he find there? His one true love, Shae, deep in languorous sleep. He chokes her to death, yes, but we also see the deep scars it’s leaving on his soul as we watch him pull the chain around her dainty neck. There’s no revenge without deep love.
And in a happy conclusion to Father’s Day celebrations, we see Tyrion march up to Tywin Lannister, while he’s still on the potty, and shoot him with a crossbow after an impassioned speech. That’s two despicable Lannisters out of the way in one season. Bravo!
The Stark kids
Bran Stark has finally made it to the three-eyed raven, but not before losing his traveling companion Jojen Reed, who is stabbed to death by a zombie skeleton. Bran, Meera and Hodor are saved by a disheveled looking elven like child, who ushers them to an old man who is revealed to be the three-eyed raven who proclaims that although Bran Stark may never walk, he will fly. That’s an awful lot of expectations for season 5.
The Stark sisters are still fending for themselves. Sansa Stark (wedded to Tyrion Lannister) escapes King’s Landing with more than a little help from Petyr Baelish and it’s only now that most of us find out that Littlefinger has been quietly pulling the strings - everything from Ned’s execution to Jon Arryn’s death to Geoffrey’s poisoning - it’s all been him.
Meanwhile Arya Stark has grown from little girl with a sword to full fledged murderer, under the expert guidance of the Mountain. The season finale shows The Mountain’s death at the hands of none other than our favourite female knight, Brienne, leaving Arya to find her own way. She soon buys passage on a departing ship which will take her to Braavos, where an old friend perhaps awaits.
Misses
Book fans have waited an entire season for a certain Lady Stoneheart to make an appearance but either the makers have decided to delay her reveal or just do away with the character altogether. (Spoilers ahead).
While Lady Stoneheart is none other than Catelyn Stark resurrected to lead the Brotherhood Without Banners, she goes around looking for vengeance, often murdering without much provocation. While her reveal would have worked as a satisfactory season ending, the makers have probably done the right thing ending the season on a reflective note, rather than a shocking one.
Verdict: Maybe not the best season so far, Game of Thrones Season 4 however is the closest it’s gotten to realise its potential as a full-fledged fantasy drama. Brilliant things are yet to come and winter is now awaited. Until then, Valar moghulis.