Knee-jerk reaction to “Battle of the Bastards:” five best and worst moments
Here are my highly subjective, personal thoughts and feelings, delivered lightning-quick, after viewing “Battle of the Bastards,” tonight’s new and highly anticipated Game of Thrones episode. In a nutshell, it was brilliant cinema of wide scope and fantastic CGI that was somewhat hamstrung by story predictability. I offer five Valyrian Steel (Best) Moments and five Flea Bottom Brown (Worst) moments. I’ll hang around the comments section for a while so please feel free to chime in and discuss.
VALYRIAN STEEL (BEST) MOMENTS
VALYRIAN STEEL FIVE: Sing the Stark anthem. It was wonderful to see the Bolton flags fall and the Stark banners replace them on the walls of Winterfell.
VALYRIAN STEEL FOUR: Tyrion gets back on track. Even cringing under the glare of Daenerys and the crash of burning projectiles, we were witness to the welcome return of the old Tyrion, knower of people and power, fast-talking his way through difficulty and broken stratagems. Thank goodness. I hope we are free from those pleasant but time-killing drinking games, as much as I love Gray Worm and Missandei smiling.
VALYRIAN STEEL THREE: Sansa is playing the BIG game now. The boys wouldn’t listen to her at the map table the night before, even though she knew how to try to outfox Ramsay. She did lie to Jon about Littlefinger and the Knights of the Vale and I’m still not sure why she had to do so, but the steely-eyed woman staring at Ramsay through the bars of his own dog kennel are those of a person never to be trifled with again.
VALYRIAN STEEL TWO: Now THAT is some dragon riding! Finally, Dany got the OOMPH required to support her big dramatic moment. Freed from her usual title regurgitations and one-beat episode-ending cappers, she got what she needed in flying dragons, breathtaking CGI and aerial shots and a screaming Dothraki horde.
VALYRIAN STEEL ONE: Miguel Sapochnik. Wow. The battle sequences were worthy of any major motion picture, as was Sapochnik’s work in “Hardhome.” The tracking shot of Jon fighting his way through the Bolton masses was cinematic perfection. The fighting sped up and slowed down in symphonic action, with many threads whirling their way through the awe-inspiring wide shots, and it was breathtaking.