Knee-jerk reaction to “Battle of the Bastards:” five best and worst moments
FLEA BOTTOM BROWN (WORST) MOMENTS
FLEA BOTTOM BROWN FIVE: Huh? Did Tormund just get really dumb all of a sudden? Pincer movement, huh? Demons in his head, huh? Don’t play him that way, please.
FLEA BOTTOM BROWN FOUR: Everybody’s comin’ to Dany’s. Zing, pop, pow! Theon and Yara have also arrived in Meereen! After what feels like a long period of waiting, everybody has shown up at once (except Jorah, the poor lovelorn, grayscale-riddled dude). I did like the “Power-sister” thing but how did Yara get into the harbor past the Masters’ ongoing bombardment? I guess they trekked overland from somewhere else up the shoreline? Even Rhaegal and Viserion got back in on the action.
FLEA BOTTOM BROWN THREE: Don’t lead a frontal attack while outnumbered. Despite all the late night generalship and gameboarding and Sansa’s perfectly reasonable warnings about the ways to trick Ramsay because she knew him the best, Jon plays it stupid. Sansa was right that Rickon was toast and Jon, despite his valiant efforts to save his brother from the arrow gauntlet, let himself be manipulated and charged headlong, with his entire army, right into Ramsay’s trap.
FLEA BOTTOM BROWN TWO: Ramsay gets what’s coming to him. Yeah, it was somewhat satisfying to see Jon beat Ramsay to a pulp and have Sansa feed him to his own hounds. Ramsay’s character was so unrelentingly evil and twisted and one dimensional, even down to his last Hannibal Lecter-inspired death-scream, that in his defeat and brutal demise almost seemed like he got exactly what he wanted. I’m glad he’s gone at last. Give me a monster with some depths and grays, Game of Thrones.
FLEA BOTTOM BROWN ONE: I saw it all coming and I’m not a good fortune teller. This one hurts me a bit because, technically, the episode was great. But once again, as has been happening all season, I was treated to superb versions of the most predictable outcomes on every storyline. I figured there was a good chance Rickon was doomed, Jon would survive and Sansa’s raven message had gone to Littlefinger, who arrived (in the nick of time, again) with his army to save the day. It was sad that Wun Wun fell, but I thought I’d been warned that a major character might be chopped and they’re all still standing (except Ramsay, but we all knew this episode would be the end of him).
VALYRIAN STEEL BONUS MOMENT: Beware the wrath of the Onion Knight. This episode had some really good quiet moments in it, but none topped the powerful scene where Ser Davos stumbles upon Shireen’s snowy pyre. Great acting, directing and cinematography and not a word of dialog. Pure gold.
WRAP IT UP AND PUT A BLOODY BOW ON IT: I had a great time viewing this episode. The Game of Thrones canvas was as big and fantastic it’s ever been, the narrative flowed well and the battle sequences were superb. But I think “Battle of the Bastards” will go down as just a very good episode, as opposed to a great one like the “The Rains of Castamere”, because it did everything I was expecting and nothing more. Shouldn’t we have gotten a twist, turn, or shocker? What did you think?