GAME OF THRONES Season 4 Episode 8
Episode Title: “The Mountain and the Viper”
Writers: David Benioff & D. B. Weiss
Director: Alik Sakharov
Previously on “Game of Thrones”:
After a week off, “Game of Thrones” is back for perhaps its most shocking episode of the season. “The Mountain and the Viper” was about more than just the fight for Tyrion Lannister’s (Peter Dinklage) survival. This was about revenge and the mistakes of the past coming back at the worst possible times.
Big time spoilers are ahead, so you should probably skip this recap if you haven’t seen last night’s episode!
The Wildlings Are Coming
Just in case you’ve forgotten there’s a war in the North, Tormund Giantsbane (Kristofer Hivju) and the Wildlings serve up a reminder by sacking Mole’s Town and killing nearly everyone that they find. Back at Castle Black, Sam (John Bradley) despairs that he sent Gilly (Hannah Murray) and her child to their deaths.
However, Sam’s brothers in the Night’s Watch go out of their way to convince him that Gilly may have survived. They turn out to be correct, as Ygritte (Rose Leslie) discovers Gilly’s hiding place and shows her mercy.
The Pillar and The Stones
And here’s a reminder that you’re watching a HBO show. Grey Worm (Jacob Anderson) of the Unsullied stumbles upon Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel) bathing and he stares at her with clear sexual intent despite being a eunuch. After some initial hesitation, Missandei accepts Grey Worm’s apology and says that she’s glad that he saw her.
Grey Worm may not have “the pillar and the stones” as Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) puts it, but there’s still the potential for love between him and Missandei. This is also the show’s way of making the audience care about two minor characters.
The Spider Strikes
But it’s not all good news across the Narrow Sea. Tywin Lannister (Charles Dance) and Lord Varys (Conleth Hill) aka The Spider manage to strike at Daenerys by exposing Ser Jorah (Iain Glen) as a former spy for the late King Robert. Ser Barristan (Ian McElhinney) seems all too happy to see his rival exiled, but Daenerys is clearly heartbroken and angry.
Jorah points out that this is a gambit to divide them, but he admits that he revealed the existence of Daenerys’ unborn son by Drogo and she orders him to leave the city forever. It’s hard to see where Jorah will go from here or how he can redeem himself in the eyes of his queen.
Reek!
Back in the North, Ramsay Snow (Iwan Rheon) sends Reek (Alfie Allen) into a fortress held by the Iron Born while pretending to still be Theon Greyjoy. The former Theon can barely go a few minutes before having a nervous breakdown and repeating “Reek” under his breath. But the Iron Born are so desperate to leave that they execute their commander and accept Ramsay’s terms of surrender.
Unfortunately for them, Ramsay has no mercy and he has the Iron Born slaughtered. As a reward for taking the fort, Lord Roose Bolton (Michael McElhatton) officially makes Ramsay a Bolton. But the only thing that Theon gets as a reward is the privilege of attending to Ramsay’s bath.
Sansa Redefined
In the Vale, Petyr Baelish (Aidan Gillen) aka Littlefinger faces a tough crowd of nobles while attempting to spin his murder of Lysa as a suicide by a troubled woman. Littlefinger doesn’t seem to have thought this one through and he appears to be done for when Sansa (Sophie Turner) is brought in to testify.
To everyone’s surprise, Sansa reveals her true identity as a Stark and she backs up Littlefinger’s story. In private, Sansa explains that she sided with Littlefinger because she didn’t know what would happen to her if he was executed. However, Sansa takes some power in their relationship when she asserts that she knows what he wants now.
Outside the Vale, Sandor “The Hound” Clegane (Rory McCann) and Arya (Maisie Williams) finally arrive and introduce themselves by their true names. To their shock, they learn that Lysa died days ago and the trip was seemingly for nothing. In response, Arya breaks out in a fit of hysterically mad laughter.
Tales of Beetles
Deep within the dungeons of King’s Landing, Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) shares one last extended conversation with his brother, Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). Facing his execution if the Trial by Combat doesn’t go well, Tyrion’s mind races back to his younger years when he strove to understand a mentally disabled cousin who was obsessed with squashing beetles in the garden.
This is Tyrion’s way of trying to bring sense to the world around him, but Jaime doesn’t understand why he would care about dead bugs when there’s so much real tragedy to dwell upon.
The Viper Goes To The Mountain
Speaking of tragedy, the battle between Prince Oberyn (Pedro Pascal) and Ser Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane (Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson) is over much more quickly than anyone anticipated. It just wasn’t the ending that was expected… unless you’ve read the novels.
In Tyrion’s Trial by Combat, Oberyn is more than a match for the Mountain and he impales Clegane after only a few minutes of intense fighting. But Oberyn is so obsessed with getting Clegane to publicly confess to the rape and murder of his sister and the deaths of her children that he lets the Mountain trip him up.
Then in the most horrifying scene in the show’s history, Clegane confesses to his crimes while gouging out Oberyn’s eyes and crushing his skull in. Tywin wastes little time in declaring that the Gods have spoken and he condemns Tyrion to death for regicide.
That was not how I expected this to play out. I think I need a drink… or several drinks. But feel free to weigh in on this week’s episode in the comment section below!
