100_Things_GoT

“Fuck the king.”—Sandor Clegane

Game of Thrones reached its peak in its fourth season, in many ways. This was the last season with King’s Landing at its center, the Lannisters in clear control, the Starks as simple underdogs; likewise, it was the last season based on an unambiguously strong novel, the last third of A Storm of Swords. It also lives in the shadow of the Red Wedding, an event so monumental and culturally defining that Game of Thrones has tried, with only partial success, to regain that level of media attention. As such, the fourth season of Game of Thrones is the most explosively violent of the series, an orgy of death with over half a dozen major characters dying over the course of the season.

While some of this is the show attempting to raise the stakes as often as possible, much of it comes from the structure of the books it’s adapted from. The final third of A Storm of Swords, starting with the Red Wedding, is, in many ways, the climax of the entire story up to this point. All the surviving major characters up to this point have built up their tension to an intolerable level, and it snaps brutally over the course of the end of that novel, which provides the backbone of the season.

The middle seasons of any television series are also typically amongst their best. The show has been on long enough that everyone involved knows exactly what they’re doing when they put it together, but it’s still reasonably fresh. This shows in the fourth season, with perhaps the highest number of incredibly strong individual episodes of any season of the show (episodes 1–2 and 6–10 all have a ton to recommend them by my rating).

Yet Season 4 is also the season where the story starts to most strongly diverge from the novels. As ever in the early seasons, it’s in Jaime and Brienne’s story, accelerated to give these two superb characters more to do. It works for Brienne, whose confrontation with the Hound gives a strong climax to both characters’ stories that was partially lacking in the novels. But for Jaime, it leads to massive controversy: his sexual encounter with Cersei next to Joffrey’s body, portrayed as consensual in the books, read as rape on the screen, seeming to ruin Jaime’s carefully presented redemption from Season 3.

This is, in a sense, the core tension of Season 4: it creates a set of dazzling climaxes to the most important storylines in Game of Thrones, but in its rush it might not quite do justice to all of them.

At the start of the season, Joffrey Lannister-Baratheon seems to be the dominant force in all of Westeros. With the destruction of the Stark armies at the end of Season 3, nothing apparently is stopping the Lannisters from achieving victory. As such, the entire focus of the fourth season shifts to King’s Landing, in particular the marriage of Joffrey and Margaery, which should solidify Lannister control of the Seven Kingdoms for good.

But that swiftly falls apart in the Lannisters’ own “Purple Wedding,” where Joffrey, at the peak of his power, is poisoned, and the once-proud king chokes pathetically, calling for his mommy. In an instant, Lannister power is shattered—the new king, Tommen, is an easily manipulable boy, and the chief suspect, Tyrion, is a member of Joffrey’s own family.

After Joffrey’s death, Game of Thrones aired one of its most controversial scenes in the third episode of the season, “Breaker of Chains.” At the end of the episode, Jaime Lannister appears to rape his sister Cersei. The scene was written as apparently consensual in the novels, but on the show, Cersei rejects Jaime’s advances and never gives any indication of changing her mind. Fuel was added to the fire when director Alex Graves claimed that the scene was supposed to be consensual, despite almost every context clue saying otherwise.

There were two major reasons that this became such a controversy. First, it was a departure from the novels, which put readers of the books on edge, especially because there were multiple other changes in the previous seasons that seemed to add more objectification of women and more sexual assault. Second, Jaime Lannister’s path toward redemption is widely considered one of the best stories of the show, particularly his scenes with Brienne in the third season. That redemption came when he tried to prevent Brienne’s rape at the hands of Locke and the Bolton men—to have him turn around and engage in that same behavior seemed to go against Jaime’s evolving characterization.

The argument over this scene eventually ended up changing how Game of Thrones was perceived. After the success of the third season, when the show seemed to put it all together, now there was a constant debate over whether the show was too abusive toward women, as well as whether it was deviating too much from the novels. Although the show’s ratings have continued to generally improve, after this scene, Game of Thrones’ critical reception varied wildly.

After Joffrey’s death, Lannister power is also threatened by the arrival of Oberyn Martell of Dorne, the first major appearance by the last of the Seven Kingdoms to take a role in the War of the Five Kings. The famously hotheaded Oberyn initially seems like he’s there to integrate Dorne into the new establishment after they’d been shut out by King Robert after supporting the Targaryens in Robert’s Rebellion. But Oberyn swiftly reveals his true purpose: to find and punish the Lannisters responsible for the death of his sister Elia in Tywin’s sack of King’s Landing.

Tyrion takes the blame for Joffrey’s death, as he had previously threatened the boy king, and was the last person to pour his drink. His wife, Sansa, too takes the blame—although she flees with Littlefinger in the chaos. Tyrion is put on trial, with Cersei pushing for him to take the blame, and Tywin providing no protection for his son whatsoever. They even dig up Tyrion’s lover Shae, who had been sent away against her will, and whose bitterness turns her against Tyrion, leaving no chance for him to win the trial conventionally. In a blistering final monologue, Tyrion lambasts his family and the entirety of King’s Landing for not giving him the credit he deserved for saving the city, and for putting him on trial for being a dwarf. Instead of confessing to the murder of King Joffrey, he wishes he’d done it—and demands trial by combat.

The “trial by combat” ploy that worked so well for Tyrion in the first season, however, doesn’t have quite the same strength it did then. His bodyguard, Bronn, has been promised a lordship and doesn’t want to fight the Mountain, Cersei’s champion. Jaime is no longer capable, even if he could go against his sister. But the Red Viper, Oberyn Martell, sees the opportunity to take revenge on his sister’s murderer, Gregor Clegane, and becomes Tyrion’s champion.

In one of the most impressive duels in television history, Oberyn talks and fights the Mountain into a corner, stabbing him and severing his tendons, leaving him broken on the ground. But instead of simply finishing the deed, Oberyn postures to get the Mountain to finger Tywin for his murders. He slips up—quite literally—as the Mountain grabs his ankle and pulls him to the ground. Clegane confesses to the murders, but only as he kills Oberyn, winning the trial for Cersei and Tywin.

Yet Tyrion still has allies. Varys and Jaime find a way to free him from his cell before his execution, and the Imp heads to the Tower of the Hand to exact his revenge. There he finds Shae in Tywin’s bed, in the cruelest betrayal yet. She attacks him and he strangles her with the necklace he gave her. He then grabs his crossbow and finds his father, shooting him in the privy, killing Game of Thrones’ most powerful and human villain. Tywin dies, and Tyrion flees the city with Varys.

Although Sansa has finally left King’s Landing after two-plus seasons of abuse at the hands of King Joffrey, hiding in disguise in the Vale proves to be no safer for her. Although she manages to befriend the fragile Lord Robin Arryn, her relationship with Littlefinger—including him kissing her in the snow—causes Littlefinger’s new wife Lysa to grow jealous of her niece. This culminates in a mad Lysa threatening to push Sansa out of the Moon Door—and revealing that she had poisoned Jon Arryn at Littlefinger’s behest as well. Lord Baelish steps in and seems to calm Lysa down, telling her that he only had love for one woman—before telling her that it was her sister, Cat, and pushing Lysa out the Moon Door himself.

At the end of the season, a group of Vale lords approach to find out what happened to Lysa. Sansa, with Littlefinger’s fate in her hands, reveals her true name and lies to protect Baelish, putting him in her debt. At the end of the season, Sansa, now with her own agency instead of being forced into subservience to survive, steps out in an imposing black dress, ready to play the game of thrones for herself.

Sansa’s sister Arya also ends the season with her own major changes. Arya has one of the best scenes of the season premiere. When the Lannister power seems to be unbeatable, she manipulates the Hound into taking her inside an inn with Lannister soldiers, some of whom are on her list. The Hound offers a powerful note of resistance—“Fuck the king”—and the two combine to kill the Lannister soldiers, with Arya retrieving Needle in the process.

Although Clegane is on Arya’s list, the two form an unsteady alliance and mentorship. His plan is now to ransom her to her aunt Lysa in the Vale, so they must traverse the war-torn and occupied Riverlands, stealing and fighting all the way. They arrive at the Vale just after Lysa’s murder, a fact that sends Arya into hysterical laughter. As they head back into the Riverlands, the two have a surprise meeting with Brienne of Tarth.

After spending some awkward time in King’s Landing, Brienne is given a new quest. Jaime Lannister, remembering his promise to Catelyn Stark, assigns her his job of finding and keeping the Stark girls safe. He also gives her a new Valyrian steel sword, Oathkeeper, reforged from Ned Stark’s Ice, as well as Tyrion’s former squire, Podrick Payne.

The two seek Sansa Stark with no luck until they come to the Inn at the Crossroads, where Hot Pie reveals that the long-missing Arya Stark is alive. Brienne seeks her out, correctly guessing with Pod that she might have gone to the Vale and her aunt. In a chance encounter, Arya meets Brienne and is initially impressed with the woman fighter. But the Hound recognizes that Brienne has a Lannister sword and starts a fight with the Maid of Tarth for Arya.

This is a major departure from the novels, where the Hound fights a group of his brother’s men from Harrenhal in the third book, while Brienne fights a different set of Harrenhal mercenaries in the fourth. In bypassing the fights with Lannister men, the show cleverly forces its best characters into a dramatic confrontation, which turns into a brutal, bloody test of strength. Brienne eventually wins, with the Hound falling down a cliff. She loses Arya, though, who finds the apparently dying Clegane. Rather than give him the gift of mercy, as he demands, she steals his coin and leaves him on the road. Her money isn’t enough to take her north to her brother—but finding out her captain is Braavosi, Arya shows him the coin Jaqen gave her, with the words “Valar Morghulis.” The last shot of the season is Arya Stark on the boat, leaving the war-torn Seven Kingdoms.

In the North, Roose Bolton attempts to consolidate his power as the new Warden. He orders his son Ramsay to help retake the lands from the Ironborn invaders, particularly Moat Cailin, which stands between his armies in the Riverlands and Winterfell. Roose is upset that Ramsay has damaged Theon too much, but the Bastard of Bolton reveals that Theon told him that he didn’t kill the Stark boys. The Boltons send Locke to the Wall to see if Jon Snow is sheltering the Starks.

Yara Greyjoy raids the Dreadfort, but finds her brother cowering in the kennels. When he refuses to leave, and Ramsay starts to kill the Ironborn, she retreats. Ramsay, pleased with his Reek’s loyalty, decides to use him to recapture Moat Cailin by playing the role of Theon Greyjoy and ordering the Ironborn to surrender. Theon succeeds—and Ramsay kills the Ironborn anyway. For his success, Roose Bolton rewards Ramsay with an order from King Tommen, legitimizing him and making him House Bolton’s heir.

Locke’s arrival at the Wall comes during a chaotic time for the Night’s Watch. Jon Snow has warned the brothers that Mance’s army is coming, and Tormund’s raiding party is causing refugees to flee to Castle Black. Jon’s old rival, Ser Alliser Thorne, is Acting Commander, and he doesn’t trust Jon—or fully heed his warnings. Jon realizes, however, that the information he gave Mance inflating the Watch’s numbers can be refuted by the deserters at Craster’s Keep, so he leads a small group to kill them. Locke goes along after overhearing Sam tell Jon that Bran is beyond the Wall.

The raiding party finds a scene of gothic horror, with Karl Tanner and the other deserters apparently having spent their months in Craster’s Keep in an orgy of rape and feasting. Coming so soon after the controversial Jaime-Cersei rape scene, this only reinforced the controversy about Game of Thrones. Nevertheless, Craster’s wives do get some revenge. As the battle rages, Jon finds Karl Tanner in the burning keep. With the aid of one of the women, he gruesomely kills Tanner, and Craster’s women enjoy the burning of their former nightmare of a home.

Bran Stark and his party are captured by Tanner’s men right before the raid, which disrupts Tanner’s interrogation and potential torture. Locke, in the midst of the battle, seeks Bran Stark and seems to capture him. But Bran skinchanges into Hodor’s body and slaughters Locke. Despite another near-meeting with Jon, Bran again turns north to find the Three-Eyed Raven.

Bran finds a giant tree, the object of his quest, when he’s attacked by the undead. Although Meera, Hodor, and Summer fight the skeletons off, one of them finds and stabs Jojen Reed to death. One of the Children of the Forest, the legendary, long-lost original inhabitants of Westeros, arrives and calls fire down on the skeletons, allowing Bran to meet the Raven, who promises to train the Stark boy. The battle at the weirwood tree also proved divisive among fans, with the overt use of magic and Harryhausen-like skeletons giving Game of Thrones the feel of a much more traditional fantasy—although this seems like the direction the novels are heading anyway.

Back at the Wall, the Watch and the Wildlings both prepare for a monumental battle. The ninth episode of the season, “The Watchers on the Wall,” is exclusively devoted to that fight, just as “Blackwater” was for that battle in the second season. But this was a bigger risk for Game of Thrones—unlike the fight for King’s Landing, the battle at the Wall involved only a tiny number of major characters: Jon, Sam, Ygritte, Alliser, Tormund, and Mance. Despite this, the episode is a monumental achievement. (See chapter 75 for more.)

While Mance’s army attacks the Wall directly, Tormund’s raiders hit Castle Black from behind. Ser Alliser is wounded in single combat with Tormund, giving Jon command of the siege. He heads down into the courtyard to meet them, facing Styr, the Magnar of Thenn, and defeating him in combat. Jon is faced by Ygritte, with a bow trained on his heart, but she hesitates and is killed by Olly, a refugee boy whose village was wiped out by Tormund and Ygritte’s raiders. Castle Black holds for the night.

Jon Snow decides that the only way the castle can survive is if Mance Rayder is killed, and his alliance of clans falls apart. Jon travels to Mance’s camp to parley, but Mance realizes Jon’s intention. Before the King-Beyond-the-Wall can do anything, a surprise charge from the knights of Stannis Baratheon’s army routs the Wildlings, capturing their king.

Stannis has been plotting this move the whole season, though largely off screen, keeping it a surprise. He got the coin to hire the ships to transport his army from the Iron Bank of Braavos, where Davos Seaworth’s inspired monologue convinces the bankers to support his claim. From the far North, Stannis now plans to reclaim the North and attack the Lannisters.

Finally, across the world in Slaver’s Bay, Dany’s revolutionary war effort continues—at least initially. With Astapor and Yunkai taken, her army moves to Meereen, which refuses to yield, crucifying 163 slave children along her march. She sends Grey Worm into the city to initiate a slave revolt. The ensuing riot kills many of the city’s Great Masters and opens the gates for the Breaker of Chains. As revenge for the murder of the slave children, Dany crucifies 163 members of the Great Masters’ families.

But in Meereen, the revolution begins to stall. News arrives that both Astapor and Yunkai have slid back—the former with a brutal Emperor named Cleon, and the latter becoming a slave state again. Having found that revolution needs to be solidified lest it be lost, she decides to stay in Meereen to learn how to rule.

It doesn’t go so well. The Masters are a constant thorn in her side, demanding old privileges. Even some former slaves, who had been comfortable in their former lives, asked to return to slavery. Her more steadfast ally, Jorah Mormont, is revealed to have spied on her for King Robert, and he’s sent into exile. But worst of all, she finds out that her increasingly large dragons have begun killing humans. Although the largest, Drogon, is still free, Dany decides to chain the two other dragons up in a pit beneath the city.

The end of the fourth season sees utter chaos for the Seven Kingdoms. The stories that had driven the previous few seasons—Tywin’s consolidation of power, Dany’s march to freedom, Mance’s invasion—have resolved. In the fifth season, the characters are forced to confront the wreckage that Season 4 left for them.