Game of Thrones “Battle of the Bastards”: The Five Best Things in this week’s episode

It was almost worth suffering through last week’s poor episode to get to the highs this week. Though it never quite reached the peak of Blackwater or Watchers on the Wall, the Battle of the Bastards was still one of the best hours of television I’ve ever seen. Thankfully for me there wasn’t a ton of areas visited, otherwise it would have been hard to keep this list down to five, but I just managed it.

Spoilers ahead as I look at the Five Best Things in this week’s Game of Thrones…

WUN WUN

It was fitting that so many sporting events coincided with this episode because there is no better way to describe Wun Wun than as this week’s MVP. It was a fantastic moment to shine for the giant, who now departs the show and probably for one reason more than any other: he is too overpowered. If Wun Wun stuck around, his tactical advantage coupled with Jon’s rise as main power in the North would create an almost un-killable war juggernaut, and they already have one of those in the form of Daenerys. It’s a shame we never got to learn more about Wun Wun on the show as there was plenty of room there to create an interesting bond with the character, something that would have made his fall more tragic. Instead, we are left to project onto the beast, and those with a large amount of empathy will feel greatly saddened to see his passing. My favourite moment of this episode came from Wun Wun, as the Bolton army backed into Winterfell. For a fleeting moment, it seemed like we might see the battle drag into next week but thankfully that depressing thought didn’t last. The gates of Winterfell may be strong but they were never built to keep out giants and they didn’t. Wun Wun ripped through the door in minutes, and his status as the MVP of the Battle of the Bastards was cemented in an instant of splintered wood and loud cheers from the audience. He will be missed.

DAENERYS

Daenerys has had a rocky year this season as she hasn’t really done a whole lot. Though that does seem to have been a symptom suffered by a lot of characters. The trouble with Daenerys actually mirrors Wun Wun as she is way too overpowered at this point in the show. In this episode we see a massive armada of ships bombarding Meereen with catapults and she doesn’t even blink, because she doesn’t need to. When you get to a point that a character is this powerful in the show it can be a worrying thing, as it creates a numbing feeling, where the only replacement for worry with regards a character’s safety can come in the form of awe. Thankfully, in this week’s episode we get a very satisfying helping of awe. The image of Daenerys circling over the invading slaver ships was breathtaking, with an epic feeling I’ve never witnessed on television before. By the close of this season we should be seeing the end of Daenerys need to worry about the masters and their slaves, with chances of rebellion all but quashed following her display at Slavers Bay. Couple that with the fact that Theon and Yara show up to offer ships and hopefully we have finally reached the point when Daenerys heads West to reclaim her throne in Westeros. I could certainly use a break from Meereen for a while, and by a while, I mean forever.

SANSA

Sansa didn’t get the amount of screen time that was devoted to other characters this week but she certainly managed some great moments when she was offered the opportunity. There was a quality scene where she stands up for her relevance in a war-torn North. She may not be a tactical genius or a grizzled war veteran but she has battle scars that give her knowledge and power that someone like Jon hasn’t. In fact, it could be easily argued that Jon should have listened to her, nearly getting himself killed for his descent into an emotionally-driven attack on Ramsay. The best part of Sansa’s season and her arc going forward is the unpredictability of it. She is now a cold shadow of her former naïve self and finally in a position she hasn’t found herself in before: she has the power of choice. She is actually a mirror for Jon as they both started out playing the part of the eldest daughter and bastard son to perfection, before finding themselves in a situation they couldn’t get out of no matter how much they desired at times to be free. Now they both stand as the rulers of Winterfell and their path is their own. Where Sansa goes now will be her decision and it speaks well to her character. She didn’t get lucky. She didn’t somehow fall into a good situation. She fought tooth and nail to get here, and she now has one of the strongest wills of all of Game of Thrones’s characters. What she does with it now is up to her.

RAMSEY

As much as it pains me to admit, Ramsay Bolton will be missed. He was an incredibly charismatic villain and the strongest one the show has seen outside of Cersei. Though he had to go. The end of this episode would have been incredibly unsatisfying had he been allowed to live and his time was up. Thankfully, he managed to go down with an incredible showing. Considering his time on the show had plenty of strong highlights it was surprising they managed to pull one out that could very well be his high point on the show. The way he toys with Rickon Stark, and Jon Snow in the process, was almost deliciously evil and summed up his character in a nutshell. Not only was he sadistic but he was also highly intelligent and skilfully trained. He knows he can kill Rickon at any time. He simply waited for Jon to get close enough to almost touch his brother. The thing that stands out as well in this episode is that Ramsay actually beats Jon Snow. Yes, he had a massive numbers advantage but he also didn’t need to meet Jon on the field of battle outside Winterfell. Ramsay trusted his tactics and his ability to force people to act on emotion and he won. He just got unlucky that the Eyrie decided to show up and save the day. Unfortunately for Ramsay, he eventually learned what the Starks have learned so many times on this show. You may be right but that doesn’t guarantee you anything in the world of Westeros.

JON

After spending his entire season building up to it, this episode was all about Jon Snow moving to another level. Gone are his days in the Night’s Watch, and with them, his place warming the political bench. While before the matters of the realm were out of his reach, he now has a direct, and major say in what happens in Westeros. This episode was brutal and the pure grit that Jon displayed was the finest he has shown on the show to date. Even when the wildlings were at The Wall he was mostly reacting. Here, he gets to flex his tactical muscles before showcasing the kind of emotion fans have been waiting years for. This wasn’t broody, the-world-is-against-me Jon, this was I’m-going-to-bring-this-world-to-its-knees-in-honour-of-my-family Jon and it delivered in every regard. The best part of Jon’s arc this season is how closely he’s been brought back into the world of the Starks, a fact that had been lost for a long time. So disconnected had he been at The Wall, as the wheels of the game of thrones turned, that it could be easily forgotten how close he once was to his brothers and sisters. This season, with his reconciliation with Sansa and his pain at the death of Rickon, Jon has finally regained his place in the Stark family. What happens from here on out will be interesting, especially if Jon decides to come knocking on the doors of The Twins to pay Walder Frey a visit. For now, the culmination of Jon’s story this season may simply be him settling into Winterfell, but it was a sweet sight to see the direwolf sigil draped over the walls of Winterfell once more. Though it all could be a sick trick on the part of the writers, and we could be seeing the Starks retake Winterfell just in time for the White Walkers to come flooding through The Wall en-route to taking the North and Winterfell next year. For now though, it is great to be able to enjoy a Stark victory led by Jon Snow, even if it was a very predictable season-long arc. Let’s hope there’s plenty more victories for Jon, Sansa and the Stark family to come.

***********

If you like my review of this week’s Game of Thrones, why not check out my opinion of the The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of Last Week’s Episode “No One” or follow me on twitter. Thanks.