Much like ‘Blackwater’ from Season 2 “The Watchers on the Wall” was big, cinematic, and focused on just one of the many poly-rhythmic arcs dancing around Westeros. While this season has remained consistently exciting throughout, some story lines have been relatively muffled and haven’t been as fleshed-out as they have been in earlier seasons; Jon Snow and The Night’s Watch makes for one of these arcs.
There has been a detachment from what is going on at Castle Black, a sort of withdrawal of any emotional investment simply because this arc has felt more and more like filler material for the majority of the season; material that largely relies on how much you actually cared about the dynamic between Jon Snow and Ygritte. This episode reinvigorates the story line on The Wall; through sticking with this one arc and effectively developing its characters – while simultaneously killing many off – ‘The Watchers on the Wall’ has instantaneously taken one of Season 4’s more underwhelming stories and placed it above most.
The penultimate Season 4 episode had us remain on The Wall to witness the carnage Mance Rayder has released upon The Night’s Watch, watching as giants, mammoths, thenn, and wildlings attempted to overwhelm Castle Black and defeat the crows.
The “biggest fire the north has ever seen” was an ominous sight as director Neil Marshall (who helmed the aforementioned ‘Blackwater’) brilliantly mapped the geography of the battle with some gorgeous panning camera shots.
Technically, “The Watchers on the Wall” was flawless, and certainly remained one of the most visually impressive episodes to date – definitely the most expensive and grand. In particular, a 360 degree ‘lay of the land’ shot to spin around the entire battle inside Castle Black, was stunning, making the wall-to-wall fight scene look like one very well orchestrated theatrical number.
The pacing of the entire episode was near perfect, epic battle scenes were broken up by smaller, more concentrated workings while we had various brothers run around to demonstrate the strategies they employed to keep the free folk out.
Before the battle we got a nice reminder that Maestre Aemon was once heir to the throne and is related to Danaerys; Jon and Sam got into some male bonding; And Gilly was brought to The Wall so Sam could stop obsessing about whether she is alive or not. Some emotional stakes were settled in nicely before over half the episode was taken up by a battle which has been anticipated since the earlier seasons. Some gentle exposition throughout reminded us of the handicap that leans towards Mance Rayder, as Castle Black is only house to just over one hundred sworn brothers while Mance’s army outnumbers 1000 to 1.
A lot of impressive CGI and cinematic production took this battle and washed it straight down our throats with brilliant direction and eye-popping sequences, like a damn giant scythe being dropped on the those scaling the icy wall, or a giant using a massive crossbow to send a crow flying to a gruesome end.
The surly Alliser Thorne suddenly became likeable once the heat of the battle dawned upon him, setting aside his stonewalling of “Lord Snow” and stepping up to actually lead. His proficiency in battle placed him as a crucial element in this episode, dominating once the enemy breached Castle Black and even getting a one-up on the fiery Tormund until he was injured and forced to retreat.
On the other hand, another prominent figure at the head of Castle Black, Janos Slynt, proved to be just as dishonourable as he had been when Tyrion banished him form King’s Landing; first undermining the garrison at the top of The Wall simply because he had no faith in The Night’s Watch, and then crawling to hide in the same room as Gilly for the entire fight. Thank the seven gods for loveable Grenn, who stepped up and lied to “Brother Slynt” to give Jon the reigns of The Wall.
Grenn (and to a lesser extent, Pyp) finally rose to the occasion, proving to be an important character in this episode as he bravely gave his life to defend the inner gate from the lone, terrifying giant who managed to break through the first outer gate. The whole sequence of him rallying four other brothers to sacrifice themselves for their duty was a highlight, and certainly made his death sting a little bit. On the other hand, Sam’s new-found manliness inspired Pyp to fight back, albeit until Ygritte painfully shot him down. Both sad deaths of two characters who have been with us from season 1, but have never had much to say or do.
The feeling of triumph was etched into every hit Mance’s army would take, and whether it was dropping fire on giants and mammoths, Jon putting a hammer straight through Styr’s head, or Sam freeing Ghost and giving a simple “we need you boy” before the camera took the direwolf’s perspective, the battle sequence was full of fist-pumping, adrenaline moments that really kept the pace flying high until the last few minutes.
Ygritte’s death was always going to be predictable, but the way it happened was done so incredibly well that those (like me) who never really cared for the Jon-Ygritte Shakespearian love story would have probably screamed out when that arrow went through her. The fact that it came from the same kid whose father Ygritte killed was nice and poetic, but to have her death indirectly caused by Jon’s best friend (Sam encouraged the boy to fight) was a nice touch. And just as we start to care, the otherwise excellent Rose Leslie is given hammy dialogue to farewell Jon Snow with – and satisfy all those meme-lovers out there.
An episode that was all about the bang, ended with a whimper as the story pushed Jon Snow to once again travel north of the wall, this time with an intent to kill Mance Rayder. It’s some nice set up for what comes next, and finally gives Jon that air of leadership that has been needed to complete the character and remind us that this is a character we want to get behind.
The growth of both Jon and Sam as new generation crows, obviously primed take the lead reigns one day, sandwiched this outstanding episode. From Sam using some good ol’ critical thinking to find a loophole in their vows at the beginning of the episode, to Jon Snow breaking protocol and heading north to do what needs to be done, “The Watchers on the Wall” effectively demonstrated how far these two have come and how pragmatic their approach to shaping The Wall is becoming.
Review Score: FIVE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Positives
360 degree shot of the battle
Giants, mammoths, scythes, and massive crossbows
Sam’s newfound bravery
Pyp, Grenn, and Edd stepping up
Alliser Thorne fighting Tormund; Jon fighting Styr
Negatives
Ygritte’s farewell to Jon
Janos Slynt being Janos Slynt
Pyp not getting to do much before dying
Episode M.V.Ps: Jon, Grenn, Alliser, Edd, and Ghost
Game of Thrones airs Mondays at 3:30pm on Showcase
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