Clayton_Suggs

Is it possible to criticize an episode without being called a "fanboy" or a "purist." This is a message board devoted to dissecting episodes. Sure, some of the criticism may go too far, but if you want cheerleading go to IGN. I'll take a "purist" over a smug cheerleader any day.

Was anyone else annoyed that Jon abandoned the battle to cradle a dying Ygritte in his arms? Definitely not Lord Commander behavior. He could have saved one of his brothers in that time. Why couldn't their tearful goodbyes have happened a couple of minutes later after the battle was over? Why did the kid have to kill her instead of a random arrow? Seemed far to convenient. At this rate, folks who haven't read the books will have no reason to think that Jon deserves to be LC. They'll probably accept it because he's a main character, but isn't Game of Thrones supposed to better than relying on TV tropes? Thorne seemed quite competent in this episode. Why should the brothers of the Night's Watch pick Jon over him? Other than that he's young, good looking and the main character. From a dramatic standpoint, Stannis should have showed up, but from a narrative standpoint it wouldn't have made sense. The only way it could have worked is if parts of the battle (like the initial raid) had happened in prior episodes, which would have been a better choice. I've had serious problems with pacing in this season, as well as the effect many of the show-only scenes have had on the narrative. They could have taken out the pointless Craster's Keep sequence and spent more time on the lead-up to the battle, perhaps even had Ygritte's death occur in an earlier episode. At its best, this season has still been great, but based on how the writers have struggled to weave together a narrative/prioritize in a way that makes sense even with ample book material to draw on, I"m having serious doubts about next season when they'll have to make up even more material and pull of some extreme narrative gymnastics in order for the timeline to make sense.

Stannis is one of my favorite characters, but I don't see how he could have appeared in this episode without rushing the battle. That doesn't mean the cliffhanger didn't suck though. That said, I wasn't thrilled with the episode. Season 4 hasn't spent much time developing the Night's Watch and the scenes that did take place at the Wall were a mixed bag. I don't see how casual show watchers would care about Pyp and Grenn dying; why couldn't the showrunners have developed some of Jon's buddies instead of pointless Sam/Gilly scenes? Ygritte did noting but massacre people this season and all of her best material happened last season. Her death was ok, but I didn't like that Jon abandoned the battle to cradle her dead body. He's a professional, isn't he? Not some schoolboy. Ygritte's death should have been in the aftermath of the battle. Blackwater was the culmination of narratives that had been building for the whole season; the Watchers on the Wall did not have the same momentum. The execution was fine, but we can see great battle scenes in any episode. My favorite parts of the episode came before the battle started. Jon/Sam, Sam/Aemon and Sam/Gilly were well-acted and written. Overall, an ok episode, but based on how the Night's Watch has been handled this season, I was expecting worse. I'd be fine with the battle continuing next episode if not for the fact that there are so many storylines to wrap up. It's going to feel overcrowded. The pacing this season has been off and I'm afraid that in episode 10, important events won't get their proper attention. Oh well, at least it wasn't terrible.