How would you rate episode 409?

[Casso, King of the Seals]

9/10.

The whole thing was very good and I had chills when Grenn and his companions had their speech while waiting for the giant to come at them. The acting was pretty amazing, too. I think they did justice to Ygritte dying and I am glad they did not kill off Ser Alliser or Tormund. This episode actually felt like something out of this season, the ending when Jon faces the sun on the northern side of the Wall was almost like reading the book. It was great, almost flawless. Give me the finale! (And I think that if they open with a rather long sequence of Jon talking to Mance, the moment from the books can be represented quite fine without the scene being in an episode completely devoted to the Wall; I hope Alex Graves keeps true to Marshall's style of directing.)

Episodes 1-9: 7;10;8;9;10;8;9;10;9/10.

[Stannis Eats No Peaches]

8 It was missing something (besides Stannis). The ending was anticlimactic and...meh.

[taipan]

Gave it a 6. My lowest of the series.

I can understand why the TV watchers loved it. Plenty of action, great film work, minimal talking. Great.

Sadly the plot development was zero. Wildlings attack wall, Wildlings lose. Wildlings regroup to attack on the morrow. Couple of minor characters killed off. Traditionally episode 9 has to be the showpiece action episode so we got that. Stannis arriving at the end should have closed it off.

Now we have a crap load to be telescoped into episode 10.

[Velociraptor]

I'm just gonna go ahead and give this a 10/10. The small nitpicking I may have had with the episode had nothing to do with objective quality, but more to do with my preferences. In terms of produciton quality this was amazing. And well rounded for an episode that focused on one event in one place. The cinematography was spectacular, particularly that shot circling the courtyard and showing all the different fighters. The fighting itself was good and looked realistic enough too. The show has recently gone a bit overboard with the fight choreography, abandoning realism in favor of cinematic spins, twirls, etc, but watching this episode more often than not the actors sold that they were really people fighting for their lives. The special effects deserve a recognition as well, I actually expected the show would cut the mammoths due to costs, but I was happy and impressed to see that one made it and looked spectacular to behold. All in all, I sincerely doubt this episode, focusing solely on the Battle for Castle Black could have been done any better.

[Dru]

8 only because Pip and Gren. Why both? Also, very slow start. Didnt expect Stannis this episode but hoped to hear his horns blowing arrival to end it. Yorin was amazing.

[Bowen]

Ok I've put up with some bad episodes of late but this episode was amazing I thought and was a real pay off,yes I'd of liked it to have gone on longer but there were no fillers in this just pure excitement all the way.

Interesting insight into Jon being a Warg,we could see through ghosts eyes which told us it was Jon I'm sure,diet like Pyp n Edds death though guess they were replacing Donal Noye.

All those that were wondering about Stannis,he doesn't turn up at this battle anyway so I'm fine with it,so glad they for the most part stayed true to the books it was as epic as the Blackwater I reckon.

[Daenor]

10 for me.I really enjoyed this.My only complaint is that i wish we had seen the fight against the giant at the gate.I have complained in the past about changes in the books but i didn't mind today.This was a great adaptation for TV

[AlpenglowMemories]

7

It was a solid episode overall.

I can get behind the opinion that it didn't feel particularly important, or decisive. After I finished watching it, I did actually question just how important/necessary handling the battle like this really was. I had fun, though I think there might have been better ways to go about it.

One big negative was that the writing for this episode was really duff. I liked the idea of some of the scenes, but the execution was a real misfire.

I missed Mance. I wish we'd had at least a scene or two with him, commanding, given that it's his army and he has (supposedly) been the primary antagonist for this arc. The lack of identifiable faces amongst the Northern host was a disappointment; where was Rattleshirt, or someone to connect with. Season 3 dropped the ball with the Wildling bonding, there's no reason for us to care particularly for any of them, save Ygritte.

Ygritte's death was another misfire. That whole sequence felt over-blown, like when they were on top of the Wall. It was too maudlin for my taste.

Marshall's direction was good, the best of the season actually. He had several fun shots, including that aerial one of the Thenn's moving towards Castle Black. the tracking shot was good too. I liked a lot of the action ideas, especially the archer Giant. The CG was impressive.

The scale was fine, they're on a limited budget. What we got was good, I thought; at least we had several expansive shots of the army. The score was forgettable (although that's been a consistent grievance for me throughout the season).

On the whole, it was fun, visually nice, and I wouldn't mind if Marshall came back and did a 'regular' type episode.

Edited June 9, 2014 by Ye_Olde_Huorn

[Rashtibram]

I gave this one an 8. Absolutely fantastic from both a production and narrative standpoint, but it could have easily pulled a nine had the producers not chosen to hold off on Stannis' arrival. As it was, it was quite brilliant for the most part, from Sam cursing to Giants Riding Mammoths to Grenn's last stand to Edd holding the Wall to Jon vs. Styr…the list goes on. While I would have liked to have seen more wide shots of the 100,000 men who were supposedly just out of sight within the trees, I understand the budgetary restrictions (here's to hoping we at least get a decent shot of Stannis' cavalry next week :cheers:) and it didn't unduly bother me as the Wildlings' tactics in not displaying the full army made sense. I also loved the added nod to the "cost of revenge" theme of the season in Olly being the one to dispatch Ygritte.

This is my first 8 since 'The Rains of Castamere' and one of three episodes in the entire series to have pulled a rating higher than seven. Needless to say, I enjoyed it :D

[KingintheNorth99]

Solid 8/10, however, definitely no Blackwater!

[Wolf Girl Arya]

I know this is an unpopular opinion but I am perfectly okay with Stannis not showing up in this episode.

The entire thing was about the Night's Watch and having Stannis show up to save the day would have cheapened it, in my opinion, not to mention would have felt out of place.

The set up in the episode was phenomenal. Jon becoming the hardened man to lead the NW, Janos Slynt being the douche that he is, Sam and Maester Aemon bonding, the fact that the NW is actually needed.

The CGI was excellent and while there wasn't a whole lot of dialogue, it fit perfectly and got the point across. I'll admit, I broke down when Grenn started reciting the vows.

I knocked it down to an 8, mostly because of the lightening. Sometimes, it was hard to tell who was attacking whom, but it wasn't the worst.

Stannis' arrival may just be the hopeful ending Sophie Turner was hinting at.

[Jaqen H'gcarl]

Freaking awesome. One of the best 50 minutes of TV I've ever seen in my life.

ABSOLUTELY.

This episode was BY FAR the best of the Season. Holy fuck this episode was awesome.

[ServantOnIce]

10/10. Second best of the season behind, "The Mountain and The Viper."

[KalibakCruel]

I honestly think this was one of the best episodes of the series. The camera work was awesome, everyone acted fantastically, it sets up a fun episode 10 and not just a boring tie up episode 10, the fights were well done and we actually saw cool characters crossing swords.

[Widows_Blood]

Probably my favorite episode of the series so far. The action sequences were fantastic. But the quieter scenes were very memorable to me as well. Maestor Aemon's monolgue was beautifully acted and written, Jon and Ygritte was wonderful (brought a tear to my eye) some of the action set pieces were fantastic as well. Loved it all.

[Drogon's Personal Trainer]

Well, I'm sorry, guys, but as I was entertained yet again from start to finish, I gave this 10. And call me a soppy old fart, but I blubbed like a pillock when Ygritte stayed her arm and couldn't kill Jon. From that moment I was in Hollywood and didn't give a shit :)

I'm not a CGI expert, nor do I go in for a lot of 'action films' - they bore me usually - so as some have pointed out here, maybe my expectations were lower. I was blown away by the epic scenes, the camera work and the lighting etc. etc.

And because I'd stayed around last night reading all your comments, I knew Stannis wasn't going to show up, so I could watch without that expectation. Don't worry, we'll get him next week. However, I do feel your pain. I'm a Stannis fan too and he has been sidelined all the way through. It amazes me that D&D hired an actor of Dillane's calibre only to waste him. They don't deserve him! But I think the Stannis problem is only an echo of all the other story lines that are somewhat squeezed out by the Tyrion-centric show this has become. I love Tyrion as a character, and like Dinklage, but it is so obvious he's been set up as THE main character in this tale. As much as I admire his cleverness and the political intrigues at KL, I really think the time spent there does a disservice to other parts of the saga. Hope this isn't too much of a sacrilege to you all, but I've wanted to get it off my chest for a little while now.

[LordStoneheart]

So why Jon only close Grenn's eyes? I mean there were give others there. I thought he cared about all his NW brothers. What a jerk. He doesn't deserve Lord Commander position.

No, but really, rethinking that it's just a little funny. :D

[Drogon's Personal Trainer]

8 only because Pip and Gren. Why both? Also, very slow start. Didnt expect Stannis this episode but hoped to hear his horns blowing arrival to end it. Yorin was amazing.

Didn't Yorin die in Season 2? :)

[Hodor's Dragon]

I think one reason that opinions vary fairly widely on this episode is that this episode was, by far, the episode most dominated by action and least by dialogue, characterization and acting. Even in the other "battle episode," other than the wildfire explosion to me the most memorable scenes were scenes of dialogue.

Action movies are very popular, but they are not appreciated by all. It's not surprising that different folks see this episode very differently.

[HelenaExMachina]

So-so. Wasn't my favourite episode, but wasn't horrendous. Didn't bother me that there was no Stannis, but felt the battle dragged too long. I was ready for the episode to finish by the end. 5.5 rounded to 6

ETA: To elavorate a little more. I did not feel excited or tense at all. We had some Wildlings run at the Wall and start climbing...around 10 of them, a number which is obviously no real threat. Then we had a mammoth and some giants (I liked the visuals here) but only one lives and gets into the tunnel. Grenn vs the Giant could have been a scene that excited me. Also, the Nights Watch must be Wights, the amount of times they sprang back up in the yard. Lackluster to me.

Also disliked the over exaggeration of Janos Slynt. We already dislike him, no need to make him so grossly incompetent and cowardly as he was this episode.

Edited June 9, 2014 by HelenaAndTheMachine