Game of Thrones Season 4 Ep 8 "The Mountain and the Viper" Review
- Thread starter Greg Tito
- Start date
I've found Dany's portrayal in the show to be annoyingly inconsistent as well. I'm not the biggest fan of her as portrayed in the books either but maybe the fact you spend more time with her there makes her at least seem less all over the place. I did like how they chose to play her being by Jorah's betrayal in this episode though. Of particular note was how they made it very clear that the part she was hurt by most was Jorah revealing she was carrying a child. That showed, to me at least, a little bit of actual political shrewdness. One lone girl on the other end of the world isn't much of a threat. A girl wedded to a Khal and carrying a child who could carry on the legacy of the Targaryen line however? That's something much more dangerous.
I also really enjoyed the scene with Jamie and Tyrion. Such a good moment that had me waiting for the big revelation. That big moment that would clarify the situation. And then there wasn't one, and that made me love the scene even more.
I actually found the Viper VS Mountain fight a little underwhelming. Maybe it was due to me knowing how it ended, but it just didn't feel very epic. It was too short and, despite his size, I was never convinced that The Mountain was all that much of a threat. As the fight was choreographed, Oberyn just made it look too easy. Had we at least recently seen The Mountain in action outside of slaughtering unarmed slaves it might have been different.
I sort of expected the fight to be the big episode 9 moment of this season so I'm quite interested in seeing what they choose instead. I also am very much looking forward to seeing how the apparent Arya/Sansa/Brienne collision is going to be handled.
I also really enjoyed the scene with Jamie and Tyrion. Such a good moment that had me waiting for the big revelation. That big moment that would clarify the situation. And then there wasn't one, and that made me love the scene even more.
I actually found the Viper VS Mountain fight a little underwhelming. Maybe it was due to me knowing how it ended, but it just didn't feel very epic. It was too short and, despite his size, I was never convinced that The Mountain was all that much of a threat. As the fight was choreographed, Oberyn just made it look too easy. Had we at least recently seen The Mountain in action outside of slaughtering unarmed slaves it might have been different.
I sort of expected the fight to be the big episode 9 moment of this season so I'm quite interested in seeing what they choose instead. I also am very much looking forward to seeing how the apparent Arya/Sansa/Brienne collision is going to be handled.
I was also disappointed about the way in which Dany dismissed Jorah. I think the little details about him being self-righteous rather than humble was important. As was the fact that Dany really didn't want to dismiss him and it really tears her up that he doesn't give her a choice.
It seems like a small thing to nitpick about but Daenerys is straying away from being relatable and sympathetic and I think they need to show her softer and caring side a bit more.
It seems like a small thing to nitpick about but Daenerys is straying away from being relatable and sympathetic and I think they need to show her softer and caring side a bit more.
Another moment in the episode that jumped out to me was in the scene where Tyrion's listing off all the different words for murdering a family member, it's Jamie who brings up "cousin." I just thought that was a neat and subtle little call back to Jamie's escape from Robb's camp in season two.
Captcha: "the next level" - it truly is, captcha. It truly is.
Captcha: "the next level" - it truly is, captcha. It truly is.
Preach.freaper said:
I was fairly certain the Red Viper was going to get killed, I know how Georgie works by now, even after everything looked to be working out my thought process went basically like this: "Chop off his hands, chop off his hands, chop off his...why are you STANDING SO CLOSE?!?! Ope your fucking dead. I hate this show."
It is terribly unfortunate seeing as he was my favorite new character and the only decent fighter who isn't a complete pile of crap morally. Basically he was obvious fodder for our disgusting author. Those visuals went too far in my opinion, goddamn I didn't need to see that and I don't get squeamish at all. I'm curious as to how he died in the book and whether or not the skull pop was a new edition, I feel like it probably was.
Of course you did, that was the calculation the writers made. XD Oberyn is the only character in the series who appeared in all 8 of the episodes up to the current this season, and he tended to give very charismatic performances, all the while detesting the detestable lannisters while showing sympathy for the sympathetic one. It was all a deliberate effort to endear him as much to the fans as possible before he died. Pack of trolls, all of 'em... though I guess GRRM did the same thing with him. XD (though, in his defense, I think he said he was surprised the character developed such a following)freaper said:
Ah, I figured, personally I feel like that would have been better just to be quick about it. From what I've been hearing about half the audience shuts their eyes as soon as Gregor gets a hold of him anyway, can't really blame them haha.balladbird said:
I'm so freaking furious with that fight... I mean, I'm not against Oberyn dying, I'm against how he died. It just felt so completely forced. Are you seriously telling me that a warrior of Oberyn's skills and reflexes wouldn't just, you know, ROLL AWAY after getting swiped to the ground? Or that he wouldn't be able to simply block a direct hit to the face? Or are we just gonna dismiss that The Mountain was able to do all that after getting pierced, cut, and poisoned while wearing a HEAVY ARMOR! And not just that, that fucking caricature of a character even had a whitty remark to say as a final nail polish on the middle finger to the whole audience. It just felt forced. I don't think I was ever so disappointed with that show before. It just feels that everyone does deliberately things just so that bad guys would win. Oh sure, give up to the army that has A FLAYED MAN as their flag, no way it's gonna backfire.
And also, when Mortal Kombat feels less violent that this, you know you're trying too hard.
And also, when Mortal Kombat feels less violent that this, you know you're trying too hard.
The Mountain started confessing to get his attention and he told Oberyn what he did and then said "I smashed her skull, like this!" and then smashed Oberyns skull like a watermelon with a single punch with blood and brains going everywhere, the way it happened was different but the end result was the same.Right Hook said:
This, so much this. Why the flying fuck did Oberyn try to get on top of The Moutanin like he was going to punch him out, what the fuck? Oberyn could of just rolled to the side and got his spear but nope. He thought he could take on the pissed off near steroidal psychopath. Even more so in the book when he's supposedly 8ft and has the equivilent of a tank hanging off him as armor.IllumInaTIma said:
I don't think Oberyn tried to get on the top of The Mountain, but rather the Mountain lifted Oberyn above himself to punch him. It's still freaking bullshit though.DerangedHobo said:
I think you missed a bit of neat phrasing there. IIRC, Ramsey said something like, "Did they really expect me to keep my word? It's something of a lost art. Flaying is difficult, but it's important to keep up traditions." There's a lovely bit of ambiguity about the "lost art".
I think the Mountain grabbed him right as he fell, preventing him from getting away. And it shows the character of the Red Viper well; he was skilled and cocky, he thought he had won and was about to reap his vengeance, and his lack of care was met with an utterly brutal end. The victory of viciousness over honour, skill, cleverness and grace (at least short-term) has been hammered in with this show over and over again.IllumInaTIma said:
As for the Mountain being able to do that... that's kind of the point. He's a freak of nature, unnaturally strong and tough. Unfortunately, the show didn't show him off as much as they could have (change of actor didn't help) but he was still clearly not exactly human. To me, his 'witty' response felt justified as the sort of nasty thing a bully might say when he has you entirely in his power.
And surrendering to the Boltons was basically the only option the ironborn had. The show only gave it a brief time (I liked this episode, but by golly it was fast-paced), but the garrison was dying of disease and harassment. If they didn't give up, they'd be whittled down; the leader decided to fight to the end, but clearly his men weren't so keen and seized whatever out they could. Plus, the banner doesn't mean they are untrustworthy per se: they have a sinister reputation, but they say (both in the books and some time in the second season) that the Boltons are supposed to have given up flaying centuries ago. They're a noble house who spit upon the honour of their word by going back on the surrender. Even the ironborn, who don't like the rest of the kingdoms, wouldn't massacre people who had surrendered.
Ah yeah you're right, it was a split second and I didn't see The Mountain's arm, I still think Oberyn could of got away or resisted a little bit more though or could of kept his distance.IllumInaTIma said:
Oh man, totally. And he could've easily blocked that direct hit as Mountain didn't hold Oberyn's hands.DerangedHobo said: