The moment
The Battle Of Castle Black
The episode
“The Watchers On The Wall” (season four, episode 9)
It’s hard to discuss “The Watchers On The Wall” without touching on season two’s “Blackwater.” Both depict climactic battles, both share a director in The Descent’s Neil Marshall, and both unfold with the kind of sprawl—in action and extras—that’s typically reserved for Hollywood. The Castle Black siege was as ballyhooed as Blackwater’s seaside skirmish in the months leading up to its unveiling, but many found it a letdown.
It satisfies on a surface level—the storytelling is clear, the pacing brisk, and the action thrilling—and even finds some visual ingenuity in the dreary towers of Castle Black, like the ice-shredding scythe that annihilates any wildlings scaling the wall. What the battle lacks, though, are the character beats of “Blackwater,” an episode that interspersed its clanging axes and wildfire with profound turns for Tyrion, Sansa, Cersei, Stannis, and a number of other major characters. Here, all we have is Jon Snow, who, at this point, is a total drag—sorry, Kit—and Sam, who, despite John Bradley’s endearing performance, simply doesn’t have the underdog charisma of Peter Dinklage. Rose Leslie remains compelling as Ygritte, but her relative absence this season goes a long way in nullifying the emotional impact of her death. She and Jon haven’t seen each other in nine episodes, and a blood-choked “you know nothing” isn’t enough to stir up their stale connection.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
