Game of Thrones
“Hardhome”
(HBO)
A
Now this is the episode that everyone has been waiting for. After a very mediocre season, we have finally been gifted with one of the best episodes the show has produced. “Hardhome” drove it home, hard, making the season’s patchy first six episodes ultimately worth it.
The style of this episode is subtle and beautiful. The shots are set up in an understated way that allows the conversations between characters to be the focal point. And in this episode, the dialogue didn’t drag. It served a purpose and was interesting. The scenes with both Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) and Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) are as engaging as one would hope. Tyrion’s wit is exemplified as he talks Daenerys out of executing her once-right-hand man, Jorah, after his return from banishment. Tyrion not only saves his life but also saves his own and is promoted by Daenerys from a “walking dead man” to her advisor. This was an exceptional episode for Daenerys, even though she is not in many scenes. Clarke excels in the scene appointing Tyrion as her advisor. You can see in her face the judgement and her dilemma of what to do with Tyrion. Her eyes lazily pierce him as she sizes him up, then delivering one of the best lines in the show when describing how she will handle the other families going after the throne: “I’m not going to stop the wheel; I’m going to break the wheel.” It’s at that moment when I truly believed Daenerys and Clarke’s delivery was spine-tingling.
We also see Cersei breaking down, imprisoned, weak, and vulnerable. You can tell that she has never been without her privileges and, all things considered, she is handling it well, slowly cracking but still unbroken as opposed to some other characters (Reek). On that note, Sansa finally gets some reprieve after Reek confesses that he didn’t murder her brothers. Reek informs her that her two brothers are alive and Sansa now has even more reason to keep surviving. She has a glimmer of hope.
In the episode’s final 20 to 25 minutes, Game of Thrones does something that it has done in the past but never to this magnitude, routinely bouncing around to numerous storylines so you never quite know what the final blow will be. Usually, it’s the last 10 minutes when you realize who is involved in the inevitable cliffhanger, but this episode “breaks the wheel,” if you will.
Jon Snow arrives to meet the Wildlings so he can convince them to join sides. The scene with him convincing the Wildlings that the White Walkers will destroy them all is engrossing. This small scene was able to establish new characters, their beliefs, their motives, only to kill them 10 minutes later. When the Wildlings have decided which side they are going to play for, they start loading into boats to follow Jon while others choose to stay put when, yes, winter comes. (Finally! Well, if anything, this is the first heavy snow of the season.)
The White Walkers don’t just attack the Wildlings; they demolish them. After an entire season of zero White Walker appearances, this episode is like being vegan for two months and then gorging at Fogo de Chao. The creativity in this final battle scene is some of the best I have ever seen. From Jon Snow fighting the old, familiar, blue-Gandalf general to the scene of those ice zombies throwing themselves off the side of a mountain only to come back to life and continue their rampage, this battle is layered and all inclusive.
What made it so exciting — ahead of other endings like “Blackwater” and the Red Wedding — is that no one knew this was going to happen; it came out of nowhere, and on purpose. This is one change from the books that I think most people can agree is welcome. The execution was chilling, and it was both gorgeously shot and immensely dramatic. Peter Jackson was probably taking notes and slapping himself in the face. With two episodes left, I, like many, have regained my faith in the show and how great it can be. “Hardhome” was balanced perfectly and knew exactly what it was doing, and it will go down as one of the best episodes the series has ever produced.
