GAME OF THRONES Oathkeeper review

Raff returns from 'North of the Wall' to bring us her review of the latest Game of Thrones episode, Oathkeeper.

You may have noticed that I was suspiciously absent last week, and there was no review. Well, that was because I had the flu and I was too ill to even watch TV. I did try to watch last week’s episode on time, but I kept sneezing and was just gross, so I gave up. This week, I'm back and eager to tell you what I thought of Oathkeeper. But, before that, I wanted to talk to you a bit about last week’s episode, Breaker Of Chains.

The talking point of last week’s episode was the rape scene. Cersei and Jamie are standing over Joffrey’s body and they comfort each other. One thing leads to another and Jamie ends up forcing himself on Cersei. This scene does not appear in the books, and personally, I hated it. I didn’t think there was any place in the episode for a scene like this. Furthermore, I'm a Jamie fan and in the books, I hate the way Cersei treats him. Now though, there is a reason for her to hate him so much.

I don’t think that it suits his character to force himself on his sister, and especially when they are standing next to their incestuous son’s dead body. If that didn’t freak me out enough, the weird boiled egg eyes that were on Joffrey’s face certainly sent me over the edge.

Now, I have done some research and I have found a quote from George R.R Martin, in which he states that he is using the TV show as a “butterfly effect,” so it is never going to be exactly the same as the books, but he is excited to see how certain changes affect the rest of the story, especially with what happens this week.

This sort of makes me feel better, but only by a little bit, because I am looking forward to see how the show will differ from what happened in the books. So, now that I have gotten that off my chest, let's move on to “Oathkeeper”

Again, I really enjoyed this episode and I felt that the story was solid. The more episodes that I see, the more they remind me of how the books are set out. I just love the way they can pick up a character’s story from anywhere and we will be hooked, without being confused as to what has gone on.

Jamie Lannister

Jamie features in this episode a lot, which I was very happy about (and not because I have a crush on him……really……I don’t……..really!). We see him being a supportive big brother to Tyrion, who is still in prison, and we see him being hated by Cersei. I think their relationship as brother and sister, and weird lovers, is completely over now.

But, the main part of his arc that I loved was his interaction with Brienne. I just love them two together. I don’t necessarily ship (definition: A term used to describe fan fictions that take previously created characters and put them as a pair) them, but I like them together as best friends. I love that Jamie trusts her enough to find Sansa and not kill her, and then when he gave her the sword and the armor and she named the sword “oathkeeper,” it kind of give me feelings in my tummy and it was like he had just asked her to marry him.

I also loved that Jamie sent Pod as her squire, because Pod is in danger if he doesn’t turn against Tyrion, and he wants someone watching over Brienne. See, how can it be true to his character to rape, and then be so caring about another? Yes, I am still on that.

Bran

This week, Bran and his group were captured by the Mutineers at Craster’s Keep, because he heard a baby crying who was being offered to the White Walkers, to keep them away.

Ghost and Summer were reunited, sort of, and I assume that both of them are now in cages. Bran, being the nice boy that he is, tells them his full name so that they aren’t killed, and Karl and Rast realise that they have Jon Snow’s brother.

Karl is vile. He was actually drinking out of Craster’s skull! These scenes made me comprehend how much really goes on in these episodes, in the background you could hear girls being raped and screaming. It was all very evil and I hope Jon Snow puts an arrow through Rast and Karl.

The most telling scene from this arc was after Rast took the baby to the white walkers. One of the walkers takes the baby to a throne area, and another, more lucid, master walker picks him up. I very nearly screamed at this scene because I thought the walker was going to kill the baby. I was eating supper and I couldn’t even finish it. My toast went soggy as I watched the walker touch the baby with his weird zombie fingernail and the baby was transformed to a walker. I was so happy that we didn’t see anything more gruesome, that I wasn’t really bothered that the kid now has walker eyes.

Jon Snow

I think we see a stronger Jon Snow in this episode. He's helping the younger men to train and is smarter with his actions. He wants to go to Crasters Keep to get Bran back, but doesn’t tell the others that because he's only supposed to care about the Brother’s of the Nights Watch.

So, he asks for volunteers and because he has made a lot friends, about 6 men volunteer. This made me proud about how respected he is.

In the books, Sam does not tell Jon Snow about Bran being alive, so this is going to be another ‘butterfly effect’ and I have no idea how it is going to pan out. I am very excited to find out though!

Sansa, Margaery and Daenerys

I thought these characters were kind of secondary to the other story arcs. Grey Worm and his men storm Mereen and convince the slaves to turn on their masters so that they can be free. Of course they do, and then Dany hangs the masters from crosses, like they did to the slaves, and raises her flag at the top of the pyramid.

I have never gotten the feeling that Daenerys is a completely pure character because she does have a dark side to her. She is the mother of dragons after all. But, when Ser Barristan suggested she show mercy to the masters, and she nails them up regardless, I don’t think there was a single viewer in the world that thought she was being evil. They deserved what they got really.

Then, with Sansa, we see that she is on her way to Eerie because Littlefinger is betrothed to her Aunt. She is not naïve and she thinks Littlefinger has a sinister side. Well, he blatantly does, since he had her wear the death necklace.

With Margaery, we see that she is still wearing black after Joffrey experienced the choke of the century, and her Gran, Queen of Thornes, has made sure that she is going to marry Tommen, the next illegitimate King.

The Queen of Thornes all but confesses to having something to do with the plot to kill Joffrey and then she leaves. But not before advising Margaery to cosy up to her boy king before Cersai gets her filthy mitts into him. So, she sneaks into his room and has him eating out of her hand before she can almost kiss him. It was brilliant!

Conclusion

Overall, I think Oathkeeper was kind of a filler episode, because it's setting up many things that are to come. Although, no one has any idea what will exactly happen because the show is diverting from the books. Could we see a family reunion between Sansa and Arya, since they are both heading to Eerie? Or, will Jon Snow get to Crasters Keep to save Bran and reunite with him? Who knows?

Rating: 8/10

Watch the trailer for next weeks episode, First Of His Name, here.

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