If you plan to watch this episode, do not read the following
article until you have watched it. Ok realistically I can’t stop you, but there
are SPOILERS below. You have been warned.
I’ve tried about three different ways to start off this
review, but I really can’t express how amazing I thought his episode was. For
the first time in this series, the entire episode focused on only area of
Westeros and it was completely warranted. If they had stuck to flip flopping
around the whole map, this episode wouldn’t have had the impact that it did. “Blackwater”
focuses on the long awaited war between Stannis and the Lannisters, with some
amazing side bits.
First, I want to talk about the MVP of season 2 (I will do
season 2 awards after the season is done), Tyrion Lannister. For the last few
episodes, he has been the only person in King’s Landing that has been planning
for a way to defend against Stannis and his army. He initially unleashes the
attack of Wildfire/pig shit on Stannis’ fleet when they approach King’s Landing,
creating some sort of magical green fire works. This was brilliantly planned,
as it took out a large amount of Stannis’ crew, including (unfortunately) Ser
Davos. Tyrion later takes command of his entire army after Joffrey pu**ies out
(total opposite of Stannis, who literally dives head first into King’s Landing)
and leads them out to the battlefield. Yes you read that right, a “half-man”
leading an army to battle. After killing off the men at the Mud Gate, another
swarm of Stannis’ men come riding in and attacking with fury. Unfortunately,
Tyrion is on the wrong end of a sword and gets his face cut before falling
unconscious (or dying). Whether or not he is dead, he should be
remembered/honoured for his bravery (due to his character growth) for when times
got tough in the war. To be honest, he was the only reason I was cheering for
the Lannisters to defend King’s Landing against Stannis.
One character that really evolved in this episode was Sansa.
I’m pretty sure everyone disliked her in season 1 and parts of this season, but
recently she has really become a stronger woman. She refused to take Cersei’s
shit this time (showing no fear from Cersei’s stories), while Cersei was
drinking herself out of misery and she escaped from the cell Cersei was keeping
all of the women, with the help of Shae. While Sansa is in her room, Hound shows
up and offers her a ride up North to Winterfell. Hound quickly became one of my
favourite characters in this episode, especially after telling Joffrey to
basically fuck himself. Hound fled from battle because he has a huge fear of
fire, and decided to leave King’s Landing and head North (since there is less
fire there). You can also tell that Hound has some attraction to Sansa, since
he’s always showing up to save her. It is unclear whether Sansa will go with
him to Winterfell, but I think she should at least get away from King’s
Landing. Had Stannis won, I think Sansa would have been safe, but since the
Lannisters won, she would go back to living the hellish life she was living
before. Of course, going back to Wintefell is terrible, because of Greyjoy.
Best case scenario would be if Hound makes Greyjoy wish he never lived and
Sansa gets reunited with Bran and Rickon, followed by Hound going beyond the
Wall and fighting the wildlings.
Who expected Tywin to come and win the battle of King’s
Landing? I thought he was going to head up to Robb’s camp and fight him.
Anyways, he comes riding into the castle in epic fashion with Loras Tyrell,
meaning Little Finger’s plan worked out and Loras got his revenge for Renly. Tywin
he has turned into one of my favourite characters of the show. I don’t know if
it was his 4-5 episode tenure with Arya or if his wisdom and bravery are
appealing to me, but he really is a boss.
This episode was absolutely amazing, consisting of heads
being chopped off, guts getting sprayed, some humour, tension, and of course an
epic conclusion. It really was the best episode of the series so far. Next I
think Robb should attack King’s Landing while they’re weak, but I think we will
have to wait until season 3 to witness that. Next episode will probably show
what happens with Tyrion and where Sansa is heading, plus a bit more story
development beyond the Wall and in Qarth. Before I conclude the review, I want
to give a shoutout to Bronn (great scenes in the last few episodes) and I want
to mention that I really liked how the battle took place at night, instead of
during the day (more impact, especially with the wildfire). If you have friends
who haven’t watched Game of Thrones yet, or haven’t seen the second season, I
recommend you tell them to jump on the bandwagon, because of brilliant episodes
like this one.
Tyrion quote of the episode:
"Don't fight for your king, don't fight for his kingdoms, don't fight for honour, don't fight for glory, don't fight for riches because you won't get any. This is your city Stannis means to sack, that's you gate he's ramming. If he gets in, it will be your houses he burns, your gold he steals, your women he will rape. Those are brave men knocking at our door, let's go kill them!"
Episode Rating: 9.7/10
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