The amount that it costs to make big budget movies is really quite astounding. You hear sums like 178 million dollars, the cost it took to produce Edge of Tomorrow, and it barely registers. They've actually done studies on this, at some point it really is just a collection of numbers since we have no way of accurately conceptualizing such vast quantities. Somehow, some way, largely by opening and racking up ticket sales overseas, these movies make their money back. And because they've long made their money back movies have reigned supreme over television when it comes to staging the bold and beautiful battle scenes that we've come to remember.
It's why television shows have long lagged behind. We have five senses, but the one we prefer to all the others is visual. Our brains devote much more attention to our visual cortex because we rely on it so much. The battle at Blackwater Bay, which was the penultimate episode in season 2, stated to challenge the notion that the big and cinematic could not make its way to television. And yes, there were still many episodes of Robb Stark walking around a battlefield that had already been taken, or Dany coming to a battle with her dragons elsewhere, even Game of Thrones has its limits. It appears that the majority of this season's budget was being saved up for the fight at the wall, and it appears, in most ways, that it was money well-spent.
The battle for the wall surpassed the battle at Blackwater Bay in scope and execution. It lasted long enough for S to tap out, saying that she didn't just want to watch people hack each other apart for 45 more minutes. A week after watching Oberyn have his head turned into an overripe pumpkin, the violence felt almost sanitized, despite its onslaught. We're accustomed to big movies having large fight scenes and lots of deaths. Cinematically, the scene was excellent. The battle at the lower wall juxtaposed with that at the great wall made for very good television that was handled quite well. The stunt actor briefly playing Tormund Giantsbane even redeemed him a bit by rolling around on the floor during his boss fight with Sir Alliser.
One of the most successful element of Thrones is its character building. And one of the most interesting parts then of the assault on the wall was finding myself partially rooting for Ygritte, who had shown mercy more than once. I can't remember the last time I felt pulled in two directions quite so acutely where the stakes, you know, death and destruction, seemed real. Besides which, the people North of the wall are currently hemmed in between an army of White Walkers and an ice wall. From that vantage point it's hard to root for the Night's Watch without feeling as though you're condemning some pretty good people, cannibalism aside, to zombie land.
The politics of the Night's Watch were not my favorite part of this season. Nor is the story that has taken place up north. As I said a couple of weeks ago, the real heat of the story is in King's Landing. So I'd be remiss if I didn't note that I wasn't as invested in the characters in this episode. It doesn't help that Kit Harrington's Jon Snow adaptation is meh at best, (besides his hair, which has been everything we could have hoped for and more right from the first episode) particularly when it's clear that he and Dany are the prototypical heroes of this grand narrative. Despite that, Sir Alliser briefly showing some leadership skills, even if it was after calling Jon a twat and telling him he wished he was dead, was a nice moment of redemption. It's the rounded nature of characters, good and bad, I'm looking at you Ramsey Snow, which makes them fascinating. Having Sir Alliser be someone to inspire and lead was a nice touch, and I think the show would have benefited from providing a bit more nuance with his character earlier on.
This episode also spent a good deal of time worrying over the fate of Gilly and Sam. Specifically, if Sam would live long enough to have sex with Gilly. This is the sort of thing that keeps all of us up at night, even Maester Aemon, who remembers that a number of women used to throw themselves at him when he was the heir to the throne, delivering the great line about Sam being able to imagine giants and walkers but not an old man having once been young and in love before snuffing out the candle and leaving the two of them in the dark.
Another victim of the Ramsey Snow narrative was that of Ygritte, a wildling with a heart of, well, not quite gold, but not stone either. However, after disappearing for a few episodes she arrives back at the foot of the wall ready to punish Jon Snow. The sight of her sending an arrow through Pip, a gentle-hearted soul, was both a reminder of her ruthlessness, and again that the scene unfolding was multi-faceted. You weren't quite rooting for the Night's Watch without some heavy reservations. Ygritte eventually dies, after the Magnar vs. Jon Snow boss battle that ends when Jon applies a golden spike to the Magnar's beautiful bald head. And there is Ygritte, not wanting to kill Jon, but struggling with it at the same time, until she is nailed by an arrow by the very child who's father she killed a few episodes prior. If you don't remember this particular fact, it seems less trenchant, but it's one of the rare times when the revenge killing actually happened by the right person. Of course, this leaves Jon to hold Ygritte in his arms, (first ever GOT slow motion scene) while the scenes of battle whirl on around him.
The battle at the wall was nearly as spectacular. Certainly, smaller than what we've seen in many movies, though full of just as many excited extras who get to pound their shields before taking a flaming arrow to the chest. The two giants and there mastadon rolled through the snow with all the wild abandon of CGI monsters on ice before reaching their untimely demise at the hands of a giant arrow and that Night's watchmen with a nice beard who looks like my friend Todd. Sorry buddy, but you went out with a bang. In the category of, really? The guys who spent the whole episode and hours climbing were wiped free by a giant ice scythe. I mean, what's the point of climbing all day if they have a giant ice scythe. Maybe we should storm the gate again?
The only failing of the episode, if it's fair to call it a failing, is that the characters aren't as engaging or memorable as people we've met in the south. I can't fault the episode because it covers a major plot point with wicked and interesting detail. Does Mance make it past the wall? Well, if my Jon Snow narrative arc is correct, Mance will be dead by the end of next week's episode and Jon will be leading a few noble wildlings down south to wreak some havoc in the Bolton's north, but we'll see.
No comments:
Post a Comment