Game of Thrones Recap: The Mountain And The Viper (Spoilers)
Don’t scroll any further or read the comments of this blog if you don’t want to read spoilers.
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I stayed (mostly) sober yesterday. I woke up and promised myself I wouldn’t get too drunk for Game of Thrones. I feel like I’ve been waiting a goddam month for Trial By Combat. Between drawn out episodes and the Memorial Day break its been like a full 3 weeks. But it did not disappoint. To be honest, the rest of the episode pretty much sucked. You gotta think the writers knew they had the Mountain vs. Viper in their back pocket and knew thats all the audience really cared about. The rest of the episode was just checking in on the various other plot lines and filler. But the last 10 minutes…holy moly.
Prince Oberyn “Montoya” Martell twirling around repeating his war cry “You raped my sister, you murdered her, you killed her children.” Pandering to the crowd, taunting the Lannisters, demanding the Mountain says her name before he dies. As cocky as it gets. It was like watching Inigo Montoya fight the Black Pirate left handed combined with his final duel against the man with 6 fingers. George R.R. Martin apparently wrote this scene after watching Princess Bride, only minor difference being in Princess Bride Inigo finally gets revenge where as in this situation Oberyn got two thumbs pushed into his brain and had his skull crushed like a watermelon thrown off the roof. It was an absolutely incredible scene topped off with a finish that you wouldn’t see in some of the most gruesome horror movies.
And its that kinda stuff that separates Game of Thrones from other shows for me. Because going into this episode I already knew the outcome. Dickhead Stoolies always tweet me spoilers. By the time I realize what their tweet is saying its too late and the episode is ruined for me. Only, its not. Last night was the perfect example – I knew that Mountain was going to win. But I didn’t know how he was going to win. And the show does such a good job of making these scenes come to life that even if you know the ultimate outcome, you want to know exactly how it goes down. Other shows, just knowing who wins a battle ruins the entire appeal of the episode. With Game of Thrones you’re still on edge to tune in because you want to see exactly how it plays out. How the Viper almost pulled off the upset but let his arrogance get the best of him. How the Mountain knocks out all of Oberyn’s teeth with one punch. How he finally gives Oberyn what he wants – he says her name and explains he killed her – before crushing his skull with his bare hands. How Oberyn’s lady screams in horror as Cersei looks on smug. The look on Tyrion and Jamie’s face after their father delivers the death sentence. Even if you knew “the Mountain won” going in, that only told like 1% of the story. You may think you know whats coming with Game of Thrones spoilers, but until you see it come to life on screen, you really don’t. Its like stepping into the box with Mariano Rivera – you know the cutter is coming, but that doesn’t mean you’re ready for it.
And now we’re sitting here left to think “There’s no way they actually kill off Tyrion, right?” I’m sure I’ll get tweets and spoilers on his fate as well, but like I said, it won’t matter. I’ll still be on edge tuning it to see exactly how his fate is decided one way or the other.