{"id":108,"date":"2014-06-02T13:13:43","date_gmt":"2014-06-02T17:13:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/?p=108"},"modified":"2014-08-05T22:39:32","modified_gmt":"2014-08-06T02:39:32","slug":"game-thrones-mountain-viper-smashing-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/2014\/06\/02\/game-thrones-mountain-viper-smashing-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Game of Thrones – \u2018The Mountain and the Viper\u2019: A smashing success"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brought to you by our friends at Talk Thrones<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

When any kind of scuffle goes down in Westeros, it\u2019s safest to bet that everyone involved is going to die. Last night, Game of Thrones\u2019 show runners told its audience exactly what they were getting, and it didn\u2019t disappoint: the eighth episode of this fourth season is titled \u201cThe Mountain and the Viper\u201d, confirming for those invested enough to see episode titles in advance that that season-long wait to have Tyrion\u2019s fate decided would come to (a legal) end by the hour\u2019s conclusion.<\/p>\n

There were really three possible outcomes. Oberyn kills the Mountain. The Mountain kills Oberyn. Or, they both die. Considering the show\u2019s history, Option 3 seemed the most likely. And when Oberyn let his heart get in the way\u2014demanding some sort of closure, an admission from Gregor Clegane that he not only raped Elia Martell and killed her and her children, but that he did so at the behest of Tywin\u2014his and Tyrion\u2019s fates were all but sealed.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve seen it for four seasons. If you care about something\u2014justice, power, respect, the love of another\u2014don\u2019t tell anyone (unless their heels are hanging over a moon door; respect, Pete). Instead, from his very first scene Oberyn made his deepest and strongest desires\u2014\u201ckill those fucking Lannisters\u201d and \u201cI want to be inside everyone \u2026 maybe even a Lannister or two\u201d\u2014known to everyone who\u2019d hear it, and probably a few who didn\u2019t care to. Still, Oberyn\u2019s pronouncements of longing for dead Lannisters and vengeance on the Mountain to Tyrion and Tywin aren\u2019t what ultimately did him in (whether that\u2019s because the Mountain only sped up a Tywin-planned ending for the Red Viper or not may remain a mystery, but as always I\u2019m siding with Team Tywin Will Kill Anyone Even Remotely Threatening One Way or Another).<\/p>\n

Still, these constant whorehouse threats didn\u2019t lead directly to Dorne\u2019s second son\u2019s demise. Much like Ned Stark, it was his demand for justice that did him in. The Red Viper received a small sum of it in avenging Elia\u2019s rape and murder with a dead Mountain, and one could argue that was enough for Oberyn, that he lived his remaining days to kill his sister\u2019s killer. But there\u2019s so much he didn\u2019t achieve: staying alive for his paramour; closure that Tywin did in fact order the Mountain on Elia; dead Lannisters; the slight but totally existing measure of justice he thought Tyrion deserved, despite his lineage (or maybe because of his being the reject of said lineage); donating his brain to science.<\/p>\n

Right behind his hatred for Lannisters and his unrelenting erection, Oberyn\u2019s most noted character trait is his distaste for King\u2019s Landing. He prefers his home, where all people (according to him) are treated with respect, and where justice exists. Sadly, this is his downfall. A few more trips to King\u2019s Landing and the Red Viper may have come to understand its nature, and in turn discovered his overt style imprudent for the results he sought. Instead, he\u2019s left screaming a death wish mantra that would have made Inigo Montoya proud, but paid the ultimate price for his lesson on King\u2019s Landing justice.<\/p>\n

From the moment he burst onto the show with his cocky pansexuality to moment he burst to death, Pedro Pascal\u2019s performance as Oberyn was such a pleasure, rivaling Bronn in giddiness-inducing screen presence. It\u2019s a shame to see him go, but this is Game of Thrones\u2019 tried-and-true bizarro version of fan service: instead of fueling the fires audiences are rooting for, crushing every ounce of hope in fans\u2019 hearts as if it were a head in the Mountain\u2019s hands, then starting again from the bottom. It may hurt at first, but once the blood puddles are mopped up, we\u2019re turning our necks in search of any other possible banner of hope for the \u201cgood guys\u201d\u2014whatever that means.<\/p>\n

If not Oberyn, who does know how to game the system?<\/p>\n

The first response is obvious. Petyr Baelish\u2019s schemings seem to be going swimmingly, so much so that a near-hiccup bounced wholly in his favor. Like Oberyn, Sansa had spent more time than she preferred in King\u2019s Landing. Unlike Oberyn, she was held there, forced to watch so much ugliness with her eyelids peeled back by various tormentors. And so she learned. Learned how to tell enough truth to support a lie. Learned to recognize self interest while concealing it. Learned to always be on the side of power. These lessons manifested themselves in Littlefinger\u2019s trial, leaving a few unanswered questions. Is she genuinely smitten by Littlefinger\u2019s, uh, \u201ccaring\u201d presence? Or is she playing him closer to the vest as well? Did their relationship take a turn for the sexual? And how old is she again?<\/p>\n

Baelish was able to turn the good will gained from the trial into an opportunity to put Robyn in harm\u2019s way. Littlefinger half-accused the families of the Vale of Lannister-cooperation, citing Lysa\u2019s rejection of help for Robb and steadfast immobility against those residing in King\u2019s Landing. Their defensiveness positioned them to agree with Littlefinger\u2019s nomination of Robyn as a great leader, one that would demand a whole lot of the King of the Vale. Likely too much.<\/p>\n

Joining Baelish on the mantle of shameless, power-hungry liars? Why, it\u2019s the Boltons! Come on down! Why don\u2019t we take this chance to meet these two.<\/p>\n

First, he likes roasted sausage, a nice warm shave, and manhunts through the woods \u2026 fresh off a deceitful siege at Moat Cailin, it\u2019s Ramsay Bolton! How does it feel to be here, Ram?<\/p>\n

\u201cGreat, Bryan. Like I\u2019m strangling two infants at once.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next, his father out of wedlock. He\u2019s a big hit at weddings, doesn\u2019t drink, and his dream house has a yard that spans hundreds of miles in each direction \u2026 it\u2019s Roose Bolton! What do you say, Roose?<\/p>\n

(Slowly turns his head and gives me the dead eyes.)<\/p>\n

Oh-hokay!<\/p>\n

NOTES<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Hound and Arya finally reach the Vale, and Arya cracks up (as did I) when the pair learns that Lady Arryn had passed just three days prior. Part of what makes the show so great is its ability to fill in blanks without showing or explaining every goings-on. But I will be pretty disappointed if the Hound and Arya have been turned away without the audience seeing the preceding conversation. Did the Hound ask who was living in the Vale now? If they could still go inside if only briefly for food and drink? It\u2019d be upsetting to learn next episode that they traveled for a season and a half only to be turned away without even a quasi-logical line of questioning. Fantasy world or not, you don\u2019t just pick up and turn around without asking who\u2019s home.<\/p>\n

Grey Worm has a moment with Missandei. And when I say \u201chas a moment\u201d I mean the Thrones equivalent of a famous Porky\u2019s scene. They have a frank discussion about consequence. He\u2019s glad his masters castrated him, because it was part of the journey that led him to her. She\u2019s glad he stared at her while bathing because it led to the discussion.<\/p>\n

The Wildlings get closer to the Wall, sacking Mole\u2019s Town. Jon\u2019s ex, everyone\u2019s favorite smoking hot ginger archer, Ygritte, let Sam\u2019s main (only, ever) squeeze go thanks to her incestuous crying baby.
\nIn a move that reflects both the audience\u2019s and characters\u2019 feelings toward him, Maester Pycelle\u2019s introduction to the trial by combat is cut short.<\/p>\n

Reek\/Theon almost cracked during his mission, chewed out by Ralf Kenning until the garrison commander is axed, in the literal sense. Unfortunately for those surrendering, one doesn\u2019t \u201csurrender\u201d to the Boltons so much as one volunteers for a most painful and inglorious death.<\/p>\n

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Brought to you by our friends at Talk Thrones. When any kind of scuffle goes down in Westeros, it\u2019s safest to bet that everyone involved is going to die. Last night, Game of Thrones\u2019 show runners told its audience exactly what they were getting, and it didn\u2019t disappoint: the eighth episode of this fourth season<\/p>\n

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