SPOILERS FOR GAME OF THRONES SEASON 6 EPISODE 9 THROUGHOUT
We’ve reached a point now in HBO’s flagship fantasy drama Game of Thrones where a pattern has emerged. Episode 9 of a particular season goes as follows: tragic death, epic battle, tragic death, epic battle, tragic death, and now, yes you guessed it, epic battle.
After one Stark member rightfully reclaimed her name last week in “No One” (full review here), the time has arrived for her siblings to rightfully reclaim their Northern home: Winterfell.
But before we break down what might be the most anticipated and emotionally elongated bout in the Seven Kingdom’s gruelling history, a key point must be made.
To consider showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss’ work as merely a television show is actually offensive. “Battle of the Bastards” is cinema. Heck, “Battle of the Bastards” is art. If you are to watch a finer hour of content – regardless of screen size – this year, then you are one seriously lucky viewer.
Right, now the bold statement is out the way, let’s crack on…
The Title: “Battle of the Bastards”
What Does It Mean?
Unless you are not a Thrones regular and have just stumbled across this review, you’ll know exactly what our titular hour is referencing.
This is the showdown we have been waiting for. The two Northern men on the fringes of their respected houses. The two Northern men who have rallied two different armies in two extremely different ways. The two Northern men who were fated to face one another.
They are the Batman and The Joker of Westeros; the hero and the villain which complete one another. Jon Snow of Winterfell and Ramsay Snow (now Bolton) of the Dreadfort.
Ramsay has taken Winterfell and laid claim to the North. That is a rule that simply must end. Winter is Coming, and the Starks are heading home.
Most Shocking Moment:
In traditional ninth hour style, the emphasis for the vast majority of the running time is on the titular fight. Also in traditional ninth hour style, the entirety of said battle is worthy of inclusion in the slack-jawed section of the breakdown. But we will discuss the events of the full battle in a little more detail later.
For the most shocking moments, this author has cheated slightly and selected two critical moments which both start and conclude the fateful Northern war.
Jon Snow and his men are stationed on the battlefield after a restless, tense night at camp. They are solid and noble, but unfathomably outnumbered. Across the way, Ramsay Bolton’s army stands – larger, stronger and meaner in every department – and they have even enlisted the aid of the traitorous Umbers.
The Bolton is a master of psychological torment, something Sansa knows all too well. She aims to tell Jon about his mental cruelty and how he exploits hidden weaknesses, but in principal is much simpler than in practice.
Rickon Stark – the rightful heir to Winterfell ahead of Jon, a bastard, and Sansa, a girl – is freed by Ramsay, but only if he partakes in one of his cruel games. The rules are simple: run to brother Jon. Albeit run whilst one of the most skilled archers and hunters fires an assault of arrows in your direction.
Nobly, and perhaps stupidly, Jon bites Ramsay’s bait. He leaves the fleet and rides towards Rickon, ready to scoop his brother onto his noble steed. The Lord of Winterfell plays his game and deliberately misses Rickon with his bow, but we all know his sinister mind too well.
As Jon leans in and attempts to gather his baby brother at the last hurdle, Ramsay snatches the only arrow he needed from his quiver and fires. It’s a direct hit. The Heir falls to the ground and serves as the first of many casualties on the day. Even more brutal is soon his face becomes littered with additional arrows when the carnage ensues. Nice…
On the other side of the coin however is Sansa. As one Stark dies, another grows stronger. She has had one of the most spectacular character developments of Season 6, and now finally viewers are starting to realise that she is one of the best and most important presences on the show.
Before an abused and suffered young wife at the hands of the cruelest of men – both King Joffrey Baratheon and Ramsay who beat, tormented and raped her – she has become the steely, heartfelt women who deserves to be honoured as the Queen in The North.
Remember that note she sent? Remember who we predicted it went too? Well it did, and it saved the day. Enlisting the aid of Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish must be a tough pill to swallow. He is a deviant and untrustworthy, and someone who has used Sansa as a pawn in his long game many-a-time, but here he and the Knights of the Vale make good of their word. The Eyrie supports the Starks despite previous clashes.
Winterfell is taken. Copious amounts of blood is split in the process, but the Starks are home. Ramsay is profusely beaten by Jon; face battered and bruised after a parade of punches. He is now tied to a chair and stationed in the delightful little hideaway where he keeps his trusted hounds. The ones he has deliberately neglected for seven days. The ones which are starving and quickly resorting to primal instinct.
Sansa beautifully tarnishes her husband’s name and importance in a profound and powerful statement in which she claims he and everything about him will “disappear”. Then the sombre tone turns to a brutally brilliant one as a growling mutt strolls in and starts to smell flesh and blood. Ramsay attempts to reason with his animal but there is no use.
The hound lunges forward and sinks its teeth right into Ramsay’s face; shredding his skin, puncturing his eyes. Teeth thrashing and chomping as Sansa walks away, it is a truly disgusting and horrifying way to go, and that’s all too fitting for the most twisted bastard in the Realm.
Biggest Agenda:
Before we cloaked ourselves in fur and dragged our iron to the frost-quiltered land, we opened “Battle of the Bastards” outside of Westeros.
In the very heart of Meereen – a city certainly in forms of progress – an onslaught of attacks arrive from the ships of Slaver’s Bay. Firing flaming boulders at the landscapes, the people are in a state of frenzy and the Breaker of Chains herself, Daenerys Targaryen, must make some quick decisions.
Tyrion Lannister attempts to navigate her decision to a state of parlay, but Khaleesi wants to respond to violence with violence, proclaiming she will kill all their masters and burn the city to the ground: a statement which worryingly forces ‘The Imp’ to tell her the truth about her father – The Mad King – and why brother Jaime simply had to kill him.
But whilst Dany and Aerys II may share blood, they do not share vision. She knows how tactical the landscape is, and what sacrifices must be made in order to excel. She, Tyrion, Grey Worm and Missandei meet the Slave Masters and listen to their terms (which are just ludicrous and Dany would never agree to them). She counters, and like all the men who challenge her, they laugh. Bad call.
Suddenly Drogon swoops in and scales the Pyramid. The rival group are stunned and speechless. The Mother of Dragons boards and together they fly through the warring skies, ready to unleash fiery hell on the rogue ships. But they aren’t alone. Now unchained – thanks, Tyrion! – Rhaegal and Vision join in flight and soon the sea is a glowing pallet of molten reds and oranges.
The CGI and visual effects during this sequence – with a particular focus on the dragons – was just mesmeric. They have looked spectacular in the past, but HBO has really stepped it up for this epic hour. The detailing of the scales and wingspan is simply a creative marvel.
With this scene, and indeed our following moments in Meereen in which Theon and Yara Greyjoy arrive to ally, the power is set to be in the rightful Queen of the Iron Throne’s hands as we exit this tremendous season.
Best Overall Moment:
As you might expect, and as technically promised, the best overall moment of “Battle of the Bastards” was the Battle of the Bastards. In it’s entirety. Thrones has served up some truly incredible battle sequences across its history. Last season’s “Hardhome” and the second season’s “Blackwater” are the clear standouts. This week’s ranks comfortably alongside such showdowns in quality, but the emotional intensity of it all might make it the most dominant.
Bodies fall in this show. We know that; we respect that. Even during the opening stages of the onslaught, Ramsay willingly let his archers shoot arrows at anyone – the enemy or their own men – if it means a larger chance of victory. He has men to spare. Lives that just simply tally numbers.
Aesthetically, the battle was one of the most epic scenes ever presented on the television format. The textures, the cinematography, the art direction, the costume, the choreography: it was utterly enveloping, and you would be hard-pressed to find a scene as good as it in any major motion picture. It’s probably the most harrowing and stirring screened battle since Saving Private Ryan.
Even more impressive is how during the seemingly relentless brutality, there is still time to develop character; to build tension. Perhaps the very BEST moment of the best overall moment is when Jon attempts to retreat from the danger zone and gain a better point of view, only to find himself thrown to the ground and repeatedly trampled on as the Bolton men move forward in an almost Roman formation.
Barricading the few fighting for the Starks into a tight semicircle, the Boltons raise their shields and present spears. Stepping with inch-perfect precision, the blades begin stabbing and dropping the enemy as they box them in even closer. Jon is suffocating under the weight of scurrying soldiers and lifeless corpses. It’s an earth-shatteringly fearsome moment, beautifully complimented by top editing and complex art choices.
Like in all wars, we lose some important players. Wildlings giant Wun Wun is the biggest casualty of all (no pun intended). After pulling many heads from bodies, and smashing through an assault of arrows, spears and swords, he breaks through the doors of Winterfell in time to take his final breath.
Again in truly squirming Bolton fashion, Ramsay shoots one last arrow through Wun Wun’s eye just as Jon is about to pay respects for his service and loyalty. It also looks certain that Tormund Giantsbane wouldn’t make it out of the massacre, but thankfully when the good guys actually prevail, more than just one hero is awarded with life.
As a whole – just like the battle of Hardhome – repeat viewings will serve even more rewarding. There is so much impeccable craft and skill on offer both visually and thematically, that experiencing the filth, sweat and crimson claret of the action only once seems ill.
The Verdict:
Game of Thrones Season 6 has delivered incredible episode after incredible episode. Creatively without restrains of George R.R. Martin’s source material, showrunners Benioff and Weiss have written a symphonic masterpiece; effortlessly world-building and bettering, without tainting any of the laid groundwork.
With “Battle of the Bastards”, they have composed perhaps their most striking and disarming work. Enthralling, unparalleled and entirely commanding, it is simply astonishing viewing which deserves to be ranked alongside the very best of the small screen’s offerings.
It is without question the best hour of this emphatic season, and sets the bar at a biblical height for next week’s finale.
This analysis might be filled with words, but seriously, there really are no words…
