The Moment: Ygritte dies in Jon Snow’s arms

Setting the Scene: As Ygritte and her fellow wildlings storm Castle Black, she sees Jon Snow for the first time since they went their separate ways. Their chance meeting in the middle of the fierce battle has fatal consequences for Ygritte.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qKVj-xIPSg

Why It’s Awesome: Ygritte brought out the best in Jon Snow—she was the fire to his ice. In the show (as well as in my experience with the books), Jon came alive during his time with Ygritte; she showed him how little he really knew about the world, she challenged him, and—most importantly—she made him happy. In that small moment when he sees her again before her death, we’re given a brief reminder that the fullest and most open Jon Snow smiles have been reserved for Ygritte.

However, Game of Thrones is no fairytale. In this story, the man and woman see each other again, but moments later the woman is killed by an arrow to her heart. The tonal shift from tentative reunion to heartbreaking farewell captured the spirit of grief and shock I felt in the book so well. On a show with so many relationships based on lies and power plays, Jon and Ygritte truly loved each other, and I was so happy to see their relationship’s final moments treated with the tenderness and sense of importance they deserved.

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The Moment: The Red Viper faces the Mountain in a fight to the death to determine Tyrion’s fate

Setting the Scene: Tyrion’s trial by combat leads to a long-awaited showdown between Oberyn Martell and Gregor Clegane. During the fight, Oberyn demands that “the Mountain” admit to the crimes Oberyn knows he’s guilty of: the rape and murder of his sister Elia and the deaths of her children.

Warning for those who haven’t seen the episode: These videos (especially the second one) contain EXTREMELY violent, disturbing images.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Es2sxWrk108

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xftVhH3HQx8

Why It’s Awesome: I’ve been awaiting this scene with equal parts excitement and dread since I first read it in the books, and those feelings only intensified when we were first introduced to Pedro Pascal’s incredible take on Oberyn in this season’s premiere. While this showdown wasn’t as long as I would have liked (especially compared to its length in the book), it was still every bit as compelling as I’d hoped it would be.

This was Oberyn’s shining moment, and Pascal ran with it. I was captivated from the moment Tyrion saw him with Ellaria before the fight even began. There’s something so engaging in Pascal’s portrayal of Oberyn’s confidence; there’s nothing smarmy about it, which is a difficult balance to achieve. I think it helps that we finally got to see exactly how he got his reputation as the Red Viper with his spear skills. The choreography of the spear work was stunning. There was this graceful power to it that reminded me perfectly of a snake. And it was such a beautiful counterpoint to the brute force of the Mountain.

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The Moment: Cersei and Oberyn talk about their daughters

Setting the Scene: Cersei visits Oberyn to talk about her daughter Myrcella, who has been sent to Dorne. As they talk, she learns about his eight daughters, and they discuss the way neither of them could save the ones they loved, despite all the power they’re believed to possess.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4WJXd_cxVU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3S5NqsAHRA

Why It’s Awesome: “First of His Name” was quite possibly my favorite episode of this Game of Thrones season so far. And I think much of my love for this episode comes from the performances we were treated to throughout. This was especially true in the scenes in King’s Landing, where little plot movement happened (beyond Tommen being crowned king), but I was reminded that this part of the cast is so talented that I would watch most of them talk to each other about nothing of plot importance for a whole episode because they would still manage to give it weight.

In an episode anchored by great acting, no one was better than Lena Headey. From her opening scene with Natalie Dormer to her conversation with Charles Dance, I found her to be the perfect scene partner in “First of His Name.” But my favorite moment of Headey’s came opposite another actor who seems to be an excellent partner for anyone he shares a scene with: Pedro Pascal. Both Headey and Pascal bring so much weight to even the most seemingly innocuous pieces of dialogue. In this scene, there is such understated tension between both of them but also an odd but beautiful kind of understanding that comes from both of their roles as parents to daughters in a world that is often too cruel to little girls—a fact both of them know very well.

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I sincerely apologize to any of you who were looking for my post about last week’s episode. I found some of the elements of that episode (and the way they were explained by the director) too difficult for me to write about, especially because I interpreted Jaime and Cersei’s interactions in that episode in a way that was different from how the director seemed for it to be intended (as I think many did). I have decided to pretend that the moment existed as it did in the book (since that seems to be the intention of those involved). If you’re still looking for an excellent analysis of last week’s episode, I can direct you to frequent NGN contributor Heather’s take on it.

The Moment: Jaime sends Brienne on her quest

Setting the Scene: After Cersei tells Jaime she wants Sansa Stark dead, he tasks Brienne with keeping his oath to the late Catelyn Stark to find Sansa and keep her safe. To help Brienne on her journey, Jaime gives her a new suit of armor, a squire (Pod), and the Valyrian steel sword given to him by his father, which Brienne names Oathkeeper.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVpcicpy9tY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSzf7haBapc

Why It’s Awesome: Last week’s controversial episode of Game of Thrones reminded us that there are very few healthy relationships between men and women in Westeros, and usually those relationships are based solely on power (hence the prevalence of rape on this show—including the horribly gratuitous scenes at Craster’s Keep in this episode). But “Oathkeeper” served as a moving reminder that there is at least one relationship between a man and a woman in this world that is based on true, mutual respect, and that’s the relationship between Jaime and Brienne.

The scene where Jaime gives Brienne Oathkeeper has been one of my favorite scenes in the entire A Song of Ice and Fire book series since the moment I read it last year. I didn’t think it was possible that Game of Thrones could actually make me love it more. But I guess I underestimated the power of very pointed and specific changes made to enhance the emotional impact of the scene, as well as the performances of Gwendoline Christie and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.

The whole tone of the scene was much warmer than it was in the books, and it was infused with a very real sense of equality between them. That changed the tone of the scene somewhat from the hesitancy in the book, but I think that actually served the show well. The depth of emotion between these two characters has always felt even more intense on the show than in the books, and I think that comes from how good Coster-Waldau and Christie are at conveying a host of emotions simply through their eyes.

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The Moment: Cersei meets Brienne

Setting the Scene: At Joffrey’s wedding, Cersei finds time for a moment alone with her brother’s rescuer. When a smiling Brienne reveals that Jaime also rescued her (a fact Cersei wasn’t aware of until that moment), the former Queen Regent makes a quick study of the young woman and comes to a conclusion that Brienne has no answer for: She’s in love with Jaime.

Why It’s Awesome: I know what you’re probably thinking: Joffrey finally meets his end in this episode (and in quite a brutal fashion), and I’m picking a conversation between Cersei and Brienne as the show’s best moment of the week? Let me be clear: Of course I loved seeing Joffrey get his royal comeuppance, and I adored Lena Headey’s performance in those final moments. But I knew it was coming, so it didn’t have quite the same impact for me as I’m sure it did for people who didn’t read the books (because when I read the books I was thrilled in a way that experiencing it again through the show couldn’t replicate). I loved the little bits of foreshadowing throughout the scene, but my favorite moments on Game of Thrones tend to be ones that surpass my experience while reading or surprise me entirely, and Joffrey’s death, while executed perfectly, didn’t make my jaw drop—not like Cersei preying on Brienne’s open heart did.

Brienne of Tarth is my favorite character in the A Song of Ice and Fire series for so many reasons: her subversion of stereotypes about physically imposing, unglamorous women; her innocence; her open heart; and her belief in honor even after a life of being treated cruelly by almost all she meets. It’s interesting to note that nearly all of those reasons make her a direct foil for Cersei Lannister. Ever since Brienne and Jaime returned to King’s Landing before they did in the book, I’ve been waiting for these two formidable women to meet on the show, and I was so happy that it turned out even better than my expectations—perhaps because it was written by George R.R. Martin himself.

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