by Wes Womble Warning: This review contains spoilers for this episode and previous episodes of Game of Thrones. After the newfound fellowship to capture a Wight set off last week, “Beyond the Wall” sets nearly the entire episode in the North. Arya discovered Sansa’s letter from the first season last week, and is now confronting her sister about the meaning behind it. From her point of view, Sansa has conspired against her own family while living a comfortable life in King’s Landing (which the audience knows is far from the truth). Sansa does a little digging around Arya’s room to find out what her sister truly knows, and discovers a few of her many faces. Arya catches her in the act, and asks her to play the “Game of Faces” with her detailing what she can do with each face. Ultimately, Arya gives Sansa the Valyrian Steel dagger belonging to Littlefinger. Daenerys and Tyrion remain in Dragonstone, waiting for word from their Wight hunting party. While waiting, they begin to talk about the upcoming negotiations with Cersei, and about who will take the throne after Dany is gone. Tyrion is concerned that Daenerys may die in battle, and urges her to consider a successor. He tries reasoning that her vision for the world will take more than one lifetime, at which point Dany ends the conversation by stating they will talk of succession after she wears the crown. A bulk of the episode takes place North of the Wall, following the party made up of Jon, Tormund, Jorah, Gendry, Beric, Thoros, and The Hound. After some scenes mainly comprised of walking, fighting a Wight Bear, and banter fit for a buddy-cop movie, they come upon a small group of Wights and one Walker. After a small fight, they capture a Wight, but it screams, informing the army of their location. Realizing the danger, Jon sends Gendry to run back to the Wall, and send a raven to Dragonstone asking Dany for help. The group then runs for safety being chased by what seems to be a large portion of the army of the undead, making it to a rock on the center of a frozen lake. The lake then shatters, leaving them stranded, but safe for the time being, as the Wights are unable (or perhaps unwilling) to cross. There they wait for an indeterminate amount of time, though at least one day has passed. They awake in the morning to find Thoros frozen to death, and later that day, The Hound mockingly throws rocks at the army surrounding them. One falls short, landing on the frozen lake, and rather than falling through, skids across the surface, revealing to the Wights that it is safe for them to cross and attack the cornered band of heroes. Fighting tooth and nail, nearly all seems lost until Daenerys arrives with her dragons, preventing the undead from reaching the stranded group. The Night King is waiting for this moment however, as he grabs a spear and kills Valerion. The group then flees, leaving Jon behind. All seems bleak for Jon, until Benjen ex-machina arrives, and sacrifices himself so he can escape. Jon arrives back at the wall, weak, weary, and very much frozen, though still alive. They put him on Daenerys’ ship, where she and Jon have a heart to heart, and hinting at their budding romance. The episode ends with the Night King turning Valerion into a Walker Dragon. This week’s episode is a somewhat strange blend of good and bad. While most of the time skips this season are forgivable, this episode seems to jump around a little too much, giving it a very rushed feel. Something that easily could have been stretched into two episodes seems mashed into one, though the overall effect on the audience has remained the same, as everyone simply wants more. The problem is that rather than looking forward to the newer episode, many people seem stuck on the events this week and how they unfolded. Let’s break down the complaints into a few of the more noticeable ones, and where they might have stemmed from. For starters, many are left wondering how far beyond the Wall they were, as this would seriously affect whether a viewer can believe Gendry’s marathon run back to Eastwatch, especially considering the snowfall he is running through would probably slow him down as he offhandedly says that he’s “never seen snow before.” A run through the snow spanning more than ten or so miles in less than a day is almost as worthy of praise as the original twenty-six mile run to Athens by Greek legend Pheidippides, the event after which marathons are named. Another major complaint seen online is the time it would take a raven to fly to Dragonstone and for Daenerys to fly back to the group before they either became human popsicles or undead warriors. This one is a bit harder to figure out however, as even George R.R. Martin has mentioned trouble with the distances between locations in the past. Whether due to intentional oversight or less-than-stellar writing, it is never really specified what amount of provisions the group brought with them – other than the seemingly infinite amount of alcohol Thoros always has in his flask. However, their group does consist of Jon, former Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, along with Tormund and a few extra wildlings, all people who know how to survive beyond the Wall. The viewer is also reminded multiple times that Beric can ignite his sword, so this one is a bit more believable with those things in mind. Not all is bad in “Beyond the Wall” however, as this season’s accelerated pace allows the audience to see character growth much more clearly, and the payoff this week is huge for Daenerys. Written in the past and even in this season to be a very stiff, intimidating Queen, Emilia Clarke has had very few moments to show off something other than frustration and anger. This week shows us a Dany more concerned with safety of others instead of her usual focus on the Iron Throne. While this isn’t the first time she’s shown her caring side, this is the first time her actions directly went against her path to the crown. She went from listing off the reasons she should sit on the Throne, to hoping she even deserves it in the first place. (And a personal favorite moment is learning that the Hound is heading to King’s Landing, only giving more confirmation to those backing the very loved Cleganebowl theory.) “Beyond the Wall” had more shortcomings than many previous episodes, but still provided the audience a thrilling experience. Though some may disagree with how it arrived at this point, none can deny the excitement and anticipation building for the finale next week, and continue to wait with baited breath to see where the series takes its viewers next. All images from Giant Bomb
