That’s What Ygritte SaidWeekly Game of Thrones Musings by Sam Ryu

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Let’s have a moment of silence for Ygritte.

Ygritte meant more to this newsletter than any other character on Game of Thrones. Her five words, “You know nothing, Jon Snow.” (or more phonetically representative: “You nuh nuthin’ Jon Snuuh.”)—which we heard for the final time—became the foundational basis for this newsletter’s content and for its tone. She faced death and didn’t blink (S2E6). She was sharp enough to see that Jon couldn’t kill her and used her wits to get free (S2E7). She had the skill to shoot an arrow in a rabbit’s eye from 200 yards, but couldn’t find it in herself to choose duty over love and hit Jon in non-fatal areas instead (S3E10). And for all her badassery, it was her levity that made her such a pleasure. (Who else could make the dour-faced Jon Snow crack a smile?) Unfortunately in the world of Game of Thrones, Valar Morghulis—including our favorite characters. Ygritte. Skilled fighter. Cave-sex enthusiast. Caller-outer of know-nothings. Kissed by fire. Ygritte. But the beat goes on and so must the show. Right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot...

——————————————————————————————————————Season 4, Episode 9 — “The Watchers on the Wall”

This episode was pretty much a self-contained, hour long movie. It had the pre-war taunting, the unstoppable force trying to scale an immovable object, the deaths, and even scenes in the style of Kubrick’s Paths of Glory. The Wall is the only meritocracy in all of Westeros and we saw that in full swing (not a giant scythe joke). Grenn and Pyp both stepped it up before their deaths. Sam earned some Man (of the Night’s Watch) points. Ser Alliser Thorne showed that there is substance behind the asshole. Jon is not a poet. Maester Aemon Targaryen is a lover. And Janos Slynt is a coward of the highest order. (Tyrion to Janos Slynt while dismissing him as Commander of the City Watch: “I’m not questioning your honor, Lord Janos. I’m denying its existence.”—S2E2)

June 15, 2014

I don’t get to talk about the filmmaking/craft as much as I want to in my newsletters, but I need to single this episode out as the most impressive on a technical level (and it’s not even close). If you haven’t rewatched it nine times already this week, take a few seconds to admire this gorgeous tracking shot in the middle of battle. There was also that great tilt-up that showed the wildling splinter attack from the south (remember they climbed over the wall already in S3E6?), went over the wall, then revealed the massive wildling force from the north. Not to mention the use of slow motion (I believe the only time the show has used slow mo) and selective audio in Jon and Ygritte’s final moments. It even used a POV shot for Ygritte, like it was a first-person shooter video game.

Sidebar: I know George R.R. Martin’s book series—titled “A Song of Ice and Fire” in which “A Game of Thrones” is the first book—is not about Jon Snow and Ygritte (could it ultimately be about Jon Snow and Daenerys?) but this shot quintessentially captures that title. Ygritte’s kissed-by-fire hair with fire in her half of the background. Jon’s half with a quiet, cool blue light, and with reflective ice/snow to his right... Can you tell how bummed I am about Ygritte’s death? Mr. Martin, please have her come back as a White Walker and make the series about her and Jon Snow. Their love is truly a song of Ice and Fire.

But while the episode was filled with cinematic flourishes that put all other similar TV shows (and quite frankly many movies with 10x the budget) to shame, the story was not as compelling as other Episode 9s—I think by virtue of it taking place solely at the Wall, where we’re not as invested in the characters, save a few. Throughout the seasons, the biggest threat has always been the dangers to the north—the White Walkers— and not the warring armies or even the dragons. But I never really felt the urgency or got a sense of how truly big of a threat was beyond the Wall (a.ka. the reason 100,000 wildlings are marching on the Wall to go as far south as possible). This episode gave it some of the weight that it need and that we’ve been hearing so much about.

June 15, 2014

Quick Hits: Jon Snow is going beyond the Wall to meet with Mance Rayder. Has news traveled to Mance’s camp that Jon Snow was a double agent? And does Ghost (his direwolf) go with him? We finally saw the “biggest fire the North has ever seen” and also a classic war movie trope—the side with smaller numbers lining their defenses with dummy bodies.

Maester Aemon—the great uncle of Daenerys Targaryen— tells Sam (I’m not calling him Fat Sam anymore, he earned it) the same thing he told Jon in S1E9: “Love is the death of duty.” This ended up being true for both Ned and Robb Stark. But the converse has been true for Jon Snow—duty was the death of his love. And not to get all high school geometry and/or intro to philosophy on you, but the contrapositive is true for Sam. If not love, then why duty?

Fun (Speculative) Trivia: While consoling Margaery after Joffrey’s death, Lady Olenna tells her the story of how she was supposed to marry a Targaryen—“marrying a Targaryen was all the rage back then.” And while recounting his past life to Sam, Maester Aemon says, “I met many girls [before I joined the Night’s Watch].” This probably doesn’t have legs, but it’s fun to think about.

When Jon and a small group of the Night’s Watch goes to kill the mutineers at Craster’s Keep (S4E5), Jon learned a very valuable lesson in his showdown with Karl. Karl taunts Jon: “You learn how to fight in a castle? Some old man teach you how to stand? How to parry? How to fight with honor? You know whats wrong with honor? *spits in Jon’s eyes and then takes him down* This.” Jon uses the same tactic against Styr, the skin-crawling leader of the Thenns (the cannibal wildling tribe)—Jon spits blood in his eyes and then uses the opening to smash a hammer into his skull. This signifies that Jon might be a more qualified ruler than both Ned and Robb—that he is willing to bend and adapt his “honor.”

Insider Info: (“Insider” as in I read way too much industry news, and not “insider” as in I have some informant that works at HBO.) The Season 4 finale is (apparently) going to be the best episode of the season. Not only is it 66 minutes long, but it is also the only episode submitted to the Emmys for Outstanding Writing. The previous writing Emmy nominees? “Baelor” (S1E9) and “The Rains of Castamere” (S3E9). For the first time, an Episode 10 might be the true climax of the season and not an Episode 9.

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June 15, 2014