‘Game of Thrones’ season 4, episode 5 review: Jon Snow vs. Craster’s Keep; Honor’s move

“Game of Thrones” Sunday night presented an episode that was definitely all across the board when it comes to stories. There were moments in King’s Landing, moments with the Night’s Watch, and also moments all the way out in the Eyrie.

But was this truly a good episode, or just one that tried to do a lot of different things, and didn’t do any of them very well? Our overall take is that “First of His Name” was a solid hour, but not one that was particularly eventful compared to some of the others. There was a lot going on, but most of it was designed to get from point A to point B … save for most of the stuff with Jon Snow at the end.

Jon’s big battle was one that led to the complete destruction of Craster’s Keep, which is probably a good thing given that this place didn’t have much of a legacy. When you are known first and foremost as a place where babies are carted off to the White Walkers, this is not the sort of reputation that you probably are interested in having around for too much longer.

Meanwhile, MASSIVE kudos tonight go to Hodor, who with the help of Bran Stark, did one of the most awesome things possible in keeping himself, Meera, and Jojen Reed all alive.

King’s Landing – Tommen was crowned as the new king, and the commiserating is already beginning to have Margaery become queen again, and then to have Cersei eventually be paired up once again with Loras. Save for a scene then between Cersei and Oberyn, where Cersei’s daughter was discussed heavily, this was a light episode with no Tyrion.

Pod and Brienne – It was inconsequential to see Pod and Brienne out on the road together right now, but it was really funny since Pod does not know how to do really anything except with prostitutes. We’re still happy that this little diversion was here.

Arya – Just in case you forgot, Arya wants to kill a lot of people! Also, The Hound is on there. This guy’s got a big set of balls to continue along his question to the Eyrie even with this threat.

The Eyrie – Speaking of which, is this really a better place for Sansa Stark? She has to deal with all sorts of jealousy when it comes to her late mother … and then, there is also the fact that she wants Sansa to marry her creepy son. Oh, and Littlefinger was genuinely nice this week! He must be up to something, right? Well, we suppose something more than being the conductor behind almost everything we’ve seen. The reveal of him being the mastermind behind almost everything that set in motion his present position needed to be either fleshed-out more, or placed at a part of the episode where there was more punch.

All in all, this was “First of His Name.” Outside of the cool battle (which was Jon Snow and few other people we care about), this was one of the slower episodes of the show. Here’s to hoping for a pickup, and more Tyrion, very soon. Grade: B-.

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