The opening four episodes of this season of Game of Thrones felt different to the first four years of the show. The writing was slower, opting for a rather lengthy build up feel. The character motives were more political, characters like Jon and Daenerys being given material a far cry from anything they'd had before. Coincidentally, these were the only episodes sent out to critics before they aired for initial reviews, ultimately leaking online soon after. This led to my speculation that Kill the Boy would be the episode where the show's fifth season halted the build up and went truly haywire. Much to my prediction, the build up did in fact stop here. But so did the narrative. It's difficult to come out of episode five with a sense of accomplishment; Kill the Boy may go down as the slowest and most conceptually bland episode the show has ever put out.
Thankfully, it's still compelling television. Game of Thrones would have to go seriously downhill for it to put out an actively weak episode; most 'dud' episodes tend to just be poorer in comparison to the show's extraordinary standard. Kill the Boy is still packed with the visual flare viewers love about the show; the scenic CGI as Stannis' army marched away from Winterfell was stunning, and our eventual insight into Valeria demonstrated the show's knack for breathtaking photography. There was also some nicely symbolic moments in episode five, namely Daenerys' plan to marry Hizdahr zo Loraq. Dany is a character who began the show being forced into a marriage against her will, so it's an interesting development that she is now willing to use the concept of marriage for her own political gain. I also particularly enjoyed Stannis and Sam's brief sequence for a number of reasons. On paper they make an interesting pairing, but when you add the fact that Sam himself killed a White Walker, Stannis feels less important in comparison. This kind of thoughtful character work is what just about saved this episode from falling flat on every level.
Those familiar with Game of Thrones understand its ability to cut between five or six, sometimes even seven or eight locations per episode. Kill the Boy is content with just three, which is a risky move. When the show resorts to just one location per episode, like in season two's Blackwater (my personal favourite episode of the show), the scale is increased in order to sustain it. Besides season four's Wall-focused battle episode, I think I'm correct in stating that Kill the Boy is the first episode to entirely remove King's Landing from the equation. And the episode suffers for it. There isn't enough variety to keep the show compelling; we lost the progress of Arya's efforts in Braavos, and we lacked the interesting political happenings of Cersei and Margaery. By resorting simply to the North, the Wall and the general surroundings of Meereen, episode five feels almost bland compared to the rest of this season.
The highlight of Kill the Boy is undoubtedly Iwan Rheon's performance as Ramsay Snow, I mean, Bolton, who makes for the most compelling dinner sequence the show's offered since Arya served for Tywin (aw, remember him?) back in season two. Rheon conducts this sequence with a horrifying glint in his eye that suggests Ramsay is well on his way to being one of the most interesting villains the show has right now. Unfortunately this was followed by a seemingly misplaced sequence between him and his father, in which the episode comes to a complete halt. It's the kind of narrative mistake one would expect from a small scale ITV drama, not from one of the most critically acclaimed fantasy shows the world has ever seen. Up until now, season five had been slow, but admirably so. Kill the Boy fails to both continue strengthening the build up or advance the story in interesting ways. We're midway through this season now, and time is running thin for the writers to craft a satisfying conclusion to the countless arcs they set up in the first four episodes.
Thankfully, it's still compelling television. Game of Thrones would have to go seriously downhill for it to put out an actively weak episode; most 'dud' episodes tend to just be poorer in comparison to the show's extraordinary standard. Kill the Boy is still packed with the visual flare viewers love about the show; the scenic CGI as Stannis' army marched away from Winterfell was stunning, and our eventual insight into Valeria demonstrated the show's knack for breathtaking photography. There was also some nicely symbolic moments in episode five, namely Daenerys' plan to marry Hizdahr zo Loraq. Dany is a character who began the show being forced into a marriage against her will, so it's an interesting development that she is now willing to use the concept of marriage for her own political gain. I also particularly enjoyed Stannis and Sam's brief sequence for a number of reasons. On paper they make an interesting pairing, but when you add the fact that Sam himself killed a White Walker, Stannis feels less important in comparison. This kind of thoughtful character work is what just about saved this episode from falling flat on every level.
Those familiar with Game of Thrones understand its ability to cut between five or six, sometimes even seven or eight locations per episode. Kill the Boy is content with just three, which is a risky move. When the show resorts to just one location per episode, like in season two's Blackwater (my personal favourite episode of the show), the scale is increased in order to sustain it. Besides season four's Wall-focused battle episode, I think I'm correct in stating that Kill the Boy is the first episode to entirely remove King's Landing from the equation. And the episode suffers for it. There isn't enough variety to keep the show compelling; we lost the progress of Arya's efforts in Braavos, and we lacked the interesting political happenings of Cersei and Margaery. By resorting simply to the North, the Wall and the general surroundings of Meereen, episode five feels almost bland compared to the rest of this season.
The highlight of Kill the Boy is undoubtedly Iwan Rheon's performance as Ramsay Snow, I mean, Bolton, who makes for the most compelling dinner sequence the show's offered since Arya served for Tywin (aw, remember him?) back in season two. Rheon conducts this sequence with a horrifying glint in his eye that suggests Ramsay is well on his way to being one of the most interesting villains the show has right now. Unfortunately this was followed by a seemingly misplaced sequence between him and his father, in which the episode comes to a complete halt. It's the kind of narrative mistake one would expect from a small scale ITV drama, not from one of the most critically acclaimed fantasy shows the world has ever seen. Up until now, season five had been slow, but admirably so. Kill the Boy fails to both continue strengthening the build up or advance the story in interesting ways. We're midway through this season now, and time is running thin for the writers to craft a satisfying conclusion to the countless arcs they set up in the first four episodes.