User Reviews

After two strong and packed episodes of Thrones, I found 'Oathbreaker' to be on the slower side, but still had plenty to chew on. Jon Snow is officially back. Cersei is about to do some serious damage to the faith. Arya got her sight back. Dany faced another setback. Ramsay received a gift. And we got a glimpse into the infamous Tower of Joy sequence.

I really like that each of the first 3 episodes has started at Castle Black. Kit Harrington has teased that this is going to be the biggest Jon Snow season yet, and looks like he may be right. I was on the edge of my seat waiting for the first lines out of his mouth but I was pleasantly surprised at how long they kept him silent. Seeing Davos sitting in absolute awe of what just happened was equally as pleasing. But nothing was more satisfying than seeing his murderers hanged to death. Alliser and Olly needed to go.

With that said, seeing Snow essentially end his watch was surprising. I can't say I actually believe he will leave Castle Black all together, especially with Sansa just around the corner. But having Jon leave just as Sansa arrives is the type of thing Thrones loves to do.

We finally got a little bit of hints as to what truly happened at the legendary Tower of Joy sword battle between Arthur Dayne and Ned Stark. Seeing that this was shown through Bran, I knew it wasn't going to be a prolonged sequence but I expected to get to see the conclusion of the Rhaegar-Lyanna situation atop the tower. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be this week, hopefully next episode we get what we are all waiting for.

Meanwhile, Dany had another setback as the Khals refuse to see her as the leader she is. Every other storyline seems to be picking up the pace, except for the Mother of Dragons. Assuming Drogon has had enough rest, he should be on his way sooner or later.

Back at Kings Landing, Cersei is about to put a beating down on anyone who gets in her way. I loved seeing her and Jaime barge their way through the small council and make their demands. Surprisingly, I'm team Lannister if it means getting rid of the High Sparrow and the rest of the faith. Speaking of which, it was nice seeing Tommen make a move on the High Sparrow, only to see him succumb to his persuasive ways a few minutes later.

Varys apparently located the leader of the Sons of the Harpy as Tyrion and the rest of the Meereen crew wait patiently amidst Dany's absence. It's unfortunate that Dinklage hasn't gotten a ton of screen time this season but the few scenes he does get are always wonderful. But I don't suspect we have seen the last of the Harpy, even with Varys' findings.

Lastly, Ramsay was presented with a Stark boy, presumably as a bargaining tool for battle later and Arya got her sight back. I really dug the Arya scenes this week as she went through her entire history with Wiaf and Jaqen. I know everyone is expecting her to turn on the two of them and go after the remaining people on her list, but I'm not sold on that just yet. Ramsay on the other hand seems to be brewing up to take Castle Black, though perhaps, it could be the other way around. Maybe Jon Snow takes the battle to him once Sansa informs him of what he's up to? Overall, it wasn't the most shocking or action heavy episode, but it had more set up of what's to come. It was also a nice episode at showcasing the 'Oathbreaker' theme throughout several characters. Although, With 7 episodes to go, I hope the pace picks up a bit.

+Snow is a god

+Legendary sword battle

+Arya gets her sight

+Lannisters

-Wanted more from the Tower of Joy

-Tommen is a wuss

8.0/10

This episode opens where the last ended; with Jon Snow waking from the dead. He is understandably confused while Melisandre is keen to know what he remembers of the time between dying and returning to life. Later those who killed him are punished and he decides his future is not in the Watch. Meanwhile the Three-Eyed Raven is showing Bran more of his family's past; including things that contradict what he thought he knew about his father. Across the Narrow Sea Daenerys is taken to be with the other Khal's widows; Arya progresses in her training and in Meereen Varys learns who is behind the Sons of the Harpy. Back in King's Landing Tommen converses with High Sparrow and in Winterfell Rickon Stark, along with Osha, is given to Ramsay Bolton. We also see Sam and Gilly for the first time this season as they sail south through rough seas.

This was another impressive episode. I was pleased that it immediately dealt with Jon's return to life and asked whether there was divine reason, as Melisandre believes, or whether it has no greater meaning. It was interesting to see a flashback to Ned Stark's early life and learn that he hadn't exactly been honest about some of his exploits; I hope we learn more later, especially about what happened to his sister. After all the talk about Lord Varys's 'little birds' it was interesting to learn just who they were and to see that they are now working for Qyburn. It was also nice to see Arya's training progress a bit; it was getting a bit depressing seeing this strong-willed character getting beaten down every episode… even if it was necessary to make her give up her past. The scenes with Daenerys at Vaes Dothrak were interesting enough, even though not much happened they hinted at things to come. While this isn't the most action packed episode it does have its moments; most notably an impressive sword fight in Bran's vision but also during Arya's training, even if in the latter case we can guess that nobody is going to die. Finally it was great to see Rickon Stark again even if he is in a perilous position… to be honest I'd forgotten about him. Overall this was another solid episode.

Gets a 10 just for the appearance of Ser Arthur Dayne, a character that TV-only fans needed to see. The fighting scene with him against Ned's men is one of my favourite in the whole series. Luke Roberts did the 'best swordsman in Westeros' justice.

The first two episodes of this season caught me off guard, they were beautiful written, acted and upped their game of production, making this season the most visual stunning yet.

This episode continues this tradition and gives us yet again another stunning episode. The first shot we get is of David' face and the sheer shock on his face made me smile. The way the actors reacted to Jon's resurrection was as real as it was going to get.

Without any spoilers, this episode is very slow paced when compared to the others. But there are many scenes, including the Tower of Joy scene, which is fantastic. We finally get to see a decent sword fight since season 4.

However there are some plot twists that are much different than the book, which might annoy some book readers, and the gift presented to Ramsey, I wasn't too fond of. Unless it is going to hit Ramsey back in the head, I hope they don't kill the gift off, as we have not seen him in 3 years. It would be a waste.

Other than that, this episode was brilliant, I can't wait to see the free Jon Snow kick some ass.

Last week's episode was always going to be a tough one to beat in terms of quality and storyline progression, but S6E03 did a damn good job at trying. This episode gave satisfaction to the audience in more ways than one, and some scenes will go down in GOT history.

My personal favourite moments from the episode came from Bran and the Three-Eyed Raven. The Tower of Joy flashbacks gave us enough content to satisfy our expectations, whilst still leaving it with a strong element of mystery. It was fantastic to see Eddard Stark again, even if it wasn't Sean Bean playing him this time; we forget how attached we all were to Ned in season one, and it is rewarding and special to see the character again after so many years. Bran's story is really becoming interesting, he was never that interesting in my own opinion, I didn't feel any major attachment to him compared to the likes of Arya and Robb.

Season Six has already had a fair few comedic moments, and this episode was no exception. The scenes in Meereen involving Tyrion and Grey Worm were hilarious. Daenerys' storyline is a bit slower compared to the others but it was good to see her again after her absence last week. I hope we see Drogon soon! It was also fantastic to see Sam and Gilly again, as well as Osha and Rickon.

The episodes closing act saw the deaths we have all been craving for so long; Olly and Alliser Thorne finally got the punishment they got for stabbing Jon. I must say that Owen Teale (Thorne) is a fantastic performer, and it will actually be sad not to have him feature on the show anymore, but then again, f**k Ser Alliser, and double f**k Olly, they deserved exactly what they got.

Overall 'Oathbreaker' is not disappointing in the slightest, and it really delivered with its fan service; 8/10. Performance of the week: Max von Sydow (Three-Eyed Raven)

In the last episode Home, finally the dominoes fell down and now in Oath- breaker the pieces are being set up for the remaining seven episodes. This is kind of episode that takes the story forward, a typical Game of Thrones episode. We had excellent conversations, gripping action sequence and shocking deaths.

It is nice to see the story starts off with Jon Snow, his reaction to the resurrection was captured perfectly. With Davos and Melisandrae beside him, it is time for retribution. Although we wont be getting the Battle of Winterfell any time soon. Ser Allister Throne's final words captures his character perfectly. Although I was looking for some kind of interaction between Olly and Jon Snow.

The Tower of Joy fight sequence casts some shadow on the Honor of Ned Stark, making him look more human. The fight sequence could have been better though. It was no where close to the Mountain vs Oberyn Martell sequence in season 4. The writers will probably skip Bran's story line (Notice that both Bran and FlashBack are missing in the episode 4 preview) in the next episode so we have to wait 2 more weeks for R+L=J.

It was good to see Sam again. He will have a bigger role to play once he learns from the books in the library.

Many people believe that Dany's story arc has nose dived in Season 6. But I believe she is going to find something important at Vaes Dothrak that is going to define her future. And hopefully to find her way back to Westeros. Back at Mareen her story was going no where.

I have always wondered how Varys works with his little birds. Now we know he uses children, mostly orphans for spying. It would be interesting whether his little birds in Kings Landing work as double agents now that they are under Qyburn who has taken charge of the post of Master of Whispers.

Tommen is not a cruel king like his brother. He is not a mad king like Aerys II Targaryen. He is not an irresponsible king like Robert Baratheon. To sum up he is no kind of King. Just a puppet. Most likely his death is imminent. However his life is all that is holding back a full fledged civil war is Westeros.

The best part of today's episode is Arya's progress to become a no-one. She is nearly there. The montage of her training was excellent. But just when you think the Starks are safe Rickon runs into Ramsey. The death of Shaggydog was shocking. We can safely say that there is no harm to Rickon's life. He is more like a bargaining chip for the future.

+Jon is free from his oath

+Arya gets her sight back

+Death of Allister Throne and Olly

+Character development for Khaleesi

-The fight sequence at Tower of Joy could have been better.

-Two more weeks till R+L=J.

Overall a typical Game of Thrones episode 9/10

This show has gone off the deep end this season. Let me start by listing a few grievances.

What was the point in showing the Tower of Joy flashback if they were going to omit what made it important in the first place? I mean, That scene was absolutely irrelevant in showing if they weren't going to show it all the way through. I would go in depth about what was supposed to go down but only book readers know what I am talking about.

Also, character motivations no longer make and sense whatsoever. Everyone who has a general understanding of the show understands that Umbers are fiercely loyal to the Starks. Yet when Rickon arrives to the Umbers, they take little Rickon, kill his wolf, and give him to Ramsey. YEAH, because that totally makes sense within the lore of the show.

In addition to this, I read somewhere that Ramsey has become a Mary Sue type villain, and I have to agree with this statement. The thing that made Joffrey such a captivating villain was that he had limits, boundaries and actual motivations. Idiotic actions he committed actually had dire consequences. But nope, that's not the case with Ramsey! He is able to commit stupid decision after stupid decision and not receive any consequences whatsoever. NOPE! He is able to receive a new found ally and Rickon Stark! WOW! That makes sense in a universe where every action has consequences.

I also am despising the amount of screen time they are devoting to Tommen. I mean, the best part about Tommen in the novels is that he is young and absolutely irrelevant to everything going on in Kings Landing. It is Cersei who the Kings Landing pplot was also focused on, but instead the show is trying to actually make us care about Tommen when he is absolutely irrelevant to the overall story.

Also, Jon Snows resurrection has to be one of the most anti-climatic things in TV history after all of the hype. Usually the thing that made resurrection so interesting in the Game of Thrones universe was the fact that when someone gets resurected, they suffer dire consequences. When Beric would be continually revived by Thoros, he would forget things of his past, until he eventually forgot everything he was. Jon Snow is exactly the same. I mean, one could argue that all he cares about is vengeance seeing how he hanged the peple who killed him, but I don't see it this way. These people had to be murdered for killing their Lord Commander, not because Jon is changed and out for vengeance. Jon Snow is exactly the same with no character regression or anything.

The only things they did somewhat right is daenerys storyline and the storyline in Meeren. However, the war that they are setting up in Meeren is something they shoud've already set up a season ago, and despite the fact that they are going this route now doesn't make up for all of the bs that occurred this episode.

All in all, I am not excited with the direction this season is going anymore. This will most like be flagged down as not helpful by the Game of Thrones fanatics who praise each episode. Hey but if you read my review, I thank you for your time.

Albeit not as surprising as the previous episodes, this episode was pretty good. I'm not going to summarize the whole episode with lengthy paragraphs, so I'll try to keep it short; in Meereen, Varys gets quite some screen time, as he threatens the prostitute who slit the throat of an Unsullied, while providing her safe passage, eventually knowing who funds the Sons Of The Harpy. Meanwhile, Tyrion in a hilarious scene, felt like a socially awkward man, as Missandei and Grey Worm kept on a poker face. He tried to play a drinking game with them(good throwback to the Lannister tent where Tyrion, Shae and Bronn had a drinking game), only to find out that they didn't drink.

Moving on to Bran's visions, we finally got to see Young Ned, Howland Reed etc fight Arthur Dayne, and Oswell Went, the two kings-guard of Prince Rhaegar, as Ned asks why they weren't with Rhaegar. A sword-fight ensues, and everyone is killed, except Ned and Arthur. Arthur, known to possess the legendary sword, Sword Of The Morning in the books, possesses not one, but two swords in the show, which is a weird change. Bran was told that Ned killed Arthur, only to find out in the vision that it was a lie, as Ned is almost killed by Arthur, only to be pierced in the neck by Howland Reed, as Ned delivers the killing blow. The casting for young Ned is spot on, and we see him in a different light here; an angry young man, as he hears screams of Lyanna from the Tower. The scene ends there, as Bloodraven tells Bran he can't spend too much time looking at visions.

In Kings Landing, we finally see Varys' little birds; they're little, impoverished children, whom Qyburn feeds sweets in return for whispers, as Cersei asserts that she wants the little birds everywhere. Tommen meets with the High Sparrow, obviously angry that his mother isn't being allowed to see Myrcella's body, as well as angry at her treatment, as the High Sparrow says that she has to stand trial in the front of the Seven. Tommen is easily moved and fooled by the High Sparrow's speech. As we expected of him; he's still an innocent child.

In Bravos, Arya finally gets back her eyes, after a lot of questions asked by the Waif, as we get a throwback to the past, about the Hound, and Arya's list, as well as Arya's family, as the show gives a hint that Rickon's still alive.

In Winterfell, Smalljon Umber brings two hostages for Ramsay, though he refuses to bend his knee to him, while throwing some F-Bombs. Classic Umber. The hostages turn to be none other than Rickon and Osha, as Smalljon presents Ramsay with the severed head of Shaggydog, Rickon's dire-wolf. Rickon's actor, Art Parkinson has grown! Quite a change. This will be the fuel for Battle of Bastards that's to come.

In Castle Black, Jon awakens and can barely stand, shocked at what's happened. The only thing he remembers is being stabbed by his own men. Mel asks him what he saw after he died, and he says nothing, to her dismay. He dons the Lord Commander's garb, as Tormund makes a dirty joke, hugging him, the next being Edd, as we see that Jon's not changed much, except his hair. However, all the mutineers are prepared for hanging, with Jon walking toward them, as he asks them for his last words. Bowen says Jon shouldn't be alive, stating it's not right. Jon replies "Neither was killing me". He moves onto the next man. Yarwyck pleads Jon to tell his family that he died fighting the Wildlings. Alliser then says he had a choice, to betray his Commander or the Night's Watch. He then says that Jon bringing the Wildlings was a dangerous problem and had to be stopped. Jon moves onto the silent Olly, with the boy glaring furiously at Jon with immense hatred. Jon reluctantly cuts down the rope, killing all four traitors.

Jon looks at Olly's lifeless body, feeling remorse. Afterwards, Jon takes off his cloak and hands it to the confused Edd. Jon then says Edd can do whatever he wants with the cloak, unofficially labeling Edd as the 999th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch. Jon then leaves the courtyard, saying "And my watch has ended." with the rest of the wild-lings and Night's watch men looking on. Wow! Talk about character development. As R R Martin said, resurrection would change his characters, and we see that Jon has come back darker and more brooding. Death has finally released Jon from the vows, and he truly looked tired of the bullshit that's been happening in the Night's watch; in the first season, he was told great stories about brave Night's watch men, only to find out that they're a group of thieves, robbers, etc. It is pretty evident that Jon is going to don the Stark armor and take back Winterfell from Ramsay, adding that Rickon and Sansa's situation only fuels his quest to kill Ramsay. We're gonna see new shades in Jon's character, and it's pretty brilliant.

Oathbreaker does a great job continuing where Home left off with Jon Snow being brought back to life and vowing to bring an end to the murderers who killed him at the end of the fifth season. I saw the preview of this last night and much like the previous episode, it surprised me. There aren't any problems I do have with it.

The plot progression's very solid this time around and it continues to advance the story lines perfectly. Jon Snow, Arya, and Bran had so much to do. The same goes to Daenerys and Tyrion not to mention Ramsay Bolton planning on what to do with Rickon, one of the Stark family members. The script is superb and the performances continue to be compelling. Also, it has a nice set up to what's going to happen in the later episodes. If Jon Snow battles against Ramsay Bolton in the middle of this season, it would be really cool.

The directing is smooth and well-focused, the editing is solid, the pacing is really good and never drags. The character relationships are still as interesting as they were in the previous seasons, the sets are still lavish along with the gorgeous scenery and Ramin Djawadi's music score continues to shine. So, overall, Oathbreaker is another excellent episode that lives up to the high standards left by Home. Thumbs up. :)

I loved how they started with Jon Snow. It was only fitting that we picked up right from where we left off last episode. I really like how well Harington played this scene. We've really only seen a leader Snow and from what I can remember we haven't seen a large range of emotion from Jon Snow as a character. I thought Harington brought a large amount of emotion to his reawakening especially with him dealing with trying to come to terms with what has happened. I really liked how the following scene played out with everyone being so scared of Jon, and Tormund being the one to speak everyone else's minds.

Catching up with Sam is always great. It's the first time this season we got to see him and I think they really gave a great introduction and reminder to what is happening with him and Gilly. I really hope that we get to see Sam back at Castle Black sooner rather than later because I really liked the relationship they have set up between Sam and Jon. There's a part of me however that is really interested to see where they are going to go with Gilly and Sam, I feel like we could see a big typical Game of Thrones twist involving them in some way.

Again everything with the 3 Eyed Raven and Brann was great. I liked how they backed up from last week from showing child Ned and a more matured teen Ned this week. I really like how through Brann was are getting a form of prequel series to what happened before season 1. So far I've really loved these and I can only hope that they really continue this throughout the season. I really love Max von Sydow in these scenes. I think he really plays the power figure well really stands as a wise character.

I'll admit, I'm not too sure on the direction they are taking with Daenerys. From the start of the series I was really invested in Daenerys and her drive towards the iron throne. But since the start of season 5, she's been a bit of a let down. While everything with the dragons and her time at Meereen wasn't in anyway boring, I just miss the drive she had earlier in the series. I hope they really recapture this aspect of her and get to see her back as a dominant force in the series.

I really loved Varys in this episode. I like how he is no longer playing the side character and is becoming a leader in his own way. As the audience we really saw him pulling the strings and being a dominate character but its great to see him step up and take on a large role and dominate in it.

Again, Tyrion was fantastic. Peter Dinklage continue to hit it out of the park. Full credit to the writers though. They have really turned the heat on Tyrion and he has so many memorably lines. He is really the comedic relief of this show and he plays this role fantastically. I loved how he had some wised words and when questioned who said it, he replied that it was him. Even though I've heard that singe joke heaps of times, it's the execution from Dinklage that allows him to nail it.

I thought everything at Kings Landing was fantastic. I really like how they are playing with the Zombiefied Mountain. Everything from the reaction of the kids to the old guy, that I will never remember his name, farting himself. For me I really hope that we get to see The Mountain in action again this season. I know we are only a short way through but I'm just hoping that we get to see him play a massive role in the back part of the season.

Tommen really got a big part this episode and I really liked it. While he is no Joffery and we don't love to hate him, I love he we are seeing him grow as a king. I thought he had a fantastic conversation with the High Sparrow. High Sparrow has been really great this season and has followed on from his big role at the back end of last season. Bit by bit I'm starting to really like him as a character.

Arya's storyline stepped up this episode. I've always loved Ayra's storyline and I thought that it was always going to be interesting to see what happens with her blindness. I really loved the Daredevil style training montage we got this episode. They really represented her drive and determination which is a characteristic that made Arya one of my favourite characters.

The reveal at the Bolton Castle was extremely unexpected but I loved it. We unfortunately got a bit of a spoiler from Maisie Williams that Rickon was going to return but I expected that to be towards the end of the season. I'm probably the same as everyone else in thinking that Rickon has grown up a hell of a lot. You really can see with the hair how he looks so much like Rob Stark. Hopefully the story with Rickon is played out well through the last bit of the season. There would be nothing worse than having both him and Osha reappear in the series for them to just be killed off.

I thought the final scenes was a great way to end the episode. I wasn't really excepting to be a major death this episode, let alone 4 hangings. I liked how they came full circle this episode and ended back on Jon to get revenge on his death. Of course the big moment was Jon retiring from his Command. It now lays a great foundation to take Jon on a different path that we haven't seen him in a while since his time with the Wildlings.

9/10

This episode was very good. No shocking reveals or resurrections, just good storytelling. This episode Jon wakes up from a long nap. With Davos and Jon both thinking WTF but not actually saying anything, Jon gets up realizing he was indeed dead. A lot It is said without words actually being spoken. Tower of joy. Much anticipated scene, I thought it was very well done especially Arthur Dayne, I thought he looked amazing with the sword. This was also interesting to see how things actually happened rather than the survivors interpretations of what happened. Unfortunately Max Von Sydow did blue ball us by taking Bran out of this vision before we could go into the tower. Hopefully we revisit this soon. Bran is not happy about getting taken out of the past to live in the present due to his happiness in the past and his dismal present and out looking future . Daenyrs joins other khal widows. We have not seen much of her this season through 3 episodes.. Lord Varys gets some information. Cersei states her intention to fight ser gregor as her champion against the faith. I am with Jaime, I cannot wait to see this trial by combat(CBGH) Pycelle lets loose after seeing ser gregor. The small counsel leaves Jaime and cersei. Tommen gets manipulated yet again. Very good scene with the high sparrow and tommen, tommen easily swayed after hearing something tywin once told him about listening to counsel so he takes this advice. Arya gets her sight back through it appears she is still drawn to her family, when she is praying to the olds gods of her family despite not knowing this while being blind. Rickon and Osha return and shaggy dog. I have watched this scene multiple times and I actually do not believe that was shaggy dog and I do not believe the Umbers are being straight with Ramsey. I don't know if it is just wishful thinking, but the wolf's head was small and Umber was throwing around a lot of insults and refused to swear any allegiance. We shall see. Jon gets justice against his murderers, we get justice with a long glimpse at #f*c*Olly. Jon states to everyone that because he has died, his watch has ended as he drops the mic and walks off stage.

After last weeks shocker of an ending anticipation for this episode and the follow up to Jon Snow's resurrection has been off the charts. Getting right to it.

Final Opinion

Let's start with the TOJ scene. Many depictions of this scene have been produced however this version will be the only one that counts. Having said that, it disappoints me that only 2 of the fabled king's guard were portrayed. I'm not sure if we are missing Oswell Went or Gerold Hightower, it doesn't help that neither of them are mentioned, nor do they match their book descriptions. *SIGH* You might say, what does it matter? Well it just shows a lack of respect towards the fan base. As for the portrayal of Howland Reed and Ned, I could take it or leave it. The swordplay itself was enjoyable and well choreographed. In the original scene their was quite a bit more of initial negotiation, alas I can always count on HBO to cut to the chase and eliminate context and back-story. 

Another big disappointment comes from the non portrayal of Arthur's legendary steel sword: Dawn. Not even the tiniest hint of attention was given to this detail. Again, count on HBO to strip away all of the refinery. Perhaps they tried to make up for it by giving him 2 swords? Who said 2 swords are better than 1? *SIGH*

This all leads me to insist that it should have been done with a movie size budget.

Unsurprisingly the scene ends abruptly without the big reveal. Bran's complaints lend credence to the audience, letting them know that there is as a lot more to that event than we bear witness to, and that it will have some impact on the current state of affairs.

Overall a lackluster TOJ scene that did not live up to the hype.

All the other scenes in this episode were mostly fillers and pretty darn straight forward.

It was refreshing to see some good progress with Arya. That was a great action montage really demonstrating her skill. Although, is she really going to be using a Bo staff to kill people? She's finally beyond the point of Wax on / Wax off. I'm eager for more.

Episodes like these leave me really complacent. I don't like not being able to tell where things are going. The story has a lot of convincing to do.

What did you think of the Tower Of Joy scene?

Oathbreaker is uneventful and somewhat unmemorable.

Tommen talks with the High Sparrow and makes no headway. Ramsay makes new friends, receiving Osha and Rickon Stark as a gift. Arya makes progress and regains her sight. Jon executes those who murdered him and then leaves the Night's Watch. Not much else to say.

Jon, Ramsay, Cersei and Jaime the standouts.