After the epic conclusion of season three of “Game of Thrones,” there were high expectations for the levels the show would reach. By this point, especially with the events of “The Rains of Castamere,” the show had pretty much made its mark as one of the greatest shows in television history, and in 2014, it had a new mission: find a way to ride the wave of excitement the last season started. 

This season more than others also began to centralize itself amongst three main characters: Jon Snow (Kit Harington, “How to Train your Dragon: The Hidden World”), Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke, “Solo: A Star Wars Story”) and Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage, “Avengers: Infinity War”). Smaller subplots still center a lot around Jamie (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, “Shot Caller”), Cersei (Lena Headey, “Fighting with my Family”) and their relationship struggles; Arya (Maisie Williams) and the Hound (Rory McCann) making their way north to the Vale; and the continuing storylines from our other pawns within the larger game. The larger events, though, center around the big three.

This series continues to deliver the same ferocity and vigor as the last three penultimate episodes within the series. However, now it seems as though these events are taking place every other episode, from the Purple Wedding, in which the war of the Five Kings ends with the poisoning of Joffrey (Jack Gleeson), to the events taking place in King’s Landing. It continues to fall like dominoes as Tyrion faces trial for the suspected murder of his nephew; Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer) begins to work on Joffrey’s brother Tommen (Dean-Charles Chapman) as he is to be the next king; Cersei continues to accuse Tyrion of the murder; and Jamie learns to fight with his left hand as he resumes his duties with the King’s Guard. There is even room for Sansa (Sophie Turner, “X-men: Apocalypse”), who is smuggled out of King’s Landing by Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen, “Bohemian Rhapsody”), who announces he will be marrying her aunt in the Vale. 

Speaking of the Vale, after the events of the Red Wedding, the Hound and Arya also continue their adventure north so the Hound can sell Arya to her Aunt Lysa. Hot on their trail is Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie, “Star Wars: The Last Jedi”), who, after being entrusted with Jamie’s sword and Tyrion’s steward Podrick (Daniel Portman), must now complete her mission of trying to find and save Sansa and Arya for the now-deceased Catelyn Stark (Michelle Fairley). Other events going on up north include Snow trying to regain the trust of the Night’s Watch while simultaneously trying to warn them about Mance Rayder (Ciaran Hinds, “First Man”) and his army of wildlings approaching the wall. Also, beyond the wall, Bran (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) and his small party of travelers attempt to find the cave of the three-eyed raven as they must escape from wildlings and worse.

This season lives up to the standards, with the last five episodes of the season each being better than the last. Episode six features Tyrion’s trial, in which Dinklage gives what might be the pinnacle of his performance on the show, as viewers see Tyrion finally crack under the stress of the last few years in King’s Landing. Episode seven acts as a setup for the last three episodes while also containing a human moment with Hot Pie (Ben Hawkey) and Brienne as he tells her that Arya is still alive. 

In episode eight, viewers see the first of the climactic episodes with Tyrion’s trial by combat between the titular Gregor Clegane aka The Mountain (Hapfor Julius Bjornson) and Oberyn Martell aka the Red Viper of Dorne (Pedro Pascal, “Triple Frontier”), ending in one of the most lasting images within the whole series. Meanwhile, across the Narrow Sea, Daenerys discovers Jorah Mormont’s (Iain Glen) treachery as a spy back in the early days of their friendship. If there were one word to describe the ending of this episode, it would be crushing. 

Episode nine, the actual penultimate episode of the season, is “The Watchers on the Wall.” The entire episode follows the battle between the Wildlings and the Night’s Watch, with some of the greatest action sequences ever to be presented put on full display, as well as some of the biggest heartbreaks. 

Finally, in episode 10, “The Children,” the fallout from episode eight and nine is presented as the Night’s Watch must now deal with the survivors of Mance’s defeated army. Tyrion escapes King’s Landing, but not without one last Father’s Day present (the day the episode aired) that reaches straight to his father Tywin’s (Charles Dance) heart, in the form of a crossbow. 

Not as nice as it sounds, but that was the conclusion the fans wanted, as this episode was one of the highest rated of the season according to IMDb, but as they say in “Game of Thrones,” “Valar Morghulis.”

Image from Mock Censorship via YouTube