Reviewed: GOT: The Mountain & The Viper

There will be spoilers ahead so read on at your own risk...

The title of this episode probably gave you a decent idea about what was going on in this episode. Yes, we finally get to see Tyrion's trial by combat after Oberyn Martell, 'The Red Viper' agreed to be Tyrion's champion so he could finally have his chance to get revenge against 'The Mountain' for the death of his sister and her children. Somewhat surprisingly though, the build up to the fight and the fight itself barely took up any of the episode unlike Tyrion's trial in episode six and the royal wedding in episode two which both took up huge chunks of the episodes. But that didn't change how memorable and exciting it was because it was brilliant, but a lot of other important things happened in this episode so we'll dive in to them first.

The start of this episode was used to set up next week's episode as we see the Wildlings attack Mole's Town, slaughtering just about everyone except for Gilly and her child who were spared by Jon Snow's old pal Ygritte. The Night's Watch learn about what happened in the nearby town and Sam is obviously worried about Gilly, Jon however is more worried that if The Wildling's attacked Mole's Town, then Castle Black will be next. They've been building up to this battle for the best part of two seasons so it will be interesting to see how it plays out in episode nine, especially with the Watch having just 102 men now compared to the 100,000 of the Wildlings.

A few weeks ago they teased the idea of a Grey Worm and Missandei romance, they returned to that today and gave it some significant screen time. I don't really understand why they are doing this, is it because there is a lack of romance in the show these days? No more Drogo and Dany, Robb and Talisa, Jon and Ygritte, Tyrion and Shae and even Jaime and Cersei. Or is it because Daenerys' story has hit a bit of a lull recently? I'm really not sure but it is just a bit frustrating for them to give time to this relationship which is most likely going nowhere when we have main characters that have been getting little to no screen time.

Daenerys did actually have an interesting segment this week though, as Jorah's royal pardon arrives in Meereen and his past as a spy for King Robert is revealed to Daenerys and she forces him to leave the city. It was a big moment for Jorah who has been with her right from the start of the show but it has obviously been overshadowed by the trial by combat. It will be interesting whether or not we see Jorah again this season, I believe he still has a part to play but they may decide to give his character a break as he figures out his next move.

I really liked Ramsay and Reek's part in this episode. Ramsay has Reek pretend to be his former self, Theon Greyjoy and convince his fellow Iron Born to abandon Moat Cailin. Theon was doing a terrible job convincing their leader and was starting to revert to the mumbling nervous wreck of Reek before the leader was killed by one of his men who wanted to surrender. Ramsay Snow tells his father that he now has Moat Cailin and repays him by making him an official Bolton instead of a Snow. It was a proud moment for Ramsay and I loved the music they played while Roose revealed the news to his son, I felt it showed the joy and pride of the occasion mixed with all the terrible things that Ramsay has done simply to earn his father's affection.

Another highlight was Sansa finally coming in to her own, she comes to Petyr's rescue as the lords of the Vale question him over Lysa's death as she reveals herself as Sansa Stark to the lords and convinces them that Lysa killed herself. Later in the episode she shows up with her hair dyed black wearing a new outfit, probably symbolising that she's no longer this young pathetic girl, she's now a woman who is ready to play the Game of Thrones, and she's certainly with the right person if she wanted to do that. Of all the characters this season, I'm most pleased with her development.

We obviously ended with the fight but before that we saw Tyrion talking in his cell with Jaime for a few minutes reminiscing about their simple cousin Orson. Tyrion told this whole story about how Orson would just sit out all day smashing beetles and Tyrion was trying to figure out why he did it. This conversation was about five minutes long and you can pick whichever metaphor you like for Orson and his beetles but this really felt like wasted time, it was only slightly shorter than the trial by combat itself and it didn't really add anything, maybe they were just struggling to fill the time, who knows.

Then we have the fight, the setting it took place in was great and so was everything else like the weapons, armour and the visuals of the mismatched foes of Oberyn and the Mountain. The fight itself was entertaining enough, with Oberyn almost toying with the giant and constantly trying to get the Mountain to confess to murdering his sister. Oberyn eventually gets the upper hand, piercing the Mountain's armour twice before getting him on the ground and sticking his spear through the Mountain's chest only to remove it because he hadn't confessed yet.

This is where things started to go downhill for the Viper; he let his guard down while still shouting for a confession as the Mountain swipes at Oberyn's leg's putting him on the floor before grabbing him and punching out just about all of his teeth, he then began to gauge out Oberyn's eyes to Oberyn's horrific screams while the Mountain finally gives his confession, he then finally... pops Oberyn's head to the unforgettable screams of Ellaria Sand just like he did to Elia Martell. Tywin ends the episode by sentencing Tyrion to death. It was easily one of the most memorable moments in the show, right up there with the Red Wedding and Joffrey's death. I just wish it would have lasted longer, maybe we could have had another scene with Oberyn prior to the fight instead of Orson and his beetles. I think all fans of the show will miss Pedro Pascal as Oberyn, he only appeared in seven episodes but he was such a fresh character in King's Landing, he really added something different to the show.

This was a great episode, but the climax to it almost makes the first 45-50 minutes of the episode seem insignificant in comparison but Sansa's change and Jorah's dismissal shouldn't be overlooked. These next two episodes should be equally enthralling with Tyrion now sentenced to death and the Wildlings approaching Castle Black. I'll also be interested to see what happens to the Mountain as well if he survived his wounds and if the Martell's will react to the death of their prince.

Next week's episode is entitled The Watchers on the Wall and will be on HBO on Sunday and Sky Atlantic on Monday. If the three previous episode nines in Game of Thrones are anything to go by then we should be in for a good one. Here's the preview of that episode thanks to the Game of Thrones YouTube channel.