Game Of Thrones was one of the best fantasy shows on TV when it first debuted way back in the early 2010's. With the show mixing adult themes and situations with heart pounding action and heartbreaking deaths with the show being most famous for what would happen in it's nineth episode of each season as that would be where all the drama that the season had been leading up to would pay off with the same thing being true with the episode that i'm going to be talking to you all about today and so then join me as I review the episode that is the first episode of the show to just focus on one set of characters with the episode in question being called simply just "Blackwater" enjoy.
The plot of this episode is when Stannis and his men reach King's Landing by sea it's up to Tyrion and the Lannister army to defend the city or die trying. Now then terms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad as while yes this episodes plot is rather simple in nature that's all that it needed to be as the rest of the story was one that was being told all throughout the rest of this shows second season and therefor this episode isn't one that required that much of a deep plot as if your watching this episode then odds are you've watched the previous episodes as well and would therefor already know what the plot of this season is in the first place and to this episodes credit even tho it doesn't have much in the way of plot it does make up for it by giving us these really tense scenes with both Cersei and Sansa as they both contemplate the fact that they might now make it out of this war alive and while the episode does give alot of it's attention to it's main plot which is something that is rightfully so as the whole battle plot is what the whole second season had been building towards it was nice to see what could be considered the seasons B plot with Cersei and Sansa almost learning to trust each other get some spotlight as that was something that the makers of this episode didn't have to do and yet it's something that makes the main plot of this episode feel all the more real as now we get to see how the women feel about all of the fighting going on as well which was something that we barely got to see in this show with the plot of this episode also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this episode is Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister and Lena Headey as Queen Cersei Lannister. Also starring in this episode is Charles Dance as Lord Tywin Lannister , Liam Cunningham as Ser Davos Seaworth , Jack Gleeson as King Joffrey Baratheon , Sophie Turner as Princess Sansa Stark , Rory McCann as Sandor Clegane , Stephen Dillane as Lord Stannis Baratheon , Jerome Flynn as Bronn , Conleth Hill as Lord Varys , Sibel Kekilli as Shae , Roy Dotrice as Wisdom Hallyne , Julian Glover as Grand Maester Pycelle , Eugene Simon as Ser Lancel Lannister , Kerr Logan as Matthos Seaworth , Finn Jones as Ser Loras Tyrell , Sahara Knite as Armeca , Tony Way as Dontos Hollard , Wilko Johnson as Ser Ilyn Payne , Callum Wharry as Prince Tommen Baratheon , Daniel Portman as Podrick Payne , Gordon Mahn as Ser Imry Florent and James Doran as Ser Mandon Moore.
Now then terms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. With this being something that wasn't really all that surprising as even in the bad episodes of this show there was always some really good acting in them with it being obvious that all of this episodes actors are a bunch of really good actors as they all act there hearts out in this episode something which couldn't have been easy due to the fact that this episode was filmed at night for several days or weeks straight with the best actor in the whole entire episode being a tie between Peter Dinklage and Lena Headey as they both do have scenes in this episode that show off just how wonderful of an actor that they both are be it Tyrion giving the troops a rousing speech after Joffrey leaves them to go and be with his mother or be it when Cersei tries to comfort her son near the end of the episode as she thinks that this is it for them and quietly prepares to spare her son getting brutally killed by essentially poisoning him all the while she has to put on this breathe face and act like everything is OK even when she knows that it might not be with the acting that's in this episode really being helped by the fact that the script for this episode is just so good that all this episodes actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out pf them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very episode.
Doing the CGIA for this episode is the legends and the greats that are currently over at Pixomondo , Baked FX and MFX. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good with this episode perhaps more CGI heavy then what the rest of this season is as they do have to have to green screen in backgrounds for the characters that are on the boats to begin with as well of the wild fire that attacks the boats as well and while it might be obvious that they didn't really go out to sea to film the scenes on the boats the episodes overall quality of VFX is still quite high as alot of the episodes VFX do look really good with the makers of this episode going the extra mile by having the wildfire show up in the reflection of the sea which was something that they really didn't have to do and yet it's a small thin that helps to sell you on the effect as a whole and while of course they do use CGI for things like extended buildings and for making large armies of people in the episode that is a great way to use CGI ad then there only using it to create something that they wouldn't have been able to do on the day of filming and while it's obvious that the episodes effects budget was one of the things that got cut down in order to make this episode happen in the first place we still did manage to get some really good looking VFX that more then hold up all of these later and while yes granted this episodes VFX aren't as good s the effects that we see in TV shows today these are still some really good looking effects in their own right.
With this show of course being a drama that does mean that we do get a good dose of drama in this episode. Alot of which does work given the fact that all of the make characters are about to go off to war and thus every ones emotions are of course going to be heightened and yet at the same time tho there is some bits of drama that we really didn't need in this episode like for example we didn't need to see the scene between Bron and The Hound as that's not something that plays a part in the plot of this episode with it feeling like it was added in at the last might just to give both Jerome Flynn and Rory McCann a little bit more to do in the episode when it would have made more sense to have there scene play out the same way in either the previous or in the following episode and while it could be argued that the scene with Sansa and Joffrey wasn't needed for that exact same reason it could also be argued that there scene together was needed as they are meant to be betrothed to each other therefor it does make sense that she would want to go and see him off before he goes of to war even if he is fighting a war against her own brother and if anything the episode might have been made all the more better if we got to see more scenes with them together as then we'd get to see just how more sick and twisted that Joffrey is now that he's on the edge of a war as that is something that would make him a more dangerous person and heck it could even be argued that he is more dangerous then what Daenerys was as Joffrey is a character that only looks out for number 1 and is willing to do these sick and twisted things just because it's fun for him whereas with Daenerys she was pushed to the point of killing people and wasn't already at that point.
What is something that would have made this episode be that little bit better was if they didn't show Tywin coming in at the end of the episode. As then they could have had this big cliffhanger ending with all of us wondering if these characters are going to make it out alive or not which given the fact that this season of the show was made before streaming was really a thing was something that would have been a boost for next weeks ratings and yet for one reason or another they decided to show him coming in at the end of the episode as a literal knight in shining in armour to save his kids which is something that does rob the scene of any tension as they very easily could have had appear just in silhouette form and got those exact same results and while yes it is a small thing to say about this episode but it's the small things that do make all of the difference as given that this was the second to last episode of the season then the makers of this show could have used that to build up hype for the next episode as then us the audience and those who hadn't read the books would be left wondering if the characters survived or not and while it does make sense for them to show him saving his kids and grandkids in this episode as this episode is meant to be all about the Battle of Blackwater it still would have been if the makers of this episode took advantage of the fact that this is a TV show much like how in book form they could have ended that exact same scene without revealing that he saved them until the start of there next chapter and while yes we do get some deaths in this episode none of them are major characters deaths which is something that could be seen as being a bad thing but given that not alot of the main characters actively took part in the battle it is also something that does make sense.
There was one scene that really did stand out for me personally and it's not got anything to do with the main battle at least not directly . As the scene that stood out to me as the ending scene between Cersei and Tommen as in that scene it's just Cersei trying to calm down him down while the war is going on outside which might not seem like much but when you take into account that that scene isn't just one character trying to calm another down it's rather a mother trying to calm down her son while she knows that her world is crumbling all around her and yet she still has to put on this brave face and tell him this somewhat happy story that is what makes the scene standout as it would have been super easy and really in character for Cersei to just tell it like it is as she's pretty drunk at that time but because of the fact that she does care for all of her kids something that we've seen all throughout the show she instead just puts him on her knee , talks to him calmly and tells him a story to try and calm him down and ease his worries and yet at the same time she knows that if they loose that war both she and her son are good as well dead and so she takes measures to kill her son as a mercy killing something which we saw her get ready at the start of the episode with it being done because of the fact that if she didn't perform that act of mercy on her son then the invaders wouldn't do it and therefor she did make the hardest choice that any mother would have to make and thankfully she didn't have to kill Tommen but it's the fact that she was willing to kill him in regardless of if she had any poison left for herself that makes that scene stand out.
Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly fifty four minuets and twenty seven seconds. With this pretty much being the bogstandard running time of this show and to be fair to this episode this is an episode that really did need that amount of running time in order to tell it's story in a way that does justice to it's plot as if this episode was more like forty five minuets then that would mean having alot of the really good stuff in the episode getting out thus leaving the episode and it's plot a bit of a mess with this episode having the ight amount of plot there to really cover that amount of running time and while the episode doesn't rally take the time to fully develop it's plot in all fairness this time around it really doesn't need to as we have the previous eight episodes to do all of that and given the fact that this is a TV show it wouldn't make sense for them to have a well developed plot given the fact that this episode is meant to be paying of a plot line and not starting with the same thing even being true for the characters lack of character development as the show would have had a lot of other episodes to give there characters the character development that they really did need but in saying this tho the episode would have been all the more better if there was more plot development and if there was more character development in this episode as then it would make the episode feel all the more well thought and would make those pointless scenes with Bronn and The Hound now have some sort of meaning as they very easily could have had some character development take place in those scenes but I really will admit that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is an action show that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. With the episode having some really good looking action in it which is something that does make alot of sense considering the fact that the episode is basically one long action scene with the fact that this episode is just focusing on this one big battle being something that does make the action all the more impactful as now the episode can't do what the show would normally do and cut away to another plot line with other characters as now it has to focus all of it's attention on this big battle with the best action scene in the whole entire episode being the battle itself as we get to see alot of what it is that makes the battle sand out in the first place as we get to see the characters on both sides of the conflict making plans to try and outwit each other and we get to see how in a battle it doesn't matter if you make plans or not because one wrong move really can send all of those plans flying out of the window which is what we get when Tyrion bring the Wildfire into the mix something which Stannis and his men never thought of which means that they now have to think on there feet and when Joffrey essentially runs away from the battle Tyrion the remaining Lannister men now have to do the exact same thing which is something that makes the whole battle be all the more intense and just flat out cool then what it really had any right to be in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall with House Of The Dragon season 3 gearing up for it's big battle it really was fun to go back and watch this episode as this episode is a good example of just how much fun that a battle in this world can look like as that's just how good that this episode really is in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now the i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very episode in this very review and as such that means that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 9 out of 10 from me.
Now the as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally sued in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Tenor , A Wiki Of Ice And Fire , IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from these very episode that I used in this very post being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from these very episode with alot of them really being really better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images really are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.