A Review of Season 4 Game of Thrones

With the jaw-dropping finale of the fourth installment of the incredibly popular drama series Game of Thrones coming to an epic closure last month, it is time to prudently dissect the entire season that gave us shockers that were too overwhelming to comprehend. The 4th season is set on the arrival of the most dreaded winter in the North. Though the season offered a myriad of plot twists and memorable dramatics like previous seasons it was rather mellowed and lacked both subtlety and pragmatism. To delineate the essence of the entire season, it can be rightly put as “Too many deaths spoil the Broth”.

Game of Thrones, the popular fantasy series developed by HBO UK, has risen to the zenith of popularity among global TV audiences and has become a raging phenomenon in terms of binge viewing. With sinister conspiracies, alluring royalty, gruesome deaths and captivating dialogues – Game of Thrones Season 4 was a near-equitable successor to its prior three seasons. While the most significant and dramatic turn of the season – “The Purple Wedding” left the audience in utter awe and spine-chilling repulsion, however, the season on the whole progressed at a sluggish pace and it often felt that it only tapped the right pace only 3-4 episodes before the season finale.

Joffrey Baratheon and Margaery Tyrell’s wedding

Like the previous seasons, some changes were made to original novels by George R.R. Martin. Having said this, the main story-arc of the 4th season remains considerably faithful to that of the original. The season opens with Joffrey Baratheon and Margaery Tyrell’s wedding and progresses to consist of one of the most appalling deaths in the entire series, with the iniquitous Joffrey choking to a poisonous death on his wedding day. Episode 7 arrives with a major plot change where Tyrion Lannister bears the yoke of accusation for the dreadful murder, and we get to see yet another breathtaking performance by Peter Dinklage and some of his finest acting streaks. His commanding line “I demand trial by combat” will definitely list as one of the most laudable highs of this season.

Cycle of Vengeance

This season provided some of the gravest revelations of treachery, devious instances of envy, desolation and continuity of the endless cycle of vengeance. There is no doubting the brilliance of this season that has bagged as many as 19 Emmy nominations and being considered as a dominant contender at Emmy Awards, 2014.

Shocking Revelations & Character Development

The most shocking revelation of the season was undoubtedly the exposé of the mastermind who rolled the first die that initiated the Game of Thrones in the first place. The area, where this season succeeds yet again is its indisputable ability to compel the audience to get emotively attached to the torments and extremities of the characters. The fine line between the textbook constricted ‘good’ and ‘evil’ is de-stereotyped and it stands proven once again in this season that all the characters, ranging from Tyrion Lannister, Joffrey Baratheon to Arya Stark and Daenerys Targaryen, are charismatically flawed and are veiled under extreme shades of grey and incalculable malice. And because they are flawed, the audience’s ability to identify with them enhances multifold. This season was also prominent in establishing some major character development. Most of the major characters, namely Arya, Sansa, Tyrion, and Jon Snow, came out of their formulaic cocoon and were more full-blown and three-dimensional.

Despite being slightly marred by acute intricacies in the story flow, on the whole, the 4th season was very satisfying and it righteously upheld the thematic spirit of the series that ‘nothing is permanent’ in the perpetual full circle of life and death.