The Rains of Castamere
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"The Rains of Castamere" is the ninth episode of the third season of HBO's fantasy television series Game of Thrones, and the 29th episode of the series. The episode was written by executive producers David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, and directed by David Nutter. It aired on June 2, 2013.
The episode centers on the wedding of Edmure Tully and Roslin Frey, and the plans of the Starks to turn the tides of the war. Jon Snow's loyalties are tested, and on the other side of the world, Daenerys plots her invasion of the city of Yunkai.
Plot
In the North
North of the Wall, Sam (John Bradley) and Gilly (Hannah Murray) continue their march south. Sam tells Gilly he plans for them to cross the Wall using the entrance at the Nightfort, an abandoned castle along the Wall.
South of the Wall, Bran (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) and his group take shelter in an old abandoned tower. Nearby, Jon (Kit Harington) and the wildling party raid an elderly horse breeder's home, taking his horses and gold while the old man flees. While in the tower, Bran and Jojen Reed (Thomas Brodie Sangster) discuss how they plan to cross the Wall, before Meera (Ellie Kendrick) spots the old horse breeder riding nearby. After the old man is captured by the wildlings, Hodor (Kristian Nairn)—spooked by the thunder—begins yelling, which threatens to give away their location to the wildlings. Bran uses his warg abilities to enter Hodor's mind and cause him to pass out.
Outside, Tormund (Kristofer Hivju) moves to kill the old man, but Orell (Mackenzie Crook) tells him to have Jon do it instead, to prove his loyalty. Jon is ultimately unable to kill the innocent man, and instead Ygritte (Rose Leslie) kills the man with an arrow. Tormund orders his men to kill Jon while he tries to stop Ygritte from defending him, and soon after Jon battles with Orell. Bran enters the minds of Summer and Shaggydog, his and Rickon's direwolves, and aides Jon. Jon kills Orell while the wolves hold off the other wildlings, and is then able to steal a horse and escape, seemingly leaving Ygritte and heading back to the Wall. At night, Bran asks Osha (Natalia Tena) to take Rickon (Art Parkinson) to Last Hearth, the home of the Umber family, and they depart shortly after.
Across the Narrow Sea
Planning their invasion of Yunkai, Daario (Ed Skrein) tells Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) and her knights about a rear gate to the city, which they may use to execute a sneak attack. Ser Jorah (Iain Glen) is suspicious of the plan, suspecting Daario to turn traitor, but comes around when Daenerys seeks Grey Worm's (Jacob Anderson) opinion of Daario and his plan. When night falls, Daario, Jorah, and Grey Worm arrive at the gate. Daario enters ahead of them, posing as a still loyal Second Son commander. Shortly after being let inside the city, he signals Jorah and Grey Worm to follow him. Once inside the city, they are ambushed by a group of Yunkai's slave soldiers, and though largely outnumbered, manage to kill them. After fighting a second wave of soldiers, the group returns to Daenerys, and tell her the attack on Yunkai was successful, and she is now in control of the city.
At the Twins
At camp, Catelyn (Michelle Fairley) counsels her son Robb (Richard Madden), the King in the North, about his planned alliance with Lord Walder Frey (David Bradley) and his planned assault on Casterly Rock, the homeland of the Lannisters. The Stark host soon arrives at the Twins, castle homeland of the Freys, where they are given bread and salt, a symbol of the "guest right": a guarantee of safety when under another lord's roof. Robb makes an apology to both Walder Frey and his daughters, which is accepted by a sarcastic Walder, who later insists on inspecting Talisa (Oona Chaplin), the woman Robb broke his vow for. Nearby, Arya, (Maisie Williams) though still a captive of Sandor Clegane (Rory McCann), journeys to the Twins to reunite with her mother and brother. When they come upon a trader and his cart, Clegane knocks him out and moves to kill him, but Arya manages to dissuade him, and he instead steals the cart of food.
At night, Walder walks his daughter Roslin (Alexandra Dowling) down the aisle to her future husband Edmure Tully (Tobias Menzies), who is pleasantly surprised by her beauty. They are married shortly thereafter, and the celebration begins. At the feast, Walder calls for the bedding ceremony to begin, and Roslin is carried off by the male guests, followed closely by Edmure, who is collected by the Frey women. After they leave, Lothar Frey (Tom Brooke) closes the banquet hall doors, and a musician begins playing "The Rains of Castamere," a Lannister victory song. Using the food cart as their reason for being at the Twins, the Hound and Arya arrive at the wedding shortly after the bedding has begun, and are turned away at the gates. When the Hound moves to turn the cart around, he notices Arya has fled. Walder rises to make a toast to Robb, and signals his men to attack. Lothar draws a knife and repeatedly stabs the pregnant Talisa in the stomach, killing her. Before he can react, Robb is shot by the musicians with crossbows several times and falls to the ground. Arya, having snuck past the gate guards, witnesses Frey men kill Stark soldiers and Grey Wind, Robb's direwolf. She is saved by the Hound, who knocks her unconscious before carrying her out of the castle. Catelyn, having been wounded by a crossbow bolt, holds a knife to the throat of Walder's young wife, demanding that Robb be allowed to leave. Walder refuses her, and Roose Bolton (Michael McElhatton) betrays Robb, saying "the Lannisters send their regards" before stabbing him in the heart. Catelyn kills Joyeuse (Kelly Long) in retaliation before another Frey cuts Catelyn's throat.
Production
Writing
"The Rains of Castamere" was written by executive producers David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, based on George R. R. Martin's original work from his novel A Storm of Swords. The episodes adapts content from chapters 40 to 42 and 49 to 52 (Bran III, Jon V, Daenerys IV, Catelyn VI, Arya X, Catelyn VII, and Arya XI).[1]
The episode includes one of the most important plot turns of the series: the betrayal and assassination of the Stark forces during a marriage ceremony in what came to be known as the "Red Wedding". This tragic turn of events had a profound impact on Benioff and Weiss in their first read of the novels and it was the scene that convinced them to attempt to obtain the rights for a television series.[2]
George R. R. Martin conceived the Red Wedding during the earliest stages of the planning of his saga, when he was envisioning a trilogy with the Red Wedding closing the first of the three books.[3] Martin was inspired by the 15th century historical event known as the "Black Dinner", where the Scottish king invited the chieftains of the powerful Clan Douglas at a feast at the Edinburgh Castle. A black bull's head, the symbol of death, was served as the last course of the dinner while a single drum was playing in the background, and the Douglases were murdered.[4]
Martin has stated that the Red Wedding was the hardest thing he has ever written. He explains that he always tries to put himself in the skin of his characters when writing from their perspective, and ends developing bonds with them. Even the minor characters killed during the massacre were also people he felt attached to. It was so painful for him that he skipped the chapter and continued writing, and only when the rest of the book was finished, he "forced himself" to come back to the dreaded scene.[5][6] In 2012 at ComicCon he even joked that "he will visit a country with no television when the episode goes on air".
Casting
Will Champion, the drummer and backing vocalist of the alternative rock band Coldplay, has a cameo appearance as one of the musicians who play at the wedding.
Main cast members Peter Dinklage (Tyrion), Lena Headey (Cersei), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime), Aidan Gillen (Littlefinger), Charles Dance (Tywin), Liam Cunningham (Davos), Stephen Dillane (Stannis), Carice van Houten (Melisandre), Natalie Dormer (Margaery Tyrell), Sophie Turner (Sansa), Alfie Allen (Theon), Jack Gleeson (Joffrey), Joe Dempsie (Gendry), Sibel Kekilli (Shae), Conleth Hill (Varys), and Jerome Flynn (Bronn) do not appear and are not credited. Clive Russell, who plays Brynden "Blackfish" Tully, is mistakenly credited as "Clive Russel" in the guest credits.
Reception
Critical reception
The episode garnered critical acclaim, often being referred to as the best episode of the season. IGN's Matt Fowler gave the episode a perfect 10/10, calling it "...an exquisitely awful event that managed to out-do the unpredictable and horrifying death of Ned Stark back in Season 1."[7] Writing for The A.V. Club, both David Sims and Todd VanDerWerff gave the episode an "A" grade. Simms (writing for people who have not read the novels) expressed shock at the deaths of several main characters, writing "I don’t think I’ve really processed what I just watched".[8] VanDerWerff, who reviews the episodes for people who have read the novels, wrote "If [the reader] doesn’t terribly want to deal with the thought of the deaths of Catelyn and Robb, well, he or she can read that much more quickly. Or he or she can read that much more slowly if there’s a need to process the emotions more fully. On TV, you can’t really do that."[9] Reviewing for Forbes magazine, Erik Kain called the episode "one of the best episodes of HBO’s dark drama yet", and noted "there was a deeper sense of tragedy knowing [Robb] also lost his unborn child."[10] Sean Collins of the Rolling Stone also praised the episode, and commented on the unusual step the show took in ending the main driving force of the show, the Stark-Lannister conflict, so early.[11] Writing for WeEatFilms.com Jesse Gelinas said "This episode acts as one final warning to the viewers. This is your last chance to stop watching. If you make it through the Red Wedding, there’s no turning back."[12]
References
- ^ Garcia, Elio. "EP309:The Rains of Castamere". Westeros.org. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
- ^ Hibberd, James (30 March 2012). "'Game of Thrones' showrunners on season 2, splitting Book 3 and their hope for a 70-hour epic". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
- ^ Harren the Black (20 April 2002). "SSM: Elf Fantasy Fair (Netherlands; April 20-21)". Westeros.org. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
- ^ Trebla (5 October 2001). "SSM: Archon Meeting (October 5-7)". Westeros.org. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
- ^ Green Armadillo (17 February 2005). "SSM: Boskone (Boston, MA; February 17-19)". Westeros.org. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
- ^ "George R. R. Martin Webchat Transcript". Empire Magazine. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
- ^ Fowler, Matt (June 2, 2013). "The Wine Will Flow Red and the Music Will Play Loud". IGN. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
- ^ Sims, David (June 2, 2013). ""The Rains of Castamere" (for newbies)". The A.V. Club. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
- ^ VanDerWerff, Todd (June 2, 2013). ""The Rains of Castamere (for experts)". The A.V. Club. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
- ^ Kain, Erik (June 3, 2013). "'Game of Thrones' Season 3 Episode 9 Review: The Rains of Castamere". Forbes.com. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
- ^ Collins, Sean (June 3, 2013). "'Game of Thrones' Recap: Red, Red, Red". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
- ^ Gelinas, Jesse (June 3, 2013). "TV Review: "Game of Thrones" Episode 9 – "Rains of Castamere"". WeEatFilms.com. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
