Rebel TV Show Review: 'The Climb' (Game of Thrones - S3EP06)

Having finally reached episode 6 we now know that we're steadily closing in towards the end of season 3. But now that we're over the half-way mark, does that mean the best has already happened for this season? Is it all down hill for the epic-fantasy show that is Game of Thrones? I seriously doubt that, though this episode may not show that in the best of lights.

As said previously, I am a HUGE fan of both the books and the television series, so I will be reviewing each episode of season three as and when they come out. There'll be spoilers, there'll be opinions, I'm going to try and compare the content from the episodes to the content in the books, and after this season finishes I'm going to bring everything together and list all ten episodes in order of best to worst.

!SPOILER ALERT!

!READ ON AT YOUR OWN RISK!

So far this season we've had twists, we've had turns, we've had surprises, we've had a plethora of amazingly cast and well played new characters, we've had action packed battles, brilliant character development, and we've even had spectacular visual effects. Some would say that we've been spoiled with this show, and I would agree with them. That being said some of the previous episodes of this season have set an incredibly high bar to match, perhaps too high of a bar. In comparison, does that now change how we look at the somewhat less exciting episodes? Perhaps a little, but we have to try and look at each episode what what they are, not what the previous episode was.

With that being said, lets summarise this episode:

Gendry is in trouble. Robb bargains on a knifes edge with the Freys. Theon is still being tortured. Littlefinger gets one up on Varys. Jon and Ygritte make a dangerous climb.

I'll begin things with Gendry, and in a bad turn for the young bastard the Red Lady, Melisandre (Carice van Houten), shows up. She is taken to Beric Dondarrion (Richard Dormer) by Thoros (Paul Kaye) and is shocked to learn of the six deaths that he had suffered, that she has seemingly been outclassed by the drunken priest. This scene leads us into some more back-story of Thoros and the religion that he and the Red Lady share, which really helps to make the entire world that much more richer. There's also a part where Beric explains that he was met with nothing but darkness after each time he died, which really does set the tone for the show as a whole; if there's no world beyond this one, especially with so many varying religions claiming there is, then life is truly important for the characters in an often merciless show.

It turns out that she has come to them for a reason, that reason being Gendry (Joe Dempsie), and after paying a substantial gift to the Botherhood without Banners Melisandre takes Gendry captive, likely to offer him as a sacrifice to the Lord of Light like she has done to many of Roberts bastards by this point. Both Arya (Maisie Williams) and Gendry call out the Brotherhood Without Banners for failing to practice what they preach, but it falls on death ears and Gendry is taken away. Now this scene was not in the books at all - I checked. In fact, Gendry has quite the extended stint with the Brotherhood in the books, even getting Knighted at one point. In some ways I prefer this take, as it's no doubt going to prove to be excellent character development for both Gendry (who constantly takes a bit of a back-seat in the books) and for Arya. Though I am interested to see where this unexpected turn of events goes.

King Robb (Richard Madden), Edmure (Tobias Menzies), the Blackfish (Clive Russell), and Lady Catelyn (Michelle Fairley), meet with Lothar (Tom Brooke) and Black Walder Frey (Tim Plester) to discuss the terms for the alliance needed by Robb to attack Casterly Rock. Because Robb broke his oath to marry one of his daughters, Lord Walder Frey demands a formal apology from Robb, the castle of Harrenhal and everything that comes with the lands, and that Edmure is to marry one of his daughters in recompense. Robb agrees to the terms and eventually so does Edmure, after some convincing.

This is a tough scene to watch, in many ways because it is somewhat confusing. Lord Frey has previously been pinned as someone that shouldn't be crossed or slighted, yet he seems willing, if not eagerly so, to forgive Robb and to form this alliance. It almost seems too good to be true, but will it prove to be or are the Freys far more trustworthy than we were first lead to believe? I fear we will find out, one way or another, before this season is done.

Futher North, or is it South? It's still a mystery where Theon is being held. We are once again faced with a scene that is particularly gruesome in its themes. The mysterious boy (Iwan Rheon) is continuing to torture Theon (Alfie Allen), in which he plays a sick and twisted game with his prisoner; Theon wins the game if he can guess who his torturer is and why he is doing it, and the boy wins the game if Theon begs him to cut off his little finger. We learn two things from this scene: that the boy lies and that Theon loses the game. We still do not know who his captor is (though I gather many of you have guessed by now), and without it confirmed we still don't know where or how to link this plot into the many other storylines that are happening across the land. However, these sets of scenes have the feeling that they're coming to a high point in the near future, so maybe that'll help shed some light.

Probably the most interesting scene in this episode, if you ask me, was the one shared between Varys (Conleth Hill) and Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen) in the throne room. Littlefinger reveals he has bested Varys by putting a stop to his plans to wed Sansa and Loras, and that he has known about Varys's spy all along, having given her to Joffrey to play out one of his sick fantasy's. It then breaks away to show Joffrey and the now dead Ros (Esme Bianco), having been shot several times by the young Kings crossbow.

It was a shame to see Ros meet her fate in the show, as I personally thought the character still had some areas to delve into - even if the character was purely created for the show. Either way, this chilling scene really shows just how twisted King Joffrey is, and how unrelentingly cruel the ambitious Littlefinger can be. As well as all this, all pretences and covers are dropped in this scene, and a unmistakeably serious air suddenly appears between two characters that have constantly been going back and forth at each other since season 1.

"I did what I did for the good of the realm." Varys states in a serious tone, which only seems to amuse Littlefinger. And as chilling music begins to play, Littlefinger hits us with what is probably the quote of the episode. "Chaos isn't a pit. Chaos is a ladder. Many who try to climb it fail and never get to try again. The fall breaks them. And some are given a chance to climb, they cling to the realm or the gods or love. Only the ladder is real. The climb is all there is." there's no mistaking the length Littlefinger will now go to make his ambitions a reality, but I'm left with the feeling that Varys hasn't yet begun to play his part in the Game of Thrones.

And with those chilling words, we rapidly fly north to another climb. We are treated to Jon Snow (Kit Harington), Ygritte (Rose Leslie) and a few of the other Wildlings making the dangerous climb up the Wall. As I've said before I've read the books so I often know what's about to happen, but with some of the major changes to this season and how well this scene had been done, I found myself unsure as to whether or not Jon or Ygritte would survive this scene. This was especially true when after an accident leaves Ygritte and Jon hanging from the Wall by the rope that ties them together, Orell (Mackenzie Crook) cuts the rope, Jon only just managing to secure himself to the Wall, saving Ygritte.

However, it is when the two finally reach the top of the Wall that this scene truly reaches its peak. Lovers from different lands coming together, despite their differences, is a story told as far back as Humans learned how to tell stories, but this cliché theme has had new life breathed into it like Beric Dondarrion by this scene. The visual effects really helps to grant us a glimpse into the scope that the show so often only alludes to, as we get to share a first time experience with Ygritte as she see's the spectacular views beyond both sides of the Wall from this staggering height.

I feel that the scenes with Jon Snow have been lacking since season 1, which is a shame since he is my favourite character in the books, but it's scenes like this one that really do turn that around. With what we've learned so far about his storyline, we can only hope that the rest of the season has lots more of interesting scenes for him, the Wildlings and the men of the Night's Watch.

Besides that there were a few other scenes of interest that I've not mentioned. Jaime's (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) ever-shifting circumstances seem on the verge of yet another change, as Lord Roose Bolton (Michael McElhatton) offers to send him back to King's Landing simply to escape the wrath of Tywin when he learns of his son's mutilation, but refuses to free Brienne (Gwendoline Christie) as well, much to Jamie's open protests. And the inevitable showdown between Olenna Redwyne of House Tyrell (Diana Rigg) and Tywin Lannister (Charles Dance) finally came to be. Even matched, with both managing to play their cards at exactly the right moment to make the other uncomfortable, though in this battle it is Tywin Lannister who proves the victor.

Episode 6 was an interesting episode to say the least, but in my opinion it lacked some of the lustre that previous episodes have had, whether in terms of twists in the plot or action. It seems more like an episode that is there to gear us to the possibilities of the events in future episodes, a bridge of sorts, and though that is vital to good storytelling it still leaves us feeling as if other episodes in the season were more entertaining. Some die-hard fans of the books may also dislike how some aspects of this episode greatly vary from the narrative of the books.

3 ½ Rebel symbols out of 5!

By no means a bad episode, you'll enjoy episode 6 for what it is: an interesting and sometimes exciting bridge on several ongoing plots.