The Mountain and the Viper was honestly a bit of a misnomer for this episode as they didn’t actually appear until the final ten minutes of the episode. However I’m not saying that’s a bad thing because it led to a lot of great resolutions for several character groups and in fact this episode almost felt like a season finale in a lot of respects which just makes the wait for the last two episodes of the season that much harder. 

We got to see some more of the wildlings this week as their inevitable assault on Castle Black draws ever closer which is a nice setup for next week where supposedly the majority of the episode will take place at Castle Black.

Sansa also seemed to finally take some small control over her life in this episode while also seeming to accept what this means in terms of her relationship with Littlefinger It was also great to see her take her first steps towards becoming a true player of the game, and displaying some natural ability in the art of deception. 

Tyrion also got to continue his streak of phenomenal prison scenes in yet another bonding scene between him and his brother Jaime in which they discussed their brain-damaged cousin.

However it was when we finally got to the confrontation between the Oberyn Martel and Gregor Clegane in the last ten minutes was the highlight of the episode. This whole season Oberyn’s character arc had been building to this, and the fact that this arc came to its climax two episodes before the end of the season definitely helps to emphasize how HBO has been attempting to up the ante this season. This week had a great episode full emotional moments, action, and some really great acting. It also really brought up the intensity level leading in to the last two episodes.

4.5/5