Television Review: And Now His Watch Has Ended (Game of Thrones, S3X04, 2013)

And Now His Watch Has Ended (S03E04)

Airdate: 21 April 2013

Written by: David Benioff & D. B. Weiss
Directed by: David Benioff

Running Time: 52 minutes

One of the defining traits that elevated Game of Thrones above its television contemporaries was its ruthless subversion of episodic pacing. Unshackled from the tradition of reserving cataclysmic events for season finales, the series conditioned its audience to expect seismic shifts at any moment—a narrative daring that thrilled both newcomers and those versed in George R.R. Martin’s source material. And Now His Watch Has Ended, the fourth episode of Season 3, is a quintessential example of this philosophy. While far from the political heart of Westeros, it orchestrates a stunning reversal of fortune that irrevocably alters the balance of power on a continental scale, proving that the show’s most transformative moments could arrive not with a cliffhanger’s fanfare, but as a mid-season declaration of intent.

The episode’s title is characteristically deceptive, referencing a storyline that, in the grand geopolitical machinations, appears almost peripheral. “And now his watch has ended” is the funeral chant for the fallen of the Night’s Watch, and Lord Commander Jeor Mormont gets to utter it over his dead men at Craster’s Keep. Seeking shelter for his wounded, starving rangers, Mormont clashes with the vile Craster, whose refusal to host them longer stirs a mutinous fury among the broken men. This sequence, led by the vicious Karl Tanner (Burn Gorman) and the craven Rast (Luke Barnes), is a brutal study in societal collapse. Stripped of discipline and hope, these men regress to their base selves—murderers, rapists, and thieves—killing both their host and their commander. It’s a grim, effective vignette on the fragility of honour when survival is at stake, with Samwell Tarly’s desperate flight with Gilly and her newborn providing its only sliver of hope. Yet, for all its violence, this plot feels precisely like the minor tragedy its title suggests, a brutal coda to the disastrous Great Ranging rather than a central pivot.

This theme of psychological torment is explored more inventively, if unevenly, in the North. Theon Greyjoy’s “rescue” by a mysterious ally, to whom he confesses his profound regret over betraying the Starks and reveals Bran and Rickon’s survival, is a brilliant example of cruel manipulation. The revelation that his escape was an elaborate ruse, culminating in his return to the very torture chambers he fled, is a devastating blow. However, the plot’s execution is somewhat drawn out and confusing, its impact diluted by stretching across multiple episodes. A tighter, more concentrated treatment might have amplified the horror without sacrificing narrative clarity. Similarly, Bran Stark’s dream sequence, which recalls his fateful fall in the series premiere, feels overly self-referential and ponderous, adding little to his character arc at this juncture.

In the Riverlands, another captive, Jaime Lannister, endures physical and humiliating abuse at the hands of Locke’s men. His desperate, left-handed grab for a sword—a bid for a clean death over continued degradation—is a powerful moment of broken pride. The dynamic with Brienne deepens here; her stern counsel that he must live to exact revenge marks a pivotal shift in their relationship, transforming mutual contempt into a grudging, foundational respect. Meanwhile, Arya’s arrival at the Brotherhood Without Banners introduces the charismatic Beric Dondarrion (Richard Dormer) and sets the stage for a trial by combat that further explores the series’ evolving relationship with faith and justice.

King’s Landing provides the episode’s political engine, and here the writing is consistently sharp. Tywin Lannister, administering equal doses of disdain to his children, dismisses Cersei’s inability to control Joffrey, subtly praising Margaery Tyrell’s superior manipulation. This sparks the episode’s most intriguing alliance: the Queen of Thorns, Olenna Tyrell, and Lord Varys. Their scene is a delicious confluence of wit and realpolitik, as they conspire to neutralise Littlefinger’s ambitious, dangerous plot involving Sansa Stark. Margaery’s subsequent, gently manipulative meeting with Sansa, hinting at a future with Loras, is a fine example of the show’s layered courtly intrigue.

Varys, in particular, benefits from superb exposition. His monologue to Tyrion about his childhood castration by a sorcerer is delivered with a potent mix of vulnerability and chilling resolve. It effectively establishes his motives—a deep, personal vendetta against magic and chaos—and reframes his support for the Lannister regime as a pragmatic bulwark against Stannis and the sinister Melisandre. The grisly detail of the sorcerer imprisoned in a crate, lifted directly from the novels, feels not schlocky but profoundly unsettling, a perfect symbol of Varys’s singular, patient vengeance. This is character exposition at its most effective, seamlessly integrating backstory with present motivation.

Where the episode occasionally falters is in its original, non-literary additions. The running gag regarding Podrick Payne’s inexplicable sexual prowess, while a mild amusement in its first appearance, here feels like a jarring, juvenile distraction amidst weightier material. The joke has overstayed its welcome. Similarly, the expanded role of Ros, a series-original character, as Varys’s informant delivers necessary exposition but lacks the depth and resonance of the canon-driven storylines surrounding her. These elements highlight a recurring minor flaw in the adaptation: when inventing material to pad the runtime, the writers sometimes resorted to titillation or functional dialogue that lacked the textured authenticity of Martin’s plots.

All these threads, however, are but a prelude to the episode’s magnificent, game-changing climax in Astapor. Directed with assured grandeur by Alex Graves, the sequence showcases the increased production budget Season 3 enjoyed, a boon evident throughout. The CGI work is notably more elaborate and spectacular, particularly in realising the city of Astapor and the dragons. This allows for a visual epicness previously constrained. Daenerys Targaryen’s transaction with Kraznys mo Nakloz is a tense masterpiece of misdirection. Appearing the naïve buyer, she trades a dragon for the Unsullied army. The moment she turns and addresses the soldiers in fluent Valyrian is arguably the series’ first truly iconic, crowd-pleasing twist. It is a radical act of emancipation, offering the Unsullied freedom and choice. Their instantaneous, brutal slaughter of the slavers and the city’s liberation is short, visceral, and utterly cathartic.

This finale is indeed more spectacular than previous combat scenes, including the acclaimed Blackwater. It is less a battle than a swift, righteous massacre, its power derived from surprise and symbolic justice rather than prolonged strategy. The final scene, with thousands of Unsullied marching in perfect unison behind Daenerys, finally delivers on the epic scale the series’ title always promised. It formally establishes Game of Thrones as a cinematic saga of conquest and liberation.

And Now His Watch Has Ende is an episode of pronounced dichotomies. Its King’s Landing intrigue and the revolutionary climax in Astapor represent Game of Thrones at its most ambitious and confident, brilliantly synthesising complex character work with sweeping cinematic spectacle. Conversely, its more drawn-out original subplots and occasional reliance on weak humour reveal the writers’ comparative struggles when deviating from the source material’s dense architecture. Yet, the episode’s legacy is ultimately secure. By placing its most monumental power shift at the mid-season mark, it reinforced the show’s foundational narrative audacity. More importantly, with the thunderous march of the Unsullied, it announced that the show’s period of relatively constrained, interior-focused storytelling had ended. The era of epic, continent-shaping spectacle had definitively begun.

RATING: 7/10 (+++)

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