The Mountain and the Viper

"The Mountain and the Viper" is the eighth episode of the fourth season of HBO's acclaimed fantasy television series Game of Thrones, and the 38th overall. The episode was written by series co-creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss,[1] and directed by Alex Graves.[2] It aired on June 1, 2014.[3]

"The Mountain and the Viper"
Game of Thrones episode
Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane (left) and Oberyn "the Viper" Martell (right) engage in a trial by combat. This scene was acclaimed by critics.
Episode no.Season 4
Episode 8
Directed byAlex Graves
Written byDavid Benioff
D. B. Weiss
Featured musicRamin Djawadi
Cinematography byAnette Haellmigk
Editing byTim Porter
Original air dateJune 1, 2014 (2014-06-01)
Running time52 minutes
Guest appearance(s)

This episode marks the final appearance of Pedro Pascal (Oberyn Martell).

Plot

At the Wall

Mole's Town is sacked by the wildlings, but Ygritte spares Gilly and her son. When news reaches Castle Black, Sam fears for Gilly; Pyp and Edd reassure him that Gilly has survived worse and may yet be alive.

At Moat Cailin

Reek, assuming his previous identity as Theon, enters Moat Cailin and convinces the occupying Ironborn to surrender in return for safe passage home. However, Ramsay reneges on his offer and has the Ironborn garrison flayed. As a reward for retaking the Moat, Roose presents Ramsay with a decree of legitimization as a Bolton. The Boltons depart for their new seat at Winterfell.

In Meereen

Missandei sees Grey Worm watching her bathe and covers herself up, but later tells him that she is not offended and laments his castration. Grey Worm, however, notes that if he had not become an Unsullied they would have never met.

Barristan receives a letter with the Hand of the King's seal - Jorah's royal pardon from Robert Baratheon for spying on Daenerys. Jorah is forced to admit his treachery and Daenerys exiles him from Meereen.

In the Vale

Petyr is interrogated by the nobility of the Vale about Lysa's death, who are skeptical of his claim that she committed suicide. Sansa is asked to testify; she reveals her identity, corroborates Petyr's story and convinces the Vale nobility of his innocence. Petyr, Sansa and Robin leave the Eyrie to tour the Vale.

Sandor and Arya arrive at the Bloody Gate, only to be informed of Lysa's death.

In King's Landing

Tyrion's trial by combat begins. Oberyn gains the upper hands and knocks Gregor to the ground, but instead of killing him, Oberyn screams at him to confess that Tywin gave him the order to kill Elia and her children. Gregor takes advantage of his distraction to knock Oberyn down, and confesses to the murder of Elia and her children while crushing Oberyn's skull with his hands. Tywin sentences Tyrion to death for regicide.

Production

Writing
The episode was written by series co-creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss.

This episode contains content from three of George Martin's novels: A Storm of Swords, chapters Daenerys V, Daenerys VI, and Tyrion X; A Feast for Crows, chapters Alayne I and Alayne II; and A Dance with Dragons, chapter Reek II.[4]

Reception

Ratings

"The Mountain and the Viper" was watched by an estimated 7.17 million people during its first airing.[5] In the United Kingdom, the episode was viewed by 1.811 million viewers, making it the highest-rated broadcast that week. It also received 0.062 million timeshift viewers.[6]

Critical reception

The episode received high praise from critics and audiences alike, with the fight between Prince Oberyn and the Mountain being hailed as the episode's highlight. On Rotten Tomatoes it obtained a 97% score, based on 32 reviews, with an average rating of 9/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "With one of the most gruesome scenes to date, 'The Mountain and the Viper' delivers a tense, twisty final scene well worth the wait."[7]

Writing for The A.V. Club, Emily VanDerWerff gave the episode an A- and praised the staging of the final fight by director Alex Graves.[8] Erik Adams, also writing for the A.V. Club gave the episode an A.[9] Terri Schwartz, writing for Zap2it.com, wrote the episode was "one of the strongest Game of Thrones episodes to date, and that's just the type of episode that the death of Oberyn Martell deserves."[10]

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Nominee(s) Result
2014 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards Outstanding Art Direction for a Single-Camera Fantasy Series Deborah Riley, Paul Ghirardani, and Rob Cameron Won
Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score) Ramin Djawadi Nominated
2015 ADG Excellence in Production Design Award One-Hour Single Camera Fantasy Television Series Deborah Riley Won
SFX Awards Best TV Episode Nominated
Hugo Awards Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form David Benioff, Alex Graves, and D. B. Weiss Nominated
gollark: I mean, the atmosphere isn't very dense.
gollark: It *might* be possible to make it somehow, but it wouldn't *weigh* the same as it somehow could on Earth.
gollark: That's not really valid in the context of the entire observable universe.
gollark: *Weight* is mass times acceleration from gravity. The acceleration from gravity is probably going to change wildly across the whole observable universe, but I guess you could sample it at various bits and average it. In any case, that average acceleration probably won't be at the Earth level of 10-ish m/s².
gollark: No it wouldn't.

References
  1. "Here is your season 4 writers breakdown". WinterIsComing.net. February 26, 2014. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
  2. Hibberd, James (July 16, 2013). "'Game of Thrones' season 4 directors chosen". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
  3. "Shows A–Z – Game of Thrones". The Futon Critic. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
  4. Garcia, Elio; Antonsson, Linda (June 8, 2013). "EP408: The Mountain and the Viper". Westeros.org. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
  5. Kondolojy, Amanda (June 3, 2014). "Sunday Cable Ratings: 'Game of Thrones' Wins Night + NHL Conference Finals, 'Real Housewives of Atlanta: Kandi's Wedding', 'Silicon Valley' & Moreh". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved June 3, 2014.
  6. "Top 10 Ratings (2-8 June 2014)". BARB. Retrieved January 19, 2017.
  7. "The Mountain and the Viper - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster, Inc. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  8. VanDerWerff, Emily (June 1, 2014). "Game of Thrones (experts): "The Mountain And The Viper"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved June 2, 2014.
  9. Adams, Erik (June 2, 2014). "Game of Thrones (newbies): "The Mountain And The Viper"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved June 2, 2014.
  10. Terri Schwartz (June 1, 2014). "'Game of Thrones' Season 4, episode 8 'The Mountain and the Viper' recap: Tyrion gets served justice". Zap2it.com. Retrieved June 6, 2014.
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