'Game of Thrones' - 'The Watchers on the Wall' Recap

What kind of show can end an episode with one character's head being gruesomely caved in while leaving the show's main character's fate firmly in the balance, then not mention any of that in the next one? Game of Thrones can, and they did it perfectly. Coming off the incredibly built up (and awesome) fight between the Mountain and the Viper, which left Oberyn very, very dead, and Tyrion "guilty," the fourth season's penultimate episode shifted focus to the conflict at the Wall. The episode built up some tension, but once the mid-way point of the episode hit, it was non-stop action from there on out. And just like season two's "Blackwater" upped the ante with the kind of action we expect on a show like this, "The Watchers on the Wall" ups it even further, delivering the best action on the show yet.

The exposition parts of the episode are just as good as we've come to expect as well. Jon Snow and Sam share a rather one sided conversation about Ygritte that provides some of the best humor of the episode. Sam asks Jon what she was like, and what it was like being with her. Sam just wants to have experienced being with a woman, even it was vicariously through Jon. After Jon tells Sam to get some rest, Sam goes to the library and chats it up with Maester Aemon. Aemon more or less tells Sam that the fighting isn't worth it unless you're fighting for something, which they both agree is love.

The Wildling base camp is just outside of Castle Black. Gilly, with her baby in tow, hurries past them to try to get back to Sam. Sam gets her inside and scurries her to a closet deep within the castle. Immediately after tell her he'd never leave her again, he tells her that he has to go back outside to help his brothers. She doesn't really seem to understand, but Sam kisses her before she can say anything else. A Warg Thenn comes back to his own body. The horns sound. Jon Snow looks over the Wall to see miles of forest on fire.

Ser Alliser got some time to shine in this episode as well, and was actually a likable character for once. He shared a conversation with Jon stop the Wall about how Jon was right, about everything. And that he's looking forward to going back to hating him once they defend the castle. When the lower gate of the castle gets attacked, Alliser goes down below, leaving Slynt in charge on the Wall. Slynt is refusing to believe that any of this is actually happening, and cowers when the fighting actually starts. He ends up hiding in the room with Gilly until it's all over.

With Slynt out of the picture and Alliser down below, Jon leads the charge on the Wall. His first task: deal with the giants and the mammoth that are trying to pull the gate down. Jon sends Grenn and a handful of men to hold the inner gate, just in case the giants get through. The brothers on top of the Wall literally drop bombs on the Wildlings attempting to breach the gate, setting most of them ablaze and sending the mammoth running. One of the giants runs after it, but is shot in the back with a giant arrow. This angers the other giant, to say the least, so it attempts to open the outer gate on its own.

Sam makes a break for the lift to the top of the Wall. Along the way, he somehow doesn't get hit, or even nicked by anything. What he does accomplish is even better. Just as awesome as when he killed the White Walker, Sam makes his one kill of the episode count. He stops a charging Thenn by shooting it in the head with his crossbow. You go, Sam.

After Sam tells Jon that Alliser has fallen and the castle has been breached, Jon tells Edd to hold down the top of the Wall. Jon makes his way to the lift. Edd and the brothers continue to fight. In the tunnel, Grenn rallies his men while the giant rushes toward them. The six men of the Night's Watch recite the oath as they prepare for battle.

On the way down to the gourd level, Jon tells Sam that he doesn't want him out on the battle field. Sam protests that Jon can't protect him forever, but that's not what Jon had in mind. Jon hands Sam a key. "I need him more than I need you." Jon then opens the door and jumps out, dispatching every Wildling that comes his way. With the brief moment of respite, Sam makes a break for the door that goes with the key. Ghost! Welcome to the action, enjoy some Wildling flesh and bone.

Styr sees Jon and immediately engages him. The two trade blows in one of the better sword fights the show has produced. It doesn't end in the same, over-the-top bloody fashion as last week's epic bout, but it does come close. Jon's sword is knocked away, so he improvises by sticking a hammer right into his skull. Because no one ever gets a break on Game of Thrones, the second his recovers from the fight with Styr, there's Ygritte ready to release another arrow into Jon. Before she can fire, if she was even going to anyway, Ollie, the little boy who's parents Ygritte killed a few episodes ago, fires an arrow through her heart. Jon tries to comfort her as she dies, and we as the audience get one last "You know nothing, Jon Snow" for good measure.

Edd has his men unleash the scythe to take care of the Wildlings climbing the Wall. Every Wildling on the Wall is obliterated. Tormund Giantsbane is stuck with arrows and defeated, but won't give up. Jon puts another one in his leg for good measure and has him chained up. The Night's Watch has won the night.

Jon decides that he's going north to find and kill Mance. Sam walks with him down the tunnel. The inner gate has a hole in it, but along with the dead brothers of the Night's Watch and Grenn is the giant. Jon gives a eulogy for his fallen brother, then tells Sam to gather the men to burn all the bodies. He hands Sam his sword, telling him that he promised Mormont that he'd ever lose it again. Sam simply asks his friend to come back. Jon smiles, and walks out into the North.

Pictured: Kit Harington, Yuri Kolokolnikov
Credit: Helen Sloan/HBO